AOpen Press Release, ABIT Press Release, Thermaltake's Tsunami Dream and Others
Good evening friends, how was your day? Mine was okay, nothing terribly exciting. A little work, a little play, you know how it goes. However, from the looks of my inbox, the news front was rock'n this afternoon. So, go pull a stool up to the juice bar and order whatever you wish, there is lots to choose from...
PRESS RELEASE - AOPEN Introduces Two New USB 2.0 External Optical Drives
SAN JOSE, CA USA - June 21, 2004 - AOpen(R) Inc., an award-winning, global leader in PC component design and manufacturing, today announced that it is now shipping two new USB 2.0 optical drives: the external AOpen Combo5232 Drive (Model EHB-5232U) and the external AOpen Slim 4X DVD+/-RW Drive (Model ESV-289U) in North America. These drives are perfectly suited for users on the go who need to quickly and easily switch from desktop to notebook and back - or any other computing and storage demand that requires the greatest flexibility with maximum performance. "Now that we have the internal drive technology nailed-down solid, it's time for us to introduce portable models with the same great features," said Scott Chien, Vice President, Optical Storage Devices, AOpen Inc. "These two performers are both USB 2.0 drives with a host of extended features and a bonus bundle of software that will let anyone create anything from basic data storage to professional-quality movies," Chien went on to say.
Both products come with an impressive software bundle with mainstream recording and authoring software, like Ahead Nero, NeoDVD, PowerDVD and Video Studio, depending on the drive model and its respective writing capabilities. They also are delivered with the USB 2.0 interface; support plug-and-play functionality; are hot-swappable; provide buffer under-run error prevention; and come with stereo CD-audio outputs. The drives are capable of writing and re-writing many CD or DVD formats, and the ESV-289U 4X DVD+/-RW Drive boasts the same functionality and performance as an internal DVD-ROM drive.
The external AOpen Combo5232 Drive has an MSRP of $99.99; and the external AOpen DVD+/-RW Drive has an MSRP of $249. Both drives come with a 1-year limited warranty. For more information and detailed specifications for these quality optical drive products from AOpen, please visit:
Combo5232: http://english.aopen.com.tw/products/combo/EHB-5232U.htm
DVD+/-RW Drive: http://USA.aopen.com/products/dvd+rw/ESV-289U.htm
PRESS RELEASE - ABIT Launches the AV8 for the 939-pin Athlon64
June 21, 2004 - ABIT brings a higher level of performance to the AMD platform with the release of the ABIT AV8. The AV8 is optimized for the latest AMD AthlonTM 64 and 64 FX processors, pushing 64-bit Performance for enthusiasts and gamers. ABIT's µGuruTM has added AutodriveTM to allow ABIT users to have their PC automatically speed up or slow down according to what the user is doing. With ABIT's BulletProof Technology, the AV8 is Torture Test Passed to ensure durability not found on other boards.
"We chose to build our 939-pin AMD solution based on VIA's K8T800 Pro chipset," said Scott Thirlwell, Marketing Director of ABIT Computer. "Our VIA K8T800 Pro solution for the 754-pin Athlon64, the KV8-PRO, was named as 'The Best Athlon64 Platform' and I believe that our VIA K8t800 Pro solution for the 939-pin Athlon 64 will also be the mobo of choice." The ABITGamers Gaming Teams are all using the ABIT KV8-PRO or AV8 motherboards to ensure the highest levels of durability and the most advanced hardware monitoring, tweaking and overclocking features of any desktop motherboard.To Read the Full Press Release: Click Here
Thermaltake's Tsunami Dream Case @ TechTastic.ca
"Today we take a look at the newest case design from Thermaltake the Tsunami Dream. This new aluminum case has a lot of the standard features offered on other Thermaltake cases, plus a few new ones such as a mirror finish, huge 120mm fans, and a chassis intrusion detector."
nVidia FX6800 Benchmarked @ T-Break
"nVidia sent us their FX6800 reference card clocked at 325/700 which they say will be priced around $350. Along with other cards, we'll compare this card against its main competitor- the Radeon x800 PRO which is ATI's lowest end card in their new line-up as well. Coming back to the price, it would be interesting to see how this card compares to the high-end older generation of nVidia and ATI cards as well as they are somewhat similarly priced."
"Chaintech's Apogee 5700UA is without a doubt an excellent mid-range graphics card featuring excellent cooling, great overclocking utility, the latest technology with DDR3 SDRAM, and a nice software bundle. In the race for the high-end cards, ATI seems to have the lead with the X800 Pro and X800 XT Platinum Edition but not everyone has $400-500 laying around to burn through and that much power is simply overkill for the vast majority of users out there. In the mid-range market with the 5700 Ultra against ATI's Radeon 9600XT, Nvidia seems to be the one to come out on top in the vast majority of cases. In addition to that we were able to find Chaintech's Apogee 5700UA for $188 at the very respected dealer Newegg with free shipping, which considering all of the features of the Chaintech card is an excellent deal. To sum it up, if you're looking for a mid-range graphics card and want something that can handle most of today's games and more target towards a gamer this is a great card to go with."
"BuffaloTech has long been in the OEM field and just recently slid into the performance market. We've taken a look at their previous DDR modules and they all faired rather well. Today we have their newest dual channel matched pair package in the 2X512MB flavor. If anything, they have THE coolest names...let's see if they perform that way."
Time for me to get some sleep, I will see you back here in the AM :) - Cheers
