By Jane McEntegart - Source : Tom's Guide

Gmail has always had a fair reputation as a mail service, however the last few months have seen a few outages for Gmail users, some of them lasting several days. Unfortunately, this week’s outage in service seems no different.

According to ComputerWorld, at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Google informed users via the Google Apps discussion forum of a problem preventing users from logging into their accounts. The company said that it expected a solution to the problem by 9 p.m. on Thursday.

While Google offered no reason as to why Gmail and Google Apps users were experiencing the problems, users reported that they were seeing a 502 error when trying to log in. Something that Gmail users are all too familiar with from August’s outages.

In that instance the company blogged about the problem once everything was under control and back up and running. However, while the post was very reassuring, it offered very little information on what caused the outages/502 errors in the first place.

“We’ve identified the source of this issue and fixed it. In addition, as with all issues that affect Gmail and our other services, we’re conducting a full review of what went wrong and moving quickly to update our internal systems and procedures accordingly. We don’t usually post about problems like this on our blog, but we wanted to make an exception in this case since so many people were impacted.”

Having moved quickly to update the internal systems and procedures, we’d assume two months down the line any updates would be complete and so, users should not be experiencing the same problems. Google said this morning that problem had been resolved, although that is what it said last time.

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By Aaron Heibert - Source : Tom's Hardware

Back in August, Many rumor sites noted that Nvidia’s ForceWare 180 drivers will introduce several major changes.

The 180 ForceWare release has been dubbed the release as “Big Bang II” in reference to the “Big Bang” release that introduced SLI support.

According to the rumors, the drivers were to make an appearance in September, however that is obviously not the case now. BUT, VR-Zone has posted a bunch of screenshots, apparently showing the ForceWare 180 driver control panel in action. You can view VR-Zone’s gallery here.

We all know that screenshots are easy to fake, but these ones at VR-Zone appear to be authentic. On a system containing dual GeForce GTX 280 cards and a pair of 22” displays, the drivers provide two novel options – A PhysX configuration page and settings for multiple displays in SLI mode. Currently, PhysX options reside in a separate control panel application, and enabling SLI involves the user manually switching to single-display mode. Essentially, there is no true SLI multi-monitor support. The multi-monitor section of the ForceWare 180 control panel shows what appears to be both dual-view and cloning modes.

You can see a warning on the control panel that says “Cloning the SLI focus display will reduce performance for fullscreen applications.”

There have been no new rumored release dates as of current, but some people believe it is going to be very soon.

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By Michael Brown - Source : Tom's Hardware

The deteriorating worldwide economy had a negative impact on PC shipments in the third quarter of 2008, according to IDC market analysts, but HP managed to retain its leadership position while Dell came in second.

The overall market grew 15.8 percent year over year, according to IDC, which was slightly less than projected. Sales of low-cost portable PCs are having the biggest impact on the sales, according to the company’s findings.

“The proliferation of low-cost portable PCs coincided perfectly with market conditions,” said Jay Chou, research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. “As more low-cost models enter the fray, a new pecking order may emerge among vendors as the market leans toward notebooks with ever-declining prices.”

IDC reported sluggish growth in the U.S. market, with increased sales of low-cost notebook PCs helping to keep the quarter in positive territory. Although the competitive landscape remains unchanged, according to IDC, Dell and Apple outperformed the rest of the market. The PC markets in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa performed better than average, driven by strong demand for mainstream notebook PCs.

HP retained its grip on the number-one spot by registering 14.9 percent growth in annual shipments, despite the recent downturn in the U.S. economy. The company shipped more than 15 million units in the quarter to grab an 18.8 percent share of the market. Dell’s business grew by only 11.4 percent, but the company benefitted from its growing retail presence (the company got its start, of course, by selling computers direct). Dell managed to ship more than 11 million units and enjoys a 14.2 percent market share.

Third-place Acer shipped nearly as many computers as Dell—just over 10 million—despite focusing primarily on portables. This earned the company a 12.5-percent share of the worldwide market. In the U.S., however, the company registered a 3.2-percent decline in PC shipments year over year when combined with Gateway’s results (Acer acquired Gateway in 2007).

