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Dante's Inferno, God of War III
 EDITORIAL

Whenever we’re on the verge of a new advance in technology, we have to evaluate what it’s
going to cost to leave old conventions behind. The things that evolve slowly just grow with
features and capabilities progressively added; sometimes the process is smooth and organic,
other times it’s totally haphazard. We grow and change our behavior as and when we notice
these new additions, or curiosity drives us to actively discover them. Computers, gadgets,
software and even websites usually see this as the best way to grow: it requires less effort and
imagination, and even users who demand improvements like things to stay familiar! This is
how pretty much every incremental upgrade that we see today works. The risk that companies
take is to make their changes so timidly that they aren’t ever discovered and used.

On the other hand, some people thrive on being disruptive. They believe in total reinvention;
remorselessly killing the old to make way for the new. They make unpopular decisions, destroy
comfort zones, and force people to see outside the boxes they’ve been cramped up inside. It’s
a very difficult decision to make: people don’t always take kindly to being jolted out of inertia.
Change, whether or not it’s ultimately for the better, will usually be met with resistance simply
because we like our comfort zones.

Change will usually be met with resistance simply

because we like our comfort zones.
People will even go to great lengths to restore a disrupted status quo. Microsoft turned the
traditional menus-and-toolbars convention on its head with Office 2007 because they had
grown so out of hand that no one could find what they wanted, yet it created confusion and
an add-on that simulated the classic interface became wildly popular. People have definitely
warmed up to the new style now, but it isn’t perfect and does have its own problems.

Apple decided people should use email instead of MMS and that copy-paste functions were
unnecessary in the iPhone, so people simply cracked their software and installed third-party
workarounds. They came across as high-handed and out of touch with reality. Software
updates over the years added these features, but they feel grafted on instead of natural.
We can’t expect progress if we’re bogged down supporting old legacy products and behaviors.
Some things will have to change completely, but such “surgical strikes” need to be managed
well and even publicized well to avoid people instinctively rejecting them.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 3

Contents APRIL 2010
68 FEATURED
3D COMES HOME
Demolishing the hype and getting the facts
right about 3D and its place in the home

NEWSWIRE TEST CENTER FEATURED

16 Bill Leszinske: Media Man
Bill Leszinske, General Manager of Intel’s Digital
Home Group tells us what’s going on with home
entertainment and consumer electronics.
18 Searching with a Camera!
Is Googling out and mobile visual search in? We
take a look at the ambitious Kooaba image
recignition technology to find out.
20 New Products
Some of the latest products launched in the
Indian market that may tickle your fancy.
26 Product of the Month
The HP Photosmart Premium C309g has
everything you would expect from a good
multi-functional device, and so much more.
28 Hardware Reviewed
An eco-friendly cell phone, a power-efficient
all-in-one PC, and a host of other devices face
the CHIP Test Center.
54 Software Spotlight
Mcafee Internet Security gets a facelift, but is
there more to it than just a crisp interface?
56 Software Reviewed
Everything from disc burning utilities and data
recovery applications to photo organizers and
MP3 recorders reviewed this month.
68 3D Comes Home
Is 3D technology ready to be adopted by home
users for movies, TV and gaming?
74 Value Performers
We put 39 entry-level graphics cards, all priced
below Rs 10,000, through their paces.
86 High-speed for the PC
Graphics processors are now being used to
handle tasks earlier carried out by CPUs.
90 HTML5: The New Language
Can HTML5 make Flash redundant?
92 Need for More Speed
With USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s, you won’t have
to wait too long for data transfers.

64 PC Configs
We bring you the best bargains and the coolest
products in the market.

4 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 lakh 1.5gameslak h , books
Rs 1.5ng games,
WIN!of prizes includiaccess W ! Rs
INprizes including
, movies

Contents
ories
150 worth and PC worth of
DVDs, books,
3 • Rs 150
4 • Rs
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CRIBE NOW
NOW!
W!
Turn to page 42

28 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
Cool new product
products
ctss everywhere!
eevverywheree!

ON DVD
Free games, demos, useful apps and lots more...

104 HANDS ON
3D STEREOSCOPE
Create your own special effects at home

54 TEST CENTER
SOFTWARE SPOTLIGHT
A new Internet security suite
to keep you safe online

HANDS ON UNWIND REGULARS

100 Dr CHIP
Our in-house expert helps you sort out
everything from virus infections to bad drives.
104 3D Stereoscope
Creating 3D photographs using a single camera
is quite simple, and we show you how.
ULARS
120 God of War III 03 Editorial, 08 Colophon,
No other game comes close to offering such an 10 In the News... 20 New Products
experience. Launched, 24 Personal Tech,
64 PC Configs, 96 Web Watch,
122 Mass Effect 2 100 Dr CHIP, 108 Tips & Tricks,
Bioware's masterful blend of action and role- 134 Market Watch, 140 Letters,
playing. 142 Contests, 146 Last Word

106 HTPC Facelift 124 Darksiders

Bringing the true HD experience into your living
room is easier than you think. We show you
what goes into putting together an HTPC.
108 Tips & Tricks
Solve nagging Windows problems and get your
work done quicker with these cool, time-saving
tips and tricks.
Take on the forces of heaven and hell.
126 Dante's Inferno
This journey into the depths of hell never quite
manages to step out of God of War's shadow.
128 Aliens vs Predator
Tremendous potential corroded by poor AI and
broken gameplay.

6 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 APRIL 2010 | VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 05 www.chip.in

NATIONAL SALES HEAD

MANAGING EDITOR
Surajit Agarwal Badri Narayan
ADVERTISING SALES
MUMBAI
surajit.agarwal@infomedia18.in HEAD - MARKETING
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jamshed.avari@chip.in BANGALORE
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COPY DESK Dennis Mathew
Sagar Salunkhe
Sameer Desai
HEAD - INTERNET CHENNAI
DEPUTY EDITOR - TECHNICAL Tushar Burman Moses Philip
Anand Tuliani HEAD OFFICE
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Intelligent Computing Chip, HYDERABAD
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8 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS

DANGER BAROMETER IN THE NEWS...

HIGH RISK COMPILED BY JAMSHED AVARI

The costs of spam

and phishing
have sunk after INDUSTRY WEB
Christmas.
Hackers are now
preparing for their
MEDIUM RISK
Palm might finally have Godrej launches India's
Easter attacks. to admit defeat first online virtual world
LOW RISK
Palm Inc, once famous for its iconic
handheld digital organizers, is finding itself
unable to compete in the increasingly
competitive smartphone arena. The
company's disappointing quarterly earnings
report was preceded by a warning that
SOURCES OF VIRUSES figures would be well below expectations
due to slow demand. CEO Jon Rubenstein's
USA 37.4%
official statement promised new products and In what is sure to be a new beginning for
Russland 12.8% said the company still has strong potential, Godrej, the century-old business house has
China 11.2% but the future is looking increasingly bleak. launched India's first online virtual world,
Palm has struggled to GoJiyo (www.gojiyo.com). The site promises
Dustchland 2.6%
remain competitive largely to engage Indian youth with features
England 1.6% due to its software, which fell like flying and teleportation, similar to
Adhere 34.4% behind competitors' offerings estsablished online worlds including Second
in the early half of the Life. The world is made of three major zones:
The USA hosts more viruses and code
last decade. After adopting Urban Supercity, Ancient Kingdom and Moon
infected websites than any other country.
Source: Sophos Windows Mobile at the cost Colony, with hints of others including an
of its own software, its underwater colony. By using advertisements

FAKE ANTIVIRUS APPS ntric

new, Internet-centric
form in 2009.
WebOS platform
and leveraging Facebook traffic, GoJiyo
m
managed to attract over 11,000 signups in
g hailed as
Despite being the runup to its launch in late March 2010.
160,000 ebOS-
innovative, WebOS- H
However GoJiyo is not just a 3D social
based Pre and netwo
network; it is clearly intended to serve as a
140,000
Pixi have largely marke
marketing platform for all the Godrej Group's
120,000
failed to generate companies, including consumer products,
100,000 excitement. foods and beverages, and furniture.
80,000
60,000
40,000 SECURITY
20,000
0
BoI customers targeted in multilingual phishing scam
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Last year there were more than 1,50,000
malicious programs disguised as serious
antivirus programs.

FIGURE OF THE MONTH

10,000,000,000 The Bank of India has become one of the

latest financial institutions to be targeted by
tweets have been sent out since a large-scale online phishing scam. Internet
Twitter, the first microblogging site users have been receiving emails purporting
to be from a BoI customer service email
was launched.
address use the usual tactic of informing
Source: Gigatweet
recepients that their accounts have been
suspended due to "suspicious activity"
and that they need to click a link and sign
in with their credentials to restore it.
The BoI mails are circulating in Hindi as
well as English. Links in the emails point
to fake websites hosted on compromised
domains, mostly compromised mail servers.

10 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: NSN to 51818
 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS

HARDWARE GAMING GAMING INDUSTRY

Ion 2 is a discrete New Ubisoft DRM Sony unveils its Facebook opens
graphics chip cracked in 24h motion controller India office

Nvidia has launched its Ion
2 chip, and this time the
company is forced to offer a
standalone graphics solution
rather than all-in-one chipset
due to licensing restrictions for
Intel CPUs.
The Ion GPU can connect
to an Intel NM10 chipset
to override Intel's built-in
graphics capabilties, but will
also be sold as a discrete PCIe
card for upgraders. The new
chips will add HD and better
media capabilities to Atom-
based netbooks and nettops.
Ubisoft started courting
controversy when it launched
a particularly intrusive anti-
piracy measure on its latest
release, Silent Hunter 5, which
requires that gamers have an
always-on Internet connection
so that the game can phone
home to authenticate itself
every few minutes. However,
a loophole that would allow a
patch to turn off the DRM was
discovered and exploited in
24 hours. Meanwhile, genuine
customers were locked out for
hours due to a server crash.
Sony has finally taken the
wraps off its PS3 motion
control system, now officially
dubbed the Playstation Move.
The accessory looks similar
to Nintendo's Wiimote, with
a distinct unit for each hand.
The Move controller uses
three gyroscopes, three
accelerometers and a magnetic
field sensor. The Playstation
Eye camera accessory also
tracks the Move's glowing orb.
Sony says over 36
companies will support the
Move system in 2010.
Facebook is investing in India
by opening its first office
outside the US and UK here.
The new operations center
in Hyderabad will support
hundreds of millions of users,
as well as Indian application
developers and advertisers.
The new center will also allow
Facebook to support users in
any time zone 24 hours a day.
The company expects to hire a
small team of local talent.
Facebook now has 400 million
active users, 8 million of
whom are from India.

INFRASTRUCTURE OPEN SOURCE

US towns compete for Google's Apple's lawsuits against HTC could be

broadband attention
When Google announced its plans to push fiber optic cables
to 500,000 American homes in order to stimulate broadband
adoption, they certainly got the attention of the International
press. By announcing plans to build and test networks with
speeds of up to 1 Gbps at competitive pricing, Google is aiming
squarely at service providers who are sitting idle because they
have no competition to fear. The company's official blog outlines
a vision of streaming 3D medical imaging from a rural health
clinic to an urban speciality
facility and getting a live
consultation alongside. For
home uses, Google paints
a picture of downloading
full-length HD movies in
less than five minutes.
Now, dozens of towns
and cities across the US are splashing out on innovative stunts
and media campaigns in order to convince the tech behemoth
to adopt them for pilot studies. Some are towns which have so
far been overlooked or feel neglected by commercial broadband
providers. Efforts have ranged from creating Facebook pages
and Twitter feeds to gathering citizens in the shape of the
Google logo, and at least one town in Kansas has officially
renamed itself to "Google" for a month.
a swipe at Google
Apple, which has sued HTC for 20 counts of patent infringement,
might have a tough time ahead of it in court. HTC has said
it intends to fight the charges and is confident it can defend
itself. HTC manufactures a number of smartphones based on the
Android platform, including Google's own flagship Nexus One
device. Several of the patent infringement charges have been
made against specific Android models. Relations between Apple
and Google have soured considerably in the last few months,
judging by the number of public swipes they have taken at each
other and the growing number of product categories the two
giants compete against each other in despite having enjoyed a
close relationship in the past. Both companies now manufacture
smartphones, operating systems, web browsers, and mobile
application stores, with additional clashes expected in the online
office suite and photo management spaces. Google CEO Eric
Schmidt was also an Apple board member growing until conflicts
of interest compelled him to resign. Android phones initially
refrained from using multitouch gestures which Apple pioneered,
though these were recently enabled.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 11

 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS
SECURITY
NEW SECURITY
RISKS DETECTED
AND PATCHED
ADOBE READER
New weak spots in Adobe Reader and
Acrobat help offenders execute their
their own program code on a
vulnerable computer with the help of
a manipulated PDF file.
SOLUTION: Users of both programs will
be protected by updating to version
9.3. In addition to this, the new
version also locks seven other holes
that hackers can exploit.
INTERNET EXPLORER
One little gap in the security zone
settings of Internet Explorer enables
hackers to fool users into installing
damaging code onto their PCs.
SOLUTION: Microsoft has patched the
hole with a bugfix which can be
downloaded via the Windows Update
function. The patch immediately
rectifies several other weak spots in
all versions of IE as well.
APPLE SAFARI
Over a dozen new threats have been
identified, most of them minor and
requiring specially crafted websites or
embedded objects to be created in
order to work
SOLUTION: Both Mac OS and Windows
users can download version 4.0.5
which patches all these holes.
FACEBOOK
Malicious applications promisie to
reveal which friends visit a user's
profiles the most. Instead, they send
spam to the entire friends list.
SOLUTION: Users must be aware of the
scam. Facebook removes offending
apps, but new ones keep appearing.
12 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
SECURITY SOFTWARE
Microsoft takes steps to shut Faulty code in IE
down Waledac botnet browser ballot
Microsoft has emerged victorious from a sneak legal attack The first implementation of
in which it managed to get 277 Internet domains associated Microsoft's browser ballot
with the Waledac botnet shut down, effectively cutting screen have rolled out,
its owners off from their swarm of zombie infected PCs. offering Windows users in
According to the company, Waledac was one of the Europe a choice of browser
10 largest botnets in the United States, and had been during installation. However
responsible for over 1.5 billion spam email messages per the randomization function,
day, with over 650 million of them directed at Hotmail which is supposed to ensure
accounts in the month of December alone. While the PCs that no one browser gets
still remain infected, they cannot receive commands to send preferential placement in the
out spam anymore. Security agencies reported that Waledac dialog box, has been found to
activity had largely wound down within three days of the be inaccurate. The problem has
domains shutting down. been traced back to a faulty
The stealthy operation was codenamed B49 and took Javascript routine, causing
several months to coordinate, according to Microsoft's some browsers to appear in
official blog post on the matter. the same position too often.
SECURITY SECURITY
Widespread reports of phishing People's routines
attacks on Indian tax sites can be predicted
Symantec has Researchers have determined
reported widespread that it is possible to predict a
incidents of phishing human being's likely location
scam emails which over 93 percent of the time.
point to fake Income This startling revalation
Tax Department indicates that humans travel in
websites, taking extremely limited patterns for
obvious advantage most of their lives. Users were
of the returns filing nearly equally predictable no
season. The emails matter whether they routinely
themselves claim travelled within small or
that users have been large geographical areas.
identified as eligible Over 50,000 users'
for tax refunds. anonymous location histories
These sites, were used to conduct the
as expected, look study. The researchers chose
identical to the users who made calls roughly
official IT department every two hours, since
website, but users are their locations are logged
pointed to a form that asks for bank account details and/ each time they connect to a
or credit card authentication information. Users are warned cellular tower. Using cellphone
to be alert for such kinds of emails, verify the URLs that data allowed for much finer
embedded links point to, and never part with sensitive accuracy than had been
information unless being absolutely sure of the site. possible before.
 NEWSWIRE
NEWS SNIPPETS

LEGAL ISSUES WEB

Proposed UK piracy laws called Captain Kirk launches sci-fi social

draconian, unreasonable network for online digital artists
The United Kingdom is proposing legislation that critics say William Shatner, who
would spell doom for libraries, cafes and other small business played Captain Kirk in the
owners who provide Wi-Fi to their customers, apart from entirely original Star Trek series
blocking all file sharing sites such as YouSendIt, and imposing and has gone on to become
life-long Internet bans on the families of repeat offenders. a cult sci-fi figure, has
The proposed Digital Economy Bill would make Internet signed on as the face a
Service Providers proactively responsible for what users new social network called
download, effectively forcing them to monitor their networks myouterspace.com. The site
for piracy and report any offenses to authorities. The definition is aimed at "those with a
also covers any business providing Internet access to others, passion for the arts", but
which covers all open Wi-Fi hotspots. Unless owners install is clearly geared up to
complex monitoring systems and proactively block users from engage sci-fi enthusiasts
downloading content, they could be fined and have their with a space exploration
licenses revoked. theme, and communities
Ordinary home users could be penalized up to £50,000 modeled around fictional
for downloading copyrighted files, with a threshold set at 50 planets and starships.
violations. But the most controversial clause so far has been Users sign up to live on one of the six planets, each of which
one that grants the government permission to entirely block caters to either musicians, artists, animators, filmmakers, writers
any website accused of hosting copyrighted content. This and actors, and can be selected to join the "crew" of a starship,
would almost certainly lead to private file-sharing sites such as which is essentially a fluid art project. The end goal is to produce
YouSendIt, RapidShare and potentially even webmail providers, artistic works on a regular basis just by collaborating online.The
since their contents cannot be examined or regulated by the site will allow creative artists to network with big names in their
sites' owners. respective industries, as well as find work opportunities.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 13

 NEWSWIRE
CEBIT 2010
Gadgets
galore at
CEBIT
We bring you the best of CEBIT,
one of the world's largest annual
technology fairs. BY JAMSHED AVARI
As far as trends go, the year 2010 is
shaping up to be all about tablets! Hot
on the heels of Apple's iPad unveiling,
companies from around the world have
taken the wraps off their own offerings.
1 HP's Akashi slate is due to release
2 4
Simple cellphones seem doomed, with
all the multimedia and Web-connected
devices on show. Android will be
everywhere, joined later this year by the
refreshed Nokia Symbian and Windows
Phone 7. In addition to that, it's clear that
people want to watch their video and
even live TV at their own convenience,
no matter where they are.
1 The Motorola Backflip emphasizes
social networking with its single-stream
Motoblur application.
2
14 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
1
before June, and will support USB 4 The Lenovo Ideapad U1 looks like a
connectivity as well as Flash. netbook but the screen can be pulled
2 The Skiff Reader uses a flexible 11.5- out and used as an independent tablet.
inch display optimized for text. 5 The Asus Slate DR-570 is an ebook
3 Dell's Android-based Mini 5 uses a reader that will play Web video and
smartphone CPU and supports 3G data. other multimedia files.
3 5
2 The LG GW990 is a hybrid cellphone
and Internet tablet with an Atom
processor, mobile Linux operating
system, and 1024 x 480 pixel screen.
3 D-Link's Boxee Box uses the popular
Boxee media center software and a new
Tegra 2 chip to play full HD videos from
multiple sources on your TV.
4 Avermedia has moved into online TV
too, with its SnugTV dongle which allows
users to acces TV programming via the
1
Internet and over home networks.
3
SMS us!  Story code: NCB to 51818
 NEWSWIRE
CEBIT 2010

Of course no technology show today can be complete without a

whole raft of 3D display products! Every consumer brand was on
hand to show off their latest droolworthy offerings.
1 Samsung's 9000 series LED TVs are barely a few millimeters
thin, support 3D video playback, and come in a stunning steel body.
2 Panasonic's latest Viera plasma TVs come equipped with
WirelessHD for home streaming, in addition to Skype and Web apps.
3 Acer's H5360 shows films and games at sub-HD resolutions but
supports Nvidia's 3D Vision solution.
4 The Sony Bravia LX series have a sleek new angled design and a
built-in transmitter for synchronizing 3D shutter glasses.
– jamshed.avari@chip.in

1
4

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 15

 NEWSWIRE
INTEL INTERVIEW
Bill Leszinske: Media Man
CHIP chatted with Bill Leszinske, General Manager of Intel’s Digital Home Group to find out
what’s going on with home entertainment and consumer electronics. BY JAMSHED AVARI
What’s going on in consumer
Q electronics these days?
A couple of things! For a few years,
A Intel’s been saying that the Internet
is coming to the living room. People used
to say “no way, you’re crazy!” And now,
it’s gone from that to people agreeing
with us. We’re discussing what the
experience is, what the usages are, what
it’s going to look like. I think [current
Internet TVs] are still early
implementations; it’s going to be another
year or two before we really see some
breakthrough, gamechanging innovations.
Simply bringing in the Internet to show
video isn’t going to be enough, it’s goign
to explode and there are going to be
applications, gaming services; a whole
wealth of things on these living room
devices that don’t exist today. And the
key is setting up these application
frameworks and rich experiences so that
you can attract developers and they’re
going to create even more applications.
Do we still need to bring the
Q Internet to the TV or are people
happy enough watching TV while
using their laptops and cellphones?
That’s a great question. I believe
A that the answer is both. What we’re
doing is not replacing the people who sit
with a notebook and watch TV; I do that
at home at night. Even with an Internet
connection on the TV, I’m not going to do
work on it right? It’s a public viewing, but
I’m doing something personal. The idea
of bringing internet to the TV is it’s more
of a social experience, and it’s enriching
that. If you want to surf on your phone
you can do that wherever you are, but
this is about new usages and new
experiences that aren’t being done today.
So what does the Digital Home
Q Group do? It isn't very visibile.
Intel is a building block supplier,
A and we’re well known in the PC
space but in the CE space, not so much.
The role of the Digital Home Group is
16 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
about bringing breakthrough experiences on. We’re really trying to go understand
to you through things like connected how consumers want to use technology
platforms in the living room. So we’re as it relates to televisions. That’s one of
focused on set-top boxes, connected the most common and prevalent pieces
Blu-ray players, digital TVs. We’ve been of technology on the planet, right? TV
working on this for a while, and it takes a penetration is effectively 100 percent; it’s
long time to find chips, build chips and larger than refrigerators! So people have
then get all the software done that goes a whole bunch of expectations, and if
on top of it. It’s millions of lines of code! we’re going to try to bring the Internet or
add computing, we need to truly, deeply
Do you have any specific goals understand what consumers want and
Q or activities in India? what they might accept that they don’t
We’re actually talking about that know about. It’s also understanding what
A right now. We have had a team they don’t want! You go into someone’s
that’s looking at the Indian market for house and see five remote controls, and
quite some time, from both the retail as they might say “that is a huge problem. If
well as a service provider perspectives; a Intel could figure out a way to fix that, I’ll
next-generation set-top box. One of the buy it tomorrow”.
challenges we’re trying to sort through is
that to enable these usages you need to What part of this has surprised
have broadband, and obviously the
Q you the most?
broadband penetration in India is much I think the biggest thing is every
less than other places in the world. I’d
A time we thought something would
say it would be another 2-3 years to be
honest, before you could buy a
connected TV with our software, just
because the products and usages and
localization have to come together.
What kind of research does the
Q group do? Have you had any
interesting discoveries?
We do obviously work with
A third-party research services and
read all the material they do, but we
have something unique in the Digital
Home Group. We have about a dozen
ethnographers—basically people who
research people—and they go and do
in-depth research in people’s homes.
They’ve done work on TV viewing habits
in eight different countries. They go and
live with four or five different families for
a month, see how they’re using
technology, ask them questions and
show them prototypes that we’re working
Bill Leszinske
General Manager, Intel Digital Home Group

be simple, it wasn’t. We did a lot of work
with Yahoo on the widgets platform, and
we did three rounds of ethnographic
research into user interaction, and we
thought “yes, this is how the UI is going
to work”. But people thought it was too
big. What we first had was something on
the left side and on the bottom of the
screen. Based on feedback largely by
females, they said it was too big. So we
came up with a state with when you first
push a button, all that comes up is the
little widget bar on the bottom, and it
allows you to see the content and
applications, and then that brings up the
sidebar. Originally what we said was we
want to make it fast, so you push a
button and all the data comes up, but
they wanted to push a button and still
see what they were doing and not have it
be so invasive.
What ever happened to the Viiv
Q platform?
Viiv, which I actually worked on
A quite some time, was intended to
address the things we’re doing now. It
was how to take the Internet and rich
experiences, and move them to the living
room. And we discovered we were early,
the technology wasn’t ready, and in fact
the experience wasn’t ready. If you’re
going to connect anything to a TV, that
core TV experience is first. Adding the
internet experience is second. That’s one
of the things we’re really doing better
now. The concept is still valid, the
technology has evolved, and now you’ll
see things much closer to what we
hoped Viiv would be. We still think not
everyone wants Windows on their TV.
They want a TV experience that’s been
augmented with the Internet.
The Atom CE chips that we
Q have now didn’t exist back in
Viiv times. Did you ever have chips
customized just for this?
No, we didn’t! We couldn’t pull the
A technology together to create an
experience that customers would accept.
The Atom CE4100 has an Atom
microprocessor, dual HD decode, dual
audio DSPs and a 3D graphics engine all
on a single chip. In the PC space,
audio-video sync drifts about three
NEWSWIRE
INTEL INTERVIEW
frames per second either way. In the CE
space, it’s half a frame. You can’t use PC
technology with soft decode or slightly
accelerated decode, and get them
synchronized at 1080p. On a PC screen,
you can kinda see the drift, but on a
55-inch plasma TV, three frames will be
obvious and a consumer will not accept
it. You must have dedicated hardware.
So your focus for the living
Q room experience is not a PC?
It’s a separate device?
Absolutely. If you look at the SoCs
A (System on a Chip) we’re building,
they have what we call Intel Architecture,
a microprocessor and the core PC
compatibility that allows you to build a
set-top box with SATA drivers, graphics
drivers, USB drivers for the Linux world.
But we’re not trying to create a PC
experience, so we’re taking the
compatibility to help get better times to
market, and then augmenting that with
Linux and CE building blocks like audio
and video decoders to make sure you get
a great TV experience.
– jamshed.avari@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 17

NEWSWIRE
VISUAL SEARCH
Searching
with a
camera!
Want to know whether going to
watch a particular film is really
worth the trouble? Take a picture
of it and the image recognition
service from Kooaba will answer
all your questions.
BY MARKUS HERMANNSDORFER
G
oogling is no longer in, at least
on iPhones and Android mobiles.
In the future, it will be enough
to take pictures of a placard, a book,
or pages of the latest magazine to get
information on a specific product. The
image recognition service from Kooaba
(www.Kooaba.com) also displays
related information, further links and
available files in just a few seconds.
Marc Steffen, the business development
manager for Kooaba, states “mobile
visual search is way faster than
conventional searching methods“.
The reason for this is that even
highly typists who manage up to
900 characters per minute on the PC
keyboard start working at a snail’s pace
when it comes to cramped keyboards
and touchscreens on mobile phones.
Typing with all fingers becomes almost
impossible, but capturing and sending
an image just takes a few seconds.
You must install the application on
18 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
the iPhone or your Android mobile in
order to be able to use Kooaba. After
having the tool started the user can
immediately click pictures from books,
CDs, DVDs, games, or film posters.
The site says it has millions of these
already in its database. In addition, a
few European magazines have also been
activated over Kooaba, for instance,
CHIP’s Germany edition. The application
automatically sends the image to
a server which analysis it and then
interprets the content accurately.
For this, Kooaba has developed an
algorithm which compares and classifies
the image with similar images present
in its database. It is not necessary that
the subject has to completely within the
frame of the photo; in fact it can also be
shot from various angles. In addition to
this the service also recognizes posters
which are partially obscured by a person
walking by in front of them (occlusion)
and can also recognize photographed
-
sub-sections (cropping). The best part
about this service is that it can separate
a disturbing background from the actual
subject (clutter).
The necessary images required
for the comparison are stored on the
cloud infrastructure provided by online
behemoth Amazon: the Amazon Elastic
Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). Kooaba
has already accumulated millions of
images of products here, especially the
covers of books and CDs. The most
important images to archive are the
posters of current box office hits.
In the USA, Kooaba immediately
found the recently published Blu-ray
disc of “Harry Potter and the Half
Blood Print“ in its database. However, a
random sampling with an independent
film “Lord of the Undead“ by Timo
Rose, which is not known to the general
public, was not recognized. There is only
one other problem: the handset needs
to have a fast Internet connection,
SMS us!  Story code: NAR to 51818
-
IMAGE SEARCH WITH AUGMENTED REALITY
Typing is a thing of the past. Kooaba lets users capture a subject and send the photos to a
server. It compares the images and gives users relevant information in seconds
Sends the image to
the Kooaba server
Photography
The user captures a film placard
(Smart Visual) with an iPhone or
Android mobile
Users get an information pack-
age with links, text, etc.
Data matching by
computer and server
Computer
Calls to the personal
library on the browser
preferably Wi-Fi. If the mobile handset
uses a slow GPRS connection, the
searching speed also suffers.
Make your own library
searchable
Kooaba can offer even more for power
users. Registering on the Kooaba
website using a computer lets you
create a personal library which resides
on the server. Images you take with your
cellphone or webcam are now analyzed
not only on your own PC but are also
archived in the library, which gives
you additional contextual information
about products and also gives you the
opportunity to evaluate and further
recommend related products over a
social media service like Facebook or
Twitter. You can create wishlists out of
the complete database available, and
also comb through your personal archive
within the library using the complete
text search option.
NEWSWIRE
VISUAL SEARCH
Asks for additional
information related to
the image
Kooaba server
Analyses images which are
sent by a mobile and
administers the user’s
personal library Amazon EC2
Hosts a database of
news, articles, links, videos
and further information
Sends back information which
is relevant to the image
to the kooaba server, for
Personal library instance, a specific link
The user saves the
contextual information
in his personal library
Sends information from the library
to the social network
Facebook, Twitter, Digg
Users share the information they have ob-
tained from kooaba with friends
Scope for power users
If the possibilities here are not enough, KOOABA GLOSSARY
it is also possible for a user to download
If there is someone who has invented a
an API (Application Programming
new service or a revolutionary
Interface) from the Kooaba website and technology he/she also has to come up
cobble together his own application with new terms to go with it. To use the
using modern programming languages service optimally, you can pick up on
like Ruby on Rails, Python and Cocoa the lingo here.
9which is needed for Apple devices).
SMART VISUALS
Kooaba itself was developed on
the Ubuntu Linux operating system.
This is what the application calls images
which you capture using your cellphone
Languages and code examples are also
camera.
made available to Windows and other
platforms through Java, PHP and Ruby. AUGMENTED REALITY
Soon, a video version will recognize You capture a real subject, for instance,
objects in a video stream in realtime. a book, and Kooaba will provide you
Those with sufficient programming with additional contextual information
knowledge can use the API to port the about it.
entire image recognition service to a
THE OUTERNET
mobile phone that runs Windows, for
Kooaba’s eventual goal is to compile
example, or can enhance their own
every real object into a hyperlink which
applications by integrating visual search can be accessed simply with a click. The
with the aid of the service. Internet can therefore leave PCs behind.
– feedback@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 19
 NEWSWIRE
NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED

NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED

COMPILED BY JAMSHED AVARI

SEAGATE PRICE: Rs 600 to Rs 1,500

WEBSITE: www.sony.co.in
SMB backup device
COOLER MASTER
Seagate has announced a complete
portfolio of products designed to solution for designers, engineers and Gamer’s power
protect data for sustained business
continuity and optimum uptime. The
architects who need to easily store and
transport large files. The DataTraveler supplies
BlackArmor NAS 110 310 can store up to 365 CDs, 54 DVDs
Storage Server is or 51,000 images. The DataTraveler 310 Cooler Master has launched the Cooler
designed to provide features Password Traveler software Master GX Series, a range of 550W,
centralized storage which allows the user to create and 650W and 750W power supplies that
and media streaming access a password-protected privacy target gaming systems. The GX range
for up to 10 PCs, and zone. The secure area of the drive can features a single powerful +12V rail that
includes support for account for up to 90 percent of the delivers enough power to dual graphics
Windows Server 2008, drive’s capacity and does not require card systems. The 750W model also
wiki server and up administrator rights. carries SLI certification for high-end
to 2TB of capacity, PRICE: Rs 48,380 Nvidia GTX graphics cards, as it offers
making accessing and WEBSITE: www.kingston.com/india four PCI Express power connectors. All
sharing content easy models feature up to 85 percent power
for home networks SONY efficiency and are 80 plus certified.
and small offices. This means more power goes where
The BlackArmor line Compact memory cards it’s needed and less power is wasted
of solutions provides in heat. The GX series also comes with
software management Sony has launched a range of SD/ huge bulk capacitors with a >17ms hold
tools that provide SDHC and microSD/microSDHC cards. up time which means that the power
a consistent user Providing high memory capacity to supply will be able to handle
experience and consumers in compact devices, peak loads better,
future growth path these cards can be used in and low
with minimal training or the need for cameras, mobile phones noise dual
additional support. With features like and laptops which use layer EMI
automated full-system backup and the SD format. The new filters that
SafetyDrill+ software, the BlackArmor range of memory cards reduces
family is ready to restore your entire are class-4-speed for noise in the
system if a data disaster such as a high-definition recording. power lines.
virus attack, hardware failure, or PC The new memory cards will PRICE: TBA
crash were to occur. complement Sony's existing WEBSITE:
PRICE: 1 TB: Rs 12,000; 2 TB: Rs 19,000 Memory Stick line up. The cards www.coolermaster.
WEBSITE: www.seagate.com are designed to get the com
best performance from
KINGSTON sophisticated hardware. OLIVE TELECOMMUNICATION
Class 4 data transfer
High-capacity pen speed means stable Dual-powered
drive HD Video recording
and better speed to cellphone
cope with the advanced
Kingston has released the 256GB functions of compact digital Olive Telecommunication has launched
DataTraveler 310 USB flash drive, cameras. The powerful File the FrvrOn, India’s first hybrid- powered
pushing the capacity envelope for Rescue software, available as a simple mobile phone that can run on AAA
USB flash drives in the marketplace. download and free of cost, can retrieve batteries. A first of its kind in the
Customer feedback and research photos, videos, or music files that were fastest growing telecom market in Asia,
determined that this is a great damaged or deleted by mistake. Olive FrvrOn can give users non-stop

20 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: NPL to 51818
 NEWSWIRE
NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED

The products and services listed here have not been reviewed by IC-CHIP.
These are not endorsements or recommendations. All prices, specifications and
claims are as stated by the respective manufacturers and publicists.

telephony. A user upon running out of LG to help nervous presenters avoid

charge in the supplied LiOn battery unnecessary button presses. The
can simply slot in any AAA battery Stylish women’s integrated laser pointer allows the
available and stay connected, thus
keeping their mobiles phones ‘forever phone presenter to highlight important
content while the backlit buttons
on’ by charging the main battery provide visibility in low lit rooms.
simultaneously. To the rural user, with LG has launched Ice cream, The 2.4GHz cordless technology
undependable electricity supply, the a superbly chic handset works from up to 50 feet away,
phone becomes a life-line. The device that will weave a special providing flexibility in large
comes in a compact design with bond of love and care with conference rooms or classrooms.
essential mobile phone features such its utterly feminine look The mini USB receiver can be
as FM radio, polyphonic ring tones, and design. It is a phone stored inside the presenter so it's
1.5-inch color display, stereo handset which women would not always ready to use, while the
and speaker phone. only like to talk on but also back-up battery compartment
PRICE: Rs 1,699 talk about. LG Ice Cream is stores an emergency battery.
WEBSITE: www.olive.me an extension of a woman's PRICE: Rs 2,750
serene personality. WEBSITE: www.targusonline.com
ABACUS Available in misty pastel
colors like vanilla and pink, WILEY
High-capacity RAM the phone is stylishly simple
in design with LED lighting Joomla tutorial
Abacus Peripherals has launched high
density 4 GB DDR2 and DDR3
that adds to its allure. The
high-resolution 3-megapixel book
Zion RAM modules. camera allows you to capture those
These new high- special moments instantaneously. Wiley India has launched “Joomla! Start
density modules will This mobile phone with the Ice Cream to Finish: How to Plan, Execute, and
provide customers inspired colors measures 13.6 mm thick Maintain Your Web Site” by Jen Kramer.
with support for higher and packs in a 2.2-inch color screen The book is 360 pages and costs
data frequencies and with QVGA resolution, email, video Rs 399 only. Joomla offers powerful
significantly increase telephony and electronic dictionary functionality and ease of configuration,
memory space. Zion functions. making it an immensely popular open
4GB DDR3 SDRAM PRICE: Rs 7,949 source content management system.
boasts high performance, WEBSITE: www.lgindia.com This book walks you through the
durability and low critical steps that must be taken in the
power consumption. It TARGUS planning process prior to establishing
supports data transfer a Joomla site.
rate up to 1.6 GB/s and Multimedia Joomla expert
operates at a lower voltage
of 1.5 V compared to presentation remote Jen Kramer
reviews
DDR2. The module allows essential
administrators to create a Targus has launched a comfortable questions
robust infrastructure that and functional multimedia presentation that need
runs memory-intensive remote, the AMP09AP in India. The to be asked
applications such as virtualization and Targus remote presenter is sleek black of a client,
cloud computing with ease. Zion’s and ergonomical for enhanced comfort. discusses
DDR2 & DDR3-modules are currently It features an intuitive and natural technical
available in 4GB capacity design which makes it easier to solutions to a variety of challenges,
with 3 Years National Direct hold and use. It comes and explains how a site structure
Warranty. loaded with an should be organized.
PRICE: Rs 9,200 industry’s first PRICE: Rs 399
WEBSITE: www. KeyLock WEBSITE: www.wileyindia.com
abacusperipherals.com feature – jamshed.avari@chip.in

22 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

CH
C HIP
IP
 NEWSWIRE
PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY
ASIAN COMPANIES ALREADY
MANUFACTURE THE MAJORITY OF
THE WORLD'S LAPTOPS
JAMSHED AVARI, DEPUTY EDITOR
THE HIDDEN FACTORIES
O
DM (original design manufacturer)
companies aren’t given much
thought when we talk about
technology brands, yet these
are the ones which have the most power
to decide what kind of devices the world
uses. Very few of the laptop, smartphone,
gadget and computer component brands
in the world actually manufacture their
own products today. As tech gets more
and more sophisticated, companies need
to keep spending money to upgrade their
manufacturing facilities to stay on the
leading edge. They also need to trim prices
as much as possible to remain competitive
in an open market where everyone uses
the same basic components to build their
devices. With such confl icting interests, the
costs of maintaining a manufacturing facility
begin to outweigh the
benefits.
YOU’LL RARELY FIND THE ODMs allow
companies to outsource
NAMES COMPAL, QUANTA, manufacturing. They
leverage economies of
CLEVO, OR INVENTEC ON scale by producing in
enormous quantities.
YOUR DEVICES. Nearly all of them are
based in China, where
employees are cheap and easily replaceable
(and, some allege, easy to exploit without
legal trouble). They build nearly anything,
to any specification, and at any level of
quality. They also offer anonymity—you’ll
rarely fi nd the names Compal, Quanta,
Clevo, or Inventec on these devices, yet
these companies build and often design the
whole product.
We’re used to thinking of the word
“Chinese” as derogatory for something of
such poor build quality that it’s nearly
24 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
disposable. Toys with sharp edges, fl imsy
appliances, and even imitation watches
and clothes. But nearly everything with
an American or European brand name on
it, (including Apple’s gorgeous plastic and
aluminium machines which set benchmarks
for style and production quality), comes out
of an ODM factory in China. Companies
can spend a lot of money and have their
own designs turned into real products;
others pay for exclusivity (so no one ever
needs to know where their products came
from), while others just pick up readymade
devices by the thousand and slap their own
stickers on. Apple makes it a point to label
all its products as “designed in California”,
which shows how well its ODM partners
follow designs so that Apple’s image stays
unaffected. On the other hand, small-time
companies sell identical-looking laptops
and even retail chains stock self-branded
devices which are clones of these, either
hoping no one else has the same design, or
accepting this as a part of doing business.
In fact very few companies which
claim they have spent money on research
and development to come up with
special products for Indian conditions
are telling the whole truth. They might
only be picking from a limited number of
customization options offered by the ODMs.
Surprisingly, a small number of companies
thrive by picking up ODM designs and
boasting that they are sourced from exactly
the same production lines as big-brand
devices, and sell them at lower rates!
ODMs not only control production, but
are getting ambitious themselves. Watch
out for new, more powerful Asian brands
emerging in the very near future.
- jamshed.avari@chip.in
SMS us!  Story code: NJC to 51818
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE PRODUCT
MONTH
OF THE

MULTIFUNCTIONAL DEVICE

HP PHOTOSMART
PREMIUM C309G
VERDICT: A versatile all-in-one device with loads of features and exceptional print quality.
FOR: Brilliant user interface, responsive touch screen, excellent print quality, duplex printing.
AGAINST: Inclusion of a CF card reader would have been nice.

M
ultifunctional
ultif
ltifuncti
tion
nall devices
devices h
de have progressed
progressed
d The Wi-Fi
Th Wi
W i-Fi
Fi signal
F i l strength
th indicator
sttrength indi t is
dicator is displayed
displa
di l yed
d
by leaps and bounds
ounds in the past few
bo at the to
top-right
op-right corner. Touch-sensitive buttons
today's
ay's advanced models have
years, and toda are pres
present
sent on the sides of the screen for page
supportt for
f wireless
i l printing,
i ti and
d higher
hi h print
i t speed
d navigation
i ti d relevant
and l t buttons
b tt are backlit.
b klit T To th
the
and quality. The HP Photosmart Premium C309g left are buttons for the Home screen, Back and left
is one such versatile all-in-one device that packs in scroll, while buttons for Help, right scroll and Cancel
a slew of features, and is completely driven by an are located to the right.
intuitive touch screen interface. Menus are well organized and every item has
a big, clearly labeled icon. The Photo section lets
Features you view and print photos from a memory card,
The HP Photosmart Premium C309g is a high-end USB drive, or Snapfish. Images are displayed as
MFD that delivers superior photo printing. It has thumbnails and you can crop images, add frames,
four individual color cartridges and an additional adjust brightness, and apply color effects, all from
standard black cartridge with higher ink capacity. the device itself. You can also save data from
The device sports a boxy design with rounded external sources to Snapfish or to the PC that it is
corners for a touch of elegance. It’s all black with connected to.
a matte finish, except for the scanner lid, which is This device also has an option to save images/
glossy. Its most striking feature is a 3.45-inch tilt documents to a memory card or USB drive. You
LCD touch screen with a backlit control panel. The can even export the result to the PC as a PDF file.
feed tray, with a capacity of 125 sheets, is located The copy function is straightforward. Just select the
in the front, and there’s an additional photo tray for number of copies and hit Color Copy or Black Copy;
4x6-inch sheets as well. the device does the rest for you. It can also perform
The C309g supports photo printing directly from two-sided copies using the duplexer to copy both
digital cameras, memory cards and USB drives. sides of a sheet.
There are two card slots (SD/xD and Memory Stick The secondary screen of the UI has Quick Forms,
Duo) and a USB port. The device connects to the PC Ink and Setup options. Here, you can check the
via USB, but you can also print wirelessly via Wi-Fi ink levels, and configure Bluetooth, LAN and Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth. A very useful feature is its built-in settings. The Quick Forms let you print calendars,
duplexer, letting you save paper by printing on both check lists, graph paper, music sheets, puzzles, and
sides without having to flip sheets manually. ruled notepad paper.

