Core2 Duo T7400 offers drop-in upgradability

WHILE WE WERE all looking at the latest Core2 Duo 6xxx series, Intel silently launched the T7400 Mobile processor and PC Perspective tested it inside a Dell XPS M1710. The laptop has actually bee unpgraded and PCP does warn us that the benchmarks should not be considered as final results for obvious reasons. Most importantly, going from a Core Duo T2600 to a Core2 T7400 yielded some impressive results, even if both had the same speed. Up to 10 per cent improvement in some cases.

Anandtech tests the Core2 Duo memory performance using a very curious beast; an Asrock motherboard with a VIA chipset, which means that Core2 Duo has already reached entry level status. Chipsets are not made out of the same mould as you will find. The biggest surprise it seems though came from another Asrock motherboard, the 775i65G model which comes with DDR and AGP8X standard.

Ever wanted to build your own Core Duo Laptop? Well, now you can, thanks to mass standardisation and mammoths like Asus. The Z96JS is a barebone, just like a Shuttle SFF but this one comes with everything including the screen and the keyboard. The barebone performed very well given the right components. Battery life is absolutely crap though and the whitebook solution is really limited to those who have very specific needs that have not been answered by mainstream vendors.

Long time MIA website, Sharkyextreme, sends us some news about the Asus EN7600GT Silent 256MB video card which I am sure is one of the more expensive model with this specifications. Why? Because it is manufactured by Asus, the Rolls of Video card manufacturers, it is silent and comes with three years warranty. In terms of performance, it can compete even with the 6800 Ultra, which is not bad at all.

Two household names launched MP3 players. Sony's one is not the first try, but to my knowledge, this is the first foray of JVC in the area. The JVC Alneo is even available in blue, pink and white and both have displays actually. Sony's model wins hands down due to excellent sound and its long battery life. Japan Victor Company still have a few tricks to learn from the Walkman creator.

Storagereview.com is one of the very rare dedicated storage website. Their latest review, which is more than one month old - but still good - is about 500GB HDD SATA drive as used in a corporate environment. Three models are tested one from Maxtor, one from Seagate - new owner of Maxtor and a WD model which is the cheapest of the three. And for once the cheapest seems to be the best.

If you want to send in reviews, hardware or software, don't hesitate, just bring them in. I am particularly fond of exotic hardware that you won't find elsewhere. Even if the review is not in English, as long as it is interesting and entertaining. Send it in. Also I would be glad if someone could point me to a recent directory of hardware websites. µ