This is the system that will be powering Cheapskate Labs for the foreseeable future.
(Credit: eCost)Well, I did it. After four years with a hulking, noisy, upgraded-to-the-limit Pentium 4 tower, I finally pulled the trigger on a new system. It's a refurbished HP Pavilion M9350F, which eCost has on sale for $619.99.
The specs on this thing are pretty unreal: a quad-core AMD processor, 6GB of RAM, a 750GB hard drive, a 512MB GeForce 9800GT graphics card, a TV tuner, and 802.11n wireless connectivity. No Blu-ray drive, but I honestly couldn't care less. I'm happy with the LightScribe burner.
I just hope that it's quieter than the jet turbine that currently sits under my desk. And I'm a bit concerned about overheating, which, according to a few user reviews I've read, is a problem with this model.
But I'll deal with that, if and when it occurs. This system lists for about $1,200, so $620 (plus $30 for shipping) was too good to pass up. I can't offer a hands-on recommendation yet, but I will say I've never seen a system as loaded as this one for such a low price.
Because this is a refurb, it comes with only a 90-day warranty. That doesn't bother me. In my experience, a desktop either works, or it doesn't. Any problems should manifest within those first three months.
Thanks to reader j_a_s_p_e_r for the heads-up on this deal!
(Credit:
CNET)
Rumor had it the Nintendo DSi, a new, slimmer version of the DS Lite, would ship first in Japan in early summer of next year. But in a surprise move, Nintendo has said the recently announced handheld game system is ready to ship.
According to Michelle Wyman, a spokeswoman for Nintendo, the DSi goes on sale Saturday in Japan for 18,900 yen, which is about $192.16.
The device does away with the Game Boy Advance card slot to make room for a smaller footprint and new features like a VGA camera and an external camera rumored to be 2 megapixels. All told, though, it's pretty similar to the current version of the DS Lite. We should expect to see it in America sometime next year, though how much it will cost, we don't yet know.
LeapFrog's Didj gaming system.
(Credit: LeapFrog)A few months ago we got a preview of Leapfrog's new handheld learning/gaming systems, the Didj ($89.99) and Leapster 2 ($69.99)--and now they're officially available.
LeapFrog doesn't exactly bill the Didj as a Nintendo DS competitor, but the new device is geared toward 6- to 10-year-olds, an age bracket where the DS currently rules. Meanwhile, the Leapster 2 is targeted at even younger children.
The idea behind the Didj is to up the gaming and graphics ante while continuing to integrate the learning stuff that the company's known for. Those educational elements are starting to show up in a handful of DS games, but LeapFrog's giving the whole educational-gaming slant a harder spin to appeal to parents who would prefer to have their grade-schoolers graduate to something other than the DS.
While the Didj doesn't have a Wi-Fi connection like the DS, there's a whole online angle that LeapFrog's working with its LeapFrog Connect Application. The application lets children customize game content (the device connects via USB to both PCs and Macs).
According to LeapFrog's news release, "Players first select and personalize an avatar. Then they design the game, choosing background scenery, color schemes or music. Most important, parents and kids can then customize content, connecting gameplay with schoolwork. Multiplication hard to master? Kids can choose to be quizzed on the 6s, 7s and 8s tables. Spelling a stumbling block? Kids can create a custom spelling list from the 10,000-word database and practice for next week's test."
The Leapster 2 is also available now.
(Credit: LeapFrog)I saw an early build of the game that ships with Didj and the graphics are indeed--excuse the pun--a nice leap forward for LeapFrog. At launch, 9 games are available for the system, including SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog, Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants: Fists of Foam, and Indiana Jones. Another premium title, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is due out shortly. Didj games carry an MSRP of $29.99.
Here's a rehash of the Didj's key specs:
- Processor: 393 MHz Arm 9
- Display: 320x240 resolution
- One 24-bit 2D layer (no hardware acceleration)
- One 16-bit 3D layer
- One YUV video layer (no hardware acceleration)
- Graphics: API OpenGL ES 1.1--A reduced instruction set version of OpenGL for embedded systems
- Main RAM: 32 MB DDRI 131 MHz
- NAND Flash: 256MB for data storage/download content
- Media Cartridge: 64MB
- System Software: Brio--Firmware is built on an abstraction layer called Brio to make OS and hardware transparent to developers. This means all software must be ported to Brio to run on this device.
- Screen LCD: 3.2 inches, 16.7-Million Color TFT
Anybody think the Didj is a worthy DS competitor? And: Can it appeal to both parents and kids?
(Credit:
Master-Rig)
Take a look at the "D-Box GP-200" game chair posted just a few minutes ago, which looks about as aesthetically polished as its industrial name would suggest. Now imagine it morphing into a designer form worthy of the most Spartan interiors. That would be the "Battle-Rig Pro."
This German-made game station can be built with various color choices and personal specs for integration with any decor, according to Techie Diva. The apparatus includes built-in speakers and anything else that can be accommodated by its various storage compartments.
There's just one catch: Only Germany, Austria and Switzerland are listed as delivery destinations. But, as Techie Diva says, the company thankfully allows on-site pickup as well.
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