Dell Launches Pair of Low-Cost Laptops

Budget-conscious consumers who want the convenience of a laptop computer will have two new options from Dell Computer: the SmartStep 100N and the Inspiron 2600.

These machines, announced Monday, are targeted at first-time notebook purchasers and entry-level users, says Anne Camden, a spokesperson for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell. One target group is "a parent looking for a second PC for the children," she says.

The SmartStep, equivalent to Dell's desktop SmartStep D100, comes in only one configuration and is priced at $899 on Dell's Web site, including a $50 discount exclusive to Web purchases. The Inspiron 2600 comes in a variety of configurations, says Camden, and is priced at $949 with the $50 online purchase discount from Dell. The notebooks are available only through Dell's Web site or by calling Dell.

Both notebooks "are good buys," says Rob Enderle, research fellow at Giga Information Group in Santa Clara, California. "[The notebooks] offer decent performance, and have scored well in benchmarking tests," he says.

Making a Sale
However, Dell will probably attempt to sell consumers on notebooks with more functionality and options, after having attracted them to Dell through low prices, he says.

"This seems like more of a marketing initiative," he says, predicting that consumers would likely be pitched the Inspiron 2600 with one of its higher-performance configurations after inquiring about the SmartStep 100N. Dell's margins on a machine like the SmartStep 100N are probably minimal, he says.

The SmartStep 100N comes with a 14.1 inch XGA display, a 1.06-GHz Celeron processor from Intel, 128MB of shared synchronous dynamic RAM, a 20GB hard drive, and an internal 24X speed CD-ROM drive. It weighs 6.8 pounds and measures 12.9 inches by 10.8 inches by 1.45 inches.

The Inspiron 2600 is the lowest-priced model in Dell's Inspiron notebook line. The base configuration comes with a 1.06-GHz Celeron processor, but users can upgrade to Intel's Mobile Pentium III processors at either 1 GHz or 1.13 GHz. The machine also features expandable memory up to 512MB and as much as 40GB of hard disk storage. It weighs 6.8 pounds with a 14.1-inch display, or 7.6 pounds with a 15 inch-display.

The Smartstep notebook is available only in the U.S. and Canada as of Monday, but it will be rolled out in China and the U.K. within 60 days, Camden says. The Inspiron 2600 is available now globally.

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Will Anybody Listen to Napster's New Tune?

Napster will be back, say company officials who recently previewed the revamped version of the much maligned, pioneering digital music site here. But with fees and a new file format, plus limits on which music you can download and which you can only stream to hear, you might not recognize it when it arrives.

Napster officials say they're trying to close deals with all the major music labels before they reopen for business. Cutting licensing deals will enable Napster to offer a broad selection of popular music without risking charges of copyright violations like those that have kept the company in court for most of the past two years. The company has already signed with a handful of independent record labels, including Matador Records, Vitaminic, TVT Records, and Edel Records, to include their wares among the new selection.

Users will have to pay between $5 and $10 monthly for a maximum of 50 downloads, usable only for that month, say Napster representatives. But the biggest change will be the addition of a new type of file format: the .nap file, which users can download but cannot burn on CDs, and must play using a Napster client. "These files are more secure," says Paul Breton, a Napster spokesperson. Some tunes will still be available in MP3 format, Napster spokespeople say.

Napster will in turn pay the labels based on how frequently their artists' music is downloaded. The site is implementing an ID system with usage tracking to monitor downloads. Security and copyright protection have become priorities.

Singing a New Song
Music industry licenses hold the key to Napster's return, which keeps the pressure on the ongoing negotiations, notes Fred von Lohmann, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a technology-related civil liberties organization.

"Napster needs to come back with a deep catalogue" of music, von Lohmann adds. "But with some companies holding out against each other, that maybe a problem." On that topic, Napster officials say only they are hopeful that the site can reopen "soon."

Many observers note that the new Napster faces a challenge regaining and retaining customers who will have to pay instead of enjoying the freewheeling song-swapping system it once was. However, some also say Napster can succeed.

"In the long term, free online music is unsustainable, and users will learn to pay," says Jeff Eisenach, president of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a technology policy-research institute.

In pay-to-play services like MusicNet, Pressplay, and the reborn Napster, "we are seeing the first editions of the future," Eisenach adds. All three of those online music services are owned or controlled by the music industry. Sony Music and Universal jointly own Pressplay; EMI, BMG and AOL own Musicnet; and BMG now controls Napster.

Familiarity is in Napster's favor, von Lohmann says. "Napster has a strong brand name, and people are willing to pay if you give them a value proposition," he says.

Discordant Voices
The establishment music industry isn't going to be able to buy control of the renegade online music movement, suggests Siva Vaidhyanathan, a copyright expert who is writing a book on Napster.

"No one will use MusicNet, Pressplay, or Napster because people now use other free systems like Gnutella, Morpheus, and Kazaa," Vaidhyanathan says. He also questions the music industry's claim that free online music siphons their profits, noting that fans still buy CDs, and that online music provides publicity for artists.

