Daily Computer News and Rumors November 16-23 2003

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Nov 23 - Sunday Shopping Watch.

Best Sunday Deals - See our Best Sunday Ad Deals Table below for specific system prices.

Weekly Comparison. Again, some very good laptop and desktop deals to be found this weekend.

This Sunday's Special Discounts and Financing. In addition to sales on specific items, the following store-wide sales are advertised this week. (Note that these ads are for the Dayton, Ohio area. Prices or offerings may be different where you live.)

Best Buy is offering 13 month no-interest financing on all desktop and laptop purchases, and $100 mail-in rebates on advertised laptops and up to $100 mail-in rebates on advertised desktop packages.
Circuit City is offering 13 months no interest on advertised desktop packages and notebooks, and up to $150 mail-in rebates on advertised laptops and desktop packages.
Office Depot has no store-wide promotions this Sunday.
CompUSA is offering 13 months no payment, no interest, financing on any computer purchase of $999 and higher made on November 23rd or November 24th.
Staples has no store-wide promotions this Sunday.
Compare to Online Prices - Compare the Sunday ad prices to those being offered at DealTime, it searches over 160 online computer stores.

InfoHQ Related Shopping Pages

Shopping Alerts - Our latest shopping advisories on buying digital cameras and camcorders, desktop computers, laptops, and other computer items.

Windows XP Upgrade Guide - All about upgrading to Windows XP.

What You Need to Know About Dial-up Internet Service Rebates - The pros and cons of 'free' Internet service deals. Also see our latest InfoHQ Tech Watch Newsletter; Free PC and Free Internet Deals.

Definitions. A complete desktop system/package/complete package is defined as a computer with monitor and printer or scanner.
A build-to-order system is customized at the retailer and then ordered from a computer manufacturer. In addition to the computer's stated price, you still pay sales tax and shipping charges (if you order direct from the vendor without going through the chain store, you may not have to pay sales tax and you could get a better warranty).

Caution about advertised prices. When reading advertisements, read the fine print of the ad to make sure you know what is being advertised and what it cost. For example, many advertisers will show a complete system with computer, monitor, and printer but advertise a price for the computer only.

* Prices discussed in this article. We report prices after rebates and discounts are subtracted.
Items highlighted in Black are good deals.
Items highlighted in Red means prices have gone up and the system is not a good buy this week.
Items in normal text means prices are about the same as the previous weeks.

Best Sunday Ad Deals
Category	Product Description	*Price (see above)**	Prices up or Down this Week	Store
1. Best Celeron Deal	HP 2.6 GHz complete system with 17" monitor	$549	-	Circuit City
2. Best Celeron Deal	Compaq 2.6 GHz complete system with 17" monitor	$699	-	Best Buy
1. Best Pentium 4 System	Sony 2.6 GHz Pentium 4 complete system with 17" monitor, Hyper Threading, and DVD/CD-RW	$1054		Best Buy, Circuit City ($1079)
2. Best Pentium 4 System	HP 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 complete system with 15" flat panel, Hyper Threading, and DVD-RW	$1299		CompUSA
3. Best Pentium 4 System	Sony 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 complete system with 15" flat panel, HT Technology, and DVD-RW	$1404		Best Buy
4. Best Pentium 4 System	HP Windows XP Media 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 complete system with 17" flat panel, HT Technology, and DVD-RW	$1759		Best Buy
5. Best Pentium 4 System	Sony 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 complete system with 17" flat panel, HT Technology, and DVD-RW	$1679	+250	Circuit City
1. Best AMD Athlon XP System	HP 2600+ system with 17" monitor and DVD/CD-RW	$599		Best Buy
2. Best AMD Athlon XP System	eMachines 2600+ complete system with 15" LCD and DVD-RW	$779		Circuit City
1. Best Low-cost Laptop	Toshiba 2.4 GHz Celeron with DVD/CD-RW	$799		Circuit City
2. Best Low-cost Laptop	Compaq 2.4 GHz Celeron with DVD/CD-RW	$799		CompUSA
3. Best Low-cost Laptop	HP Athlon XP-M 2500+ with DVD/CD-RW	$999		Best Buy
1. Best High-end Notebook	Compaq 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 with DVD/CD-RW	$949		CompUSA
2. Best High-end Notebook	Toshiba 2.3 GHz Pentium 4 with DVD/CD-RW	$1099	-$50	Circuit City, CompUSA ($1149)
3. Best High-end Notebook	Toshiba Pentium 4 2.8 GHz with DVD/CD-RW	$1349	-	Best Buy
4. Best High-end Notebook	Sony Pentium 4 2.8 GHz with DVD/CD-RW	$1349	-	Circuit City
5. Best High-end Notebook	Toshiba Pentium 4 2.8 GHz Windows XP Media system with HT Technology, and DVD-RW	$1999	-	Best Buy
6. Best High-end Notebook	Toshiba Centrino widescreen 1.4 GHz with DVD/CD-RW	$1449		Circuit City
Compare to Online Prices at DealTime!!
Peripherals and Software
Best Sunday Deal	Dominator GeForce FX 5600 Plus 128 MB	$99 (after rebates)	-	*CompUSA*
Best Sunday Deal	Radeon 9200 128 MB	$59 (after rebates)	-	*Circuit City*
Best Sunday Deal	HP 8X DVD-RW/CD-RW	$199 (after rebates)	-	*Best Buy*
Best Sunday Deal	Plextor 8X external DVD-RW/CD-RW	$299 (after rebates)	-	*Best Buy*
Compare to Online Prices at DealTime !!

InfoHQ Quick Jumps to Upgrades from DealTime - Click to check on latest prices
Video Cards	ATI Radeon
	GeForce4 FX
Hard Drives	Maxtor
	Western Digital
	Seagate
CD-RW Drives	40x/48x Write Speed
DVD-RW Drives	DVD+RW/CD-RW
CPUs	All AMD Athlon XP CPUs
	All Intel Pentium 4 CPUs
Antivirus Software	All Manufacturers
Firewall Software	All Manufacturers
All Other Products	DealTime

Additional Information. For additional technical information, advice on how to buy a laptop or desktop, and vendor and manufacturer links, please see our Computer Buying Advice page.

About Sunday Shopping Watch. Sunday Shopping Watch appears every Sunday (except some holidays like Easter and Christmas) in our News and Rumors column. It is a review of local (Dayton, Ohio) computer chain store advertisements. While we can not guarantee your local chain store has the same items, this article can help you make informed buying decisions.

Nov 21 - AMD Opteron Processor Makes Grand Entrance Onto the Top500 Supercomputer List. AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced at Supercomputing 2003 the AMD Opteron(TM) processor has appeared an impressive four times for its debut on the Top500 Supercomputer list.

"The AMD Opteron processor has marched straight to the top ten of the supercomputing field," said Marty Seyer, vice president and general manager of AMD's Microprocessor Business Unit. "The swift adoption and installation of these ultra-powerful AMD Opteron processor-based supercomputers clearly shows the HPC community had been anxiously awaiting this processor."

The Top500 list is published twice yearly and is based on the LINPAC benchmark, which measures a computer's floating-point rate of executing linear equations and is expressed in Gigaflops (Gflop/s) or billions of floating point operations per second.

The number six supercomputer, built by Linux Networx and in service at Los Alamos National Laboratory, comes in as the highest AMD Opteron processor-based system on the Top500 and operates at a maximal LINPAC performance rate of 8,051 Gflop/s with a theoretical peak performance of 11,264 Gflop/s.

The Innovative Computing Lab at the University of Tennessee, which co-authors the Top500 list, has selected the AMD Opteron processor-based system from Atipa Technologies for a new supercomputing cluster scheduled to be delivered by December 1, 2003. The 64-node cluster is designed to use 128 AMD Opteron processors and is planned to support a variety of projects for the lab, including various benchmarks and Grid related projects.

"Our new AMD Opteron processor-based cluster will deliver increased performance to enable us to make more efficient use of our Grid environment, called SInRG, on the University of Tennessee campus," said Jack Dongarra, Distinguished Professor at the University of Tennessee. "It also will offer improved performance for tasks such as the development of new numerical algorithms and computational kernels used to alleviate commonly occurring bottlenecks in high performance computing."

Additional AMD Opteron processor-based supercomputers making the list include: an installation at Doshisha University's Intelligent Systems Design Laboratory in Kyoto, Japan and built by Visual Technology at number 93, a supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory designed by Linux Networx at number 116, and at number 247, a system built by RackSaver with Arima and Myricom, Inc., in service at AMD's Developer Center in Sunnyvale, California.

Many research institutions and universities have embraced the stability and reliability of the AMD Athlon(TM) MP processor line, which offers leading in-class performance and also appears throughout the TOP500 list.

About the AMD Opteron(TM) Processor

The AMD Opteron processor is based on AMD's eighth-generation processor core, which marks the introduction of the industry's first 64-bit, x86 technology implementation. This technology preserves companies' investments in 32-bit applications, while allowing a seamless transition to 64-bit computing as those companies require. The AMD Opteron processor is designed to deliver high-performance server and workstation solutions for today's most demanding enterprise applications.

The processor is scalable, reliable and compatible, which can result in lower total cost of ownership. Key AMD Opteron processor innovations include an integrated memory controller, which reduces memory bottlenecks, and HyperTransport(TM) technology, which increases overall performance by removing or reducing I/O bottlenecks, increasing bandwidth and reducing latency.

For more information, visit www.amd.com.

Nov 21 - Sun and AMD Form Strategic Alliance. Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW) and AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced a strategic alliance through which Sun will deliver new AMD Opteron(tm) processor-based Sun Fire(tm) systems and optimized versions of the Solaris(tm) Operating System (OS) and the Java(tm) platform as well as Linux OS.

The new Sun Fire servers will provide customers with all the benefits of the Solaris OS and the Java Enterprise System running on industry standard x86 architecture with breakthrough AMD Opteron processor performance. The alliance plans to also include long-term joint technology development to create future hardware and software offerings.

"Over the past year we've made a dramatic move in leveraging industry economics to bring customers the enterprise-class benefits of our Solaris OS and Java technology at compelling price points," said Scott McNealy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "This means that Sun customers can now get all the benefits of Solaris OS, Linux and Java technologies running on their choice of UltraSPARC(R) and x86 systems. With the addition of the AMD Opteron processor, we are setting a new industry standard by delivering even more choice and performance to our customers."

By offering both Solaris OS and Linux, Sun customers will have a choice of enterprise operating systems and access to thousands of applications. In addition, Sun's Java Enterprise System will enable Sun's customers with AMD Opteron processor-based systems to develop and deploy applications in a simple, predictable, cost-effective manner.

