ViewSonic VOT 1 32

in the '90s, the term "book PC" was a euphemism for a small form-factor PC that was about the same size as a book ... if the book happened ro be an unabridged Webster's dictionary. The View onic VOT 132 is a "nettop PC" based on the L.6GHz dual-core Atom 330 CPU and vidia MCP7A-ION graphics processor, and it's literally smaller than my kid's paperback copy of "Percy Jackson & The Olympians." The VOT 132 ai ms [0 put media and productivity computing in more places, not replace older, bigger PCS. ViewSonic bundles a mounting kit to snap the sys­tem OntO a monitor's VESA mount, mak­ing it a zero-footprint Pc. Alternatively, a stand comes included for vertical standing on a desk or shelf.

Sitring idle at a desk­top, the VOTI32 con­sumes only about 18W. Under a heavy bench­marking load, it peaked around 32W with the audible, but not obnox­ious, system fan running. Speaking of benchmark­ing, the VOTI32 refused to run 3DMark Vantage, bur it did complete a PCMark Vantage run (PCMark overall score: 1752; Mernories: 1369; TV and Movies: 1455; Gaming: 1532; Music 2090; Communications: 1399; Produc­tivity: 1569; HDD: 2734). We were moderately impressed with the unit's media playback capabilities.

Specs: CPU. 1.6GHz Intel Atom 330, 2GB DDR2, 320GB hard drive, Video outputs: DVI, HOMI, Ports. Gigabit Ethemet, 6 USB 2.0, S/PDIF out, analog mic, and stereo out, 802.11 b/g/n, Windows 7 Home Premium

V0T132 $499 ViewSonic www.viewsonic.com ••••

DVDs looked excellent, as did pretty much all content up through nop. At full­screen, Hulu was hopeless­ly choppy, and YouTuhe 1080p video was unwatch­able on a 15Mbps FiOS conneccion. Interesringly, 1080p content loaded on the hard drive as well as our Seagare BlackArmor 440 NAS played flawlessly. Audio and HDMI Output quality were both impressively crisp and vibrant, No, this is definitely not for 3D gaming. Bur for productivity and local media, the VOTI32 is a stylish, low­energy, space-saving alternative to con­vencional PCs. by William Van Winkle

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Bigfoot Networks Cozies Up To Aliens

Bigfoot Networks may not be a household name among general PC consumers, but in hardcore gaming circles the company's gaming net­work cards have earned a solid reputation, including the company's latest effort, the Killer 2100. Unlike "dumb" NICs that cause "huge, unpredictable latency spikes" during gameplay, Bigfoot states that the Killer 2100 "has latency in microseconds" thanks to its NPU (Net­ work Processing Unit) that offloads game data from the CPU and Windows. The card evidently impressed Alienware enough for the game system builder to announce

in mid-August that it's offering the Killer 2100 in Aurora, Aurora ALX, Area- 51, and Area­51 ALX systems. Alienware's Frank Azor stated the NI C-system combo "represents a lethal combination-maximizing performance for more frags, faster leveling, and higher scores."

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Bigfoot Networks

 

 

Bigfoot Networks may not be a household name among general PC consumers, but in hardcore gaming circles the company's gaming net­work cards have earned a solid reputation, including the company's latest effort, the Killer 2100. Unlike "dumb" NICs that cause "huge, unpredictable latency spikes" during gameplay, Bigfoot states that the Killer 2100 "has latency in microseconds" thanks to its NPU (Net­ work Processing Unit) that offloads game data from the CPU and Windows. The card evidently impressed Alienware enough for the game system builder to announce in mid-August that it's offering the Killer 2100 in Aurora, Aurora ALX, Area- 51, and Area­51 ALX systems. Alienware's Frank Azor stated the NI C-system combo "represents a lethal combination-maximizing performance for more frags, faster leveling, and higher scores.

 

You know about Moore's Law and the power-consumption, pro­gramming, and architectural roadblocks making it more difficult to double the number of transistors on an integrated circuit approxi­mately every two years. So does DARPA. Thus, the agency recently announced a UHPC (Ubiquitous High Performance Computing) program that "directly addresses major priorities expressed by Pres­ident Obama's 'Strategy for American Innovation,'" including the exascale supercomputing Century Grand Challenge, energy-efficient computing, and worker productivity. With the goal to "reinvent computing," UHPC will involve developing "radically new computer architectures and programming models that deliver 100 to 1,000 times more performance" but are easier to program than present sys­tems. Intel, Nvidia, MIT, and Sandia National Laboratory have been tabbed to build UHPC prototypes by 2018.

 

Samsung's BD-C8000 ($499.99) may very well be the "world's first portable Blu-ray player with 3D capability," but don't get too excited just yet. Although the netbook-Iooking BD-C8000 will give you 1080P HD video on its 1O.3-inch screen, what it won't give you is 3D viewing while on the go. For that ability, you'll need to connect the player (HDMI 1.4a integrated) to a 3DTV. On the plus side, the BD-C8000 does build in Wi-Fi and is Netflix-ready. It also includes 1GB built-in storage and access to the various goodies that make up Samsung Apps (YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Pandora, etc.). Battery life, meanwhile, is rated at three hours .

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