Thread: Anandtech News

Here we go again. Pretty much every SATA 6Gb/s SSD offering has experienced some issues and it appears the Crucial M4 is no exception. There have been threads about non-stop blue screens of death (BSOD) floating around in Crucial's forums for a month or so. Yesterday, Crucial announced that they are on schedule to provide a firmware update for their M4 SSD series. The update is supposed to fix a firmware bug that is causing the BSODs after about 5000 hours of active use. The BSODs are not random and occur roughly every hour, which definitely affects productivity. Luckily, the data on the SSD remains unaffected. If Crucial is able to meet their schedule, the update will be available the week of January 16th.



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Windows 8's new Storage Spaces functionality will easily allow users and system administrators to pool different physical drives together into one logical drive, writes Rajeev Nagar on the Building Windows 8 blog. This functionality, which is similar in some ways to the now-discontinued Windows Home Server Drive Extender, will allow drives of any capacity connected to a PC by USB, SATA, or SAS interfaces to be seen by the OS as one large drive.
Once you've created a storage pool using two or more drives, you can then set up one or more "spaces" that will be seen by the operating system as a logical drive which can be formatted, partitioned, and used just as a physical disk would be. To provide redundancy, you can either apply the "mirrored" attribute to your pool, which makes sure that a copy of every file in the pool is stored on at least two different physical drives, or the "parity" attribute, which uses some drive space to store redundancy information - in the event of drive failure, this information is used to rebuild your pool and enforce mirroring. Microsoft notes that while the two redundancy options are similar, the "parity" attribute is best used for large sequential files or less-frequently-accessed content, since it has a higher random I/O overhead.

When creating a new Storage Space, you can specify a maximum size larger than the amount of available physical space - the system will prompt you when the storage pool needs more drives to work with. Microsoft calls this "thin provisioning," which means that drive capacity is only reserved as you store data to the drive rather than all at once. You can also expand the maximum size of the Storage Space at a later point if necessary. Creation of these spaces can be scripted using PowerShell.
For an in-depth look at how this technology works (and a FAQ which answers, among other questions, some inquiries about its similarities to and advantages over RAID), check out the full post using the link below.
Source: Building Windows 8 Blog



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Testing computer hardware can be a difficult process. On the one hand there’s a desire for more information and benchmarks, and on the other hand there’s a desire for timely reviews. Our goal at AnandTech has always been to deliver the most comprehensive reviews possible, and while we strive to timeliness there are occasions where additional testing or questions may delay a review. Ultimately, there’s a balancing act that needs to be maintained, and over time we periodically refresh our review suite and testing methodologies.

With 2012 now here, we’re launching a new suite of benchmarks for our laptop reviews. Some of the tests have already been in use for a while and others are brand new. In order to provide a single location with a list of our benchmarks and testing procedures, we have put together this short overview. We plan on using the following test suite throughout 2012, and while it’s possible we will add some benchmarks, we don’t have any plans to stop using any of the following at least for the next year.


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Although they're not officially supposed to go on sale until tomorrow, Newegg already has their selection of 7970s up for sale this evening. Newegg has cards from all of AMD's major North American partners, including HIS, Gigabyte, XFX, Asus, Sapphire, and PowerColor. Most of them are at the AMD MSRP of $549, though the Asus card is $589, and XFX's custom cooled and overclocked model is at $599.
While we don't have an official statement from AMD on 7970 availability, historically the first run of every next-generation GPU has sold out and we don't expect the 7970 to be any different. (Ed: One sold out while we were writing this post).



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T27B750

Samsung has started CES early and has announced two new monitor lineups: Series 7 and Series 9. Series 7 is a premium consumer-grade series whereas Series 9 is mainly aimed toward professionals. Below are the specifcations:

Samsung Series 7 and Series 9 Specifications
	Series 7		Series 9
Model	C27B750X	T27B750	S27A970
Screen Size	27"	27"	27"
Panel Type	WVA (?)	TN	PLS
Backlight	LED	LED	CCFL (?)
Resolution	1920x1080	1920x1080	2560x1440
Brightness	300cd/m^2	300cd/m^2	300cd/m^2
Contrast Ratio	5000:1	1000:1	1000:1
Viewing Angles	178/178	170/160	178/178
Video Inputs	HDMI	2x HDMI, VGA	HDMI, dual-link DVI, DisplayPort
Other Connectivity	2x USB 3.0, USB 2.0, audio out, LAN, Central Station	2x USB 3.0, USB 2.0, audio out, WiFi, HDTV tuner	2x USB 2.0
Speaker	2x 5W	2x 7W	2x 7W
MHL	Yes	Yes	Yes
Price	$549	$599	$1199
Availability	March 2012

C27B750X seems the be the successor of C27A750X, which was the first monitor to feature Central Station technology. We analyzed Central Station in last June and to summarize it briefly, it's basically a wireless laptop docking station. You connect a USB stick to your laptop and when you come within ~5 feet of the display, it automatically connects to the display. It acts as an external monitor but you can also use the USB devices connected to the monitor. Unfortunately, the display is still 1080p but the panel type has changed. Samsung lists the type as Wide Viewing Angle LED but as far as I know, there is no such panel type. It's definitely not TN as the viewing angles are much better. It's possible that it's a new panel type developed by Samsung or simply a fancy name for e.g. S-PVA or PLS. The price is down by $50 when compared to its predecessor, which is certainly a welcome action.

C27B750X

Samsung markets the T27B750 as a monitor but due to its HDTV tuner, it's more like an HDTV. However, it does feature a few USB ports and 27" is suitable for desktop use as well. Unfortunately, the panel type is TN so quality wise T27B750 is the worst of the three displays being launched. $599 makes it fairly expensive but its unique design (see photo at the top of this article) may be something people are willing to pay extra to get.
As for the S27A970, it's currently the only member of the Series 9. It's 27" just like the Series 7 monitors but features 2560x1440 resolution instead of the more common 1920x1080. It uses a PLS panel which is similar to IPS, but according to Samsung provides better viewing angles and image quality. $1199 is a high price for a monitor but Series 9 has been designed for professional use, hence the price can be justified. However, it's still more expensive than e.g. Dell's U2711 or the Apple Thunderbolt Display, although the Samsung may feature a better panel (Dell and Apple both use an LG panel, while the Samsung ones seems to be in-house).
Also, all monitors include MHL, Mobile High-definition Link. It's an interface found in some newer smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus, and HTC Evo 3D. The interface is capable of carrying 1080p uncompressed video and 8-channel audio. MHL doesn't use a specific port and it can be tied to micro-USB and HDMI, both which are fairly common in higher end smartphones. While the availability isn't until March 2012, Samsung will have all three monitors on display at CES 2012.
Source: Samsung (1), (2)



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We're expecting to see a lot of Thunderbolt devices at CES this year and we've already seen our first two new products, both from LaCie. The first is the new LaCie 2big Thunderbolt drive. This is a dual drive 3.5" enclosure that will be offered in capacities of up to 8TB.
Next up is the LaCie Thunderbolt eSATA Hub. This device looks like a Little Big Disk but adds two eSATA ports to your Mac via Thunderbolt. Despite the large chassis all that's inside is a power supply and a SATA controller board.
Gallery: LaCie at CES: 2big & eSATA Thunderbolt Hubs




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OWC released a SandForce SF-2281 based 2011 MacBook Air SSD upgrade earlier this year in 120GB and 240GB capacities (the Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G). Using Hynix 2x-nm NAND (64GB packages with 8GB die) OWC is now shipping a 480GB version for $1149. If you need a ton of capacity for your MacBook Air, this is really the only solution.
Gallery: OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G 480GB SSD Upgrade for MacBook Air




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It technically doesn't start for another day, but CES is in full swing in Las Vegas. As part of the fun, Acer is bringing us the thinnest Ultrabook yet: The Aspire S5. This 13.3" class laptop measures just 15 mm at its thickest point and weighs in at under 3 lbs. Specs get thin from there, the Intel Core processor, SSD and sealed battery are a given; what we don't know is the size of the battery nor the price or release date, though Q2 2012 is promised. What draws our eye more than the thinness lies beneath what's being called a "MagicFlip I/O" port panel. In an homage to the original MacBook Air, Acer is including a concealed panel for connectivity beneath the display hinge. Where the original MBA, though, made do with a single USB port, the Aspire S5 features HDMI, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, a first for a non-Apple laptop. Rated at 20 Gbps, the Thunderbolt port could be driven by Intel's Eagle Ridge chip, or it could be a newer Cactus Ridge part we'd been waiting to encounter. We'll be sure to report in when we get our hands on one.