Lenovo held onto the number four slot, holding 7.4 percent of the worldwide marekt despite achieving anemic annual growth of just 7.7 percent. The company shipped less than six million PCs in the third quarter. Toshiba rounds out the top five, having shipped just over 3.5 million units to achieve a market share of 4.6 percent.

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By Jane McEntegart - Source : Tom's Hardware

With little news about ongoing talks between Google and the U.S. Department of Justice regarding a proposed deal with Yahoo!, it seems the search giant is asking its advertisers to stand up for the deal.

TechCrunch received word from a reader called Darren who works with a company that spends a significant amount of money on AdWords. Darren said that one of Google’s attorneys contacted him about making a positive public statement about the Yahoogle deal.

“I received a voicemail from an attorney representing Google yesterday so of course I called back (voicemail attached). We spend about 100K a month on AdWords so we’d apparently been targeted because of that. He was looking for large advertisers who use both Google and Yahoo (we do) who would be willing to provide public testimonials in support of outsourcing Yahoo’s search ads to Google. I told him I’m a free-market competition kind of guy so he tried to address my concerns for about 15 minutes and then called it quits.”

The Yahoo/Google ad deal was, according to Google’s CEO, designed to meet government regulations. However, the deal has been on the table for months now and all the while the DOJ has been conducting it’s antitrust investigation. While competitors were worried the deal would create a monopoly, Google insisted the partnership would go ahead in October as planned. Now that the deal is no longer in the pipeline (pending talks with the DOJ), the competition is breathing a little easier. However, not all advertisers will be as diplomatic as Darren and if Google can get them to make enough of a racket, it might be enough to sway the DOJ.

For a recording of the voicemail from Google’s attorney, click through to TechCrunch.

(Via TechCrunch)

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By Kevin Parrish - Source : Tom's Guide

Apparently, a lawsuit against Microsoft exists in the Sacramento County Superior Court, alleging that an excessive number of Xbox 360 consoles have failed.

According to Dailygamesnews.com, the lawsuit also alleges that Microsoft purposely concealed the excessive failure rate in fear of losing its competitive edge over the imminent launch of both PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii consoles. If found guilty, Microsoft will have to publicly launch a refund program in California as well as disgorge all profits attributable to its sale of the Xbox 360.

Unfortunately, there are many factors weighing against the company while it faces a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit cites many recent articles published by websites and magazines that report on Microsoft’s knowledge of the hardware problems facing over 50% of the initial Xbox 360 consoles. Apparently, the company knew about the problem as far back as November 2005.

Although the Xbox 360 console’s financial success rate seems to contradict the company’s technical issues with its hardware, it’s generally believed to be the least reliable gaming console in this decade, perhaps overall. DailyTech spoke with a former EB Games employee during the console’s launch, discovering that 30% of its stock was defective. "The real numbers were between 30 to 33 percent,” said the former EB Games employee, adding that failure rate was even greater for launch consoles. “We had 35 Xbox 360s at launch. I know more than half of them broke within the first six months (red lights or making circles under the game discs). Two of them were dead on arrival.”

In turn, Microsoft extended the console’s warranty to three years instead of the typical one, specifically for cases of the dreaded "Red Ring of Death" (technically called General Hardware Failure). Initially the warranty covered the consoles manufactured in 2005, however that plan has extended to consoles built within the last year. Since the console’s initial release, Microsoft has steadily worked on improving the hardware, most notably implementing a new 2nd heatsink/pipe technology to provide additional cooling for the Xenos GPU.

The recent lawsuit is not the first Microsoft has had to face in regards to the Xbox 360. One consumer filed a class action lawsuit against Microsoft last year in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Rather than complaining about hardware failure, this lawsuit focused on the damage to game disks caused by the console’s drive, another problem the Xbox 360 has endured since it’s initial launch. The lawsuit claimed that the console was "negligently designed and manufactured in that the Console’s laser disc reading assembly contacts and scratches the video game discs during normal and intended operation and use." Another consumer filed a class action lawsuit in November 2006, claiming that an update patch "bricked" his Xbox 360 console, seeking over $5 million in damages and to force Microsoft to repair all damaged consoles for free.

