Computex 2010 Roundup: Coverage From The Show Floor

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Dmitry Chekanov, managing editor of Tom's Hardware Russia, spent some quality time on the Computex 2010 show floor, complementing the news stories you've been reading all week. This weekend he's sharing what he found in Taipei, Taiwan this year.

MSI: Notebooks, Motherboard, And...Furniture?

Dynaudio is a name well-known amongst audiophiles. And now you can buy a notebook with a certified Dynaudio sound system for gamers: MSI's GT660. You get a GeForce GTX 285M graphics card (read our coverage on this one if you think it's anywhere close to a GTX 285), the MSI GPU Boost/Turbo Drive Engine technologies, an Intel Core i7-720QM CPU, and up to 12GB of DDR3 memory. Of course, beautiful sound is part of the package, too. We listened to this one in a demo room, and the sound was really impressive while listening to music and playing games.

Designed for power users, the Big Bang-series products have received a lot of attention from enthusiasts, and were highly acclaimed at CES and CeBIT last year. Following the launch of Big Bang-Trinergy and Big Bang-Fuzion, Big Bang-XPower supports six PCIe x16 expansion slots and includes Quantum Wave sound card, purportedly optimized for gaming.

Big Bang-XPower integrates the newest THX TruStudio PRO and Creative EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0 technologies to play back crisp audio. Based on the Intel X58 Express chipset, this remains one of the highest-performing desktop platforms for enthusiast PC users.

So, we have another nice board with support for multi-GPU configurations (both SLI and CrossFire). But it is limited to 6 PCIe slots, so configurations employing four dual-slot graphic cards are not supported. Fortunately, there aren't many folks willing to drop that much graphics horsepower into a gaming box.

Are you tired of your keyboard? Do you like to draw? Take a look at the SketchBook, a new netbook from MSI that can be used with a standard keyboard or with the drawing module.

MSI also manufactures many other devices, including airplane chairs. Now you can enjoy Blu-ray 3D, even during flight.

20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Wow, some good stuff. However, I find it odd that Intel did(will?) not add USB3 support on the LGA 1155 platform. Maybe saving it for Light Peak? Next, I really liked that SSD exhibit w/ 1 in hot water and 1 in ice. Also, how the hell will ASUS keep a 5770 cool with that puny heatsink? The sad thing is, you gotta sift through the crap and gimmicks to get to the good stuff.
    Reply
  • frye
    So is Intel never going to support USB3? Haswell's after Sandy Bridge, but that's not out till 2013. I'm going to agree with Eugenester that Intel's just going wait until their Light Peak tech's ready.

    Reply
  • Kelavarus
    I really want that SketchBook. Hope they have decent battery life, decent specs, and a nice price.

    It's like an update of one of those HPs. FINALLY!

    Also, Rosewill has had an alkaline charger for a little while now. Works too, if Newegg reviews can be trusted.
    Reply
  • wiinippongamer
    FINALLY a hardware article of this event
    Reply
  • ashkaji
    wiinippongamerFINALLY a hardware article of this event
    Seriously. If I want babes I have a plithora of websites that'll spam me with tatas. I wana know about the tech! :D
    Reply
  • 4ILY45
    Asus's Immensity specs looks good(provided the manage to solve the heat issue) .. 5770 in trifire. YUM!!

    That Gigabit powerline adapter looks promising.. *prays that it has low ping*
    Reply
  • JonnyDough
    Open chassis cases are not at all practical. While it may look cool there are several disadvantages. Dust will settle on the motherboard as there are no filters, you can cut your finger bad on CPU fans and heat-sink fins (so can pets, and a child can get burned on the heat-sink as well). Not to mention someone could spill a drink on it, and the static sensitive parts are exposed.

    If you're going to build a nice rig, it seems it would make sense to protect it. I would rather just have a plain computer workbench for piecing together a system prior to dropping it into a case. Use a clear case if you want to put your components on display.
    Reply
  • JonnyDough
    ashkajiSeriously. If I want babes I have a plithora of websites that'll spam me with tatas. I wana know about the tech!
    No kidding. The booth "babes" really are just that. Babies...children. When I was 24 I was probably already too old to be dating any of them. Some of us realize differences in maturity and don't spend all our time being lustful - there is actually more to great sex than just looks (try a personal connection with someone local who you can actually get to know) and if the sad people who photograph young teenage girls and put them on display for other sad people would just realize this they may actually be able to get a woman and hold onto her. Think a bit deeper than the exterior, don't you think our society is superficial enough? Once a guy can get past the immature sexual discovery years they will hopefully realize that there is so much more to life than obsessing about putting your stick in a hole. i.e. obsessing about amazing leaps forward in science and tech. :)

    I'm not saying its wrong to think about sex, but maybe next time instead of taking so many pictures of silly girls you could snap more photos of what the show is actually ABOUT and lead with THAT.

    Lead with innovation and not with your...

    Now if only GM CEOs had done that.
    Reply
  • JonnyDough
    Alkaline battery charger, great idea. But I hope that after 20 charges the alkaline battery fails to take a charge, as opposed to catching fire or exploding.

    What happens if you put rechargeable batteries in it? Does it use more electricity to recharge the batteries than a normal rechargeable battery? I thought that alkaline batteries had good output but were more resistant to taking a charge? How does a recharged alkaline compare in output power (i.e. will it reproduce proper voltage) and will the batteries run as long per charge compared to a higher end rechargeable battery? I'm all for being environmentally friendly but if it requires burning more coal at a power plant to recharge one it might be better to just recycle your batteries if new ones perform much more optimally. Speaking of which - I would MUCH rather see recycling programs take a real hold here in America for electronic wastes than for a device like this - as this only pertains to one type of electronic tech. Electronics have so many valuable and toxic metals in them.

    It would be great to have broad recycling done right for once, I think the government is so busy addressing other issues all the time that our politicians have failed to properly implement local, state, and federal recycling programs. We could really use statewide and/or nationwide recycling programs! Where I live we have NONE. Heck, get the U.N. to implement some sort of global recycling initiative. Cut back on oil demand and spills, and pollution/cancer rates. Slash our thirst for new metals and mining...and actually be a bit nicer to our environment while reducing our need for new resources. Why bury so many good materials in landfills and pollute our oceans and streams? I just don't get why this hasn't been more of a front burner. We've had recycling capability for over thirty years, but its still small scale.
    Reply
  • I want some specs on those mousepads.
    Reply