An XP3000+ PC for $499

USA
Back in 1992, when I was buying my first computer magazines, one of the most prominent resellers featured on the pages of PC Magazines and the likes were Zenon, Unisys and Northgate. Those guys are coming back with a vengence after being dwarfed by the likes of Compaq and Dell. After having merged with MCGlen and Accessmicro, Northgate has launched a slew of new computers along the lines of Aventec. The Northgate STCAX30L desktop PC incorporates a Linspire Operating system in lieu of Windows XP. Other notable features include an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ - Barton core, a Foxconn casing with a 300W PSU as well as a heatsink from the same brand, 512MB Apacer PC2700 DDR memory, a Western Digital 120GB hard disk and an optical drive - 52x32x52x cd writer with a 16x DVD combo drive. A a 56K v.92 modem as well as a network card are also provided. The motherboard is a Chaintech 7VIF4 sporting a KM400 chipset with onboard VGA courtesy of S3's Unichrome. The mouse is an optical one and a normal keyboard. Three PCI slots and six USB 2.0 ports are provided as well as one AGP slot will allow you to expand your computer easily. The price of this little gem, only $499.98.

UK
Dabs has a fresh stock of newproducts. Amongst those of interest, the Liteon external DVD writer is sure to turn some heads. The LDW-812SX-03 is a 8x Dual format dvd writer. At £63 all inclusive - only £15 more than an internal model, it is a great solution for those looking to add DVD writing to their computers on the move. It comes with CD and DVD recording and authoring software as well as Cyberlink DVD player. With 2MB cache, it will be just enough to prevent coasters on the move. Other accessories include a couple of media, a USB 2.0 cable, AC adapter and manuals. Don't forget that this drive is in reality a four-in-one as it will allow you to read DVD's, CDROMs and write to CD's as well. If you plan to get yourself a very cheap AMD rig, then you can't go wrong with this motherboard. Flicky21 is selling an XFX Mach 4 nForce motherboard for £22.99 only. The specs of the card are top notch and most importantly, the board comes with USB and IDE lead, Driver disk and manuals. The Mach 4 is not your usual Athlon XP board. It supports DDR400 moemory, has built in Ethernet and six channel Audio. Three DIMM slots allow for up to 3GB of memory. It can accomodate six USB2.0 peripherals and with its five PCI slots, will be more than enough for mundane users. One user says that he can't imagine Gaming without an XFX nforce2 chipset.

Singapore
Huyndai is better known for its cars, memory manufacturer and as a manufacturer of heavy industrial equipments. Topuniversal is proposing us a very innovative product from that Korean manufacturer. The HYM-DC1S is a Digital Camera coupled with a camcorder, a voice recorder, a video viewer and much more. Unfortunately, I was not even able to access Hyundai's website to gather more details but some chinese websites can give you a slight idea of the appearance of this all in one. In a nutshell, the verso ressembles a digital voice recorder with a jog shuttle while the recto only has lens which is not dissimilar to camera phones available on the market. At S$239, the HYM-DC1S is not cheap though - as a digital camera, it has a CMOS sensor with a two mega pixel resolution coupled to a 4x Digital Zoom. Its small 1.5in color monitor will allow you not only to view pictures but also small films or listen to MP3. It has onboard 16MB flash memory which is enough to record 25 minutes of voice or 82 pics. This can be expanded using the appropriate SD or MMC card. The I/O ports are a mini-USB type, an AV, headphones jack and the SD slot. The MP4 video can go up to 640x480 pixels, better than VHS and since you have an inbuilt speakers, you will be able to listen to your films alost instantaneously. Also interesting to note is that the camera does include a rechargeable 780mAH LiIon battery and that the whole thing weighs 100g only.

France
The cheapest X800 Pro card in France is available from topachat for only €392.60 with the code FOLIE10, or £225+VAT, shaving a full £20 from prices in UK. The card is a no-name one but comes with all the features associated with the X800 pro. 256MB DDR3 memory, a 256 bit memory interface, 12 pipelines, DVI and TV outputs as well as DirectX9.0 support. Memory and Core Clock are 475MHz and 450MHz respectively, giving a pixel fill rate of 5.7 Gigapixels/sec. The card appears to be a retail version and as such comes with a full set of software and drivers.