User interface Driver

This MFD has a touch screen, and it’s no gimmick. Our test PC comprised an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
The Home screen has the basic functions (photo, CPU running on the Nvidia GeForce 7100 chipset
copy and scan) and one-touch access to Snapfish. with 2 GB RAM. It took 7 minutes 30 seconds to

26 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HCI to 51818

install the driver and applications and the total
installation size was around 750 MB. The main
component is HP Solution Center, which helps you
scan documents, transfer images from external
devices, and configure settings.
The printer driver has presets for various types of
prints - general everyday printing, borderless photo
prints, etc. You can also manually choose paper
size, print quality, paper type, etc. The HP Scanning
application presents a simple user interface for
scanning documents and photos. The scanner has
an optical resolution of 4800 dpi.
Performance
The C309g is a stellar performer in terms of speed
and quality. It printed 17 pages of text in a minute
in draft mode, and 10 pages per minute (ppm) in
normal mode; very impressive for an inkjet printer.
Even color combi documents with text and pictures
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 13,350
www.hp.com
Dimensions (WxHxD): 452 x 199 x 473 mm;
Weight: 7.5 kg; Interface: USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and
Bluetooth; Print resolution: 9600x2400 dpi; Scan
resolution: 4800 dpi; Copy resolution: 4800x1200
dpi; Direct printing: Memory card, PictBridge
and USB.
CONTACT HP India
PHONE 1800-425-4999
EMAIL in.contact@hp.com
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
print, but that’s no longer than most inkjet printers
would take. Scanning and copying speeds were very
impressive. It took a mere 10 seconds to scan the
entire scanner bed at any resolution. Copying a black
text document took 17 seconds and a color combi
document took a little less than half a minute.
This printer delivers excellent print quality,
provided you use good quality paper. On regular
paper, prints suffered from blotting due to capillary
action. This was a bit less on bond paper. On
alabaster paper, character formation was so crisp
that we could read 2 point font with the naked eye.
We printed text and combi documents and
photos in draft, normal and best modes. The quality
of prints in draft mode was very good; crisp and not
too light. The quality of photo prints took our breath
away. We printed color and black and white photos
on 240 gsm glossy photo paper, and reproduction of
colors and details was near perfect. We’d give it 4.5
out of 5, because we’ve seen better. The quality of
copying was excellent in normal mode too. So much
so that there’s no real need to use the ‘best’ mode.
Print economy
The four color cartridges use HP Vivera ink, which
delivers vibrant and waterproof prints. Each color
cartridge costs Rs 596 (MRP), which means a total
of Rs 2,384 for four photo cartridges. The black
cartridge costs Rs 650 and yields 250 pages. HP
claims the color cartridges yield 300 standard pages
(combi documents) and 100 4x6-inch photo prints.
Thus, a color combi print would cost you Rs 8,
while a 4x6-inch color photo print would cost Rs 23.
Likewise, a black text print would cost Rs 2.60. So
while printing text documents isn’t very expensive,
think twice before printing a color photo, unless you
have pockets deep enough to buy photo cartridges.
printed at a good Making the trip to a nearby photo studio would turn
speed - 15 ppm out a lot cheaper and the photos will also be of a
in draft mode higher quality.
and 5 ppm in
normal mode. Final words
Best mode The HP Photosmart Premium C309g is an all-
yielded good round MFD. It offers lavish features and it’s an ace
results, but it performer. Aside from the absence of a CF card
took more than reader and its inability to print text documents from
30 seconds to USB flash drives, there’s nothing to complain about.
print a single Printing photos is expensive, but that’s the case
page. Borderless with all premium photo printers. This MFD will set
photo printing you back Rs 13,350, and we feel that its features
was a bit slow and performance completely justify the asking price.
at 1 minute 20 Strongly recommended!
seconds per – anand.tuliani@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 27
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A GOOD MIX OF
PORTABILITY,
POWER AND
GAMING
CAPABILITY.

LAPTOP

MSI CX620
FOR: Excellent performance and features and a good blend of hardware.
AGAINST: Some useful ports are at the rear.

N
This simple, but well-built latop features a comfortable
ow that laptops are being
keyboard, which includes a numeric keypad. upgraded from Core 2 Duo
processors to the new Intel
Core i3 ones, we have another good
contender - the MSI CX620.
Powered by the Intel Core i3-330M
variant, the CX620 is built around the
Intel HM 55 chipset and is loaded with
Windows 7 Ultimate. This laptop has a
roomy 500 GB hard drive, whopping 4 GB
DDR3 RAM, presence of HDMI and eSATA
ports, etc. Other features include a VGA,
two USB, and a USB/eSATA combo port,
SPECIFICATIONS
a 15.6-inch screen with a native resolution
Rs 44,000
www.msi.com of 1366x768, a PC card slot, a DVD-writer,
Dimensions (WxHxD): 37.5 x 4 x 24.6 mm; Weight: a webcam, and audio jacks. Connectivity
2.48 kg; Processor: Intel Core i3 330M, 2.13 GHz; is offered via gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi N, IR
Memory: 4 GB DDR3; Hard disk: 500 GB; Screen size:
and Bluetooth.
15.6-inch; Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi N
and Bluetooth. The processor is identical to the Core
CONTACT MSI Computer India Pvt Ltd i3-350M, which is used in entry-level
PHONE 011-41758808 desktop replacements, except that their
EMAIL marketing@msi-in.com
core speeds differ marginally. Other
RATINGS characteristics such as the use of Hyper-
BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
Threading technology, integrated graphics
FEATURES and memory controllers, 512 KB L2 cache,
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
and 3 MB L3 cache are common to both
processor variants.
The pre-installed Windows 7 Ultimate
runs smoothly and applications too,
are a cake walk for this laptop. The
benchmarks scores were very good,
especially the games. In Crysis, we got
45.27 fps and 21 fps in the performance
and mainstream modes respectively.
We got merely 2 hours 31 minutes of
battery runtime. But the built-in power
management system and the feature
of switching from onboard graphics to
discrete should save enough juice.
The plain Jane design will appeal
to someone who prefers a sober look.
The unit sports a black and grey theme,
where the lid is black with fine grey lines
on it and the wrist rest is the opposite.
The build quality too is worth praising,
be it the chassis, hinges, or screen frame.
Ergonomically, there’s one downside; the
HDMI, USB/eSATA combo, and the VGA
port are at the rear of the unit.
- dushyant.khilnani@chip.in

28 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


LAPTOP
HP PAVILION DV6-2005AX
FOR: Excellent performance and features, presence of numeric pad.
AGAINST: Slightly heavy to carry around.
W
hen it comes to a good mix of
performance and design, HP
laptops have much to offer,
especially in an entertainment laptop like
the 15.6-inch Pavilion DV6. We tested the
DV6-2005AX, powered by an AMD Turion
II M500 processor. The graphical prowess,
the strongest facet of this laptop, is
courtesy an ATI Radeon HD 4650 GPU,
which is comparable to Nvidia’s GT240.
Built around an AMD 785 GX chipset, this
laptop houses 4 GB RAM and a 320 GB
hard drive. Considering this configuration,
the size and weight of the unit, it is
clearly a good desktop replacement.
Casual entertainment such as gaming
and watching HD movies is a treat. We
ran the Crysis benchmark at 1024x768
and got a whopping 65 fps and 37 fps in
the performance and mainstream modes
respectively. In Left 4 Dead, it seamlessly
delivered 47 fps and 37 fps at medium
and high settings respectively.
It features HDMI, VGA, Display, USB/
eSATA combo, three USB, and a FireWire
TEST CENTER
HARDWARE
VERDICT
A POWERFUL
AND STYLISH
MULTIMEDIA
LAPTOP.
port. It also packs in a fingerprint Be it for the Media Center or for presentations, use the
scanner, webcam, memory card reader, wireless remote control for quick accessibility.
Kensington lock slot, and a DVD writer.
Network connectivity includes Wi-Fi,
Ethernet and Bluetooth. The bundled IR
remote controller can be used with the
media center or for presentations. The
DV6 is preloaded with Windows 7 Home
Premium, as well as HP Media Smart, HP
Advisor, and trial versions of Cyberlink
DVD Suite and Norton Internet Security.
The all-black glossy body, with a
chrome lining around the edges looks SPECIFICATIONS
good, but fingerprints and dust are Rs 37,990
www.hp.com
unavoidable. The designer lid and
Dimensions (WxHxD): 380 x 41 x 261 mm; Weight:
illuminated logo complement the stylish 2.80 kg; Processor: AMD Turion II M500, 2.2 GHz;
design. To top it all off, the DV6-2005AX Memory: 4 GB DDR2; Hard disk: 320 GB; Screen size:
is ruggedly built and is ergonomically 15.6-inch; Connectivity: 10/100 Ethernet, Wi-fi b/g
and Bluetooth.
comfortable to the use. This machine
CONTACT HP India
is ideal for mainstream computing and PHONE 1800-425-4999
entertainment, but if you want slightly EMAIL nitish.singhal@hp.com
more processing with the same graphics RATINGS
capabilities, the Lenovo Ideapad Y550 BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
might also be a good option. FEATURES
- dushyant.khilnani@chip.in PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 29
 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A COMPACT,
POWERFUL
AND FEATURE-
RICH
MULTIMEDIA
LAPTOP.

LAPTOP

LENOVO IDEAPAD Y450

FOR: Portability, good features and performance, stylish looks.
AGAINST: None.

T
The USB/eSATA combo port is a smart way of utlizing
he most attractive aspect of the
minimum space available for ports. Ideapad Y450 is that while it’s
portable, it performs equally well
as a mainstream desktop PC. Thanks
to a discrete GPU, gaming on the go is
possible too. This is a smaller version of
the Ideapad Y550, which is a desktop
replacement. The rich feature set of the
Y450 targets those who want a compact,
yet competent entertainment laptop.
Watching movies and moderate
gaming are a breeze. Almost identical to
the Ideapad Y550 in terms of hardware,
SPECIFICATIONS
it is built around an Intel GM45 chipset,
Rs 44,990
www.lenovo.com/in powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600.
Dimensions (WxHxD): 342 x 36 x 232 mm; Weight: Where processing is concerned, the
2.30 kg; Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T6600, 2.2 GHz; Y450 is as powerful as a bulkier desktop
Memory: 4 GB DDR3; Hard disk: 320 GB; Screen size:
14-inch; Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi N and
replacement.
Bluetooth. The main difference lies in the GPU;
CONTACT Lenovo India Pvt Ltd an Nvidia GeForce GT210M, as opposed
PHONE 1800-425-3353 to GT240M in the Y550. The Y450 is also
EMAIL direct@in.lenovo.com
missing the woofer underneath the unit.
RATINGS So as expected, the graphics don’t pack
BUILD QUALITY 
ERGONOMICS
the same punch and the surround sound
FEATURES is missing too. Although gaming is not
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
its strongest suit, Crysis was playable at
40 fps and 18 fps in performance and
mainstream modes respectively. The
Left 4 Dead benchmark gave 35 fps at
medium and 23 fps at high. The Y450
offers 4 hours of battery backup under
medium load, which is excellent.
The laptop features two USB ports, a
USB/eSATA combo port, a PC card slot,
and a memory card reader. In addition,
it packs in HDMI and VGA ports, a DVD
writer, audio jacks, and an IR port. For
network connectivity, it offers Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth and Ethernet The unit ships
pre-loaded with Windows 7 Home
Premium.
The Y450 sports a stylish all-black
theme. The lid has a matte finish with
a honey comb pattern, and the screen
frame and wrist rest are glossy. The build
quality is very good, but ergonomically,
there’s a slight hitch. The function key
precedes the [Ctrl] key, and the mouse
buttons are slightly tacky to use.
- dushyant.khilnani@chip.in

30 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

NOTEBOOK

WIPRO EGO
VERDICT: A laptop with a good blend of features, performance, and price.
FOR: HDMI and combo eSATA/USB interface.
AGAINST: The glossy screen and body are fingerprint magnets.

T
he Wipro EGO features decent The EGO has a combo eSATA/USB port,
t,
looks and enough power for along with an HDMI and D-SUB interface.
ce.
everyday computing. It has a One might also consider using this laptop
op
sturdy shell with good build quality, but as a desktop replacement for office use.
e
SPECIFICATIONS
the glossy body will attract scratches The notebook performed very well in
Rs 40,000
and fingerprints. The keyboard is large performance and real-world tests, except www.egobywipro.com
enough, with evenly spaced and sized for the battery test, which was slightly Dimensions (WxHxD): 343 x 34 x 245 mm; Weight: 2.2
keys, except for the oddly placed [Ctrl] disappointing with just 85 minutes of life kg; Processor: Intel Centrino T6600, 2.2 GHz; RAM:
4 GB DDR2 667 MHz; Storage: 320 GB HDD; Display:
key and tiny arrow keys. The notebook delivered on full load. Wipro ships the 14.1-inch, glossy TFT; OS: Windows Vista Home
is built around the Intel GM45 chipset EGO with Windows Vista Home Premium, Premium.
with onboard graphics. It houses an Intel and bundles with it a carry bag and a CONTACT Wipro Ltd
Core 2 Duo T6600 processor clocked at driver CD. if you’re on a budget, but need PHONE 1800-200-3312
EMAIL sales.enquiry@wipro.com
2.2 GHz, 4 GB of DDR2 RAM, and a 320 a well-performing laptop, don’t forget
GB hard drive. Other features include to add this one to your list of laptops to RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY 
Ethernet, Wi-Fi, 56 K modem, card consider. FEATURES 
reader, DVD writer and a 1.3 MP webcam. - francis.dsa@chip.in PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

LAPTOP
L

ZENITH ADMIRALE PLUS

Z
VE
VERDICT: A laptop for professionals who want basic computing on the go.
FOR: Good performance.
FO
AGAINST: A bit expensive for what it offers.
AG

T
he Zenith Admirale Plus is a jacks, webcam and a DVD-writer. The
portable and straight-forward laptop ships pre-loaded with Windows
14-inch laptop that is ideal for XP SP3, and bundles in a drivers disc, a
basic computing. Considering its entry-
ba laptop bag, and a user manual.
level hardware and plain Jane design, this
lev It is meant for casual web surfing,
SPECIFICATIONS is a laptop for those who want a bare- office applications, light multimedia, and
Rs 21,000 bones machine for office purposes. nothing more. So gaming is out of the
www.zenithpc.com
Built around the Intel GL40 chipset, question. The latest designing suites too
Dimensions (WxHxD): 347 x 38 x 236 mm; Weight:
2.19 kg; Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200, it is powered by an Intel Pentium T4200 require more power and RAM than that
2 GHz; Memory: 1 GB DDR2; Hard disk: 160 GB; processor clocked at 2 GHz. Although this laptop can handle.
Screen size: 14-inch; Connectivity: 10/100 Ethernet,
the 160 GB HDD and 1 GB RAM should The laptop feaures an all-black theme,
Wi-Fi b/g and Bluetooth.
suffice for office applications and light with a simple matte finish. The overall
CONTACT Zenith Computers Limited
PHONE 1800-22-2004 multimedia, 2 GB RAM would have been build quality is above average, but the
EMAIL info@zenith-india.com ideal. There’s a built-in dial-up modem wrist rest flexes more than is usually seen
RATINGS too, which isn’t common in laptops any in laptops. Other than that, the Admirale
BUILD QUALITY more. Other features include two USB, Plus is comfortable to use, especially the
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
a USB/eSATA combo, and a VGA port, keyboard.
PERFORMANCE PC card slot, memory card reader, audio - dushyant.khilnani@chip.in
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

32 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

NETBOOK

HP MINI 210-1085TU
VERDICT: A mid-priced netbook with good battery life, but average performance
FOR: Good battery life, comfortable keyboard
AGAINST: None

T
he HP Mini 210 netbook sports a N450 processor and integrated graphics.
glossy finish, with a matte wrist Windows 7 Starter comes preinstalled, as
rest and smooth touchpad. There does HP’s Instant-on OS, which bypasses
are a few issues with the touchpad, Windows, allowing direct access to basic
SPECIFICATIONS
causing the pointer to behave erratically media and web applications.
Rs 16,000 onwards
at times. The keyboard is edge-to-edge At Rs 19,990, pricing isn’t exactly www.hp.com
and pure chiclet style. and the space reasonable. Performance is as you’d Dimensions (WxHxD): 268 x 22.9 x 178 mm; Weight:
makes for good typing ergonomics. The expect from a N450 processor, although 1.22 kg; Processor: Intel Atom Processor N450, 1.66
GHz; Memory: 1 GB DDR2; Hard disk: 160 GB; Screen
[Shift] and [Enter] keys are full-sized some readings were below average. But size: 10.1-inch; Connectivity: 10/100 Ethernet, Wi-fi
and well-placed. On the whole, it looks ergonomics and battery life stand out b/g/n, Bluetooth
and feels better than Asus’ netbooks. here. It has a standard battery life of 9 CONTACT HP India
Connections include three USB 2.0 ports, hours 15 min, and 5 hours 28 minutes PHONE 1800-425-4999
EMAIL alok.gupta@hp.com
D-Sub out, memory card reader, Ethernet on full load. There’s nothing spectacular
port, and a VGA-resolution webcam. about the Mini 210, but great battery life, RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
This 10.1-inch netbook uses the and a good alternative OS. FEATURES
Pinetrail platform, with an Intel Atom - siddharth@tech2.com PERFORMANCE 
OVERALL RATING 
VALUE FOR MONEY

NETBOOK
N

ASUS EEEPC 1005P

A
VE
VERDICT: A good performer with long battery life.
FOR: Very good battery life, good performance.
FO
AGAINST: Ordinary looks.
AG

T
he shiny little EeePC 1005P,
based on the Pinetrail platform,
features a piano black gloss finish,
but on the black model, smudges and
bu
ngerprints are inevitable. It sports a
fin
glossy black touchpad that is dotted for
SPECIFICATIONS
grip. The button is a continuous silver
Rs 18,890 strip with a bit of a reflex and a distinctly
www.asus.in
bypass Windows and just use small web
applications like Skype, etc. It has a very
simple user interface, large icons, and
super fast response times.
At Rs 20,975, this netbook is
reasonably priced compared to other new
Pinetrail models. CPU performance also
fares as well as other Pinetrail netbooks.

Dimensions (WxHxD): 261.8 x 25.9 x 178 mm; Weight: audible sound when clicked. The battery is the real hero here, with
1.27 kg; Processor: Intel Atom N450, 1.66 GHz; The keyboard is edge to edge and readings of 10 hours 13 minutes during
Memory: 1 GB DDR2; Hard disk: 250 GB; Screen size: spacious, with almost full-sized [Shift] normal browsing, which is very good.
10.1-inch; Connectivity: 10/100 Ethernet
and [Enter] keys, though [Pg Up] and [Pg Aesthetically, it’s nothing spectacular,
CONTACT Asus Technology Pvt Ltd
PHONE 1800-209-0365 Dn] keys are relegated to the Function although keyboard ergonomics are much
EMAIL media_india@asus.com key. It packs in the regular suite of three better than average. The EeePC 1005P is
USB ports, Ethernet port, audio in, card recommend for its simpleton approach,
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY  reader, Mini VGA and DC power in. This backed by what a netbook needs most -
ERGONOMICS  long battery life.
netbook comes with Asus Express
FEATURES 
PERFORMANCE  Gate, a light OS designed so users can - siddharth@tech2.com
OVERALL RATING 
VALUE FOR MONEY 

34 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A POWER-
FRIENDLY
PANEL PC FOR
OFFICE AND
BASIC HOME
USE.

PC

USB ports, audio jacks, and card reader are placed on
the left side for easy access.
HP PAVILION
ALL-IN-ONE MS214IN
FOR: Low power consumption, good performance.
AGAINST: The mouse should have been of better quality.

T
he HP Pavilion All-in-One MS214in
is an 18.5-inch panel PC that’s
perfect for homes and offices. At
the heart, is the AMD Athlon X2 3250e
and the AMD 780G chipset. The 1.5 GHz
dual core processor belongs to AMD’s
energy-efficient series and it has a TDP of
just 22 W. A 320 GB desktop hard drive,
2 GB of RAM and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g make
it perfect for web browsing, watching
SPECIFICATIONS movies, and basic applications such as
Rs 32,000 onwards office suite. It comes preinstalled with
www.hp.com
Windows 7 Home Basic, which runs
Dimensions (WxHxD): 47 x 38 x 20 cm; CPU: AMD
Athlon X2 3250e, 1.5 GHz; RAM: 2 GB DDR2; Graphics: smoothly on this PC.
Radeon HD 3200; Chipset: AMD 780G; Display: The Pavilion All-in-One MS214in looks
18.5-inch, 1366x768 pixels; Hard disk: 320 GB; USB
elegant with an all-black shell and a
ports: 4; Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g.
silver pedestal. There’s a VGA webcam
CONTACT HP India
PHONE 1800-425-4999 right on top and the stereo speakers are
EMAIL samit.misra@hp.com located in a grilled panel at the base. On
RATINGS the left are two USB ports, jacks for mic
BUILD QUALITY and headphones, and a card reader. A
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
Lightscribe DVD-writer and buttons for
PERFORMANCE brightness adjustment are located on the
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
right side. There are four additional USB
ports, an Ethernet connector, a line-in
jack and a power connector on the rear.
The PC draws power from an 18.5 V
adapter.
This PC comes bundled with a USB
optical mouse and a USB keyboard. The
keyboard is a standard one with volume
control and a mute button on the top-
right corner. We wish the optical mouse
had a better build though. It has a good
grip, but it’s too light and delicate.
The All-in-One MS214in has decent
performance considering its configuration
and power consumption. It draws just 43
Watts when idle and just over 60 Watts
at full load, which is very impressive. The
power consumption would have been
lower still had HP used a 2.5-inch hard
drive, but the trade-off is worth it thanks
to the installed hard drive’s fantastic read
speed of over 100 MB/s.
- anand.tuliani@chip.in

36 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A WELL-
DESIGNED
HANDSET
THAT'S GREAT
FOR
MULTIMEDIA

MOBILE PHONE
E

The media player displays album art and has a good
layout with buttons stacked to the right.
NOKIA 5530
XPRESSMUSIC
FOR: Well designed, responsive UI, audio player is great.
AGAINST: No GPS, double-tap features must go.

T
he 5530 XpressMusic is a neat
looking device. The 2.9-inch
touchscreen display is ideally
sized for comfortable viewing, although
it’s a little hard to view in direct sunlight.
The Symbian S60 interface is easy
on the fingers, but double-tapping to
access certain sub-menus is annoying.
Handwriting recognition is also supported,
and while the QWERTY keypad feels a
SPECIFICATIONS
little cramped, it’s very finger-friendly
Rs 14,029
www.nokia.co.in thanks to the responsive display.
Dimensions (WxHxD): 104 x 49 x 13 mm; Weight: The 5530’s media player delivers
107 g; Display: 2.9-inch touchscreen, 640x360 as expected. Audio is loud and very
pixels; Camera: 3.2 megapixel; Memory: microSD;
clear, and the customizable 8-band
Connectivity: EDGE, Wi-Fi, GPRS, Bluetooth, USB;
Rated talk time: 5 hours EQ and stereo widening help enhance
CONTACT Nokia India music playback. FM radio reception
PHONE 011-30303838 wasn’t quite consistent, but the voice
RATINGS recorder delivered good clarity. 3GP and
BUILD QUALITY MPEG-4 video files play without a hitch
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
and you can even adjust the aspect
PERFORMANCE ratio as per your needs. There's no 3G
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
support, but there's EDGE/GPRS and
Wi-Fi connectivity for web access, and
Nokia’s native browser is as versatile as
ever. Setting up and downloading POP
and IMAP e-mails is easy, and Bluetooth
via A2DP and USB 2.0 options are also
available. Facebook, MySapce, YouTube,
Hi5, and Friendster apps come preloaded.
A 3.2 MP autofocus camera with LED
flash is on-board. Picture quality is good,
and images appear sharp with quite a
bit of color retained. Nokia estimates at
least 5 hours of talk time, and the phone
delivers. With a price tag of Rs 14,029,
the 5530 is a good device, but a pricey
one. Samsung’s CorbyPro provides added
connectivity options, more preloaded
features, and a physical QWERTY keypad,
all at a lower price. Nokia loyalists won’t
be disappointed, but for everyone else,
the CorbyPro wins by a hair.
- shyane@tech2.com

38 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

ONE OF THE
CHEAPEST 3G-
ENABLED
HANDSETS ON
THE MARKET.
AND IT'S ECO-
FRIENDLY

MOBILE PHONE

SONY ERICSSON J105

NAITE
FOR: Well designed, light weight, amazing battery life, decent 2 MP camera.
AGAINST: Social networking features didn’t work.

T
he J105 Naite is the cheapest of
Sony Ericsson’s new environment-
friendly GreenHeart range. It is
extremely slim and light, and everything
from the box, to the manuals, and the
handset itself is made from recycled
material. Even the charger is designed for
lower energy consumption. The 2.2-inch
TFT screen is clear, and the button layout
and navigation is very convenient.
The music player isn’t too loud,
but sound quality is good, with stereo
widening and a 5-band customizable EQ.
support. The native browser is quick
and easy, but the phone's preloaded
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter apps
didn't work for us. POP and IMAP email
accounts can easily be set up, but the IM
client is a little trickier.
The Naite is equipped with ‘green
apps’ that quiz you on keeping the
environment safe, and help calculate
your daily CO2 emissions. The 2 MP
camera on the rear is average and can SPECIFICATIONS
only be used in portrait mode. There’s Rs 8,450
also a second VGA video-call camera just www.sonyericsson.com

FM radio reception was quite good, and
there’s also a voice recorder, but voice
clarity was average. It supports 3GP and
MPEG-4 video formats, and plays them
well and without any framing. A microSD
above the display. Sony Ericsson claims
the battery can offer 13 hours of talk
time, which seemed impossible. But with
extensive usage, it lasted over three days
on a single charge. The Naite is a great
Dimensions (WxHxD): 108 x 47 x 12.6 mm; Weight: 84
g; Display: 262,144 color TFT, 240x320 pixel; Camera:
2 megapixel, VGA; Memory: microSD; Connectivity: 3G,
EDGE, GPRS, Bluetooth, USB; Rated talk time: 13 hours
CONTACT Sony Ericsson
PHONE 1800-11-1800

hot swap slot is also provided. 3G-enabled handset. It’s well designed, RATINGS
The J105 Naite is 3G-enabled, offers social networking, it’s eco-friendly, BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
in addition to offering EDGE/GPRS, and has battery life like no other. FEATURES
Bluetooth with A2DP, and USB 2.0 - shayne@tech2.com PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 39

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A BUDGET
TOUCHSCREEN
HANDSET THAT
MAKES A GREAT
FIRST
IMPRESSION,
BUT THAT'S IT.

MOBILE PHONE
E

MOVIL MT1
FOR: Simple design, fluid UI, plays quite a few video formats.
AGAINST: No email options, no microSD hot swap, oversensitive motion sensor.

T
Movil should have gone with a hot-swappable design
he Movil MT1 is a pretty generic
instead of placing the microSD slot under the battery. looking touchscreen handset.
The lightweight design makes
it convenient to carry around, but its
3-inch touchscreen gets scratched
easily. A universal USB port for charging,
USB and hands-free is located at the
bottom. The button system below the
display is simple and navigation easy.
Although running on a JAVA-based
system you’d find in ‘Chinese’ mobiles,
the processing power makes it smooth
and fluid enough to operate without lag
SPECIFICATIONS
or delay. However, you're often forced to
Rs 5,500 browse through submenus.
movilmobile.com
There’s also a widget system for the
desktop. The dual SIM functionality is
seamless and works without a hitch.
The music player drastically
underperforms, as there’s not enough
thump in the bass and the volume is
too low. There’s FM radio as well, but
reception was not very good. The voice
recorder, though, worked quite well.
There’s also a good video player, and
the phone has a 3 megapixel fixed focus
camera. It also supports external memory
via microSD cards. The MT1 works well
with GPRS and WAP, but it doesn’t
include an Opera Mini browser or any

Dimensions (WxHxD): 53 x 105 x 14 mm; Weight: 97 The icons and overall menu system is social networking applications.
g; Display: 3-inch touchscreen; Camera: 3 megapixel; very finger-friendly. But for typing, you’ll The Movil MT1 is quite bare bones
Memory: microSD; Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB; Rated need the stylus, as the virtual keypads when it comes to applications, making it
talk time: 6 hours
are a bit too small. Movil has gone for hard to justify its Rs 5,500 price. The UI
CONTACT Bling Telecom Pvt Ltd
PHONE 0124-4290014 the ABCDE keypad format rather than is smooth and responsive to both finger
EMAIL movilcare@movilmobile.com QWERTY or AZERTY. Bad idea! It also and stylus commands, but its media
RATINGS supports handwriting recognition, which capabilities didn’t work out too well.
BUILD QUALITY is a bit slow. This device incorporates Despite the potential, it just doesn’t cut
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
a motion sensor for games, switching it.
PERFORMANCE wallpapers, and changing music tracks. - shayne@tech2.com
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

40 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A FEW QUIRKS
KEEP IT FROM
GIVING THE
CORBYPRO
COMPETITION

MOBILE PHONE
E

LG GT505
FOR: Fluid, responsive UI, Good audio player, decent camera
AGAINST: Poor gallery design, insufficient video format support

W
hile the LG GT505 is not
exactly part of the Cookie
budget range, the designing,
features and price are nearly identical.
The GT505 is an etension of the
Cookie range, but hinging towards
the pricier end of this spectrum.
Slimmer and lighter than the
original KP500 Cookie, this handset
has a bit more as far as sophistication
parapharnelia is concerned. The 3-inch
touchscreen is more responsive, and
even though the stylus is not really
needed, it exists nevertheless. Docked
on one side is a microSD card slot, and
on the other is a proprietary all-in-one
port meant for the charger, USB and
handsfree functions. Also on the same
side are the volume/zoom keys, a screen
lock, and the shutter release for the 5 MP
camera equipped with LED flash.
enough and can be browsed without the
stylus. And like the KP500, the menus
have been bunched into four categories,
and these make navigating through them
very simple.
The full factfile keyboard is small,
but is sharp and responsive after screen
calibration. The browser is designed well,
but it's kind of tricky to use, and it's the
only feature that is a bit of a letdown.
The gallery, not really well laid in, just
about showcases movies and images
in one big pile. You'll have to sort out
SPECIFICATIONS
the files yourself according to type and
then hunt for specific files via thumbnail
Rs 17,000
www.lgindia.com
activity. Dimensions (WxHxD): 107 x 54.5 x 11.8 mm; Weight:
The music player is great; audio is 98 g; Display: 3-inch touch screen; Camera: 5
loud and the clarity is great, and the well megapixel; Memory: microSD; Connectivity: WAP,
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB; Rated talk time: 4 hours
laid-out EQ presets add to the overall
CONTACT LG India
effect. The video player reads MPEG-4 PHONE 0120-2560900
and 3GP files quite well. A Muvee EMAIL krishnendubanerjee@lgindia.com

It is armed with the exact same UI as application also exists, though it isn't RATINGS
the Cookie, but to its credit, it's much much more than a customizable slide BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
faster here. The GT505 is also easy on show creator. FEATURES
the fingers. Its icons and menus are big - shayne@tech2.com PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 41

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

A DECENT LITTLE
CAMERA FOR
THOSE WHO
WANT MORE
THAN A SIMPLE
POINT AND
SHOOT.

DIGITAL CAMERA

CANON POWERSHOT S90

FOR: Large aperture (f2), very good low-light quality, RAW mode.
AGAINST: Jog dial is too smooth, average low-ISO performance, no HD recording.

I
t’s been five years since the launch of
the PowerShot S80. The PowerShot
S90, though, is more than just a
redesigned version of its predecessor.
The camera offers functionality and
usability that hasn’t been implemented
in any S-series camera before it.
The S90 looks like any other compact
digital camera around, but comes with
a few minor, but helpful, changes. For
starters, it comes with a control ring that
sits around the lens. The control ring can
be used to zoom in and out, or you can
assign functions such as ISO, exposure
value, focus, and white balance to it.
The button placements are typical of
any Canon camera, though the jog dial
felt too smooth, and with the thumb
getting in the way, inadvertent changes in
settings are likely when shooting.
The PowerShot S90 comes with
that lets you take pictures without the You can assign six different functions to the control
need of the flash and comes with an ISO ring by accessing the camera's ring function.
sensitivity of an insane 12500.
On the performance front, the
PowerShot S90 was just about average
and nothing over the top. The camera did
tend to liven up the colors a little bit, but
didn’t go overboard with it. There is also
a visible amount of color bleeding when
scaled to a full 100 percent. Overall,
image sharpness was pretty ordinary,
since objects at a distance appeared
faded and washed out. The S90’s USP
SPECIFICATIONS
lies in not only its ability to shoot in
RAW, but also in its low light mode that
Rs 26,995
www.canon.co.in
produces very good results even at ISO Dimensions (WxHxD): 100 x 58.4 x 30.9 mm; Weight:
5000. 180 g; Resolution: 10 MP; Focal length (35mm equiv):
The Canon PowerShot S90 is no SLR 28 - 105 mm; Aperture range: f2 – f4.9; Shutter range:
15 - 1/1600
alternative, but is just another compact
CONTACT Canon India Pvt Ltd
camera with a few extra features. While PHONE 1800-180-33-66
it does come with a rather hefty high EMAIL info@canon.co.in

a total of 25 shooting modes, with price tag of Rs. 26,995, its overall feature RATINGS
a special scene mode comprising a set and good low light image quality help BUILD QUALITY
ERGONOMICS
decent 17 preset scenes. The camera it stand apart. FEATURES
also features a special ‘low light’ mode - sandeep.balachandran@chip.in PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 43

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

RICH IN
FEATURES, BUT
FOUND
WANTING IN
OVERALL
PICTURE
QUALITY.

DIGITAL CAMERA

SONY DSC-W380
FOR: HD recording, 5x optical zoom, decent twilight shots.
AGAINST: Average quality at ISO 80, does not support SD cards.

T
Navigation would have been easier had the jog dial
he DSC-W380 is surprisingly light
been placed towards the edge. considering that its body is made
of metal. It features a brush metal
finish and weighs a mere 130 g with
battery. As with most Sony cameras,
button placement is good and protrudes
just enough to allow easy navigation.
However, the jog dial would have been
better placed towards the edge of the
camera body, thereby allowing you
to easily switch between modes.
The camera takes a mere 1.5 seconds
to power on. Its standout feature is a
SPECIFICATIONS
24 mm wide angle lens that allows you
Rs 14,990 to capture a major chunk of the subject
www.sony.co.in
mode to let the camera decide the best
shooting mode.
The DSC-W380 is also capable of
capturing 720p video at 30 frames per
second, which is very good considering
its price and target audience. You can
also view captured video on external
displays via the cable that is bundled in.
The downside here, though, is that Sony
claims the W380 can also accommodate
SD cards, which is absolutely not true.
The camera only features Memory Stick
Pro support.
The Sony DSC-W380 does a neat
job at handling colors, though there

Dimensions (WxHxD): 91.7 x 51.9 x 19.7 mm; Weight: without having to backtrack too far. The are a few places where they seem a
130 g; Resolution: 14.1 MP; Focal length (35mm camera also features smile detection. A little oversaturated. This camera is not
equiv): 24 - 120 mm; Aperture range: f2.4 – f5.9; nice addition is the calendar mode that perfect and produces visible noise even
Shutter range: 1 - 1/1600
lets you view images according to the at ISO 80. Night performance is not
CONTACT Sony India
PHONE 1800-103-7799 month and date they were taken on. overly impressive, but does a decent
EMAIL sonyindia.care@ap.sony.com The DSC-W380 comes with six job. However, setting it to twilight mode
RATINGS different modes, with the scene mode definitely produces better quality pictures
BUILD QUALITY itself giving you 11 different scenes. To and the overall noise is also considerably
ERGONOMICS
FEATURES
make things simpler, you can switch reduced.
PERFORMANCE to the Intelligent Auto Mode or Easy - sandeep.balachandran@chip.in
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

44 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

MEDIA PLAYER

IOMEGA SCREENPLAY DIRECTOR

VERDICT: A media player with internal storage of its own. Delivers a wide variety of formats.
FOR: Supports every popular format, smooth playback.
AGAINST: The user interface could be better.

A
t the heart of this media player is smooth and with no hiccups. Resolution
a 1 TB hard drive. It comes with a was set to 1080p throughout, so
full-function remote and supports upscaling was done by the player itself, SPECIFICATIONS
plenty of formats, including DivX, XviD, which was good. Aliasing and jaggies Rs 11,999
www.iomega.com
MKV, H.264, WMV for video, MP3, were almost negligible, although closer
Dimensions (WxHxD): 18.5 x 7.6 x 14.5 cm; Weight:
WMA, and FLAC for audio, and popular inspection did reveal some artifacts. All
0.98 kg; Maximum video resolution: 1080p; Formats
image formats. The player has HDMI 1.3, above formats played smoothly, which supported: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI, VOB), MPEG-4
composite, and component video outs, was impressive. (AVI, DivX 3.11, 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, XviD), H.264, WMV,
AVCHD , VC-1 (SMPTE 421M), MP3, AC3 (Dolby Digital
an optical audio out, an Ethernet port for It carries the price tag of a standard Encoding), WAV, OGG, WMA, AAC (non-DRM), FLAC,
network connectivity, and four USB ports. media player packed with these features, JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF
It runs on external power, and power, but the 1 TB HDD is an added bonus here. CONTACT neoteric infomatique ltd
HDMI, and USB cables are included. In addition, the vast number of formats PHONE 022-40859600
EMAIL sales@neoteric.co.in
The UI is simple and neat, but a little supported and glitch-free playback make
boring, and the remote sensitivity is a bit the Iomega ScreenPlay media player a RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
weak. We played movies in MKV, H.264, great device. FEATURES 
DivX, and VOB formats. Output was very - siddharth@tech2.com PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY 

WI-FI ROUTER

NETGEAR WNR1000
VERDICT: An excellent wireless-N compatible budget Wi-Fi router.
FOR: Good performance with wireless-N devices.
AGAINST: Not wall mountable.

I
f you are looking for an upgrade for multiplayer gaming, or basic VoIP. It
your existing wireless-G router, but has an antenna-less design with an
are in a tight spot between price above-average build quality. It is not wall
and performance, the Netgear N150 mountable, but can be placed horizontally
WNR1000 is a good choice. This Wi-Fi or vertically using bundled stands. The
router provides better coverage and router is very easy to setup and the
performance over standard wireless-G configuration interface is quite similar to
SPECIFICATIONS routers and is best suited for SOHO the prior Netgear routers. It features basic
Rs 2,950 environments. It will enable better functions such as parental controls, SPI
www.netgear.com
wireless networking at home and small firewall, DoS, WPS, and more. Though
Dimensions (WxHxD): 175 x 28 x 118 mm; Weight: 400 offices as the increase in broadband the WNR1000 offers speeds of 150 MB/s,
g; Standards: 802.11 b/g, 5 x 10/100 Ethernet ports;
Security: WEP, WPA/WPA2-PSK speeds will satisfy users with its which is definitely faster than a standard
CONTACT Netgear Technologies Pvt Ltd performance. The WNR1000 performs wireless-G router, there are wireless-N
PHONE 011-26207446 at regular speeds when connected to routers that assure speeds of 300 Mb/s.
EMAIL sales.india@netgear.com
wireless-G devices, but provides an extra But it makes perfect sense to consider
RATINGS performance boost and coverage when this one if you are on a really tight budget
BUILD QUALITY
wireless-N devices are deployed. It is and need better performance.
FEATURES 
PERFORMANCE ideal for streaming music and videos, - francis.dsa@chip.in
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

46 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

VERDICT

THE FIRST OF A
NEW BREED, ECS
DOES FULL
JUSTICE TO THE
890GX CHIPSET.

MOTHERBOARD

ECS A890GXM-A
FOR: Powerful graphics, native 6 Gbps SATA, great performance, good layout.
AGAINST: No IDE channel support, no additional USB 3.0 controller.

W
The A890GXM features four independent display
ith no new CPUs to offer, AMD
outputs for amazing flexibility. can only add higher speeds,
improve efficiency, and offer
new connectivity options. To that end,
we now have an improved chipset for
AMD CPUs to sit on. The 890GX plays
into AMD’s Fusion mantra of bringing
processing and graphics power together.
The IGP is dubbed the Radeon HD 4290.
It sticks with DirectX 10.1 rather than
11, but is capable video upscaling and
accelerated HD playback (including Flash
video). Hybrid Crossfire, which pairs the
SPECIFICATIONS IGP with a low-end Radeon card, is also
Rs 7,500 supported. The other interesting feature
www.rptechindia.com is native support for 6 Gbps SATA 3 on
CPU socket: AM3; Chipset: AMD 890G + SB850; all internal and external SATA ports.
Memory: DDR-1333 (32 GB Max); SATA | USB: 5 | 14;
The ECS A890GXM-A was our first
Expansion slots: 2x PCIe x16, 1x PCIe x4, 2x PCIe x1
and 1x PCI; Audio: 8-channel. 890GX board. Its layout is decent, with
CONTACT Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd no obstructions. The SATA ports are
PHONE 022-67090828 angled to the board’s edge and the
EMAIL response@rptechindia.com
primary PCIe slot is well spaced. ECS
RATINGS throws in dual Gigabit LAN ports and
BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
8-channel audio. The rear panel has VGA,
PERFORMANCE DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI outputs, which
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
was a pleasant surprise. There’s no USB
3.0, but the A890GXM-AU model which
does have it is also available. You get one
eSATA port, but no FireWire. Strangely,
there are no serial, parallel, PS/2 or even
IDE ports. On the software side, ECS
includes eJiff y, its customized quick-
loading Linux environment for browsing
the Web and playing media files.
The A890GXM-A far outshone boards
based on its predecessor, the 790GX.
PCMark Vantage gave us 8846 points
overall, compared to the older platform’s
5675 a year ago. Real-world scores were
also competitive, with our audio, video
and file compression tasks completing in
52, 21 and 39 seconds respectively. Low-
res gaming was decent, and older games
should play just fine.
Overall, the ECS A890GXM-A is a
solid, all-round board which should help
keep things fresh for AMD’s lineup while
expanding connectivity and bumping up
the standard for onboard graphics.
- jamshed.avari@chip.in

48 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

MOTHERBOARD

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3

3
VERDICT: A rock solid board that promises superior performance and stability.
ility.
FOR: Excellent cooling, good layout, good performance.
AGAINST: None.

T
he Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3
is built around AMD’s latest
890GX chipset. It features a
more powerful integrated GPU - the
Radeon HD 4290, and SATA 3.0 support
courtesy SB850 southbridge. It accepts
AMD CPUs in AM3 package, and its four
RAM slots can take up to 16 GB DDR3
memory. The Radeon HD 4290 with
dedicated 128 MB DDR3 memory suffices
for hardware video acceleration, but
four USB headers supporting eightt USB
ports and four SATA 3 ports. Two more
SATA 3 ports are located at the edge for
easy cable routing. The northbridge and
voltage regulators are cooled by two
large aluminum heatsinks connected
by a heatpipe. The rear panel features
six USB ports of which two are USB
3.0 ports. eSATA, HDMI, D-sub and DVI
outputs and a FireWire 400 port are also
included. The board's Asus’ TurboV chip
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 10,990
www.asus.in
Chipset: AMD 890GX/SB850; CPU socket: Socket AM3;
Memory: DDR3 1333 (Up to 16 GB); USB | SATA ports:
14 (8 via headers) | 6; Expansion slots: 2x PCIe x16,
2x PCI, 1x PCIe x1, 1x PCIe x4; Video outputs: D-sub,
DVI and HDMI.

for a gaming machine, you can use the and bundled software ensure stable CONTACT Asus Technology Pvt Ltd
PHONE 1800-209-0365
two PCIe x16 slots for a single graphics overclocking. The heatsinks are very EMAIL media_india@asus.com
card or two ATI cards in CrossFire. PCIe effective and the overall performance of
RATINGS
x1, PCIe x4, and two PCI slots round off this board is top notch. FEATURES
the list of expansion slots. There are - anand.tuliani@chip.in PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

MOTHERBOARD

ZOTAC H55-ITX WIFI

VERDICT: A sweet little board that will enthrall home theater enthusiasts.
FOR: PCIe x16 slot, Wi-Fi 802.11 n, eSATA port, very good layout.
AGAINST: None.

T
he Zotac H55-ITX WiFi measures
just 6.7 x 6.7 in, but is packed to
the gills with goodness. It is built
around Intel’s latest H55 chipset that
supports all processors in the LGA 1156
package. But it’s ideal for the latest Core
i3 and Core i5 processors (Clarkdale) that
SPECIFICATIONS feature an on-chip graphics processor.
Rs 7,800 For Core i5 or Core i7 processors without
www.zotac.com
on-chip graphics (Lynnfield), you can use
Form factor: Mini ITX; Chipset: Intel H55; Memory:
the PCIe x16 slot for a discrete graphics
DDR3 1333 (up to 8 GB); SATA | USB ports: 6 | 14
(4 via headers); Expansion slots: PCIe x16; Video card. Alternatively, you can install a
outputs: HDMI and DVI; Audio: 7.1-channel. powerful graphics card to build a gaming
CONTACT Vardhaman Technologies Pvt Ltd machine.
PHONE 022-25007002
EMAIL nikit@panache.co.in
Despite its compact size, the H55-ITX
WiFi features a good layout. There’s a
RATINGS good amount of clearance around the
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE CPU socket to accommodate the stock
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
cooler. To the right of the socket are two
RAM slots that can take up to 8 GB RAM
in dual-channel mode. The H55 chip lies
next to the CPU socket and is cooled by
an aluminum heatsink. Since it’s close to
the CPU socket, it also gets cooled by the
air blown by the CPU cooler. As part of
the H55 chipset’s feature set, the board
offers six SATA ports placed at the top
edge. A WiFi 802.11 b/g/n adapter is also
onboard and Zotac has included two
antennas in the package, along with three
SATA cables and a DVI-to-D-sub adapter.
The majority of the area on the rear
panel is taken up by 10 USB ports. Other
components include an eSATA port, and
DVI and HDMI outputs.
- anand.tuliani@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 49

 TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

MULTIFUNCTIONAL DEVICE

EPSON STYLUS TX550W

VERDICT: A good network printer that delivers decent quality prints at a good speed..
FOR: Wireless printing, swivel LCD, good printing speed.
AGAINST: Jaggy prints in draft mode, colors are a bit undersaturated.