"Today's agreement with Sun is a strong validation of AMD's growing customer acceptance inside the enterprise," said Hector Ruiz, President and CEO of AMD. "The combination of Sun's network computing expertise and the AMD Opteron processor platform will allow IT customers unprecedented flexibility and scalability. Sun's support adds additional momentum to our growing AMD Opteron processor ecosystem."

"In May of this year, Scott and I outlined our vision for a highly scalable but low-cost computing infrastructure," said Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation. "Today, Sun, AMD and Oracle are working together to deliver on that vision. Soon Oracle will run on AMD Opteron under both Solaris and Linux. These new systems offer the rare combination of 64-bit big system performance and a very low price tag."

The strategic alliance between the two companies will include:

-- A full range of AMD Opteron processor-based Sun Fire systems
from Sun: Throughout the course of 2004, Sun will introduce
new AMD Opteron processor powered systems. The current roadmap
calls for two- and four-way servers to be rolled-out within
the next calendar year.

-- Solaris OS and Sun's Java Enterprise System optimization for
the AMD Opteron processor: Sun and AMD will collaborate to
accelerate the platform development, optimize the performance
and increase enterprise adoption for the Solaris OS and Sun's
Java Enterprise System running on the AMD Opteron processor.
Currently customers can run Solaris software on AMD Opteron in
32-bit mode. Sun plans to make 64-bit Solaris available on the
AMD Opteron processor in the first half of 2004.

-- Future AMD Opteron Processor-based Designs: Sun and AMD will
collaborate on a portfolio of future AMD Opteron
processor-based systems and scalability beyond 4-way AMD
Opteron processor systems. The parties will also collaborate
on coherent HyperTransport(tm) technology implementations.

-- Joint ISV Development Program: Sun and AMD will jointly form
an iForce(tm) Partner Program for ISVs and developers creating
and porting applications to the Solaris OS. This new program
will include engineering support from both companies, a seed
unit program for ISVs as well as a Sun/AMD Developer Resource
Kit, which is available for download at www.sun.com/amd or
www.amd.com/sun.

-- Joint Customer Centric Marketing Programs: Sun and AMD will
collaborate on worldwide marketing activities including a
customer seed unit program; joint sales activities; as well as
joint product, ISV, developer and channel marketing programs.

Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.

Nov 21 - Toshiba Introduces Next Generation Tablet PC. Building upon its award-winning tablet PC platform, Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD) today introduced its next generation tablet PC offering an impressive array of productivity tools and a new, uniquely designed docking station.

The Portege(R) M200/205 Series is built on the success of Toshiba's Portege 3500 offering advanced wireless connectivity with Intel(R) Centrino(TM) mobile technology and a dual axis accelerometer which allows users to manually tilt the notebook up or down, for scroll type functionality. With enhanced design and system performance, the Portege M200/205 Series offers users a more intuitive interface and a natural, practical way of working with their computer.

Like its predecessor, the Portege M200/205 works as an everyday notebook computer, but includes an innovative display that rotates and folds back for convenient information viewing and sharing, and offers a choice of data input modes such as typing, writing or speech.

"Over the past year, Toshiba's tablet PC has gained acceptance because of its portability, versatility and ability to function beyond the traditional range of PC applications. Customers of all sizes across vast industries including insurance, pharmaceuticals and medical are using Toshiba's award-winning platform and are finding new ways to increase productivity during their entire business day," said Taro Hiyama, vice president of marketing, Toshiba DPD. "The Portege M200/205 offers exciting new options including a docking station that will provide new usage scenarios and increased applications for everyday mobile computing."

Flexible Docking Solution

Designed to encompass a flexible range of desktop usage scenarios, the Portege M200/205 offers an optional Toshiba Tablet Multi Dock that allows users to use their tablet PC in a comfortable, natural position and to write on the screen while at their desk. With easy screen rotation to landscape or portrait mode, users now have the ability to adjust the unit at different height levels to fit their own personal comfort level.

Expanding workspace and increasing productivity, the Toshiba Tablet Multi Dock includes an integrated SlimSelect Bay(TM) to support an additional hard drive or optical drive, enabling users to increase storage capacity, download software or back-up vital data. Toshiba's Tablet Multi Dock also allows users to view multiple applications on either an optional second monitor or the tablet PC screen.

A Full Size Package

Toshiba's Portege M200 is powered by the NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5200 graphics processing unit (GPU) with 32MB of dedicated DDR memory and Microsoft DirectX(R) 9.0 support. Users will experience rich graphics to power their daily office tasks and other applications that require powerful graphic support such as developing interactive multimedia presentations, creating Web design content or video editing.

In addition to the 12.1-inch high-resolution SXGA+ diagonal display, the convertible notebook features a dual axis accelerometer which simplifies how people use and interact with their notebook. When Web browsing, this unique feature allows users to manually tilt their notebook up and down to view the top and bottom of the web page, making research and entertainment convenient. In addition, while viewing an eBook or digital magazine, this feature allows users to turn pages manually by tilting the notebook from left to right -- just like the real thing.

Nov 21 - New Diamond Stealth Graphics Cards Available Now. Diamond Multimedia introduced today a completely new line of Stealth® graphics accelerator cards designed to deliver high-performance and visual quality to the latest business, game and entertainment software.
Featuring a variety of visual processing units (VPUs) from ATI and NVIDIA, Stealth offers solid 2D/3D graphics and video playback in both AGP and PCI versions. With estimated retail prices ranging from $49 to $99, the four new models are shipping now to US retailers, e-tailers, distributors and systems integrators.

"People will be thrilled to see Stealth products available to them again", said RJ Theodore, general manager of Diamond Multimedia. "The Stealth legacy of value and performance continues to live on, and we've made it easier than ever to choose great graphics on a budget."

"The Diamond brand has always been known for quality and performance, and for the first time in history, ATI is proud to be the technology featured in Diamond Stealth products," said Rick Bergman, vice president of marketing for ATI Technologies. "Combine our graphics innovations with the consumer confidence inspired by Diamond, and you have a recipe for success."

Two of the new Stealth models include a full-version copy of the arcade game classic SpyHunter® from Aspyr Media, a leading publisher of video games. Ported from the popular PlayStation®2 title from Midway®, this bundle includes the recently released PC version packed with ultra-realistic 3D graphics further enhanced by the Stealth graphics cards. The game's explosive weaponry and impressive defensive mechanisms provide the intense speed and strategy that distinguishes SpyHunter from routine combat racers and traditional action racing games.

"We're excited about partnering our thrilling arcade classic game, SpyHunter with the legendary Diamond Stealth brand," stated Karim Farghaly, director of strategic sales, Aspyr Media. "Stealth's quality, performance and price plus the inclusion of such a stellar game makes this an irresistible offer not to be missed."

Stealth for Mainstream Graphics Value

Diamond's Stealth brand accelerators have long been one of the most popular and recognizable mainstream PC graphics products on the market. It features a variety of visual processing units (VPUs) from multiple semiconductor manufacturers, such as ATI and NVIDIA, and is marketed for the mainstream consumer.

The six new Stealth PC graphic accelerators are now shipping and make great holiday gifts. For more information, please visit: http://www.diamondmm.com.

Nov 21 - Think Outside Announces the Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard. Think Outside Inc., maker of the revolutionary Stowaway(TM) Portable Keyboards for handheld devices, today announced that it has begun selling the Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard, the smallest, full-size wireless keyboard available for PDAs and smartphones using the Pocket PC 2002 or Pocket PC 2003 (Windows Mobile 2003) operating systems.

"The new Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard is Think Outside's no-compromise solution for Pocket PC users who want to enjoy full-size, portable touch typing with the added flexibility of an infrared connection to the PDA," said Greg van den Dries, Think Outside's vice president of sales and marketing. "We predict that it's going to be a very popular keyboard for the fast-growing population of Pocket PC users who want to get the most from their mobile computing equipment. We are selling this keyboard directly through our website and retailers."

Like all Think Outside's other industry-leading portable keyboards, the Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard offers the ANSI-standard keys, key spacing and key travel -- comparable to the best laptop computers -- that are essential for comfortable touch typing. When these capabilities are combined with its $69.99 price tag and infrared (IR) capabilities, the keyboard breaks new ground in merging full-size functionality, reliable wireless operation and affordable price.

Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard Takes its Place in the Stowaway Lineup

The Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard is ideal for PDA activities of all kinds: for school, home and work. Like the other members of the Stowaway keyboard family, the new wireless keyboard folds to a size that fits easily in a pocket or briefcase, yet opens to a full-size keyboard. In fact, when closed, the Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard is the smallest, full size wireless keyboard available for Pocket PC devices.

The Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard uses a folding structure similar to the Stowaway XT, the highest-end member of the Stowaway family. The new wireless keyboard is much thinner and lighter when compared to competitive keyboards and feels the same as the Stowaway XT when typing, which is perfect for touch typing or note taking. A new software driver also enhances access to PDA menus and toolbars from the keyboard, limiting the need to use a stylus with the PDA.

The Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard is able to wirelessly connect with a wide range of PDAs running the Pocket PC 2002 or Windows Mobile 2003 operating systems, including devices from Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell and Toshiba.

The keyboard features an integrated cradle for holding the PDA upright for easier viewing while typing; this integrated cradle design eliminates the alignment issues inherent with two-piece designs that use mirrors to reflect IR from the keyboard to the PDA and are tricky to set up.

The keyboard also features an adjustable IR wand that accommodates viewing in both portrait and landscape modes, an essential capability since PDAs are increasingly supporting these two viewing orientations. Additionally, the close proximity of the IR wand minimizes latency -- i.e., the time between when a key is pressed and when the letter appears on the PDA screen -- an important feature for power users who type quickly.

Price and Availability

The Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard is available now through Think Outside's website, www.thinkoutside.com, for a suggested retail price of $69.99 and includes a free keyboard case. The keyboard works with PDAs from Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Dell, including the HP iPAQ 1900, 2200, 3600, 3700, 3800, 3900, 4100, 5100, 5400 and 5500 series; the Toshiba e330, e350/355, e740 and e750/755 models; the Dell Axim X5; and HTC Pocket PC XDA/MDA smartphones.
(Note: a Palm OS version of the Stowaway Infrared Wireless Keyboard, marketed as the Palm Wireless Keyboard, is also available through PalmOne's distribution channels.)

Nov 21 - Best Buy Holiday Trend Index Offers Gift-Giving Insights. The biggest shopping day of the year is right around the corner, and for many Americans, so is the season of stress. According to the Best Buy Holiday Trend Index survey, each consumer will spend about $820 on holiday gifts this year with digital cameras as a top must-have for the second year in a row. The survey also revealed that parents and teens are among the hardest people to shop for, and the top two factors that make gift-giving difficult are differences in personal interests between the giver and receiver (32 percent) and not having enough gift suggestions (27 percent).

