ELSA Gladiac MX
If you've read the GeForce2 MX (GF2 MX) review, you'll remember that the GF2 MX chipset is capable of being shipping in a wide variety of flavors from memory configurations to various video support options. The Gladiac MX, hardware-wise, is basically the same configuration as the reference design. The board has 32 MBs of SDRAM memory using a 128-bit interface. Video options on this board have been left to an optional video-in/video-out (or VIVO) module that will be available by the time this product is on store shelves for about $32. I was a little surprised not to see TwinView available on this product but that must've been a tradeoff that ELSA made to keep initial pricing down (more on this idea below). The software bundle consists of the driver, utilities, Software DVD player and ELSA's Best Select software option. Best Select offers ELSA customers' select game titles at an ultra-low price. The selection is rather small but it has a few decent choices as long as you don't already have those titles. This might be appealing to some, as they want to get as much as they can for the price.
The one odd thing with the Gladiac MX was that I had expected the pricing for such a configuration to be about $149 at first and then drop slightly after a few weeks on the market. The board in actuality will sell for $179 initially and I'm sure prices will drop after a few weeks on the market. I asked ELSA about these higher than expected costs and the official response was that there were added costs to being first to market with the product. I wonder how long their sales will suffer until they drop the price. Not many people are going to impulse buy on such a product when they can wait a few weeks and pay much less for the Gladiac or a competitor based on the GF2 MX.