As of now, the failure rate has dropped significantly thanks to a redesigning of the motherboard and the new falcon 65nm chip. Currently Xbox 360 models -from Arcade to Elite- should feature the redesigned hardware with a failure rate now below 15%. Still, console errors are not uncommon, as many consumers still endure video errors, hard drive failures, or other technical issues associated with one red light flashing. Those outstanding problems may hinder Microsoft’s defense even though the overall statistics show improvement over the 1st generation of consoles.

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By Kevin Parrish - Source : Tom's Guide

The thought of a wireless provider having the ability to remotely uninstall software from mobile phones is frightening, and that’s just what Android’s "Kill Switch" enables.

But as The Washington Post reports, that actually may be a good thing. While Google’s first Android phone - the T-Mobile G1 - invites developers to create a plethora of applications for users to download and install, some of those programs may have malicious intent and wreak havoc on mobile phones. The kill switch allows T-Mobile/Google to go in and uninstall the software, as it violates Google’s developer distribution agreement.

"While we encourage that community aspect, we are also very careful with the safety and security of the user," Google spokesperson told the Washington Post. "In limited cases where an application has a malicious intent, we will remove it from the Market and potentially uninstall it from user devices to ensure the safety of the Android Market community."

Google says it retains the right to remove the malicious software from the Android phone at its discretion; unlike Apple, the company hasn’t hidden this fact whatsoever. Google claims that it will even attempt to refund the infected consumer’s money. But many consumers may consider the kill switch as an invasion of privacy. After all, Microsoft doesn’t swoop in and uninstall viruses from infected copies of Windows XP and Vista; why should things be any different on a mobile phone?

That question cannot be answered for now, however Google’s intent is to keep the Android Market safe for consumers to download and install anything and everything safely. But because the Android Market is an open platform, and Google doesn’t inspect and moderate every release in the same restrictive form as Apple’s iPhone App Store, the potential for network-wide damage could be astronomical.

Recently Apple came under fire for its iPhone after a hacker discovered that Apple’s mobile phone features a hidden kill switch (or rather an application blacklist). Upon speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Apple’s Steve Jobs confirmed it to be true: there is such a feature on the iPhone. However, Jobs insisted that the backdoor access existed in case a malicious program tried to steal the user’s personal information and distribute it across the App Store.

"Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull," he told the paper.

Both Google and Apple have valid reasons for implementing a kill switch into their phones. But the thought that these secret accesses can be compromised is just as frightening as the implication that Google, T-Mobile and Apple can uninstall software remotely without warning or prior permission. Who’s to say that malevolent individuals employed by either companies won’t decide to take a peek at your personal info. There are no guarantees. Consumers will have to rely on faith alone that said companies have their customers’ best intentions at heart, not their wallets.

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By Kevin Parrish - Source : Tom's Guide

Users of Adobe’s Creative Suite 4 will finally get huge performance boost while manipulating video thanks to Nvidia’s new Quadro CX GPU.

The catch is that the Quadro CX costs a whopping $1,999, but the hefty pricetag just might be worth it. The PCIe card comes packed with 1.5GB GDDR3 memory and bandwidth up to 76.8 GBps, NVIDIA ’s CUDA Parallel Computing Processor, a 384-bit memory interface, Shader Model 4.0, support for DirectX 10, and duel DisplayPort connectors. The card’s maximum display resolution at 60Hz is a sharp and crisp 2560x1600.

Does that sound like a lot of horsepower for Photoshop and Premiere Pro? There’s never too much power when manipulating hi-res artwork and video. “A critical element of CS4 was to capture the enormous power of the GPU,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe. “The difference is astounding. Performance is important to creative professionals and with the NVIDIA GPU, they are assured to be able to interact with images and videos in a much faster, smoother, more engaging way.”

