Computex 2006 Wrap-Up: External Storage, Cooling, and More
by Gary Key on June 17, 2006 5:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
Realtek
Realtek is now the leader in audio codec shipments with a 65% market share in 2005. We dropped by their booth to see their two new products in the High Definition audio codec market.
On display was a manufacturer's reference board containing the new ALC-885 that is meant as an upgrade or replacement for the ALC-880, 882, and 883 codecs and is Vista Premium approved. The ALC885 is a high-performance 7.1+2 channel High Definition Audio codec with advanced lossless content protection technology that protects (and is required to protect) pre-recorded content while still allowing full-rate audio enjoyment from DVD audio, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD discs. The ALC885 also performs lossless audio streaming at 96kHz/24 bit or higher.
The ALC-885 features a 106dB DAC SNR and 101dB ADC SNR specifications along with 10 DAC channels supporting 16/20/24-bit PCM format for 7.1 audio solutions and concurrent 2 channel independent stereo output. In our limited comparison testing to the ALC-882D, the audio output was cleaner and provided warmth in the mid-ranges not present on the ALC-882.
Also on display was a reference card for the ALC-888 Telecom codec. This unique codec features a 7.1+2 channel High Definition Audio codec for VoIP/Skype applications. The ALC888 Telecom allows Skype connections through a traditional phone, offering the convenience of an on-board device for VoIP. The ALC888 Telecom is able to auto-switch from a Skype connection to a traditional PSTN service in the event of power failure, and continues to provide functions and services, e.g., emergency call (911) access. The ALC-888 features a 98dB DAC SNR and 95dB ADC SNR specifications along with 10 DAC channels supporting 16/20/24-bit PCM format for 7.1 audio solutions and concurrent 2 channel independent stereo output.
Random Shots
One trend that we noticed was the continued efforts of the motherboard manufacturers in producing their own case designs. However, like most of the "limited edition or unique" case designs over the past few years they tend to focus on the alien head theme.
The top case is from Asus and features a UV paint job along with very good internal design and thermals. The second case is the premium offering from Foxconn. This case sported an automotive quality paint job while also providing a clean internal layout.
Proview displayed several new widescreen monitors but the one that caught our eye was the new LC2209W that features a 22 inch wide screen (1680x1050) with a 5ms response time, 300 nits brightness, 700:1 contrast ratio, and a viewing angle of 170 degrees. The color was very rich and detailed and we could not find any backlighting or bleeding issues during our view time with the various video demonstrations.
One of our favorite product designs at this year's show was the Acer F5000 notebook series featuring their continued design collaboration with Ferrari. The 5000 series features a carbon fiber casing, Turion 64 X2 processor, 15.4 inch display, 160GB hard drive, a slot-loading DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive or HD-DVD drive, Acer Bluetooth VoIP phone, a 1.3MP web camera mounted at the top of the LCD panel, Acer InviLink 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, WPAN with built-in Bluetooth 2.0 module, and integrated 56K ITU V.92 modem.
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully you have enjoyed our coverage of Computex 2006 this year. As a show this year, over 130,000 people visited the Computex halls and viewing suites making it the second largest computer show in the world. We certainly enjoyed our time in Taiwan and look forward to reviewing several of the products we displayed in our series of articles in the near future. We also met individually with companies such as Thecus and SIS; we will have more information on their product plans or actual reviews of their products shortly along with some interesting information from Acer on their Digital Display Centric strategy.
However, with the launch of Core 2 Duo in July, we are already trying to figure out how to work 24/7 in order to bring you the most comprehensive coverage available of Intel's new processor series and its related product requirements from motherboards to cases. Now, we just need to remember which suitcase contains those Core 2 Duo processors we were lusting after.
Realtek is now the leader in audio codec shipments with a 65% market share in 2005. We dropped by their booth to see their two new products in the High Definition audio codec market.
On display was a manufacturer's reference board containing the new ALC-885 that is meant as an upgrade or replacement for the ALC-880, 882, and 883 codecs and is Vista Premium approved. The ALC885 is a high-performance 7.1+2 channel High Definition Audio codec with advanced lossless content protection technology that protects (and is required to protect) pre-recorded content while still allowing full-rate audio enjoyment from DVD audio, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD discs. The ALC885 also performs lossless audio streaming at 96kHz/24 bit or higher.
The ALC-885 features a 106dB DAC SNR and 101dB ADC SNR specifications along with 10 DAC channels supporting 16/20/24-bit PCM format for 7.1 audio solutions and concurrent 2 channel independent stereo output. In our limited comparison testing to the ALC-882D, the audio output was cleaner and provided warmth in the mid-ranges not present on the ALC-882.
Also on display was a reference card for the ALC-888 Telecom codec. This unique codec features a 7.1+2 channel High Definition Audio codec for VoIP/Skype applications. The ALC888 Telecom allows Skype connections through a traditional phone, offering the convenience of an on-board device for VoIP. The ALC888 Telecom is able to auto-switch from a Skype connection to a traditional PSTN service in the event of power failure, and continues to provide functions and services, e.g., emergency call (911) access. The ALC-888 features a 98dB DAC SNR and 95dB ADC SNR specifications along with 10 DAC channels supporting 16/20/24-bit PCM format for 7.1 audio solutions and concurrent 2 channel independent stereo output.
