Hardware Daily Buys

UK
Our quest for the ultimate 9800se brought forward some very interesting mails regarding configuration of the cards memory. Apparently the memory alignment (L-shaped vs I-shaped) help determine the rate of success of soft-modding it using software available either at omegacorner.com or other such websites. In the UK, 9800se All in Wonder cards were an instant hit with the Hercules 9800se making a very good impression. Apparently with Hercules decision to get out of the business, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of Radeon 9800SE AIW which can be correctly modded.

The most affordable of these cards seems to be available at hamiltone.co.uk, a little known outfit which also sells loads of specialists components. The TUL Powercolor Radeon 9800SE AIW (www.tul.com.tw) costs only £119+vat, which is not much for a card that can be modded to a Radeon 9800 Pro. It has an L shaped memory setup which does boosts up modding chances. While memory modules are not covered with any kind of heat sink, the GPU lies under a solid heat sink with a fan. Software delivered include PowerDVD 5.0, PowerProducer 2.0 gold, Powerdirector 3.0 and Power2Go 3.0. Accessories include converters, adaptors and the essential remote control. Oddly though, TUL specifies the memory bus width as 256bit, which is kinda strange for a SE series. Anyway, if someone buys this card, please let me know of your chances of success. µ

USA
PDAs have stormed the world since Palm introduction. Gibou Extreme discount (shop.vendio.com) is selling the Audiovox There PDA 2032 Verizon pocket PC Phone for ONLY $142.95, less than £100. Featuring WIndows for Pocket PC OS, it is built around a StrongARM 206Mhz processor with 32Mb RAM and 32Mb ROM. Its reflective screen (320x240pixels) allows 65536 colors and it has both an SD Card slot and an infrared port. At 7 ounces though, it won't fit in your pocket easily. One very interesting feature is that the Thera is also a CDMA phone on the Verizon Wireless network. Hence it comes with no surprise that it has a mono speaker/headphone jack as well as built-in voice recorder and microphone. The lithium Ion battery is rated for an uninspiring 10 hours of use and 3 hours of talk time. Since it is Windows-based, software like Windows Media Player, Outlook , Money, Streets, Reader. Excel, Word and Internet Explorer are included. Furthermore, a remote control, an extra stylus, the USB cradle and a 32Mb SD card are provided. Bear in mind that this model is aged less than two years and was first launched at $800 and was the most expensive phone/pocket PC PDA at that time. Last but not least it features a Sierra Wireless SB555 modem. A complete review of the Thera can be found at ppcnewswire.com. µ

France
PC Stories, via ebay.fr, is selling two lovely 17" TFT monitors, namely a Viewsonic VE175B and a Samsung SyncMaster 172V. Each is available for €340, around £225, slightly less than what you would pay in UK and are covered by a three year warranty. The first one has a 43cm viewing size, black in color and with a dot pitch of 0.26mm. Contrast is good at 450:1 and refresh rate is 20ms only. With a slim 6.2Kg and a D-sub connection, it will appeal to all those who want to ditch their 19" monitor for something more trendy. The 20ms refresh rate might interest gamers. The Samsung monitor shares similar specifications with slightly less contrast at 350:1. It has a native resolution of 1024x1280 and weighs only 4.8Kg. Like the Viewsonic monitoir, it has only a D-Sub connection which might deter DVI fans. µ

Singapore
Our friends from Cybermind has start retailing the latest Sapphire Radeon 9550 card at S$199 and S$899 respectively. The Radeon 9550 is the latest mid-level card to enter the foray. Like the GeforceFX 5500, the Radeon 9550 positions itself between the low-low level (Radeon 9200XX) and the real-mid-level (Radeon 9600SE). At S$199, it might not be real cheap. In UK, one of those costs around £57, much cheaper than in Singapore. Ayway, it seems to be a real contender and a fairly good overclocker. Tweaktown says of it that "the performance is quite competitive when it comes up against the nVidia competition. As we stated, the card is priced slightly cheaper then the competition which is going to make it for an extremely competitive product". Moreover, "The benchmark numbers cannot lie - all signs point to ATI taking out the crown in this section of the market with the Radeon 9550 showing a fair overall lead against the GeForce FX 5500 in our tests". The Radeon 9550 does much more than holding its ground against even the 5700LE. How it fares against the 9600SE will be a more than interesting match. µ