With CS4, the software will natively support the Quadro processor and use its parallel processing capability to speed up visually intensive operations. For Photoshop, the processor will enable real-time image rotation, zooming and panning. NVIDIA also said that Photoshop CS4 will utilize its processing power for 2D and 3D compositing and high-quality antialiasing. After Effects CS4 will feature effects accelerated by the NVIDIA GPU including depth of field, bilateral blur effects, cartoon effects and turbulent noise. Premier Pro CS4 will take advantage of the NVIDIA processor by enabling faster editing of multiple high-definition video streams and more.

The announcement of NVIDIA ’s Quadro CX and Adobe’s native support within the CS4 software comes at the heels of Apple’s recent statement that the company will be using NVIDIA ’s 9400M chipset in the latest Macbook and Macbook Pro. As Apple and Adobe go together like peanut butter and jelly in a sandwich, it comes as no surprise that both would find an equal interest in the GPU giant.

“The GPU being a central ingredient of Adobe Creative Suite 4 is a monumental milestone in the computer industry. Adobe is the recognized leader in revolutionary content tools and this marks the beginning of the GPU accelerated creative revolution,” said Dan Vivoli, executive vice president of marketing for NVIDIA. “We are honored to have been able to work so closely with the talented engineers at Adobe to help them take their world renowned suite to the next level.”

And while the Quadro CX announcement seemed geared towards the graphic arts industry, one must question as to how this card would fair when used in a gaming environment. After all, all work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy... or at least that’s what Jack Nicholson said in The Shinning.

For consumers who can’t shell out an extra two grand from their wallets, Adobe says that CS4 will natively support all NVIDIA GPUs.

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By Aaron Heibert - Source : Tom's Hardware

Although not officially confirmed, the Dell support pages recently started displaying the Inspiron Mini 12 (1210) – strongly hinting that a 12-inch netbook is on the way from Dell.

The Inspiron 1210 support page contains all the material found on current shipping products. Things such as the User Manual, Setup Guide, Troubleshooting documents, the list goes on. Within the setup guide you can find a list of basic system specifications.

Apparently you get your choice between the Intel Atom Z520 and the Z530 CPU coupled with a stock amount of 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 10/100 ethernet, Bluetooth & WiFi, optional WWAN, three USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, audio in/out, 1.3-megapixel camera, and a 12.1-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800. 3- or 6-cell batteries appears to be options as well, which is a real big bonus over other netbook offerings – many of which still ship with a 3-cell.

The unit weight comes in at 2.73-pounds – which is quite impressive based on the fact that it’s a 12.1-inch unit. We assume the posted weight is based on the use of a 3-cell battery, you can expect slightly more weight with a 6-cell, naturally. There also appears to be no indication if the unit will ship with standard mechanical hard drives or solid state drives. Knowing Dell, the option for either will be present if/when the system goes live for order on their site.

It also looks as though Ubuntu may be an optional operating system as well, for those Linux people out there – there is no word on pricing, and no indication that the unit will cost less if available/purchased with Ubuntu.

You can link directly to the findings on the Dell site here. In the event the link goes down, here are some shots of what can be found there currently. Have a look around!

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By Kevin Parrish - Source : Tom's Guide

There’s nothing like jumping on the Spore DRM bandwagon... again.

It appears that Will Wright’s latest creation, the widely popular game Spore, can’t stay out of the negative light. Whether it’s a lawsuit filed in courts or Will Wright himself speaking out, the game has certainly made a name for itself despite positive or negative reviews. Surprisingly enough, Spore recently earned a "Breakthrough Reward" from Popular Mechanics, recognized for its achievement in design, creativity, and engineering. Unfortunately the game’s DRM plague and the super-secret software it silently installs on consumer PCs may make its achievements that much less spectacular.

Last night at the Popular Mechanics annual Breakthrough Awards ceremony in New York City, Kotaku’s Jim Reilly approached Will Wright after the event and asked about his involvement with the DRM decision-making process.

"It was something I probably should have tuned into more. It was a corporate decision to go with DRM on Spore. They had a plan and the parameters, but now we’re allowing more authentications and working with players to de-authenticate which makes it more in line like an iTunes," Wright told Reilly. "I think one of the most valid concerns about it was you could only install it so many times. For most players it’s not an issue, it’s a pretty small percentage, but some people do like wiping their hard disk and installing it 20 times or they want to play it 10 years later."