Acer's mainstream Timeline family of laptops are getting thinner and lighter than ever before. Tacking the Ultra modifier to their name is not just a marketing ploy, these 14" and 15" laptops measure just 20 mm thick, promise an 8 hour battery life and even manage to squeeze in an optical drive. The chassis is attractive and roomy enough for a full sized number pad on the 15" model. As with the Aspire S5, details are slim at the moment, we do know that an SSD/HDD storage option will be available and a Q1 2012 ship date is promised.

There is no shortage of online lockers to store files in the cloud. That's not stopping Acer from developing an integrated solution for all of its products. Called AcerCloud, the new service promises seamless access of files stored either on remote devices or in the cloud. This fuses the concept of the 'personal cloud' and cloud storage in general, and mimics offerings like Motorola's MotoCast and DropBox. Services are a different beast than consumer products, and execution is key. Data loss or service interruption can be costly, and it will be interesting to see how Acer performs in this new role. AcerCloud will be featured on all Acer consumer PCs starting in Q2 2012 and the software will be compatible with all Android phones and tablets, with plans for a Windows Phone version at a later date.
Speaking of tablets, Acer teased though they did not formally announce their latest tablet, the Acer Iconia Tab A700. Thoroughly leaked late last year, the new slate is no less surprising for its 1920 x 1080 10.1" display, the first of what we expect to be several such Android tablets. Though nowhere near Retina Display caliber, the 218 ppi pixel density easily bests other Android tablets. Powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 3 quad-core SoC, clocked at 1.3 GHz, and running Android 4.0, the tablet should give stark competition to Asus Transformer Prime. We'll have to wait to sometime in Q2 2012 to see who comes out on top.



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In 2011, Lenovo made a cursory effort to grab some of the consumer Android tablet space with the 7" K1, and a slightly more concerted effort to grab the enterprise tablet space with the ThinkPad Tablet. This year they seem to be reaching further. In a release ahead of CES Lenovo has revealed two rather interesting products, the K91 Android TV and the S2 Tablet featuring the Qualcomm MSM8960 SoC, the first Krait-powered device announced.

The K91 is a 55" 1080p LED-backlit IPS 3D TV and runs Android 4.0 across that big beautiful screen. This isn't a Google TV device, this set is running a modified Ice Cream Sandwich build complete with Android Market access, voice controls, a 5MP camera for video calls and the ability to interface with Lenovo phones and tablets as either remote controls or secondary displays. The software stack Lenovo is running is heavily modified to unite live TV and Android apps in a carousel style UI. Based on the renders there seems to be little left of the Holo theme, a matter which might contradict that Market access claim. The whole thing is powered by a Qualcomm APQ8060 S3 Snapdragon SoC, and though the release claims that the device is available immediately in China, no price or US availability is mentioned.

Possibly more intriguing than this Android-driven Smart TV is the IdeaTab S2 10 tablet, a 10.1" Android tablet featuring the much awaited MSM8960 S4 Snapdragon SoC. Krait has been a long time coming, and though no release date is provided, this is still a significant milestone on the road to a commercially available device. The chassis is an impressive 0.34" thick and weighs just 1.1 lbs, and comes with a textured back and 1280 x 800 IPS display. Android 4.0 is on order, though Lenovo's Mondrian UI obfuscates the vanilla goodness. We will make a bee line for this thing the moment we have a chance and will get you a hands-on impression as soon as we do.
Gallery: Lenovo K91 Smart TV and IdeaTab S2 10 Press Images





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Take four Indilinx Everest controllers, put them behind custom OCZ FPGAs that implement its own VCA (RAID-like) architecture and you've got the Chiron. The complete enclosure provides support for up to 4TB of NAND, making it a very pricey but viable option if you need a ton of solid state storage in a standard 3.5" form factor.

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