music & computer

This third-generation TouchSmart PC is boosted by Windows 7's gesture support, but HP's custom multitouch software is even more impressive.

With Windows 7, Microsoft has built support for multitouch gestures directly into the operating system. And though using your fingers to tap, flick, and pinch your way around probably won't replace the humble mouse anytime soon, HP has almost three years of experience in producing multitouch-capable all-in-one PCs. It shows.

This third-generation TouchSmart PC is boosted by Windows 7's gesture support, but HP's custom multitouch software is even more impressive.

With Windows 7, Microsoft has built support for multitouch gestures directly into the operating system. And though using your fingers to tap, flick, and pinch your way around probably won't replace the humble mouse anytime soon, HP has almost three years of experience in producing multitouch-capable all-in-one PCs. It shows.
Aesthetically, the new TouchSmart 600 retains the familiar and elegant TouchSmart design, including ambient lighting that casts a soothing colored glow. Its 23-inch display puts it between HP's existing 22-inch TouchSmart IQ500t and 25.5-inch TouchSmart IQ816 in terms of size. Like the latter, the TouchSmart 600 supports a resolution of 1920 by 1080 (1080p)--perfect for watching high-definition movies and TV via its built-in Blu-ray slot drive and HDTV tuner. You can also stream shows wirelessly over 802.11n, and suck in photos with the integrated multicard reader. A remote control is included, as well.

But as with the earlier models, on the TouchSmart 600 it's HP's custom software that really shines. Version 3.0 is a significant upgrade, offering touch-friendly versions of Hulu, Netflix, Twitter, and other applications that have oversize buttons and that understand gestures such as swiping and pinching. The Collage app lets you use two hands to shuffle, resize, and rotate photos, in a way that's reminiscent of Microsoft's high-end Surface table PC. And the HP apps now multitask, letting you hop back and forth by sliding them around with a fingertip. The interface is responsive, and is the benchmark for upcoming Windows 7 all-in-one PCs from Acer, Asus, Dell, Gateway, and MSI.

As touch remains best for casual interaction with the PC in a family room or kitchen, HP also throws in a wireless mouse, plus a low-profile wireless keyboard that you can tuck beneath the case when you're not using it.

Our $1600 test configuration included Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), a 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor, 4GB of DDR-1333 memory, a 750GB hard drive, and 1GB nVidia GeForce GT230M graphics. Those components helped the TouchSmart 600 achieve a WorldBench 6 score of 92, which is right in the middle of our top-performing all-in-one PCs. It's pretty much equal in performance with the Core 2 Duo T8100-equipped TouchSmart IQ816 (81) and the Lenovo IdeaCenter A600 (87). (When it comes to all-in-one speed, nothing we've tested so far has matched the 24-inch Apple iMac's WorldBench score of 111.) As for gaming, however, the TouchSmart 600 simply can't match those all-in-one PCs; it struggled to break a playable 30 frames per second at 1680 by 1050 resolution, in either Enemy Territory: Quake Wars or Unreal Tournament.

Even with Windows 7, touch remains an entertaining luxury rather than a killer feature; and if you can do without it, you can get a machine for a lot less cash with features and specs that are otherwise comparable. But if you're ready to reach out and touch Windows, the TouchSmart 600 lets you do it in a way that's both fun and effective.

If money is no object and mobile gaming is your goal, the Core i7-fueled M15x strikes a reasonable balance between size and speed.

To fans of high-end hardware who want to be a little more mobile: Check out the new Alienware M15x. Take Alienware's M17x, shrink it down to the all-purpose size bracket (our test unit had a 15.6-inch screen), and pop in a Core i7 CPU. If you don't need to read any further, that's about as reductive as it gets. While a baseline machine starts at $1499, the real power doesn't exactly come cheap (our review unit, as configured, sells for about $2999). But how does the M15x fare versus its bigger brother? Surprisingly well.

If money is no object and mobile gaming is your goal, the Core i7-fueled M15x strikes a reasonable balance between size and speed.

To fans of high-end hardware who want to be a little more mobile: Check out the new Alienware M15x. Take Alienware's M17x, shrink it down to the all-purpose size bracket (our test unit had a 15.6-inch screen), and pop in a Core i7 CPU. If you don't need to read any further, that's about as reductive as it gets. While a baseline machine starts at $1499, the real power doesn't exactly come cheap (our review unit, as configured, sells for about $2999). But how does the M15x fare versus its bigger brother? Surprisingly well.
Jumping right to the performance, let's take a peek at some of the hard numbers. In WorldBench 6 tests, the M15x scored a 121 thanks to the Core i7-920XM processor, 4GB of RAM, and the 7200-rpm, 250GB hard drive. That's in the same range as the M17x and catapults it to the top of the all-purpose notebook pack. In fact, that puts it right in spitting distance of Eurocomm's near-$6000 monster machine that packed a Xeon processor on the desktop replacement chart. And as any self-respecting gaming rig would, the M15x also packs a decent discrete GPU--a 1GB nVidia GeForce GTX 260M. Under our stress tests, this GPU held up quite well.