Will Wright couldn’t be more off the mark. While many gamers did complain about the installation limitations, the biggest issue was the installation of SecuRom without notifying the consumer. Thus, the anti-piracy silent infiltrates the system and cannot be removed without wiping the drive entirely. And as for the installation limitations, educated PC gamers wipe their drives on a regular basis, getting rid of junk that collects in the operating system over time. While installation limitations are understandable from a anti-piracy standpoint, in the long run, it only antagonizes the consumer, thus making them less likely to purchase a PC game in the future, but rather a console version of the same title.

So is DRM a permanent fixture in the PC gaming forecast? Will Wright had an answer for that question too. "I think it’s an interim solution to an interim problem," he told Kotaku. "You have games like Battlefield Heroes coming out where the idea is you give away the game and sell upgrades, which works more in the Asian markets where you need to monetize it over the Internet. I think we’re in this uncomfortable spot in going from what’s primarily a brink and motor shrink-wrapped product to what eventually will become more of an online monetization model."

Will going digital help prevent piracy? It’s possible. Many publishers including Electronic Arts and Atari- are already considering going totally digital. Online retail outlets such as Direct2Drive and Valve Software’s Steam have already proven that digital purchases are a lucrative business. But in the meantime, gamers will have to suffer with DRM while the industry tried to find its footing in the fight against piracy.

The unfortunate aspect about the entire DRM controversy is that Will Wright’s current game -while an honest attempt at originality and innovation- is taking the heat, and in the long run, the Spore name may turn the stomachs of legit gamers understandably sour.

You can read Tom’s Games’ review(s) of spore by heading here and here.

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By Steve Seguin - Source : Tom's Guide

Hewlett-Packard is expected to release a consumer-oriented notebook with a touchscreen interface later this year.

Although the Apple iPhone has been rather successful with its touchscreen design, many other manufactures have yet to develop their own strong markets that use touchscreen technology. According to the WSJ, Hewlett-Packard will increase its focus on the touchscreen market this year in hopes of increasing its notebook sales. It is reported that by the end of the year, HP will unveil a new consumer notebook that will feature a touchscreen and special HP software that will support the touchscreen.

Although there are already HP touchscreen notebooks, such as the HP Pavilion tx1000 tablet PC, the new notebooks will be marketed much more strongly than the existing Tablet PCs. It would also seem that HP is developing its own touch interface for these new touchscreen notebooks, attempting to hide the Windows operating system that it will run on. The innovation firm Frog Design has been hired by HP to help with the project and the collaboration has already lead to the development of HP’s TouchSmart desktop.

The TouchSmart desktop has been available for some time in HP desktop PCs that feature touchscreens and a revamped version of it may be what will be included with the new touchscreen notebooks. The multi-touch interface of the TouchSmart desktop allows users to move items around, search through music albums, surf the web, resize photos and do other simple tasks.

With an expected strong marketing campaign and a well designed touchscreen interface, HP may actually do rather well with its new touchscreen devices. Apple has already successfully broken the ice in the ’touch’ market, such as with its multi-touch Macbooks and its touchscreen iPhones, possibly helping HP with its endeavor. Consumers may not be quite so scared to give HP’s upcoming touchscreen devices a try if they already feel familiar with touchscreens. We will likely hear quite a bit more about HP’s touchscreen devices at CES in January.

Also mentioned by the WSJ is the rumor that HP will be releasing a 10-inch netbook later this year. Although the netbook will not have a touchscreen, it will help HP capitalize on the the growing netbook market phenomenon. HP is also planning to release a consumer line of cellphones in the next year, which will feature touchscreens.

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By Aaron Heibert - Source : Tom's Hardware

Rumors that Microsoft is planning to release SP2 for Vista prior to releasing Windows 7 does not at all seem unrealistic – seeing as Microsoft itself has confirmed that SP2 is indeed in the works. No comment was made of exact time lines, however.