Top Tech Categories for the Holidays

Trying to find the right gifts can indeed turn holiday cheer into holiday desperation - but it doesn't have to be that way. Consumers are hungry for gift ideas, and this year, technology items are at the top of many lists. The Trend Index shows digital cameras and camcorders, notebook computers, video gaming systems, wireless phones, entertainment software and home theater systems are going to be top-selling categories. In fact, 63 percent of Americans name DVD movies and music CDs as their top gifts of choice, followed by digital cameras/camcorders (53 percent), computers (26 percent), televisions (18 percent) and video games (18 percent).

Digital Imaging for the "Divas"

Digital cameras and camcorders will be top must-have gifts among the majority of consumers, particularly for women (56 percent). Further, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reports women would rather receive a digital camera than a pair of half-carat diamond stud earrings.

Entertainment and Phones for Guys and Girls

MP3 players will be a major purchase for gift-givers with younger people on their list, coupled with the latest digital music subscription services, as 24 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds state the latest models are on their wish lists. Video games (26 percent), music CDs (41 percent) and DVDs (46 percent) also will be popular among this age group. And, in the mobile phone arena, camera phones and compact mobile phones will be big must-haves.

Notebooks and Monitors for Men

Notebook computers are projected to be big sellers as many models now offer widescreen options and integrated wireless capability. Flat panel LCD monitors also will be a popular gift item, and the added good news is they have become more affordable.

Consumer Shopping and Spending Trends

Seventy-seven percent of people will spend the same or more on holiday gifts this year compared to last year, with men spending almost $250 more than women. Sixty-two percent of people will do most of their shopping for technology at retail outlets, with the rest purchasing gifts online, particularly men.
While the day after Thanksgiving will continue to be a big day for shopping, nearly 60 percent of people will wait to buy their gifts until a few weeks or less before the holidays, and Saturday afternoons will be the most likely time consumers will hit the sales, with Wednesdays as the most popular shopping weekday.

Holiday Shopping Tips

Retailers are trying to make gift-giving easier for consumers, and by doing a little planning ahead of time, holiday shopping doesn't have to be stressful.

-- Take advantage of extended store hours and keep in mind that Saturdays and Wednesdays are busy shopping days.

-- If you're unsure about what tech gadget to buy, do some research online before you head to the store. Or, consider purchasing your gifts online, and take advantage of free shipping and handling options.

-- Ask for a wish list from gift recipients or suggest they register online at their favorite web site, such as www.BestBuy.com.

-- Stay on the lookout for in-store gift suggestions for the hard-to-shop-for on your list. Keep in mind that MP3 players and camera phones top wish lists among teens, digital cameras are a favorite for women, and widescreen notebook computers are projected to be popular among men.

-- Take a moment to enjoy the festive in-store mood setters. After all, holiday shopping only happens once a year, so you may as well enjoy it.

Nov 21 - NetIQ Survey Finds Organizations Spend More Than $2.5 Million a Year Battling Spam. NetIQ Corp. (Nasdaq:NTIQ), a leading provider of systems & security management and Web analytics solutions, today announced the results of the "Secret Costs of Spam" market survey jointly conducted with Windows & .NET Magazine, which highlights spam-related business issues now plaguing organizations.

Survey results found that spam costs the average business more than $2.5 million a year in productivity lost, bandwidth consumed, storage capacity used and support issues created. More than 750 organizations with an average of 12,000 employees responded to the survey, which took place in October 2003.

"These types of surveys validate the need for an anti-spam solution, but more and more, companies are beginning to understand that spam is just the tip of the iceberg," said Matt Cain, senior vice president at the META Group, a leading provider of information technology research, advisory services and strategic consulting. "Content security solutions help organizations save money by reducing operational costs associated with spam such as manual inbox culling by users, storage management and help desk calls."

While content security technology is the defacto standard in the fight against spam, survey participants also recognized that teaching users about spam-attracting practices through Internet usage policies could be an effective first line of defense against spam.

According to the survey, organizations are most concerned with the loss of efficiency, increased security risks and heightened legal risks associated with spam.

Heather Pazak, a consultant at The Hillman Company, one of the 2.5 million users of NetIQ(R) MailMarshal(TM), said the company replaced a competitive product with NetIQ MailMarshal earlier this year because unwanted e-mail was affecting corporate efficiency.

"NetIQ MailMarshal improved our efficiency by filtering out spam, which accounts for 37 percent of the 140,000 e-mail messages we receive each month. MailMarshal is also extremely accurate and reliable blocking only a few business correspondence e-mails per week," she said.

Although spam is widely recognized as a costly issue, less than half of the respondents said they had purchased an anti-spam solution. The risk of false positives was cited as one of the most significant reasons not to purchase.

Survey results also showed that while the ideal solution would completely contain and prevent spam, IT personnel set more realistic goals, looking for 80 to 90 percent spam detection rates and 0.5 - 4 percent false positive ratings. NetIQ MailMarshal exceeds those goals with a detection rate of 90 to 95 percent and a false positive rate of .01 to 0.1 percent.

"Spam is such a hot-button issue right now because everyone with an e-mail account is affected, but the larger issues for corporations are security, loss of confidential information and network resources," said Art Costigan, managing principal for Global Network Security Consultants, LLC. "NetIQ MailMarshal SMTP and VigilEnt(TM) Policy Center work together to not only educate users to ensure compliance with acceptable e-mail usage policies but also enforce those policies reducing security risks and increasing network efficiency."

For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.netiq.com.

Nov 20 - Magicolor 2300W Color Laser Printer Makes History with $499 Price. With advertisements breaking in USA TODAY and on radio stations nationwide, KONICA MINOLTA PRINTING SOLUTIONS today announced a $200 rebate on its magicolor 2300W. Already an amazing value at $699 (est. street price), the manufacturer's rebate sets the magicolor 2300W's price point at an unheard of $499, making it the lowest cost color laser printer in history.

First available in March, 2003, the magicolor 2300W shook up the market with its initial $699 price. It has been touted as an "economical workhorse" and the "best value around." With the cost-cutting $200 rebate, individuals can easily justify purchasing their own personal color laser printer.

The magicolor 2300W features a compact size and user-friendly design, making it ideal for small businesses, home use, and executive offices that need a reliable color solution. Print speeds are comparable to many black-and-white workgroup printers at 16 ppm monochrome as well as 4 ppm in full color. The printer also has a 200-sheet multipurpose input tray, USB and parallel interfaces, 1200 x 600 dpi print quality, and 32 MB RAM. Compatible with Windows operating systems, the affordable magicolor 2300W is at home on any desktop.

The magicolor 2300W is available through KONICA MINOLTA's network of retail outlets, e-commerce partners, authorized distributors, and dealers. To find the location nearest you, call 800-523-2696 or visit the KONICA MINOLTA Web site at www.konicaminolta.net/printer/. Purchasers can obtain the $200 rebate form online at http://printer.konicaminolta.net/rebate/.

Nov 20 - Watch TV Anywhere and Anytime On Home PCs With ATI's EAZYSHARE. EAZYSHARE(TM) software from ATI Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:ATYT) (TSX:ATY.TO), enables users to share TV - live or recorded - from a PC equipped with ATI's ALL-IN-WONDER(R) card with any other PC on their home network, as long as it has a "Built By ATI" RADEON(TM) graphics card.

The ALL-IN-WONDER card turns a PC into a fully-functional personal video recorder and EAZYSHARE extends those benefits to other PCs in the home. The launch of EAZYSHARE is the latest step in the transition of the PC from workhorse to the multimedia center of a wired home.

ATI's EAZYSHARE converts a PC with an ALL-IN-WONDER card into a video server. The viewer can sit at any networked PC (assuming it has a "Built By ATI" RADEON card) and watch TV with access to all the functions of a Personal Video Recorder. They can pause live TV, skip ad breaks, get instant replays of touchdowns and so on.

"As home data networks have surpassed the critical ten million household mark for U.S. households and will reach 30 million in just five years, connectivity for multimedia applications will spur dramatic growth," said Kurt Scherf, Vice President of Research for Parks Associates, a market research and consulting firm. "Given that one in five consumers in networked homes is already expressing an interest in multimedia networks, we anticipate strong uptake for solutions that leverage the processing and storage power of the home computer to drive new entertainment applications."

"EAZYSHARE brings us one step closer to putting a multimedia PC at the center of a connected home," said Ben Bar-Haim, Vice President Software, ATI Technologies Inc. "Now that home networks are commonplace, ATI is introducing EAZYSHARE to leverage them to bring PVR functionality to every room with a computer."

ATI is the only company to provide a complete multimedia solution for the PC platform: advanced 3D graphics hardware and software; hardware accelerated video processing; and, sophisticated software for remote multimedia enjoyment. ATI's EAZYSHARE software has been certified by Microsoft Windows Hardware Qualified Labs, confirming its stability and compatibility with the widest possible range of systems.

The combination of ATI's RADEON based video cards and ALL-IN-WONDER with EAZYSHARE (available in MULTIMEDIA CENTER 8.8/CATALYST 3.10) delivers an enhanced home networking solution - only available from ATI Technologies. EAZYSHARE is designed to run on any secure home networking configuration including 10/100 BaseT, HPNA, and 802.11b/g.

Available for free download from www.ATI.com in December 2003, EAZYSHARE is included with ATI's CATALYST(TM) 3.10 software package designed to give ATI's RADEON video card users improved performance, additional entertainment value and overall increased stability.

Nov 20 - HP Leads TOP500 Supercomputer List for Fourth Consecutive Time. For the fourth consecutive time, HP (NYSE:HPQ) ranks as the No. 1 supercomputing provider on the TOP500 Supercomputer list, which catalogs the world's 500 most powerful installed technical and commercial computer systems.

With 165 entries, representing nearly one-third of the posted sites, HP has more installations on the TOP500 list than any other vendor. With its powerful HP Integrity, Superdome and AlphaServer systems, HP increased its share on this exclusive list from its June 2003 showing of 159 entries. HP also secured two of the top five spots -- No. 2 Los Alamos National Laboratory and No. 5 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

"HP Superdome servers represent nearly 25 percent of the TOP500 list, which underscores HP's leadership in high performance technical computing," said Winston Prather, vice president and general manager of the High Performance Technical Computing Division, HP. "The list also reflects the growing momentum of Itanium-based HP Integrity servers, which deliver top performance through innovation built on standards."

Supercomputers based on the Intel(R) IA-32 and Itanium(R) 2 architectures made substantial gains on the list, securing a total of 189 spots, an increase from 119 in June. Among these were 33 HP systems, including seven HP Integrity Superdome clusters and the HP rx2600 server cluster installed at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the most powerful Itanium 2-based system in the world.