Random Shots
One trend that we noticed was the continued efforts of the motherboard manufacturers in producing their own case designs. However, like most of the "limited edition or unique" case designs over the past few years they tend to focus on the alien head theme.
The top case is from Asus and features a UV paint job along with very good internal design and thermals. The second case is the premium offering from Foxconn. This case sported an automotive quality paint job while also providing a clean internal layout.
Proview displayed several new widescreen monitors but the one that caught our eye was the new LC2209W that features a 22 inch wide screen (1680x1050) with a 5ms response time, 300 nits brightness, 700:1 contrast ratio, and a viewing angle of 170 degrees. The color was very rich and detailed and we could not find any backlighting or bleeding issues during our view time with the various video demonstrations.
One of our favorite product designs at this year's show was the Acer F5000 notebook series featuring their continued design collaboration with Ferrari. The 5000 series features a carbon fiber casing, Turion 64 X2 processor, 15.4 inch display, 160GB hard drive, a slot-loading DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive or HD-DVD drive, Acer Bluetooth VoIP phone, a 1.3MP web camera mounted at the top of the LCD panel, Acer InviLink 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, WPAN with built-in Bluetooth 2.0 module, and integrated 56K ITU V.92 modem.
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully you have enjoyed our coverage of Computex 2006 this year. As a show this year, over 130,000 people visited the Computex halls and viewing suites making it the second largest computer show in the world. We certainly enjoyed our time in Taiwan and look forward to reviewing several of the products we displayed in our series of articles in the near future. We also met individually with companies such as Thecus and SIS; we will have more information on their product plans or actual reviews of their products shortly along with some interesting information from Acer on their Digital Display Centric strategy.
However, with the launch of Core 2 Duo in July, we are already trying to figure out how to work 24/7 in order to bring you the most comprehensive coverage available of Intel's new processor series and its related product requirements from motherboards to cases. Now, we just need to remember which suitcase contains those Core 2 Duo processors we were lusting after.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
9 Comments
View All Comments
VooDooAddict - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
I've seen blurbs like this before for the F5000 ... Question still remains though ... what video system will be used? I'd love to see a 7900 GS or GTX in there.Kougar - Sunday, June 18, 2006 - link
That very last paragraph was worth the entire article! But thanks for the extra coverage too. ;)Don't forget to throw in some 32bit vs 64bit comparisons, since some benches are showing Conroe is finally delivering some on that potential 64bit advantage! I'm very much wondering if Vista x64 will show the same advantages over Vista x86... especially considering that the former is 4.1gb and the latter is a 3.1gb file size when I downloaded them both...
BTW, need some extra security for your luggage? I'll even offer my services for free... :D
Lord Evermore - Saturday, June 17, 2006 - link
That MR5S1, does it just plug into any old eSATA port if you get the SATA option? Seems like a sweet setup to get any RAID configuration you want, and I assume high performance using a hardware controller. How much is that gonna cost? A 3-bay unit seems like a good option they should have too, instead of only the 1, 2 and 5 bay units in the picture. 3 bays seems like just the right point for a user who wants high performance without quite going all the way to 5 drives, and it'd be a good size to hide away. Anybody else make similar products?Howard - Saturday, June 17, 2006 - link
Is that a heat piped HS I see?Gary Key - Saturday, June 17, 2006 - link
It is. I tried to get a close up with the display case open but no go. In fact, a couple of the OEM/ODM power supply manufacturers prohibted close up pictures of their products. It was strange to me as they were happy to provide brochures with bascially the same screenshots I wanted to take.
Per Hansson - Sunday, June 18, 2006 - link
Would be interesting to see how it was designed, every single watercooled PSU I've seen for example puts the primary (230VAC) and secondary (12DC and lower) diodes and mosfets on the same heatsink. They are only shielded by a thin thermal pad... So if something goes wrong there is high risk of 230VAC on the Secondary side, you can guess the effect on the computers components...Simple test; take a digital multimeter and set it to AC and measure from the chassi to the primary heatsink, on most designs you will read 160VAC... Now guess what would happen if you connected that heatsink to the other, and then imagine that the watercooled PSU I taked about above only prevents the short with a thin thermal pad...
Per Hansson - Saturday, June 17, 2006 - link
Sure looks so... I still do not understand why they have the cover on these units at a tradeshow...But it is probably to not reveal that they all use crap capacitors, everyone except Zippy and Seasonic (select models) use crap capacitors so...
Guess it's good for business when your products only hold togheter for 3 years and then start giving the computer random lockup problems due to too much ripple current being let through?!
Sigh...
Operandi - Saturday, June 17, 2006 - link
Actually all of Zalman’s PSUs are built by Forton-Source, so their definitely one of the better ones out there.Per Hansson - Sunday, June 18, 2006 - link
Yup, that is right, it is an excallent design, however it such a shame that they have to spoil it with OST and Capxon capacitors :(