T
he Epson Stylus TX550W is a
versatile multifunctional device
that offers multiple connectivity
options as well as support for direct
printing. In addition to USB, you can hook
it up to an Ethernet or Wi-Fi network. So
it can receive print commands wirelessly,
making it ideal for small offices. It sports
an all-black shell with a matte finish, and
the scanner lid has a dotted finish that
doesn’t attract dust. Like other Epson
MFDs, the feed tray is located at the top
include CompactFlash, SD, xD and
Memory Stick. The control panel is neatly
laid out and buttons are large and clearly
labeled. A 2.5-inch swivel LCD displays
SPECIFICATIONS
device settings as well as images on the
Rs 8,999
memory card. www.epson.co.in
Print quality is decent, but not Dimensions (WxHxD): 450 x 182 x 342 mm; Weight:
exceptional. While reproduction of 6.1 kg; Interface: USB, Wi-Fi and Ethernet; Print
resolution: 5760x1440 dpi; Scan resolution: 2400 dpi;
details was good, colors were a bit
Direct printing: Memory card and PictBridge.
undersaturated. The printer delivered 19
CONTACT Epson India Pvt Ltd
ppm in draft mode, and 14 ppm in normal PHONE 080-30515000
mode, which is fast. The copier function EMAIL tushad@eid.epson.co.in

and the output tray is in the front. A card is also quick, taking under 10 seconds to RATINGS
reader and a USB port for PictBridge copy a page of text, and 23 seconds for a BUILD QUALITY 
ERGONOMICS
direct printing are located to the left of page with text and color photos. FEATURES
the output tray. Supported card formats - anand.tuliani@chip.in PERFORMANCE 
OVERALL RATING 
VALUE FOR MONEY 

CABINET

ANTEC TWO HUNDRED

VERDICT: A decent gaming cabinet, but feels a little overpriced without the PSU.
FOR: Front-loading 3.5-inch HDD bay, good cooling options.
AGAINST: No power supply.

T
he Antec Two Hundred definitely with a 120 mm rear fan and one 140 mm
lives up to its billing as a gaming top fan. So you can be sure that your
cabinet, but calling it an affordable components stay cool even with settings
one does raise a few eyebrows. It comes maxed out. Both fan speeds can be
with a perforated front bezel that allows manually adjusted to either low or high by
better air circulation, and has provisions way of a control switch placed just above
SPECIFICATIONS for two additional 120 mm fans to keep the rear fan. The provision for the power
Rs 3,850 the hard drives cool. The cabinet supports supply has been shifted to the base of
www.antecindia.com a total of six 3.5-inch hard drive bays, the cabinet, but sadly, it does not come
Dimensions (WxHxD): 200 x 450 x 470 mm; Weight: and three 5.25-inch external drive bays. with one, making the Antec Two Hundred
6.3 kg; 5.25-inch bays: 3; 3.5-inch bays: 6 hidden, 1
A neat little addition is a front-loading a rather expensive proposition.
front loading; Expansion slots: 7; Cooling system: 140
mm top fan, 120 mm rear fan; I/O panel: USB 2.0 x2, 3.5-inch hard drive bay that allows you to Towards the exterior, you will find the
mic x1, headphone x1. hot swap without opening up the cabinet. power switch and reset button placed
CONTACT Antec India Another plus point is the ample breathing on either side of the case. Here, you will
PHONE 044-24510488
EMAIL sales@antecindia.com
space that it leaves between the hard also notice two USB ports along with
drives, thereby allowing the drives to cool provisions to connect your microphone
RATINGS more efficiently. and headphone.
BUILD QUALITY 
FEATURES  The Antec Two Hundred case comes - sandeep.balachandran@chip.in
OVERALL RATING 
VALUE FOR MONEY

50 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 EXTERNAL STORAGE
WD MY PASSPORT STUDIO
VERDICT: The WD Passport is an
excellent portable backup storage
solution for Apple Mac users.
FOR: Blazing FW 800 transfer speeds,
great looks.
AGAINST: Expensive.
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 9,600
www.wdc.com
Dimensions (WxHxD): 83 x 18.5 x 124 mm; Weight: 180 g;
Capacity: 500 GB; Interfaces: FW 800, USB 2.0.
CONTACT Western Digital
PHONE 9769955175
EMAIL anil.kukreja@wdc.com
RATINGS
BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
T A
his 500 GB, 2.5-inch portable
storage device from Western
Digital is designed for Apple
Mac users, and sports a customizable
E-label display. This slim device
features two interfaces - FireWire
800 for Mac, and micro-USB for PCs.
It performs at blazing speeds using
the FireWire 800 interface, delivering
peak data transfer rates of around
78.2 MB/s, while the USB interface
averages at around 38 MB/s. The
drive is preformatted with the HFS+
Journaling system, which is compatible
with the Apple Mac OS. It is ideal
for those who are constantly on the
move and need their movies, music
or important documents with them. It
comes bundled with USB and FireWire
800 cables, and also includes a
FireWire-400-to-800 converter. It also
includes the SmartWare utility, which
provides security and automated data
backup, and retrieval features.
- francis.dsa@chip.in
SOLID STATE DRIVE
KINGSTON SSDNOW V
SERIES
VERDICT: A decent alternative to more
expensive SSDs.
FOR: Good read speeds.
AGAINST: Slow write speeds.
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 15,555
www.kingston.com/india
Capacity: 128 GB; Interface: SATA 3 GB/s; Operating shock:
2.17 Gs; Non-operating shock: 20Gs.
CONTACT Kingston Technology
PHONE 022-26592963
EMAIL sales_india@kingston.com
RATINGS
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
dding an SSD to your working
PC is a good way to increase
overall performance of your
machine. However, solid state drives
aren’t all that affordable, and unless
you're an enthusiast, you really
wouldn’t bother with SSDs at all.
The Kingston SSDnow V series is a
value-based SSD that doesn’t quite
deliver as you would expect in terms
of speed. The write speed recorded for
single and multiple 2 GB files averaged
out at a mere 45.5 MB/s. However, the
drive performed well when reading,
returning an overall score of 106 MB/s
for a single 2 GB file and 94 MB/s for
multiple 2 GB files. The scores go to
show that the V series SSDs are best
used as a boot drive that co-exists
with your normal desktop drive, or you
can use it to run games off it. In short,
the Kingston SSDnow V series is best
suited for applications that read more
off the drive than write on it.
- sandeep.balachandran@chip.in
TEST CENTER
HARDWARE

MOUSE ITX CABINET CAR INVERTER

CM STORM SENTINEL COOLER MASTER ELITE 100 BELKIN AC ANYWHERE

ADVANCE VERDICT: A simple and slim PC case for VERDICT: A very handy power inverter
building an HTPC. for use in automobiles.
VERDICT: Great for serious gamers. FOR: Compact size, strong chassis. FOR: Rugged build, safety features.
FOR: Excellent tracking, adjustable weights. AGAINST: Very plain front bezel, slightly AGAINST: None.
AGAINST: Removing weights is tedious. expensive.
SPECIFICATIONS
Rs 5,000 SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS
www.coolermaster.com
Rs 3,200 Rs 1,883
Dimensions (WxHxD): 83.5 x 40 x 135 mm; Weight: 161.5 g; www.coolermaster.com www.belkin.co.in
Onboard memory: 64 KB; Sensor: 5600 dpi dual laser Dimensions (WxHxD): 262 x 69.6 x 318 mm; Weight: 3 kg; Dimensions (WxHxD): 147 x 50 x 80 mm; Weight: 455 g;
CONTACT Cooler Master Motherboard support: mini-ITX. Micro-ATX; Storage drives: Power input: 220V AC @ 200 W; Power input: 12 V DC.
PHONE 9422501592 2 x 2.5-inch HDD; 1 x Slim ODD; PSU: 150 W.
CONTACT Belkin India
EMAIL tanmay_l@coolermaster.com CONTACT Cooler Master PHONE 0124-6688800
RATINGS PHONE 9422501592 EMAIL rengithn@belkin.com
BUILD QUALITY EMAIL tanmay_l@coolermaster.com
RATINGS
ERGONOMICS
RATINGS BUILD QUALITY
FEATURES
BUILD QUALITY FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
FEATURES PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
VALUE FOR MONEY VALUE FOR MONEY

T F
he CM Storm Sentinel Advance
will blow your socks off with
its funky design. Its large size,
rubberized finish, and contours on the
left side offer a very comfortable right-
handed grip. The mouse has a total of
eight buttons that are programmable
via the bundled software. The button
at the top of the scroll wheel cycles
the color of the LEDs (six colors) and
the two buttons below are meant for
increasing/decreasing the resolution.
A tiny OLED display on top displays
the resolution of the X and Y axes. The
mouse features weight adjustment
(five 4.5 g weights) and a built-in
64 KB chip that can store up to four
profiles in addition to the standard
profile. The weights are housed in a
small compartment at the base of
the device. The tracking of this mouse
is superb and it works on a variety
of surfaces thanks to the dual laser
sensors.
- anand.tuliani@chip.in
or those opting to build an HTPC
on a budget, this compact ITX
case will definitely suit your
purpose. Extremely slim with a rugged
chassis, the Elite 100 bundles a 150 W
power supply and can support a mini-
ITX or a micro-ATX motherboard, and
two 2.5-inch hard drives, or one 3.5-
inch and one 2.5-inch hard drive each.
You can also fit a slim optical disc
drive (SODD). The case doesn't have
provisions for additional cooling fans,
but there are ample vents for effective
cooling and silent performance.
Installing the motherboard and the
other components is pretty simple,
but you might need to detach the
front bezel to connect the HDDs
comfortably. The front bezel has a
plain design and it features front
audio and USB ports. The Elite 100 is
available in three different models, the
highest of which also includes a VESA
mounting kit.
- francis.dsa@chip.in
T
he Belkin AC Anywhere is
a 200 W inverter that can
convert a car battery's 12 V DC
power into 220 V AC. It can be used
to power/charge portable devices like
laptops, DVD players, etc, which need
regular 220 V AC power. The device
is about double the size of a 2.5-inch
portable storage drive and fits into all
standard-sized car cigarette lighter
sockets. The AC Anywhere has a very
rugged build and is feature-rich, with
power protection provisions such as
a protection fuse and indicators for
blown fuse, over load, etc. It also
features a USB port, which can charge
USB powered devices/gadgets such
as mobile phones, MP3 players, etc
while an appliance is simultaneously
connected to the AC power socket.
The inverter can continuously supply
200 Watts of power and can peak
at 400 Watts too, but this is not
recommended.
- francis.dsa@chip.in

52 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

TEST CENTER
TESTED SOFTWARE
SPOTLIGHT
INTERNET SECURITY SUITE
MCAFEE 2010
INTERNET SECURITY
VERDICT: Even with its minor issues, McAfee Internet Security 2010 is a decent
product to own, provided you overlook its overall memory consumption when idle.
FOR: Real-time protection, parental control, decent firewall.
AGAINST: Navigation can be a pain, high memory consumption when idle.
M
cAfee has been under the scanner of
late, not only for their product’s user
interface that they’ve kept unchanged
for approx
approximately
prox two years, but also for being
a memory hog. However, the new McAfee
Internet
I t t Security
S 2010 is slicker and easier to
use. Installation was a breeze, but not quite the
fastest. It takes a good 10 to 15 minutes to install,
which is quite long considering that competing
products install in less than 5 minutes.
However, compared to previous versions, the
interface has a very refreshed and clean look
that allows you to navigate easily. But while
the new interface is surely smoother, it may
take a little time to get used to. The face of the
security suite gives a quick overview of the status
of your machine, where a green bar signifies a
protected machine, while red indicates that real-
time scanning or firewall is disabled. However,
irrespective of the status bar, the interface itself
shows the status of individual items, such a real-
time scan, updates, firewall, and subscription.
The bottom half displays a whole list of
features that, again, can be accessed with ease;
Grant or block access to the net by specifying the time and day
the user can browse the web.
54 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
something that the previous versions failed to
deliver. The features include virus and spyware
protection, web and e-mail protection, data
protection and backup, home network, and PC
optimization. Besides this, you can also access
and configure individual settings without much
of a hassle. For advanced users however, this
little suite might just not suffice, as there actually
isn’t much to change. What you get with McAfee
Internet Security, is a very basic security suite
that doesn’t need too much interference to
have it up and running. As always, the Internet
Security Suite comes with the normal QuickClean
and Shredder options. As the names suggest,
QuickClean allows you to delete unwanted
shortcuts and temporary files, while you can use
the Shredder to delete files beyond recovery.
What will really get on your nerves, though,
is making modifications to the overall settings.
Firstly, you can’t go back to the menu that
you came from. This forces you to close the
configuration window, which takes you back to
the applications interface. A navigation button
that displays a detailed list of features is also
Specify the sites that the user can visit according to age or
choose to customize the sites he/she can visit.
SMS us!  Story code: ASM to 51818
 ON DVD
Windows XP SP3
Internet Explorer 8
Security Essentials
Windows Live
DUAL LAYER 8.5GB My Phone

RED HOT FULL SOFTWARE

LiberKey Ultimate 4.7
Lupo PenSuite Lite 6.80
Autodesk Portable OpenOffice.org 3.1.1
AutoCAD Portable Ubuntu Remix
PortableApps Suite Light Edition 1.5.2
2010 WinInizio PenSuite Utilities 2.1
winPenPack Flash Web 3.6

The navigation center allows you to quickly access the security

suites features and settings.
CRICKET SPECIAL
Chennai Super kings Wallpapers
provided, but again, it’s inconsistent when Cricket Revolution Demo
accessing various settings. Secondly, the screen Deccan Chargers Wallpapers
has a limited viewing area and it cannot be Delhi Daredevils Screensaver + Wallpapers
maximized, thus leaving you to scroll a lot. In Flashcricket
comparison, it might not have a flashy interface Kings XI Punjab Badges + Wallpapers
to match that of Norton or Kaspersky, but it does Knight Riders Badges + Desktop Widget
a good job at securing the PC it is installed on. Knight Riders Screensaver+ wallpapers
Mumbai Indian Desktop Scorecard
Mumbai Indian Mobile Wallpapers
Mumbai Indian Ringtones + Screensaver +
Wallpapers
Rajasthan Royals Wallpapers
Royal Challengers Wallpapers
Snaptu Cricket Mobile App
Ultimate Fielder mobile game

Taking performance into consideration, McAfee

Internet Security was pretty much at par with the FULL GAMES
competition. There were no noticeable system AssaultCube Portable
Atomic Tanks Portable
slowdowns that normally affect the overall
Canabalt Portable
performance of the system. The major drawback Frets on Fire
Jooleem 0.1.4
was the time taken to install the product. Another
LBreakout2 Portable
point of concern was its memory consumption.
Mines-Perfect Portable
Irrespective of its overall performance, 90 MB Neverball 1.5.4 and more...
when idle is a little too much to be comfortable GAME DEMOS
with. The firewall doesn’t get in your face, and A Reckless Disregard for Gravity
Achtung Panzer: Kharkov 1943
automatically assigns settings required for Aveyond: The Lost Orb
applications that need Internet access. Moreover, M.U.D. TV
the suite also comes with a parental control Puzzle Chronicles
Spectre and more...
feature that allows you to set permissions,
allowing you to specify browsing schedules and LINUX
LINUX DISTRIBUTION
filter unwanted sites for a specific user. Clonezilla LiveCD 1.2.4-3
McAfee Internet Security 2010 might not be MilaX 0.5
PLoP Linux 4.0.3
an award-winning product, but you really need
Tiny Core Linux 2.9 RC4
to give credit to the fact that they’ve finally let ttylinux 9.1
go of an interface that never saw change for
LINUX TOOLS
approximately two years. Allegro 4.9.12
– sandeep.balachandran@chip.in NVM Virtual Machine 2.0
PlayStation Portable Video
Converter 0.3
SPECIFICATIONS
Portable OpenSSH 5.3p1
Rs 2,499 (3 users) RealPlayer Portable 11 and more...
www.mcafee.com
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS TOOLS
OS: Windows XP SP2 / Vista / 7; RAM: 256 MB; MULTIMEDIA
Disk space: 200 MB Alcohol 120% 2.0.0.1331
Any Video Converter 3.03
CONTACT McAfee India
ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre
PHONE 080-66569000
Platinum 3.0.1.160
EMAIL custserv_apac@mcafee.com
Ashampoo Burning Studio Free
Audacity Portable 1.2.6 Revision
RATINGS
FEATURES
Badaboom Media Converter
EASE OF USE CamStudio Portable 2.5 Beta 1
PERFORMANCE Cornice Portable 0.6.0.1.3
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
DeepBurner Free Portable
DivX Light Decoder 1.1.2
FlashOffliner
Fotobounce 2.0.0
Harry's Filters 3.01
K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 5.70
KompoZer Portable 0.77
MediaCoder 0.7.3 Build 4602
MPlayer Portable 1.0 RC2
Nero Move It 1.5.10.0
PhotoTune 3
Picasa 3.6 Build 105.41
Pistonsoft MP3 Audio Recorder
Portable BonkEnc 1.0.14
Portable Celestia 1.5.1 and more...
INTERNET
amsn Portable 0.98.1
BitTorrent Mp3 2.7.7.0
Chromium 4.0.273.0
COMODO EasyVPN 1.7.6.0
Facebook To-Go 1.8
FeelHome Portable 0.1.0.148 Beta
FileZilla Portable 3.3.1
FlashGet 3.3.0.1092
Free Download Manager 3.0.870
Google Chrome Portable
4.0.223.16 Beta
Opera 10.50
Opera@USB 10.10 Build 1893
Orbit Downloader 3.0.2
Pidgin Portable 2.6.5 and more...
MOBILE
3GP Converter
Agree Free Mobile Audio Video
Ringtone Converter 4.0
ALLConverter to 3GP Portable 1.0
ALLConverter to iPhone Portable
BackOff 1.02
Icepine Free 3GP Video Converter
iPhone Explorer 0.9.9.1
MediaPlayer Skinner 1.5
MP3 Ringtone Extractor 1.3
Nokia Diagnostics and more...
SECURITY
Ad-Aware 8.2.0.0
AntiVir Personal 9.0.0.418
Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0.418
AVG Free Edition 9.0.730
CTFMON-Remover
CyberGhost VPN 4.0.0.960
HijackThis
Kaspersky Internet Security
Special Edition for for Ultra-
Portables 2009 8.0.0.506
KeePass Password Safe Portable
Mobile SafePatrol 5.1.3
Portable avast! 1.0.133
Portable ClamWin and more...
SYSTEM
1-abc.net Utility Box 3.00
7-Zip Portable 4.65 Rev 2
ActivePerl 5.10.1.1007
Birthday List Portable 1.1
BullZip PDF Printer 7.1.0.1136
CCleaner Portable 2.28.1091
and more...
MUST HAVES
ATI Catalyst Drivers 10.2 Vista
ATI Catalyst Drivers 10.2 XP
DirectX 9.0c (Feb 10)
JRE 1.6.0.18
and more...
ADOBE PLAYERS
Adobe Air 1.5.3.9130
Flash Player 10.1.51.95 Beta 3
Shockwave Player 11.5.6.606
and more...
E-BOOKS
CHIP ARCHIVES
Nov. 2009 to Jan. 2010
 TEST CENTER
TESTED

VERDICT

AN EASY-TO-
USE SUITE
REPLETE WITH
USEFUL
BACKUP AND
RECOVERY
FEATURES.
BACKUP AND RECOVERY SUITE

PARAGON BACKUP &

RECOVERY 10
FOR: First timers won’t find it difficult to use, does a quick job, bootable disc.
AGAINST: None.

P
aragon Backup & Recovery is
targeted at both newcomers
and experienced users. The
tool can be directly launched from the
CD, providing data security without
installation. The security functions are
abundant - complete hard disk, individual
partitions, mails, multimedia files, Office
documents, and selectable folders and
files. These came off very well in the
test, whether on a second partition,
an external hard disk (FireWire, USB
2.0, eSATA), a network drive or a DVD.
This program also supports scheduling
differential and incremental backups.
SPECIFICATIONS Paragon aims at a simple operation, which
$69.95 (approx Rs 3,220) is however not always possible because
www.paragon-software.com
of a large number of functions. A good
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7; RAM: 256 MB; Disk space:
feature is the bold warnings, for example
100 MB. the backup destination. After selecting
CONTACT Paragon Software the destination, the entire computer is
EMAIL sales@paragon-software.com
immediately backed up. It would have
RATINGS been easier if the security options were
FEATURES
displayed immediately on connecting an
PERFORMANCE
EASE OF USE external hard disk. After all, the program
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
recommends external hard disks as the
first choice. Performance is good: Paragon
backed up our test system with a 232
GB system partition (93 GB occupied) in
30 minutes on a USB 2.0 HDD. A 10 GB
partition with XP backs up to the HDD in
around nine minutes.
The Paragon CD boots up in WinPE
2.1 and in case of any problems, in a
faster Linux or DOS environment. It
also backs up the system in formats
suitable for Microsoft Virtual PC or
VMware Workstation, if desired. However,
this feature does have a considerable
downside. In the test, the 232 GB system
partition could only be used with VMware,
because Virtual PC cannot handle large
partitions. The Adjust wizard ensures
that the existing image boots even on
new hardware. For this, you must start
the process from the CD and download
the new drivers. With the Switch wizard,
Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 goes far
beyond just data security.
- feedback@chip.in

56 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
TESTED

VERDICT

OFFERS A VERY
BASIC SET OF
FEATURES THAT
IS BEST SUITED
FOR
BEGINNERS.

PHOTO ORGANIZER

SERIF ALBUM PLUS X4

FOR: Ease of use, geo-tagging.
AGAINST: Pricey for a basic photo organizer.

W
ith PhotoPlus, Serif has a
well developed image editing
software in its portfolio.
Now, their Digital Photo Suite is a mix
of several programs that allow you to
not only edit, but also organize photos.
The main component of the suite is the
image organizer called AlbumPlus X4. The
software essentially allows you to import,
organize, view, and edit pictures with
ease. An advantage with this application
is its ability to read RAW formats such
as DNG (Adobe) and NEF (Nikon). This
organizer can also read metadata formats
and convert them into program-specific
“Marker”. These are basically keywords
for tags that are assigned to the photos,
which help you manage images that are
stored in XMP format. Adding to it are a
few useful features that allow you to read
and edit metadata, such as renaming
pictures on the basis of their EXIF data,
XMP, IPTC, RGB graphs and histograms.
Moreover, the tool also allows you to add
notes as well as to tag pictures. Speaking
of tags, the software comes with a
feature called Geo-Tags, that lets you tag
pictures to the location they were taken.
The Digital Photo Suite not only
comprises of an image database module,
but also has a small package of editing
tools on board. Look carefully and you
will find everything that even Picasa
offers - red eye correction, tools for
correcting over or under-exposed images,
retouching tools for skin impurities, image
errors, and the likes. It's a good tool for
beginners, but this is a far cry from real
image editing.
A few useful features that are
included are the panorama module, SPECIFICATIONS
which seamlessly stitches a set of $29.99 (approx Rs 1,380)
www.serif.com
pictures, the photo calendar, which uses
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
images to mark occasions and dates, OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP; RAM: 128 MB; Disk space:
and the PhotoWall. It also allows you to 300 MB.
upload and share your favourite photos CONTACT Scott Johnson
EMAIL edusales@serif.com
to Facebook and Flickr at the click of a
button; a feature that is also available on RATINGS
FEATURES
Picasa.
EASE OF USE
- feedback@chip.in PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 57

 TEST CENTER
TESTED

DISC BURNING UTILITY

ALCOHOL 120% 2.0

VERDICT: The ultimate utility for securing your original CD/DVDs.
FOR: Very easy to use, virtual drive built-in.
AGAINST: Slightly expensive.

I
f you're looking for a utility to backup
your important CDs, DVDs, HD DVDs,
PlayStation media, or Blu-ray, Alcohol
120% is what you need. The software
is pretty simple and straight-forward,
and features image making, copying and
burning, disc erasing, and lots more. It also
includes tools such as data-type analyzer,
which provides complete information on
the recorded medium. It is an excellent
utility, which can burn, copy, backup, or
advanced sector scanning, which creates
images or copies by reading each sector.
It can also be managed to skip read errors
when accessing scratched media, and
it can separate the image into multiple
sizes for easy transfer. The utility also
installs a virtual drive software, by which
you can create up to 31 virtual optical
SPECIFICATIONS
drives simultaneously, thus eliminating
$57 (approx Rs 2,850)
the need for a physical disc. Home users www.alcohol-soft.com
can take advantage of Alcohol 120% to SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

clone almost any optical media (even make copies of their games, music or OS: Windows 2000 and above; RAM: 32 MB; Hard
disk: 10 GB, one or more optical drives.
copy-protected games) into an image file videos, while librarians can backup their
CONTACT Alcohol Soft
(.mds or .iso format) on your hard drive. digital collections, and business users can EMAIL NA
This image can be later mounted as a backup their original licensed software,
RATINGS
virtual drive, which can be accessed/ thus preventing damage through daily FEATURES
shared across the network at speeds wear and tear of the original discs. EASE OF USE
PERFORMANCE
of over 200x. Alcohol 120% features - francis.dsa@chip.in OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY

PC OPTIMIZATION TOOL

PC PITSTOP PC MATIC
VERDICT: An interesting concept, but the implementation could have been better.
FOR: Very easy to use, one-click optimization.
AGAINST: The user can’t select the required changes, crippled virus protection.

P
C Pitstop has taken a different
approach to sprucing up Windows;
using a web service instead of
running it off the hard drive. But this is a
mistake right at the onset. Optimization
via the Internet needs an extensive client
on the PC, which is almost 15 MB large.
SPECIFICATIONS In contrast, TuneUp Utilities, a popular
$59.99 (approx Rs 2,760) optimization suite, is about 20 MB in size.
www.pcpitstop.com Using the application is child’s play.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS It requires just a click to check the PC
OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7; RAM: 64 MB; Disk space:
50 MB.
for misconfigurations, obsolete drivers,
CONTACT PC Pitstop
unnecessary startup entries, viruses and
EMAIL NA other snags. This test took four minutes
even on a slow notebook that struggled to
RATINGS
FEATURES run Windows 7. It also gives an overview
PERFORMANCE
of the current status of the PC, you have
EASE OF USE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
no freedom to choose the suggested
changes. You must either optimize
everything or cancel the entire operation.
It scales down the MTU settings in order
to speed up the Internet connection. It
detected obsolete drivers, and updated
it to the latest ones. PC Matic saves the
registry before any system modifications
and automates tuning using a scheduler.
What it mainly lacks is access to hidden
features in windows and intelligent
optimization. Even freeware programs
do a better job here. Moreover, virus
protection is just a simple on-demand
scanner, which loads the signature
updates just shortly before the test.
- feedback@chip.in

58 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 ENCRYPTION TOOL
PROTECT ME! 2010
VERDICT: A very simple encrypting tool.
FOR: Easy to use.
AGAINST: Not many features.
SPECIFICATIONS
Freeware
www.wecode.biz
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Hardware: Intel Pentium 4 and above; RAM: 256 MB; Hard
disk: 1 MB; Software: .NET Framework 3.5.
CONTACT DiSTANTX
EMAIL admin@wecode.biz
RATINGS
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
P N
rotect Me! 2010 is a very simple
and easy-to-use encryption
software for anyone who
requires a fast and simpler alternative
to an expensive software that does
the same job. It simply creates a
secure executable container (.exe)
file, in which one can add any type or
number of files and folders, and finally
password-protects it. Your files will be
stored securely inside this container file
and you can then delete the original file
from the system. To ensure maximum
security of the data, Protect Me! 2010
uses SHA1 for password validation
and AES for encryption. Once the data
is encrypted, the file becomes self
executable, which can either run or
extract your files once you have typed
in the right password. Eseentially, this is
a simple program to easily password-
protect any file or folder and get one
single .exe file, which contains the
encrypted data.
- francis.dsa@chip.in
MULTIMEDIA
PISTONSOFT MP3 RECORDER
VERDICT: Great a-to-d converter
FOR: Doubles up as dictaphone.
AGAINST: Expensive.
SPECIFICATIONS
$25 (approx Rs 1,250)
www.pistonsoft.com
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows XP or higher; Hardware: Pentium III 233 MHz
or higher; RAM: 128 MB; Disk space: 5 MB
CONTACT Piston Software
EMAIL support@pistonsoft.com
RATINGS
FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
eed to record your music or
conversations directly to MP3,
WAV, WMA or OGG Vorbis
formats? Search no more, as this MP3
recorder from Piston Software can
do an excellent job for you. The utility
is pretty straightforward and records
audio directly from a microphone,
line-in or CD into natively supported
MP3, WMA, WAV and OGG formats.
The recorder generates excellent quality
audio that is best suited for audio
books, podcasts, or voice memos. It
contains an LPF (low pass) filter and
built-in parametric equalizer presets
to help fine-tune your recordings for
highest quality. The software can also
help digitize your entire collection of
old vinyl LPs or cassette tapes and can
also be used as a dictaphone using the
voice activated preset. Scheduling is
also possible, eliminating the need to
be present to start or stop recordings
when away from the PC.
- francis.dsa@chip.in
 TEST CENTER
TESTED

VIDEO TRANSCODING TOOL DATA RECOVERY TOOL ANTI-MALWARE

ROXIO EASY VIDEO RECOVER MY FILES 4 AD-AWARE 8.2

COPY & CONVERT PROFESSIONAL VERDICT: A complete one-stop utility for
free protection against online threats.
VERDICT: Nice copying, video transcoder VERDICT: A good data recovery program FOR: Easy to use, powerful, real-time
FOR: Intuitive UI, profile customization. FOR: Recovers data without any hitches. protection.
AGAINST: None. AGAINST: Poor with damaged systems. AGAINST: None.
SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS SPECIFICATIONS
£19.99 (approx Rs 1,380) $99.95 (approx Rs 4,600) Freeware
www.roxio.co.uk www.getdata.com www.lavasoft.com

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7; RAM: 512 MB; Disk space: 1 GB. OS: Windows All; RAM: 128 MB; Disk space: 7 MB. OS: Windows 2000 Pro; RAM: 512 MB; Disk space: 100 MB.
CONTACT Roxio CONTACT GetData CONTACT Lavasoft AB
EMAIL NA EMAIL NA EMAIL sales@lavasoft.com

RATINGS RATINGS RATINGS

FEATURES FEATURES FEATURES
PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
EASE OF USE EASE OF USE EASE OF USE
OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY VALUE FOR MONEY VALUE FOR MONEY

E R
asy Video Copy & Convert
is getting closer to being a
universal DVD copying and video
transcoding suite. The latest version
inherits the main UI from WinOnCD.
The conversion for various mobile
gadgets, smartphones and game
consoles works intuitively, requiring a
few clicks. Important profile options can
now be adjusted manually, although,
device profiles for mobile phones
and smartphones could have been
differentiated better. The new preview
function is also practical. In case of
web portal support, Easy Video Copy &
Convert matches up to the competition.
For downloading, you'll have to open
the portal in a separate browser
window, and uploading works only with
YouTube. The new features include
Blu-ray support and direct burning of
AVCHD videos from a camcorder to
DVD or Blu-ray discs.
- feedback@chip.in
ecover My Files offers two
modes for data recovery.
The easier one is applicable
for deleted files and offers faster
scanning. An 8 GB USB flash drive can
be scanned in ten seconds. You can
now filter files by name, last modified
date, type, and size. There was little
to complain about in the test. The
software found the needed files, and
all 800 images on a deleted USB stick
were restored. The only problem was
that the file names weren’t intact.
The second mode is intended for
experts, and the results here were not
impressive. We could recover around
half the files on a newly formatted disk,
a few files after reinstalling Windows,
and nothing much could be recovered
on a damaged file system. Moreover,
the recognition performance during the
test was worse under Windows 7 than
under Vista and XP.
- feedback@chip.in
A
d-Aware is a popular utility for
protection against malware,
adware and spyware, and
additionally, features rootkit detection,
e-mail scanning and a download guard
for Internet Explorer. This version is
free for home and personal use, and
includes Ad-Watch Live Basic for
real-time protection against malware
and adware. The built-in TrackSweep
feature helps erase all traces left in
web browsers after you've surfed the
web. This is helpful for those who bank
and shop often from a shared home or
office computer. It's easy to install and
can be updated daily online. Ad-Aware
needs just 100 MB of memory
space and minimizes strain and
system slowdown. The simple mode
automatically selects optimum settings,
while in advanced mode, settings like
scan profiles and notifications can be
customized.
- francis.dsa@chip.in

60 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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 Western Digital
My Passport Studio
500 GB: Rs 9,600
www.wdc.com
verdict This one can read data at
over 60 MB/s using FireWire 800 — a
great pick for Mac users.
love FireWire 800 interface, all cables
included, e-ink status display.
hate None.

SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions (WxHxD): 83 x 18.5 x 124 mm;
Interface: USB 2.0 and FireWire 800.

ANAND'S PICKS

2.5-INCH PORTABLE HARD DRIVES

Store your data in style. Opt for performance or get the best bang for the buck.

 Buffalo MiniStation Metro Seagate FreeAgent Go 

320 GB: Rs 9,000 320 GB: Rs 4,000
500 GB: Rs 13,000 500 GB: Rs 5,500
www.buffalotech.com
640 GB: Rs 7,250
verdict Pick this if you need a rock-solid
portable hard drive that can keep your data
1 TB: Rs 10,999
www.seagate.com
secure. verdict A reasonably priced portable
love Hardware encryption, rugged hard drive that looks good and
construction. performs well.
hate Priced slightly on the higher side. love Slim and compact, attractive design.
hate Write speed should have been better.
SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions (WxHxD): 91 x 20 x 135 mm; Weight: 240 g; SPECIFICATIONS
Interface: USB 2.0.
Dimensions (WxHxD): 80 x 12.4 x 130 mm; Weight: 180 g;
Interface: USB 2.0.

 Transcend StoreJet 25M Iomega eGo Helium 

160 GB: Rs 2,500 500 GB: Rs 5,000
go.iomega.com
250 GB: Rs 2,860
verdict A shock-proof portable hard drive
320 GB: Rs 3,250 that scores high on aesthetics as well as
500 GB: Rs 4,320 performance.
www.transcendusa.com
love Great aesthetics, shock proof,
verdict If you want ruggedness and
aluminum shell.
one-touch backup at a very attractive price,
hate None.
this one's for you.
love One-touch backup, very attractive SPECIFICATIONS
pricing.
Dimensions (WxHxD): 91 x 20 x 130 mm; Weight: 230 g;
hate The rubber jacket adds bulk. Interface: USB 2.0.
SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions (WxHxD): 83 x 21 x 133 mm; Weight: 213 g;
Interface: USB 2.0.

62 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 TEST CENTER
ANAND'S
PC CONFIGS
COLUMN

MAINSTREAM LAPTOPS
JUST GOT MORE MUSCLE
WITH LATEST CORE i3 AND
CORE i5 CPUS.
ANAND TULIANI, DEPUTY EDITOR - TECHNICAL

MORE POWER TO LAPTOPS

W
ho doesn’t want a powerful
laptop at an attractive price?
When it comes to buying
one, you want the the most
powerful configuration that fits your
budget. However, if you’re not well-versed
with processor model numbers, you
may end up buying something that’s a
generation older. If you’re planning to buy
a new laptop soon, here are the parameters
you should consider.
Before the launch of the new Intel Core
i3 and Core i5 lineups, the configuration
MPEG fi le to H.264 format, while the
Core i3-330M took just 45 seconds. It’s
Intel’s Hyper-threading technology that
makes these processors more powerful.
Each core of these dual-core processors
is capable of processing two threads at
a time. Think of it as a waiter serving
two clients at a time in the case of Core
i3 and Core i5, and a waiter serving one
client at a time in the case of Core 2
Duo. The new processors are also more
power-efficient and thereby maximize
battery life. As far as

INTEL CORE I3-330M IS A

that offered the best bang for the buck was the other components
Intel Core 2 Duo T6600, 2.2 GHz, 3 GB go, look for at least
RAM and 320 GB hard drive. Depending 2 GB RAM and a 320
on the screen size (14-inch or 15.6-inch), GB hard drive. GOOD 40 PERCENT FASTER
a laptop with these components and If you’re on a
integrated graphics cost approximately shoestring budget THAN CORE 2 DUO T6600
Rs 36,000. You’ll still find laptops with and want a laptop
this configuration retailing at shopping for basic home and office use, consider
malls for roughly the same price. Some a laptop with an Intel Pentium Dual-
newspaper and magazine advertisements Core processor, 3 GB RAM and 250
too feature these laptops. Tthe GB hard drive. Components like Wi-Fi,
configuration is good, no doubt, but why DVD writer, Bluetooth and card reader
not consider something that’s up-to-date are now standard. At present, this
and offers better performance at the same configuration hits the sweet spot for
price? sub-Rs 25,000 budget laptops.
If your budget is around Rs 35,000, – anand.tuliani@chip.in
which is sufficient for a powerful laptop
these days, fi rst and foremost, make sure AVERAGE COST: Rs 35,000
the laptop is powered by an Intel Core CPU Intel Core i5-430M, 2.26 GHz
i3 processor. The Core i3-330M runs at RAM 3 GB DDR3
2.13 GHz, and the Core i3-350M, which
Hard drive 320 GB
is slightly more powerful, runs at 2.26
Display 14-inch
GHz. As per our tests, Intel Core i3-330M
is a good 40 percent faster than Core 2 OS Free DOS

Duo T6600, 2.2 GHz. It took 70 seconds Other DVD-writer, card reader, Wi-fi,
features Bluetooth and Webcam
for the C2D T6600 to encode a 1 minute

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PC CONFIGS
GAMING (ENTRY LEVEL) Rs 40,600 GAMING (MID-RANGE) Rs 79,148
Processor Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300, 2.60 GHz 3,100 Processor Intel Core i5-750, 2.66 GHz 9,950
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L 2,650 Motherboard MSI P55-CD53 7,800
RAM 2 GB Strontium DDR2-800 MHz 2,350 RAM 2x 2 GB Strontium DDR3-1333 MHz 5,398
Hard disk Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 - 500 GB SATA 2,600 Hard disk Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 - 1 TB SATA 4,400
Graphics card XFX GeForce 9800 GT - 512 MB DDR3 6,600 Graphics card MSI R5750-PM2D1G - 1 GB DDR5 8,600
Optical drive LG GH22 SATA 22x DVD-writer 1,100 Optical drive LG GH22 SATA 22x DVD-writer 1,100
Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE — Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE —
Monitor Dell ST2010F - 20-inch TFT 7,600 Monitor Benq V2200 Eco - 22-inch TFT (LED) 13,500
Keyboard Logitech G1 Gaming Desktop 1,500 Keyboard Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 950
Mouse Included in Combo — Mouse Razer Salmosa 1,700
Speakers Altec Lansing BXR 1121 1,350 Speakers Logitech Z4 4,300
Sound card Onboard high-definition audio — Sound card Asus Xonar DX 7.1-channel 5,000
PC Case Cooler Master Elite 335 with 500W Extreme 4,850 PC Case Thermaltake Matrix VD2000BNS 2,800
Power supply unit Included in Combo — Power supply unit Tagan StoneRock TG600-U37 4,750
Operating system Windows 7 Home Basic 4,300 Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 6,300
Office suite Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student 2,600 Office suite Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student 2,600
TOTAL 40,600 TOTAL 79,148

GAMING (HIGH END) Rs 1,41,900 HOME PC Rs 30,700

Processor Intel Core i7-860, 2.80 GHz 14,500 Processor AMD Athlon X2 245, 2.90 GHz 3,200
Motherboard Asus P7P55D Pro 12,825 Motherboard Biostar A780G M2+ SE 3,100
RAM G.Skill F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ, 4 GB DDR3 6,850 RAM 2 GB Strontium DDR2-800 MHz 2,350
Hard disk Seagate Barracuda LP - 2 TB SATA 9,450 Hard disk Western Digital Caviar Blue - 320 GB SATA 2,300
Graphics card Zotac GeForce GTX 295 - 1792 MB DDR3 29,000 Graphics card Onboard graphics —
Optical drive LG GH22 SATA 22x DVD-writer 1,100
Optical drive LG GH22 SATA 22x DVD-writer 1,100
Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE —
Network card Onboard 10/100/1000 GbE —
Monitor Benq V2400 Eco - 22-inch TFT (LED) 17,500
Monitor Samsung SyncMaster 943 NWX - 19-inch TFT 6,900
Keyboard Microsoft Sidewinder X6 4,200 Keyboard and
Microsoft Desktop 500 800
Mouse Logitech G9 Laser 4,900 mouse combo
Speakers Creative Gigaworks T3 16,000 Speakers Creative Inspire T3130, 2.1-ch 2,600
Sound card Asus Xonar DX 7.1-channel 5,000 Sound card Onboard high-definition audio —
PC Case Cooler Master Gladiator 600 3,975 PC Case Circle Delight Grey 1,450
Power supply unit Cooler Master Silent Power M 700W 7,700 Power supply unit Included with the PC Case - 400W (max) —
Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 6,300 Operating system Windows 7 Home Basic 4,300
Office suite Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student 2,600 Office suite Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student 2,600
TOTAL 1,41,900 TOTAL 30,700

64 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

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LAPTOP CONFIGS
BUDGET
PROCESSOR Intel Celeron, Pentium Dual-Core,
1.73 GHz to 2 GHz AMD Turion X2, 2.1 GHz
MEMORY 1 GB or 2 GB
HARD DRIVE 160 GB, 250 GB, 320 GB
DISPLAY 14.1-inch or 15.4-inch
GRAPHICS On-board
WEIGHT 2.3 Kg to 2.7 Kg
OTHER Bluetooth, DVD-writer,
Wi-Fi b/g, Webcam
PRICE RANGE Rs 25,000 to Rs 33,000
MAINSTREAM NETBOOK
PROCESSOR Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz or higher, Intel Core PROCESSOR Intel Atom Processor
i3, 2.1 GHz or higher, Intel Core i5, 2.26 GHz or higher MEMORY 1 GB or higher
MEMORY 2 GB or 3 GB HARD DRIVE 80 GB to 160 GB
HARD DRIVE 250 GB or 320 GB
DISPLAY 9-inch, 10-inch or 11.6-inch
DISPLAY 14.1-inch or 15.4-inch
GRAPHICS On-board
GRAPHICS On-board or Discrete
WEIGHT Up to 1.5 Kg
WEIGHT 2.3 Kg to 3 Kg
OTHER Bluetooth, DVD-writer, OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g or n, Webcam
Wi-Fi b/g or n, Webcam PRICE RANGE Rs 17,000 to Rs 35,000
PRICE RANGE Rs 33,000 To Rs 45,000

ZENITH ADMIRALE PLUSS DELL INSPIRON 14 ACER ASPIRE ONE 532H

Rs 21,000
CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4400, 2.2 GHz;
MEMORY 1 GB; HARD DISK 160 GB; DISPLAY 14-inch;
GRAPHICS On-board; OTHER FEATURES Wi-Fi,
DVD-writer, eSATA
Rs 35,400
CPU Intel Core i3-330M, 2.13 GHz; MEMORY 4 GB;
HARD DISK 500 GB; DISPLAY 14-inch;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.3 Kg; OTHER
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, DVD-writer
Rs 19,776
CPU Intel Atom N450, 1.66 GHz; MEMORY 1 GB;
HARD DISK 250 GB; DISPLAY 10.1-inch;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 1.1 Kg;
OTHER FEATURES Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g, card reader

HP COMPAQ PRESARIO CQ40-641TU HP PAVILION DV4-2101TU HP MINI 210-1085TU

Rs 27,500
CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4300, 2.16 GHz;
MEMORY 2 GB; HARD DISK 250 GB; DISPLAY 14.1-
inch; GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.3 Kg; OTHER
FEATURES Wi-Fi, DVD-writer, Bluetooth
Rs 41,500
CPU Intel Core i3-330M, 2.13 GHz; MEMORY 3 GB;
HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 14.1-inch;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.36 Kg;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, DVD-writer, eSATA
Rs 19,990
CPU Intel Atom N450, 1.66 GHz; MEMORY 1 GB;
HARD DISK 160 GB; DISPLAY 10.1-inch;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 1.2 Kg;
OTHER FEATURES Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g, card reader

ACER ASPIRE 4736Z LINUX
Rs 28,000
CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4300, 2.16 GHz;
MEMORY 3 GB; HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY
14-inch; GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.4 Kg; OTHER
FEATURES W-Fi, DVD-writer, Bluetooth
HP COMPAQ PRESARIO CQ41-227TX
Rs 42,500
CPU Intel Core i3-330M, 2.13 GHz; MEMORY 4 GB;
HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 14.1-inch,
GRAPHICS ATI Radeon HD 4350; WEIGHT 2.3 Kg;
OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, DVD-writer
ASUS EEE PC 1005P
Rs 20,975
CPU Intel Atom N450, 1.66 GHz; MEMORY 1 GB;
HARD DISK 250 GB; DISPLAY 10.1-inch;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 1.3 Kg;
OTHER FEATURES Bluetooth, Wi-Fi n, card reader

LENOVO IDEAPAD G450-2949BCQ

BCQ
Rs 28,500
CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4300, 2.16 GHz;
MEMORY 2 GB; HARD DISK 320 GB; DISPLAY 14-inch;
GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 2.3 Kg;
OTHER FEATURES W-Fi, DVD-writer, Bluetooth
A ASPIRE 5738DZG 3D
ACER BENQ JOYBOOK LITE U121
Rs 44,500 Rs 23,990
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T6600, 2.2 GHz; CPU Intel Atom Z520, 1.33 GHz; MEMORY 1 GB;
MEMORY 3 GB; HARD DISK 320 GB; HARD DISK 160 GB; DISPLAY 11.6-inch;
DISPLAY 15.6-inch; GRAPHICS ATI Radeon HD 4570; GRAPHICS On-board; WEIGHT 1.42 Kg;
WEIGHT 2.8 Kg; OTHER Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, DVD-writer, OTHER FEATURES Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g, card reader
3D glasses

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 65

 FEATURED
COVER STORY

ARE EARLY ADOPTERS PAYING TOO MUCH FOR

SOMETHING THAT JUST ISN'T READY YET?