Some rumors indicate that Microsoft may have already shipped beta versions of SP2 to select hardware and software partners along with early builds of Windows 7. Microsoft has created a place holder Knowledge Base Article on October 2 related to the forthcoming SP2 betas, piquing the interests of anyone who has taken notice.

There haven’t been any reports from testers mentioning any of the features due out in Vista SP2 or Windows Server 2008 SP2/R2 – however, Mary Jo Foley over at ZDNet blogs claims sources have provided the following information:

« “Microsoft’s goal is to deliver both SP2 releases before it delivers Windows 7 in order to lessen confusion among users as to whether to deploy Vista and Windows Server 2008 — or to wait for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (a k a Windows 7 Server). Currently, Microsoft is believed to be attempting to RTM Windows 7 in the second half of 2009. The Softies have said Windows Server 2008 R2 is on track for 2010.” »

« “Because Microsoft is trying to keep Windows client and server code in lock-step, Windows Server 2008 was built around the Vista SP1 codebase. That’s why the first standalone service pack for Server 2008 is being called SP2. As many customers still are reticent to deploy a new OS until the first standalone SP goes out, Microsoft also is pushing to get SP2 for server out there to convince these users to consider upgrading. “ »

According to a spokesperson for the Vista team: “Microsoft is working on a second Windows Vista server pack (Windows Vista SP2) and will share more details in the coming months.” A spokesperson for the Server team says “The comment (above) serves for Windows Server as well; Microsoft is not commenting further on the timing/release plans for WS08 SP2 at this time, but will share more details in the coming months.”

Some of us are already aware that Microsoft is to release a public Beta 1 of Windows 7 in mid-December of this year. There has been no mention of Beta 1 for Server 2008 however, but we could speculate that it is to take place either around the same time or shortly there-after.

Some people may be looking forward to the release of a second service pack for the Vista platform while others might turn a blind eye as they stick with Windows XP and wait to see what Windows “7” brings to the plate. 61 percent of consumers, according to Gartner survey data, are skipping Windows Vista all together – a lot of these people are comparing the release of Vista to the release of Windows ME. Technology aside, it’s the timing, and no need for it right now – seems to be a general consensus among those wanting to skip.

An even larger portion are starting to think that Windows 7 will not be much different from Vista – clearly showing a lack of faith in Microsoft lately. At Gartner Symposium ITxpo that took place in Orlando – Microsoft Steve Ballmer spoke via Q&A with Gartner analysts Neil MacDonald and David Mitchell Smith.

Ballmer first defended Vista like he had at last year’s Gartner show, claiming, “The adoption rate of Vista is two times faster than XP at two years in.” He had also noted that there were compatibility issues as well. “We had great success with security and starting to see a ramp with adoption.”

Ballmer was also asked why Windows 7 is considered a major release instead of just the second revision of Vista. His reply was: “It’s not a minor because it’s a lot more work than a minor release. It’s a major release.” He also noted that Windows 7 will improve the operating system shell. “Windows 7 will be Vista, but a lot better,” and “If people want to wait, they can.”

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By Michael Brown - Source : Tom's Hardware

Gateway announced two new desktop PCs today, the gaming-oriented FX6710 and the LX6200, which the company says was designed with “digital media enthusiasts” in mind.

The FX6710 is the latest in Gateway’s FX series, which the company pitches to the gamer crowd. It’s interesting that Gateway chose Intel’s quad-core Core2 Q9400, and not a faster-clocked dual-core processor, considering how slow game developers have been to embrace multi-threading. The Q9400 runs at 2.66GHz, features 6MB of L2 cache, and runs its front-side bus at 1,333MHz. Intel offers six 45nm dual-core processors that run at higher clock speeds than the Q9400, and that doesn’t include the company’s Extreme series CPUs.

The company’s videocard choice is another puzzler: the ATI Radeon HD 4850 (with 512MB of memory) is certainly a good value for the money, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the Radeon HD 4870, much less the dual-GPU Radeon HD 4870 X2. Audio enthusiasts will appreciate the presence of a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi card.

