Thursday, July 19, 2007

Direct X10 Notebooks ahoy!!

What are the two most important things for first person shooters (also commonly known as FPS games)? Great game play and immersive environments. Though the former is entirely the domain of the game design team, hot-blooded gamers want, nay need, the latest hardware. After all, how else can we run these titles with mind-numbing frames per second at near-impossible resolutions.

The next generation of games are built upon the DirectX 10 platform which first appeared with the Windows Vista operating system. As you can see from the images, the difference in character detail between this and the last-generation DirectX 9 titles is nothing short of amazing.

However, immersive graphics comes at a price. For desktops, this means getting a top-of-the-line graphics card (GPU) such as the Nvidia GeForce 8000 series or ATI Radeon HD 2000 series chipset . When it comes to notebooks, things are a little simpler as most Santa Rosa portables with discrete GPUs are DirectX 10 compatible. We take a look at the latest mobile gaming rigs with high-end GPUs you'll want to get for your next frag fest.







Click here for a feature comparison table.
1. Acer Aspire 5920G (Core 2 Duo T7300 Processor 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM)

CNET Asia rating: 6.8 out of 10
The good: High-end specifications; excellent performance; brilliant screen.
The bad: Grey coloring; misplaced USB port; overall design.
The bottom line: The Aspire 5920 may not be the best looking notebook out there, but when it comes to performance this portable delivers. It's fast, feature-packed and is excellent value for money.

Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT with 1GB TurboCache memory
3DMark06 score: 3,288

Review | See full specs |
2. Toshiba Qosmio G40 (Core 2 Duo T7300 Processor 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM)

Outlook

Though our full review has yet to be posted, we tested the gaming performance of the Qosmio G40 and came away quite impressed. Besides being Toshiba's flagship entertainment model, its powerful Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics card is more than competent when it comes to virtual fragging.

Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB TurboCache memory
3DMark06 score: 2,945

See full specs |
3. BenQ JoyBook S41 (Core 2 Duo T7100 Processor 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM)

CNET Asia rating: 7.1 out of 10
The good: Integrated Webcam; powerful graphics performance; inexpensive.
The bad: Basic warranty coverage; no multimedia buttons; underpowered speakers.
The bottom line: As possibly the only 14.1-inch machine to hold the powerful Nvidia GeForce 8600M GS graphics card, the JoyBook S41 offers fantastic performance for a portable unit. If only it had dedicated multimedia buttons and better internal speakers.

Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 8600M GS with 1GB TurboCache memory
3DMark06 score: 2,743

Review | See full specs |
4. HP Pavilion HDX (Core 2 Duo T7700 processor 2.4GHz; 4GB RAM)

First take

Enter the Dragon! With a 20 inch widescreen, HD DVD drive and HDTV tuner, HP�s Pavilion HDX has supersized the desktop replacement into a fire-breathing, multimedia beast. It's high-end ATI GPU should also make short work of most first person shooters without breaking a sweat.

Graphics card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB discrete memory
3DMark06 score: Not available

First take | See full specs |
5. ASUS G2s (Core 2 Duo T7500 Processor 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM)

Outlook

As the Santa Rosa version of the ASUS G2, the faster platform coupled with a high-end Nvidia graphics chip should bring most current games to its knees. Thanks to its DirectX 10 compatibility, it should also have no problems running next-generation titles, either.

Graphics card: Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT with 256MB discrete memory
3DMark06 score: Not available

See full specs |

Mike Messiah's 2007 Mid-Year "Movie Round Up"

Having witnessed a slew of crappy sequels(like Spidey 3 and Pirates of Caribbeans AWE ) a movie lover would surely reminiscent the blockbusters of yesteryears.However, all is not lost. Till July this year,Hollywood has come up with some nice slew of must watch movies.They dont boast hollywood's famous or come with huge budget slapped across their faces, but they sure beats the crap out of hollywood's biggest

So here are some of the finest movies released in the past six months

Knocked Up

Knocked Up is a hilarious, poignant and refreshing look at the rigors of courtship and child-rearing, with a sometimes raunchy, always witty script that is ably acted and directed
Katherine Heigl (GREY'S ANATOMY) and Seth Rogan star in this hilarious and touching comedy as two mismatched people brought together by a one-night-stand that results in an accidental pregnancy.

Using many of the same actors from his previous film, THE 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN, and his cult television series' UNDECLARED and FREAKS AND GEEKS, director Judd Apatow once again finds fresh humor in relationships and sex. Young, bright, and talented, Alison (Heigl) has everything going for her. After being promoted to an on-camera role at E! Television, Alison goes out to celebrate with her older sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann).