68 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP Nirmal Biswas SMS us!  Story code: C3D to 51818
 FEATURED
COVER STORY

COMES
HOME
BY JAMSHED AVARI

I
t’s suddenly all the rage, but where’s the buzz
really coming from? 3D has been around for
decades! Dozens of movies have tried to
wow audiences with graphics that supposedly
jump out of the screen, and various attempts
at outfitting PC users with multicolored glasses
have been soundly rejected.
The problem is it’s never been believable
enough. 3D has so far always been an effect,
not an experience. It’s been imperfect, at best
approximating new ranges of motion and at
worst causing headaches and nausea. Now,
technology companies think the technology
and costs are finally at a point where 3D can
cross over to the mainstream. They’re all hell
bent on convincing us too, with coordinated
product launches and gala public events aimed
at capturing the general imagination. Movies like
Avatar were produced almost solely to show off
the potential of 3D, will do this well. Avatar is
such a great example because it didn’t use 3D
effects just to scare the audience with objects
hurtling out of the screen. It actually drew
viewers into a believable new world and exposed
them to a whole new experience. Avatar was the
watershed the industry needed—and created.
Maybe it is time everyone got together and
took on the task of completely changing our
understanding of normal movie and TV viewing.
Maybe there really is no other way to break
out of our constraints and move into a new
generation. No doubt, 3D technology is finally
ready to jump into the mainstream, but we’ll
soon enough see what the majority of end
users decide about how, when and where they’ll
engage with 3D.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 69

 FEATURED
COVER STORY
Home Video
While 3D experiences in cinemas and
other public venues will do doubt keep
growing in popularity, will people really
want full-blown setups in their homes?
What will the 3D TV experience be
like? First of all, everyone’s going to
have to buy new TV sets, even those
who have spent several lakhs on the
latest, slimmest, most high-end models.
When the wave of hype over HD swept
over us a few years ago, people were
enthusiastic about shifting from huge
boxy TV sets to slim LCD panels anyway,
and no matter if the picture quality
didn’t instantly improve, people were
happy to buy them for the various other
advantages they represented. It hasn’t
been long at all, and people are now
supposed to believe that a whole new
generation is upon us. We’re used to
upgrading our computers and cellphones,
but two years is too soon to trade in
an expensive LCD or plasma TV. Other
than 3D, these new TVs won’t offer
anything different to regular flat TVs at
all. Even if people love the experience,
convincing them that it’s worth the cost
to bring it home will take a lot of work.
The compulsory polarized glasses
are going to be extremely awkward and
invasive. This will likely be the main
reason that families won’t gather around
the TV to watch their mainstream
entertainment programs in 3D. People
are used to leaving their TVs on while
doing any number of other chores.
You can’t comfortably work, eat, talk,
lie down, cuddle with loved ones, or
do anything other than concentrate
on the TV while wearing dark glasses.
Channel surfers will be irritated if they
have to constantly put on and take off
the glasses just because only a few
shows here and there require them. Any
ambient lighting in the room will spoil
the effect, and besides, many bedrooms
and living rooms might not be able to
fit everyone sitting in the ideal position
in front of the screen. Imagine inviting
friends over and not having enough
glasses for everyone to watch a program
together. The glasses are expensive,
so most families won’t have more than
one extra set lying around. In fact if
you want to invite a large group over to
watch a movie, you’ll have to specify
that each one should bring their own
glasses! Unfortunately, the technology
entertainment channels, but there’s
not much scope for compelling action
I DON’T THINK WE WILL in most sitcoms, family dramas or
EVER MAKE ANOTHER 2D FILM. cartoons. Even the news channels won’t
be able to ensure that every camera
WHY WOULD WE MAKE A MOVIE crew has the required cameras and
IN BLACK AND WHITE IF WE transmission capacity to file reports.
Deloitte’s March 2010 State of the
HAVE COLOR? … I THINK Media Democracy survey, which polled
ULTIMATELY ALL MOVIES ARE users aged 14 to 69 in Tier I and II Indian
cities, reveals that 92 percent rate TV as
GOING TO BE IN 3D their preferred source of entertainment.
Jon Landau, While 100 percent owned TVs, 77 percent
Producer - Avatar still had non-flat sets (ie CRTs). This
shows how much potential there is for
people to upgrade over the next few
doesn’t allow for those wearing glasses years. The outlook for 3D technology
to experience 3D while those without is also quite good, with 29 and 25
get to see a regular 2D image; they’re percent or respondents looking forward
left with blurry, superimposed images. to watching 3D video and playing 3D
It’s either all with or all without. games at home. Most likely, anyone who
And where’s the content? Viewing is willing to spend a lot of money to
will be limited to Blu-ray movie discs for get the best possible equipment for a
a very long time (which will of course dedicated home theater system will buy
require a new Blu-ray player and even a 3D set, and manufacturers will have
new HDMI cables). Broadcasters in some this as a feature only on their top models
parts of the world have announced they to project it as a higher-level option and
will roll out a few 3D channels during of course charge suitable premiums.
2010, but the status in India is completely Early-adopter cinema freaks will also
unknown. These channels require much no doubt buy new Blu-ray
higher bandwidth, so it’s only going to players and start building
be our DTH services that will offer them. collections of 3D
If this becomes the next weapon in the
DTH wars, subscribers will be limited
to only those channels that the
providers offer. Even then, it will
most probably be expensive
and could even
require fresh
internal
cabling and
a set-top box
upgrade. At
the rate things
are changing,
the second and
third generations of
3D TVs might be on
the market before there’s
enough content reaching them!
When 3D does come to TV
broadcasts, it will be only for limited
types of content. Not all types of
programming will benefit either. Sports
and movies will probably be the first
to embrace it, followed by educational
content such as science and wildlife
shows. There could be smaller segments
or single one-off shows on general

movies, if not rent them from libraries.
General consumers might buy a new TV
which happens to support 3D viewing,
but that won’t be the main motivating
factor. It’s likely that most people will
simply use the 3D gimmick once in a
while, either when broadcasters start
offering full 3D channels and content
on demand, or when they rent the
occasional 3D Blu-day disc. They’ll keep
the one or two pairs of glasses that
came with the set, but won’t spend on
outfitting the entire family. They’ll choose
3D versions of programs or movies when
they’re specifically sitting down to watch
them, but prefer the regular flat variety
when just watching casually. In India,
the majority of LCD TV sales happen in
the range of 26 to 32 inches, with prices
falling enough for them to make their
way into middle-class homes where they
would have been considered ridiculously
expensive just a few years ago. 3D will
be a high-end feature; one which will just
not be within reach of many first-time
flat TV buyers. Even if it does become
a middle-range feature in a few years’
time, it will be a while longer before this
segment will consider paying to upgrade.
No Indian brand is ready to commit
to prices and launch schedules for 3D
TVs and accessories, but we can safely
assume these products will reach
India by the end of 2010, after rolling
out across the USA and Europe.
Samsung’s first bundle,
containing a 46-inch
LCD TV, a Blu-ray player
and two pairs of active
shutter glasses has
just gone on sale for
US$ 2,899 (approx Rs
1,31,600). Extra glasses
cost US$ 250 each (approx
Rs 11,350). Early adopters
are going to have to be
extremely passionate about
their viewing experience to
shell out this kind of money
under these conditions!
Computers
and gaming
Where TVs are more social in
nature, computers are almost
always used by individuals. For
that very reason, 3D applications
will go beyond merely watching
videos. Already, game developers are
FEATURED
COVER STORY
INTERVIEW
What is the market like for 3D graphics
and movies in India?
Up until now developers have been able to
create amazing 3D graphics but then had
to render them back to 2D because of the
limitations of viewing technology. Now, we
can enjoy 3D content like the latest games
in their full glory. For passionate Indian
gamers this is really a must-have—once
you’ve seen your favorite title in mind-
blowing stereoscopic 3D Vision you just
don’t want to go back to 2D!
The uptake of 3D for cinemas has
been a little slower in India compared to
Nishant Goyal, elsewhere in the world—Hollywood is 3D
Head of Sales,
South Asia, Nvidia
crazy right now after the success of Avatar
and Alice in Wonderland. Of course Indian
studios contributed a lot in terms of image processing and visual effects
to both these movies. We are now starting to see 3D movies take off
with domestic audiences. Reliance Mediaworks recently announced a
partnership with US lab In Three, establishing the world’s largest facility
for converting 2D movies into 3D. This will really give a new lease of life
to existing titles, drawing audiences back into cinemas to experience
their favorites in 3D and allowing movie studios to boost revenues.
Looking to the future, it also provides a great back-catalogue of material
for enjoying 3D movies in the home when 3D TVs become a mainstream
standard. Expect to see a solution for enjoying 3D content on your TV
from Nvidia later this year.
And it’s not just games and movies—even the internet is now in 3D
with the release of a YouTube plugin that lets people enjoy and share
3D content. 3D is everywhere and it’s going to remain one of the major
trends for India’s entertainment market for the foreseeable future.
How does the company plan to generate buzz about the 3D
experience?
The 3D experience is so visual that, by its very nature, it can’t be
explained in words—you have to see it to believe it. But once consumers
have experienced it, they’re just blown away! So for us the key is
to ensure people have the opportunity to experience 3D Vision and
we’re working closely with our partners to achieve this. OEMs (original
equipment manufacturers) such as HCL and Connoiseur have taken the
initiative to introduce its customers to stereoscopic 3D using industry-
standard LCD panels. Many other major brands including Alienware, Acer
and ASUS are also investing in the 3D phenomenon.
Zapak Gameplex gaming cafés, are now offering visitors the chance
to experience a new dimension in excitement with Nvidia 3D Vision
across six cities in the country. This technology takes new game
releases and over 300 existing titles to another level of immersion.
building 3D into their engines and
environments. Beyond that, YouTube
is experimenting with 3D videos and
even Google has decided to add native
rendering functionality to the Chrome
browser. There isn’t much public buzz
about things other than gaming, but
soon enough, graphics designers will
finally manipulate their 3D models in
 FEATURED
COVER STORY
3D space, architects will take clients
on first-person walkthroughs of their
sketches, online shops will let people
browse through racks of items, and
dozens of new uses will emerge.
Gaming is where things can get very
interesting. Both on the PC and on living
room consoles, gaming is a single-
minded activity in which immersiveness
is the end goal. As opposed to TV
and movies which are fairly social in
nature, people usually game alone and
undisturbed. First-person shooters which
are truly first person, racing games in
which the environment whizzes past,
and even sports simulators will see
immediate benefits from 3D. Less
action-oriented games like The Sims
and Spore will suck players in and give
them all kinds of new thrills. Just like
movies, games developed with 3D in
mind will become the flag bearers of
this new technology. Truly excellent
games will even motivate people to
spend on new consoles and TV sets,
and passionate gamers are well known
to spend large amounts of money
at regular intervals to stay current
with the latest, greatest hardware.
Cinemas and public venues
Perhaps 3D will still be best experienced
only in cinemas, where everyone is
sure to have a pair of glasses
72
Resident Evil 5 is one of this year's hot gaming releases which will use 3D to bring something new to PCs and
living rooms.
and is ideally focused only on the film
while it’s playing. The effect is far
more engaging on a huge screen that
fills your peripheral vision. This year is
going to see a massive number of 3D
movies released, primarily because the
technology is ready, the distribution
channels are in place, and viewers have
indicated they enjoy the experience. But
they also help to familiarize users with
3D, in the hope that they will want to
buy all the components required to set
up a new high-end home theater system.
Movie studios have also caught on to
the fact that they have to stop selling
products and start selling experiences.
People today have the unofficial
options of buying pirated discs
and downloading screener
copies from the Internet,
rather than spending money
on movie tickets and DVDs.
A 3D film simply cannot
be pirated yet, since there
isn’t any reliable method to
turn a 3D print into a 2D one
for easy distribution. Most
pirated copies of just-released
movies are either ripped from the film
reels while on their way to cinemas
(relatively high quality), or recorded
off cinema screens with handheld
videocameras which the pirates sneak
in (relatively low quality). New 3D films
are transmitted securely to cinemas,
preventing them from being intercepted
on the way, and just imagine trying
to watch a recording of the mashed
images you see on screen when you
take off your polarized glasses! It would
be totally unmanageable to sneak a
3D camera into a cinema, and even
then they’d never be able to recombine
the visuals and record them in any
reproducible form. Besides, those who
do decide to spend on cinema tickets
rather than watch a movie at home are
more likely to pay a premium for a 3D
version. While many movies are currently
released in both 2D and 3D formats to
ensure they can be screened anywhere,
titles will soon be released exclusively in
3D format in the future; a move studios
and distributors will greatly profit by.
In fact the novelty value is still so
fresh that a large number of the 3D
movies we’re already seeing are in fact
rereleases of older movies, which were
certainly not shot with all the necessary
equipment. Technology has made it
possible to splice and recombine 2D
movies, although the effect won’t be
as seamless as something envisioned
in 3D from the ground up, like Avatar.
Filmmaking, both as an art and as an
industry, will have to undergo massive
changes to account for the way our
 FEATURED
COVER STORY

eyes behave when trying to focus on

moving objects. The effects on cinema
will be as dramatic as when the same
as when sound was added to video,
and when monochrome became color.
Cinema owners, who have spent
lakhs of rupees refitting their halls for
3D, will most likely find things other than
movies to show there since the quality
of the viewing experience will be far
greater than one can achieve at home.
The prime candidates are of course
sporting events, such as this year’s IPL
tournament and the upcoming football
World Cup. Sports matches are typically
a few hours long, action-packed, and
allow for fixed and moving camera
positions. Efforts are on to outfit public
venues such as pubs and restaurants
Recent and upcoming
3D movie releases
with 3D screens for this purpose as well. who do go out and buy 3D movie setups
 Alice in Wonderland
While it will definitely be odd to walk will continue to enjoy and appreciate
into a bar and see everyone wearing dark them long after, much like Laser Discs  Alpha and Omega
glasses indoors, this is exactly the kind a decade ago. On the other hand, 3D  Avatar
of social setting that sports matches are is already well entrenched in cinemas,  Boo U
watched in. People will get to experience games and sports broadcasts so there  Cars 2
3D viewing in a natural environment, should be a fair number of people who  Cats & Dogs 2
although the glasses will obstruct their want to bring that kind of experience  Clash of the Titans
vision when trying to eat or drink! home. The ideal future is one in which  Despicable Me
the glasses aren't necessary at all, but  Disney’s Beauty and
The early adopter’s that's still beyond our capabilities for the Beast (rerelease)
dilemma now! Either way, the best part is that we
 Frankenweenie
It’s easy to sit back and analyze all the have the whole industry coming together
 Happy Feet 2
problems with 3D home entertainment, over an emerging standard. And the pace
 How to Train Your Dragon
but if nobody jumps on board now, it of innovation will push better features
 Hubble (IMAX only)
will never reach critical mass. Perhaps into lower prices. No matter how many
we as consumers will reject the current dimensions you view it in, 2010 is going
 King of the Elves
generation of home products altogether, to be an interesting year indeed.  Kung Fu Panda: The
and even if so, perhaps the few people - jamshed.avari@chip.in Kaboom of Doom
 Legend of the Guardians
 Madagascar 3
 Newt
 Oobermind
 Planet 51
 Puss in Boots
 Shrek Forever After
 Smurfs 3D
 Step Up 3D
 Tangled
 The Adventures of Tintin:
Secret of the Unicorn
 The Hole
 The Nightmare Before
Christmas (rerelease)
 Toy Story 1 & 2 (rerelease)
 Toy Story 3
 Tron Legacy
Unreal Engine 3, one of the industry's most popular game engines, now supports 3D development to take
advantage of Nvidia's 3D Vision solution.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 73

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON
Value Performers
The latest-generation GPUs are so powerful that even entry-level graphics cards can handle full
HD gaming with ease. Take your pick from 39 graphics cards priced under Rs 10,000.
BY FRANCIS D'SA, SANDEEP BALACHANDRAN AND ANAND TULIANI
B
udget graphics cards are more
capable today than they have
ever been. Apart from games,
an entry-level graphics card can handle
tasks that make the CPU's work easier.
For instance, all current generation
GPUs can decode high-definition
videos, provided you use a player that
utilizes them efficiently. The new killer
application is GPU-based processing in
software such as video encoders and
image editing programs. The massive
parallelism afforded by the raging
battalion of stream processors in a
GPU can make a PC with a weak CPU
work five times faster than one with a
quad-core CPU and integrated graphics.
If that's the power of an entry-level GPU,
you can guess the immense processing
power of the high-end ones.
Although these cards do not churn
out exceptional frame rates or offer
stellar game play, they fare well in
most of the latest games at decent
resolutions. Even ultra-budget cards
priced under Rs 3,500 can play titles
such as Left 4 Dead and even Crysis
Warhead at 1440x900 with medium
settings on. And by adding just an
additional Rs 1,000 for a better card,
you can play Crysis Warhead at full HD
resolution in Performance mode. Most
cards ranging from Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000
can play games at resolutions of up to
1680x1050. So gamers with a low budget
can rejoice. Cards in this category offer
just as many video output options as
high-end ones, including dual-link DVI
ports for a dual-monitor setup, D-sub
ports for backward compatibility, and
even the new DisplayPort. Some have
HDMI ports, so an HTPC enthusiast
can connect his HDTV or monitor and
watch movies via his computer. For an
HTPC setup, this type of a rig is more
powerful than any other standalone HD
movie playback device available today.
A new feature in the latest-generation
74 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
of graphics cards is an on-board audio
processor that can stream multi-
channel audio via HDMI. While gaming
or playing movies, these cards emit the
least amount of sound, or none at all,
thanks to the completely passive cooling
solutions that some of them use. These
cards do not require fans, and remain
cool due to their leaner fabrication
process; 40 nm currently being the
lowest. This also means that such cards
consume less power, so there’s no need
for extra power connectors or upgrading
your computer’s power supply. Even a
450 Watt PSU will suffice.
This comparison is not limited
to simply telling you about only the
specifications, prices and performances
of entry-level and mainstream graphics
cards. By looking at the detailed tables
and scores, you’ll also be able to
differentiate between the performance
of identical GPUs with DDR3 and DDR5
video memory. You can even find out
how much better a card with 1 GB of
memory is compared to one with 512
MB of memory when paired with the
same GPU. Finally, do note that there are
plenty of older graphics cards available
in the market. We recommend staying
away from them, as the performance
of the newer cards is much better at
the same prices. You also get support
for newer standards, drivers, and other
technology. So make sure you pick the
latest GPU.
Test Process
This round-up of graphics cards was
aimed specifically at entry-level and
mainstream gaming cards priced up
to Rs 10,000. The roundup comprised
of graphics cards from various
manufacturers based on AMD and Nvidia
chipsets.
In order to make sure we are
considering all the latest GPU features in
our graphics card evaluation this month,
Jagdish Limbachiya
we track the progress of various aspects
of 3D graphics, both on the hardware
and the gaming fronts. Therefore,
newer features such as DirectX 11,
physics, and particle effects can be
evaluated appropriately. Since there is
nothing more important than the sheer
performance expected from a graphics
card, we obviously did not score them
on parameters such as build quality.
We looked at just three parameters -
features, performance and warranty.
Features: It is important to note that
Nvidia and AMD have different approaches
towards stream processors. Thus,
while an ATI GPU that has more stream
processors than that of Nvidia, both
may be equally powerful. So, we did not
consider higher scores for the number of
stream processors present. We logged
parameters such as GPU speed, type
and amount of memory, memory speed,
DirectX support, and so on. All of these
features enable the visual effects you
would expect to see in today’s games. We
looked out for the types of output ports
on the rear of the card. Extra points were
awarded to those that supported new-
generation interfaces such as HDMI and
DisplayPort. Cards that featured copper
heatsinks, and those with active or passive
cooling methods scored accordingly in this
category.
Performance: This is, after all, what
drives a gamer into buying a graphics card.
We used an array of real-world games and
An example of a superbly designed passive cooler
which helps dissipate heat without any noise.
SMS us!  Story code: FGC to 57007
 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

one synthetic test for the evaluation of

the graphics cards in order to get a clearer
picture. Nowadays, the most popularly
sold monitors are widescreen LCDs that
start from a screen size of 19 inches. The
native resolutions begin from 1440x900.
As this resolution is very lenient and most
graphics cards can support it without
any real effort, we also included the
more challenging 1680x1050 and
1920x1080 resolutions for both
entry-level and mainstream
graphics cards.
First up, we used the DirectX
10 game Left 4 Dead. Known for
its generous use of high-resolution
characters, environment and cool
effects, this game demo was an
ideal test for the card’s processing resolutions with AA turned off in the
and memory subsystems and is case of entry-level cards, and with 8xAA
representative of current-generation in the case of mainstream graphics
gaming performances. In the case of cards. We also tested the graphics
entry-level graphics cards, we tested cards on one of the most demanding real-world gaming performance. Here,
the game in the following resolutions games out there - Crysis Warhead. This we ran the test in Entry mode for entry-
and settings: 1440x900-Medium-No was the most strenuous test we could level cards and in Performance mode
AA, 1680x1050-Medium-No AA, and throw at the cards, as it brings even a for mainstream graphics cards. Hence, if
1920x1080-Medium-No AA. Since this high-end graphics cards to their knees. you wish to compare cards based on the
would be too easy for mainstream We made it less taxing for entry-level 3DMark score, compare them within their
graphics cards, we set all the effects graphics cards by setting the mode to own category and not across categories.
to Very High and bumped the AA to Performance, which is the lowest, and Warranty: Here, we simply noted the
8x. Next up, was Race Driver: Grid turning off AA. For mainstream graphics warranty period of each card, along with
that made good use of demanding cards, we bumped the visual effects and the number of cities with service centers
gaming effects such as simulations, AA just enough to get playable frame and the number of service centers present
physics, environment, smoke, and so rates. Finally, for the synthetic tests, we in each city. The greater the warranty
on. We tested the game at the three used 3DMark Vantage, which simulates period, the better it is for the consumer.

WEIGHTAGES USED FOR EVALUATING GRAPHIC CARDS

30 % FEATURES

10 % WARRANTY

40 % PERFORMANCE
Cards that featured all the video interfaces,
especially DisplayPort scored higher points.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 75

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

PERSONAL TAKE
SpecScan
1 2
CATEGORY ENTRY LEVEL
NAME XFX RADEON HD 4650 ZOTAC GEFORCE 210 SYNERGY
ANAND TULIANI Contact Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd Aditya Infotech Ltd
anand.tuliani@chip.in
Phone 022-67090828 011-46665666
E-mail response@rptechindia.com sales@adityagroup.com
I’m not a hardcore gamer and neither do I have
Price* Rs 3,850 Rs 2,450
powerful hardware that will do justice to a
OVERALL
high-end card. For me, the sweetest spot lies
Features (30%) 69 61
in the price range of Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000,
Performance (60%) 86 40
where you can find cards with enough oomph
Warranty (10%) 60 100
to handle games at full HD resolution, with
0 50 100 0 50 100

visual effects set to high and a bit of AA

Overall (out of 100) 78 52
thrown in. My pick from this roundup is the
Value For Money
factory-overclocked XFX Radeon HD 5750 FEATURES
XXX Edition, which runs the GPU and memory Chipset Radeon HD 4650 GeForce 210
5 percent faster than the stock speed. Since it GPU
was able to deliver over 50 fps in all the Fab process 55 nm 40 nm
benchmarks, we ran Crysis Warhead in Gamer Core speed 600 MHz 590 MHz
mode (one level higher than Mainstream No. of stream processors 320 16
mode) and it sailed smoothly, giving over 30 Memory
fps. For Rs 8,750, this card is a steal. If your Total amount 1 GB 512 MB
budget is Rs 5,000, I strongly recommend the Type DDR2 DDR2
Zotac 9600 GT Synergy. Speed 500 MHz 400 MHz
Bus width 128-bit 64-bit
Cooling
Type of cooler Active Active
Heat sink available for memory ✖ ✔
DirectX support DirectX 10.1 DirectX 10.1
Form factor Single slot design Single slot design
PCIE power Not required Not required
Backpanel Ports
FRANCIS D'SA D-sub ✖ ✔
francis.dsa@chip.in
DVI ✔ ✔
DisplayPort ✖ ✖
A discrete graphics card is not only ideal for
HDMI ✖ ✔
gaming, but is also essential when you need
Bundled games ✖ ✖
good system and graphics performances using
Bundled adapters: DVI | HDMI to DVI ✖|✖ ✖|✖
high-end graphics applications. A discrete
PERFORMANCE
graphics card is also preferred in most HTPCs
3DMark Vantage (Entry mode)
because playing high-definition videos can
GPU 10918 4298
actually reduce the strain on your CPU, thereby Left 4 Dead
allowing you to run more CPU-dependent 1440x900 - Medium - No AA 59 fps 27 fps
processes in the background. When you are on 1680x1050 - Medium - No AA 48 fps 21 fps
the lookout for the best performing graphics 1920x1080 - Low - No AA 47 fps 20 fps
card, you should always consider factors such Race Driver: Grid
as core and memory amount and speed, and 1440x900 - No AA 50 fps 32 fps
finally, the number or stream processors. The 1680x1050 - No AA 40 fps 26 fps
higher these values, the better your card will 1920x1080 - No AA 36 fps 19 fps
perform. Apart from these factors, priority Crysis Warhead
should also be given to the type of cooling 1440x900 - Performance - No AA 48 fps 21 fps
system integrated by the manufacturer. This is 1680x1050 - Performance - No AA 36 fps 16 fps
especially important because you are on a 1920x1080 - Performance - No AA 31 fps 14 fps
budget and you would definitely want your WARRANTY
card to have a better life. Warranty period 3 years 5 years
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

76 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

3 4 5 6 7
ZOTAC GEFORCE 9500 GT ZONE BIG GEFORCE GT220 ZOTAC GEFORCE 220 SYNERGY SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 4650 XFX GEFORCE GT220
Aditya Infotech Ltd BIG Byte Corporation Aditya Infotech Ltd Aditya Infotech Ltd Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd
011-46665666 9320204803 011-46665666 011-46665666 022-67090828
sales@adityagroup.com bakul@bigbyteindia.com sales@adityagroup.com pl_yadav@adityagroup.com response@rptechindia.com
Rs 3,500 Rs 4,370 Rs 3,600 Rs 4,250 Rs 4,200

65 74 68 73 74

85 84 81 84 76

100 60 100 60 60

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

81 79 79 78 74

GeForce 9500 GT GeForce GT 220 GeForce GT 220 Radeon HD 4650 GeForce GT 220

65 nm 40 nm 40 nm 55 nm 40 nm
550 MHz 625 MHz 625 MHz 600 MHz 625 MHz
32 48 48 320 48

512 MB 1 GB 512 MB 1 GB 1 GB
DDR3 DDR2 DDR2 DDR2 DDR2
800 MHz 400 MHz 400 MHz 400 MHz 400 MHz
128-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit

Passive Active Active Active Active

✖ ✔ ✔ ✖ ✖
DirectX 10 DirectX 10.1 DirectX 10.1 DirectX 10.1 DirectX 10.1
Dual slot design Single slot design Single slot design Single slot design Single slot design
Not required Not required Not required Not required Not required

✖ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
✖ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
✔|✔ ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖

9538 10651 9975 10025 10697

53 fps 49 fps 45 fps 52 fps 49 fps

44 fps 41 fps 38 fps 42 fps 41 fps
42 fps 38 fps 36 fps 40 fps 38 fps

38 fps 68 fps 65 fps 76 fps 36 fps

31 fps 58 fps 57 fps 75 fps 29 fps
27 fps 50 fps 51 fps 54 fps 27 fps

54 fps 43 fps 44 fps 41 fps 44 fps

43 fps 34 fps 34 fps 30 fps 34 fps
37 fps 30 fps 30 fps 26 fps 30 fps

5 years 3 years 5 years 3 years 3 years

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 77

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

SpecScan
8 9 10
CATEGORY ENTRY LEVEL
NAME BIG GEFORCE 9500 GT VTX3D RADEON HD 4650 XFX RADEON HD 5450
Contact BIG Byte Corporation Intratech Computers Pvt Ltd Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd
Phone 9320204803 9891791933 022-67090828
E-mail bakul@bigbyteindia.com manoj@intratech.co.in response@rptechindia.com
Price* Rs 3,490 Rs 3,400 Rs 4,700
Warranty 3 years 3 years 3 years
OVERALL
Features (30%) 67 73 83
Performance (60%) 78 74 50

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Value For Money (out of 5)

FEATURES
GPU: Core speed | Fab | Stream 550 MHz | 65 nm | 64 600 MHz | 55 nm | 320 650 MHz | 40 nm | 80
Memory 1 GB DDR2 533 MHz 1 GB DDR2 400 MHz 1 GB DDR3 800 MHz
Type of cooler | DirectX support Active | DirectX 10 Active | DirectX 10.1 Active | DirectX 11
Backpanel Ports ✖|✔|✖|✖ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✔|✖
Bundled adapters: DVI | HDMI to DVI ✔|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖
PERFORMANCE
3DMark Vantage (GPU - Entry mode) 8087 9847 5923
Left 4 Dead
1440x900 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1080 48 fps | 39 fps | 37 fps 52 fps | 42 fps | 39 fps 34 fps | 27 fps | 26 fps
Race Driver: Grid
1440x900 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1080 64 fps | 57 fps | 49 fps 42 fps | 36 fps | 34 fps 25 fps | 23 fps | 19 fps
Crysis Warhead
1440x900 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1080 40 fps | 31 fps | 27 fps 39 fps | 30 fps | 26 fps 29 fps | 22 fps | 19 fps
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

ENTRY LEVEL
T
he XFX Radeon HD 4650 might
not be an absolute performer,
XFX RADEON HD 4650 but it makes a great buy if your
need is to build an HTPC. For starters,
the HD 4650 is built on the 55 nm
manufacturing process and employs
a total of 320 stream processors
operating on a 128-bit interface. The
memory and core speeds are clocked
at 600 MHz and 500 MHz respectively,
and it comes with a total of 1 GB DDR3
memory. This graphics card comes fit
with an active cooler that keeps the
SPECIFICATIONS graphics processor temperature at
Rs 3,850 moderate levels at all times.
GPU: Radeon HD 4650; DirectX support: 10.1; Core speed: 600 The HD 4650 has been particularly
MHz; Memory: 1 GB DDR3 500 MHz; Stream processors: 320;
designed to meet the most basic
Video outputs: Dual-DVI.
necessities of entry-level users, while
CONTACT Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd
PHONE 022-67090828 keeping the price at a bare minimum.
EMAIL response@rptechindia.com To this end, even the overall bundled
RATINGS package contains just the driver CD.
FEATURES The back panel ports comprise of just
PERFORMANCE
WARRANTY
two DVI ports and the card features a
OVERALL RATING single-slot design. Since the Radeon HD
VALUE FOR MONEY
4650 is aimed at entry-level users for
casual use, the card does not require an
external power connector, since the PCIe
slot provides all the power required for
it to run.
Even though the card isn’t essentially
made for gaming, the Radeon HD 4650
is still capable of handling games at
fairly decent resolutions. If you take
a look at the scores, the XFX Radeon
HD 4650 scored the highest of all the
graphics cards in 3DMark Vantage.
Both Left 4 Dead and Race Driver: Grid
returned a playable frame rate score
of 47 fps and 36 fps at a maximum
resolution of 1920x1080, although this
was only achieved by disabling anti-
aliasing. Moreover, for a demanding
game such as Crysis Warhead, the HD
4650 performed rather well and gave
a score of 48 fps at 1440x900 with the
mode set to Performance. Anything
beyond this resolution is not advisable,
as frame rates will begin to drop
considerably.
However, the XFX Radeon HD 4650 is
also a great choice for users who are on
a tight budget and find the need to turn
their PC into an entertainment hub.
VERDICT: The XFX Radeon HD 4650
fits the bill if the need is to build an
HTPC along with a little casual gaming.
FOR: Decent cooler, low noise.
AGAINST: Average performance.

78 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

11 12 13 14 15
XFX RADEON HD 4550 BIG GEFORCE 210 SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 4350 VTX3D RADEON HD 5450 SPARKLE GEFORCE 210
Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd BIG Byte Corporation Aditya Infotech Ltd Intratech Computers Pvt Ltd Abacus Peripherals Pvt Ltd
022-67090828 9320204803 011-46665666 9891791933 022-40914603
response@rptechindia.com bakul@bigbyteindia.com pl_yadav@adityagroup.com manoj@intratech.co.in enquiry@abacusperipherals.com
Rs 2,400 Rs 2,370 Rs 2,500 Rs 2,500 Rs 2,500
3 years 3 years 3 years 3 years 3 years

58 61 59 61 61
44 39 40 39 36

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

625 MHz | 55 nm | 80
512 MB DDR2 500 MHz
Active | DirectX 10.1
✔|✔|✖|✖
✖|✖
589 MHz | 40 nm | 16 600 MHz | 55 nm | 80 650 MHz | 40 nm | 80 589 MHz | 40 nm | 16
512 MB DDR2 400 MHz 512 MB DDR2 400 MHz 512 MB DDR2 400 MHz 512 MB DDR2 400 MHz
Active | DirectX 10.1 Passive | DirectX 10.1 Passive | DirectX 11 Active | DirectX 10.1
✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔
✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖

4859 4196 4259 4804 4281

34 fps | 26 fps | 25 fps 26 fps | 21 fps | 19 fps 29 fps | 23 fps | 21 fps 27 fps | 22 fps | 20 fps 27 fps | 21 fps | 20 fps

23 fps | 18 fps | 17 fps 31 fps | 24 fps | 22 fps 35 fps | 28 fps | 22 fps 31 fps | 27 fps | 20 fps 15 fps | 12 fps | 9 fps

24 fps | 18 fps | 16 fps 21 fps | 16 fps | 14 fps 19 fps | 14 fps | 12 fps 19 fps | 15 fps | 12 fps 21 fps | 16 fps | 14 fps

R
etailed at the sweet spot of
a mere Rs 2,450, the Zotac
GeForce 210 Synergy graphics
card bagged the Best Value award
in the entry-level comparison simply
because of the features it offers and the
performance it delivers at a low price.
The card has an excellent low-profile
and single-slot design with DVI, D-sub
and HDMI interface. It is built using a 16
core 40 nm GeForce 210 chipset clocked
at 590 MHz with 512 MB 400 MHz of
DDR2 memory. Zotac claims that the
card consumes a maximum of 30.5
Watts of power at full load, making it
ideal for use in an HTPC or for casual
gaming.
The GPU features Nvidia PureVideo
HD video processing and an HDMI 1.3a
interface for 7.1-channel digital audio
ENTRY LEVEL
average frame rates of around 21 fps on
Crysis Warhead.
It is bundled with two low-height ZOTAC GEFORCE 210 SYNERGY
rear-panel brackets for a comfortable
fit in mini-ITX cabinets, making this
an excellent choice for building an
HTPC. The product also bundles the
ZOTAC Boost video application which
includes vReveal, Super LoiLoScope
Venus and Badaboom Media Converter.
Each of these is designed to take
maximum advantage of the Nvidia
CUDA technology and exploit the true
potential of the GPU. BitDefender’s SPECIFICATIONS
Internet Security also joins the ZOTAC Rs 2,450
Boost bundle for system protection. The GPU: GeForce GT 210; DirectX support: 10.1; Core speed: 589
MHz; Memory: 512 MB DDR3 400 MHz; Stream processors: 16;
manufacturer provides 5-year warranty,
Video outputs: DVI, HDMI, D-Sub.
making the Zotac GeForce 210 Synergy
CONTACT Aditya Infotech Ltd
an excellent choice for those opting for PHONE 011-46665666
the best performance at a low price. EMAIL sales@adityagroup.com

output, along with 1080p resolutions VERDICT: The Zotac GeForce 210 RATINGS
for a full HD movie experience. You Synergy graphics card is ideal for those FEATURES
PERFORMANCE
would need a compatible HD video looking for a low-profile, low-power- WARRANTY
player such as CyberLink PowerDVD to consuming, and low-priced graphics card OVERALL RATING
VALUE FOR MONEY
take full advantage of the PureVideo for casual gaming and/or HTPC builds.
HD technology. The performance FOR: Low profile, above average
tests reveal that, apart from HTPC performance.
applications, the Zotac GeForce 210 can AGAINST: HD video playback software
also be used for casual gaming, with not bundled.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 79

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

SpecScan
1 2 3
CATEGORY MAINSTREAM
NAME XFX RADEON HD 5750 XXX ED. ZOTAC GEFORCE 9600 GT SYNERGY ZOTAC GEFORCE GTS 250 AMP!
Contact Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd Aditya Infotech Ltd Aditya Infotech Ltd
Phone 022-67090828 011-46665666 011-46665666
E-mail response@rptechindia.com sales@adityagroup.com sales@adityagroup.com
Price* Rs 8,750 Rs 4,800 Rs 9,000
OVERALL
Features 81 61 74

Performance (60%) 91 52 86

Warranty (10%) 60 100 100

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Overall (out of 100) 85 60 84

Value For Money
FEATURES
Chipset Radeon HD 5750 GeForce 9600 GT GeForce GTS 250
GPU
Fab process 40 nm 65 nm 65 nm
Core speed 740 MHz 600 MHz 750 MHz
No. of stream processors 720 64 128
Memory
Total amount 1 GB 1 GB 1 GB
Type DDR5 DDR3 DDR3
Speed 1200 MHz 800 MHz 1150 MHz
Bus width 128-bit 256-bit 256-bit
Cooling
Type of cooler Active Active Active
Heat sink available for memory ✖ ✖ ✔
DirectX support DirectX 11 DirectX 10 DirectX 10
Form factor Dual slot design Single slot design Dual slot design
PCIE power Required Not required Required
Backpanel Ports
D-sub ✖ ✖ ✖
DVI ✔ ✔ ✔
DisplayPort ✔ ✖ ✖
HDMI ✔ ✖ ✖
Bundled games ✖ ✖ ✔
Bundled adapters: DVI | HDMI to DVI ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✔|✔
PERFORMANCE
3DMark Vantage (Performance mode)
GPU 7956 3802 6924
Left 4 Dead
1440x900 - Very High - 8x MSAA 65 fps 38 fps 58 fps
1680x1050 - Very High - 8x MSAA 55 fps 26 fps 48 fps
1920x1080 - Very High - 8x MSAA 51 fps 28 fps 43 fps
Race Driver: Grid
1440x900 - 8x MSAA 100 fps 56 fps 77 fps
1680x1050 - 8x MSAA 88 fps 45 fps 59 fps
1920x1080 - 8x MSAA 75 fps 39 fps 55 fps
Crysis Warhead
1440x900 - Gamer - No AA 39 fps 25 fps 42 fps
1680x1050 - Mainstream - 8x AA 58 fps 37 fps 65 fps
1920x1080 - Mainstream - 8x AA 52 fps 33 fps 58 fps
WARRANTY
Warranty period 3 years 5 years 5 years
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

80 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

4 5 6 7 8
ZOTAC GEFORCE GTS 250 SPARKLE GEFORCE GTS 250 SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 5750 ZOTAC GEFORCE GTS 250 ASUS EAH 5750 FORMULA
Aditya Infotech Ltd Abacus Peripherals Pvt Ltd Aditya Infotech Ltd Aditya Infotech Ltd Asus Technology Pvt Ltd
011-46665666 022-40914603 011-46665666 011-46665666 1800-209-0365
sales@adityagroup.com enquiry@abacusperipherals.com pl_yadav@adityagroup.com sales@adityagroup.com media_india@asus.com
Rs 7,700 Rs 10,000 Rs 10,000 Rs 7,100 Rs 9,900

76 69 79 68 69

83 91 87 83 84

100 60 60 100 60

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

83 81 82 80 77

GeForce GTS 250 GeForce GTS 250 Radeon HD 5750 GeForce GTS 250 Radeon HD 5750

55 nm 64 nm 40 nm 55 nm 40 nm
740 MHz 738 MHz 700 MHz 740 MHz 700 MHz
128 128 720 128 720

1 GB 512 MB 1 GB 512 MB 1 GB
DDR3 DDR3 DDR5 DDR3 DDR5
1100 MHz 1100 MHz 1150 MHz 1100 MHz 1150 MHz
256-bit 256-bit 128-bit 256-bit 128-bit

Active Active Active Active Active

✖ ✖ ✖ ✖ ✖
DirectX 10 DirectX 10 DirectX 11 DirectX 10 DirectX 11
Dual slot design Dual slot design Dual slot design Dual slot design Dual slot design
Required Required Required Required Required

✔ ✔ ✖ ✖ ✔
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
✖ ✖ ✔ ✖ ✖
✔ ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
✖ ✖ ✖ ✔ ✖
✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✔ ✖|✔

6664 6726 7582 6664 7619

51 fps 57 fps 61 fps 57 fps 61 fps

43 fps 47 fps 52 fps 47 fps 52 fps
39 fps 42 fps 48 fps 42 fps 48 fps

86 fps 123 fps 93 fps 74 fps 75 fps

68 fps 104 fps 83 fps 59 fps 67 fps
61 fps 89 fps 76 fps 47 fps 63 fps

41 fps 40 fps 37 fps 41 fps 37 fps

63 fps 62 fps 55 fps 63 fps 55 fps
56 fps 55 fps 49 fps 56 fps 50 fps

5 years 3 years 3 years 5 years 3 years

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 81

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

SpecScan
9 10 11
CATEGORY MAINSTREAM
NAME XFX GEFORCE GTS 250 BIG GEFORCE GTS 250 SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 4850
Contact Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd BIG Byte Corporation Aditya Infotech Ltd
Phone 022-67090828 9320204803 011-46665666
E-mail response@rptechindia.com bakul@bigbyteindia.com pl_yadav@adityagroup.com
Price* Rs 7,500 Rs 7,700 Rs 7,200
Warranty 3 years 3 years 3 years
OVERALL
Features (30%) 67 74 64
Performance (60%) 84 80 81

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Value For Money (out of 5)

FEATURES
GPU: Core speed | Fab | Stream 680 MHz | 65 nm | 128 738 MHz | 65 nm | 128 625 MHz | 55 nm | 800
Memory 512 MB, DDR3 1000 MHz 1 GB, DDR3 999 MHz 512 MB, DDR3 933 MHz
Type of cooler | DirectX support Active | DirectX 10 Active | DirectX 10 Active | DirectX 10.1
Backpanel Ports ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔
Bundled adapters: DVI | HDMI to DVI ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖
PERFORMANCE
3DMark Vantage (GPU - Performance mode) 6119 6300 7232
Left 4 Dead
1440x900 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1080 54 fps | 45 fps | 40 fps 49 fps | 42 fps | 37 fps 61 fps | 51 fps | 47 fps
Race Driver: Grid
1440x900 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1080 116 fps | 93 fps | 81 fps 81 fps | 69 fps | 60 fps 79 fps | 64 fps | 57 fps
Crysis Warhead
1440x900 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1080 37 fps | 57 fps | 50 fps 39 fps | 61 fps | 54 fps 35 fps | 52 fps | 47 fps

SpecScan
17 18 19
CATEGORY MAINSTREAM
NAME ZOTAC GEFORCE GT 240 XFX GEFORCE GT 240 ZOTAC GEFORCE GT 240
Contact Aditya Infotech Ltd Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd Aditya Infotech Ltd
Phone 011-46665666 022-67090828 011-46665666
E-mail sales@adityagroup.com response@rptechindia.com sales@adityagroup.com
Price* Rs 5,300 Rs 5,800 Rs 5,300
Warranty 5 years 3 years 5 years
OVERALL
Features (30%) 64 69 61
Performance (60%) 50 50 43

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Value For Money (out of 5)

FEATURES
GPU: Core speed | Fab | Stream 550 MHz | 40 nm | 96 550 MHz | 40 nm | 96 550 MHz | 40 nm | 96
Memory 512 MB, DDR5 1700 MHz 512 MB, DDR5 1700 MHz 1 GB, DDR3 790 MHz
Type of cooler | DirectX support Active | DirectX 10.1 Active | DirectX 10.1 Active | DirectX 10.1
Backpanel Ports ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔
Bundled adapters: DVI | HDMI to DVI ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖
PERFORMANCE
3DMark Vantage (GPU - Performance mode) 4344 4368 3440
Left 4 Dead
1440x900 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1080 32 fps | 26 fps | 24 fps 33 fps | 27 fps | 24 fps 28 fps | 22 fps | 20 fps
Race Driver: Grid
1440x900 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1080 46 fps | 33 fps | 25 fps 46 fps | 33 fps | 26 fps 52 fps | 34 fps | 26 fps
Crysis Warhead
1440x900 | 1680x1050 | 1920x1080 25 fps | 38 fps | 34 fps 25 fps | 38 fps | 34 fps 20 fps | 33 fps | 29 fps
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra.

