The Windows 7 basics are all included. From the Paint and the Game Centre to Notepad and essential tools. As there is no productivity software installed, you can either get yourself Office or you can download any one of the free variations such as OpenOffice which is as compatible and useful but without as many bells and whistles.

ASUS have added some other extras though. You get the Eee Cam and Eee Cinema. The former is hugely entertaining (as I mentioned in a previous post) and while it does have some speed issues, I rate it as well worth using for creative purposes. The Eee Cinema, on the other hand, has proven somewhat surprising.

A simple tap on the icon takes you to the programme which will automatically scan for media and add them to the database. Once that’s done you can swipe between Photos, Videos, Music, Movies, Options and YouMemo – navigation is slick with either a screen swipe or a tap on the arrows getting you around.

YouMemo is a cute little addition that plays a similar role as to Windows Sticky Notes. You type in the note and it appears on the virtual corkboard. It’s a well put together programme as you can vary stationery – pen, pencil, paintbrush – colour, stamps, and fonts. Save takes you to the landing page where your notes can appear in chronological order.  You can also set an alarm and it is genius for letting kids unleash their creativity. A tap on the house (home) icon takes you back to the menu.

Movies is where you’ll find whatever disc rests in your Blu-ray player and playback is instantaneous and sweet. I love it. I am going to try streaming from one of my portable devices in another post this weekend but for now I know where to go. To get back from Movies you can either tap the home button or just swipe the screen. That last is a lovely touch I think.

Options gives you the opportunity to set your Eee Cinema to use green features to conserve energy. This is really, really awesome as you can set it to automatically pause when idle or disable video enhancements by default.

In my next piece I’ll be looking more closely at Photos, Videos and Movies to see exactly what you can do with these and what kind of quality I get.

Two on the floor. Or the desktop.

Three watts may not sound like a lot, but for something that plugs and literally plays out of a USB port on your PC, these are quite impressive. The sound quality is good, with deep low ends and crisp highs, so the MS-100′s certainly come in handy if you need sound quickly, like at a meeting or with people – just pop the USB connector into a USB port, and you get good sound with very modest space requirements and almost no battery draw.

Not much bigger than a cup of tea

Certainly these are not professional-grade speakers, so if you’re planning a public event in a square somewhere you might want to consider something grander, but for an intimate setting, they do just fine.

That fresh factory smell!

The retail box is attractive, as well, with the inside padded in velvet! All you get within are the two speakers with their USB cable/connector, a manual, and a warranty card. That’s it, simple.

Everyone loves velvet

One button turns the set on, and there’s a volume wheel. I like the design, as well, a unique conical shape supported by a rubber stand. That latter is formulated specifically to offer good stability (to minimise vibration and other sound-affecting movements), as well as safeguard surfaces against scratches should you move the speakers around.

Doesn't get much simpler than this!

I wouldn’t call this an unboxing article since unpacking the MS-100′s takes all of ten seconds, but more like a close look at them in the wild. They are really good value for money, and anyone looking for impressive, quick, and simple audio augmentation should consider them – they amplify laptop audio way beyond basic onboard speakers, and the convenience of no power adapter and USB connectivity is great.

Side view of the cone shape and stand

Sound off on these in the comments section if you’d like, and remember to always be considerate of others no matter which speakers you go with for your PC needs!

The two speakers with their USB connector

Dragons are very auspicious in case you didn’t know, and are quite friendly beings unlike a certain favourite game of mine would have you believe. You don’t have to swing a two-handed sword at them, and if you did, it would be a short swing. But I digress. The Year of the Dragon is considered one of the more fortuitous of the traditional lunar calendar, and thus let’s make the most of it.

There’s a lot to look forward to this year, with yours truly personally very much excited about those nifty new 28nm graphics cards, upcoming motherboard technology that we’ve been waiting for, and of course lots of amazing gaming. And lest we forget ZENBOOK, my personal portable PC product of the year – and the year has just begun! It will be good in 2012, and so go ahead and prosper, have a wonderful, healthy, successful, and joyous time, and never stop searching for incredible things!

