iMac and water just don't mix

The new iMacs seem to be getting more than their fair share of problems. After reports of the graphics card freezing up the system, there now seems to be actual freeze in the PC itself.

According to the Apple support forum, more than a few users have experienced condensation behind the glass panel of the LCD. For now, there is no mention of any damage resulting from this, but as we all learned in PC 101, water and computers don't mix (unless you are talking about water-cooled systems).

We have contacted Apple regarding this issue, but at press time there was yet to be a response.

Lenovo ThinkCenter A61e: Green midget

Crave loves Mother Nature. So much so we've hired our own environmental activist and started turning the taps off--gas and water--before we leave the house. So you can imagine our joy when the eco-friendly Lenovo ThinkCentre A61e arrived on our doorstep.

This frankly hideous-looking, phonebook-sized desktop PC is a hippy's dream. It's designed for businesses that want to cut their power bills or for individuals with a pathological desire to lower their carbon footprint.

The A61e (and its packaging) is made from 90 percent reusable or recyclable materials. It uses a low-voltage AMD Athlon X2 dual-core or Sempron single-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, an ATI X1200 graphics card and an 85 percent efficient power supply.

The whole shebang is so earnestly green it's earned EPEAT Gold and Energy Star 4.0 status. Plus, Lenovo says it'll release an optional solar panel to make it even greener, although we don't know how that'll work indoors. But stick it up your exhaust pipe anyway.

Lenovo Singapore has confirmed the A61e will be coming to the Asia-Pacific market, though pricing details and actual launch date are hazy at the moment.

Via CNET Crave

Sony's Mac Mini killer coming to Singapore

We don't know about you, but we feel the Mac mini has become dated. True, it is small, white and has that classic clean Apple facade. But the boxy look is as relevant as bell-bottom jeans.

Sony has gone one step up and decided that round is hot. Its VAIO VGX-TP1 small-form-factor PC has no edges at all, going with a smooth circular design that makes it look more like a speaker than a computer. And though at US$1,599.99 (S$2,345.10) it's nowhere as cheap as the sub-S$1,000 (US$657.89) Mac mini, this VAIO makes up for it by including a wireless keyboard, full remote control, built-in TV tuner and more connectivity ports than the Mac.



On the flipside, we were surprised that although the TP1 is based on the latest Intel 965GM chipset, the integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics engine is a generation behind. If you are familiar with chipsets, you would also have realized by now that this desktop is powered by a mobile platform, which means you pay top dollar for what amounts to a budget notebook system (sans LCD). The price of looking good is, indeed, pretty high. Sony has not confirmed the launch date, though it confirmed that this VAIO is definitely on the boat to Singapore.

Use your hardisk raw

By now, most of us would have multiple harddisks lying around. After all, when capacities are already pushing the 1TB envelope, who wants to put a puny 120GB notebook drive or 200GB 3.5-inch device in your PC?

Of course, the alternative is to transform them into external USB 2.0 storage using enclosures. Good idea, until you run out of USB ports keeping your archive disks plugged in. Enter 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA HDD Stage Rack. The design reminds us of the old Atari console in which you plug the game cartridges into a slot on the top. Only this time, you can use your naked harddisks directly sans enclosures (2.5-inch drives requires the use of the included adapter). The connection is via USB 2.0 only and it's compatible with Windows or Mac systems with the correct file format. GeekStuff4U ships this internationally for US$46.79 (S$68.42) excluding transport charges. Not too bad as it's around the price of three unbranded USB 2.0 enclosures.

Mac OS X Leopard: Ready, set, go

It's official. The much anticipated Mac OS X Leopard recently received the go order for a October 26 launch.

With a host of new features such as Time Machine, Quick Look and Spaces, this upgrade is a no brainer. It also has an attractive price, going for only S$238 (US$156.58) while its main competitor, Windows Vista, starts at over S$300 (US$197.37) for the Home Basic Edition.

So do you need a new Mac for Leopard? Well, the minimum requirements is a PowerPC G4 (867Mz or faster) processor with 512MB of memory, so almost any Apple computer purchased in the last three years should have no problems running Leopard.

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