Gateway equips the FX6710 with a generous 6GB of DDR2 memory, a 750GB SATA II hard drive, an 18x SuperMulti DVD burner (Blu-ray is available as an option), and a 15-in-1 digital media card reader. The machine has six USB 2.0 ports (two in the front, four in the rear), one eSATA port, and two IEEE 1394a ports (one in the front, one in the rear). The system ships with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista and sells for $1,199.99.

If your interests lie more in digital media (e.g., photo and video editing), take a look at Gateway’s new LX6200. This rig looks almost identical to the FX6710—minus the FX logo and the burnt-orange trim—but it’s very different on the inside. For starters, Gateway tapped AMD’s quad-core Phenom X4 9500 processor for this machine. Yes, that 9500. As you might recall, AMD discovered a bug in this chip’s translation look-aside buffer that could cause a system lock-up in rare circumstances. BIOS and OS patches have long since fixed the problem (by turning off the TLB), but the fixes result in a performance penalty of about 10 percent.

AMD now maintains that because the 9500’s defective TLB has been disabled, the part—which AMD no longer manufactures—doesn’t have a bug at all. What about the performance hit? An AMD spokesperson told us today that “mainstream users aren’t going to encounter it. Besides, that part is significantly discounted, and Gateway has been able to extend that savings to their customer.”

Indeed, the LX6200 sells for just $779.99—not bad for a quad-core rig. The LX6200 uses integrated graphics (ATI’s Radeon HD 3200), but with 8GB of DDR2 memory onboard, buyers shouldn’t have to worry about the GPU hogging resources. Gateway puts a hybrid analog/digital TV tuner in the box (whatever happened to CableCARD?) and there’s an HDMI video port for easy connection to an HDTV.

The rest of the LX6200’s components are identical to the gaming rig: A 750GB SATA II hard drive, an 18x SuperMulti DVD burner (here again, Blu-ray is an available option), and a 15-in-1 digital media card reader.

Both machines are available now.

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By Marcus Yam - Source : Tom's Guide

Unlike with the original Xbox, Microsoft decided to not ship every Xbox 360 with a hard drive. While this saddened developers, Microsoft’s decision allowed it to offer a low-cost entry into the system.

With the upcoming release of the New Xbox Experience interface for Xbox 360, slated for November, the choice to offer a barebones core system without mass storage has painted those without hard drives into a corner.

The New Xbox Experience update will give the Xbox 360 a completely redone interface that will introduce new media streaming options, avatars, game installs and other features. Such an update will require at least 128 MB of storage, leaving those without hard drives or still-roomy 256 MB or 512 MB memory units out in the cold.

Microsoft’s solution to this arrives with its Xbox 360 Memory Upgrade Program, which gives owners of the neutered consoles a discounted – or even free – storage upgrade.

Gamers may hit Microsoft’s dedicated site here to see if they are eligible for one of the following offers after submission of console ID and serial number:

1. 512 MB Memory Unit for free
2. Refurbished 20 GB Hard Drive for $19.99
3. Refurbished 20 GB Hard Drive and three months of Xbox Live Gold for $29.99

To break it down, Xbox 360 Core units, which shipped with a wired controller and no storage at all, have the choice between the first two options. The Xbox 360 Arcade units, however, are directed to the third option as the SKU already includes a 256 MB Memory Unit.

Clearly, the offer does not extend to the Premium, Pro or Elite SKUs as those packages include hard drives in 20, 60 and 120 GB models.

Taking this upgrade path into consideration, the $199.99 price point for an Xbox 360 appears to be a strong value for the mainstream gamer. Even with the memory upgrade of $30, the total price is still comfortably below that of the Nintendo Wii.

Although nothing with topple the Nintendo juggernaut this holiday season, budget conscious gamers may give Microsoft’s console addition consideration thanks to its price, expanded multimedia media capabilities and perhaps even the friendly avatars.

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By Gavin Steacy - Source : Tom's Hardware

Nobody enjoys having to open up the computer case and possibly move components just to reach that tiny and often poorly placed CMOS reset jumper cap every time an overclock fails. Silverstone has recently released a solution to the problem that has frustrated overclockers for so long - an external CMOS reset switch to replace the jumper cap known unsurprisingly as Clear CMOS.