It received two Best Buy awards from Computer Shopper and Expert Reviews (the latter of whom I usually refer to when looking to buy a new piece of kit), two best in test reviews – one from a leading Swedish technology mag and one from a Finnish mag – and some class thumbs up from titles such as Online PC, PC Actual and VR-Zone.

It’s not often that I get absorbed in reading this sort of thing really but you have to admit that a list like this is a little impressive. The product was noted as recommended and top of class by some of the best titles, some of the most relied upon, which makes it a lot easier for me to review it.

You see, I love it. Yes, it has its little quirks (as highlighted by VR-Zone in Singapore) like the inclusion of the Core i5-2400 processor which is a tad low on the power front for the capabilities promised by the ASUS ET2410 All-in-One PC, but it really does work. And knowing I am not alone in singing its praises makes me feel a bit less like a strange, geeky fan.

Fortunately I’ve not yet had a t-shirt made…

The multitouch screen is fun to work with and extremely responsive (as I pointed out here), and the included peripherals, while small, are very neat and can be easily slotted away for when you are not using the ASUS ET2410 All-in-One PC. Once I have had a chance to poke at all the dark corners in the ET2410 I think my next step is going to be putting it through the multimedia paces as a replacement for a TV.

Now, I really do promise that next time I’ll do the feature guide for the ASUS ET2410 All-in-One PC. Promise.

The first thing I did was load up some old games like Mass Effect and Bioshock. Not exactly blocky 1990s pixel parts but still not the top of the range, graphic card eating monsters that are around today. Both games played dreamily on the ET2410 all in one PC.

I guess you’re probably asking why I chose them. Well, you see, I got both those games plus their sequels and other titles such as Left4Dead 1 and 2 as gifts about two years ago. Then I got really busy and the only time I ever get to play them was when I was reviewing kit.

Sadly many of the machines I reviewed didn’t boast 24inch screens or a GeForce GT 540M GPU. While this isn’t a monster rig, obviously, there is enough power here to enjoy even the latest games with modified settings. Crysis 2, a common benchmark, wasn’t great when I had the settings on the highest levels possible. However, when I dropped them down, the game played smoothly and without excessive judder or quality compromise.

Well, for me, the compromise on quality was not a problem at all. While I love my gaming and shy away from the console for anything other than fitness games, I don’t mind if the resolution isn’t sitting at the highest possible point or if there is a spot of blurring here and there. What I care about most is playing the game without it jerking, stopping, crashing or causing me problems.

And guess what? The ASUS ET2410 All-in-One PC didn’t. It moved casually through Crysis 2 at my new settings (1280×720) and managed the others (obviously) without breaking a sweat. While the quality and settings of the latest games are not going to be amazing, what is impressive here is the fact that you are playing them at all. This is a slim, really slim, machine with enough power to handle the latest games and takes up barely any space.

A few years ago such a thing would have been a dream. This is the future and I have it on my desk. Next up is a look through all the included features on the ASUS ET2410 All-in-One PC and a hint at its video editing capabilities.

They’re an entirely new generation of graphics power for PC enthusiasts, and represent the top end of the new AMD roster – as is traditional by now, the “X900″ moniker refers to high-grade performance models, and so the 7970 and 7950 are the most powerful of their respective series.

Both cards use a large 384-bit memory interface with 3GB of GDDR5 video RAM. They at long last bring true PCI Express 3.0 compatibility, as well as DX11.1 enhancement. AMD has restructured the GPU into the so-called Graphics Core Next architecture, which consists of computing clusters that have stream processors, texture, ROP, stencil, and compute cores in groups for better parallel computing performance. The 7970 uses 2048 stream processors, while the 7950 has 1792 of those. Either way, this is genuinely incredible power brought to bear on PC applications, especially games. Plus, the power efficient and cool-running 28nm foundation means an overclock friendly environment that the more adventurous out there will love.