In fact, some artists scoff at that the music labels' claim that they oppose free online music because it hurts creativity and cuts into artists' royalties. Vocalists Don Henley and Sheryl Crow are among those who have criticized the industry for revealing the royalties they pay artists.

"The worse the music industry looks to consumers, the more people will use peer-to-peer file swapping," Vaidhyanathan says.

And ironically, the labels themselves now face suspicion that it is trying to monopolize the emerging digital music industry. Late in February, their case against Napster took a new twist when Judge Marilyn Hall Patel observed that the industry could itself be indulging in anticompetitive practices and violating its copyrights by launching MusicNet and Pressplay.

"The [Napster] judge is looking into whether the industry is pursuing anticompetitive practices," Vaidhyanathan says.

At least one analyst suggests the next notes of Napster's tune are crucial.

"The music industry, which is controlled by five major players, is at crossroads," says Matt Kleinschmit, a senior research manager at Ipsos Reid, a market research company. He says how the music giants react to the sweeping changes that technology is bringing to the industry will determine not only the shape of the industry, but also how we listen to music in the time to come.

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ATI Radeon 8500 Review

Tweakers Australia has just posted a review on the Auriga ATI Radeon 8500 64MB

Snip: With the Auriga branded Radeon going for about $470 AUD, and the Asus Geforce3 T2 Deluxe card sitting around the $520 mark, your not only saving $50, but you getting performance like a Ti500. Not to mention the added support for dual-display using HydraVision technology, plus the ability to output to DVI capable screens - no wonder the Radeon 8500 has attracted so much attention! Coupled with the superior Direct3D anti-aliasing technology known as Smoothvision, as well as a number of other advanced image quality enhancements, the Auriga ATI Radeon 8500 is definitely the best 'bang-for-the-buck' card around. If anybody is looking to upgrade their video card, I would seriously suggest the Radeon 8500 from Auriga.

Source: http://www.tweakers.com.au/articles/graphics/auriga_r8500/page1.asp

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The Microsoft Challenge 2002: When Programmers Hit the Ice!

"What happens when Microsoft programmers are given time off? They hit the ice with some of their favourite celebrities! The Microsoft Challenge 2002 not only allows everyone to have some fun in their spare time, all proceeds go to help out a good cause. In this case, Seattle Ronald McDonald House. Check it out!"

Source: http://www.futurelooks.com/display.asp?i=95&p=1

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EPoX 8K3A+ Motherboard Review

TweakTown has just posted a review on the EPoX 8K3A+ Motherboard. Here's a snip:

"By now, most of us are aware of the new KT333 chipset that is hitting the streets in force. But what can it do that the KT266A can't? Come join TweakTown as they take a look at the EPoX 8K3A+ Motherboard. It features this very same chipset, and we'll let you know just what it can do... and what it can't."

Source: http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=208

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Cooler-Master 2002 Product Lineup Article

Today at G3D we take a look at Coolermaster's latest 2002 product lineup. Check it out.

"Coolermaster is a company we have all known as a company for some of the sweetest cases ever made and some fairly OEM type heatsinks that are nothing special. Now they have expanded their horizons with the release of their Retail Lineup of products including heatsinks designed for intense overclocking like the HHC-001, 2 thermal pastes one being copper based and the other being aluminum based, new rounded cables for IDE and Floppy and newly designed case fans with some interesting features."

Source: http://www.gamingin3d.com/articles/coolermaster/

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Pentium 4 2.2 GHz vs. Athlon XP 2000+

Digit-Life (www.digit-life.com) has posted its two new articles

Pentium 4 2.2 GHz vs. Athlon XP 2000+ on different platforms
In this article we included
- ALi AP715D3S (ALi ALADDiN P4)
- Soltek 85DR-C (i845D)
- ASUS P4T-E (i850)
- Soltek 85DRS2 (SiS645)
- VIA P4XB-RA (VIA P4X266A)
- Iwill XP333-R rev.2.1 (ALi MAGiK 1 rev.C)
- Abit KG7-RAID (AMD 760)
- Abit NV7m (NVIDIA nForce 420-D)
- ASUS A7N266-C (NVIDIA nForce 415-D)
- Chaintech 7SID (SiS735)
- Gigabyte 7VTX-P (VIA KT266A)
- Gigabyte 7VRX-P (VIA KT333)

Source: http://www.digit-life.com/articles/roundupintelamdmar2k2/index.html

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M-BOX BW3210 MP3 CD Player in Video Review

"The M-Box MP3 Player hits the mark on affordability and easy of use. Something distinctive with this kind of product is the ability to record many MP3's directly onto regular inexpensive CDR media" ~3dGameMan.com

Source: http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/merconnet/mbox_bw3210/video_review.htm

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Digital Doc 5 Review

PC Review.co.uk is back has a new review of the Digital Doc 5, a thermal management system for the PC

“As we all know, Heat is the Overclockers worst enemy, and case fans are one of the only ways to reduce the effect... with 6 different case fans, your PC may be cool, but it will also sound like a plane taking off. The Digital Doc 5 allows you to make sure your system temperature is as it should be. This is basically a temperature monitor with some very handy features.”

Source: http://www.pcreview.co.uk/article.php?threadid=126

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