82 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON

12 13 14 15 16
VTX3D RADEON HD 4850 ZOTAC GEFORCE 9800 GT SYNERGY XFX RADEON HD 5670 ASUS EAH 5670 PALIT GT 240 SONIC ED.
Intratech Computers Pvt Ltd Aditya Infotech Ltd Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd Asus Technology Pvt Ltd Mediaman Infotech Pvt Ltd
9891791933 011-46665666 022-67090828 1800-209-0365 022-43441111
manoj@intratech.co.in sales@adityagroup.com response@rptechindia.com media_india@asus.com dhairesh@mediamangroup.com
Rs 7,300 Rs 6,300 Rs 6,600 Rs 8,500 Rs 7,000
3 years 5 years 3 years 3 years 3 years

70 63 74 70 73
79 61 62 62 56
0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

625 MHz | 55 nm | 800 550 MHz | 65 nm | 112 775 MHz | 40 nm | 400 775 MHz | 40 nm | 400 585 MHz | 40 nm | 96
1 GB, DDR3 950 MHz 1 GB, DDR3 800 MHz 512 MB, DDR5 1000 MHz 1 GB, DDR5 1000 MHz 1 GB, DDR5 1890 MHz
Active | DirectX 10.1 Passive | DirectX 10 Active | DirectX 11 Active | DirectX 11 Active | DirectX 10.1
✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✖|✔|✔|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔
✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✔|✖ ✔|✖

7063 4746 5124 5053 4752

60 fps | 50 fps | 46 fps 44 fps | 36 fps | 32 fps 50 fps | 41 fps | 37 fps 50 fps | 41 fps | 37 fps 38 fps | 30 fps | 24 fps

74 fps | 65 fps | 59 fps 52 fps | 44 fps | 39 fps 53 fps | 44 fps | 37 fps 54 fps | 46 fps | 42 fps 68 fps | 46 fps | 36 fps

34 fps | 51 fps | 46 fps 29 fps | 45 fps | 40 fps 27 fps | 40 fps | 36 fps 27 fps | 40 fps | 36 fps 26 fps | 41 fps | 36 fps

20 21 22 23 24
XFX GEFORCE 9600 GT SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 4670 VTX3D RADEON HD 4670 XFX RADEON HD 4670 BIG GEFORCE GT 240
Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd Aditya Infotech Ltd Intratech Computers Pvt Ltd Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd BIG Byte Corporation
022-67090828 011-46665666 9891791933 022-67090828 9320204803
response@rptechindia.com pl_yadav@adityagroup.com manoj@intratech.co.in response@rptechindia.com bakul@bigbyteindia.com
Rs 4,750 Rs 5,350 Rs 4,400 Rs 4,700 Rs 5,570
3 years 3 years 3 years 3 years 3 years

61 67 67 67 62
48 41 41 42 43

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

600 MHz | 65 nm | 48 750 MHz | 55 nm | 320 750 MHz | 55 nm | 320 750 MHz | 55 nm | 320 550 MHz | 40 nm | 96
512 MB, DDR3 700 MHz 1 GB, DDR3 800 MHz 1 GB, DDR3 800 MHz 1 GB, DDR3 800 MHz 1 GB, DDR3 900 MHz
Active | DirectX 10 Active | DirectX 10.1 Active | DirectX 10.1 Active | DirectX 10.1 Active | DirectX 10.1
✖|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔ ✔|✔|✖|✔
✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖ ✖|✖

2899 2946 2890 2952 3638

35 fps | 28 fps | 25 fps 32 fps | 26 fps | 23 fps 32 fps | 25 fps | 23 fps 33 fps | 26 fps | 23 fps 28 fps | 23 fps | 20 fps

74 fps | 59 fps | 50 fps 40 fps | 33 fps | 31 fps 40 fps | 34 fps | 30 fps 39 fps | 34 fps | 31 fps 37 fps | 27 fps | 22 fps

20 fps | 29 fps | 26 fps 19 fps | 28 fps | 25 fps 19 fps | 27 fps | 24 fps 19 fps | 28 fps | 25 fps 22 fps | 35 fps | 31 fps

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 83

 FEATURED
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON
MAINSTREAM
I
f you ever thought that you would
need to spend a bomb to purchase a
XFX RADEON HD 5750 XXX ED. good graphics card, we suggest you
think again. With the fall in prices, there
couldn’t have been a better time to get
your hands on one. The XFX Radeon
HD 5750 is not only one of the more
affordable mainstream cards, but is also
the best performing graphics card under
Rs. 10,000.
The Radeon HD 5750 is based on a
40 nm manufacturing process, with a
factory overclocked core and memory
SPECIFICATIONS speed that run at a sweet 740 MHz
Rs 8,750 and 1200 MHz respectively. Moreover,
GPU: Radeon HD5750; DirectX support: 11; Core speed: 740 the HD 5750 comes with a total of 720
MHz; Memory: 1 GB DDR5 1200 MHz; Stream processors: 720; stream processors operating on a 128-bit
Video outputs: Dual-DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort.
interface. The overall bus width might
CONTACT Rashi Peripherals Pvt Ltd
PHONE 022-67090828 not be much, but it definitely surpasses
EMAIL response@rptechindia.com expectations with its 1 GB of GDDR5
memory.
RATINGS
FEATURES The XFX Radeon HD 5750 features
PERFORMANCE a dual slot design and comes with an
WARRANTY
OVERALL RATING open air cooler and draws power from
VALUE FOR MONEY a single six-pin PCIe power connector.
The rear panel sports two DVI ports, an
HDMI port, and Display port. One thing
that must be noted is that the HD 5750
MAINSTREAM
ZOTAC GEFORCE 9600 GT SYNERGY L aunched in early 2008, the GeForce
9600 GT is today one of the best
GPUs to opt for if you’re looking for
a good graphics card for under Rs
5,000. The Zotac GeForce 9600 GT
Synergy is a lean version of the regular
9600 GT, which required an additional
power supply. Zotac has managed to
do away with the additional power
supply by lowering the core speed and
memory speed by 50 MHz and 100 MHz
respectively. As a result, Zotac claims
that this card consumes 40 percent
SPECIFICATIONS
less power. There isn’t much change in
Rs 4,800 the design of the card; the length is the
GPU: GeForce 9600 GT; DirectX support: 10; Core speed: 600 same, but the cooler is slightly smaller
MHz; Memory: 1 GB DDR3 800 MHz; Stream processors: 64;
Video outputs: Dual-DVI. because the heat dissipation is now
CONTACT Aditya Infotech Ltd lower. The heat sink is a 12 cm-wide
PHONE 011-46665666 finned aluminum block fitted with a 55
EMAIL sales@adityagroup.com
mm fan. The rear panel has two DVI
RATINGS ports and an S-video port. One positive
FEATURES
here is that this card occupies only a
PERFORMANCE
WARRANTY single PCI Express slot and doesn’t
OVERALL RATING block any expansion slot below it.
VALUE FOR MONEY
Coming to performance, this card is
almost as good as a GT 240 with DDR5
memory. The latter is a latest-generation
GPU that also doesn’t require additional
84 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
makes use ATI’s Eyefinity, which basically
means that you can connect a maximum
of three monitors.
With the memory already bumped
up and with 1 GB of GDDR5, the card
handled Left 4 Dead and Race Driver
Grid without even breaking a sweat.
With resolutions set to 1920x1080 at
8x MSAA, the card returned frame rates
of 51 fps for Left 4 Dead and a whopping
75 fps for Race Driver: Grid. Moreover,
to be able to represent ultra realistic
environments, games such as Crysis
Warhead demand higher and faster
memory. This is why the HD 5750
comes with GDDR5 memory. Crysis
Warhead never looked this good on a
mainstream card.
The game returned a very playable
52 fps in Mainstream mode with the
resolution set to 1920x1080 and AA set
at 8x.
VERDICT: Excellent performance and
affordability makes this card a must
have for mainstream gamers.
FOR: Affordability, performance, ATI
Eyefinity.
AGAINST: Absolutely nothing.
power. However, it costs around Rs 500
more than this card. Hence, this 9600
GT Synergy ought to provide the best
bang for your buck in its segment. With
visual effects set to highest and 8x AA,
it delivered 38 fps at 1440x900 in Left 4
Dead, but at 1680x1050 and 1920x1080,
it struggled to churn out 28 fps, which
isn’t too bad. Race Driver: Grid was
absolutely smooth. Even at 1920x1080
with 8xAA, the game was playable at 39
fps. We thought this card would take a
beating in Crysis Warhead, but it fared
very well, with 39 fps at 1920x1080 in
mainstream mode with 8xAA. It couldn’t
handle gamer mode, which looks much
better than mainstream mode. At
1440x900, it could manage only 25 fps,
which wasn’t much fun because the
game play was jerky. Nevertheless, for
its price, this card is certainly a great
performer.
VERDICT: Pick this card if you want a
brilliant performer for under Rs 5,000.
FOR: Doesn’t require additional power,
single slot design, good performance.
AGAINST: Should have had an HDMI
port or come with an HDMI adapter.
 GPU core Memory DirectX
NAME Memory Price* Warranty VFM# Performance* Features* PCIE power D-sub DVI DisplayPort HDMI
speed Speed support

ENTRY LEVEL
BIG GeForce 210 512 MB DDR2 Rs 2,370 3 years 4 39 61 589 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
XFX Radeon HD 4550 512 MB DDR2 Rs 2,400 3 years 4 44 58 625 MHz 500 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✖
Zotac GeForce 210 Synergy 512 MB DDR2 Rs 2,450 5 years 5 40 61 590 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Sapphire Radeon HD 4350 512 MB DDR2 Rs 2,500 3 years 4 40 59 600 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
VTX3D Radeon HD 5450 512 MB DDR2 Rs 2,500 3 years 4 39 61 650 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 11 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Sparkle GeForce 210 512 MB DDR2 Rs 2,500 3 years 4 36 61 589 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
VTX3D Radeon HD 4650 1 GB DDR2 Rs 3,400 3 years 3.5 74 73 600 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
BIG GeForce 9500 GT 1 GB DDR2 Rs 3,490 3 years 3.5 78 67 550 MHz 533 MHz DirectX 10 Not required ✖ ✔ ✖ ✖
Zotac GeForce 9500 GT Zone 512 MB DDR3 Rs 3,500 5 years 4.5 85 65 550 MHz 800 MHz DirectX 10 Not required ✖ ✔ ✖ ✖
Zotac GeForce 220 Synergy 512 MB DDR2 Rs 3,600 5 years 4 81 68 625 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
XFX Radeon HD 4650 1 GB DDR2 Rs 3,850 3 years 3.5 86 69 600 MHz 500 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✖ ✔ ✖ ✖
XFX GeForce GT220 1 GB DDR2 Rs 4,200 3 years 3 76 74 625 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 1 GB DDR2 Rs 4,250 3 years 3 84 73 600 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
BIG GeForce GT220 1 GB DDR2 Rs 4,370 3 years 3 84 74 625 MHz 400 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
XFX Radeon HD 5450 1 GB DDR3 Rs 4,700 3 years 2.5 50 83 650 MHz 800 MHz DirectX 11 Not required ✔ ✔ ✔ ✖
MAINSTREAM
VTX3D Radeon HD 4670 1 GB DDR3 Rs 4,400 3 years 4.5 41 67 750 MHz 800 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
XFX Radeon HD 4670 1 GB DDR3 Rs 4,700 3 years 4 42 67 750 MHz 800 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
XFX GeForce 9600 GT 512 MB DDR3 Rs 4,750 3 years 4 48 61 600 MHz 700 MHz DirectX 10 Not required ✖ ✔ ✖ ✔
Zotac GeForce 9600 GT Synergy 1 GB DDR3 Rs 4,800 5 years 5 52 61 600 MHz 800 MHz DirectX 10 Not required ✖ ✔ ✖ ✖
Zotac GeForce GT 240 512 MB DDR5 Rs 5,300 5 years 4.5 50 64 550 MHz 1700 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Zotac GeForce GT 240 1 GB DDR3 Rs 5,300 5 years 4.5 43 61 550 MHz 790 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 1 GB DDR3 Rs 5,350 3 years 3.5 41 67 750 MHz 800 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
BIG GeForce GT 240 1 GB DDR3 Rs 5,570 3 years 3.5 43 62 550 MHz 900 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
XFX GeForce GT 240 512 MB DDR5 Rs 5,800 3 years 3.5 50 69 550 MHz 1700 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Zotac GeForce 9800 GT 1 GB DDR3 Rs 6,300 5 years 4 61 63 550 MHz 800 MHz DirectX 10 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
XFX Radeon HD 5670 512 MB DDR5 Rs 6,600 3 years 3.5 62 74 775 MHz 1000 MHz DirectX 11 Not required ✖ ✔ ✔ ✔
Palit GT 240 Sonic Ed. 1 GB DDR5 Rs 7,000 3 years 3 56 73 585 MHz 1890 MHz DirectX 10.1 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Zotac GeForce GTS 250 512 MB DDR3 Rs 7,100 5 years 4 83 68 740 MHz 1100 MHz DirectX 10 Required ✖ ✔ ✖ ✖
Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512 MB DDR3 Rs 7,200 3 years 3 81 64 625 MHz 933 MHz DirectX 10.1 Required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
VTX3D Radeon HD 4850 1 GB DDR3 Rs 7,300 3 years 3 79 70 625 MHz 950 MHz DirectX 10.1 Required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
XFX GeForce GT 250 512 MB DDR3 Rs 7,500 3 years 3 84 67 680 MHz 1000 MHz DirectX 10 Required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Zotac GeForce GTS 250 1 GB DDR3 Rs 7,700 5 years 4 83 76 740 MHz 1100 MHz DirectX 10 Required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
BIG GeForce GTS 250 1 GB DDR3 Rs 7,700 3 years 3 80 74 738 MHz 999 MHz DirectX 10 Required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Asus EAH 5670 1 GB DDR5 Rs 8,500 3 years 2.5 62 70 775 MHz 1000 MHz DirectX 11 Not required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

XFX Radeon HD 5750 XXX Ed. 1 GB DDR5 Rs 8,750 3 years 3 91 81 740 MHz 1200 MHz DirectX 11 Required ✖ ✔ ✔ ✔
Zotac GeForce GTS 250 AMP! 1 GB DDR3 Rs 9,000 5 years 3.5 86 74 750 MHz 1150 MHz DirectX 10 Required ✖ ✔ ✖ ✖
Asus EAH 5750 Formula 1 GB DDR5 Rs 9,900 3 years 2.5 84 69 700 MHz 1150 MHz DirectX 11 Required ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔

04/2010
FEATURED

Sapphire Radeon HD 5750 1 GB DDR5 Rs 10,000 3 years 2.5 87 79 700 MHz 1150 MHz DirectX 11 Required ✖ ✔ ✔ ✔
Sparkle GeForce GTS 250 512 MB DDR3 Rs 10,000 3 years 2.5 91 69 738 MHz 1100 MHz DirectX 10 Required

85
✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
* Prices are indicative and are subject to change, taxes extra. * = out of 100, # = out of 5
GRAPHICS CARDS COMPARISON
 FEATURED
HIGH-SPEED PC
High-speed for the PC
The CPU is not the only part of your computer that handles computing anymore. Graphics cards
can be used to get ten times the speed from your system for certain tasks.
BY THOMAS LITTSCHWAGER
I
f you work with a lot of complex
programs on your PC, you need
a lot of processing capacity. For
the longest time, you were forced to
spend on more powerful CPUs to get
better performance. However, the GPU
(Graphics Processing Unit), which can
be found on the graphics card, can
now offload that work. Games demand
complex processes that need to be
carried out in realtime, which means
that a GPU often has to process more
than the CPU. Thus, graphics cards
are clocked at up to 1000 MHz, have
super-fast memory, and up to 2 GB of
dedicated RAM. You can hardly ask for a
better co-processor in the system.
Clever programmers, supported by
GPU manufacturers, came up with the
idea to use the processing capacity
of graphics cards in a different way:
for video processing, flow simulations
or market price predictions. Three
years ago, Nvidia developed CUDA
(Compute Unified Device Architecture), a
programming environment through which
some program processes can be run
on the graphics chip. Only Nvidia chips
starting from the GeForce 8000 series
onwards supported this. Their competitor
AMD supports the general standard
OpenCL, pioneered by a company called
the Khronos Group (which Nvidia now
also supports), using which you can
share your programs’ workloads on
OpenCL-compatible processors (CPU and
GPU). Even Microsoft approved of this
development, equipping the new DirectX
11 instructions set with a new interface
(Direct Compute), using which, you can
run program processes on the GPU.
The technology
With the software side taken care of,
GPU makers can promise improvements
in performance of several hundred
percent. But why are there so few
programs which use the GPU’s power?
And how does the GPU manage to be
so fast? GPUs and CPUs function very
86 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
differently, and handle different types
of processes better. Current CPUs have
up to four cores, with maybe double
that number in the form of virtual cores
via Hyper Threading (to use unused
processing capacity) to get up to eight
processing cores per CPU. Six core/12
thread CPUs will become common soon.
This means a large number of
processing threads can run in parallel.
CPU cores are developed for general
tasks, so they are flexible and can cope
with varied situations. They are also
designed to accommodate completely
different threads in every single clock tick
on every single core.
Hundreds of cores in a GPU
Today, graphics chips offer up to
240 cores; 40 times greater than
modern CPUs, even though they are
conceptually different and cannot
handle many different types of tasks.
The Radeon 5000 series by ATI has up
to 1,600 processing units. These cores
(also known as stream processors in
GPUs) take on one thread each, but
are packed into clusters that can only
make use of one processing operation
on the threads they handle. A GPU is
therefore unsuitable for complex tasks
which require multiple different types
of processing. However, many programs
demand only one operation, such as
counting the number of times a particular
word has appeared in a book. It is
exactly here that a GPU can show off its
awesome total processing power. The
CPU has to start on page 1, go through
the text word by word, and stop at the
last page. A GPU, on the other hand,
divides the book into many small parts,
distributes them to all its cores, and then
simply counts the appearance of the
word in a fraction of the time.
The actual real-world processes that
best use this capability are found in
video and scientific editing work. There
are no book pages, but instead repeated
additions and multiplications of floating
point numbers in big matrices; always
the exact same operation carried out for
thousands of numbers.
If a program demands numerous
types of processes, a GPU cannot keep
up because of slower clock rates and
restrictions in individual processing steps.
The flexible cores of the CPU have a
strong advantage at this point. However,
if the processes and data packets are
very similar, the GPU cores, which are
arranged in parallel masses, get cracking
with spectacular results.
Making software work
The specialization of GPU core design is,
however, not the main limitation when
programming software. The greatest
difficulty is posed by parallelism. It must
be possible to divide a program into at
least 240 parts (or threads) to be able
to use 240 cores. These must all be
completely independent of each other
so that one thread can be processed
parallel to another. In the end, you do not
know which thread is processed when, so
even the sequence needs to be irrelevant.
Current CPUs also experience the same
problem, but you have only eight threads
to grapple with, not 240 or more. Many
programs have problems with eight
threads as well, and it’s true that there
is hardly any software today that makes
full use of a current CPU.
Many programs cannot be parallelized,
or it is extremely difficult to do so. The
reason is the compilers, which are tools
that develop working software from
a program code, which basically need
to analyze the code and find elements
that can be parallelized. However, this
automatic mechanism often fails. If the
input of a process depends on the output
of another process and the location at
which either of the processes takes place
is not certain, automating a sequence of
processes fails.
A programmer could manually
determine whether parallelization is
possible for any part of his program
SMS us!  Story code: FHS to 51818

TWO PROCESSING POWERHOUSES IN DIRECT COMPARISON
This benchmark shows how much the GPU support can accelerate a program by. An HP
Z800 workstation with 16 cores was competing against a PC with an Nvidia GeForce
GTX 295 with 480 cores.
Task: Video encoding (H.264) with CyberLink’s PowerDirector 8.
Result: The Z800 workstation took 10:12 minutes for the conversion whereas the PC
with GTX 295 took just one-fourth of that time.
Intel Core i7
There are up to four real cores with separate L2 caches in current
Intel CPUs; each can process two threads, which leads to eight
virtual cores. A common L3 cache ensures smooth data flow bet-
ween all cores.
Memory controller
Core
Ker
n 3
Ker
n 2
Ker
n 1
Ker
Uncore
L3 cache
code, but he’ll have to fight his way
through thousands and thousands of
program lines. And you cannot divide
every program into several threads
even manually. If every processing step
depends on the result of the previous
process, it is all over for parallelization
and the program has to remain serial.
That, of course, makes it unsuitable for
GPU processing.
In spite of all these difficulties, there
are now more programs which benefit
from a graphics chip than there were two
years ago.
Speeds up to 20x faster
Utilizing the graphics card power can
result in massive speed advantages. If
you have an ATI graphics card of the HD
3000 or HD 4000 series, or an Nvidia
graphics card from the GeForce 8000
series onwards, your PC is ready for
a massive performance leap. You can
check whether your Nvidia graphics card
is CUDA compatible with the Cuda-Z
tool (http://sourceforge.net/projects/
cuda-z/). You only need suitable
software now. Not many free tools are
Graphics processor
The GPU found inside Nvidia’s GeForce GTX295 graphics cards has
40x more processing units: 240 stream processors form ten thread
processing clusters.
Control unit
Local memory
Memory controller
L2 cache
Thread distributor
Thread Processing-
n 4 Cluster
L2 cache
Raster Operation
Processor
available at present, which benefit from
the power of a graphics card, but you
can achieve a massive improvement in
the performance by using paid ones.
Even multimedia tools, especially
video and photo editors, in which the
same process is carried out on a lot of
independent data, are ideal for running
on a GPU. A majority of the programs
which benefit from the power of graphics
cards can be found within the scope of
video conversion and processing.
CyberLink has taken up the position
of a pioneer and provided GPU support
to its most important programs.
PowerDirector from version 7 onwards
benefits from AMD as well as Nvidia
cards. In addition to a few video filters -
additional light sources or color convers
ions - the power of graphics cards is
basically used when rendering HD films
with the H.264 codec. Encoding time
falls to almost one-third when using
graphics cards. The H.264 codec is
also used by the CyberLink MediaShow
Espresso conversion tool, which converts
a film with the click of a mouse into
iPod, PSP or Xbox formats. In this
FEATURED
HIGH-SPEED PC
HP Workstation Z800
10:12 min.
PC with a modern graphics card
2:34 min.
Stream
processors
Texture units
L1 Cache
ILLUSTRTION: HARALD FUCHSLOCH
tool, the conversion process takes only
one-fourth of the time that is otherwise
required.
A less glamorous but equally
important function is present in
CyberLink Power DVD 9. This program
upscales DVDs, which have been
recorded in a resolution of 720x576
pixels, into HD screen format. Without
the GPU, the DVD would be like a slide
show when converted with a normal PC.
Badaboom by Elemental Technology
takes a special position amongst video
programs. This one also basically helps
to convert a video from one format
into another, but you can get a massive
speed advantage with it. A one-minute
film is converted in 20 seconds via a
GPU versus about six minutes via CPU
(although this is the case only with a
weak CPU). We still experienced 10x
faster performance in our test systems.
You also have programs that offer
completely new functions thanks to
the GPU support. The best example
is Adobe’s Photoshop CS4. With the
GPU support, it is possible to smoothly
zoom in to a high-resolution picture and
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 87
 FEATURED
HIGH-SPEED PC

CPU AND GRAPHICS PROCESSORS IN COMPARISON

A classic CPU or a graphics chip? The choice depends on the processing task. GPUs beat the flexible
CPUs in spite of their considerably lower clock rate when processing multiple similar data packets.

Different data packets: CPU advantage

Dual-core CPU Graphics processor
If the requirements are different, the dual-core CPU can process The GPU cannot work parallely in case of complex problems and
two packets per core parallely. processes the packets individually and at a much slower speed.

Dual-
Core- GPU
CPU

Incoming data packets Processed data packets Incoming data packets Processed data packets

Identical data packets: GPU advantage

Dual-core CPU Graphics processor
The dual-core CPU processes two data packets parallely even in The slower clocked GPU displays its
case of identical tasks. strengths with similar data. Eight shaders
work parallely in the graphics processor.

Dual-
Core- GPU
CPU

Incoming data packets Processed data packets Incoming data packets

Processed data packets

even place 3D layers over the picture.
Folding@home is a scientific application
that runs on many home PCs, processing
molecular-level scientific simulations
to help understand and fight illnesses
better. A special Folding@home client
incorporates the power of the graphics
cards and manages up to 40 times
more power than a normal CPU, and
still 10 times faster than a dual-Xeon
test system. In other words, to reach the
power of a Rs 25,000 graphics card, you
need to buy 20 Xeons, which would cost
approximately Rs 12,50,000.
DirectX and the latest GPUs
The power of a graphics card is far
from exhausted though. Nvidia’s CUDA
supports only one graphics card right
now, but combining the power of
several in SLI configurations is in the
offing. DirectX 11 also makes GPUs the
secondary processing units. Microsoft
has loaded its latest graphics API
with the DirectCompute programming
interface. DirectCompute can be used
to write programs which use the power
of the graphics card’s unified shaders
as independent compute units. These
programmable execution units can
already be used as pixel, vertex and
geometry shaders, but now they will
be able to handle functions outside of
gaming and graphics. Since DirectX has
been the most popular programming
interface for games since its inception
in 1995, it is obviously assumed that
DirectCompute will garner the same
fan base amongst programmers. The
basic advantage here is that it no longer
makes a difference whether you have an
ATI, Nvidia or Intel graphics card.
Last, but not the least, the world is
not going to stick with GPUs in their
traditional roles only. For a long time,
Intel has been planning its Larrabee
project, a processor with several GPU-
inspired cores, all of which are as flexible
as those in a CPU, and which is said to
process graphics as well as programs.
AMD’s Fusion initiative is also headed
in a similar direction. And both ATI and
Nvidia already have plug-in cards, named
FireStream and Tesla respectively,
which are certainly built with graphics
processors, but are not intended for 3D
applications at all (they do not even
have video outputs).
This is the start of an era of
co-processing. The CPU remains a vital
part of the computer, but specialized
processors will take up other tasks, in
the form of plug-in cards, additional
chips on the motherboard, and
eventually, integrated into the CPU.
– feedback@chip.in

88 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

 FEATURED
HTML 5
Video integration
<p> Video integration with html5 </p>
<video src="movie.mp4" controls="controls"> </video>
HTML5: The new language
The current HTML standard 4.01 is ten years old. In this time, the Internet has become rich with
multimedia and interactivity. So it’s definitely time for change!
BY CLAUDIO MÜLLER
V
ideos are really popular on
the web, so it should come
as no surprise that sites like
YouTube, Dailymotion and Vimeo are
among the first few sites to integrate
the new HTML5 standard. HTML stands
for Hypertext Markup Language, the
language in which the basics of the
Internet are written. The standard
specifies rules according to which this
happens. Since Web browser engines
need to be adapted to this, four of the
big browser manufacturers (not including
Microsoft), developed HTML5 comprising
of numerous new functions that help
close the long gap between being a
document-oriented markup language as
it has traditionally been, to becoming an
application-oriented one, as the modern
web demands. Many can now dream of a
revolution on the web.
90 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Protection from iFrames
<p> Securely embedding content with iFrames </p>
<iframe sandbox src="getcontent.cgi?id=45326> </iframe>
Flash killer
With HTML5,
the browser
plays movies
and music
directly on
the website
and without
plug-ins.
Videos without Flash
The core of HTML5 is better integration
of multimedia content. So far, browser
plug-ins such as Adobe’s Flash Player
have been needed to play video and
music. But these consume resources, are
prone to crashes, and most importantly,
are a safety risk. Flash, in particular,
allows a lot of malware to creep into
a PC. In spite of this, almost all big
websites use it to incorporate video,
interactive applications, and other
imaginative content. HTML5 intends to
make a difference here - the new <audio>
and <video> tags enable integration of
media files directly with a web page. A
simple, integrated player plays these files
directly on the page without a plug-in.
All that the browser needs are codecs.
The hitch here: - HTML5 does not specify
any particular codec. Firebox and Opera
Sandbox
This attribute
prevents
iFrames from
loading
dangerous
code from
external sites
have chosen the licence-free Ogg Theora
(video) and Vorbis (audio) codecs, in
order to promote open standards and
keep the web free of any one company’s
license terms. Hence, these browsers
cannot display the HTML5 videos on
YouTube because these require the
H.264 codec, which is only used by
Chrome and Safari. H.264 works well at
higher resolutions, and is more effective
at compression than Theora. Internet
Explorer does not currently support any
HTML video codec.
Another disadvantage of the video
implementation is the lack of support for
acceleration using the graphics card. The
Adobe Flash Player has this capability
as of version 10, and thus remains a
better choice for HD video on the web,
especially on weaker PCs such as the
popular netbooks.
SMS us!  Story code: FH5 to 51818

Graphics rendering
Drawing area
Browser games
are already
the first to
show how the
Canvas function
directly renders
graphics.
<p> Canvas in html5 </p>
<canvas height="400" width="750"> </canvas>
Localization
Navigator
The Geolocation
function can be used
by the browser to
locate the computer
without the need for
an additional plug-in.
function showMap (position)
{ // Show a map centered at
(position.coords.latitude, position.coords.longitude).}
navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(showMap);
The HTML5 “Canvas” function is an starts supporting 3D graphics. At present,
interesting and considerably problem- browser manufacturers are working on
free innovation. It defines an area on the WebGL standard, which will enable
the website where the browser engine the Canvas function to render even
can create its own graphics in real time. complex 3D scenes in real time, using the
Thus, a browser can be instructed to OpenGL graphics library.
draw crisp, scalable vector graphics. Your
website can thus contain an integrated Quick and easy surfing
drawing program, games, or beautiful HTML5 supports multi-threading to avoid
animation all without requiring the user slowdowns that might be caused by
to install Flash or the like. This function Canvas scripts or other functions. Scripts
will become more attractive as soon as it and web applications run in parallel in
FEATURED
HTML 5
separate threads. This will enable quicker
rendering of sites on your screen, and
eliminate jerks while scrolling or delayed
text input on heavy pages. HTML5 also
brings something new when working with
user data. So far, such data has been
stored in small cookies. As opposed to
that, the new Web Storage mechanism
stores data of up to 10 MB on the user's
computer, either permanently or for as
long as the browsing session lasts. While
cookies are limited to plain text files,
Web Storage uses a database that can
stores even whole applications for offline
use. However, this gives hackers new
invasion options, which would affect all
operating systems. HTML5 will, however,
provide more protection in other areas.
One of the biggest safety risks on web
sites today is that of iFrames; sections
in which the content of external sites
are displayed. iFrames infected with
dangerous code can hide on pages,
contaminating visitors’ PCs.
To avoid this, web developers should
use the Sandbox attribute in the future,
instead of iFrames. This will disable or
limit external sites from implementing
scripts, accessing cookies and inserting
or manipulating inputted data.
Further innovations include Web
Forms 2.0 (forms which process
text input better), new tags for page
structuring, and the GeoLocation
attribute. This last one is not an actual
part of the HTML5 standard but can still
be implemented in the browser engine.
GeoLocation is a programming interface
which a Web site can use to locate a
computer without plug-ins. It accesses
the IP address as well as Wi-Fi or
Bluetooth wireless data and can display
the location on a map, opening up new
social interaction methods, for instance.

HTML5: Browsers can already handle these features Soft upgrade, loud effects
Whether and when these new functions
will become widespread is still
unforeseeable. One of the obstacles
is that Internet Explorer, the most
IE 8 Firefox 3.5 Google Chrome 4 Apple Safari 4 Opera 10 entrenched browser, barely supports
Audio/Video ■ ● 1) ● ● ● 1) these features. The lack of a universal
Canvas ■ 2) ● ● ● ● codec to replace Flash will also dampen
Web Storage ● ● ● ● ■ 3) momentum. The other functions will
Sandbox für iFrames ■ ■ ● ■ ■ definitely be accepted and make surfing
● ● ● more comfortable, but will also take time
Web Workers ■ ■

● ● ●
to creep into the mainstream for both
GeoLocation ■ ■

web developers and end users.

● Yes ■
No 1) Only for the Ogg Theora codec 2) Only using the “ExplorerCanvas”add-on 3) Version 10.50 onwards only – feedback@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 91

 FEATURED
NEED FOR MORE SPEED

Need for more speed

With new USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s standards, you won’t have to wait too long for data
transfers.
BY ANAND TULIANI

I
n the last few months, we have seen which can't be bumped much due
updates to two standards. One is to mechanical restrictions. However,
Hi-speed USB 2.0, which has been solid state drives, which are faster, are
the interface standard for peripherals gradually reaching a point at which
and external storage devices since they will fully utilize the current 3 Gb/s
almost a decade, and the other is SATA bandwidth, after which, they will need
3 Gb/s, which has been around for to move on to SATA 6 Gb/s for optimum
five years or so. With the upgrade to performance.
version 2.0, the USB interface received
a speed bump that was 40 times higher New interfaces call for
than its predecessor, USB 1.1. Now discrete controllers
with SuperSpeed USB 3.0, the peak Currently, there aren’t any motherboard
theoretical throughput has reached 4.8 chipsets that natively support USB 3.0.
Gb/s, which is ten times faster than Therefore, motherboard manufactures
Hi-speed USB 2.0. Such a bump was have no choice but to include a discrete
long needed because external storage USB 3.0 controller on the motherboard.
devices, especially hard drive-based The NEC D720200F1 USB 3.0 controller,
ones, can easily saturate USB 2.0 which offers two ports, is commonly
bandwidth. Thus, the USB 2.0 interface seen on motherboards these days. The
has become a bottleneck for external only chipset that natively supports SATA
hard drives, which are capable of 6 Gb/s is the AMD 890G. Motherboards
transferring data at more than twice the based on other chipsets use SATA 6 Gb/s
interface bandwidth. The same isn’t the controllers by Marvell to offer SATA 6
case with SATA 6 Gb/s, because even Gb/s ports in addition to SATA 3 Gb/s
today, spindle-based hard drives aren’t ports supported by the chipset. The
capable of saturating the existing 3 use of on-board controllers will exist
Gb/s bandwidth. Here, the bottlenecks until chipsets natively support the new
are areal density and spindle speed, standards.

PERFORMANCE OF SEAGATE BARRACUDA XT ON SATA 3 Gbps AND SATA 6 Gbps

HD TACH SISOFT SANDRA 2010 Sequential read Random read
FILE COPY TEST Sequential read Random read

150 Sequential write Random write 200 Sequential write Random write
Average read Average Write
120

120
100 150

80 90

100
MB/s

MB/s

MB/s

60
60

40
50
30
20

0 0 0
SATA 3 Gbps SATA 6 Gbps card On-board SATA 6 Gbps SATA 3 Gbps SATA 6 Gbps card On-board SATA 6 Gbps SATA 3 Gbps SATA 6 Gbps card On-board SATA 6 Gbps

92 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP Sachin Pandit SMS us!  Story code: FNS to 51818

Good news for those who
have older motherboards
No need to be upset if you have an older
motherboard that doesn’t have USB 3.0
and SATA 6 GB/s ports. Add-on USB 3.0
and SATA 6 Gb/s controller cards are
already available in the market and that
too at very reasonable prices. So you can
go ahead with your plans to buy a USB
3.0 external storage device or a SATA 6
Gb/s hard drive even though you have an
older motherboard.
We received retail samples of ECS
S6M2 and ECS U3N2, which are SATA 6
Gb/s and USB 3.0 add-on cards. They
aren’t bigger than a credit card and utilize
the motherboard’s PCIe x1 slot. Neither
card requires additional power and they
both come bundled with low-profile
brackets for use with small form factor
chassis. ECS S6M2 features a single
SATA 6 Gb/s port (on the card) and an
eSATA port on the rear panel courtesy
Marvell 9128 controller. And ECS U3N2
is built around the NEC D720200F1
controller, which offers two USB 3.0
ports on the rear panel.
How fast is fast?
The theoretical transfer rate of USB 2.0 is
480 megabits/sec or 60 MB/s. However,
full theoretical speed cannot be achieved
due to the latency caused by the process
in which USB transactions take place.
This is also true in the case of USB 3.0,
which has a theoretical transfer rate of
4.8 gigabits/sec or 600 MB/s. You can
tell how fast the device is only by running
benchmarks, such as file transfer tests.
We set up a test PC to find out how
fast an external USB 3.0 hard drive was
compared to a USB 2.0 device. We also
PERFORMANCE OF WD MY BOOK 3.0 ON USB 2.0 AND USB 3.0
HD TACH
Average read
100
80
60
MB/s
40
20
0 0
USB 2.0 USB 3.0 card On-board USB 3.0
wanted to find out how fast the first
SATA 6 Gb/s hard drive, the Seagate
Barracuda XT, is. Our test PC comprised
an Intel Core i7-870 CPU, Asus P7P55D-E
Premium motherboard, and 4 GB DDR3
RAM. We chose to test the drives on
Asus P7P55D-E Premium because it
features support for both USB 3.0 and
SATA 6 Gb/s via discrete controllers. We
also tested the drives using controller
cards by ECS.
USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0
Here we used Western Digital My Book
3.0 which was the first external USB 3.0
hard drive to hit shelves. We assessed
its performance by first connecting
it to a USB 2.0 port and then to the
motherboard’s USB 3.0 port. When
connected to a USB 2.0 port, the average
read and write speeds were 25 MB/s
and 23 MB/s respectively. But when we
hooked it up to a USB 3.0 port it could
read data and write data three times
faster at over 90 MB/s and 75 MB/s
respectively. When we connected the My
Book 3.0 to the ECS U3N2 card, the read
speed was almost the same, but the
write performance dropped by around 20
percent. Random write speed dropped
by 10 MB/s and sequential write speed
dropped by 17 MB/s. The on-board USB
3.0 performance is superior, but if your
motherboard doesn’t have USB 3.0 ports
you can enjoy speeds twice as fast as
USB 2.0 using an add-on card which
costs a little more than Rs 1,000.
SATA 3 Gb/s vs SATA 6 Gb/s
The 2 TB Seagate Barracuda XT is a
terrific performer. When connected to a
SATA 3 Gb/s port, it read multiple files
SISOFT SANDRA 2010 Sequential read
Sequential write
120
Average Write
100
80
60
MB/s
40
20
USB 2.0 USB 3.0 card On-board USB 3.0
FEATURED
NEED FOR MORE SPEED
amounting to 2 GB in 16 seconds, which
translates to 123 MB/s. The average write
speed was 128 MB/s. HD Tach reported
read and write speeds of 116 MB/s and
102.5 MB/s respectively. On switching
over to SATA 6 G/s, we found absolutely
no difference in performance. Infact
the write performance deteriorated and
average speed fell by 20 MB/s. We ran
the test thrice, with a restart between
tests to confirm the difference in
performance. Results were similar when
we switched over to the ECS S6M2 card.
Final Words
USB 3.0 looks very interesting, because
it offers a tremendous performance
boost over USB 2.0. Theoretically it’s 10
times faster than USB 2.0, but USB 3.0
external storage devices can transfer
data three times faster, which is a very
good jump for the moment. At present
Western Digital My Book 3.0 (3.5-inch)
and Seagate BlackArmor PS110 (2.5-inch)
are the only USB 3.0 external storage
devices on the market. You can expect a
raft of USB 3.0 flash drives and portable
hard drives by various storage device
manufacturers this year.
In contrast to USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s
doesn’t feel very exciting, because the
available hard drives don’t seem to offer
any performance boost over SATA 3
Gb/s. The present spindle-based and
solid state drives aren’t able to saturate
the SATA 3 Gb/s bandwidth of 375 MB/s.
Even high-end SSDs have a read speed
of 250 MB/s. So you won’t be missing
anything for at least a year or two by not
upgrading to SATA 6 Gb/s, unless you’re
ready to splurge on a high-end SSD.
– anand.tuliani@chip.in
Random read
FILE COPY TEST Sequential read Random read
Random write Sequential write Random write
100
80
60
MB/s
40
20
0
USB 2.0 USB 3.0 card On-board USB 3.0
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 93
 FEATURED
MORE BATTERY POWER

More juice for your batteries

Manufacturers promise many hours of battery runtime, but at CHIP's German Test Center,
devices reach the end of the road much sooner. We expose the nastiest liars and show you
how you can squeeze more juice from your batteries.
BY THOMAS LITTSCHWAGER Different measurements
There is no standard industrial

Specifications
Manufacturer
measuring process. Manufacturers are

Real value
Only three instead of eight free to publish ratings as per their own
promised movies standards. The CHIP measurements, on
Although Cowon promises up to eleven the other hand, are uniform throughout.
hours of video playback in its S9 Curve
MP3/video player (i.e. eight movies), the
small multimedia player manages just
about five hours and eleven minutes at
the CHIP Test Center.
Power-saver tip: Ensure that the
display is not too bright and
that it goes off in a short
while when only listening to
Manufacturer Specifications

music.

Manufacturer Specifications
Giving up too early
Real Value

The iPhone is so popular that its claimed battery lfie

Real value
is totally immaterial to how well it sells. Despite that,
we're disappointed that Apple promises 12 hours of
talktime, but in reality, we get just five hours.
Power-saver tip: Deactivate push notifications, 3G,
and Wi-Fi, the real power guzzlers in the iPhone. And go
easy on games, movies, music...