ASUS has added a whole batch of exclusive features, and of course you get the trademark quality manufacturing that the brand is known for with these two. The boxes look about the same at first glance, starring our good friends the demonic knight and his venerable warhorse. One day we will certainly miss this duo!

Riding into action twice again!

As you can clearly see from the model names, these are not straight reference cards, they’re the ASUS DirectCU II edition, which uses direct cooling with copper heatpipes and dual fans, as well as bigger and more conductive shrouds. The overall effect of DirectCU II is noticeable in that these are the coolest and quietest 7900 cards available, averaging 14dB lower noise than stock models and running about 20% cooler.

Let’s get ‘em open, then. First thing you get is this stylish inner box:

ASUS makes sure cards get to their destination snug and safe, so the inside of boxes is likewise of very high quality.

Both cards have nice and strong foam packing to secure contents, with the driver disc and manual placed on top. I recommend you go to AMD’s site for the latest drivers, although in this case you get the January drivers in the box, and the February ones have yet to come out.

Each card ships with its set of accessories, and they’re not exactly the same. This is the 7950 box, which comes with assorted power and display adapters and cables, as well as a CrossFire bridge.

HD 7950 with accessories out of the box

The HD 7950 uses a DirectCU II shroud that we’ve seen in previous-generation ASUS graphics cards based on both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs. It’s a lengthy card, and takes up three expansion slots, so please make sure your case can fit it before purchasing.

Witness the might of this dual-fan beast!

From the side, you can see just how large the DirectCU II shroud is, yet at the same time it’s quite well-ventilated to keep air circulating. I’d like to remind you once more to keep three slots free for this behemoth, as it’s a tall card. The card requires two 6-pin power connectors.

Support for AMD Eyefinity multi-screen display technology has come of age with these powerful new cards. Even the more modest 7950 easily carries four screens on one card:

HDMI, DVI, and two DisplayPorts...delicious!

One can never have enough power delivery with a juggernaut like the 7950 (not to mention its bigger version the 7970, which we’ll get to in a minute), and so ASUS engineers have worked hard to refine the circuitry here. The front of the card leaves some of the shroud open, so you can check out the beefy capacitors (as well as the all-copper heatpipes).

Up your score with more ore!

While the 7950 is already a colossus in terms of sheer graphics grit and can laugh in the face of even the most demanding PC games available right now, its 7970 sibling takes crazy-powerful to eleven. To tap this ludicrous graphics muscle quotient, those workaholics at ASUS product management and engineering went about burning the midnight oil, and the result is the first card with DIGI+ VRM digital power delivery, which comes from ASUS motherboards. To be double safe, they also gave the 7970 Super Alloy Power components. That’s not just a fancy name, those capacitors, chokes, and MOSFETs cost a lot more and contain higher-grade formulations that resist heat, vibration, buzzing, and all sorts of fluctuations much better than standard parts. As a result, the 7970 is significantly better-suited to overclocking, even when compared to the 7950.

OK, time to have a quick look at that 7970.

I am 7970. Hear me roar 14dB quieter.

While the 7950 comes with a shroud sourced from previous DirectCU II cards, the 7970 has its very own cooler design, giving it a very sleek, tight, aggressive, and nicely boxy look. I personally prefer this design to the more open plan feel of the 7950 cooler, but the choice is yours.

Power delivery is increased for the 7970, so it needs two 8-pin connectors:

Commensurate with its greater power, the 7970 from ASUS has the pull to manage six-screen AMD Eyefinity, with no adapter needed. Thus, it comes with two DVI and four DisplayPort outs. Nice!

Six screens of fascination

Keeping all this together on the back is a tough backplate, similar to the one we’ve seen on the ASUS GTX 580 not so long ago. It’s emblazoned with the DirectCU II name to remind you what you’re getting for your hard-earned cash (or credit). This backplate of course also helps with heat mitigation, and assists in preventing the card/PCB from deforming due to extreme usage.

