HP intros HPE h8, p7, Slimline s5 desktops with new design

HP helped wrap up a week's worth of introductions by rolling out three new Pavilion desktops. The more gamer-oriented HPE h8, mainstream p7, and Slimline s5 all get redesigned looks, carrying a much cleaner and minimalist look that HP suggests would work as much for a home theater as a desk. All have accordingly moved to the most recent processors, topping out with AMD Phenom II and Intel Core i7 chips in the h8.

Some get the option of Beats Audio processing, and all have access to a newer LinkUp feature. The trick gives users a relatively simple way to get at the apps and media from a paired notebook without requiring some of the usual steps.

The h8 like its predecessor has picks of dedicated graphics from AMD or NVIDIA, with some of the video cards supporting up to three screens. The s5 despite being half the size is seen as an in-between PC upgradable to large hard drives and either AMD or Intel processors, and the p7 seves as the starting point with basic AMD and Intel chips as well as integrated-only video.

Prices start out at as little as $299 for the p7 and move up to $329 and $599 for the Slimline s5 and HPE h8. Buyers can order the h8 and p7 on May 18 but will have to wait three weeks to get the s5 on June 15.

Electronista

Sony VAIO VPC L218FX/W

Sony's latest 24-inch all-in-one desktop is a beauty--of course, one would expect nothing less from a system that's practically plated in gold. We jest. The Sony VAIO VPC L218FX comes with a strong loadout for a big-screen all-in-one desktop; however, at a steep $2049 (as of May 5, 2011) this PC feels as if Sony purchased its parts and pieces from the SkyMall catalog. Although we're huge fans of this all-in-one, we have to note that competitors offer a pretty similar set of features, speeds, and capacities for a lower price.

Tucked within this elegantly designed all-in-one computer is one of Intel's latest Sandy Bridge chips, the 2GHz Core i7-2630QM processor, which features four physical cores that can jump to a virtual eight thanks to Intel's Hyper-Threading technology. Automatic overclocking, otherwise known as Turbo Boost, can bulk the CPU up to a mighty 2.9GHz of power should an application or game require that much juice. Those assets, combined with the 8GB of DDR3-677 memory that Sony stuffed into the L218FX, produced favorable results on our general performance benchmarks.

We were pleased to see the L218FX deliver a score of 116 on our WorldBench 6 suite of tests. Still, that result is about 12 to 13 percent behind the category-leading performance of rivals such as the HP TouchSmart 610 Quad. On top of that, the HP 610 Quad that we tested is $200 less than Sony's system, and has features that roughly match.

Following the tradition of most all-in-one PCs we test, the L218FX isn't great at playing current-generation games at its default 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution. We had to dial back our Unreal Tournament 3 test to a resolution of 1680 by 1050 (high quality) to achieve a playable frame rate. But if it's any consolation, on that gaming benchmark the L218FX delivered one of the best results of any all-in-one we've tried, generating 67 frames per second. The picture quality might suffer a bit due to the downsampling, but you'll enjoy great gaming otherwise.

Of course, an all-in-one desktop isn't just about raw numbers--it's also about the user experience. And in that regard, Sony has planted some unusual capabilities within the L218FX. Our favorite? A thick black bezel measuring about 1.5 inches in width surrounds the 24-inch display. No, that doesn't sound cool, until you realize that the border itself is a navigational element: Depending on where you touch the black strip, you can launch applications and perform various system functions.

Our primary critique of this novel use of space is that you need a sharp memory to make the best use of the feature. The L218FX offers nothing to tell you what might happen when you touch any part of the bezel--you just kind of have to know.

The quality of the display is strong: We enjoyed the saturation and contrast that the L218FX delivers, which makes for detailed movie-watching in conjunction with the computer's built-in Blu-ray combo drive. The multitouch panel is a little prone to glare as a result of its glossy surface, something to keep in mind when you're positioning this PC in a home office or living room. Our only gripe is that the display's white level could stand to be brighter; the look wasn't enough to affect our perception of detail in scenes, but it is a minor quibble based on our general use of the system.

As for the all-in-one's built-in sound, two words come to mind: Loved it. We appreciated the overall consistency of the sound between its high and low ends--the top sounds just as good as the bottom, and the latter even has a bit of a bass kick that's usually lacking in all-in-one desktop speaker setups. Even better, the L218FX's beautiful acoustics envelop you, as if you were right in the middle of an acoustic shell. It's often difficult for an all-in-one to provide pleasing sound quality overall, but the L218FX does not disappoint in the slightest.

The L218FX comes packed with connections for an all-in-one desktop. A multiformat card reader joins two USB 3.0 ports on the side, along with a mini-FireWire 400 port and headphone and microphone jacks. The rear of the L218FX supplies three USB ports, a coaxial-cable input for the integrated TV tuner, gigabit ethernet (in addition to integrated Wireless-N support), separate HDMI input and output ports, and composite-video input. The swath of rear connections allows the L218FX to transform into a full-fledged television, to become a simple display for a connected device (such as a set-top box or a gaming console), or to serve as anything in between. It ships with a wireless mouse and keyboard.