"The unique architecture and balance of our HP supercomputer enables us to address large-scale computational, biological and chemical sciences with the best time-to-solution of any system we benchmarked," said Scott Studham, manager of High-Performance Computing Systems, PNNL. "HP delivered a first-rate system with unprecedented storage, an interconnect that allows processors to communicate in less than three microseconds, and Intel's next-generation Itanium 2 processors."

HP Superdome systems equipped with PA-RISC and Itanium processors accounted for 121 of the company's entries and HP AlphaServer systems represented 18 sites, including the most powerful system in the United States -- the AlphaServer-based ASCI Q system at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The TOP500 ranking of supercomputers is released twice a year by researchers at the Universities of Tennessee and Mannheim, Germany, and at NERSC Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The list ranks supercomputers worldwide based on the Linpack N*N Benchmark, a yardstick of performance that is a reflection of processor speed and scalability.

More information about HP is available at www.hp.com. The complete listing of TOP500 Supercomputer sites is available at www.top500.org.

Nov 20 - DigitalDeck Enables Entertainment Content Anytime, Anywhere in the Home. DigitalDeck, Inc. today introduced the first end-to-end entertainment platform that aggregates all the content coming into the home and intelligently distributes it over wired and/or wireless IP-based home networks. The first products enabled by the platform will be introduced this January at the 2004 International CES (Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada; January 8-11, 2004; DigitalDeck booth: LVCC 1&2/#18498).
DigitalDeck's initial consumer package includes three elements:

-- The Advanced Media Manager, running on either a stand-alone appliance or on a PC, aggregates and manages content distribution in the home

-- The DigitalDeck Media Adapter connects devices (such as cable and satellite TV receivers, DVD players, and security cameras) to the home network and brings additional Internet-based content to the television

-- The DigitalDeck unified remote control can be used anywhere in the home to control all legacy consumer electronics devices connected to the network

DigitalDeck has also introduced a complete back-office software platform that provides: programming channel lineups for the DigitalDeck Electronic Program Guide (EPG), IR codes for control of consumers' devices, automated software and firmware updates, billing interfaces, and security for protection of content. This platform is offered both as a service and as a software suite for service providers.

With cable and satellite TV in nearly 100 million homes and with almost 24 million broadband households in North America, consumers are getting their video and music content from an increasingly diverse distribution universe. Networked home entertainment represents the true convergence of consumer electronics, computer equipment, broadband, and broadcast entertainment industries.

"DigitalDeck has built affordable and easy-to-use products that help consumers enjoy all of their entertainment content regardless of the source, regardless of which room they're in, and regardless of the time," said Erik Scheelke co-founder and president/chief technology officer. "Consumers don't care where their entertainment content comes from -- or what time it's on. We shouldn't have to go from one room to another to watch a DVD or cable TV, or move to the PC to view digital photos. We should be able to watch what we want, where we want, when we want."

DigitalDeck's patent-pending EPG puts all forms of content at the user's fingertips in a convenient guide. The EPG brings all of the content sources in the home -- satellite and cable TV, DVD, broadband Internet, security cameras and digital music services -- into a single user interface. Consumers can switch from one content source to another simply by tuning from one channel to another on the guide. And with DigitalDeck's "whole home" IP-based DVR, the consumer can enjoy full DVR functionality from any of these content sources on every TV in the home.

"We see great promise in technology that allows consumers to aggregate audio and video content and gives them control over when and where they use it," said Van Baker, vice president, consumer electronics, Gartner G2.
"Today's consumer is likely to have a number of entertainment sources. With home networks increasingly common, it's only a matter of time before software and services leverage those networks to bring a wide variety of entertainment sources together. In the end, the real winners will be those companies that can get the right mix of technology partnerships, distribution channels and product features that add value to existing viewing patterns."

For more information, please visit www.digitaldeck.com.

Nov 20 - Dell Expands Its All-In-One Printer Line. Added customer conveniences of standalone faxing and automatic document-feeding capabilities highlight the newest product in Dell's line of all-in-one printers, the company announced today.

Priced at $179 after a $20 instant rebate ($199 pre-rebate price), the new Dell Personal All-In-One Printer A960 also makes easy work of printing in color, photocopying and scanning, said Tim Peters, vice president and general manager of Dell Imaging & Printing.

"The Dell A960 is the perfect machine for small businesses and home offices, where professional-quality imaging products are needed," said Peters. "It will do everything needed to help run a business or to work from home without breaking the budget."

The A960 is based on the Dell Personal All-in-One Printer A940, winner of the PC Magazine Editors' Choice Award(a). It maintains the print and scan quality of the A940, but also includes advanced features such as an automatic document feeder that lets customers fax, copy or scan up to 50 pages at a time, leaving them free to do more important tasks. Its standalone fax capability includes built-in memory, reducing the chances customers will miss a fax and/or need to wait to send one.

Other technical features of the A960 include print resolutions up to 4800 dots per inch (dpi), and a 48-bit flatbed scanner with a maximum resolution of 19,200 dpi. Imaging and printing is further complemented with Dell Premium Photo Paper, which users can use to create high-resolution color prints in either 4x6 inch or 8.5x11 inch sizes.

In order to simplify the ink replenishment process, the A960 features the Dell Ink Management System(tm), which monitors ink levels and proactively prompts users to order replacement cartridges. Once ordered, the cartridges are conveniently shipped directly to the customer, eliminating the time, cost and hassle of traveling to a local retailer.

The Dell Personal All-In-One Printer A960 is now available in North America and will be offered in other regions in the coming months. More information and specifications on the Dell Personal All-In-One Printer A960 can be found online at www.dell.com/printers.

Nov 20 - GameSpot and Download.com Introduce Free Game File Download Service. GameSpot, the most highly trafficked games content Web site, and Download.com, the number-one download site, both CNET Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNET) properties, today jointly introduced GameSpot DLX (http://dlx.gamespot.com).

GameSpot DLX is the first download service that offers gamers free and secure access to their favorite game-related files with no waiting in line, as well as the ability to automatically receive new game files as soon as they are released. The same service is also available in the "Games" section of Download.com.

Gaming is surpassing other categories within the entertainment industry. Gaming revenue reached $10.3 billion in 2002, exceeding Hollywood box office revenues of $9.4 billion. Males between the ages of 13 and 34 make up 88 percent of GameSpot's audience, with over 60 percent in the coveted 18 to 34 year demographic. This group is spending more time online, and on online gaming sites. Seventy-five percent of males between 18 and 34 are on the Internet, and are more interested in gaming content than any other category, with 26 percent share of total category visits.

By launching GameSpot DLX, GameSpot, already ranked number-one among all gaming content sites, is raising the bar for service and accessibility. Unlike other game file download Web sites, which require gamers to pay membership fees and wait in queues before downloading the most popular files, the GameSpot DLX "Secure Delivery" technology - a lightweight plug-in - lets gamers instantly and safely download free demos, patches, mods, maps, models, skins, video trailers, and other files focused on PC games.

In addition to its vast library of PC demos, patches, and related files, GameSpot DLX also features the thousands of free videos of PC, Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Gameboy Advance games available on GameSpot today, making it the Internet's largest and most convenient repository of game-related videos.

"Serious gamers want their game files free and fast, particularly during the holiday season, when most of the year's new titles are released," said Vince Broady, a founder of GameSpot and senior vice president of CNET Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:CNET), GameSpot's parent company. "With instant on-demand downloads and automatic delivery of new releases, GameSpot DLX is in a class of its own. The site is an excellent complement to the award-winning editorial content on GameSpot and illustrates our belief in offering users multiple options for accessing the games content they want."

With dozens of highly anticipated new game releases scheduled to come out before the holidays, registered users can immediately capitalize on GameSpot DLX's ability to automatically send new files to their desktops upon their release. All GameSpot Basic registered members have unlimited access to the files and services available from GameSpot DLX.

Nov 19 - AMD Introduces New 32- and 64-Bit Opteron Processors. AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced new additions to the AMD Opteron(TM) processor family - Models 148, 248 and 848 - enabling servers and workstations to simultaneously provide cutting-edge 32-bit performance and 64-bit capability.

"With the AMD Opteron processor, we're giving the server and workstation industry an opportunity to hit a grand slam with its purchasing decisions," said Marty Seyer, vice president and general manager of AMD's Microprocessor Business Unit. "IT managers, small and medium businesses and workstation users are increasingly interested in products that meet their immediate needs for 32-bit processing power and protect their investments as they move to the next phase of computing with 64-bit applications."

"CIO's may be finding themselves at a crossroads of technology options right now," said Vernon Turner, group vice president of IDC's Global Enterprise Server Solutions. "The AMD Opteron processor can offer a unified platform for servers at every position in the data center, from print servers to database management, and can do so with both price and performance leadership."

High-end research institutions have already recognized the breakthrough capabilities offered by AMD64 technology. Organizations such as AIST in Japan, Los Alamos National Labs, Texas A&M University and The University of Utah are employing high performance cluster systems based on the AMD Opteron processor.

"With all of the advantages of AMD64 technology, including leading 32-bit performance, and none of the risks of a proprietary 64-bit option, IT teams deploying AMD Opteron processor-based servers and workstations can be the heroes of their enterprise," said Seyer. "It is energizing to see the creative ways business and researchers are thinking about this technology."

The AMD Opteron processor Model 148, for single processing workstations and entry-level servers, will be available in December of this year from leading system builders in North America.

The AMD Opteron processor Model 248, designed for dual processing servers and workstations, is immediately available worldwide. Industry-standard benchmarks show the AMD Opteron processor Model 248 is the world leader in 32-bit processing performance for 2-way servers and its 64-bit capabilities can provide system builders with a unique platform to customize according to their customers' needs.

"The OctigaBay 12K platform takes full advantage of the AMD Opteron processor's dramatic memory bandwidth," said John Seminerio, president and CEO of OctigaBay. "With our Direct Connected Processor architecture and AMD64 technology and the superior I/O of the AMD Opteron processor, we have been able to directly link a larger number of processors at memory speed, reducing memory and interconnect bottlenecks and significantly increasing application performance."

The AMD Opteron processor Model 848, for enterprise-class servers, will also be available from North American system builders in December. A listing of companies offering AMD Opteron processor-based products can be found at AMD server partners and AMD workstation partners.

PC3200 Memory Support

Workstation applications can benefit from the AMD Opteron processor's newly added support for registered PC3200 memory speeds, which is DDR-1 memory operating at 400 Mhz. The Sciencemark 2.0 Stream benchmark, designed to measure 1P workstation performance on advanced scientific calculations, shows an improvement in performance of up to 28% when registered PC3200 memory is utilized. All AMD Opteron processors with model numbers ending in 46 and higher will soon be available with the additional memory support.