Finnish Precision
Nokia is surprisingly honest
about its talktime specification
on the 6220 classic mobile
phone. The 3 hours 30 minutes
MacBook sets an example
The latest MacBook Pro has a hidden talent. The 15.4-
from the advertisement
inch model is supposed to run for seven hours, but we
doesn't sound like much, measured more than nine hours; 9 hours 15 minutes to
Manufacturer Specifications

however, the 3 hours 54 be precise! Congratulations, Apple!

minutes measured in the CHIP Power-saver tip: MacBooks have a special feature
Test Center actually exceeds to ensure longer runtime. Always close the lid if you are
this rating. taking a break. The device immediately switches into an
Real value

Power-saver tip: Deactivate extremely effective power-saving mode.

the GPS and Bluetooth when
you are not using them.
Manufacturer Specifications

Real value

94 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP uss!  Sto

SMS us!
u S
Story
to
torry
y code:
cod
cco
od
o d FMB
FU3 to
to 51818
51818
 FEATURED
MORE BATTERY POWER

Not one for fun

The Lenovo ThinkPad W500 is a real business device with
a fingerprint scanner, encrypted hard disk, management
functions and more. And it costs a lot of money, so one
expects correct manufacturer specifications. Lenovo has
not really earned any praise for that. Of the 5 hours 30

Manufacturer Specifications
minutes claimed in the specifications, we got only around 3
hours in the CHIP laboratory.
Power-saver tip: Deactivate the 3G module and the
Wi-Fi card when you are not using it. Also, do not switch
on the reading light too often. Sadly, the best thing you can
do is buy a 9-cell battery. This almost doubles the overall

Real Value
runtime of the notebook to the default value mentioned by
the manufacturer.

Over-the-top exaggeration
Sony Ericsson is anything but precise in its description
of the G705 mobile phone's battry runtime spec. Let
alone the advertised ten hours, we did not even get
three hours of talktime in the CHIP Test Center.
Power-saver tip: Pay attention to the network
reception indicator. In case of bad reception, the power
consumption increases tremendously.
Manufacturer Specifications

Real Value

Simply doubled
The Sony Vaio VPCX11S1E is certainly sleek, small, and light. It could easily
be the perfect companion while travelling around the world. If you choose to
do that, you should not stray away from a socket for too long. Although Sony Manufacturer Specifications
advertises a passable battery runtime of eight hours, the super-sleek netbook
barely managed four hours in the CHIP Test Center. In this case, we wish Sony
had made the body a couple of millimeters thicker and installed a better Real Value

battery, which would have made the mini notebook a truly

desirable mobile warrior.
Power-saver tip: Switch
off all components that you
do not require, be it the Wi-Fi, Keeps its word
Bluetooth or 3G. Reduce the display The Samsung YP-Q2 MP3 palyer, a
brightness as far as the surrounding small multimedia wonder, with 4, 8 or
light allows and add the compatible 16 GB of memory, is a good bet for
relevant high-capacity battery, which long trips outdoors. According to the
lengthens the usable runtime to a good manufacturer, it should manage
ten hours. an unbelievable 50-hour runtime,
and we tested it to be almost 51
hours. Hats off!
Power-saver tip: Not
Manufacturer Specifications

required, because with 50 hours

runtime, one won't need to run
and find a charger anytime soon.
– feedback@chip.in
Real Value

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 95

 FEATURED
WEB WATCH
Web Watch
WHAT’S UP MUMBAI!
I T
f you want to know what’s
happening in Mumbai, be it live
Jazz nights, the most happening
events, musical concerts, or plays, visit
www.mumbaikar.com. The website
covers sports, events, concerts,
Bollywood, business, entertainment,
lifestyle, and so on. While these topics
mainly constitute the ‘Categories’
section, the main menu also lets you
sift through the directory, events,
citizen watch, blog, timeline, and IPL.
The Directory section lists the names,
phone numbers and exact addresses
of the most recommended pubs,
salons, colleges, spas, cafes, shopping
malls, cinemas, and other places of
interest in the city. Then, the Events
section lets you know about the most
interesting events that are going to
be held in the current week. The
next section, Citizen Watch, is quite
interesting, because there’s a map
of Mumbai with flags that pin-point
recend incidents in the city, and the
exact area in which they occurred.
Click on one to get a brief, and
click ‘read more’ to read the entire
article. You can even browse the site
by area, such as a south Mumbai,
western suburbs, etc. There’s a Blog
section, where visitors can discuss
various happenings in Mumbai and
other topics of interest. The design of
the website is quite pleasing and the
navigation is easy too. Overall, it’s a
very good place to visit if you really
want to keep track of what’s on in
Mumbai.
96 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
TRAVEL
raveling can be a bane when you
have very little idea about the
place you are heading to. Also, if
it’s a holiday trip you’re planning, it’s
a good idea to do some groundwork
before you get there. So, whether it is
an international or domestic destination,
www.virtualtourist.com, as the name
suggests, is a one-stop source for
guidance before packing your bags.
With numerous options for browsing
and an endless amount of information
on different places around the world,
Virtual Tourist makes travel plans for
you, offers travel deals, and you can
read hotel reviews and choose the
one that suits you. The navigation and
overall look of the site is impressive,
and if you dig deeper, there’s a lot to
discover about the world. The main
menu has different sections to choose
from, such as Travel Guide, Hotels, Meet
Members, Travel Deals, and Trip Planner.
But if you want to head straight to the
destination, choose the continent from
the map on the top-right corner. Select
the country from the next page, and
you’ll have all the information pertaining
to hotels, restaurants, popular places to
visit, customs, night life, tourist traps to
beware of, transportation, packing list,
and other general tips. If you’d like to
QUICK BITE
W
eb sites that offer recipes are
a dime a dozen, But here’s a
website that tells you how to cook
learn more, participate in the forums
section and interact with hundreds of
members who come from different parts
of the world.
If you’re planning for a domestic
trip, you can even log on to www.
indiantraveldestinations.com. Here, your
search gets easily narrowed down to
the most exotic places to visit in our
country. From the back waters of Kerala.
to the heritage hotels of Rajasthan, you
can explore the riches of India to your
heart’s content. This site is mainly for
people who want to explore and travel
to various parts of the country. The
main menu lists sections like hill stations,
adventure travels, tour packages, cultural
tour, etc. The site is quite elaborate and
well-designed for easy navigation.
something quickly and with
minimum ingredients. Log on
to www.notbeansagain.com, and you’ll
know what we’re talking about. Lets say
it’s been a long week, and you haven’t
had the time to shop for groceries. This
site lets you list the ingredients you
have available, and then suggests an
interesting recipe around it. It’s simple;
log on to the site, enter the ingredients
in the fields provided, and click search.
Of course, you will find variations in the
recipes, where you might not have a
certain ingredient, but all-in-all, it’s a fun
and attractive site to visit.
SMS us!  Story code: FWR to 51818

CHIP picks a few good websites each month for you to check out!
COMPILED BY DUSHYANT KHILNANI
TECHNOLOGY
D A
ave Zatz is the editor of www.
zatznotfunny.com and has over
7,000 followers on Twitter. Visit his
blog and you’ll notice that he’s clearly
a technology enthusiast and has a solid
team in place that runs this blog. At
first glance, the blog might come across
as low key, at least in terms of design,
but the content provided is very strong.
As opposed to product reviews, they
mainly post analysis, news, tutorials,
and interviews from leaders in the tech
industry. Essentially, it’s a great place
to update yourself on what’s happening
in the tech industry. The only menu
that you will find is the main horizontal
menu bar that lets you browse through
the archives and videos. There is no
categorization of posts and they are
listed one after the other. Nonetheless, if
FUN
H
ere’s something that will make
you smile after a long day at
work - www.faltufun.com. Here,
you want to see the headlines
before opening a post,
head straight for the archives section,
where the titles are properly listed in
chronological order. The quality and
quantity of content is worth praise and
the interface is simple and to-the-point,
but it is mostly news-centric. If you’re
looking for something more product-
focussed, with detailed reviews and
comparisons, then this clearly isn’t the
site for you.
Here’s a website that shows you how
to do almost everything with Windows 7
Media Center, it’s called www.hack7mc.
com, and although it has a catchy name,
the site doesn’t teach or talk about
hacking, but lists numerous workshops
such as ‘MKVs for minimalists on
Windows 7’, ‘5+ plug-Ins every Windows
7 Media Center install should be using’,
‘Installing Windows 7 from a USB flash
drive’, and so on. There are workshops
to suit different levels of experties, from
beginners to pros. The main categories
include codecs, encoding, graph studio,
movie library, plugins, programs,
Windows Media foundation, and so on.
The overall look of the site is fairly
geeky and vibrant, so we’d say that it’s
a good balance of content, design and
usability.
you’ll find countless jokes
based on various topics, such
as Christmas, golf, doctors, Valentine’s
Day, etc. You’ll also find plenty of SMS
jokes, celebrity jokes, and funny videos.
If you’re looking for some serious
humor, nothing beats stand-up comedy,
especially when it comes from someone
like Russell Peters. You can visit his web
site at www.russellpeters.com. Another
source for non-stop humor is www.
jeffdunham.com, the website of famous
American ventriloquist and stand-up
comedian Jeff Dunham. You can watch
clips of both comedians on YouTube.
FEATURED
WEB WATCH
ROCK YOUR DAY
ptly titled Rock Your Day,
this blog is a rich source
of inspirational and motivational
content. Log on to www.rockyourday.
com, read a couple of posts, and you’ll
know what we’re talking about. One
of its coolest features is that although
it’s a blog that revolves around ideas
related to self-help and such, it is
written in a very casual tone, which
makes it an interesting read. The
author, Dave Navarro, often uses
slang, but that only makes the content
more relatable. And that’s perhaps
the intent in the first place. If you’re
looking for tips on self-motivation,
confidence-building, time management
techniques, etc, this is the site for
you. Though there isn’t an endless
list of posts, the ones there seem
well-crafted. Navarro, in his words, is
a “personal productivity coach, who
gets deep into the minds of people
who have everything going for them,
but are hitting some speed bumps and
roadblocks”.
The design of the blog is fairly
simple, yet professional. There are
two menu bars with drop-down
menus that list sub-categories, so
navigation is easy. Sections include
Stay focused, Word smarter, Stomp
stress, Rock your business, Rocking
interviews, etc. Each section has
sub-levels relating to self-confidence,
goal-setting, productivity, time-
management, and so on. All in all,
Rock Your Day can be a great tool for
self-motivation.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 97
 FEATURED
DUSHYANT'S
WEB WATCH
COLUMN
FACEBOOK CAN BE GOOD TO
YOU OR VERY BAD, DEPENDING
ON HOW YOU USE IT.
DUSHYANT KHILNANI, TECHNOLOGY WRITER
DON’T LET IT GET UGLY
W
ith over 400 million users,
Facebook surely deserves all the
hype it’s enjoying, but there’s
almost always a fl ip side to such
big successes, or is there? Almost a year ago,
Brian Osborne, at Geek.com, reported about
a study conducted by Aryn Karpinski of Ohio
State University. This exploratory research
suggested that Facebook was affecting the
grades of students, because they devoted
a large chunk of their time to Facebook as
opposed to dedicating it to studies. Now, as
Brian pointed out, and I agree, this research
was limited to certain universities, which
obviously doesn’t account for the other
gazillions of Facebook users around the world.
WHILE THE MEDIUM IS GENUINE,
THE PERSON USING IT MIGHT HAVE
SOMETHING UP HIS SLEEVE
A recent post on Facebook’s official blog
explains how there is no correlation between
the amount of time users spend on social
networking sites and their grades. But again,
even this study, since it was conducted
amongst one lot of students in one part of
the world, seems too narrow. So, it’s difficult
to actually pin-point whether students, who
use social networking such as Facebook,
are losing out on their grades as a result.
Yes, what matters is whether a student is
using the platform in a productive way, or
whether online socializing is turning into
an unending obsession. Be it for making
resourceful professional contacts or simply for
making friends, Facebook has proven to be
a very powerful platform, where individuals
98 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
connect with one another. Also, they use
all sorts of fun online applications and play
games online, which is one of the reasons
why Facebook is so addictive. But, unless you
misuse it or get addicted to it to the point of
neglecting your priorities, there’s no reason
to believe that it has negative effects. On the
contrary, there are many ways in which social
networking can be truly leveraged. You’ll fi nd
many professionals, online businesses, and
entrepreneurs using this powerful medium
to grow and expose their businesses. Also, a
unique example of why social networking is
helpful is how reinforcement agencies in the
US are leverage social networking to track and
fight crime. The point is, there are certainly
more positive points than negative ones.
This doesn’t mean that you put your guard
down and think nothing could possibly go
wrong. All sorts of people are lurking on the
Web, and while the medium is genuine, the
person using it might have something up
his sleeve. Privacy is a major concern when
it comes to online networking. I’d like to
point out an example that regular users will
relate to. While Facebook urges its users to
keep their privacy settings in check, ignoring
them could cause serious consequences.
Let’s say that you don’t want to approve of a
pending friend request. Now, if even one of
your friends on Facebook has this stranger on
their friends list, then through your friend,
this stranger can access at least part of your
information. This can be avoided by making
appropriate settings on your privacy settings
page. The message is quite clear - if used
responsibly, social networking can prove to be
helpful, and even profitable. Otherwise, things
can get ugly.
- dushyant.khilnani@chip.in
 HANDS ON
DR CHIP
Sachin Pandit
[Q] Hi, Dr CHIP. I am from Bangalore.
Your team is doing a really great job.
There is a virus named "Khatarnak.exe"
on my computer. The problem is that
I can't access the Control Panel and
the Display Properties on the Desktop.
Secondly, the Control Panel icon too
is missing. When I access it, an error
"the access has been canceled due to
restrictions on this computer. Please
contact your System Administrator"
is displayed. I tried all possible ways
to solve this problem, but nothing
has worked. Please help me solve this
problem. Thanks.
– Satish Kumar
[A] Hello Satish. Khatarnak.exe is a
worm and is found in the 'C:\Windows'
directory, replicating itself in various
.exe formats. As you already know, this
virus has disabled the Task Manager
Use iKill in case of Trojans attacks. It reverts
registry attacks and kills background processes.
100 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
Dr CHIP
and the Registry Editor, and you aren't
allowed to use Safe Mode either. There
is very little chance that the system can
be rescued. But you can try doing the
following. Download the program utility
‘iKill’ from ‘http://www.softpedia.com/
get/Antivirus/iKill.shtml’ and install it.
Execute the utility and start the program.
In the ‘Processes’ tab, find and kill the
processes that seem to identify the virus.
Next, click on ‘Tools’ tab and check the
status of each tool, such as ‘Registry
Editor’, ‘ Task Manager’, and so on. Each
one should have a green check mark next
to it. If not, click on ‘Toggle Status’ on
the right side. This action will enable the
necessary tools and allow you to make
changes to the system. Do not forget
to toggle the autorun.inf functionality
status. Finally, use ‘HijackThis.exe’ and
‘Msconfig’ to remove the entries of
the virus from the registry and startup
entries. Also disable the ‘System
Restore’ temporarily so that the virus is
not backed up. Once done, restart the
computer in ‘Safe Mode’ and delete the
exe files of the virus. Run an antivirus
and antispyware software and clean the
system properly. Restart the computer
and check if the virus is finally gone.
Restore the ‘System Restore’ settings
and keep the ‘iKill’ utility running in the
background with protection enabled. This
will disable and delete any USB viruses
that are detected. If this procedure does
not work, you might need to backup your
SEND YOUR QUERIES TO: drchip@chip.in
data and reinstall the operating system
all over again.
[Q] Hello Dr CHIP. I have the two
following problems.
 I installed a game ‘IGI 2’ on my
computer. But I accidentally deleted
the game directory. When I try to
reinstall the game, an error message
"Previous installation detected. Please
uninstall this first and then reinstall"
comes up. When I go to the 'Add/
Remove Programs' in the Control
Panel, I find that the game is still there
and when I click the "Remove" button,
a message is displayed stating “The
following file does not exist or is not
a valid uninstallation log file :- F:\
favourite\uninstall.log". I formatted
the F drive but nothing helped. I cannot
get rid of this problem. Please let me
know how to fix it.
Always use the ‘Add/Remove programs’ option
from the Control Panel to remove any software.
SMS us!  Story code: HDC to 51818

 Can I play the latest games such
as Crysis, F.E.A.R., Left 4 Dead,
etc. on my computer? What would
be the ideal resolution for playing
these games? My configuration is:
Intel Dual Core E5300 2.6 MHz, 2 GB
DDR2 RAM , Gigabyte G31M - S2L
motherboard, ATI RADEON HD 3400
graphics card and 160 GB HDD, and
the operating system is Windows
XP SP2 with DirectX 9.0 installed.
– Susanta Mondal
[A] Hello Susanta. Firstly, it will be
difficult to uninstall the game as you
have deleted the folder itself and the
entries in the registry point out that the
game still exists and is not uninstalled.
In order to uninstall the game, you
will have to install it first. But in your
present case, the installer detects
that the game is already installed. In
order to uninstall the game from your
machine, you can use a trick. Install
the game on another computer with
the same operating system and in the
same location where it was installed
on your machine. Once done, copy the
game folder from that machine to the
same location on your machine. Then
run the uninstaller. The .log file that the
uninstaller is hunting for is now found
and the un-installation should continue.
As for the second query, your present
HD 3400 graphics card will not be able
to run high-end games. You will need
to install a better graphics card in order
to play demanding games such as
Crysis and F.E.A.R. You can opt for any
ATI or Nvidia graphics card depending
upon your budget. For the latest prices,
refer to the Market Watch section of
the CHIP Magazine every month.
[Q] I want to buy a new laptop and
my priorities are it should be light
to carry around, rich with the latest
features and have Windows 7. My main
use is Microsoft Office and surfing. My
budget is around Rs 25,000. Please
suggest a good one.
– Pratik
[A] Hey Pratik. Your budget seems to
be a little low for what is available in
the market. You can opt for the MSI CR
400X, priced at around Rs 26,400, which
comes with Windows Vista Ultimate, or
the Acer E-machines EMD525, priced Rs
23,499 with Windows Vista Business
installed. Windows 7 pre-installed would
be a little expensive. Other models
such as Dell Inspiron 14 pre-installed
with Windows 7 start at Rs 28,000 and
above. So I would recommend that you
either increase your budget by around Rs
5,000, or opt for a netbook which comes
within your budget, but will definitely not
perform as fast as a laptop. Additionally,
Microsoft Office would have to be
installed at a price over the laptop/
netbook cost.
[Q] I had installed Windows XP on my
PC and then I installed Windows 7 too.
But after starting the PC, I am asked
whether I want to start with Windows
7 or the earlier version. And then
the next time, it shows a message:
"Boot manager is compresses. Press
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del] to restart". I can't
understand what the problem is.
Please help me out.
– Ricky Yadav
[A] Hello Ricky. The problem here
is that you have installed the second
(Windows 7) operating system without
removing the older one. Make sure that
if you are not using the older Windows
XP operating system, it is removed.
You would need to backup all the data
before formatting the hard drive and
installing Windows 7. If you want to keep
both operating systems, which we do not
recommend, you would need to install
Windows XP on C drive and Windows 7
on the D drive. Installing two operating
systems on a single hard drive would
create problems like the one you have
faced. The reason is that the hidden
system files of Windows XP residing in
the root folder of the main boot partition
will be affected due to the two operating
Hidden system files are critical and get overwritten
by other operating systems, causing problems.
HANDS ON
DR CHIP
systems being two generations apart.
What we would suggest is that you let
go of the Windows XP operating system,
or use two physical hard drives and use
both operating systems by switching the
booting hard drive from the BIOS. Finally,
we would recommend that you use one
operating system rather than two to
avoid problems, unless you know how to
handle these types of issues every time
they crop up.
[Q] I have my friend’s Acer
Travelmate740 (Model number
MS2102) series laptop. It is protected
by a fingerprint password. How can I
unlock or re-format it? Please help me.
– Ratnesh Sonar
[A] Hello Ratnesh. You have not
mentioned whether the password is
in the BIOS or in Windows. If it is in
Removing the CMOS battery and re-inserting can
help reset the CMOS settings and password, if any.
Windows, then you would need to
boot in Safe mode and login using the
Administrator account and disabling/
changing the password. If the password
is in the BIOS, then you would need to
reset/clear the CMOS by either using
the CLEAR CMOS jumper located on
the motherboard of the laptop or
by removing the CMOS battery and
re-inserting it after around 15 minutes.
You would need to open up the
laptop in case the battery is not easily
located. Else, you should contact the
manufacturer and ask them to help you
reset the password for you. They might
charge you a nominal fee.
[Q] Hi, Dr CHIP, The configuration of
my laptop is AMD Turion X II 2 GHz, 3
GB DDR2 SDRAM, ATI Mobility Radeon
HD 3600 512 MB and 250 GB hard
disk. I purchased the laptop a year ago
and since then, its heating problem is
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 101
 HANDS ON
DR CHIP
After cleaning the fan, oil it with machine lubricant.
Apply fresh CPU coolant paste to the cooling block.
increasing steadily. After half an hour
of playing games or 45 minutes of
regular usage, it’s heating up to around
80 degrees C. Even after installing a
cooling pad, the temperature remains
stable at 77 degrees C. Please advise
me accordingly. Thanks in advance.
– Nalin Khurb
[A] Hello Nalin. The problem with your
laptop is a little strange, but as you
have mentioned that the temperature
is stable at 77 degrees C, it seems the
internal CPU cooling system is not
efficiently working or is malfunctioning.
To solve this issue, you would need to
do the following. Firstly, check for any
viruses or malware, as these could also
be the reason for overheating hardware.
Secondly, you would need to open up
the laptop (if it is not covered under
warranty anymore) and clean the CPU
cooling system. This would involve
cleaning the copper cooling block and
the cooling fan. After cleaning the
fan, make sure you oil it with machine
lubricant and the cooling block should
be applied with a fresh coat of CPU
coolant paste. To know how to open
a laptop and service it yourself, refer
to the workshop featured in the March
2010 issue of CHIP. In case your laptop
is under warranty or if you are not
confident of doing the service yourself,
we would recommend that you take your
laptop down to a service center and
have it inspected.
[Q] Dear CHIP, my computer’s
configuration is as follows: Core 2
Quad Q8400; Intel G31 Chipset desktop
motherboard, 4 GB RAM (2 x 2 GB), WD
1 TB SATA HDD, MSI NVIDIA N9500GT
1 GB graphics card, and an LG GH22
DVD ROM drive. When my PC was new,
102 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
I had a Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1
TB hard drive. It worked fine for around
10 days. But then I found that there
were CRC errors while extracting RAR
files as well as installing several other
software. After that, I also encountered
many Blue Screen of Death system
crashes. I tried every installing every
version of Windows (Windows XP,
Windows Vista and Windows 7), but
it was in vain. Then one day, I could
hear the hard disk making loud noises.
Also, when it used to make noise, the
computer became very slow. I replaced
the hard disk with a WD Caviar Green
- WD 10EARS. The noise problem
went away, but the extracting still
does show errors and the processing
has become too slow. But now I don't
encounter Blue Screen of Death errors.
Some previous errors still do exist. I
don’t understand what the problem
could be. Please help me. I think there
could be something wrong with RAM
or the motherboard. I will be very
grateful to you if you could please help
me out.
– Akash Mohanty
[A] Hello Akash. You are absolutely
right. The issues could be with the RAM
or the motherboard itself. A faulty RAM
or motherboard could lead to irregular
crashes and BSOD errors. The faulty
component creates write and read
errors when data is pushed to and
from the hard drive, causing erratic
data transactions. This could also be a
reason your older hard drive was making
noises and slowing down the computer.
The newer hard drive is stable, but as
you've stated, some previous errors still
remain. The reason for this could be the
RAM or the motherboard. To resolve
this issue, make sure that the RAM is
Make sure that the two RAM chips you are using
match the motherboard frequency requirements.
tested on another motherboard. Also
make sure that the two RAM chips you
are using are matching the motherboard
frequency requirements, and both are
identical in frequency and timings. If the
two memory chips are not identical, the
errors could continue and the system will
keep crashing. Once you have confirmed
that the motherboard and memory
chips are in good working condition, you
should backup your data and repartition,
format and reinstall your operating
system afresh. This would eradicate
the possibilities of an error arising from
the past hardware problems. If you are
unable to solve this issue yourself, I
would advise you to get a professional
hardware engineer on the case, so
that he can provide the necessary
replacements for the hardware.
[Q] Dear Dr CHIP. Thanks for
answering my previous queries.
I have two 2.0 speakers. One is
connected in the rear audio port,
and the other in the front audio port.
I can make them work together. I
would like to know whether I can play
different audio streams in different
speakers. i.e. to make a 4.0 setup?
– Sharan S
[A] Hello Sharan. Your idea is surely
tempting, but unfortunately, it would
depend on your motherboard’s audio
chip, driver and the operating system,
and whether they can together manage
two sets of speakers and combine
them into a 4.0 setup system. Most
recent motherboards have three audio
jacks in the rear panel, which are used
for speakers, line-in and microphone
input. The operating system and the
audio driver can combine these ports
into a 5.1-channel audio system. If your
Most motherboards have three audio jacks which
can be combined into a 5.1-channel audio system.

motherboard also has the same feature,
why don’t you use the same for the two
speakers, rather than using the front
audio connectors? It would be easier and
more efficient.
[Q] Hello, Dr CHIP. I want to thank
you the job you are doing. I have
a strange problem. My friend has
a Nokia 6233 cell phone which is
working properly, but the memory
card has a problem. The memory
card shows on the PC properly and
the files and the folders can be
accessed without any problems,
except for one folder- 'Wallpapers',
which cannot be opened from any
PC using any card reader. The folder
opens on the cell phone without any
problems and shows the files. Please
give me a solution for this. I want it
to be accessed via the computer.
– Tapan
[A] Hello Tapan. The memory card is
either locked by software or the folder
structure might be corrupt and can
only be read via the mobile phone. To
overcome this problem, I would suggest
that you take a backup of the memory
card using the Bluetooth feature of
the mobile phone and send/save it to
another mobile phone or Bluetooth
enabled computer/laptop. Later, format
the card using a card reader, and then
using the mobile phone. Double check
if you have any folder-locking software
or encrypting software installed on the
phone which is causing the access denial
to the folder.
[Q] Hi, Dr CHIP. I am looking for a
good digital camera under Rs 10,000,
preferably from Sony, Cannon or
Samsung. I would be very glad if you
can send me some suggestions and
some model numbers too.
– Mrinal Das
[A] Hello Mrinal. If you are looking for
a digital camera, I would suggest that
you firstly confirm what you are going
to use the camera for. If you are not
looking for a professional camera and
need a simple point and shoot camera,
then a compact camera from Canon or
Sony would be good enough. Take a look
at some camera prices in the Market
Watch section of CHIP or compare the
Megazoom fixed lens cameras are lower priced,
but functions are similar to a professional camera.
prices and features on a website like
www.compareindia.com. If you aspire
to be a professional photographer and
are on a very short budget, then you
should opt for megazoom cameras,
which have a fixed lens, but function
just like a professional camera. The
starting range of these cameras
would be around Rs 15,000 and a fine
example would be the Canon SX110.
Professional digital SLR cameras start
from Rs 25,000 onwards. Canon’s
1000D is a good entry-level professional
DSLR camera for amateur use.
[Q] Dear Sir, I want to know how to
remove the autorun virus from my pen
drive. In your December 2009 issue
(CHIP PLUS), there was a software
named Bluetooth Proximity Lock. It
does not find my Bluetooth enabled
mobile. Which company has the best
laptop performance? Which antivirus
has the best detection rate? Thank you.
– Atishay Jain
[A] Hey Atishay, slow down and take
a deep breath. You can remove the
autorun virus from the pen drive either
by using a good antivirus or an autorun
removal tool such as iKill, or by simply
formatting the pen drive. But if your
system is infected with the virus, then
your pen drive will keep getting infected
until you remove the infection from
your computer. As far as the Bluetooth
software not detecting your mobile
phone, make sure your Bluetooth dongle
is working and also ensure that your
mobile phone has the ‘Hide Phone’
feature disabled under the Bluetooth
section. The performance of a laptop is
not determined by the manufacturer, but
by the configuration of the components
used in the laptop. A company is
HANDS ON
DR CHIP
recommended and renowned only when
is offers a good after sales service,
a good price, and if it uses genuine
hardware. There are several antivirus
companies which claim to be the best.
It is very difficult to judge which one is
better than the other, because viruses
are programmed everyday and the
company which detects the virus first
claims to be better than the rest. But
as the market knows it, Norton and
MacAfee are the toppers in the industry,
with QuickHeal and NOD catching up.
Free antivirus programs like AVG and
AVAST which are good enough for casual
computing PCs.
[Q] Hi Dr CHIP. I regularly read your
magazine. Nowadays, I am facing some
problems with my monitor. My monitor
settings menu appears again and again
automatically without pressing any
button. And it keeps disturbing me
while watching movies or doing regular
work on the PC. I've tried my best, but
the issue persists. Please help me. I
am not able to understand if it is the
monitor’s problem or an issue with the
operating system.
– Shiroman Tomar
[A] Hello Shiroman. The problem is
not with the operating system, but is
with the monitor itself. The problem lies
either with the digital front panel control
circuit of the monitor, or with the menu
switch. If the control panel circuit is
faulty, it would need repairs and if the
switch is corroded with carbon, it needs
cleaning. If you are good with electronics
and would like to try resolving the issue
yourself, then opening the monitor and
spraying the main menu button/switch
with WD40 or an equivalent anti-
corrosive spray could help. This would
remove any carbon deposits between
the switch terminals, which cause the
automatic switching.
You could also reseat all the
connectors from the main board to the
control panel to ensure there are no
loose contacts. If you are not confident
enough, I would recommend that you
have service personnel take charge, as
the monitor has a couple of high-voltage
circuits which can prove fatal if not
handled properly.
— Send your queries to Francis
D'Sa at drchip@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 103
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3D Stereoscope
Creating 3D photographs using a single camera is quite simple, and we show you how you can
create your very own 3D anaglyph photos using a simple utility.
BY FRANCIS D’SA

3
D anaglyph photos and videos
have been around for more than a
decade now. An anaglyph image
is nothing but two images of the same
subject superimposed over each other
with a slightly different perspective
using two contrasting colors. The photos
are either shot once with two separate
cameras or twice using a single camera.
Using a single camera, the two images
are shot from the same distance of
the subject, but are shot with a slight
distance of 3 to 4 inches from each
other. Humans can see the world around
in 3D because the left and right eyes are
seeing two different images of the same
subject, but at slightly different angle.
These two images are processed by the
brain to create a 3D image, by which one
can see the depth in an image. Similarly,
to create a 3D image, you would need
two photos of the same subject from
different angles in the same way that
the human eyes would see it. An
anaglyph image employs two different
colors, usually red and cyan, and when
viewed from two–color glasses, a 3D
stereoscopic image is formed. In this
workshop, we will show you how to
shoot stereo photographs and convert
them into 3D anaglyph stereoscopic
images using a simple free utility called
Anaglyph Maker 3D.

Shooting stereo images

The method employed in shooting
stereo images is a little trickier than
that for shooting single photos. X
Usually, not everyone would have two
digital cameras, let alone two of the
same make and model. So in order
Y

to do without two cameras, we will

experiment with a single camera itself.
The trick is very simple; you would
need to shoot two images of the same
subject from slightly different positions.
For the first image, just shoot an image
of the subject from a distance. Then
slide the camera to the right or left by 3
to 4 inches and click the second image.
You will have to make sure that the
distance, focus, lighting and all other
settings of the camera remain identical
for both the photos required for the
stereo image. Finally, download the
photos to your computer and the images
as 'left' and 'right' respectively. You
now have stereo images finally ready
to create a 3D photo. You can practice
this method by shooting still life with a
single camera mounted on a tripod. The
tripod will help you shoot images from
X = same distance and Y = 3-4 inches. If X increases, Y will also increase proportionally
the same height, thus eliminating any
differences between the two photos,
and will also minimize the possibilities
of image blur due to handshakes.
Shooting everyday life would be little
problematic in this case, because the
subject(s) will definitely move and the
two photos (left and right) will not be
identical. To overcome this issue, you
will need to have two similar cameras
situated side-by-side, set to the identical
settings, and triggered at the same time.
A camera mounted on a tripod or
piece of wood which separates them by
3 to 4 inches can be designed. You will
also need a remote trigger to capture
the images from the two cameras
at the same time. If the cameras are
identical and can be operated by an
IR remote, the same remote can be
used for triggering the exposure at the
same time. Else, you will need to design
a wired remote using a double pole-
double throw switch to do the same.

104 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: H3S to 51818
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Creating the 3D anaglyph image

Download the Anaglyph Maker 3D
utility from http://www.stereoeye.
jp/software/index_e.html and run
‘AnaMaker.exe’. Once the utility is
started, click on ‘Load Left Image’ and
‘Load Right Image’ and load the two
photos that you previously shot using
your digital camera.
If you do not have any images ready,
the software folder has two sample
images, through which you can get
an idea of how it works. Once the
images are imported, select the type of
anaglyph image you would like to create
(gray, color, red-green, red-blue, etc)
and click on the ‘Make 3D image’ button.
The anaglyph image is finally displayed
on the right pane. This image can be
adjusted according to your preferences.
Adjust the brightness, contrast, or align
the two images to get the best results.
You can now preview the image using
the stereo 3D spectacle which uses
a red and cyan filter. The spectacles
can be made at home or bought from glasses for around Rs 25 each. Once the the two images to the left and right or
the market too. PVR and a few cinema image is satisfactory, you can save the up and down accordingly to get the best
theatres retail these 3D anaglyph image or print it. Do not forget to align 3D image.

Make your own 3D anaglyph stereoscopic glasses

Making your very own 3D anaglyph
stereoscopic glasses is very easy. All
you need to making a pair at home is a
regular spectacle frame and two color
filters - red and cyan; one for each eye.
You can either make your own frame
using some thick card paper cut out
to form a frame, or use any old regular
spectacle frame and replace the existing
lenses with the color filters.
The color filters should be red and
cyan (buy good quality cellophane
plastic sheets, which can be found
at any stationery store). Cut out
the cellophane sheets to the exact
measurements required to cover each
of the frames. Finally, paste the red and
cyan sheet on the left and right frame
respectively. Your glasses are complete
and ready for use.
Creating 3D anaglyph photos is fun.
Print and frame your photographs in
3D and showcase them to your friends
and family. You can also create 3D
anaglyph videos using similar techniques
with StereoMaker for Windows (www.
foundationcompany.com). Interesting 3D
anaglyph stereoscopic photo samples
can be found on the internet.
– francis.dsa@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 105

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HTPC Facelift
Integrating an HTPC with a home theatre system is a cinch provided you have the correct
hardware and know how to connect it all. We're about to find out just that. BY DUSHYANT KHILNANI

What does it take to make a true HTPC?

H
TPCs have been a source of
entertainment for a while now,
but the question is whether
they truly offer a true HD experience.
Ideally, the onus of delivering full-HD
video playback and lossless surround
sound lies on Blu-ray players. This is
mainly because the latest Blu-ray players
are capable of bitstreaming TrueHD
and DTS-HD Master Audio via HDMI,
something that is beyond the capacity of
older players. So essentially, to avail this
privilege, one has to shell out Rs 25,000
and buy a Blu-ray player, right? Well, not
anymore. You can do that by spending
merely Rs 5,000 on a good graphics card
that can bitstream via HDMI. Today, even
entry-level cards have this capability; an
Nvidia GeForce GT 220 or an ATI Radeon
HD 5450 should suffice. These cards cost
anywhere between Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000,
depending on their specifications.
Clearly, hardware upgrades are not
a prerequisite, but if a PC upgrade is
on the cards, consider a platform that
is capable of doubling as a true HTPC.
The Intel H55 and H57 chipsets are good
picks and you might also want to select
a good processor, such as an Intel Core
i3 or i5. Since these processors have
integrated graphics controllers, you can
watch HD movies and even play games
without the need of a graphics card.
Now, this sort of an upgrade, including
other hardware such as RAM, hard drive
and such, would cost under Rs 30,000
- the approximate cost of BD player. But
you get a fully-functional PC that does
what a player can do.
Now, assuming that you already
have a good sound system and HDTV,
there’s one thing you will require to take
full advantage of this new encoding
technology - a mid-range A/V receiver
that supports decoding audio bitstream.
They offer the primary feature of
separating the signals, processing the
audio, and routing the video through a
separate HDMI port to a TV. A good mid-
range receiver, such as the Onkyo TXSR
costs around Rs 25,000. If you also want
a new TV and sound system, there’s
some more spending to do.

Look out for these logos

Dolby TrueHD is intended for high-definition HT setups,

which involve Blu-ray and HD-DVD players. TrueHD
offers lossless audiophile quality audio. Another
lossless codec from Digital Theater System is the
DTS-MD Master Audio. These codecs are common to
high-end audio equipment used by audiophiles and
movie buffs. So if you see these logos on you’re A/V
receiver, understand that you’re using high-end A/V
equipment. So, it’s a good idea to make the most of
what they offer by using a good HDTV or HD projector
and a set of high-end surround sound speakers.

106 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP Jagdish Limbachiya SMS us!  Story code: H3S to 51818
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Raw audio bit-streaming

Commonly known as bitstream mode, this
encoding technology is used in Blu-ray and
DVD players to offer pristine audio quality.
It is the highest, and uncompressed, form
of Dolby Digital surround sound signals that
these players transmit to A/V receivers. These
audio signals are then decoded by the audio
processors inside the receivers. While CyberLink
PowerDVD (versions 9 and 10) and Corel
WinDVD let you avail high-definition audio,
you’ll have to enable the feature manually after
making the hardware connections. Use an application that supports high definition audio formats to leverage bitstreaming

HDMI
While HDMI is common to even entry-
level graphics cards, motherboards too,
especially the latest ones, are equipped
with it. Short for High Definition
Multimedia Interface, HDMI is preferred Also, it carries the purest form of digital
over other standards such as S-video audio and video signals in a single cable,
and component, because it transmits which avoids cable clutter..
uncompressed digital data to a receiver. – dushyant.khilnani@chip.in

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 107

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TIPS & TRICKS

Tips &
Tricks APRIL 2010
SHARE YOUR TIPS. Write to: tnt@chip.in

Sachin Pandit

WINDOWS 109
TIP OF THE MONTH 1. Windows XP, Vista, 7 Let your desktop wallpaper display system information
Excel 2000, XP, 2003 2. Windows XP, Vista, 7 Recording screencasts in AVI and converting them into Flash
SAVING AND APPLYING FILTER
SETTINGS FASTER 3. Windows 7 Adding a folder shortcut to the taskbar
Excel has effective filter functions for
evaluation of table data. Separate 4. Windows 7 How to seamlessly toggle between minimized windows
filters can also be set for individual 5. Windows 7 Using the presentation mode on a desktop PC
columns. This may be good, but you
have to set the criteria newly each time 6. Windows 7 Avoiding a password prompt after resuming from the power-saving mode
after editing the data. Now that’s
tedious. 7. Windows XP Accelerate the startup of a bundled DVD software

Though there is no evident function APPLICATIONS 111

to save the filter settings, a user-defined view
8. Word XP, 2003, 2007 Customized numbering for pages in one single document
retains the settings made. This is saved along
with the document. Set all the desired filter 9. Word XP, 2003, 2007 Checking automatic formatting of tables just got better
criteria for the worksheet. Then open “View |
Custom views” and click “Add”. As “Name”, 10. Excel 2007 Quick presentation of data using color graphics and symbols
enter a brief name and confirm with “OK”. You
11. PowerPoint 2003, 2007 Right-click to scroll back during live presentations
can save further filter configurations as views
in the same manner. 12. Excel XP, 2003, 2007 Determine the last day of the month easily using integrated function
In order to call, again open “View | Custom
views”, select the saved entry from the list, 13. Digital camera Use lens with motor on DSLR housing with motor
and click “Show”. The view is then always
14. Digital photography Click better portrait photos with easy tricks
applicable for a certain worksheet and can't
be applied to other tables. For quick access, 15. Photoshop CS 2, 3, 4 Make caricatures out of your own photos
create a button on the toolbar. For this, open
“Tools | Adjust” and change to the 16. Internet Explorer 8 Block toolbar against undesired changes
“Commands” tab. Select the “View” category
17. Firefox 2.x, 3.x Search multiple open tabs simultaneously
on the left, and search for “Custom views”
towards the right. Drag the element to the
desired place. Click “Close” in the “Adjust” HARDWARE 115
dialog. After setting filters, click in the input
18. HP printer Make your old printer work with Windows 7
area, enter a new name, and confirm with
[Enter]. The filter can now be called by 19. Graphics card Do you really need a graphics card for photo editing?
selecting this combination field.
20. RAM under 32 Bit High-end graphics card reduces useable system memory

108 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP SMS us!  Story code: HTT to 51818

WINDOWS large, select all the details, and change
the font size to suit the appearance of
Windows XP, Vista, 7 your desktop. Use the ‘Option’ tab and
1 Let your desktop wallpaper click ‘Position’ if you want to change the
display system information location of the displayed information on
the desktop. Since some values, such as
When looking for solutions for the name of a network card, are lengthy,
computer-related problems on a their extension can be restricted with the
forum, you are asked to provide system ‘Limit lines to’ option. Click ‘Background’
information such as details of the if you’d like to change the overall
processor, RAM, operating system and appearance of the wallpaper. The default
so on. Sifting thorugh the Control Panel option ‘Copy user’s wallpaper settings’
for this information can be irritating at leaves the current wallpaper unchanged,
times. So how do you keep this handy except that it displays the information on
when in need? it. This proves to be the best setting for
most situations.
1 When you are done with the settings,
click ‘Apply’ and then click ‘Ok’ to close
the program. Usually, the settings are
stored in the registry, but alternatively,
you can store the settings in a BGI file.
Go to "File | Save as", so you can transfer
the preferences to another PC if you’d
like. To automate the application, create
a program shortcut in the ‘Startup’ folder.
This tool doesn’t have any ill-effects on
system performance. It only modifies the
wallpaper with the information found
If you don't need all the details, you can opt out of
and then closes on its own when the
some from the list on the righ-hand side. countdown timer is left on.
A good option is to leave this Windows XP, Vista, 7
task to a program desinged specifically 2 Recording screencasts in AVI
for this purpose. It’s called Bginfo, by and converting them into Flash
Microsoft Sysinternals. It reads into the
system information and turns it into your Giving step-by-step instruction for
desktop wallpaper. So whenever you a DIY software workshop can be a
need it, you don’t need to dig into your laborious task. What if you could
operating system or Control Panel. illustrate the entire process in a video?
You can download the latest But the questions is, how do you record
version of Bginfo at http://technet. a software while it performs tasks?
microsoft.com/hi-in/sysinternals/
bb897557%28en-us%29.aspx. Similar to taking screenshots of
Download the compressed file, make applications, even videos of the entire
a folder named ‘Bginfo’ in the Windows
folder, and extract the contents of 2a
the downloaded file into it. Execute
the program. When the main window
appears, there’s a button at the top-right
corner, which reads ‘Time remaining’.
Click on this to keep the program from
closing automatically after ten seconds.
When you click ‘Preview’, you’ll see
what the wallpaper looks like. You can
make changes to it from within the
application. All preset values such as
font, and background are selected in
the text area, and can be formatted You can use the Effects option to add a time stamp,
here. If the standard font is excessively watermark or caption to your videos.
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
process can can be recorded. This is
called screencasting and it can be done
using freeware such as CamStudio.
While this application creates AVI files by
default, you can even create flash videos,
which can later be uploaded to video-
sharing sites such as YouTube.
Installation: The installation process
is farily simple. All you have to do is
uncompress the contents of the zip file
into a folder and execute the program.
Even the recorder is simple to use,
However, before starting, you need to
configure some crucial settings.
Settings: The ‘Region’ option from the
main menu offers options to select what
area or window you want to capture. As
the name suggests, ‘Full Screen’ captures
the entire screen, and if you want to
record only a paticular portion of the
screen, select the option ‘Region’. Now,
when you start recording, if the latter is
selected, you’ll be prompted to select an
area. You can then make your selection
by clicking on the top left-corner and
dragging the mouse cursor diagnolly.
Before you begin recording, you might
also want to set the default destination
of the recorded video. Go to ‘Options’
from the main menu and navigate to
"Program options | Temproary directory
for recording | Use user specified
directory". Here, select the folder where
you want to save the raw recorded file.
Preferably, select a folder in the secodary
partition so that you can prevent the
raw video from clogging the system’s
resources.
There are certain hotkeys you can
use, such as [F8] for recording/pausing
and [F9] to stop the recording. In order
to define shortcuts, go to "Options |
Keyboard shortcuts". If you wish to
pre-determine the quailty of the resulting
2b
Depending on the codecs installed, the drop-down
list lets you select the suitable one for the video.
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 109
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video, you can do it from "Options |
Video Options". Here, you can customize
the data compression and frame rate.
You can even use ‘Time Lapse’, which will
save memory considerably. A value of 50
is adequate for a lengthy and stutter-
free playback. As long as ‘Auto Adjust’
is enabled, the tool autmatically adjusts
the value under ‘Playback rate’. The
time lapse starts half way through the
recording. This means that the program
records frames with time intervals, and
then puts together 20 frames per second
and saves the file. Here, the playback
appears to be sped up. Other settings
such as cursor display and audio are also
customizable.
Creating Flash videos: After the
recording is complete, the program saves
the file in AVI format, so you then need to
convert it into SWF format. In order to do
this, go to "Tools | SWF-Producer", select
the AVI file that needs to be converted,
and if requried, make the desired settings
such as picture rate, in the following
steps. Click ‘Ok’ to to begin converting.
Windows 7
3 Adding a folder shortcut to the
taskbar
Windows 7 allows pinning program
shortcuts to the taskbar, but what if
you want to pin a folder shortcut.
You can outsmart Windows by
creating an executable file that actually
takes you to the target folder. The
process is very simple. First, create a text
file and give it the name of the shortcut
you want on the taskbar, followed by
the extension ‘.exe’. You’ll see the icon
change from a text file to that of an
executable. If this doesn’t happen, use
3 they are grouped and hidden one
Do not copy anything else to the clipbaord after
this, until the next step is completed.
110 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
QUICK TIPS
DISABLING HIBERNATE
In Windows XP, navigate to the Control Panel,
go to ‘Power Options’ and click the
‘Hibernate’ tab. Here, simply uncheck the
‘Enable Hibernation’ option.
USING NTFS ON A USB DISK DRIVE
Go to the DOS command prompt and in the
command line, enter the command ‘h:/fs:ntfs’.
Here, ‘h’ stands for the driver letter assigned
to the USB disk.
OPENING CHARACTER MAP
To start the character map in Windows XP
and Vista, go to 'Start | Run', and in the empty
field, type ‘charmap’, and push [Enter].
the command line interface of DOS to
do it. Right-click on this file and select
the option ‘Pin to Taskbar’. Now, navigate
to the target folder, hold the [Shift] key
down, right-click and select ‘Copy as
path’ from the context menu. Now, come
back to the desktop, right-click on the
dummy icon, which is already pinned
to the taskbar. From the context menu,
scroll to the file name and right-click
again. From this context menu, select
‘Properties’. Here, under the shortcut tab,
erase the path from the ‘Target’ field and
paste the path saved in the clipboard.
The pinned shortcut in now ready to
use and will take you directly into the
target folder. You can delete the dummy
executable file from the desktop.
Windows 7
4 How to seamlessly toggle
between minimized windows
When working with multiple windows
minimized on the taskbar, it can be
troublsome to switch between them
one after the other, especially when
behind the other.
Windows 7 groups several folders
together, but you have the option to
disable this feature. Right-click on the
taskbar and select properties. You’ll
see a window that says 'Taskbar and
Start Menu Properties'. Here, under the
Taskbar tab, look for ‘Taskbar buttons’.
From the drop down menu, you can opt
to ‘Never Combine’.
But here’s an effective way to
toggle between windows while they
are combined. When multiple folders
are open, push [Ctrl] on the keyboard
and click on the group icon. With each
click of the mouse, the folders pop up
consecutively.
Note: The beta version of Windows 7
RC, which might still be in use, groups
the buttons only once the taskbar is full.
You can choose to group the windows by
selecting the option ‘Always group, hide
captions’ from Taskbar and Start Menu
Properties.
Windows 7
5 Using the presentation mode
on a desktop PC
I can enable the presentation mode on
my Windows 7 laptop, but I want to use
this feature on my desktop PC. Where
do I find it and how do I enable it?
The Mobility Center is available
on all Windows 7 versions, irrespective
of whether the operating system is
running on a laptop or a desktop PC.
However, by default, it is disabled in the
latter. Slight alterations in the Registry
can enable all functions, including the
presentation mode. Go to 'Start | Run',
type ‘regedit’ and push [Enter] to pull
up the Registry Editor. When prompted
for the UAC security confirmation, click
‘Yes’. If you have logged in as a normal
user, you must select the administrator
account and enter the relevant password.
Otherwise, the registry cannot be
modified.
In the registry editor, navigate to
the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
Microsoft” key. Right-click and create
a new key, and name it ‘MobilePC’.
Then create two sub-keys named
‘AdaptableSettings’ and ‘MobilityCenter’.
In ‘AdaptableSettings’, right-click and
select ‘New DWORD value’, and enter
‘SkipBatteryCheck’. Double-click this new
entry, change its value to ‘1’ and click ‘Ok’.
Then, open the sub-key ‘MobilityCenter’
5a
Ignore some of the options such as battery status,
when using the Mobility Center on a desktop PC.

