NVIDIA trots out GeForce 400M series laptops, shows off StarCraft II gameplay (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/10/nvidia-trots-out-geforce-400m-series-laptops-shows-off-starcraf/

You might have hoped that NVIDIA's introduction of the 400M series of mobile GPUs would bring about a slew of hot new laptops to drop into our gaming boudoirs, but we are in fact left facing more of the same. Externally, anyhow. The chipmaker rolled out the green carpet for a set of upcoming machines in London today, but they were refreshes, rather than overhauls, of current hardware. The big news is to be found within, as the new GTX 460M has made a home inside the updated ASUS G53, Toshiba Qosmio X505, and MSI GT663. The common thread among these three is that they're all big and hefty, and all emit a subtle vroom sound every time you touch them. What we learned from NVIDIA today is that the GTX 480M will remain an exotic (you might even call it quixotic) GPU reserved for large-screen gaming stations, the GTX 470M will similarly be an enthusiast part, and the GTX 460M will be the company's big play for the mainstream performance market. It also became clear that even the third GPU in the company's mobile hierarchy will need quite a bulky cooling setup (and a proportionately huge charger) to do its job, but NVIDIA's promises of much-improved performance might just make it worthwhile.

As to the more sane among us, there was a selection of pleasingly thinner machines, like the ASUS N53 and Acer Aspire 5745, which make do with the lower-specced GT 420M and GT 425M graphics chips. Those are expected to be NVIDIA's biggest sellers, and the video demo after the break of the 425M churning through StarCraft II is certainly appealing. We should note, however, that the latest (though definitely not greatest) Prince of Persia game was also on tap on one of these machines and its frame rate gave us a delightful old-timey feeling any time we entered combat with its emulation of stop-motion animation. So, as ever, it's looking like great graphics will require great rigs, but we can probably expect a decent -- not game-changing (get it?) -- leap in performance among the lighter options as well.

Gallery: NVIDIA trots out GeForce 400M series laptops

Continue reading NVIDIA trots out GeForce 400M series laptops, shows off StarCraft II gameplay (video)

NVIDIA trots out GeForce 400M series laptops, shows off StarCraft II gameplay (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 on sale at Newegg, ahead of official release

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/11/nvidia-geforce-gts-450-on-sale-at-newegg-ahead-of-official-rele/

Just like its older sibling the GTX 460, NVIDIA's GeForce GTS 450 is hitting online stores, even though we've yet to hear a word from NVIDIA itself about the new Fermi-based graphics card. While we can't confirm rumors that the GTS 450's got a new GF106 chip under that plastic shroud, it seems evident we're looking at a somewhat less powerful board -- shipping samples from ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte and Palit show just 192 CUDA cores (down from 336) and a narrower 128-bit memory interface. That doesn't mean the GTS 450 won't necessarily be a capable gamer, though, as the graphics and shader chips are actually clocked closer to 800MHz and 1.6GHz respectively this time, and so far they're all paired with a full 1GB of GDDR5 memory with the same 3.6GHz effective rate -- no 768MB cop-outs. At around $130 a pop, we imagine dedicated graphics enthusiasts will spend the extra to get those bonus cores, but if you've only got three portraits of Ulysses S. Grant to spare, this might just be your board. Don't take our word for it, though -- if history's any indication, we'll have plenty of reviews come Monday morning.

[Thanks, Chris S.]

NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 on sale at Newegg, ahead of official release originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Sep 2010 13:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG's THX-certified PX950 3D plasma TV eyes-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/11/lgs-thx-certified-px950-3d-plasma-tv-eyes-on/

LG is touting its plasma PX950 as the first THX-certified 3D HDTV, and while we didn't run into it at IFA, the company held a press gathering this week in New York to make up for it. So if this set meets THX's rigorous demands -- 400 bench tests and 1,000 data points spread out over 30 test categories -- how does it look to the average consumer? Well, LG certainly has done a lot to prevent ghosting -- that is, image doubling from sync issues with the glasses -- and we were able to enjoy some pretty extreme horizontal viewing angles. What did bother us, however, was the 600Hz sub-field refresh rate; though not an issue with slower-moving footage (a camera-loving fish from "Under the Sea" comes to mind), any quick movement felt jarring to our vision. Can't say for sure if it was the content or the display, but we'd like to presume LG would showcase with only the top-notch visuals. The tech is still young, but when you're asking $200 to $300 more over the 2D equivalent (and that's before having to pick up the requisite glasses separately), the benefit of 3D still isn't quite as prevalent to us yet.

Gallery: LG's THX-certified PX950 3D plasma TV hands-on

LG's THX-certified PX950 3D plasma TV eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mouse Computer brings the exciting and new LuvPad AD100 to Japan, Froyo and Tegra come aboard

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/11/mouse-computer-brings-the-exciting-and-new-luvpad-ad100-to-japan/

Android-loving Japanese readers, your day has come. Mouse Computer is kindly bringing you the so-called LuvPad AD100, a 10.1-inch, 1,024 x 600 tablet running Android 2.2 on NVIDIA Tegra 2 internals. As is the way of Android tablets it is naturally just a rebrand of someone else's product, which we've earlier seen showing up with a Hannspree logo and, before that, an Interpad logo. There's the typical 512MB of internal memory paired with microSD expansion (8GB included), and it can be yours in a few weeks if you get that pre-order in for ¥48,250 -- about $575. Need to see more before committing? Check out our Spanish colleagues' hands-on with the Interpad version.

Mouse Computer brings the exciting and new LuvPad AD100 to Japan, Froyo and Tegra come aboard originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Sep 2010 21:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer's dualscreen laptop leaks out with Core i5 CPU?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/11/acers-dualscreen-laptop-leaks-out-with-sizable-screens-core-i5/

We knew dualscreen laptops were the future after our Toshiba Libretto review, but unfortunately for Toshiba theirs was a future attempted too soon. Acer, however, is apparently testing a rig that might be powerful enough to do the trick -- pictures bequeathed to Tech Review Source purportedly show a 2.67GHz Intel Core i5 processor (likely a Core i5-580M) with dual fifteen-inch multitouch screens, making both the Libretto and MSI's 7-incher look positively dated by comparison. Sadly, the publication's source says this device is "still slow and buggy," so retail availability is probably a long while off, but now you can tell your friends you too saw the future and it looked reasonably good. Peep a couple more shots of the laptop at our source link while you wipe your sweaty palms off.

Acer's dualscreen laptop leaks out with Core i5 CPU? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Sep 2010 23:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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