Not long into the evening Debbie is called home to her kids, leaving Alison in the eager company of charming slacker Ben (Rogen). In the dark of the nightclub and in the ensuing drunk hours, Ben seems like a great guy. But in the sober light of day, Alison quickly discovers the man in her bed is nothing more than an overgrown child with no job, no money, and the social habits of a teenager. Brushing him off politely as a one-time affair, Alison goes on with her life, until two months later she realizes that the unthinkable has happened.

Ratatouille

Pixar succeeds again with Ratatouille, a stunningly animated film with fast pacing, memorable characters, and overall good humor.

A rat named Remy (Patton Oswalt) lives in Paris with a dream (and the talent) to be a chef. Opting to raid the kitchens of Paris rather than the garbage cans and sewers of the city with his family, Remy is inspired by the philosophy of one of the city’s most legendary chefs, the late Gusteau (Brad Garrett). One night, Remy can’t resist practicing his skill in Gusteau’s restaurant. While his guard is down, Remy is discovered by a klutzy young man, Linguini (Lou Romano), who cleans the kitchen. Together Remi and Linguini become a culinary duo, with Remy playing puppeteer by concealing himself under Linguini’s chef’s hat. Remy pulls Linguini's hair to direct his hands, helping to bring Remy’s creations to life.

Soon Gusteau’s restaurant becomes the talk of the town--but would it still be the toast of Paris if everyone knew a rat was running the show?


Sicko

Driven by Michael Moore’s sincere humanism, Sicko is a devastating, convincing, and very entertaining documentary about the state of America’s health care.

America's most incendiary filmmaker, Michael Moore, returned in 2007 with this health-care-industry exposé. SICKO tackles material as controversial as the topics explored in Moore's other films, yet does so in a way that places the focus on ordinary Americans affected by the nation's health-care crisis. After providing some historical background on how our nation's medical care system became so ravaged and unfair, Moore interviews a series of individuals and families who have had their lives all but destroyed by the denial of care in the service of profit.

While there are two sides to the gun-control debate and even a legitimate discourse for how to best wage the war on terror, it's simply impossible to justify how a baby girl can wind up dead because her mother's health insurance wasn't accepted at a nearby hospital. Moore smartly allows this and other stories to be told with little or no interference, conjuring strong feelings of empathy, rage, and deep sadness.


The Host

The Host combines scares, laughs, satire, and social dynamics into a riveting, poignant piece of film making.
The talk of the 2006 Cannes International Film Festival, THE HOST, the latest film from critically acclaimed visionary director BONG Joon-ho, has already garnered a substantial amount of international buzz. Utilizing state-of-the-art special effects courtesy of a creative partnership between Weta Workshop (King Kong, The Lord of the Rings) and The Orphanage (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sin City), THE HOST is equal parts creature-feature thrill ride and poignant human drama.

Gang-du (SONG Kang-ho) works at a food-stand on the banks of the Han River. Dozing on the job, he is awakened by his daughter, Hyun-seo ( KO A-sung), who is angry with him for missing a teacher-parent meeting at school. As Gang-du walks out to the riverbank with a delivery, he notices that a large crowd of people has gathered, taking pictures and talking about something hanging from the Han River Bridge. The otherwise idyllic landscape turns suddenly to bedlam when a terrifying creature climbs up onto the riverbank and begins to crush and eat people. Gang-du and his daughter run for their lives but suddenly the thing grabs Hyun-seo and disappears back into the river. The government announces that the thing apparently is the Host of an unidentified virus. Having feared the worst, Gang-du receives a phone call from his daughter who is frightened, but very much alive. Gang-du makes plans to infiltrate the forbidden zone near the Han River to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the horrifying Host..

Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is a bitingly satiric and hugely entertaining take on the buddy cop genre.
Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the finest cop London has to offer, with an arrest record 400% higher than any other officer on the force. He’s so good, he makes everyone else look bad. As a result, Angel’s superiors send him to a place where his talents won’t be quite so embarrassing -- the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford.

Once there, he is partnered with the well-meaning but overeager police officer Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). The son of amiable Police Chief Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent), Danny is a huge action movie fan and believes his new big-city partner might just be a real-life "bad boy," and his chance to experience the life of gunfights and car chases he so longs for. Angel is quick to dismiss this as childish fantasy and Danny’s puppy-like enthusiasm only adds to Angel’s growing frustration.

However, as a series of grisly accidents rocks the village, Angel is convinced that Sandford is not what it seems and as the intrigue deepens, Danny’s dreams of explosive, high-octane, car-chasing, gunfighting, all-out action seem more and more like a reality.