Go on, put your back into it!

The 7970 uses a closed-off shroud that, as mentioned before, I personally find more visually pleasing. However, because of its presence we can’t readily get a good look at those Super Alloy Power components inside:

Another tower of power

The accessories that come with the 7970 are mostly the same as those bundled with the 7950, except you also get an extra heatsink for the MOS area in case you decide to take off the cooler and go for extra overclocking, which may necessitate added cooling. This heatsink even comes with a nice layer of thermal paste, which looks quite…cool.

Get a grip on better overclocking

While on the topic of overclocking, both cards have ASUS GPU Tweak in the box. This software interface allows for quick editing and modifying of clock speeds, voltages, and fan settings. The latest version is easier to use, more intuitive, and better for benchmarking with clock/voltage syncing and 2D/3D mode locking. You can also use the VGA Hotwire feature on the 7970, which helps make DIY overvolting and soldering more approachable.

It’s time for the inevitable comparison of the two cards. Surprisingly, the 7950 is actually taller than the 7970:

That's the 7950 on the right

Ditto for length, the 7950 is slightly longer than its peer, requiring more space in the case:

The 7950 is on the bottom in this pic

If you’re wondering which card to get, I have to admit it’s not an easy choice, since both are quite overpowered, and both have similar attractions going for them: 28nm technology, DX11.1, PCI Express 3.0, and of course ASUS DirectCU II cooling. I would likely get the 7970 in this match up, but it’s not a superbly easy choice to make, since the 7970 does cost more no matter what market you’re in. At any rate, these are two amazing cards, and with the upcoming expansion of the AMD 7000 series, it’d be interesting to see where 28nm technology is going.

Let us know your thoughts on these rather revolutionary graphics cards! Do you want one for yourself?

]]> http://techinstyle.tv/feature/asus-hd-7970-and-hd-7950-directcu-ii-graphics-cards-an-unboxing/feed/ 2 http://techinstyle.tv/news/final-week-of-give-away-asus-transformer-prime/ http://techinstyle.tv/news/final-week-of-give-away-asus-transformer-prime/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:09:37 +0000 Mark http://techinstyle.tv/?p=22023

Ladies and gentlemen, we are on the final week of our 8-week holiday and new year celebration. For the finale, we are giving away:

Main Prize: ASUS Transformer Prime

Super Prize: ASUS Transformer Prime + Mobile Dock

Super Prize will only be awarded if you are the referrer of the winner of the Main Prize. For example, after you join to win the Main Prize, you are encouraged to invite your friends to join. If you don’t win but one of your friends wins the Main Prize, you automatically get the Super Prize (a better / more expensive item!).

Don’t miss this opportunity to win. The last day of entry is on February 5th, 2012.

To enter, visit our Facebook page.

Take the ASUS AIO ET2410 All-in-One PC for example. I don’t own a touchscreen PC (yet) and I’ve not has as many opportunities to review them as I’d like (read that as: I want lots please and keep them coming) so having this ET2410 to play around with is a bit like being a kid in a candy store.

Firing up the ASUS AIO ET2410 is quick, quiet and painless. I had some teething troubles with Explorer halting all operations and demanding a reinstall of the entire operating system but those are due to the poor thing having been abused by previous reviewers. However, once the AIO was up and running I was lost.

The touchscreen features are responsive and accurate. A tap on the icon, the arrow, the key is quickly translated into an action and I have only had maybe two occurrences of needing to tap twice before the screen responded. Not only that, but the 23.6 inches of space make it an almost dreamy experience.

I was soon having an embarrassing amount of fun with the extremely cool photo and video feature where I found I could set my head on fire, wear a sombrero, pretend to be beaten up by my husband with the BLAM feature, and other such childish things. It appears I have failed to grow up.

You can pinch-zoom, rotate images, scroll through web pages, upload movies and so on and so wonderfully forth. It feels rather Minority Report swishing through work and web pages.