"Samsung worked closely with AMD and JEDEC to develop an industry standard memory solution designed to help server and workstation manufacturers successfully navigate the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing," said Tom Quinn, Samsung's US vice president of memory sales and marketing. "The AMD Opteron processor's integrated memory controller and Samsung's registered PC3200 memory solution together offer users a significant boost in overall system performance."

Pricing

The AMD Opteron processor Model 848 will be priced at $3199 in 1,000-unit quantities. The AMD Opteron processor Model 248 is priced at $913 in 1,000-unit quantities and the AMD Opteron processor Model 148 will be priced at $733 in 1,000-unit quantities. For additional pricing information, please see www.amd.com/pricing.

Nov 19 - NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 GPU Adopted By Industry-Leading Notebook Manufacturers. NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, today announced that the Company's newest mobile graphics processing unit (GPU), the NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX Go5700, has seen immediate and outstanding acceptance from the leading performance notebook manufacturers worldwide, including: Alienware, Compal, FIC, Toshiba's Digital Products Division, Quanta, Uniwill and others to be announced later.

This worldwide endorsement of the GeForce FX Go5700 strengthens NVIDIA's leadership position in the performance notebook segment and serves as an indicator of NVIDIA's growing influence with notebook manufacturers.

"When NVIDIA introduced the original GeForce FX Go series just over six months ago, notebook manufacturers responded by creating truly innovative products ranging from media center machines with beautiful 17-inch displays, to the first true gaming notebook," said Jeff Fisher, executive vice president of worldwide sales at NVIDIA. "NVIDIA's strong relationships with the world's leading OEMs and ODMs have been critical in the delivery of our technology in the most innovative notebook products available. We are very excited with the new notebooks they will build around the GeForce FX Go5700."

"Toshiba is intensely focused on providing our customers the ultimate multimedia performance whether at home watching DVD movies or at the office creating interactive presentations," said Carl Pinto, director of product marketing, Toshiba's Digital Products Division, a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. "Our mobile computing expertise combined with the NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 GPU sets a new standard in 3D graphics and video quality that our customers can enjoy in any environment."

"Alienware customers can always expect the latest graphics technology powering our high-performance gaming systems," said Frank Azor, executive vice president for Alienware Corporation. "As a launch partner for the GeForce FX Go5700 mobile graphics module, Alienware is delivering the most technologically advanced mobile GPU available and remains committed to offering the best performing components available in all Alienware systems."

Featuring the highest quality graphics performance available on a notebook PC, NVIDIA world-class video quality, and the unsurpassed software features and reliability that are the hallmark of all NVIDIA products, the GeForce FX Go5700 powers the industry's most complete feature set for mobile consumer entertainment.

Today, the GeForce FX Go5700 is shipping to OEMs and ODMs worldwide, with production quantities available in December. Systems based on the GeForce FX Go5700 are expected to be available to end users in Q1 2004.

Additional information on NVIDIA can be found at www.nvidia.com.

Nov 19 - Viewsonic Offers Industry's Lightest Convertible Tablet PC With 12-Inch Screen. Bringing more freedom and productivity to the workplace, ViewSonic® Corp., a worldwide leader in visual display products, today announced its first convertible Tablet PC. Designed for the enterprise user, the V1250 provides mobile workers anytime, anywhere and any-style computing by transforming from an ultraportable notebook computer to a slate-style tablet with a simple rotation of its LCD screen.

At less than four pounds, the V1250 is the lightest convertible Tablet PC available with a 12.1-inch screen. It is built on Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology and powered by the fastest ultra-low voltage processor on the market, the Mobile Pentium® M.

When in the slate configuration, a unique navigation area helps the user quickly execute common tasks, such as scrolling or toggling between applications. An available docking station features the industry's only built-in spare battery charger, enabling users to easily charge a replacement battery to extend usage time without adding weight. ViewSonic added an on/off switch for the integrated 802.11b wireless radio to allow greater mobile freedom and boost battery life performance. Performance enhancing features such as auto-adjust brightness and four programmable easy-launch buttons are also included in the product.

Analyst forecasts predict that the Tablet PC could account for well over 20 percent of the portable market by 2007. The V1250 addresses this increasing demand by adding yet another form factor to the company's award-winning family, building on the proven feature set of its slate offerings - the Tablet PC V1100 and ViewPad® 1000.

"ViewSonic's V1250 provides users with the power and flexibility to compute in any manner they require - as a conventional laptop, a laptop with a touch screen or a slate-style tablet," said Mike Holstein, vice president, Visual Solutions Group, ViewSonic. "The addition of the V1250 to our current slate models is a natural progression for ViewSonic in meeting the needs of a wider range of users, from the most vertical markets to the largest corporate accounts."

To add versatility and take full advantage of the feature set offered by the Microsoft®, Windows XP Tablet PC operating system. ViewSonic has included specialized software including full versions of Colligo® Personal Edition, powerOne™ Personal Plus Calculator and trial versions of Panda AntiVirus, Alias SketchBook™, Zinio™ Reader, Franklin Covey® TabletPlanner™ and MindJet® MindManager® for Tablet PC.

"ViewSonic's Tablet PC V1250 is an excellent example of the innovation tablet PC hardware manufacturers are continuing to provide customers," said Bill Mitchell, vice president of the Tablet PC division at Microsoft Corp. "By incorporating the powerful capabilities of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, the V1250 provides customers with the full features and reliability of a traditional laptop, plus the ability to create and store handwritten notes and voice dictations. All of this is delivered on a lightweight, versatile computer that enables mobile workers to be even more productive."

ViewSonic's Tablet PC V1250 is available through authorized resellers starting at an estimated street price (ESP) of $1,795. It will be also available in the following configurations:

V1250 with external CD/DVD RW drive, docking station, spare battery and extra stylus for $2,299 (ESP)

V1250 with external CD/DVD RW drive for $1,999 (ESP)

V1250 with external CD ROM drive for $1,939 (ESP)

A one-year limited warranty on parts, labor and backlight is provided for the V1250, while an optional extended warranty and one, two or three-year accidental damage protection insurance is also available. ViewSonic offers toll-free technical support seven days a week, 24 hours a day, excluding major U.S. holidays.

For more information or product photos, please visit: www.viewsonic.com/tabletpc.

Nov 19 - VIA and WorldVibrations Introduce Radio Station-in-a-Box. An international silicon chip giant and a former broadcaster are poised to set radio on its ear with a complete digital radio station in a box.

VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions and WorldVibrations, a California-based developer of multimedia production solutions, today launched the WorldVibrations Radio Station, an all-in-one professional quality appliance based on the VIA EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX mainboard and VIA's highly-acclaimed Envy24 audio controller, for on-the-air, Internet, corporate network, satellite or in-house broadcasting.

Designed to empower communities and communicators, the WorldVibrations Radio Station makes it easy for people with no previous radio experience to program anything from a professional round-the-clock music or information radio station to corporate programming, local arts performances, sporting events, church services and more.

At the heart of the small form factor, Microsoft(R) Windows(R)-based production studio and streaming station is the VIA EPIA M10000, a 6.5" x 6.5" mainboard, which integrates digital audio outputs with rich connectivity options including networking, USB and Firewire. The power-efficient, native x86 architecture VIA C3 processor enables studio-quiet operation, requiring just 12 volts and so eliminating the need for a noisy cooling fan.

"The WorldVibrations Radio Station enables people and organizations to communicate music, education, news and entertainment beyond their borders using the Internet, and into their own communities," said Richard Brown, Associate Vice President of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "While the versatile VIA EPIA M-Series mainboard has inspired a wide array of PC and, increasingly, consumer electronics digital media devices, WorldVibrations is taking the technology into a whole new realm of professional broadcasting, and does so in a highly attractive and compact package."

Housed in a sleek aluminum case that has the look of a high-end stereo component, the easy to use WorldVibrations Radio Station performs all of the functions of a radio station, offering a live or fully automated "on-air" studio, a production studio and streaming media encoding in one studio-quiet, small, low power consuming package.

Outstanding audio quality is achieved with the VIA Envy24 audio controller, a standard in professional recording studios worldwide. The WorldVibrations Radio Station has audio input connectors for professional studio microphones and audio consoles, and outputs for amplifiers or public address systems for stores and shopping malls and, if licensed, radio transmission equipment.

"Internet and low power community radio are powerful and increasingly popular alternatives to generic, centralized mainstream media," said Russell Johnson, president of WorldVibrations. "The WorldVibrations Radio Station is for an organization with passion, a company with a message, a musical group with talent, a sports team with fans around the world, a church with inspiration, and anybody else who needs to be heard. The low power consumption, low noise, connectivity and professional audio features of VIA's technologies have allowed us to pack a whole studio of equipment into a system about the size of a VCR and bring the cost within the reach of professional broadcaster and hobbyist alike."

The WorldVibrations Radio Station can operate fully automated and unattended, precisely scheduling programs, music and announcements 24 hours a day, seven days a week or it can be taken to a remote location to broadcast live performances, conferences, news or sporting events. It can run in the background while its professional audio interfaces and software are used to record, organize, store and schedule new programming, print out logs and automatically create Web program schedules.

WorldVibrations Radio Station Pricing and Availability

The WorldVibrations Radio Station will be available in January, 2004 at an estimated price of US$2,495 Additional product and order information can be found at: www.worldvibrations.com.

Nov 19 - Industry's First External Desktop Serial ATA Backup System Unveiled at COMDEX 2003. CMS Products Inc. (formerly CMS Peripherals) today unveiled the Velocity Series backup system for desktop computers at COMDEX 2003 in Las Vegas. The Velocity Series is the industry's first comprehensive, all-in-one backup solution to incorporate a Serial ATA interface, providing users with complete backup, restore, disaster recovery capabilities and an externally bootable backup system.

CMS Products, the leader in backup and storage solutions for notebook and desktop computers, will demonstrate the Velocity Series for the first time during COMDEX in Booth #5348. The Velocity Series is powered by CMS' new BounceBack software, offering additional functionality and restore features. The Velocity Series will begin shipping next month.

With the implementation of Serial ATA technology, the Velocity Series is capable of clocking transfer rates of up to 1.5GB per second, which is over three times faster than backup systems incorporating USB 2.0 or FireWire. The integration of Serial ATA technology makes the Velocity Series the first externally bootable device for Windows operating systems. An externally bootable system provides instant productivity after hard drive or operating system failure. CMS will offer an optional Serial ATA controller card, making the technology compatible for desktops not supporting the Serial ATA interface on the motherboard.

"CMS is continually developing innovative solutions that keep us at the forefront of the industry," said Ken Burke, president of CMS Products. "The Velocity Series backup systems offer users a cutting-edge, comprehensive backup and restore strategy, while maintaining ease of use and an affordable price point."

Combining the new Serial ATA technology and CMS' BounceBack software, the Velocity Series retains many of the same features found in previous generations of CMS' automatic backup systems, including ease of use, versioning, synchronization and easy restore.