5b
Though changes made in the Registry Editor are
reversable, it's a good idea to make them carefully.
and create the ‘New DWORD value’
and enter ‘RunOnDesktop’ in the same
manner. Its value should be ‘1’. After
closing the Registry, the Mobility Center
can be accessed by executing ‘mblctr’
from the 'Run' command. It can be more
convenient, if you create a link for this
command on the desktop.
Windows 7
6 Avoiding a password prompt
after resuming from the power-
saving mode
It can be irritating to be prompted for
a password each time your system
resumes from the power-saving mode.
How do I disable this function?
To access this control, you’ll have
to dig into the Power Options of the
system. Go to 'Control Panel | System
and Security | Power Options'. Here,
see which power scheme is selected on
your machine and click ‘Change plan
settings’. Then click ‘Change advanced
power settings’. In the following window,
the option for negating the ‘Require a
password on wakeup’ option could be
6 software will have sped up.
You can even make settings to keep your machine
from going into sleep mode or hibernation.
unavailable. In that case, click ‘Change
settings that are currently unavailable’.
This should activate the option. Now,
select ‘No’ and click ‘Ok’. Affirm by
clicking ‘Ok’ on all the windows and exit.
Windows XP
7 Accelerate the startup of a
bundled DVD software
Most DVD-writers bundled with them
disc-burning software, but Windows
XP also has a built-in tool to write on
optical media. This however slows
down the startup of third-party disc-
burning applications.
7 into sections, e.g. cover page, table of
In the Recovery tab, you can change instruction
presets in case the service fails to respond.
To accelerate the startup of the
bundled application, you need to disable
the default feature in Windows. Go to
'Start | Settings | Control Panel'. Here,
double-click ‘Administrative tools’ and
select ‘Services’. The existing services are
listed in alphabetical order. Now, look for
the entry ‘IMAPI-CD burn COM services’.
Double-click to open this entry and in the
following dialog box, under ‘Start type’,
change the setting to ‘Disabled’. Click
on ‘Accept’ and then ‘Ok’ to apply the
changes. After rebooting, the bundled
APPLICATIONS
Word XP, 2003, 2007
8 Customized numbering for
pages in one single document
In addition to the table of contents,
large documents often require special
numbering. For example, the page
numbers start only after the cover page
or the table of contents has Roman
numbers.
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
8
Here, you can number sections of a large text
document separately
Word can divide documents
contents and text, which can either
have separate numbering or numbering
continued from the previous section. The
method in different program versions is
not very different from each other.
Position the cursor between the cover
page and the table of contents in the
document. Then, in the multi-function
toolbar of Word 2007, select ‘Page Setup
| Page Layout | Breaks | Next page’. In
the older versions of Word, open ‘Insert
| Break’ and in the following ‘Section
Break Types’ dialog, select the option
‘Next page’. Then click on ‘Ok’. If required,
delete all manually inserted page breaks
and then separate the table of contents
from the actual text with the help of
another section break.
Position the cursor in the table of
contents and click ‘Header’ or ‘Footer’
in the ‘Insert’ tab of the multi-function
toolbar. In the older versions, open ‘View
| Header and Footer’. Word first goes into
the header and you can go to the footer
using the ‘Switch between header and
footer’ option in the now visible, floating
toolbar. In order to have a header and
footer that is different from the previous
section, disable the ‘Link to previous’
option in ‘Design’ under ‘Navigation’. In
Word 2003 and XP, disable the ‘Link
to previous’ or the ‘Same as previous’
option.
You can now add the desired header
and footer. To add page numbers, place
the cursor where you want to enter the
page number and click on ‘Page number’
under ‘Header and Footer’ in the ‘Design’
tab of the multi-function toolbar. Click on
‘Page number’ and select ‘Format page
numbers’. In the older versions of Word,
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 111
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
enter the page numbers using the ‘Insert
Page Number’ command in the floating
toolbar.
The next dialog is the same for
all versions of MS Word. Under ‘Page
Number Format’, define the required
format of the page numbers, e.g. Arabic
or Roman. Also enable ‘Start at’ and
select ‘1’ in the following field so that
Word starts the numbering pages of that
particular section with 1. An alternate
option is to select the ‘Continue previous
list’ option. After this, confirm with ‘Ok’
and click on ‘Close Header and Footer’
or ‘Close’. Repeat the same steps if
you would like to use any other number
formats.
Word XP, 2003, 2007
9 Checking automatic formatting
of tables just got better
Text processing automatically formats
tables when pasting and editing. Well
meant, but the result is often not what
the user desires.
Automatic formatting is definitely
useful for creating simple tables.
However the same cannot be said when
it comes to complex dimensions and
indents to the right. In order to disable
this function, right-click on the relevant
place in the table and select the context
command ‘Table Properties’. Click on
‘Options’ in the ‘Table’ tab. Uncheck the
checkbox ‘Allow automatic changes in
size’ and confirm all the open dialogs
with ‘Ok’.
The function for automatic
adjustment of the entire width, on the
other hand, is practical and can also be
run manually. For this, right-click on the
relevant table and select the command
‘AutoFit | AutoFit to Windows’ in the
content menu. The table thus gets
automatically formatted as per the total
width of the text mirror. This value is
retained even if the individual column
widths are subsequently changed.
NOTE: Unexpected text formatting
within the table is mostly caused by
format templates. In such cases, it is
better for you to select the entire table
and then click on the combination field
of the format templates in the ‘Format’
toolbar. Then open the ‘Clear formatting’
command in it and then re-insert the
table.
112 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
QUICK TIPS
SWITCH THE PAGE VIEW
You can use the [Ctrl]+[F2] key combination
to switch between the layout and the print
preview of the pages in Word documents.
DATE INPUT VIA NUMERIC KEYPAD
Date input via numeric keypad works even
with the minus sign because Excel converts
‘31-12-2009’ into ‘31.12.2009’ correctly.
INSERT A NEW SHEET
You can use the [Ctrl]+[F11] key combination
in the Excel table calculation to insert a new
table sheet before the one that is currently
selected.
OPEN BOOKMARK IN A TAB
You can click a bookmark in Firefox and
keep the [Ctrl] key pressed at the same time
in order to open the relevant website in a
new tab while keeping the current tab
active.
SEARCH SELECTION
Press [CTRL]+[F] in Word, enable ‘Highlight
all elements found in’, select ‘Main
document’ under it and click on ‘Find all’.
UPPER OR LOWER CASE
In PowerPoint, use the [Ctrl]+[F3] key
combination to switch between upper and
lower cases in case of the layout of a
presentation.
Excel 2007
10 Quick presentation of data
using color graphics and
symbols
Diagrams help in explaining the data
and relations in large tables. But they
also take up extra space in the data
sheets.
Excel supports conditional
formatting of data cells, which helps
in increasing the visual presentation
of values. Till now, the options for this
were limited, but with the 2007 version,
Excel has expanded the conditional
formatting so that you can often do
without additional diagrams. Select a
data field to be presented by Excel and
click on ‘Conditional Formatting’ in the
‘Home’ tab in the multi-function toolbar.
Position the cursor on the ‘Color Scales’
and then click on one of the symbolized
color gradients. All the selected cells
thus get a gradational background color
that depends on the relevant numeric
10
Settings for the value-dependent coloring of cells
can be defined in detail in this dialog
value. Excel automatically determines
the required value range so that the color
scale with the default values is sufficient
in a lot of cases.
The conditional formatting is equally
easy for ‘Data bars’ in the relevant
color as well as for ‘Symbol sets’,
wherein you can choose from a wide
range of variants. This includes signal
symbols, tendency arrows or level
indicators. Several variants can also be
combined with each other as long as the
presentation is not impractical.
The default setting of the color
scale is not always suitable, especially
in tables containing just one or a few
outliers, i.e. high or low values. In such a
case, you can define for yourself which
values should have which format. Select
‘Conditional Formatting | Color scales |
More rules’ or ‘Conditional Formatting |
More rules’. The ‘New Formatting rows’
dialog provides access to all settings.
Set the row type to ‘Format all cells
as per their values’. In the combination
field ‘Format type’, change the setting to
‘3-color scale’, for instance. All further
options are automatically changed to the
relevant elements. Now, define further
configuration for Minimum, Average and
Maximum separately. For Average, the
type ‘Percentile’ with a value of ‘50’
percent is often practical. For linear or
absolute scaling, you can also select the
‘Percent’ or ‘Number’ type and provide it
with suitable values.
PowerPoint 2003, 2007
11 Right-click to scroll back during
live presentations
Controlling a presentation using
wireless mouse is practical. Clicking the
left mouse button takes you to the next

slide, but right-clicking only displays
the context menu, whereas you want to
scroll back with it.
You can disable the display of the
context menu. For this, go to PowerPoint
2003 and open ‘Tools | Options’ and
disable the ‘Show menu on right mouse
click’ option in the ‘Slide show’ field
under the ‘View’ tab. Once you have
confirmed this change with ‘Ok’, right-
clicking will always take you back to the
previous slide during presentations. You
can also enable this option again if you
right-click to display the context menu.
In PowerPoint 2007, click on the Office
button, select ‘PowerPoint Options’ and
then the category ‘Advanced’ to the left.
This contains the ‘Show menu on right
mouse click’ option in the ‘Slide show’
field.
Excel XP, 2003, 2007
12 Determine the last day of the
month easily using integrated
function
You often need to check the last day of
a particular month for due dates and
deadlines. You want to automate this
determination of the right date in order
to avoid any errors caused due to leap
years, for example.
The table function ‘EOMONTH’
helps in calculating the correct date. In
the older versions of Excel, you always
need to enable this option first. For this,
open ‘Tools | Add-ins’, enable the option
‘Analysis Functions’ and confirm the
dialog with ‘Ok’.
The two criteria required for the
‘EOMONTH’ function are a predefined
date and a whole-number difference
in months. For example, in order to
determine the last day of the current
month, on the current date in case of
stock market orders, you can use
=eomonth(today(),0)
The argument ‘0’ must also be
specified if no other month is desired. A
due date at the end of February 2012 can
be calculated using the formula
=eomonth(date(2012,2,1),0)
What is practical here is that you
don’t need to think whether a year is a
leap year. The last day of a month can
be calculated even three months after a
particular day thanks to the function
=eomonth(‘10.1.2010’,3)
Here, ‘10.1.2010’ is the reference date,
‘3’ stands for the last day of the fourth
month from today.
Digital camera
13 Use lens with motor on DSLR
housing with motor
You are extremely satisfied with your
camera, minus the problem that it
takes a lot of time to take a sharp
picture. You are thinking of buying
a new lens but are not sure whether
this will lead to an increase in the
AF performance. The motor is in the
housing.
Some cameras such as the Nikon
D90 have an integrated drive for focus
control of the lens. It allows the use of
economical lens systems. The cameras
still allows the flanging of a lens that has
a separate motor installed. Nikon too has
such lenses in the delivery program such
as the AF-S DX Zoom Nikon 55-200 mm.
Depending on the requirement, it is
practical to use this. A motor located in
the lens is faster than its counterpart
in the housing since the mechanical
coupling to the body is not required,
which in turn reduces the tedious friction
losses.
The drives cannot result in problems
or damage. The camera detects an
optic with AF motor automatically and
switches the internal drive off. It also
does not consume more power.
Digital photography
14 Click better portrait photos
with easy tricks
Modern digital cameras provide lots
13
You can connect your lens with your own drive to
the Nikon D90 and other models from Nikon
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
of automatic mechanisms that are
supposed to make close-ups easier.
But they by no means guarantee high-
quality photos.
A good portrait photo is much
more than just selecting the right
program and pressing the button. If
this was the case, many professional
photographers would be out of work. But
even the not-so-professional ones can
make their photos much better with the
help of a few tips and tricks. It is often
the minor details which turn heads.
SUBJECT: There is no standard focal
length for portraits. You just need to
know what effect the focal length has
on the lens. Usually, sharpness with less
focal length increases if the aperture
remains constant. The background is
also no longer as unsharp. A 50 mm
lens is suitable for complete natural
photography. It ensures non-distorted
proportions as far as the human eye
can tell. A moderate wide angle of
28 to 35 mm allows the environment
to be integrated into the image as an
artistic element. But be careful; If you
are close to the subject, there are small
unflattering drum-like distortions. A
greater focal length enables a greater
distance to the lens, which makes
photographing the subject easier. In case
of slightly closed aperture, the person
stands out from the unsharp background.
Moreover, tele-focal lengths have a
consolidating effect. They allow the
distance to the background to be visually
shrinking.
RIGHT CLOTHING: An unusual photo
tip, but important. The clothing must be
suitable to the situation and the person.
Basic rule - no black, no white, and no
loud colors. Black causes loss of any
14
Have the subject look from left to the right and it
will look like he or she is looking into the future
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 113
 HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
structure, white provides excessive light,
stripes and checks flicker (cloudy effect),
and in case of loud colors, there are
slight color tears since the color sensor
cannot process the tonal values.
Do not hide the background. This
works best with a wide open aperture
(less aperture) and a small tele-focal
length of 80 to 120 mm. Make sure that
you focus on the eyes – that is the first
thing that one usually notices.
GOOD QUALITY SCENES: Most
people have a chocolate side. Some
want to show it, others not as much.
For this, work with light and shadows as
well as with the position and the cutout.
In case of this option, you can also
change the point of photography. Why
not photograph a person from an angle
above? Relaxed body language is also
important. Upper arms pressed against
the body do not give this effect. You also
look fatter than you actually are.
LINE OF VISION: Make use of an
important psychological effect. If you
make the subject look from the right to
the left, i.e. in the direction opposite to
our usual reading direction, it looks like
he or she is looking into the past. And the
other way gives the effect that he or she
is looking in the future. This is important
for our picture.
BREAK THE RULES: The most final
important note - break rules and you will
have expressive and unusual snaps. But
you must also know what effect this has
on your photos.
Photoshop CS 2, 3, 4
15 Make caricatures out of your
own photos
The year is over and the birthday is just
around the corner. You want to have
15
Photoshop can be used to distort photos as per
your wishes. Ideal for funny invitations
114 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
your own party. The invitation that
you have created on the PC should be
equally enticing.
In addition to settings for
tonal value corrections, poor horizons
and depths/light dialogs, you can
also use Photoshop to have fun and
alienate pictures. An image with a right
background is ideal for a start since it
gives you a lot of freedom.
EDIT HEADS: Open the image and
create the level ‘Body’. In the 100% view,
select the head using the magnetic lasso.
In the option bar, adjust the ‘Soft edge’
with a width of ‘1 px’.
Use [Ctrl]+[X] to cut the head from
the image and use [Ctrl]+[V] to paste
it at a new level which is automatically
created by the program. Use ‘Image
| Transform | Free transformation’ to
increase it to 200% and move and turn
it into the position. Now activate ‘Filter |
Distortion filter | Fuse’ and the ‘Blow up’
tool. The values for ‘Tool tip’ and ‘Tool
pressure’ depend on the resolution, e.g.
‘30’ and ‘50’ would be right. They stand
out with just a few clicks of the eyes.
FORMING WIDE SHOULDERS: Just
like the head, now select the upper
body in the ‘Body’ level. Cut and paste it
back into the image using ‘Edit | Paste’.
Photoshop creates a new level, which
you rename as ‘Shirt’ in the level pallet.
Now go to ‘Image | Transform | Distort’.
Move the shirt to the suitable height,
click one after the other at the upper
corner of the selection, and pull it away
from each other and upwards. Due to the
distortion, the upper body looks blown
up with superhero shoulders. You should
also do a little trial and error with the
settings till you have attained the desired
result.
MAKE THE LEGS SHORTER: The
photo becomes funny when you shorten
the legs in the V form downwards. Use
the distortion filter for this.
Internet Explorer 8
16 Block toolbar against
undesired changes
The toolbars of a browser are enabled
by default. But this setting can be
changed via a menu command. On a
shared computer, you want to prevent
other users from being able to change
the appearance of the browser.
16
This registry entry prevents users from being able
to change the toolbars of the browser
The option of locking toolbars
can usually be enabled and disabled
with the command ‘View | Toolbars |
Lock Toolbars’. This setting has been
configured in the registry. It is also
possible to configure a setting there via
a guideline, owing to which, the users
can no longer make any changes via the
menu command.
For this, open the command ‘Start |
Run’ followed by the ‘regedit’ instruction
in the ‘Open’ field and click on ‘Ok’.
Navigate to the key ‘HKEY_CURRENT_
USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\
Internet Explorer\Toolbar’ there. If
individual sub-keys of the path are not
present, create them with the command
‘Edit | New | Key’. Then click in the right
area of the window, open ‘Edit | New |
DWORD Value’ enter the term ‘Locked’
and press [Enter]. Double-click on the
new entry to edit it. Now change its
‘Value’ to ‘1’ and confirm with ‘Ok’. Then
close the registry.
The toolbars can no longer be
modified now. In order to enable this
function in the menu again later, set the
value entered in the registry to ‘0’ or
delete it.
Firefox 2.x, 3.x
17 Search multiple open tabs
simultaneously
You have compiled several interesting
sites in different tabs when
researching. Searching through all of
them individually for a particular thing
takes really long.
In an active tab, it is sufficient to
enter a search term. A comprehensive
search for several tabs is however, not

17
The “Find In Tabs” extension searches for the
entered search word through all open tabs at the
something Firefox offers. The free ‘Find
in Tabs’ extension acts as a remedy. In
order to install it, open the XPI file via
‘File | Open’ and confirm the next query
with ‘Install Now’. The update is ready to
use after you have restarted the browser
once.
The tool gets directly integrated in
the search bar of the surf program as a
button. In order to display the bar, press
the [Ctrl]+[F] key combination. However,
when calling up the quick search, the
button is no longer displayed. Now enter
the search term in ‘Search’ and then
click on ‘Find in Tabs’. The result window
displays all hits from all the open tabs
and also specifies the relevant tab,
favicon and page name. Clicking on a
result takes you directly to the relevant
location in the relevant tab. The hit list
remains open.
The advanced search functions like
a switch via options, so it isn't active
during the quick search. Since the search
breaks the performance in all tabs, it is
best to disable the function with another
click on the ‘Find In Tabs’ button before
closing the search bar. It is also best to
delay the search start so you can enter
the search term without issues. For this,
open ‘Tools | Add-ons’. In the list of
updates, select ‘Find in tabs’ and then
click on ‘Settings’. The default value
‘Delay between searches’ is set to ‘100’
milliseconds. Increase this delay to ‘500’.
Confirm the setting with ‘Ok’.
HARDWARE
HP printer
18 Make your old printer work with
Windows 7
Many Windows XP fans preferred
their operating systems even after the
release of Vista. But now, Windows
7 seems to attract a majority of
users. However, after you migrate to
Windows 7, some devices, such as
your printer, might not function due to
incompatibility of drivers.
Windows 7 has built-in drivers
for many devices and printers aren’t
an exception. Despite the fact that few
printer drivers are included in Windows
18
Enter the exact model number of your printer into
the search field to narrow down your search.
7, Windows update should resolve most
driver-related issues. Connect the printer
to your computer and ensure that it is
switched on. If Windows detects the
printer and configures the hardware
without the driver, then activate Windows
update.
Alternatively, users can resort to
the official HP website for the drivers
corresponding to their respective printers.
The website shows a list of printers,
where you can choose the relevant driver
and download them directly. Visit the
Support and Drivers page at welcome.
hp.com/country/in/en/support.html.
Here, under ‘Select a product category’,
click ‘Printing and Multifunction’. Choose
from the type of printer and model
number and download the drivers
compatible with your operating system -
Windows 7.
Graphics card
19 Do you really need a graphics
card for photo editing?
Let’s say that you’ve developed an
interest in digital photography and you
want to be able to edit high-resolution
photos on a PC. You might think of
upgrading your PC, but, should that
HANDS ON
TIPS & TRICKS
mean buying a graphics card?
If you’re PC is not being able to
handle image editing, it is not because
there’s no graphics card installed. Image
editing mainly requires processing
power and heaps of RAM. If you want
to upgrade your machine for editing,
target these components. Once your
PC has enough of both, even an
onboard graphics chip should suffice for
image editing. There are some special
functions of some of the latest graphics
editing applications that store certain
calculations on the graphics card. If
you are using one of these high-end
applications, only then will you need to
shell out for a graphics card.
RAM under 32 Bit
20 High-end graphics card
reduces useable system
memory
It’s common to see less free memory
space when you’ve recently installed
a hefty graphics card in your Windows
XP machine. What can you do to free
up some of it?
In the case of certain types
of hardware configurations, 32-bit
operating systems are forced to reserve
memory addresses less than 232 bytes
for memories other than RAM, so that
applications can write directly onto
them. This RAM area is then no longer
accessible to the system. While graphics
cards are the largest address occupants,
even network adapters, audio hardware
and mass memory controllers require
individual memory addresses. While
a 32-bit operating system ideally has
access to 4 GB RAM, a fully equipped
machine with SLI graphics can even fall
below the 3 GB mark, despite actually
having 4 GB in the memory base.
To get the most out of the memory
base, you'll have to deactivate all unused
onboard components in the BIOS. Also,
if you install a 64-bit operating system,
then you’ll have access to the entire 4
GB chunk of RAM. Though hardware
components block memory addresses
here as well, this doesn’t matter much,
because of the considerably large
address spaces.
– Compiled by Team CHIP
send your tips to tnt@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 115
 UNWIND
GAME REVIEW

Darksiders
124
Play as War, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and take on
the forces of heaven and hell.

THIS MONTH
120 God of War III
No other game comes close to
offering such an experience.

122 Mass Effect 2

Bioware's masterful blend of
action and role-playing.

126 Dante's Inferno

Never quite manages to step out
of God of War's shadow.

128 Aliens vs Predator

Tremendous potential corroded by
poor AI and broken gameplay.

118 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


WHY PC GAMING IS A
BITTERSWEET PILL TO
SWALLOW
AVINASH BALI, CHANNEL EDITOR—GAMING
ROLL OF THE DICE
C
ost of new souped up gaming
rig: Rs 45,000. Cost of a brand
new, much-awaited game to
play on your rig: Rs 1,200.
Cost of standing up your girlfriend to play
said much-awaited game: One girlfriend.
Frustration of not being able to play the
game thanks to a crappy port: Limitless!
If you can even remotely associate
with this sentiment, you my friend are a
jaded PC gamer and like all of us jaded PC
gamers, have been getting the shaft from
developers, many of whom have had their
humble beginnings on the PC.
I’ve touched upon this topic quite
a few times by now and I can’t stress
it enough when I say that the biggest
problem facing PC gaming today is lack of
Quality Assurance on that platform. As an
enthusiast you spend a whole lot of time,
money and energy making sure your rig
PEOPLE FORGET THAT THIS IS A
GAME UNPLAYABLE AT LAUNCH,
RELEASED AT FULL PRICE
is up to the mark and ready to play the
latest games at launch in all their graphical
glory. But what do you get in return? A
stupid broken game that has to be patched
on Day 1, anal DRM issues that affect legit
customers more than pirates, and a PC port
that is not scalable at all, reducing your
prized possession to a quivering little bitch.
The reason I feel violated as a PC gamer
in recent times is primarily because of
DICE, the guys behind Battlefield Bad
Company2. Now these are the guys who’ve
made it big by selling PC games so when
UNWIND
COLUMN
they decide to port over one of their
franchises to the PC you would expect
a nice well made product that’ll make
you proud to be a PC gamer. But sadly
what we get is something so broken that
can’t even been played online in peace.
You have frequent disconnection issues,
problems connecting to servers, and an
insane number of game crashes. And how
do they deal with the problem? By posting
one line on Twitter acknowledging it.
That magically redeems themselves in the
minds of irate customers because hey, at
least they acknowledged the problem right?
What’s worse is that they play the entire
PC community so well people forget for
a minute that this is a game unplayable
at launch released at full price. Making
matters funnier (or sadder) is that these
irritated customers actually defend DICE
saying that this is nothing new as all
Battlefield games are unplayable at launch.
Someone give the PR guys at DICE at round
of applause. Not only have they taken your
money but they’ve given you a sub-par
product and are laughing at your face—all
the way to the bank.
But you know what DICE, you can’t
break my spirit because I still prefer my
mouse and keyboard to the controller for
my fi rst person shooters. I prefer playing
with grownups instead of American Idol
rejects over Xbox Live. I like the fact that
I can tweak visual settings to the last T. I
like the fact that my expensive hardware
grants me higher visual quality. I like the
fact that I can make use of user generated
content like mods to enhance gameplay.
And that, DICE, is why I’ll take this crap
till the day I die like a true PC gamer.
- avinash@tech2.com
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 119
 UNWIND
GAME REVIEW
RATING 5/5
I
n the lead-up to God of War III,
various questions and doubts would
have come up fans' minds. Would the
game live up to the hype? What insane
stuff would this game bring to the table
that we haven’t already seen? Then you
boot up the first level that will not only
blow your mind, your jaw and your jewels
away, but will make you realize that this,
right here, is what gaming is all about.
In its first hour, God of War III puts
more 'awe' in awesome than any game
in the history of gaming. Yes, that’s a
bold statement to make, but no form of
media has even come close in eliciting
such raw emotion. It leaves no stone
unturned in making sure you don’t leave
your couch even if your entire house is
burning down around you. After the first
120 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
The finest gaming experience till date
BY AVINASH BALI
level, you’ll probably have to put the
controller down just to soak in some of
the stuff you experienced minutes ago.
The reason for gushing over this game
like a ten year-old girl is because GoW
III can make you feel like an over excited
child, who’s thrilled to bits with his/her
new toy. And if a game can make a 28
year-old man feel like that, it’s pretty
much achieved what it set out to do.
The God of War series has always
been appreciated for its powerful plot,
and this game is no different. You step
into the boots of Kratos once again as
he strives to take down Zeus (the King
of Gods) and the rest of Mount Olympus.
The game takes place immediately after
the events of GoW II, which means you’ll
start off the game with all the powers
Jagdish Limbachiya
from the second game, like the Wings of
Icarus, the Golden Fleece etc. You’ll also
rather violently obtain various powers
and weapons throughout the course of
the game that can be upgraded via red
orbs dropped by enemies or picked up
from crates.
You’ll amass four weapons
throughout the game, each best suitable
for certain types of enemies. Mix this up
with a healthy dose of magic and the
ability to juggle between weapons with
a touch of a button, and you’re looking
at pulling off some insane combos.
Quick-time events, something this series
pioneered, are a lot more forgiving this
time around, which means you’ll have
little more than a split second to press
the prompts on-screen. Even if you do
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mess up, don’t worry; it won’t mean
immediate death.
Besides tearing Greek mythology
a new one, you’ll spend a fair amount
of time completing puzzles and
platforming. There are definitely fewer
puzzles in this game, and most of them
are tied to lever and crate-pushing.
Still, it’s a pleasant respite from all the
stabbing and maiming. Platforming
could have been a real problem with
the uncontrollable camera, but the
programmers at Santa Monica are
thankfully really good at their jobs, so it’s
rarely an issue.
The GoW series has always been
well known for gigantic over-the-top
boss fights, and this game takes that
ideology, throws it out of the window
and dishes out stuff you’ve probably
only dreamed of or witnessed in CG. We
would really love to talk about some of
the boss battles in this game, but you'd
much rather discover them for yourself
and then proceed to soil your pants
much like we did. Nothing, be it videos
or screenshots, can mentally prepare
you for this game’s boss encounters.
As colossal as some of the bosses are
in this game, they are still no match for
Kratos’ rage, and they all proceed to
get destroyed in some of the most
violent and cringe-worthy ways we’ve
seen in a game.
As far as presentation is concerned,
there’s no game that even comes close
to GoW III. If there was any game made
to display the graphical prowess of
the PlayStation 3, this is it. We loved
Uncharted 2 to death, but this game
pretty much upped that in every way
possible. Character design is flawless
and you will be shell-shocked by the
amount of detail poured into pivotal
characters. Level design is phenomenal,
animations are top notch, and creature
design is brilliant. Special mention has
to be made of the game’s lighting engine
that is, once again, pretty much the best
in the business. We probably sound like
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GAME REVIEW
RATINGS
ACTION
God of War III
PRICE Rs 2,499
PUBLISHER Sony
DEVELOPER Santa Monica Studio
DISTRIBUTOR Milestone Interactive
PHONE 022 42764000
EMAIL sales@milestoneinteractive.com
PLATFORM PS3
FOR
The most cinematic battles in the history of gaming. Is the best
looking game on the planet. Terrific production values. Intense
boss battles. Pretty much the best action game ever made.
AGAINST
A bit of backtracking. Feels a bit slow paced in the middle.
love-struck teens, but we firmly believe
in giving the devil his due, and this game
deserves it by the truckload.
If we had to sit and nitpick about
things we didn’t like, it would have to be
the way the game makes you backtrack
to older levels, albeit with different
powers and weapons. Also, the game
feels a bit slow-paced in the middle.
Maybe that's because the game opens
with such a bang. Either way, these are
minor niggles that don’t detract from the
grand experience in the slightest bit.
If you haven’t figured it out by now,
God of War III is epic in every sense of
the word. It excels in every department,
be it visuals, audio, combat, or story. Yes,
it’s still a linear game, and yes, there’s no
“multi-player”, but you won’t care about
any of that once you’ve completed the
game. In fact, you may just take a slight
sabbatical from gaming, because no
other game will come close to offering
such an experience for years to come.
– avinash@tech2.com
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GAME REVIEW
RATING 4.5/5
T
he role-playing genre has fathered
many children with its lover
‘action games’ in the recent
past, and the Mass Effect franchise is a
testament to their complete disregard
for contraception. Thankfully, for all us
RPG fans, the Mass Effect franchise
isn’t like one of the genre’s dim-witted
love children (read: Fable). In fact, Mass
Effect managed to find the perfect
balance, and appealed to gamers that
loved their action RPGs light on role-
playing and high on action, as well as
the audience that loves their RPGs deep
and full of choices. On one hand, there
are enough choices in its dialog-heavy
storyline to earn it the title of ‘Galactic
Soap Opera’, but on the other hand,
there's ample alien on alien action
(where both fighting and love-making
are concerned) to appeal to action game
fans. To top it off, developer BioWare has
impressed us with a brilliant sequel that
outdoes the first game in every way.
Yes, when we say 'in every way', we
mean it. If protagonist Shepard’s posse
cried in the last game, they cry twice as
hard in the sequel. if they whined in the
first game, they whine twice as hard in
the sequel, and if they did the naughty
in the first game, they do it harder this
There's tons of alien-on-alien action on offer
122 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
time around too! BioWare have given
Mass Effect 2 the treatment every smart
developer should give to their star
franchise; taking all that was great about
the first, and building on it.
Before going into the game's
strengths, here's a short brief on the
storyline. The first game saw Shepard
shepherding the galactic Council into a
war against an ancient alien force – the
Reapers – that was hell bent on ending
all sentient life. The second game starts
off when the galaxy’s hero has his ship
torn apart by a mysterious alien ship. On
the down side, they kill him. On the up
side, at least they didn’t anal probe him.
A shadowy human corporation known
as Cerberus, run by the unimaginatively
named Illusive Man, locates Shepard’s
corpse, and spends billions of dollars
to resurrect him. And we're not
talking zombie Shepard, but new and
improved scar-faced Shepard! They
give him a souped up version of the
Normandy (with an upgraded elevator
that uses alien technology to take
less than a decade to move between
different levels) too and unleash him
into the recesses of space to stop
another alien menace. The franchise’s
biggest strength was its smooth pace,
Combat is squad-based with various character classes
Jagdish Limbachiya
Intergalactic awesomeness
BY NIKHIL SINGH
intermittent with dialog, inter-specie
interactions (both physical and verbal),
space exploration, and ample lore for
those that love reading. Its open-ended
mission structure allowed you to pick
what mission you wished to take up
depending on your mood. You could
pick up a reconnaissance mission for an
information dealer, or when you felt like
it, you could take up one to assassinate
a popular political figure to tip the
political balance in the favor of your
employers.
The sequel allows a wider variety
of missions to keep pace with your
mood swings. At the same time, it goes
deeper where lore is concerned. Each
of the galaxy’s species and sects have
loads of reading material on them,
breathing life into the game’s world
by giving you enough back-story to
actually understand the way each and
every aspect of the galaxy functions. If
you love to lick up each and every bit
of information on every race, you’ll be
pleased by the depth they’ve gone into
to give each race, and each planet, a
personality of its own.
Mass Effect 2’s action, like its
predecessor, is completely squad-
based and you pick from a roster of
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Snipers provide excellent cover for soldier and adept classes
characters that specialize in everything
from sniping to biotic powers. Since the
galaxy thought Shepard was dead, his
old posse splits up and it’s up to him to
find new blood. The Cerberus network
gives him the locations of a number of
potential recruits, and it’s up to you to
pick and choose whom you wish to get
on-board. If you like, you can actually
recruit each and every one of them. Also,
each character has a deep back-story
that you can explore via dialog. Once you
reach a certain level of understanding
with them, each of them has a personal
quest that you can choose to undertake
that allows you to gain their loyalty.
When squad members become loyal, you
unlock a new outfit for them, as well as
a new power.
While the outfit isn’t incentive enough
(especially since the women get less
revealing outfits once they’re loyal), the
new powers are a real boon for your
squad. In addition, the fact that each
character is sketched out so well and
each loyalty mission is so much fun to
partake in, you shouldn’t need any other
incentive to do them other than the
curiosity to find out how each character’s
story unfolds. Mass Effect 2’s biggest
strength is a really strong, well-written
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GAME REVIEW
Commander Shepard 2.0
script, which brings an otherwise
mediocre story to life.
Another powerful tool at your
RATINGS
disposal is the ability to upgrade and ROLE-PLAYING GAME
research everything from your ship to Mass Effect 2
your squad’s equipment. Upgrades are
PRICE Rs 999 (PC), Rs 2,499 (Xbox 360)
layered into many tiers and give you
PUBLISHER Electronic Arts
as much as 50% more efficiency in
DEVELOPER BioWare
battle, but require a sizable amount of
DISTRIBUTOR Milestone Interactive
resources. That brings us to another PHONE 022 42764000
aspect of the game that’s fun as hell. EMAIL sales@milestoneinteractive.com
Apart from the hacking mini-games, the PLATFORM PC, Xbox 360
game has a mining one that allows you
to fly around the galaxy in search for FOR
minerals such as Paladium and Platinum Great optimization. Well written script. Great mini-games. Well
tuned action.
that help you perform upgrades. Mining
is an oddly relaxing activity that you AGAINST
can undertake in between missions. At Underwhelming end. Predictable plot.
refueling stations across the galaxy, you
can buy probes that you can launch onto
different areas while scanning planets, If you’re looking for a great, lengthy
allowing you to extract resources from RPG to draw you into a beautifully
them. In a 35 hour-long play-through, conjured world, Mass Effect 2 is right up
you can mine most of the galaxy dry your alley. Space junkies will lap up every
and buy most of the upgrades without aspect of it, and even gamers who don’t
getting bored at all. Great mini-game really like space-faring games, will love
design, for both hacking and mining, it. It has something for anyone with even
provide a secondary layer to the a slight inclination towards either RPG
gameplay that helps add variety and or action games, and that is no meager
allows you to engage your skills on a task to pull off. Bravo, BioWare!
different level. – feedback@chip.in
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 123
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GAME REVIEW
5
ATING 4/
R BY SAMEER DESAI
E
arly 2010 has a flurry of hack-
n-slash action game releases.
Bayonetta and Dante’s Inferno
released in January, with God of War III
hitting stores last month. So you might
think that Darksiders is just another
similar game needlessly crowding up
an already busy release schedule,
especially considering that it comes
from newcomers Vigil Games, who lack
the reputation of the likes of Hideki
Kamiya or Sony Santa Monica. But
Darksiders isn’t just another hack-n-slash
game. In fact, it isn’t a hack-n-slash
game at all, but rather an action-
adventure game that encompasses
a large number of sub-genres, with
combat only being one of them.
It should be stated at the
outset that Darksiders isn’t
terribly original.
124 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
The complete action-adventure game
It borrows gameplay mechanics and
ideas from several other popular
games. Some of these can be
considered as ‘taking inspiration’ or
‘paying homage’, while others are
plain rip-offs. But eventually, all these
elements come together to make
Darksiders the great game that it is.
You play as War, one of the Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse. After a
simmering, long-running feud between
the forces of heaven and hell erupts,
wiping out the human race in the
process, War comes to Earth to put
an end to it. We don’t want to go too
deep into the details, but suffice it to
say that War finds himself out of favor
with the Charred Council that employs
him, and is blamed for the events that
occur on Earth. In order to redeem
himself, War is stripped of all his powers
and sent back to a deserted Earth to
set things right. The story and how it
plays out is quite interesting, and
it's one of the many reasons that
will make you keep playing.
You embark upon a
20-something hour journey towards
redemption, facing thrilling boss battles,
exploring vast new areas, and solving
challenging puzzles along the way. While
not combat-centric, the game does throw
a fair amount of enemy grunts, mini
bosses, and level-ending giant bosses
your way, and aiding you through this
is a competent, if somewhat simplistic,
combat system.
Jagdish Limbachiya
Your primary weapon is the
Chaoseater, a sword the size of a
dining table big enough to seat ten. As
you progress through the game, you’ll
unlock other weapons and be able to
buy weapon combos to flesh out the
combat system. At certain points, you’ll
even be able to pick up canon-sized
guns and grenade launchers dropped
by enemies, although you can’t keep
those with you, and you’ll have to drop
them to proceed beyond a point. The
boss fights are memorable and quite
different from each other, although
strangely, they get progressively easier
as you proceed, when it should actually
be the opposite. This is partly because
the bossfights later on are unexpectedly
straightforward, but also because as
you play, you will unlock additional
health bars to help you survive longer.
Each level in the game takes you to
various areas of the vast game world,
and the game, while not open-world,
isn’t linear either. So you can backtrack
as much as you want in search of
collectibles that you may have missed
earlier or didn’t have the adequate tools
to collect. This brings an exploration
factor into the game. Very often you’ll
come across a collectible that you will
find impossible to reach, only to unlock
a power later in the game enabling you
to reach it. So you will often find yourself
tracking back to earlier levels later on in
the game, and you'll also aim to inspect
each new surrounding for collectibles so
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GAME REVIEW

as to keep backtracking
to a minimum.
All the levels feature distinctly One particular
varied designs, from sandy deserts tool falls very much under
to lush green environs with lakes and the ‘completely ripped off from another to do. And
waterfalls, to caves and dungeons. game’ category; you’ll know it when you that’s where all the
Travelling through this vast world on foot see it. But what makes these puzzles little ‘inspirations’ from other games pay
would be a daunting task, so the game great is that rather than trial and error, off, because they eventually contribute
offers quick travel points in the form of all that’s needed to solve them is to make Darksiders a better game, while
serpent holes, which can be found at common sense and some out-of-the-box still doing enough to create a unique
Vulgrim locations in each level. Vulgrim thinking. The puzzles here are some identity of its own. One downside here
also serves as the in-game merchant, of the best you will find in any action- is that there’s no replay value, unless
from whom you can buy weapons adventure game. you want to have another go at a higher
and upgrades. To travel across open Darksiders is not a technical difficulty. But besides that, thanks
outdoor expanses, you also have War’s masterpiece. In fact, the framerates are to some fluid combat and intriguing
steed, Ruin, which is introduced halfway a little wonky at times and unacceptably puzzles, Darksiders stands out as one
through the game. low during one particular bossfight, of the best action-adventure games in
Puzzles also form a major chunk making it nearly unplayable. But the quite some time.
of Darksiders’ gameplay, and they get art direction is commendable and has – feedback@chip.in
bigger and tougher as you progress. a distinct World of Warcraft feel
You will often need many of the tools to it. Load times are manageable
and powers that you unlock throughout as well, and it has an impressive
the game to complete these puzzles. background score by the same
guys who did God of War. The
voice acting is on the cornier
RATINGS side of the spectrum, and
while it may fit this type of
ACTION-ADVENTURE
game, it got a little annoying after
Darksiders a while. But overall, Darksiders’
PRICE Rs 2,499 presentation is pretty impressive.
PUBLISHER THQ Twenty-plus hours is a long time,
DEVELOPER Vigil Games especially for an action-oriented
DISTRIBUTOR E-Xpress Interactive game. So the obvious fear is that
PHONE 022 29661017 the game might get monotonous
EMAIL info@expressgames.in somewhere along the line. But
PLATFORM Xbox 360, PS3 Darksiders keeps feeding you
FOR new content at regular
Great mix of combat, puzzle-solving, and exploration. intervals, be it weapons,
Constantly introduces new gameplay elements as you play. tools or powers,
Impressive art style.
so that even after
AGAINST countless hours,
Uneven framerates. No replay value. there’s always
something new