At 1680-by-1050-pixel resolution with all the settings cranked (and 4X antialiasing) the M15x knocked out 69 frames per second in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and 89 frames per second in Unreal Tournament 3. That is nothing to sneeze at. By the way, for a little comparison, the M17x knocked out 65 and 84 frames per second in the same tests. So, technically, the little brother is more spry. Opting to throw a couple more curveballs, I loaded up Left 4 Dead, jacking up the settings to the machine's native resolution (1920 by 1080) and 4X antialiasing. I even fired up Crysis Warhead (with AA turned off). Both games looked great and ran reasonably smoothly. After that, I kicked on the Resident Evil 5 benchmark, and it shot out a respectable 40 frames per second. In short, it works as advertised. Bear in mind that it did all this running Windows Vista Home Premium Edition. With Windows 7 on board (a free upgrade coupon comes in the box), it'll probably run a hair snappier in these same tests.

Of course, a downside to all this power is that this high-performance rig can barely muster 2 hours of battery life. So you wind up with an all-purpose PC that lasts a little less than half the average run time. Keep the power supply handy and be somewhere near an outlet next time you want to play World of Warcraft.

Moving back to the outside of the hood, let's take a look at that 15.6-inch screen. It actually has good color reproduction with the brightness kicked up all the way. And, in games such as Left 4 Dead, the dark moody corridors don't get blasted out with ridiculous gamma settings. But as I just said, I needed to jack up the brightness to really get the best picture in mixed light settings. You plan to use the M15x in a cave? No worries, set it lower. And, it goes without saying that it was more than capable of outputting good quality video--at least as good video as the DVD-ROM drive could provide. While you can upgrade to a a BD-ROM drive, that wasn't on board here. But with the 1080p video we installed on the 250GB hard drive, a sample clip of a space shuttle looked crisp, with yellow-ish gray smoke plumes erupting in front of the early morning sky at the launch site.

One thing is for sure, this is nothing like the last-gen version of the M15x. That creaky box felt like it was held together with duct tape and true grit. The new M15x, by comparison, is a fairly solid, seamless chassis. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find many screws (they hide behind the battery for access to upgradable components).

And the keyboard? It certainly felt good enough as my fingers danced over the keys. Actually, maybe I should say that my fingers moved over the dance floor because you can change the color schemes on running lights around the machine. But I digress. Though the touchpad is a little on the small side for my tastes, it's textured and easy enough to use. The buttons also have a good amount of give as they jutted above the large wrist rest. Still, the buttons could stand to be a hair bigger. Truth be told, though, if you're setting up shop with this machine somewhere, you're probably going to opt for an external mouse, anyhow.

Crammed around the sides are a four-pin FireWire port, two USB plugs, one eSATA/USB combo port, an ExpressCard slot, and an eight-in-one Media Card reader. The M15x also makes room for DisplayPort and VGA video-outs. A couple of audio-out jacks for external surround sound provides a pretty strong indication that you won't be tempted to stick with the two built-in front-firing speakers--though the attempt at virtual sound works decently. 802.11n and Bluetooth wireless support complement the gigabit ethernet jack.

Coming in, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the Alienware M15x this time around. But, thanks to the new guts and scaling down most of the M17x's designs, this machine is making me a believer. That said, this laptop certainly doesn't come cheap or last long on a single charge; and while this "all-purpose"-size rig may fit in your bag, it also may just tear a hole in the bottom. But it delivers on exactly what you'd expect: high-end gaming performance.

--Darren Gladstone
pcworld.com

We're still testing it, but so far the first Ion netbook delivers on its promise: The first affordable netbook that can support games and HD video has arrived.

Commuting to work this morning, I was playing Left 4 Dead on HP's Mini 311-1000NR--that's right, on a netbook. Few netbooks are up to that task, and HP is first to market with an nVidia Ion-based portable. The 3.22-pound, 11.4-by-8.0-by-1.2-inch Mini 311-1000NR has a reasonable amount of power and a $399 asking price. (Our review unit, as configured, sells for $450 as of October 5, 2009.)

We're still testing it, but so far the first Ion netbook delivers on its promise: The first affordable netbook that can support games and HD video has arrived.

