Viewsonic VG2428wm

Currently available for about $270 online, the VG2428wm is a screaming deal if you want a top-end, 24-inch LCD but not the top-shelf price tag that’s often attached to such displays. The VG2428wm supports VGA and DVI-D ports but not HDMI. Instead, you get a two-port USB 2.0 hub and a 3.5mm stereo that feeds the 2W integrated stereo speakers. The speakers are sufficient for voice and YouTube, but you wouldn’t want to game with them. Using X-Rite’s i1Display2 package,

we measured the VG2428wm out of the box with a 2.2 gamma, an already optimal 6500K color temperature, a minimum luminance of 0.3cd/m2, and a running luminance (at 100%) brightness of

329cd/m2—a respectable 10% above the vendor’s specification. We observed only slight blooming around the bottom edge and nothing out of the ordinary for a mainstream CCFL unit.

We’ve heard from Viewsonic that the company is transitioning to LED backlighting across its product line, and we can see why. Despite excellent color quality (that admittedly favors reds a bit over blues before calibration), deep blacks, zero visible ghosting, and excellent ability to preserve bright color grades without banding, the only weakness in this model is its power consumption. With a solid black background on the Windows 7 desktop, we measured the VG2428wm drawing 38.4W. A solid white background yielded 37.3W. With the default Win7 desktop, we measured 37.9W at 100% brightness, 27W at 80%, and 22.5W at 50%, with full-screen video maxing out at 41.2W. LED panels generally consume much less. However, Viewsonic’s stand is brilliant, allowing for a 90-degree pivot, 360-degree swiveling, almost effortless tilting from -5 to 20 degrees, and a height adjustment spanning 5.3 inches, so you can be ergonomically comfortable. The 0.75-inch bezel isn’t remarkably thin, but it’s svelte enough to escape much notice. Overall, the VG2428wm is one of the best monitor values we’ve tested recently.

Intel Core i7-970

Until very recently, if you wanted a sixcore Intel desktop processor, you hadonly one speed bin and model to choose from: the pricey 3.33GHz Core i7-980X Extreme Edition. However, in the past couple of months, Intel decided to introduce a slightly more affordable six-core chip, the Core i7-970. This new hexa-core beast, like the 980X, is built on Intel’s new 32nm process and clocks in not so far behind at 3.2GHz. Its top Turbo Boost speed is 3.46GHz, compared to the 980X’s 3.6GHz, and its QPI link speed is set to 4.8GTps vs. 6.4GTps for the 980X, the latter of which won’t hamper performance

much, if at all. The 970 also has 12MB of shared L3 cache, just like its more expensive six-core sibling. Built with Intel Hyper-Threading technology, the chip is able to offer 12 threads of processing

resources to the OS. Also like the previous Core i7 six-core release, this chip will drop into existing Socket LGA1366 motherboards, though you might need to grab the latest BIOS update to support the new chip microcode. From a performance standpoint, for singleor lightly threaded workloads, the Core i7- 970 lines up slightly behind a quad-core Core i7-975. However, in multithreaded applications that make use of the chip’s extra cores, the Core i7-970 is up to 50% faster than its nearest quad-core counterpart and within about 5 to 7% of the 980X. The Core i7-970 doesn’t carry such an extreme price, retailing around $885, making it a great “budget” chip if you want six cores of Intel processing power

Logisys 2.4GHz Wireless 800/1600 DPI Switchable Mouse

Spend just five minutes with the Switchable Mouse, and it’s apparent that Logisys didn’t set out to do anything too fancy with this input device except give users an attractive, affordable option that will work as easily with a notebook as with a desktop PC. My guess is, however, you’ll be more inclined to permanently match the mouse with your notebook. Overall, the rodent’s diminutive size lends itself far better as an option during those times when the prospect of using a touchpad for long periods just isn’t that appealing. Picture a baseball that’s been cut in half and you have a good idea about the Switchable Mouse’s size and shape. Its light weight makes it a great fit for a notebook bag, but the mouse got lost in my largish hand when I used it for long stretches with a desktop PC. The mouse is a looker, though. My test unit was decked out in silver and white trimmings complete with reflective chrome covering the backside. Models are also available in black/silver, green/white, and red/black. Elsewhere, you’ll find padded, ridged grooves cutting into either side for the thumb and pinky to rest. The mouse’s bottom, meanwhile, sports an appreciated on/off switch to save battery power (one AA required), as well as a slot inside the battery compartment to store


The GeForce GTX 460 from Asus came in too late to make it into last month’s roundup, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a closer look once we saw the angular heatsink shroud painted blue with white pinstripes, evoking the iconic Shelby Cobra. Under the hood, Asus overclocked the GF104’s core clock to 775MHz, which is a full 100MHz higher than the stock clock of the 1GB GTX 460. The memory clock also got a boost from 1,800MHz to 2,000MHz. The shroud covers a substantial aluminum finned heatsink with three heatpipes, and as we hinted above, it’s one of the more attractive we’ve seen. However, because of its open design, some of the heat this card generates ends up circulating throughout the case. But because the GTX 460 is the twice removed second nephew to the silicon-boiling big daddy that is the GF100 Fermi, heat is not an issue you need to worry too much about. The backplane of this dual-slot card features a pair of DVI ports and a mini HDMI port. Bundled extras include a 4- to 6-pin PCI-E power connector, a DVI-to-VGA adapter, a DVIto- HDMI adapter, and a CD wallet. the tiny, nickel-sized nano RF transceiver that makes wireless use possible. A couple features worth noting include a button on top to switch between 800dpi and 1,600dpi. I preferred the 1,600dpi option in all my usage. Elsewhere, although the scroll wheel lacks horizontal scrolling, you can move between a Hyper-Fast mode for scrolling long documents and Web pages and a Click-to-Click mode when you need more precision. If you desire more beyond this, you’ll need to look elsewhere, as what you’re getting here is a basic mouse that’s ready to use immediately upon plugging in the transceiver

Notebook Computer Memory - Upgrading Your Laptop

With the proliferation of laptop computers, choosing to upgrade or implement notebook computer memory is not as straight forward as it may seem at first.

There is a variety of different types of memory, and it is important that you choose memory that is compatible with your notebook computer. Memory is also a little delicate, so you need to be very careful when handling it.

Adding Computer Memory - Some Tips

You should ensure that the Notebook is turned of and disconnected from any exterior power supply. No lights should be visible, and if they are, stop and double check for any live power sources.

Notebook computers are a little different to desktop PC’s in that there is no need to take them apart in order to add memory. Access to the memory slots is via a panel located (usually) in the bottom of the laptop. Once you have found this panel, it should be a small matter of using a screwdriver to open up the panel and view the existing memory. In fact, you can do this to check the exact type of memory that your Notebook currently uses, because it is usually shown on the front of the memory strips and should be visible when you open up the memory panel.

The memory strips are usually locked in with small clips on the ends of the strips. To remove existing memory, simply flip the clips and then pull the memory strips gently from their holding place. If you are simply adding memory of course, and there is space available, just add the new memory, gently pushing it in to ensure it is fully seated in the slots, and then close the clips to hold the new memory in place.

Once you have replaced or added your Notebook computer memory, it is simply a case of replacing the access panel, and then screwing the panel back in place.

Finally, power up the Notebook, and ensure that the memory has been read by the Notebook. When the PC starts up, it should count the memory and tell you how much it thinks it has access to.

If any problems occur, repeat the whole procedure, checking very carefully that the memory is properly seated in the notebook.