Thread: Anandtech News

The launch of the first Motorola Droid was a watershed moment for the Android platform and Motorola alike. The original Droid’s masculine and modern industrial design showed the world that the nearly-finished handset maker hadn’t lost the ability to craft sexy hardware, and Android’s 2.0 release brought a host of new features and polish.

The original Droid has weathered its time as Verizon’s flagship Android device rather well, receiving relatively timely updates from Motorola which has brought it to 2.0.1, 2.1, and now 2.2. Though Motorola nailed the industrial design aesthetics, the hardware’s SoC is starting to feel dated, and the device itself has begun to show its age next to competition from HTC. The original Droid’s keyboard also was a subject of intense criticism, with Motorola itself silently updating the keyboard design midway through the Droid’s lifespan.

There isn’t a lot for Motorola to change, but it’s undoubtedly time for a platform update. We’ve been playing around with it for a while now, and here it is - the Droid 2.



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I don’t know the last time I was this excited about AMD’s roadmap. Zacate and Ontario are due out in a quarter, and both promise to bring competition to an area where we haven’t seen much from AMD.

Llano is slated for release near the end of Q2 next year. While it won’t be a big step forward in CPU performance, we should see a huge increase in integrated graphics performance.

Sampling in Q4 of this year and shipping sometime next year is AMD’s next-generation microarchitecture: Bulldozer.

Within the course of twelve months we will see AMD introduce three drastically different microprocessors into the market’s eager hands. We’ve been dying for more competition and AMD is planning on giving us just that. But that's the future, what about the present?

Today AMD announced speed bumps to nearly every processor in its desktop lineup. Everything from the dual-core Athlon II to the six-core Phenom II gets a new family member today. And they’re all very attractively priced.



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We’ve seen more than our fair share of Pine Trail netbooks since their launch late last year. Performance has never been spectacular, but battery life and portability have been strong points. Today we’ve got a look at HP’s Mini 5102, which marks a couple of firsts for our Atom reviews. Not only is this the first “business” netbook we’ve reviewed, but it’s also our first look at what Broadcom’s Crystal HD decoder can do for Atom. Read on to see how HP’s latest compares to the competition.

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We’re currently down in San Jose, California covering NVIDIA’s annual GPU Technology Conference. While we're only covering the final 2 days of the conference, on Tuesday NVIDIA's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang announced the company's next two GPUs: Kepler and Maxwell. Due in late 2011 and 2013 respectively, these will be the next GPU families for the company and will be their major 28nm and 22nm products. At this point NVIDIA isn't telling us more more than the name and the expected double precision floating point performance, but it's certainly a start. Read on for more information.

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Gateway certainly isn't the first brand you think of when you're looking for a stylish, classy, well-rounded notebook, but that's just what they aim to bring to the table with the ID49C series. Does a dash of aluminum and backlighting blended with a svelte build and mainstream hardware elevate the ID49C beyond the usual consumer fare, or are the engineers at Gateway solving the wrong problems? We take a look inside the ID49C and see if it deserves to be on your shortlist.

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When we looked at NVIDIA's 480M with its 100W TDP, we were curious how long it would take for notebook manufacturers to deal with the power requirements that two such GPUs would place on a laptop. Three months later and Clevo has now revamped their flagship desktop replacement to support 480M SLI with desktop Core i7 processors—including support for hex-core options up to the i7-980X! Make no mistake about it: this is a beast of a notebook designed for a certain clientele, with pricing higher than most are willing to pay. But if you want the fastest DTR system on the planet (at least for now), the X7200 is the new king of the hill.

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Acer is launching a series of new notebooks in their Aspire TimelineX range boasting mobile form factors, Intel Arrandale processors, and up to 8 hours of battery life. These new models come in a variety of sizes, starting with an ultra low voltage 11.6" model. 13.3", 14" and 15.6" models with full voltage processors are also available. All models feature Acer's CineCrystal 16:9 LED-backlit displays. These new notebooks are available today starting at $600 for the ultra mobile 11.6" model.

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Acer is revving up their fall lineup, with the launch of several new desktop computers aimed at three very distinct markets. At the affordable end is the Acer AspireRevo AR3700 nettop computer featuring an Intel Atom D525 dual-core processor and NVIDIA’s ION graphics to provide it with genuine HD media performance. New to the midrange is a pair of all-in-one computers. The Acer Aspire AZ3100 has a 21.5” HD display, while the AZ5700 features a multi-touch capable 23” display, along with a TV tuner. Finally, Acer has also launched two new gaming machines. The Acer Predator AG5900 is a mainstream model with an Intel Core i7 and AMD Radeon HD 5850 graphics. Meanwhile, the AG7750 aims at the enthusiast with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 and the option for SLI down the road.

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I've wanted a higher density, more compact alternative to the 30-inch 2560 x 1600 panels that I've seen for the past 6 years. Apple was the first to intrigue me with the 27-inch iMac, however I didn't need another computer, I just wanted a monitor. Earlier this year we reviewed Dell's U2711, a 27-inch CCFL backlit LCD display with a 2560 x 1440 resolution and loved it.

Recently Apple presented us with an alternative. An LED backlit, 27-inch Cinema Display similar to what's used in the new iMac but without the Mac part. Priced at $999 it's actually $100 cheaper than the Dell, but lacks the input flexibility of the U2711. What Apple does give you is an integrated MagSafe power adapter useful for charging your MacBook Pro in a very sleek package. But how well does it do as a monitor? Read on for our full review.



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