Commuting to work this morning, I was playing Left 4 Dead on HP's Mini 311-1000NR--that's right, on a netbook. Few netbooks are up to that task, and HP is first to market with an nVidia Ion-based portable. The 3.22-pound, 11.4-by-8.0-by-1.2-inch Mini 311-1000NR has a reasonable amount of power and a $399 asking price. (Our review unit, as configured, sells for $450 as of October 5, 2009.)
What's Ion? If you've somehow missed the reams of stories I've already written about the Ion platform, here's the executive summary: For netbooks or nettops, it marries an Intel Atom CPU (in this case, the 1.66GHz N280) to an nVidia Ion LE GPU, yielding more-powerful, affordable machines that can output high-def video and even allow you to play some games.

Also fueling this machine are 1GB of RAM and a 160GB 5400-rpm hard drive--standard-issue netbook guts. Unfortunately, we don't yet know exactly how much additional juice the Mini 311-1000NR delivers--we're conducting our WorldBench 6 lab tests as I write this--but we do have some preliminary results.

I'm looking forward to the final results to see how an Ion netbook will fare against AMD's tweener-class Neo CPU, which came on board the category-defying HP Pavilion dv2 (a model that earned a score of 45 on WorldBench 6). And now the HP Pavilion dm3, due to replace the dv2, is just around the corner. HP spokespeople say that they expect the Mini 311-1000NR to deliver roughly 5 hours of battery life; we'll see.

Gaming on a netbook is one of the big bullet-point promises of the Ion platform--but don't expect to run Crysis Warhead. I tried: After a lengthy load time, it was a start-and-stop experience at 800 by 600 pixels with everything but the monitor turned off. Though I can say that I "played" the game, but it isn't exactly "playable." I had much better luck with Left 4 Dead and with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. At the same resolution--with visual effects switched to low setting--both were slightly jerky (frame rates bounced along in the high 20s and low 30s), but definitely playable. For laughs, I tried running the ridiculous Resident Evil 5 Benchmark that challenged the Core i7; at 1280 by 720 pixels, the Mini 311-1000NR managed 7.7 frames per second. (A $4000 desktop replacement laptop gets ten times that performance--not a huge surprise there.)

Like the Acer Aspire One 751h, the Mini 311-1000NR has a relatively large 11.6-inch screen as netbooks go. The LED BrightView display, at 1366 by 768 pixels (with a 16:9 aspect ratio), looks fairly sharp despite some glare problems when used outdoors in direct sunlight. Once I settled into a shady spot, though, I threw all sorts of test 720p content at the netbook, and it ran clean, with maybe one stutter-step moment out of all the video I installed on the machine's hard drive. The Mini 311-1000NR runs Hulu at full-screen as well. Just don't hold your breath for HD streaming video (unless maybe you can wait a little longer for a Flash update to support GPU acceleration). A quick launcher from the tool tray provides access to a number of video-calibrating options--from color and brightness to bit-depth and resolution--with minimal on-screen digging.

HP's take on the platform is fairly stylish--no surprise considering that the Mini (and the Pavilion, for that matter) sports curved lines and interesting patterns on a glossy finish. In this case, the Mini 311-1000NR comes with a white or black swirled lid that'll hypnotize you.

The keyboard reminds me of the dv2's, just shrunken down a little bit. HP spokespeople say that the Mini 311-1000NR's keyboard is 92 percent of full size. I've seen the dips in the buttons termed "scalloped keys," and the little lips do make them a bit easier to type on. Still, if HP had let the keys spread closer to the sides of the machine, the company might have been able to enlarge the buttons to 93 or even 94 percent of full size. And I wouldn't have complained.

The touchpad and button placement along the bottom of the netbook toes the line--and it's a world better than on previous Mini models, which stupidly dropped the left and right buttons in flanking positions on either side of the touch area. The left and right buttons on the Mini 311-1000NR feel firm though a little plasticky. One thing that I did miss was the little kill switch for turning off the touchpad. In its absence, I often found myself accidentally grazing the touchpad or buttons and inadvertently moving my cursor.

The I/O ports lining the box are in line with what you'd expect on a netbooks: three USB ports, a 10/100 ethernet jack, VGA out, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and a Webcam. Upgrade options include 802.11n, Bluetooth, and 3G WWAN broadband.

Among the minor tweaks that I approve of are a headphone out/microphone combo jack (compatible with the four-conductor headsets used in some cell phones), HDMI-out (taking advantage of the GPU, obviously), and a five-in-one flash card reader that can handle SD/MMC, Memory Stick/Pro and XD picture cards (most netbooks handle only SD/MMC cards).

So at this point I see a fairly good deal jammed into a machine that actually looks like a fairly good deal. Meanwhile, where is the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 with the Ion under the hood? Lenovo was the first company to announce support for the chipset, but we're still waiting on its first product.

