Lenovo ThinkPad X300

If there is one thing that history has taught us, it's that those who finish second are destined to be forgotten. Unfortunately for Lenovo, it's a sentiment that they can probably relate to now, given that for all their efforts on its super thin 'Kodachi' notebook, Apple's MacBook Air is likely to take all the credit for being the first 'super thin' notebook, all thanks to its successful marketing machinery and most importantly, an earlier launch date.Those in the know (or at least a passing interest in upcoming ultra-portables) will have heard of the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (aka Kodachi) and its long and eventful gestation. A slim notebook that almost matches that of the Air, but with slightly more functions and features, this new ThinkPad is aimed squarely at its core group of users - executives of the well-heeled variety. As the first ThinkPad to bear the Lenovo logo, the X300 spent one and a half long years in development and was originally conceived as a 10-inch notebook, though things didn't quite work out when the engineering team started to put parts together. While it could be done, the consensus by the Lenovo team then was that a 13.3-inch screen was better for watching movies and as such, prototypes were then manufactured accordingly. Despite that, one characteristic that stayed unchanged was the portability of the X300. When Apple revealed the Air at MacWorld 2008, the Lenovo team had a brief scare initially, though a quick test assured them that the X300 prototype could easily pass the same envelope test.Our previous review of the MacBook Air showed that the Air, despite its slim form factor and gorgeous appeal, lacked features that would have made it the product of choice for those hankering for a ultra-portable. So naturally, our eyes turned to the X300, which seemed to have covered all the bases that the Air missed out on, like a ultra-light DVD drive and having more than the Air's single, measly USB port. The X300 also has more connectivity options compared to the Air in the form of a LAN port with native WiMax available in the later part of 2008 and HSDPA support via USB dongle.\

Source: http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=14&id=2532 (for more info on the specs of thinkpad x300 pls view it at the above site)

AMD's New Phenom X4 9000 Series

Second Chance: The Fixed Phenoms (B3-Stepping)It's an odd relation that underdogs often seem to garner stronger public support than the leaders when the very reason the latter group is at its position because of their better performance/capabilities. Of course, the converse is equally true that underdogs require more cheerleading to keep them going in an effort that they would one day succeed the leader. Sounds rather familiar, doesn't it? That's because the tale of AMD and Intel go way back to the early days of the 286 and 386 days when AMD's clone processors offered a great alternative to Intel and so this race/competition has remained ever since. Fast forward to current times, we see AMD still in the same situation of trying to offer more value, but it has unfortunately not been successful. Unable to replicate the fast technological push that Intel has achieved and a quicker cycle of product refreshes from its Silicon Cadence (also known as the Tick-Tock effect), plus the fact that AMD has been unable to keep-up with demand and still saddled by its hopeful acquisition of ATI, this has left AMD between a rock and a hard place - both in its position and its financial books.

Despite this drawbacks and repeated delays, the highly anticipated AMD Barcelona processor using their K10 architecture finally made its way to the workstation and server space late last year. Though boasting several enhancements over the last iteration of the K8 architecture, it fell short of expectations by a large degree. In fact, in our own detailed Showdown article of Barcelona versus Clovertown versus. Harpertown processors , we found clock speeds of the Barcelona far lower than shown in past tech demos, as well as inferior performance and power efficiency when compared to the equivalent Intel platform. The differences were by no means small and that's what aggravated the situation.That wasn't all of Barcelona's woes. A TLB bug was later found and that further had implications on the Barcelona's system stability in certain scenarios - unless when patched with a BIOS fix that further hindered its overall performance. These issues also echoed on the consumer equivalent chip, the Phenom. After more months of waiting, frustration and beating around the bug, just two weeks ago AMD officially launched an updated Phenom processor series that utilizes the new B3 stepping which fixes the TLB bug for good and restoring a little performance back. To differentiate the original Phenom processors with the new set launched recently, there's been a slight update in the product model numbering. The added "50" to the processor model numbers denote processors using the bug-free core and the below table illustrates the renewed lineup.

Updated price points for these new chips too look to try and peck at Intel's offerings, but the narrow pricing delta would mean that it would make more sense for prospective buyers to top up a little more to grab the better edition. Perhaps the pricing differential would mean more to the developing countries where the differences in currency value might make for a better proposition. The Phenom X4 9850 'Black Edition', as per naming tradition, denotes that this SKU is multiplier unlocked and should be an attractive target for tweakers, while the 9650 model is currently slated for an OEM-only market, but you'll also likely find these as 'tray-edition' processors in time to come. The retail market still sells the equivalent 9600 model with the B2 core stepping, which should exit the market as stock depletes. That about sums up our introduction with the new Phenom X4 processors so take the next hop to get into our detailed performance analysis and see if AMD's second coming has any hot air left in it.

For AMD X4 processor line up comparison pls refer to source : http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=2&id=2537

Nikon COOLPIX S52c - Unwired Freedom

World without WiresDigital compact cameras with integrated wireless connectivity, though not a novelty in recent times, is still a rare feature found on selected cameras. While camera manufacturers constantly introduce better and smarter features for their top-of-the-line products, Nikon brought Wi-Fi capability to the list of features found on the Nikon COOLPIX S51c, and continues the tradition with its successor, the Nikon COOLPIX S52c. Do note that the S52c that landed in our labs is a pre-production model, hence our tests on the said device will be reflected as such, with possible differences with the mass production units.

Nikon COOLPIX S52c
Nikon COOLPIX S52c Specifications -->
Effective pixels
9.0 Megapixels
Image sensor
1/2.5-in. CCD; total pixels: approx. 9.30 million
Lens
3x Zoom-Nikkor; 6.3-18.9mm (35mm [135] format picture angle: 38-114mm); f/3.3-4.2; 12 elements in 9 groups
Digital zoom
Up to 4x (35mm [135] format picture angle: 456mm)
Focus range (from lens)
1 ft (30cm) to infinity, Macro close-up mode: 1.6 in (4cm) to infinity
Monitor
3.0-in., 230,000-dot, wide viewing angle TFT LCD with anti-reflection coating
Memory
Internal memory (approx. 38 MB), SD/SDHC memory card compatible
Image size (pixels)
3456 x 2592 (High: 3456/Normal: 3456)
3200 x 1800 (16:9)
2592 x 1944 (Normal: 2592)
2048 x 1536 (Normal: 2048)
1024 x 768 (PC: 1024)
640 x 480 (TV: 640)
Vibration reduction (VR)
Optical VR image stabilization
ISO sensitivity
100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, Auto
Power sources
EN-EL8 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery (supplied), EH-63 AC Adapter (supplied)
Interface
Hi-Speed USB, IEEE 802.11b/g
Battery life
Approx. 200 shots with EN-EL8 battery (based on CIPA standard)
Dimensions
97.5 x 59 x 21mm
Weight
125g

source from : http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=15&id=2533