Desktop PC Reviews

HP released today new consumer desktops aimed at consumers looking for style and performance — while still staying on the greener side of life.  Among the announcements were the Phoenix and Verde desktops with artistic-inspired stylings and a new 25.5″ display.  Both computers come with Windows Vista 64-bit (and kudos to HP for stepping up and sending out 64-bit versions of the operating system) and up to, oddly enough, five gigabytes of RAM.  They also come with a 15-in-1 memory card reader and LightScribe capable SuperMulti drive.

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TranquilPC is a UK-based outfit.  So why is DTR looking at it?  I’m bringing this bit of news up, because it’s exactly the kind of product we want to see.  When Intel released the Atom chip, it opened up new ideas for computing devices with its low power processing abilities. 

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Despite what you may have thought, S3 is still around, and they’re still releasing new products in the graphics world.  Their newest release, the S3 Chrome 400 series, aims to take advantage of the recent hype surrounding the use of graphics cards to speed up tasks traditionally reserved for the CPU.  S3 hasn’t said what GPGPU standards the cards support, so it’s unknown if applications sped up by NVIDIA and ATI cards can also use S3’s Chrome hardware.

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No matter how much a Desktop PC case changes over the years, it seems like there’s always one thing you can rely on: the 5.25” expansion bay. Whether you’re talking about a full-sized ATX desktop case, a minitower desktop, or even a small Home Theater PC (HTPC) you’ll find at least one 5.25” bay in every desktop case on the market. Sure, most people use these bays for DVD or Blu-ray optical drives, but what else can you do with all this space? The answers might surprise you.

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