I am impressed with the ASUS AIO ET2410INTS All-in-One PC. The features (of which there are many) are solid, the processing power is decent, the screen is beautifully lit, and the touchscreen works like a charm. I am very excited about testing the screen quality with the built in Blu-ray player and the gaming potential.

While the IGB nVidia GeForce GT 540M GPU won’t play the latest games at their highest resolutions, it should handle the latest games in some way or another and I plan to find out exactly how well it does in my next post.

I live my life three months at a time. That’s how often I go back in for scans to see if my bone cancer has returned. It has twice. But here I sit…still alive, for whatever reason. Twenty rounds of chemo, 10 surgeries, and 4 years later. I found out the news three weeks after I had been married. That reminds me of another incredible thing.

My wife. She went to school, got a degree, worked to support the family, all while maintaining the home while I was sick. Incredible. She even tells me I look good bald. Very incredible.

It’s incredible that I had a stage four cancer, and I’m still alive. It’s incredible that the doctors thought I would lose a leg, and I didn’t. It’s incredible that they gave me a 30 percent chance to live, and here I am.

– Daniel Hedlund

That’s Daniel Hedlund’s incredible story. His moving account of his battle with stage four bone cancer made him the grand prize winner of “In Search of Incredible” — a global competition by ASUS and Intel to seek out the world’s most inspirational stories.

His story helped him realize a dream in meeting Grammy Award-winning artist and “In Search of Incredible” ambassador Jason Mraz. He also got a chance to watch Mraz in concert at one of the biggest international film festivals held at Park City, Utah.

On top of that, he got to tell his own “In Search of Incredible” story thanks to ASUS and Intel, who employed award-winning director Asif Kapadia and a professional film crew to create Hedlund’s film, which premiered simultaneously at Park City and on Microsoft’s Bing portal.

“Taking part in the competition has been an unforgettable experience, not only being able to meet Jason Mraz, but having the chance to collaborate creatively with him. I can’t wait for the video to share my story and give hope to others,” said Hedlund.

For more information about “In Search of Incredible” and Daniel Hedlund’s winning entry, please visit the In Search of Incredible site.

Follow Daniel’s incredible story on his blog.

The ASUS ET2410 All-in-One PC comes with a remote control (batteries provided – nice), a small keyboard and mouse (also with batteries) and minimal instructions. The setup is pretty easy. Slot the batteries into the various devices, plug the USB dongle into the USB port at the rear of the all-in-one and off you go.

In the interests of testing, reviewing and being a total dork, I timed the setup of the ET2410 from start to finish. I had returned it to the box for extra authenticity. In total, from the removal of the polystyrene to the first moment I could use the mouse and keyboard and excluding tedious Windows updates, it took me 7 minutes. That includes cutting away the plastic around the batteries, inserting them, and poking at connectivity buttons.

The rest of the time I spent setting up the ET2410 was on making Windows happy with various downloads and updates.

What impressed me about setup was the fact that wireless was up and running without a hiccup, the keyboard and mouse were happy to get to work without me needing to do random restarts or any other silly nonsense, and the entire process, so far, has used only one cable – the power cable. How utterly brilliant is that?

I must confess that I am not a huge fan of battery powered wireless devices because of the fact that batteries usually run out when you a) need them the most and b) when you have none in the office and no time to go out and get some (or it is a holiday and everything is shut). I also dislike the environmental disaster that batteries represent.

So, with that in mind, I put my own rechargeable batteries into the keyboard and mouse and they work just fine. A good green step forward that.

My first impressions for setup were that it wasn’t too fiddly and that the ETS2410 All-in-One PC is rather quiet. There was a bit of a fan roar on startup and when downloading intensively, but it is muted and only heard because the testing room is so very quiet.

After my third Windows restart and a bit of an argument about whether or not the version of Windows I was using was real (it was), the ET2410 All-in-One PC is ready to go. Next up is my testing the multitouch capabilities. I can’t wait!