The Velocity Series' versioning capabilities allow professionals to go back in time and access older versions of folders and files from any point in time that a backup was performed. The ability to access older versions of files is valuable in maintaining an accurate history of documents, which endure ongoing revisions.

By utilizing the synchronization component, users are able to move between multiple computers while maintaining up-to-date files regardless of the computer on which they were generated. The software automatically scans both the host computer's hard drive and the Velocity Series drive for new or changed files and updates the out-of-date versions by synchronizing them with the up-to-date versions.

The QuickRestore(TM) module simplifies the data recovery process by enabling users to recover data as a result of hard drive failure or accidental deletion by simply clicking on the restore button. Once activated, the backup device will perform a complete restoration of only selected data from the most recent backup of the computer's hard drive. This feature reduces downtime and increases return on investment through the decrease in Help Desk or IT department involvement.

Availability

The Velocity Series will begin shipping in Q4 of 2003 in capacities ranging between 80GB and 200GB with prices starting at $299 MSRP. All systems include a 3-year warranty. The Velocity Series is compatible with both Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems. All of CMS' solutions are available through major distributors, corporate resellers, mail order and direct from the company's Web site, www.cmsproducts.com.

Nov 18 - Microsoft Offers Technology Designed to Help Protect Inboxes From Spam. Microsoft Corp. today announced at COMDEX Las Vegas 2003 that as part of the company's coordinated anti-spam effort, its spam-filtering SmartScreen Technology will be deployed across Microsoft's e-mail platforms. Developed by Microsoft® Research, early versions of SmartScreen Technology have already been introduced in Outlook® 2003, MSN® 8 and Hotmail® and will soon be available in a new add-on for Exchange Server 2003 called Microsoft Exchange Intelligent Message Filter.

SmartScreen Technology is designed to provide the latest anti-spam filtering innovations to products and tools that help protect corporate and private e-mail users from the growing deluge of spam, typically defined as unsolicited, unwanted e-mail, and more specifically defined by Microsoft as unsolicited bulk or unsolicited commercial e-mail.

This patented technology is based on a machine-learning approach, where decisions regarding whether e-mail would be considered spam are made by e-mail customers themselves and then incorporated into a feedback loop to train the filter to know what to look for. Hundreds of thousands of Hotmail subscribers have volunteered to classify millions of e-mail messages as legitimate or as spam, generating more than 500,000 characteristics of spam that the SmartScreen Technology can track. With the Exchange Intelligent Message Filter, Exchange 2003 customers can score each incoming e-mail message for spam probability according to these characteristics and can use that score to help filter spam before it reaches the user's inbox.

"Spam is our e-mail customers' No. 1 complaint today, and while there is no single solution that will solve the problem by itself, Microsoft is committed to innovating and contributing on a broad spectrum of approaches to help put spammers out of business," said Ryan Hamlin, general manager, Anti-Spam Technology and Strategy group at Microsoft. "This SmartScreen Technology is designed to help make spam easier to detect and more difficult to profit from, and to help maintain e-mail as a viable and valuable method of communication. With SmartScreen Technology, we can help provide a consistent and powerful anti-spam solution for the hundreds of millions of customers who use MSN, Hotmail, Office and Exchange."

Recent industry estimates indicate that more than half of e-mail sent today is spam, putting a heavy strain on networks and wasting significant time, money and resources for consumers and businesses around the world. Spam is having a deep impact on e-mail use, as seen in a recent study from Pew Internet & American Life in which 52 percent of e-mail users said that spam has made them less trusting of e-mail in general, and 25 percent said that the ever-increasing volume of spam has reduced their overall use of e-mail. Spammers also often prey on less-sophisticated e-mail users, including children, and can pose genuine threats to personal security and privacy.

As part of a comprehensive effort to enhance e-mail protection, security, hygiene and productivity, Microsoft will soon offer new server-side anti-spam functionality powered by SmartScreen Technology to Exchange Server 2003 customers. The Exchange Intelligent Message Filter performs heuristics-based analysis of e-mail to determine whether any message is junk e-mail. The filter is intelligent and adapts over time, making it possible to constantly improve its ability to catch unwanted messages and prevent false positives.
Having the Intelligent Message Filter deployed on the server can help prevent much unwanted e-mail from ever getting to a user's inbox. Because the Intelligent Message Filter requires Exchange 2003, it provides a common Exchange administrative experience using Exchange Server Management tools. The Exchange Intelligent Message Filter will be available in the first half of 2004 to Microsoft customers that have licensed Exchange 2003 with Software Assurance.

"I look at the Intelligent Messaging Filter as one of a range of spam-blocking techniques in an organization's arsenal," said Paul Flessner, senior vice president of the Server Platform division at Microsoft. "It is designed to complement and extend the capabilities of filtering applications a company may already be using and allows partners to easily integrate with their anti-spam applications to help provide customers with greater protection."

"As the spam problem grows, customers are looking for greater protection through technological solutions," said Enrique Salem, CEO and president of Brightmail Inc., one of the leading providers of anti-spam technology working with Microsoft on several anti-spam initiatives. "Exchange Server has made it really easy for companies like ours to build complementary solutions for Microsoft e-mail products, giving customers the best tools available and the best overall protection from unwanted e-mail. The combination of Microsoft anti-spam capabilities with our highly effective and accurate anti-spam product can be very compelling to our mutual customers."

These new e-mail protection and filtering capabilities build on recent security improvements made to Exchange Server 2003 and Outlook 2003 that help to block both malicious content and spam at the gateway and client levels, thereby helping to put control of the inbox back into the hands of the users. Support for safe and block sender lists, domain spoofing and a range of other spam-blocking and -filtering techniques built into the core Exchange 2003 product allow information technology administrators to focus on maintaining a healthy network, thereby helping to keep end users more productive.

Exchange 2003 also was designed to better integrate with third-party products. The updated virus-scanning API (VSAPI version 2.5) and anti-spam tool with spam confidence level (SCL) properties enable partners to deliver more integrated and effective solutions. More information on Exchange anti-spam solutions can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/techinfo/security/antispam.asp and http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/imf/.

Microsoft continues to invest heavily in anti-spam research and development and to look at innovative ways that technology can contribute to helping solve the spam problem. On a broader scale, Microsoft believes that it will take a coordinated approach that includes advanced technology, industry self-regulation, consumer education, effective legislation and targeted enforcement against illegal spammers to solve the spam problem. The company remains committed to working with customers, partners, industry, government and law enforcement around the world to help put an end to spam. More information on Microsoft's overall anti-spam approach can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/antispam/ or http://www.microsoft.com/spam/.

Nov 18 - Microsoft Announces the Next Version of the Tablet PC Operating System. Today at COMDEX Las Vegas 2003, Microsoft Corp. announced Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition 2004, the latest version of its Tablet PC operating system.

The new version features deep integration of pen support in Windows XP, making it easier to create text anywhere in Windows and familiar Windows applications. In addition to recently announced tools in the Tablet PC SDK that enable them to create pen-aware Web pages, the new operating system now offers software developers a rich set of capabilities to deliver innovative software applications based on the Tablet PC platform.

The announcement of Tablet PC Edition 2004 caps the Tablet PC's first year, which has been marked by continued growth in the number of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and independent service vendors (ISVs) supporting the platform, an ever-expanding number of customer pilot deployments, and the first corporate deployments of the Tablet PC as a next-generation notebook PC.

Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates, in announcing Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2004 at his annual COMDEX keynote address last evening, noted that Tablet PCs are experiencing increasing support from all segments of the PC industry.

"Forty companies are designing and manufacturing Tablet PCs worldwide, and more than 120 are developing software that takes advantage of the pen capabilities in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition," he said. Gates demonstrated a line-of-business application developed by Nationwide Insurance and Financial Services, which is making Tablet PCs a standard supported mobile computer platform for all employees who need mobile PCs. "We're also seeing great early purchases and deployments of Tablet PCs in several major vertical markets, including healthcare, financial services and education," Gates said.

Key features of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2004 include the following:

Enhanced "ink to text" experience throughout Windows and in any Windows application, makes the pen a mainstream input device. Inserting text is easier with the new Tablet PC Input Panel (TIP), and word and case recognition is improved. Developers and users can even add "rules" for how handwriting should be recognized in certain text fields (e.g., e-mail messages, addresses, URLs).

Integration in Microsoft Office 2003 and Office OneNote 2003 offers enhanced productivity by allowing users to annotate anywhere in Microsoft® Office Word, Excel or PowerPoint® 2003, and send handwritten e-mail in Office Outlook® 2003. OneNote (TM) on the Tablet PC brings together ink, text and Web content in one application.

New capabilities enable developers to create powerful productivity applications. Developers can integrate pen and ink in Web-based line-of-business solutions. Companies such as FranklinCovey Co. and Corel Corp. are deeply integrating pen and ink in their applications. This support makes ink as natural to use as text or any other feature.

"These enhancements to the core Tablet PC software demonstrate how the Tablet PC really is the evolution of the laptop PC," said Bill Mitchell, vice president of the Tablet PC Division at Microsoft. "The increased inking support throughout Windows and Office, plus the ever-growing support of our OEMs and ISVs, is giving customers even more choices in terms of hardware and software solutions that extend the power of pen computing into broad horizontal and vertical, market-specific applications."

Nov 18 - Third Fastest Supercomputer in Full Production with World's Fastest Open Source Parallel File System. The third fastest supercomputer in the world according to the 21st TOP500 supercomputing list (www.top500.org) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been in General Availability Production since October 1, 2003.
The 1,152 node, 11.2 teraflops peak, Multiprogrammatic Capability Cluster (MCR) integrates LLNL's Cluster High Availability Operating System (CHAOS) and Cluster File Systems, Inc.'s Lustre(TM) File System to provide a powerful research platform, with some 20 million files and 115.2 trillion bytes (terabytes) of aggregate storage across 64 object storage targets, that has already made significant contributions to LLNL research in the fields of laser research, fluid dynamics, materials behavior and seismology. MCR achieves 7.643 teraflops per second sustained as measured by the Linpack benchmark and with 90% efficiency for capacity production jobs is considered the fastest Linux-based supercomputer in the world.

Deployed with CHAOS, the Lustre File System has achieved I/O performance in excess of 4 Gigabytes per second.

"We started science runs several months ago to leverage MCR's power not only for the science but also to achieve levels of system and I/O performance that we have never before been able to offer," said Brian Carnes, Division Leader, Services and Development. "The science run opportunity achieves results for our users and early return on investment by stabilizing the hardware, perfecting CHAOS and Lustre and optimizing scheduling and operation of the cluster."

"In CHAOS we add to or modify tools and capabilities that allow Linux to achieve this high level of performance, reliability and robustness for our scientific applications," said Robin Goldstone, Group Leader, Production Linux, LLNL.