The reset switch is mounted on a bracket which simply slots into an available space on your expansion card backplate. For most people this is far more convenient than having to open up the case. Others may find having to reach around to the back of their case just as annoying, depending on where the case is situated.

The switch itself is quite small and is therefore easy to damage or activate if bumped. Silverstone added a red cover which protects the switch and prevents an accidental reset. The switch is connected to the CMOS reset jumper with wires similar to those used by the front panel switches, and therefore replaces the original jumper cap. The bracket is essentially a modified version of the company’s Aero Slots expansion slot covers and has four ventilation holes on either side of the switch.

The concept of an external CMOS clear switch is not a new one. Motherboard manufacturers such as Universal abit have used them for some time, often placing them on the motherboard backplate. These switches are often small, flimsy and uncovered so that they can be activated by accident.

Pricing and availability for Clear CMOS is not yet known.

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By Steve Seguin - Source : Tom's Hardware

Zotac and Evga have released new nForce 730i motherboards featuring Nvidia Geforce 9300 integrated graphics.

The new motherboards by Zotac and Evga are among the first to use the newly announced nForce 730i chipset. Both motherboards support Intel socket LGA775 based processors with FSB speeds up to 1333 MHz. They also feature integrated Nvidia Geforce 9300 graphics, which are faster than current Intel integrated graphics solutions, but not fast enough for serious gaming. Further information regarding Nvidia’s new Geforce 9300 platform can be found in a recent Tom’s Hardware article.

The new GF9300-A-E (aka, the Zotac Geforce 9300) motherboard by Zotac uses a microATX form factor with one PCI-E x16 slot, one PCI-E 1x slot and two PCI slots. There are four DDR2 sockets available, with support for up to 16 GB of DDR2 800 MHz RAM. There are also six SATA ports available with RAID support, along with a single PATA connector that can support two devices.

On the back panel there are four USB ports, a PS/2 mouse port, a PS/2 keyboard port, audio ports, a RJ45 port, a DVI port, a VGA port and a HDMI port. From the product photos, it would seem as if the motherboard uses a fan to cool the chipset. According to Zotac, there is also an onboard diagnostic display that provides diagnostic information for advanced users.

The new 113-YW-E115-TR (aka, the Evga 730i) motherboard by Evga uses an ATX form factor with one PCI-E x16 slot, two PCI-E x1 slots and three PCI slots. There are four DDR2 sockets available, with support for up to 8 GB of DDR2 800 MHz memory. There are also eight SATA ports available with RAID support, a floppy connector and a single PATA connector.

On the back panel there are four USB ports, audio ports, a PS/2 mouse port, a PS/2 keyboard port, a RJ45 port, a DVI-D port, a VGA port and a HDMI port. From the product photos, it would appear that the motherboard has no fan present. The new Evga motherboard has a MSRP of $129.99.

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By Gavin Steacy - Source : Tom's Hardware

For those that didn’t know, there is in fact a free magazine dedicated strictly to overclocking. Don’t be shocked now - it’s called The Overclocker.

The magazine was created because overclocking is of great importance to enthusiasts but there wasn’t a single magazine that gave the topic the attention that a dedicated magazine would. The authors Nick Ross and Josh Collins even quit their jobs to start the magazine.

The Overclocker is a digital magazine with no direct affiliation with any company or website. Because one of the goals of the authors is "binding the world’s overclocking communities together" and not create its own community, the magazine’s website does not even have its own forum.

The magazine focuses on hardware and overclocking news from around the world, reports on overclocking events, short hardware reviews and interviews with the world’s most skilled overclockers. There are also plenty of competitions with very simple questions to answer. You can even enter a competition just for signing up.

Issue #2 includes an interview with top Intel engineer Francois Piednoel, a report on Gigabyte’s Open Overclocking Championship and a shootout between AMD’s and NVIDIA’s top and midrange cards.

If you don’t want to view the electronic version, the magazine is currently available in print to US citizens only through Hewlett Packard’s MagCloud and there is a small charge to cover the cost of printing and shipping.

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