Best notebook over, maybe

USA
This has to be one of the best notebook deals ever. The Compaq Presario R3000 series notebook gives you the best reason to get rid of your desktop computer. It features an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ running at 1.8Ghz, which in itself is a very powerful engine indeed. It is partnered with 512MB memory, extensible to 1.28Gb. Other features of the laptop include a spcious 60Gb hard disk, a dual format DVD writer, a Geforce 4 420Go with 32Mb DDR dedicated memory, a 15.4in WXGA TFT display capable of 1280x800 display, a modem, a 802.11 b/g Wireless LAN as well as a wired version.

Audio is handled by an onboard sound module coupled with JBL Pro speakers. The usual ports are present thereby allowing quite a number of peripherals to be connected. You don't have any floppy drives or Firewire port though and at 7.8lbs, the laptop is more in the Desktop Replacement rather than a pure notebook category.

The OS provided is Windows XP Home. But that's not all you also get free Sennheiser Earbuds or headphone. The price of the laptop after rebate is only $999 at ecost.

Another excellent deal from Ecost is a PC/Printer bundle available for only $468 after $100 rebate. The Compaq SR1130NX might be refurbished but it remains nonetheless an excellent buy. Built around an AMD Athlon XP 3000+, it features enough power to fire through all but the most demanding - gaming - tasks. It comes with the usual 512MB memory, a huge 160Mb hard disk and a 9-in-1 memory reader.

To burn your backups, the Presario has a DVD+RW - not dual format - as well as a 48x CDROM reader if you want to do some ripping. The motherboard provided seems to be a nForce 2 as it comes with two Firewire and seven USB2.0 ports. Up to three PCI and most importantly one AGP card can be fitted the free slots provided. Graphics as well as the other usual suspects are integrated. But to keep costs down, you do not have any keyboard, mouse or speakers. Additionally, you have only ninety days warranty which should be enough though.

The bundled printer is no slouch either, the Deskjet 5150 is one of the more evolved HP colour deskjet printers. It can deliver photo quality printing of up to 4800x1200dpi - dot per inch - and can accommodate up to six cartridges for even better colour rendering, all with the latest PhotoRet IV layering technology. It is quite fast as well achieving up to 19 and 14 pages per minute in black and colour albeit in draft mode. Last but not least, it can print without borders. µ

UK
Looking forward to purchase one of those mythical XP2500+ mobile in the UK? Then look no further than the Ebay. Someone over there is selling a new Athlon XP-M processor for £64 including free postage. The item is shipped from La Mesa, California though.

The Athlon XP-M 2500+ is probably one of the best overclockers ever. Using adequate cooling - a good heat sink fan will do - and a overclocker's wet dream motherboard - DFI, Albatron or Abit nForce II ultra boards will do nicely. Average increases from 600Mhz to 900MHz - 33 to 50% increases. Not bad for a £64 investment.

Such performance gives you the maximum performance you can get on a socket A platform which should keep you warm enough until the 90nm Athlon 3000+ becomes the next king of the hill.

If you want to buy a cheap desk microphone, then do as I do. Don't pay large sums for postage and packaging, totalling up to £7. Just go to your local pound shop and buy yourself a £1 computer microphone. Granted it won't bet your Logitech microphone but it will do the job nicely. You can use it instead of the usual headphone/microphone combination when talking via Skype or net2phone. My version is from Unique Houseware and has a frequency range of 80-12KHz range and has a long 2.5m cord. A deal for those on the go. At Morgan, they are having something akin of a sale.

Belkin stylish 32MB USB flash drives are flying at £4+VAT. They have integral password security and their glossy finish make them much classier than their competitors. Additionally, they come with a three year warranty. Models up to 256MB are on sale at £19.99. µ

Singapore
The price of high end graphic cards in Singapore is rapidly decreasing. For example the Leadtek 6800TD is currently on sale for only S$599 at videopro, which might be expensive by UK/US standards but still pretty damn cheap for Singapore. Based on the latest Geforce 6800 GPU, that particular model is hopefully a normal 6800, not a castrated 8-pipelines 6800LE. With that in mind, the 6800TD has a 12 pipe architecture, 128MB memory and DVI ports as well as a a very distinctive and massive black heat sink fan covering the memory and the GPU. The A400TDH uses a one slot design and is clocked at 325MHz/350MHz and from reviews over the internet, provides with decent overclocking performance. µ