"Our work with the LLNL team led by Terry Heidelberg (Deputy Leader of High-Performance Systems) has significantly accelerated the completeness and maturity of Lustre as a high-performance and highly scalable solution," said Dr. Peter J. Braam, President and Chief Technology Officer of Cluster File Systems, Inc. "We look forward to pushing the performance envelope even further to meet the demanding performance and scalability requirements that are key to achieving LLNL's mission today and into the future."

Laboratory news releases and photos are available at http://www.llnl.gov/PAO and on the UC Newswire.

Nov 18 - SanDisk Ships SD Wi-Fi Connectivity Cards to Major Retailers. SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) reported today that its new SanDisk Connect™ SD™ Wi-Fi® cards are now being sold at BestBuy.com, CompUSA and other retail outlets.

SanDisk and Bitstream Inc. (NASDAQ:BITS) also announced that SanDisk will include the trial version of ThunderHawk™, Bitstream's pioneering wireless Web browser, with each SanDisk Connect SD Wi-Fi card. The announcements were made at the CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association) trade show where SanDisk is demonstrating products in booth 929 and Bitstream is demonstrating ThunderHawk in booth 932.

The ThunderHawk wireless Web browser lets Pocket PC users view full HTML Web pages over the wireless Internet. For easier viewing, the mobile browser displays the complete text and images of any Web page horizontally in landscape mode while maintaining full text legibility.

David Smurthwaite, a SanDisk retail product marketing manager, said, "We are pleased with the demand for our first SD communications card product - the Connect SD Wi-Fi card - and we are pleased that major retailers are now selling the card. We also think that this SanDisk SD Wi-Fi - ThunderHawk combination is a perfect solution for business users, consumers and the many students with PDAs on campuses with Wi-Fi access. More than 100 U.S. colleges and universities have Wi-Fi access today and a growing number of high schools are also installing Wi-Fi hot spots to give their students wireless connectivity to the Internet."

The SanDisk SD Wi-Fi card has a suggested retail price of $129.95, and the ThunderHawk application will be included on a 30-day trial basis.

Smurthwaite noted, "There are thousands of hot spots where mobile consumers can access desired content and information on a handheld computer. Pairing our Wi-Fi card with a wireless Web browser gives consumers a cleaner, more complete view of content on a small handheld screen. With standard handheld browser software, many users only see a partial or altered view of Web and content pages. But ThunderHawk resolves those problems. We are pleased to introduce Bitstream's wireless Web browser to our Wi-Fi SD card users."

Bitstream President Anna Chagnon said, "The SanDisk SD Wi-Fi card will give mobile users wireless access to the information they need, crucial for people on the go. This partnership provides a perfect fit for our wireless Web browser. The Wi-Fi access that SanDisk's new card provides allows customers using ThunderHawk to browse the Web and work with Web-based e-mail and applications wirelessly. We are pleased to partner with SanDisk, the world's leading supplier of flash memory data storage products. This is a win-win-win solution for Bitstream, SanDisk and, most importantly, mobile customers."

SanDisk's Web site/home page address: www.sandisk.com.

Nov 18 - Bitstream Releases ThunderHawk Version 1.08. Bitstream Inc. (NASDAQ: BITS) announced today the availability of version 1.08 of ThunderHawk™, its wireless Web browsing technology.
This release adds support for all members of the iPAQ family of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to date, including the h1900, h2200, and h5000 series, for the new Toshiba e350 device, and for supported devices now running the new Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 operating system.

"Lately Pocket PC users have been discovering the wireless potential of their PDA. Whether you use a wireless connection at home or on the road, a good Internet browser is a must. Even though Pocket PC comes with Internet Explorer, you'll see only a portion of most Web pages," say president of Executive Databases and personal technology writer William Hungerford.
His bottom line is, "If you want a true Web experience like you get on a PC, try ThunderHawk. This is definitely a Pocket PC surfer's dream product."

"ThunderHawk lets users work quickly and easily with Web-based e-mail and applications," explains Anna Chagnon, President of Bitstream. "And our large virtual 800x600 screen size emulates the view people are used to on desktop machines. As the PDA market evolves and our ThunderHawk development progresses, we will continue to add aggressively to the portfolio of handheld devices we support," she added.

How It Works

ThunderHawk is available for a free 30-day trial and for purchase by monthly or annual subscription. Customers who have a Pocket PC can download, test-drive, and purchase ThunderHawk from the Bitstream website. To take full advantage of new features, existing customers can also upgrade versions on the site, located at http://www.bitstream.com/wireless.

ThunderHawk is also available as a client-server solution for wireless Web browsing across enterprise networks. ThunderHawk Enterprise Edition gives a company's mobile workforce complete access to Internet and corporate Intranet Web pages. Bitstream is working with key strategic partners in the computer and telecommunications industries and welcomes inquiries from other organizations who wish to license ThunderHawk.

Current system requirements for ThunderHawk are as follows:

A Pocket PC running Windows CE 3.0, Windows Mobile 2003, Pocket PC 2000, or Pocket PC 2002 OS, such as:

o Audiovox Maestro, Audiovox Thera
o Casio Cassiopeia E-115, E-125, or E-200
o Compaq iPAQ
o Dell Axim
o Fujitsu/Siemens Loox
o HP iPAQ
o HP Jornada Pocket PC, 540 or later
o Toshiba e310, e350, e570, or e740
o Toshiba 2032 using Sprint Nationwide PCS Network
o 02 XDA devices, including the Pocket PC Phone Edition from VoiceStream/T-Mobile

USB (cradle), serial (COM port), or IR (infrared) connection

CompactFlash Type 1 or Type 1 extended modem or network interface card (NIC)

An Internet service provider (ISP) account or network connection with Internet access

Visit Bitstream on the Web at www.bitstream.com.

Nov 17 - Strong Growth in Servers, Storage Systems Leads Dell to Record Operating Results. Dell (Nasdaq:DELL) again demonstrated its unique ability to simultaneously deliver high customer value, solid worldwide share gains and leading profitability, achieving record company operating results in the fiscal third quarter.

Dell's global server shipments increased 30 percent, almost twice the combined rate of other companies. Sales of external storage systems jumped 68 percent in the quarter. The company's total revenue from enterprise computing systems was up 32 percent.

For the three months ended Oct. 31, Dell's net revenue was $10.6 billion, 16 percent higher than in the year-ago quarter. Company revenue was more than 40-percent higher than two years ago; sales by the rest of the industry are essentially flat over the same period. Third-quarter Dell earnings were 26 cents per share, a 24-percent increase.

"Customers and investors get best value over time from companies like Dell that are growing and financially very healthy," said Michael Dell, chairman of the board and chief executive officer. "The market should insist on both, and it's a credit to our teams and a better way of doing business that we're consistently meeting those expectations."

Mr. Dell said the company anticipates its fourth-quarter shipments will be up more than 25 percent year-over-year, and again outpace the rest of the industry. Dell expects revenue of $11.5 billion, an increase of 18 percent, and earnings per share of 28 cents, up 22 percent.

Third-quarter operating expenses were 9.6 percent of revenue, equaling a company record. Despite sharp industry price competition and slower than expected declines in component costs, Dell's operating profit was 8.6 percent of revenue for the second straight quarter. In dollar terms, operating income was $912 million, up 20 percent from a year ago.

Information on Dell and its products can be obtained at www.dell.com.

Nov 17 - ATI Unveils the MOBILITY FIREGL T2 Mobile Workstation Processor. Delivering an impressive combination of innovative technologies and desktop performance levels to the mobile workstation market segment, ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY, NASDAQ:ATYT) today unveiled the MOBILITY(TM) FireGL(TM) T2 mobile workstation processor.

Now shipping in the industry-leading HP Compaq mobile workstation nw8000, the MOBILITY FireGL T2 delivers the industry's best mobile workstation performance in key benchmarks including Viewperf 3dsmax-02 and proe-02 test suites. It also delivers lightning-fast geometry processing, realistic rendering, and optimized application performance for developers, CAD engineers and digital content creators.

"The MOBILITY FireGL T2 delivers the ultimate combination of performance, portability, workstation features, and application certified software support for workstation users who no longer want to be strapped to the confines of their office," said Dinesh Sharma, Director of Workstation Products, ATI Technologies Inc. "The HP Compaq mobile workstation nw8000 has set the new gold standard for mobile workstation-class notebook PCs."

ATI's MOBILITY FireGL T2 raises the bar in the mobile workstation market. For the first time, mobile workstations can deliver stunning graphics performance that rivals many desktop-class workstations. Based on the powerful FGL(TM) 9600 Visual Processing Unit (VPU), the MOBILITY FireGL T2 features the industry's highest performance mobile workstation solution and widest array of workstation features including:

-- Certified for leading applications in the CAD and DCC markets

-- Proven OpenGL(R) and DirectX(R) 9 drivers with support for Windows(R) and Linux(R) platforms

-- 128 MB high-speed DDR memory with 128-bit memory interface

-- Hardware accelerated rendering for lightning fast 3D and 2D graphics acceleration

-- Complete array of workstation features and functionality including dual monitor support, hardware accelerated anti-aliasing, overlay planes and more, providing superior image quality and productivity

-- Fully programmable pixel and vertex shader support is now possible with ATI's SMARTSHADER(TM) technology, providing more control over content creation and added realism. Enables advanced per-pixel effects such as reflective bump mapping, anisotropic lighting and Phong shading

-- Maximized battery life and performance with ATI's POWERPLAY(TM) technology

-- POWER-ON-DEMAND - constantly monitors system activity, dynamically adjusting clocks and voltage based on user scenario

-- Up to 6 textures per single rendering pass and 8 samples per pixel

-- 16 programmable sample modes, selectable on a per pixel basis

-- Integrated dual-channel LVDS, with support for QXGA resolutions (2048x1536) with an integrated 165 MHz TMDS transmitter (Digital Flat Panels)

For more information, visit www.ati.com.

Nov 17 - MobiTV and Sprint Bring Real-Time TV Channels to PCS Vision Subscribers Nationwide. MobiTV, the world's first live streaming television content service delivered to mobile phones, launches today as part of PCS Vision services from Sprint. The subscription service, developed and operated by Idetic, Inc., is now available as a J2ME-download to select PCS Vision Phones.
MobiTV brings a stream of television content and features such as on/off, volume and channel changing to PCS Phones. It gives users easy, on-the-go access to visual and real-time information and entertainment from a mobile phone, nationwide.

When PCS Vision launched in August of 2002, Sprint moved the text-based mobile Web to full-color sites and graphics and introduced the PCS Vision phone as the third screen for customers to access news and entertainment -- in addition to the Internet and TV. Earlier this year, Sprint advanced to downloadable applications with streaming audio and slide-show visuals to provide a complete news and entertainment experience that customers could see and hear. MobiTV now represents the next step in technology for offering nationwide, streaming audio and visual news, information and entertainment through a PCS Vision Phone.