Remember to revisit this review soon for an update that will include a full score and proper test results. For those that simply can't wait, I'll say this: If you've resisted the urge to buy a netbook until something with a little more oomph came along, this could be your machine.
pcworld.com

Ease of Use: This thing is awesome. I have been playing for about nine months now, both various kinds of metal and some '60s "new ageish" folk/metal (thats right, combined) stuff and this thing can do it all and then more. It can play any style you want, metal, country, folk, punl, classic rock, or anything you can think up of on your own. It has everything you would ever need, distortion, chorus, reverb, delay, phaser, flanger, wah, tremelo, vibrato, it just goes on and on. It also has a freakin' sweet system where you can model amps, like a driven stack or oldschool blues tube amp. The version I bought didn't come with an owners manual, which is crappy due the bigillion functions this thing has. So I fixed that by downloading the manual off the internet at www.Boss.com and did a search for the owners manual, and got it right then and there. Now I don't know if that was just me, but I wrote that down just in case. Also I sould note that thy discontinued the GT6 and came out with the GT8 for $399 or $499, not really sure, but would try to get my hands on this bad boy before it goes away. // 8
Sound: Right now I am playing an Ibanez RG 321, which was great for its price, and a 15 watt Crate, but I plan to get a Fender FM212 100 watt soon, just need the money. It can have some unwanted feedback when you combine too many of the electronic features, or push teh volume too much directly on the system, but thats what the master volume knob is for on the amp. But if you don't get effects happy or push the system too hard, it sounds pretty good. But I can still get a hell of alot better distortion out of my Line 6 UberMetal petal, but that thing is top of the line hardcore. Other than that, the sound of the effects are pretty good. Also, it has a MIDI hook-up, and if you have a MIDI bank on your computer, you can get some crazy sounds like a piano or a squeeling pig if you have it. And if you don't its easy to get from a google search. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I have not found anything wrong with it, and it is made out of mostly metal, with rugged pedals and knobs. I have droped it once on soncrete for arms length, and survived just fine. I haven't done a show with it due to the absence of being in a full fleged band, but it is defiently up to the task, without a backup, to due any show you throw at it. // 7

Impression: I play hippie/metal, but it would suit any guitar player out there, and does just fine from my crazy styles I randomly come up with like a flanged acoustic (very space rock) or a simple classic Overdrive with a fast slicer. I really hoped it came with an accutual owners manual, because the computer version is hard to follow and read. I love all the functions, but I don't like the distortion feature, I think that they could have doen better. I would bust a cap if it got stolen, and would try to replace it any way possible, but it is expensive (for good reason)

Deep Purple has a new live album in the works called "Space Truckin' Round the World Live 68-76". According to Classic Rock magazine, the two-disc set — due out next month — will feature rare live recordings from various concerts all over the world, including gigs in Tokyo, Paris and San Diego. The compilation, which features multiple band line-ups, will also feature a detailed history of the group, individual concert details and photos. It's being released as part of the 10th anniversary of Purple Records — the label that handles the band's music.

Deep Purple has a new live album in the works called "Space Truckin' Round the World Live 68-76". According to Classic Rock magazine, the two-disc set — due out next month — will feature rare live recordings from various concerts all over the world, including gigs in Tokyo, Paris and San Diego. The compilation, which features multiple band line-ups, will also feature a detailed history of the group, individual concert details and photos. It's being released as part of the 10th anniversary of Purple Records — the label that handles the band's music.
The track listing is as follows:

CD 1:

01. "Hush" (Inglewood 1968)
02. "River Deep Mountain High" (Inglewood 1968)
03. "Hey Joe" (Inglewood 1968)
04. "Wring That Neck" (Aachen 1970)
05. "Into The Fire" (Stockholm 1970)
06. "Mandrake Root" (Montreux 1969)

CD 2:

01. "Child In Time" (Granada TV 1970)
02. "Lazy" (Denmark 1972)
03. "Strange Kind Of Woman" (Denmark 1972)
04. "Burn" (San Diego 1974)
05. "Mistreated" (San Diego 1974)
06. "The Gypsy" (Paris 1975)
07. "Lady Double Dealer" (Paris 1975)
08. "Wild Dogs" (Tokyo 1975)
09. "Love Child" (Tokyo 1975)

Deep Purple will be Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson's guests on Friday, October 9 during Bruce's weekly BBC 6 Music radio program, dubbed "The Bruce Dickinson Friday Rock Show". Listen to the broadcast live via the Internet between 9:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. (midnight) U.K. time at BBC.co.uk.

Deep Purple's 18th studio album, "Rapture Of The Deep", was released in November 2005. It is the fourth studio CD from Deep Purple since guitarist Steve Morse joined the band in 1994. It was also the second album to feature veteran keyboardist Don Airey.

"Rapture Of The Deep" was produced by Mike Bradford, who also worked on the band's previous release, 2003's "Bananas".

Deep Purple has dates lined up in November in the U.K.
www.ultimate-guitar.com