IDC and Canalys disagree whether this is the second or third consecutive quarter of growth, but either way, the slump is definitively behind us — and we haven’t even seen the impact of this year’s Qualcomm, AMD and Intel chip launches yet.
Mini Maker wasn’t on our transparent gadget radar, but I’m fixing that now! The Turbo Mini X looks incredibly svelte for something with a 65W Intel desktop chip inside, and there’s a companion eGPU with direct PCIe connection that’s allegedly faster than Thunderbolt. It’s not just vapor: Tom’s Hardware saw one.
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Originally I was just excited for LPCAMM2 modular laptop memory, but low-profile desktop RAM too? Hells yes.
More pics and info in MSI’s full tweets.
ASRock just traveled back in time from a distant future where USB-A is dead. Here’s its new Taichi Aqua motherboard as proof (via VideoCardz).
Like a certain Asus monitor we saw at CES and an LG before that, the new Acer Predator X32 X3 has a dual-mode panel that can do 480Hz at 1080p, or 240Hz at 4K. Typical brightness is just 275 nits, but it can peak at 1,000 — and it offers built-in KVM with 90W of USB-C PD charging, all for $1,200.
As an engineer for DEC in 1965, Bell played a pivotal role in shrinking room-sized computer systems into minicomputers.
An $18,000 prototype Bell created inspired the compact PCs we enjoy today. Bell later started the Computer History Museum.
[The New York Times]
Final shipments to vendors end on June 28th, 2024. I doubt this has anything to do with certain PC games crashing, but my partner did recently exchange his brand new Core i9-13900K because he was having the same issue. The 12th-gen K-series chips seem to be sticking around, too, at least for now. Curious...
They join our Best Monitor of CES, the $1,199 Alienware AW3225QF — though both the Asus and MSI panels are flat rather than curved, and add single-cable 90W USB-C docking and passive cooling. They’ve all got three-year burn-in warranties, though.
The Asus costs $1,299, while the MSI is just $949. Both companies announced availability today, but it depends on region: I’m only seeing notify me buttons for now. This HP is still on the way, too.
Leia is building a 3D empire on the back of the worst phone we’ve ever reviewed
And it plans to ship the first 3D OLED phone this year.
It’s good to see Intel’s gaming NUCs are alive and well under new management! This one’s definitely a NUC: loads of ports despite a small 2.5-liter chassis, Intel Core Ultra processors, and up to 140W of GPU power from what’s presumably mobile RTX 4070 graphics?
Here are the spec sheets and an early product page. We don’t have pricing or dates yet.
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The Epomaker DynaTab 75X looks super flashy here at CES, and it’s not all that expensive: under $150 for hot-swappable keys, USB-C, Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless (with hidden dongle), and a 10,000mAh battery. It’s a Kickstarter.
Part of an upcoming crop of 32-inch 240Hz 4K OLED panels — this one’s got a powerful KVM. Plug in a USB-C laptop to get a 2nd monitor, peripherals, and 140W PD charging, then switch its many USB ports over to your desktop via DP 2.1 or its pair of HDMI 2.1 video inputs instead. Plus, it’s got a small square base: I hate the big V-shaped ones.
While it strangely topped out at an RTX 4070 Ti at launch and no unlocked K-series CPUs, you should soon be able to nab a slimmed $3,499 prebuilt with an RTX 4090, Intel’s new Core i9-14900KF with 240mm liquid cooling, 32GB DDR5, two 1TB M.2 NVMe SSDs, and a 1000W PSU.
The Revolt has a integrated handle that folds flush into the case, a pop-out headphone holder, toolless side panels, and separate cooling zones for the CPU and GPU — and the $2,099 Platinum configuration seems a solid price for a prebuilt RTX 4070 machine with i5-13600K, 32GB of DDR5 and RGB.
The highest-end configs seem overpriced, though, and what’s with the low storage capacities? BYOSSD. Hyte also sells the case by itself for $130.
Last week, I told you how 42 Dough customers accused the company of stringing them along for months or years without shipping their products or issuing refunds.
Since then, 35 more customers have stepped forward — only two of which say they got satisfaction.
I have now sent Dough a partial list of order numbers that are waiting for fulfillment, with our readers’ permission. Dough owes those people as much as $50,000.
Dough doesn’t pass the smell test
Eve, the monitor and tablet company that some accuse of walking away with their money, hasn’t fixed its reputation.
VideoCardz:
Our sources indicate that Intel plans to launch the new series on October 17th, which is when the CPUs will become available for purchase, and reviews are expected to go live.
These may not be the Starfield chips you’re looking for: MSI’s big Intel leak suggests the gains are primarily in multithreaded workloads, and the game isn’t well-optimized for Intel there yet.
Framework sells its modular laptop motherboard a la carte to fulfill DIY desktop and cyberdeck dreams — and now, it’s selling off extra stock of these 11th Gen Intel Core models at deep discount.
You’ll also need storage, memory, and possibly ports (it’s only got four USB-C by itself). There’s also this neat transparent $39 Cooler Master case if you want to DIY an unofficial Intel NUC.
Remember when I said the new Starfield GPU is too pretty to hide inside my PC? I wouldn’t need to with a mini-case like this! Pretty potent processors inside this PC, too. (Minisforum via VideoCardz)
Even though it’s not coming till early 2024, Asus wants you to believe it’s “the chosen one.” And a 240Hz QD-OLED screen at 32 inches, with graphene cooling, USB-C, KVM and picture-in-picture certainly sounds good!
But there will be any number of 32-inch 240Hz 4K OLED monitors, and while I believe Asus more than Dough, Asus doesn’t offer an OLED burn-in warranty like Alienware, Corsair and LG do.
There’s also a curved 34-inch 240Hz 1440p WOLED coming, which I originally conflated with this one.