MobiTV features some of the most popular TV channels: MSNBC, CNBC, Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, CSTV: College Sports Television, California Music Channel, CMC Beat Lounge, CMC-USA, Independent Music Network, CNET, Discovery Kids, ToonWorld TV Classics and Discovery en Espanol are all part of the initial package. More channels will be added to the service over the coming months.

For $9.99 per month, PCS Vision customers can see and hear news coverage of events as they unfold; get up-to-the-minute sports scores and see the highlights; and watch and hear new music videos anywhere on the enhanced Sprint Nationwide PCS Network.

"MobiTV really is live TV content streamed real-time to select PCS Vision phones, not pre-canned clips or slide shows. The real breakthrough here is that for the first time, people can watch real-time television content on their mobile phone anywhere on the Sprint Nationwide Network," said Dr. Phillip Alvelda, CEO at Idetic, Inc. "We're just feeding a global appetite for news and information on the go that's fueled by more than 1.2 billion mobile phone users worldwide," continued Dr. Alvelda.

"With MobiTV, Sprint is letting wireless customers turn on and tune in to real-time television content directly on their handset. Now, in addition to the Internet and TV, customers' PCS Phones become a 'third screen' on which they can watch real-time television content from their favorite providers," said Jeff Hallock, assistant vice president of consumer products and services for Sprint.

MobiTV is available through PCS Vision from Sprint, and is downloadable on select PCS Vision handsets through Downloads/Applications/Get New. For further information or a subscription to MobiTV, visit www.mobitv.com.

Nov 17 - I/OMagic Launches Its MediaStation 4X Dual Drive With 7-n-1 Media Reader. I/OMagic Corporation (OTCBB: IOMG), a leading developer and marketer of digital storage and digital entertainment devices, announced today the release of its MediaStation Dual 4X DVD+/-RW External USB 2.0 drive with 7-n-1 Media Reader. This multi-function DVD burner includes Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD 8 SE software which allows users to easily produce DVD home movies, create digital photo albums and back-up files to free up hard disc space.

"The MediaStation 4X Dual is a must for consumers that live the digital lifestyle," said Tony Andrews, vice president of Engineering and Product Development for I/OMagic Corporation. "It's sleek and convenient, and it combines the best DVD burning technology with top of the line software and a media card reader into one desktop solution."

The MediaStation Dual 4X DVD+/-RW External USB 2.0 drive with 7-n-1 Media Reader writes DVD+R and DVD-R at 4X, DVD+RW at 2.4X, DVD-RW at 2X, CD-R at 24X, CD-RW at 10X and reads CD-ROMs at 40X. It also includes the award-winning Pinnacle Studio 8 SE video editing software, Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD SE disc burning suite and Pinnacle Expression software. These Pinnacle products empower users to create and edit home movies, burn DVDs and CDs in all popular formats, as well as watch and store home movies, photos and MP3s on either DVD or CD discs.

Additional features include a proprietary design with a three-way adjustable lighting system, the ability to play DVD titles and DVD games, and an integrated media reader that supports seven different types of flash media including: Compact Flash (CF), IBM Micro Drive, Multimedia (MMC), Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro (MS) and Smart Media (SM).

The MediaStation Dual 4X DVD+/-RW External USB 2.0 drive is Windows XP, 2000, Me and 98SE compatible. The drive has an introductory price of $299.99.

For more information, visit the I/OMagic Web site at www.iomagic.com.

Nov 17 - Nokia Takes Aim at Unsafe, Low-Quality Counterfeit Batteries. At an audio conference hosted in Espoo today, Nokia outlined its battle plan in the company's ongoing war against unsafe, low-quality counterfeit products.

Tens of thousands of counterfeit products have been seized in recent raids in Belgium, the United Kingdom, and other countries in the EU, bringing the total global number of seized and destroyed products in 2003 to more than 5 million. As a result of these raids, authorities gained valuable leads on a counterfeit network, enabling them to begin immediate actions against those involved.

"I want to stress that consumer safety is our top concern," said Janne Jormalainen, Vice President, Mobile Enhancements, Nokia Mobile Phones. "We believe consumers are unknowingly being fooled into buying unsafe, low-quality batteries and we are actively taking measures to combat the illegal counterfeit operation at the root of this problem."

Counterfeit batteries have also misled consumer groups. Yesterday, Test-Aankoop, a Belgian consumer group, acknowledged their recent test results which led them to announce Nokia batteries were unsafe were "most probably unreliable" due to the inclusion of counterfeit batteries in their test sample. Test-Aankoop has agreed to a new, independent test of batteries - using only Nokia original batteries - and will provide the results of these tests as soon as possible.

Today's conference included illustrations on how consumers can recognize the most obvious examples of counterfeit batteries. These examples will be posted on the www.nokia.com website. Nokia also announced plans to unveil "aggressive, regional anti-counterfeit measures."

In response to the program, Mr. Jormalainen commented: "We are dealing with a very sophisticated enemy who has become very adept at manufacturing products, which to the average consumer appear to be Nokia original accessories. To avoid giving counterfeiters a head start on our anti-counterfeiting measures, we are purposely withholding information until such time as the program has been officially announced."

Nov 16 - Sunday Shopping Watch.

Best Sunday Deals - See our Best Sunday Ad Deals Table below for specific system prices.

Weekly Comparison. There are some very good laptop and desktop deals to be found this weekend.

Best Buy is offering 18 month no-interest financing on all desktop and laptop purchases, and $100 mail-in rebates on advertised laptops and up to $150 mail-in rebates on advertised desktop packages.
Circuit City is offering 15 months no interest on advertised desktop packages and notebooks, and $150 mail-in rebates on advertised laptops and desktop packages.
Office Depot has no store-wide promotions this Sunday.
CompUSA is offering 6 months no payment, no interest, financing on all on any purchase $199 and higher.
Staples has no store-wide promotions this Sunday.
Compare to Online Prices - Compare the Sunday ad prices to those being offered at DealTime, it searches over 160 online computer stores.

InfoHQ Related Shopping Pages

Shopping Alerts - Our latest shopping advisories on buying digital cameras and camcorders, desktop computers, laptops, and other computer items.

Windows XP Upgrade Guide - All about upgrading to Windows XP.

What You Need to Know About Dial-up Internet Service Rebates - The pros and cons of 'free' Internet service deals. Also see our latest InfoHQ Tech Watch Newsletter; Free PC and Free Internet Deals.

Best Sunday Ad Deals
Category	Product Description	*Price (see above)**	Prices up or Down this Week	Store
1. Best Celeron Deal	eMachines 2.5 GHz complete system with 17" monitor	$389	-	Best Buy
2. Best Celeron Deal	Compaq 2.5 GHz complete system with 17" monitor	$449	-	Circuit City
1. Best Pentium 4 System	HP Windows XP Media 2.6 GHz Pentium 4 complete system with 17" monitor, Hyper Threading, and DVD/CD-RW	$999		Best Buy
2. Best Pentium 4 System	HP 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 complete system with 15" flat panel, HT Technology, and DVD-RW	$1379		Best Buy
3. Best Pentium 4 System	Sony 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 complete system with 17" flat panel, HT Technology, and DVD-RW	$1429		Circuit City
1. Best AMD Athlon XP System	HP 2800+ complete system with 17" monitor and DVD/CD-RW	$749		Best Buy
2. Best AMD Athlon XP System	eMachines 2800+ complete system with 15" LCD and DVD-RW	$899		Best Buy
1. Best Low-cost Laptop	HP 2.4 GHz Celeron with DVD/CD-RW	$799		Circuit City
2. Best Low-cost Laptop	Compaq 2.4 GHz Celeron with DVD/CD-RW	$849		CompUSA
3. Best Low-cost Laptop	Sony 2.4 GHz Celeron with DVD/CD-RW	$899		Best Buy
4. Best Low-cost Laptop	Compaq Athlon 2500+ with DVD/CD-RW	$999		Circuit City
1. Best High-end Notebook	Toshiba 2.3 GHz Pentium 4 with DVD/CD-RW	$1149	-	Circuit City, Best Buy ($1199)
2. Best High-end Notebook	HP Pentium 4 2.6 GHz with DVD/CD-RW	$1299		Circuit City
3. Best High-end Notebook	Sony Pentium 4 2.8 GHz with DVD/CD-RW	$1349	-	CompUSA
4. Best High-end Notebook	HP Pentium 4 2.8 GHz with DVD-RW	$1549	-	Best Buy
5. Best High-end Notebook	Compaq Centrino widescreen 1.4 GHz with DVD/CD-RW	$1449	-$50	Circuit City
6. Best High-end Notebook	HP Centrino widescreen 1.5 GHz with DVD/RW	$1699	-$50	Best Buy
Compare to Online Prices at DealTime!!
Peripherals and Software
Best Sunday Deal	Western Digital 7200 RPM 80 GB hard drive with 8 MB buffer	$49 (after rebates)	-	Best Buy
Best Sunday Deal	Western Digital 7200 RPM 160 GB hard drive with 8 MB buffer	$99 (after rebates)	-	Best Buy
Best Sunday Deal	Seagate 7200 RPM 160 GB Serial ATA hard drive	$129 (after rebates)	-	CompUSA
Best Sunday Deal	Asylum GeForce FX 5200 256MB	$149 (after rebates)	-	Best Buy
Best Sunday Deal	PNY Verto GeForce FX 5950 Ultra	$499 (after rebates)	-	CompUSA
Best Sunday Deal	Radeon 9600 Pro 128 MB	$149 (after rebates)	-	CompUSA
Best Sunday Deal	Sony 4X external DVD-RW/CD-RW	$269 (after rebates)	-	Best Buy
Best Sunday Deal	Toshiba 4X DVD-RW	$149 (after rebates)	-	Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA
Best Sunday Deal	SanDisk 128MB USB 2.0 flash drive	$29 (after rebates)	-	Best Buy
Compare to Online Prices at DealTime !!

InfoHQ Quick Jumps to Upgrades from DealTime - Click to check on latest prices
Video Cards	ATI Radeon
	GeForce4 FX
Hard Drives	Maxtor
	Western Digital
	Seagate
CD-RW Drives	40x/48x Write Speed
DVD-RW Drives	DVD+RW/CD-RW
CPUs	All AMD Athlon XP CPUs
	All Intel Pentium 4 CPUs
Antivirus Software	All Manufacturers
Firewall Software	All Manufacturers
All Other Products	DealTime

Additional Information. For additional technical information, advice on how to buy a laptop or desktop, and vendor and manufacturer links, please see our Computer Buying Advice page.