The Sony VAIO VPC L218FX offers a great combination of features, provided that you have use for them all (and the PC's 2TB of storage capacity, for that matter). If you can stomach a drop to 1TB of space, the HP TouchSmart 610 Quad (at $200 cheaper) is a lot more compelling given that it also delivers strong picture quality, Blu-ray support, and a host of connections on the side. The L218FX is a great system, don't get us wrong--we just wish it were economical, too.

PCmag

MSI intros next-gen AE2070 all-in-one

Taiwanese computer maker MSI has introduced a new all-in-one computer with a 20-inch touchscreen, the Wind Top AE2070. The base model is equipped with a 1600x900 multi-touch screen, a Pentium G620 CPU, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 500GB SATA II hard drive. An onboard Intel HD Graphics 2000 processor handles graphics. The computer runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit.

Consumers can choose to upgrade to a 3.1 GHz Core i3-2100, 8GB RAM, and a NVidia GeForce GT 540.

Other features include 802.11n WiFi and one gigabit LAN port, an integrated DVD burner, a webcam, and a 6-in-1 card reader. The all-in-one also includes an HDMI out, headphone and microphone minijacks, one open mini-PCI-E expansion slot. The AE2070 has four USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports. One USB port is powered even when the computer is off, which allows recharging of portable devices.

Pricing and availability for the MSI Wind Top AE2070 were not released.

Electronista

Details of AMD's Radeon HD 7000M already leaking out

AMD is planning to make a significant leap in performance with a sequel to its just-launched Radeon HD 6000M video, a detailed leak gave out on Monday. The Radeon HD 7000M series should be AMD's first notebook graphics built on a much smaller 28 nanometer process and run both faster and more efficiently as a result. Donanim Haber understood that its flagship chipset, Wimbledon, would be targeted at desktop replacements and would be as much as 25 percent faster versus its yet-to-ship 6000M equivalent.

The design would focus heavily on memory with a 256-bit memory bus and between 2GB to 4GB of GDDR5 RAM. Most other details weren't given out.

Remaining chipsets would be subsets of what Wimbledon would offer. Heathrow would occupy the mid-range and have either a 128- or 192-bit interface, between 1GB and 3GB of memory and power that could in some cases work with thin-and-light notebooks. This would be about 30 percent faster than the 6000M's current mid-range, according to the tip.


At the low end would be Chelsea, a 128-bit GDDR5 design with 1GB or 2GB of memory, and Thames, a chipset designed for starter systems with only 1GB of GDDR3 memory. AMD would nonetheless expect it to double the performance of its existing entry video.

All but Wimbledon are expected to ship sometime in fall 2011 and hint at such timing for production notebooks, although they could spill into early 2012. The highest end graphics wouldn't ship until spring 2012.

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How To Use A Computer To Work From Home

Copyright (c) 2007 Rebekah Mack Bono

If you are interested in working from home and have a computer with an Internet connection, most likely there is a job opportunity for you on the Internet. If you are willing to do some research and online legwork, chances are you will be able to use the computer to work at home.

Using a computer to work at home is actually quite simple. There are several types of jobs that require you to use a computer to work at home ' freelance service based jobs, transcription work, virtual assistant work, online auction sites, and many other options are available to you if you know how to use a computer. In fact, using a computer to work at home is one of the easiest ways to begin working from home.

Freelance service providers such as writers, graphic designers, and web developers all can use computers to work at home. If you do this job from a computer in an office for a corporation, it could be just as profitable, if not more so, to do the same job from your computer at home. If you're interested in using a computer to work from home, you could either ask your current employer about telecommuting, or go into business for yourself as a freelancer.

There are many transcription sites that allow you to train as a transcriptionist and then use a computer to work at home. If you have experience with typing or transcription, and are interested in working for an online employer instead of going into business for yourself, transcription might be a good way to use a computer to work at home.

If you have secretarial skills or have worked as an administrative assistant, you are probably qualified to work as a virtual assistant, or VA. Virtual assistants perform secretarial duties for clients over the Internet, using a computer to work from home. They may never meet their clients face to face, but work with them virtually in the same capacity as a secretary. There are many agencies that hire VA's, or you could go into business as a freelance VA and market yourself.

These are just a few of the many ways you can use a computer to work from home. Working from home is rewarding, allowing you flexible scheduling and free time when you need it. If you're interested in having more time to spend with your friends and family, or would like to avoid a long commute or the hassles of the corporate world, working from home might be the answer for you. Using a computer to work from home isn't difficult, and it just might be the best decision you ever made!