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 125

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GAME REVIEW
Neither heaven nor hell, it ends up somewhere in purgatory
BY AVINASH BALI
I
f the woman you loved got dragged
into the very depths of hell by Lucifer
himself, you would probably sit in
some corner and cry. Dante, on the
other hand, is so badass, he defeats
death aka the Grim Reaper, takes his
scythe, and dives into the darkest
recesses of hell to save his beloved
Beatrice. This is the basic premise
of developer Visceral Games’ latest
action title, Dante’s Inferno, based
on the epic poem by Dante Alighieri.
Dante’s Inferno takes players through
the nine circles of hell as they fight
through all of hell’s minions and demons
to rescue the woman he loves.
Dante, while badass to a certain
extent, is a pretty emo person too, so
you can see how he’d attract someone
like Beatrice. And then you have Lucifer,
who like an adolescent teenager,
seems obsessed by women’s private
parts. You’d think the Dark Lord of the
Underworld would have his share of the
fairer sex, but apparently he doesn’t.
RATING 3.5/5 The Lust cricle of hell has some truly nasty surprises in store
126 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP Jagdish Limbachiya
You can't help but bestow some
serious respect onto the level designers.
The game looks twisted as hell, and
every level and its inhabitants are
sick, perverted derivations of certain
sins. For example, in Lust, you’ll come
across grotesque women who attack
you with their private parts in a not-so-
pleasant way. And then there’s a boss
who, showers undead babies out of her
breasts. There’s some really twisted
stuff in here.
While we're all praise for the game’s
aesthetics, we can’t be so forgiving when
it comes to gameplay. Dante's Inferno is
heavily "inspired" by God of War, and it
does so shamelessly, losing any marks
for originality. You’ll spam away at a key
for opening doors or absorbing health,
finish off opponents in awesome over-
the-top finishing moves, and spend half
the game platforming across the nine
gates of hell.
There's not much wrong with the
combat, because it’s pretty decent,
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GAME REVIEW

RATINGS
ACTION

Dante's Inferno
PRICE Rs 2,499 (X360, PS3), Rs 1,599 (PSP)
PUBLISHER Electronic Arts
DEVELOPER Visceral Games
DISTRIBUTOR Milestone Interactive
PHONE 022 42764000
EMAIL sales@milestoneinteractive.com
PLATFORM Xbox 360, PS3, PSP

FOR
Rock-solid visuals. Hell's rendition is badass. Enjoyable combat

The deceptively deadly unbaptized babies crop up in combat from time to time
albeit a little on the bland side. You have
access to just one weapon throughout
the course of the entire game that can
be upgraded to learn new moves. But
it’s still just one weapon that’ll stick with
you till the credits roll.
While every level boasts of certain
unique enemies, there are certain
generic grunts you’ll encounter in every
level. Nearly every level ends in a boss
fight and the bosses, while intimidating
in size, are terribly predictable. Still,
combat is pretty enjoyable and owning
hell’s minions in over-the-top ways never
gets old. It’s platforming that really gets
annoying. The puzzles in the game are
as basic as puzzles can get, with Dante
running around to pull levers and push
crates. Even more annoying is the fact
that a lot of these so called puzzles are
time-based and some of them can really
grate on your nerves.
There were times during the game
when it felt like the devs had lost all
sense of direction and put in some
annoying stuff there just to artificially
increase its length. This is extremely
evident in the second-last level, where
you’ll have to take on 10 waves of
enemies in a gauntlet-esque fashion.
This could have been implemented in
the form of a bonus mode, but forcing
players to play through it during the
campaign is just not cool.
Dante’s Inferno is not a bad game, but
then again, it’s not a must buy. It does
a lot of things right, but never steps out
of God of War’s shadow, thus failing to
AGAINST
Feels a bit too much like God of War. Platforming sucks. Can get
pretty tedious towards the end.
carve an identity for itself. The plot and
most of the platforming present in the
game are pretty weak, but gameplay
is enjoyable to a certain extent, level
design is phenomenal, and visuals are
rock solid. If Visceral Games spent as
much time on developing gameplay as
they did on creating hell, we could have
had a game worth competing with God
of War. But they didn’t!
– avinash@tech2.com

The developers desreve much priase for the game's impressive level design

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 127

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GAME REVIEW

No matter who wins, we

definitely lose
BY AVINASH BALI
RATING 2.5/5

I
n an ideal world, there would be no Instead you'll ended up feeling like a 60 the right distance for the prompt to pop
wars; no famine. There would be year-old woman plagued with arthritis. up on screen. There can be times when
no terrorism, no natural calamities, Since the good stuff is a rare you'll have to literally jog around the
and Aliens versus Predator would have commodity in this game, lets get that enemy to trophy kill him/her.
been an awesome game. Unfortunately, out of the way first. Trophy kills in AvP Making matters ever worse is the fact
the world we live in today is cold and are undoubtedly, the coolest things that the AI here is probably the dumbest
bitter, thus sealing the fate of developer I’ve seen this year. Watching the facial to grace a video game since Judge Dredd.
Rebellion’s latest AvP game. Of course, expressions of your prey as you stab There are tons of examples that could
the world has absolutely nothing to do them in the face, or ripping their heads convey this, but here's one encounter
with the fact that the game sucks purely off and stroking their spines never gets to sum it up. On throwing a proximity
because it was rushed or too ambitious old. As cool as the trophy kills sound, mine near a guard, not only did it not kill
for its own good. We’re going to go with they are a bit erratic to pull off as well. him, but he just got up, dusted himself
a bit of both. You see, AvP is kind of You have to be standing at just about off, and stood in the same position.
awesome at places. There were times
when there was a sense of tremendous
potential. Sadly, all those moments
were corroded away by either poor AI,
broken gameplay, or clunky controls. No
matter how much you may look to find
positives, there was always something
around the corner waiting to deprive you
of that much needed entertainment.
Contrary to what the name suggests,
you actually play as three species,
instead of the two headlining the game.
All three get their own single-player
campaigns that you can play in any
order. Playing through the Predactor
campaign, you would expect to play as
Each species has its own single-player campaign
the badass intergalactic bounty hunter.

128 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP Jagdish Limbachiya SMS us!  Story code: UAP to 51818

The Infestation multi-player mode has lots of potential for intense gameplay moments
What’s worse, his comrades, who saw
a bomb detonate in front of their eyes,
didn’t seem to care either as they just
stood their ground, not bothering where
a perfectly lethal proximity mine came
from. And their only form of consolation
to their comrade, who narrowly escaped
the clutches of death, was repeating the
line “Don't let your guard down Marine”
over and over and over again. That’s
hardcore!
Then you have the clunky controls
that are most painful in the Predator and
the Alien campaigns. As you’ve seen in
the movies, the Predator can leap across
the jungle in a simple jump, but achieving
this in this game is highly retarded. You
have to hold down the [Shift] key, place
the marker at a designated spot, and
then release it to jump. Not only is this
unnecessarily complicated, but doing so
during boss fights is just plain annoying.
Also, it’s contradictory to the fact that
you can scale an entire tree using this
lock-on jumping method, but you can’t
scale a two foot-tall ledge using the
game’s default jump key.
Similarly, the Alien can walk all
over walls and ceilings with ease, but
the transition from surface to surface
in this game is jarring and extremely
disorienting. You’ll stick to walls when
you want to ambush someone, jump
up to the ceiling when you want to leap
across a room, and so on. Still, like in the
Predator campaign, trophy kills as the
Alien are extremely rewarding.
As the Marine, gameplay is your
standard first person shooter fare
that’s, at best, above average. For some
reason, controls don’t feel as tight and
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GAME REVIEW
RATINGS
FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER
Aliens vs Predator
PRICE Rs 699 (PC), Rs 2,499 (Xbox 360, PS3)
PUBLISHER Sega
DEVELOPER Rebellion
DISTRIBUTOR E-Xpress Interactive
PHONE 022 29661017
EMAIL info@expressgames.in
PLATFORM PC, Xbox 360, PS3
FOR
Trophy kills are extremely cool looking. Multiplayer is
entertaining.
AGAINST
Clunky controls. Weak and highly retarded AI. Repetitive
responsive as other FPS games on gameplay. Bland plot.
the block, and as mentioned before
before, gameplay just feels outdated but then again, there are times when it
and generic. It's not just about the lack looks painfully bland. Kill animations look
of a jump button or iron sights; it’s just extremely slick and character models,
that gameplay as all three species is though repetitive, are well detailed.
predictable, boring, and not very exciting. Frame rates hold up pretty well for most
Things do improve a bit on the multi- of the game, but during certain intense
player front. You have your standard sections, hit the fan in a bad way.
Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch AVP has its share of problems that
modes, along with two pretty awesome could have been easily avoided in
multi-player modes: Infestation and the hands of a competent developer.
Predator Hunt. In Predator Hunt, any one Rebellion's track record should have been
player on the server will randomly spawn an indication that the devs aren’t on top
as the Predator, while the rest spawn of their game (Rogue Warrior anyone?).
as marines, whose sole aim is to hunt Still, if you’re a real fan of the franchise,
down the Predator. The marine who kills or get thrilled by hyper violent kills, give
the Predator spawns as the Predator in this game a shot. To all the other folk out
the next round. In Infestation, you start there, save your money, since Battlefield
off with just one Alien, and every marine Bad Company 2 is right around the
that gets killed by an Alien, spawns as corner.
an Alien till there's no one left behind. – avinash@tech2.com
It’s really intense (and not to mention
hilarious) watching an entire server
of Aliens descend on the last
marine standing.
Wins in multi-player
reward players with XP
that can be used to unlock
newer skins. And that’s
about it; no new weapons,
no armor, nothing. Luckily for
PC gamers, Rebellion recently
patched the game with
dedicated server support,
so pings now are a lot less
obnoxious than when the
game first came out.
Visually, the game is a
mixed bag. There are times
when it looks really cool,
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 129
 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of

PROCESSORS: Intel
NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (RS) CPU SOCKET CLOCK SPEED MFG PROCESS BUS SPEED L2 CACHE
CORES
Intel Core 2 Duo E5200 3,270 LGA 775 2 2.5 GHz 45 nm 800 MHz 2 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E5300 3,550 LGA 775 2 2.6 GHz 45 nm 800 MHz 2 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E5400 4,278 LGA 775 2 2.7 GHz 45 nm 800 MHz 2 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 5,540 LGA 775 2 2.8 GHz 65 nm 1066 MHz 3 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 5,768 LGA 775 2 2.93 GHz 65 nm 1066 MHz 3 MB
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 5,768 LGA 775 2 2.93 GHz 65 nm 1066 MHz 3 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 7,841 LGA 775 4 2.5 GHz 45 nm 1333 MHz 4 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 8,737 LGA 775 4 2.66 GHz 45 nm 1333 MHz 4 MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 10,193 LGA 775 4 2.66 GHz 45 nm 1333 MHz 6 MB
Intel Core i5-750 10,753 LGA 1156 4 2.66 GHz 45 nm 2.5 GT/s 8 MB
Intel Core i7-920 15,233 LGA1366 4 2.66 GHz 45 nm 4.8 GT/s 8 MB L3
Intel Core i7-860 16,801 LGA 1156 4 2.8 GHz 45 nm 2.5 GT/s 8 MB

PROCESSORS: AMD
NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (RS) CPU SOCKET CLOCK SPEED MFG PROCESS BUS SPEED L2 CACHE
CORES
AMD Sempron 140 2,064 AM3 1 2.7 GHz 45 nm 2700 MHz 1 MB L2
AMD Athlon II X2 240 3,354 AM3 2 2.8 GHz 45 nm 3600 MHz 2 MB L2
AMD Athlon II X2 245 3,606 AM3 2 2.9 GHz 45 nm 3600 MHz 2 MB L2
AMD Athlon II X2 250 3,774 AM3 2 3.0 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 2 MB L2
AMD Phenom II X3 425 4,334 AM3 3 2.7 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 1.54 MB L2
AMD Phenom II X3 435 4,756 AM3 3 2.9 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 1.54 MB L2
AMD Athlon ll X3 440 4,868 AM3 3 3.0 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 1.54 MB L2
AMD Phenom II X2 550 5,092 AM3 2 3.1 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 6 MB L3
AMD Athlon II X4 630 5,600 AM3 4 2.8 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 2 MB L2
AMD Athlon ll X4 635 6,720 AM3 4 2.9 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 2 MB L2
AMD Phenom ll X4 925 7,729 AM3 4 2.8 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 2 MB L2
AMD Phenom II X4 945 8,289 AM3 4 3.0 GHz 45 nm 3600 MHz 6 MB L3
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Ed. 8,961 AM3 4 3.2 GHz 45 nm 3600 MHz 6 MB L3
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Ed. 10,081 AM3 4 3.4 GHz 45 nm 4000 MHz 2 MB L2

MOTHERBOARDS: AMD - IGP

CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT D-SUB | DVI | HDMI
SOCKET SATA | USB
MSI K9A2GM-F V3 3,158 AM2+ AMD 740G + SB 600 DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|8
Biostar TA690G AM2 3,179 AM2 AMD 690G + SB 600 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 4 | 10
Biostar A780G M2+ SE 3,270 AM2+ AMD 780G + SB 700 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✖ 1 | 2 | 6 | 10
Zotac GF8200-A-E 3,933 AM2+ GeForce 8200 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✖ 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
Biostar TA785GE 128M 4,110 AM2+ AMD 785G + SB710 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✖ 1 | 2 | 6 | 10
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H 4,813 AM2+ AMD 780G + SB 700 DDR2-1066 (Max 16 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 5 | 12
Zotac GF8300-A-E 5,050 AM2+ GeForce 8300 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✖ 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
Biostar TA790GX 128M 5,699 AM2+ AMD 790GX + SB 750 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 2 | 6 | 10
Biostar TA790GX A3+ 5,936 AM3 AMD 790GX + SB 750 DDR3-1333 (16 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 2 | 6 | 10
Asus M4A785TD-V EVO 7,452 AM3 AMD 785G + SB710 DDR3-1333 (16 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 3 | 5 | 12
Asus M3A-H/HDMI 7,566 AM2+ AMD 780G + SB 700 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 1 | 3 | 6 | 12
MSI K9N2 SLI Platinum 7,953 AM2+ nForce 780a SLI DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✖|✔|✖ 2 | 2 | 6 | 10
MSI DKA790GX Platinum 9,297 AM2+ AMD 790GX + SB 750 DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 2 | 5 | 12
Asus M4A78T-E 10,729 AM3 AMD 790GX + SB 750 DDR3-1333 (16 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 2 | 2 | 5 | 12
Asus M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe 15,600 AM2+ nForce 780a SLI DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 3 | 2 | 6 | 10
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2010.

134 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

all the latest and greatest products on the market. Powered by:
byy:

MOTHERBOARDS: AMD - Non-IGP

CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT MULTI-GPU MODE
SOCKET SATA | USB
MSI 790FX-GD70 10,081 AM3 AMD 790FX + SB 750 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFireX dual x16 4 | 2 | 8 | 12
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P 10,641 AM2+ AMD 790X + SB 750 DDR2-1066 (Max 16 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 2 | 2 | 8 | 12
Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P 11,761 AM3 AMD 790FX + SB 750 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFireX dual x16 2 | 2 | 10 | 12
Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5 12,321 AM3 AMD 790FX + SB 750 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFireX dual x8 3 | 3 | 8 | 12
Asus M4A79 Deluxe 14,326 AM3 AMD 790FX + SB 750 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFireX dual x16 2 | 2 | 5 | 12
Asus M4A79-T Deluxe 15,147 AM3 AMD 790FX + SB 750 DDR3-1600 (Max 16 GB) CrossFireX dual x16 4 | 2 | 6 | 12

MOTHERBOARDS: Intel - IGP

CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT D-SUB | DVI | HDMI
SOCKET SATA | USB
Zotac NF610I-C-E 2,512 LGA 775 GeForce 7050 / nForce 610i DDR2-667 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|8
Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L 2,792 LGA 775 Intel G31 + ICH7 DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 1|2|4|8
MSI G41M4-F 2,878 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✖ 1|2|4|8
Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L 3,102 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 1|2|4|8
Gigabyte GA-EG41MF-US2H 4,110 LGA 775 Intel G41 + ICH7 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1|2|4|8
Gigabyte GA-EG45M-DS2H 7,000 LGA 775 Intel G45 + ICH10R DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 5 | 12
Zotac GF9300-A-E 7,001 LGA 775 Nvidia GeForce 9300 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) ✔|✔|✔ 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
Intel BOXDG45FC 7,282 LGA 775 Intel G45 + ICH10 DDR2-800 (Max 4 GB) ✔|✖|✔ 0 | 0 | 4 | 10

MOTHERBOARDS: Intel - Non-IGP

CPU PCIE X16 | PCI |
NAME PRICE (RS) CHIPSET MEMORY SUPPORT MULTI-GPU MODE
SOCKET SATA | USB
Biostar P43-A7 3,998 LGA 775 Intel P43+ICH10 DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) NA 1 | 3 | 6 | 12
MSI P43T-C51 4,446 LGA 775 Intel P43+ICH10 DDR2-800 (Max 16 GB) NA 1 | 3 | 6 | 12
Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H 6,441 LGA 1156 Intel H55 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) NA 2 | 2 | 6 | 12
Intel DP55WB 6,720 LGA 1156 Intel P55 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) NA 1 | 1 | 6 | 14
Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H 7,281 LGA 1156 Intel H55 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) NA 2 | 2 | 5 | 12
Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3 7,728 LGA 1156 Intel H55 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) NA 2 | 2 | 5 | 12
Biostar TPower I45 8,401 LGA 775 Intel P45+ICH10R DDR2-1066 (Max 8 GB) NA 1 | 2 | 6 | 12
EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 8,905 LGA 775 Nvidia nForce 750i SLI DDR2-800 (Max 8 GB) SLI dual x16 2 | 3 | 4 | 10
MSI P55-GD65 10,361 LGA 1156 Intel P55 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFire + SLI 2 | 2 | 7 | 14
Ggiabyte GA-P55-UD3R 12,881 LGA 1156 Intel P55 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFire dual x8 2 | 4 | 8 | 14
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R 12,881 LGA 1366 Intel X58+ICH10R DDR3-1600 (Max 16 GB) CrossFire + SLI 2 | 2 | 8 | 12
MSI P55-GD80 13,161 LGA 1156 Intel P55 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFire + SLI 3 | 2 | 8 | 14
EVGA 132-CK-NF78-A1 15,625 LGA 775 Nvidia nForce 780i SLI DDR2-1200 (Max 8 GB) SLI 3-way x8 3 | 2 | 6 | 10
Intel BOXDX58SO 16,800 LGA 1366 Intel X58+ICH10R DDR3-1600 (Max 8 GB) CrossFire dual x8 2 | 1 | 6 | 12
Ggiabyte GA-P55A-UD6 17,921 LGA 1156 Intel P55 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFire + SLI 3 | 2 | 10 | 14
eVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 22,290 LGA 1366 Intel X58+ICH10R DDR3-1600 (Max 24 GB) CrossFire + SLI 3 | 2 | 10 | 12
MSI Big Bang Fuzion 23,522 LGA 1156 Intel P55 + Lucid Hydra 200 DDR3-1333 (Max 16 GB) CrossFire + SLI 3 | 2 | 10 | 10
Gigabyte GA-EX58 Extreme 21,282 LGA 775 Intel X58+ICH10R DDR3-1600 (Max 24 GB) CrossFire + SLI 3 | 2 | 10 | 12
eVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 22,290 LGA 1366 Intel X58+ICH10R DDR3-1600 (Max 24 GB) CrossFire + SLI 3 | 2 | 10 | 12
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2010.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 135

 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of

GRAPHICS CARDS: Nvidia

STREAM
NAME PRICE (RS) GPU PCIE DIRECTX MEMORY | BUS WIDTH CORE | MEMORY SPEED VIDEO OUTPUT
PROCESSORS
Point of View GeForce 210 2,624 GeForce 210 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 16 589 MHz | 400 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GT 210 2,912 GeForce 210 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 16 589 MHz | 400 MHz Dual-link DVI
Point of View GeForce 9400 GT 3,102 GeForce 9400 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR2 | 128-bit 16 550 MHz | 666 GHz D-sub and DVI
Point of View GeForce GT 220 4,446 GeForce GT 220 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR3 | 128-bit 48 625 MHz | 800 MHz DVI and HDMI
Palit GeForce GT 220 4,816 GeForce GT 220 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR2 | 128-bit 48 625 MHz | 800 MHz DVI and HDMI
Palit GeForce GT 220 5,376 GeForce GT 220 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR3 | 128-bit 48 625 MHz | 800 MHz DVI and HDMI
Zotac GeForce 9800 GT 6,273 GeForce 9800 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 112 660 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
Zotac GeForce GTS 250 7,216 GeForce GTS 250 x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 740 MHz | 918 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce 9800 GT Super+ 7,505 GeForce 9800 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 256-bit 112 600 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce 9600 GT Sonic 7,561 GeForce 9600 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 256-bit 64 700 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GTS 250 7,729 GeForce GTS 250 x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 740 MHz | 918 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI N250GTS-2D1G 7,841 GeForce GTS 250 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 740 MHz | 918 MHz Dual-link DVI
Zotac GeForce GTS 250 8,078 GeForce GTS 250 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 740 MHz | 918 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GTS 250 8,848 GeForce GTS 250 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 740 MHz | 918 MHz Dual-link DVI
XFX GeForce GTS 250 9,409 GeForce GT 220 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR3 | 256-bit 128 740 MHz | 918 MHz Dual-link DVI
EVGA GeForce 9800 GT Superclocked 9,521 GeForce 9800 GT x16 2.0 DX 10 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 112 650 MHz | 950 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GTX 260 11,537 GeForce GTX 260 x16 2.0 DX 10 896 MB DDR3 | 512-bit 216 602 MHz | 1107 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GTX 285 22,289 GeForce GTX 285 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 240 648 MHz | 1242 MHz Dual-link DVI
EVGA GTX 280 Superclocked 23,522 GeForce GTX 280 x16 2.0 DX 10 1 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 240 621 MHz | 1134 MHz Dual-link DVI
Palit GeForce GTX 295 31,922 GeForce GTX 295 x16 2.0 DX 10 1.8 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 480 576 MHz | 999 MHz Dual-link DVI
EVGA GeForce GTX 295 34,722 GeForce GTX 295 x16 2.0 DX 10 1.8 GB DDR3 | 512-bit 480 576 MHz | 999 MHz Dual-link DVI

GRAPHICS CARDS: AMD

STREAM
NAME PRICE (RS) GPU PCIE DIRECTX MEMORY | BUS WIDTH CORE | MEMORY SPEED VIDEO OUTPUT
PROCESSORS
Powercolor AX4350 512MD2-H 2,032 Radeon HD 4350 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 80 600 MHz | 400 MHz D-sub + DVI
VTX3D VX4350 512MD2 2,036 Radeon HD 4350 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR2 | 64-bit 80 600 MHz | 400 MHz D-sub + DVI
Sapphire Radeon HD 4350 2,960 Radeon HD 4350 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR2 | 64-bit 80 600 MHz | 400 MHz D-sub + DVI
VTX3D VX4650 1GBD2-H 3,662 Radeon HD 4650 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR2 | 128-bit 320 600 MHz | 500 MHz Dual-link DVI
Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 3,800 Radeon HD 4650 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR2 | 128-bit 320 600 MHz | 500 MHz Dual-link DVI
VTX3D VX4670 1GBK3-H 4,868 Radeon HD 4670 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR3 | 128-bit 320 750 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 5,118 Radeon HD 4670 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR3 | 128-bit 320 750 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
Powercolor AX4670 1GBK3-P 5,174 Radeon HD 4670 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR3 | 128-bit 320 750 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
Powercolor AX4850 512MD3-HV2 7,000 Radeon HD 4850 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 512 MB DDR3 | 256-bit 800 625 MHz | 993 MHz Dual-link DVI
MSI R5750-PM2D1G 8,736 Radeon HD 5750 x16 2.0 DX 11 1 GB DDR5 | 128-bit 720 700 MHz | 1000 MHz DVI and HDMI
Sapphire Radeon HD5750 9,154 Radeon HD 5750 x16 2.0 DX 11 1 GB DDR5 | 128-bit 720 700 MHz | 1150 MHz DVI and HDMI
VTX3D VX5750 1GBD5-DH 9,857 Radeon HD 5750 x16 2.0 DX 11 1 GB DDR5 | 256-bit 720 700 MHz | 1150 MHz DVI and HDMI
MSI R5770-PM2D1G 10,304 Radeon HD 5770 x16 2.0 DX 11 1 GB DDR5 | 128-bit 800 850 MHz | 1200 MHz DVI and HDMI
VTX3D VX5770 1GBD5 -MDH 10,753 Radeon HD 5770 x16 2.0 DX 11 1 GB DDR5 | 128-bit 800 850 MHz | 1200 MHz DVI and HDMI
Powercolor AX4870 1GBD5 10,753 Radeon HD 4870 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR5 | 256-bit 800 750 MHz | 900 MHz Dual-link DVI
Sapphire Radeon HD5770 10,986 Radeon HD 5770 x16 2.0 DX 11 1 GB DDR5 | 128-bit 800 850 MHz | 1200 MHz DVI and HDMI
VTX3D VX4890 1GBD5 12,321 Radeon HD 4890 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR5 | 256-bit 800 850 MHz | 975 MHz Dual-link DVI
Powercolor AX4890 1GBD5-HM 12,993 Radeon HD 4890 x16 2.0 DX 10.1 1 GB DDR5 | 256-bit 800 850 MHz | 975 MHz Dual-link DVI
Sapphire Radeon HD5850 Game Edition 17,770 Radeon HD 5850 x16 2.0 DX 11 1 GB DDR5 | 256-bit 1440 725 MHz | 1000 MHz DVI and HDMI
MSI R5850-PM2D1G 17,921 Radeon HD 5850 x16 2.0 DX 11 1 GB DDR5 | 256-bit 1440 725 MHz | 1000 MHz DVI and HDMI
Sapphire Radeon HD5870 Game edition 26,322 Radeon HD 5870 x16 2.0 DX 11 1 GB DDR5 | 256-bit 1600 850 MHz | 1200 MHz DVI and HDMI
Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 40,387 Radeon HD 5970 x16 2.0 DX 11 2 GB DDR5 | 512-bit 3200 725 MHz | 1000 MHz Dual-link DVI
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2010.

136 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

all the latest and greatest products on the market. Powered by:
byy:

LAPTOPS
PRICE DISPLAY OPTICAL
NAME WEIGHT PROCESSOR RAM CHIPSET HDD BLUETOOTH
(RS) (INCHES) DRIVE
Acer Aspire One D250 19,999 1.1 Kg Intel Atom N270, 1.6 GHz 1 GB Intel 945G 10.1-inch 160 GB NA Yes
HP Mini-1129TU 22,310 1.2 Kg Intel Atom N270, 1.6 GHz 1 GB Intel 945G 10.1-inch 80 GB NA Yes
HP Compaq Presario CQ40-427TU 26,250 2.3 Kg Intel Celeron C900, 2.2 GHz 1 GB Intel GL40 14.1-inch 160 GB DVD-writer Yes
Acer Aspire 4736z Linux 29,120 2.5 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-core T4200, 2.0 GHz 2 GB Intel GL40 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
HP Compaq Presario CQ60-313AU 29,138 2.9 Kg AMD Turion 64 X2 QL64, 2.1 GHz 3 GB NA 15.6-inch 250 GB DVD-writer Yes
Toshiba Satellite L300-P5011 29,640 2.7 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-core T3400, 2.16 GHz 2 GB Intel GL40 15.4-inch 250 GB DVD-writer No
HP Compaq Presario CQ40-425TU 30,056 2.3 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-core T4200, 2.0 GHz 2 GB Intel GL40 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
HP Compaq Presario CQ60-209TU 31,720 2.9 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-core T3400, 2.16 GHz 2 GB Intel GL40 16-inch 250 GB DVD-writer Yes
Acer Aspire 5738z (VHP) 31,980 2.8 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-core T4200, 2.0 GHz 2 GB Intel GL40 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
Dell Vostro A860 R521076IN9 32,118 2.4 Kg Intel Celeron Dual-Core T1400, 1.73 GHz 1 GB Intel 965GM 15.6-inch 160 GB DVD-writer Yes
Acer Aspire 5738 Linux 33,649 2.8 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 2.0 GHz 3 GB Intel GM45 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
Dell Vostro A840 R520972IN9 34,358 2.1 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2390, 1.86 GHz 1 GB Intel 965GM 14.1-inch 120 GB DVD-writer Yes
Acer Aspire 4736 (VHP) Linux 35,649 2.4 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 2.0 GHz 3 GB Intel GM45 14-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
HP Pavilion DV2-1002AU 35,703 1.6 Kg AMD Neo MV-40, 1.6 GHz 2 GB ATI M690G 12.1-inch 250 GB NA Yes
Sony Vaio VGN-NW13GH 37,990 2.7 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-core T4200, 2.0 GHz 2 GB Intel GM45 15.5-inch 160 GB DVD-writer Yes
Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T 38,999 1.9 Kg Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500, 1.4 GHz 2 GB Intel GM45 14-inch 250 GB DVD-writer Yes
HP Compaq Presario CQ40-423TU 39,379 2.4 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T6500, 2.1 GHz 3 GB Intel GL40 14.1-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
HP Pavilion DV2-1003AX 39,905 1.7 Kg AMD Neo MV-40, 1.6 GHz 2 GB AMD RS690e 12.1-inch 320 GB NA Yes
Sony Vaio VGN-CS32GH 39,990 2.6 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-core T4200, 2.0 GHz 2 GB Intel GM45 14.1-inch 250 GB DVD-writer Yes
Acer Aspire Timeline 5810T
40,999 2.4 Kg Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500, 1.4 GHz 3 GB Intel GM45 15.6-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
LX.PBB0X.201
Toshiba Satellite L500-D621A 41,539 2.7 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T6500, 2.1 GHz 3 GB Intel GM45 16-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
HP Pavilion DV4-1204TU 42,530 2.2 Kg Intel Pentium Dual-core T3400, 2.16 GHz 3 GB Intel GM45 14.1-inch 250 GB DVD-writer Yes
Sony Vaio VGN-CS34GH 44,990 2.6 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T6500, 2.1 GHz 2 GB Intel GM45 14.1-inch 250 GB DVD-writer Yes
Sony Vaio VGN- P23G 49,990 620 g Intel Atom Z530, 1.6 GHz 1 GB Intel US15W 8-inch 80 GB NA Yes
Sony Vaio VGN-CS17 59,990 2.6 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 2.26 GHz 3 GB Intel PM45 14.1-inch 250 GB DVD-writer Yes
HP Pavilion DV5-1221TX 63,013 2.7 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 2.0 GHz 4 GB Intel PM45 15.4-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
Sony Vaio VGN-BZ16GN 64,990 2.7 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P8700, 2.53 GHz 3 GB Intel GM45 15.4-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
HP Pavilion DV6-1154TX 67,215 2.9 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, 2.4 GHz 4 GB Intel GM45 15.6-inch 500 GB DVD-writer Yes
Sony Vaio VGC-JS35GJ 74,990 2.7 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo T6500, 2.1 GHz 3 GB Intel GM45 16-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
Sony Vaio VGN-FW45GJ 79,990 3.1 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P8700, 2.53 GHz 4 GB Intel PM45 16.4-inch 400 GB DVD-writer Yes
Sony Vaio VGN-Z46GD 99,990 1.48 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P9700, 2.80 GHz 6 GB Intel PM45 13.1-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
Apple MacBook Pro MB991ZP/A 1,04,900 2.0 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P9300, 2.26 GHz 4 GB Intel PM45 13.3-inch 250 GB DVD-writer Yes
Apple MacBook Pro MB985ZP/A 1,19,600 2.5 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P9600, 2.66 GHz 4 GB Intel PM45 15.4-inch 320 GB DVD-writer Yes
Sony Vaio VGN-Z48GD 1,49,900 1.47 Kg Intel Core 2 Duo P9600, 2.66 GHz 6 GB Intel PM45 13.1-inch 256 GB SSD DVD-writer Yes

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2010.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 137

 MARKET WATCH

MARKET WATCH CHIP brings you a roundup of

DIGITAL CAMERAS
FOCAL LENGTH SHUTTER APERTURE
NAME PRICE (RS) RESOLUTION OPTICAL ZOOM ISO STORAGE MEDIA
(35 MM EQ.) SPEED (SEC) RANGE
Kodak EasyShare C913 5,990 9 MP 3x 36 - 108 mm 1/2 - 1/1400 F2.7 - F4.8 80 - 1250 SD
Nikon Coolpix L19 6,090 8 MP 3.5x 41 - 145 mm NA F3.1 - F6.7 64 - 1600 SD
Canon PowerShot A480 6,290 10 MP 3.3x 37 - 122 mm 15 - 1/2000 F3.0 - F5.8 80 - 1600 SD
Nikon Coolpix L20 6,562 10 MP 3.6x 38 - 136 mm NA F3.1 - F6.7 64 - 1600 SD
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S930 7,550 10.1 MP 3x 36 - 108 mm 1/1/2000 F2.9 - F5.4 100 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Nikon Coolpix S220 8,169 10 MP 3x 35 - 105 mm NA F3.1 - F5.9 80 - 2000 SD
Sony Cyber-shot W180 8,495 10.1 MP 3x 35 - 105 mm 1 - 1/2000 F3.1 - F5.6 100 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Nikon Coolpix S230 9,135 10 MP 3x 35 - 105 mm NA F3.1 - F5.9 80 - 2000 SD
Canon IXUS 95 9,240 10 MP 3x 35 - 105 mm 15 - 1/1500 F2.8 - F4.9 80 - 1600 SD
Canon IXUS 100 IS (SD 780) 12,023 12.1 MP 3x 33 - 100 mm 15 - 1/1500 F3.2 - F5.8 80 - 1600 SD
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W220 12,275 12.1 MP 4x 30 - 120 mm 1 - 1/1600 F2.8 - F7.1 80 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W230 13,220 12.1 MP 4x 30 - 120 mm 1 - 1/1600 F2.8 - F5.8 80 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Canon Powershot SX120 IS 14,437 10 MP 10x 36 - 360 mm 15 - 1/2500 sec F2.8 - F4.3 80 - 1600 SD
Nikon Coolpix S620 14,569 12.2 MP 4x 28 - 112 mm NA F2.7 - F5.8 100 - 3200 SD
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W270 15,110 12.1 MP 5x 28 - 140 mm 1 - 1/1600 F3.3 - F5.2 80 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Canon IXUS 85 IS (SD 770 IS) 15,250 10 MP 3x 35 - 105 mm 15 - 1/1500 F2.8 - F4.9 80 - 1600 SD
Nikon Coolpix L100 16,800 10 MP 15x 28 - 420 mm NA F3.5 - F5.4 80 - 3200 SD
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 16,968 12.1 MP 4x 35 - 140 mm 1 - 1/1600 F3.5 - F10 80 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Sony Cyber-shot DSC- H20 16,968 10 MP 10x 38 - 380 mm 30 - 1/2000 F3.5 - F4.4 100 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Nikon Coolpix P80 19,900 10 MP 18x 27 - 486 mm 8 - 1/2000 F2.8 - F4.0 64 - 1600 SD
Canon PowerShot SX200 IS 20,213 12.1 MP 12x 28 - 336 mm 15 - 1/3200 F3.4 - F5.3 80 - 1600 SD
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T900 21,725 12.1 MP 4x 35 - 140 mm 2 - 1/1000 F3.5 - F10 80 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 21,800 9 MP 15x 31 - 465 mm 30 - 1/4000 F2.7 - F8 80 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Panasonic Lumix TZ7 22,312 10.1 MP 12x 25 - 300 mm 8 - 1/2000 F3.3 - F6.3 100 - 1600 SD
Canon Digital IXUS 980 IS 22,750 14 MP 3.7x 36 - 133 mm 15 - 1/1600 F2.8 - F5.8 80 - 1600 SD
Canon Powershot SX20 IS 27,300 12.1 MP 20x 28 - 560 mm 15 - 1/3200 F2.8 - F5.7 80 - 1600 SD
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 28,214 9.1 MP 20x 28 - 560 mm 30 - 1/4000 F2.8 - F8 125 - 3200 Mem Stick Duo
Canon Powershot G10 29,820 14.7 MP 5x 28 - 140 mm 15 - 1/4000 F2.8 - F4.5 80 - 1600 SD
Canon PowerShot SX1 IS 30,187 10 MP 20x 28 - 560 mm 15 - 1/3200 F2.8 - F5.7 80 - 1600 SD

USB FLASH DRIVES MEMORY CARDS

NAME CAPACITY PRICE (RS) NAME CAPACITY PRICE (RS)

Silicon Power Ultima II 2 GB 328 SanDisk microSD 2 GB 273

SanDisk SD Red 2 GB 341
Transcend JetFlashV30 1 GB 373 SanDisk M2 2 GB 415
Sandisk Cruzer Micro 4 GB 446 SanDisk microSD 4 GB 472
SanDisk SDHC 4 GB 483
Silicon Power Ultima II 4 GB 451
SanDisk microSD 8 GB 830
Transcend JetFlashV30 2 GB 485 SanDisk Pro Duo 4 GB 840
Transcend JetFlashV30 4 GB 530 SanDisk SDHC 8 GB 866
Sony Duo Pro 4 GB 893
Silicon Power Ultima II 8 GB 892 Kingston microSD 8 GB 919
Transcend JetFlashV30 8 GB 944 SanDisk Extreme III SD 4 GB 1,208
SanDisk Pro Duo 8 GB 1,418
OCZ USB ATV 8 GB 1,445 SanDisk Extreme III CF 4 GB 1,575
Corsair Flash Voyager 16 GB 2,063 Sony Duo Pro 8 GB 1,627
SanDisk SDHC 16 GB 1,680
Corsair Flash Voyager GT 16 GB 2,344 SanDisk M2 8 GB 1,848
OCZ USB ATV 16 GB 2,396 SanDisk Extreme III SD 8 GB 1,943
SanDisk microSD 16 GB 2,048
Transcend JetFlashV10 16 GB 3,429
SanDisk Extreme III CF 8 GB 3,098
SanDisk Ultra Backup 32 GB 3,465 SanDisk Extreme III CF 16 GB 5,303
NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2010.

138 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP

all the latest and greatest products on the market. Powered by:
byy:

PC CASES
POWER 5.25-INCH NUMBER OF
NAME PRICE (RS) TYPE DIMENSIONS (WXHXD) 3.5-INCH BAYS
SUPPLY BAYS FANS
iBall Engine-X 1,619 Micro-ATX 14.1 x 7.1 x 16.1 400 W 2 3 1
iBall Net-X 1,619 ATX 7 x 16 x 16.9 400 W 4 7 1
iBall Bulls-i 1,622 Micro-ATX 7 x 14.25 x 14.75 400 W 2 3 1
iBall Big Engine-X 1,641 ATX 7 x 16.5 x 16.6 400 W 4 7 1
iBall Gamer 1,770 ATX 7 x 16.5 x 17.7 400 W 4 7 2
iBall Baby 306 1,776 Micro-ATX 5.3 x 14 x 14.8 400 W 1 1 2
Cooler Master Elite 335 2,299 ATX 7.28 x 16.25 x 19.1 No 4 7 1
Thermaltake Matrix VD2000BNS 2,822 ATX 7.48 x 16.53 x 18.9 No 4 6 2
Cooler Master Gladiator 600 3,949 ATX 8 x 17.3 x 19.1 No 5 6 3
Thermaltake Strike MX VI6001BNS 3,998 ATX 7.9 x 17.7 x 19.7 No 4 6 1
Cooler Master CM 690 4,499 ATX 8.3 x 18.9 x 20.6 No 5 5 2
Thermaltake M9 VI1000BWS 4,532 ATX 7.9 x 17.3 x 19.5 No Upto 9 3 2
Gigabyte iSolo 210 5,600 ATX 7.87 x 17.32 x 19.1 No 5 5 2
Thermaltake M9D VI4000BWS 6,160 ATX 7.9 x 17.4 x 19.8 No Upto 9 3 2
Cooler Master Storm Scout 6,399 ATX 8.6 x 19.3 x 19.5 No 5 5 3
Thermaltake Xaser VI MX VH9000BWS 6,832 ATX 8.66 x 20.74 x 20.74 No 5 5 2
Cooler Master HAF 922 6,999 ATX 10 x 22.2 x 19.7 No 5 6 3
Thermaltake Armour+MX VH8000BWS 7,281 ATX 8.4 x 21.1 x 19.3 No 5 5 3
Gigabyte 3D Aurora 8,961 ATX 8.1 x 20.6 x 20.1 No 5 5 2
Cooler Master HAF 932 9,699 ATX 9 x 21.5 x 22.7 No 6 5 3
Cooler Master Storn Sniper 9,699 ATX 10 x 21.7 x 22.3 No 5 5 3
Thermaltake Spedo VI90001N2Z 10,641 ATX 9.1 x 24 x 21.1 No 7 6 2
Thermaltake Armour+ VH6000BWS 12,881 ATX 9.6 x 23.6 x 24.6 No 7 7 3
Thermaltake Kandalf VA9003BWS 13,441 ATX 8.66 x 20.87 x 22.05 No Upto 10 6 4
Cooler Master Cosmos S 1100 15,599 ATX 10.47 x 23.54 x 24.72 No 5 7 3

PRINTERS
NAME PRICE (RS) TYPE SIZE (INCHES) SHEET CAPACITY RESOLUTION BLACK (PPM) COLOR (PPM)

HP Photosmart C3188 5,934 Color Inkjet 17 x 11.4 x 6.37 100 sheets 1200 dpi 22 20
HP Laserjet P1007 6,599 Mono Laser 13.6 x 7.6 x 8.8 150 sheets 600 dpi 14 NA
Brother HL-2040 7,350 Mono Laser 14.6 x 14.2 x 6.5 250 sheets 600 dpi 20 NA
HP Laserjet P1008 7,999 Mono Laser 13.6 x 7.6 x 8.8 150 sheets 600 dpi 16 NA
HP Laserjet P1505 9,499 Mono Laser 14.9 x 8.9 x 9.6 260 sheets 600 dpi 24 NA
HP Laserjet M1005 11,199 Mono Laser MFP 17.2 x 12.1 x 14.3 150 sheets 600 dpi 14 NA
HP Laserjet M1319f 17,599 Mono Laser MFP 18.1 x 18.4 x 17.3 250 sheets 600 dpi 19 NA
HP Laserjet P2035 18,499 Mono Laser 14.4 x 10.1 x 14.5 250 sheets 1200 dpi 30 NA
HP Colour Laserjet CP1215 19,299 Color Laser 15.7 x 10 x 17.8 150 sheets 600 dpi 12 8
HP Laserjet P2055d 23,299 Mono Laser 14.3 x 10.6 x 14.5 250 sheets 1200 dpi 33 NA
HP Colour Laserjet CP1515n 24,299 Color Laser 15.7 x 10 x 17.8 150 sheets 600 dpi 12 8

NOTE: Street prices (incl. VAT and credit card charges) by www.techshop.in as on 10 March 2010.

INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 139

 LETTERS

Now play movies and music

from your USB Flash drive,

INBOX
hhard drive or memory card
oon your TV.

Next month's Star Letter wins a

Flash TV, 4GB USB Drive and MicroSD Card
(worth Rs 5,000)
STAR
R
Rural computing LETTE m o
ner gets
nth's win es set
a co o l

Dear CHIP,
A computer for Rs 10k is a really encouraging idea to
help increase the spread of computing across India.
Your cover story neatly covered all the aspects of
making this possible, and the specs provided were
really thoughtful. However, I would like to mention that
most people today buy a computer with the motive of
learning something but end up using it mostly for
entertainment. They do use it for learning
as well but most of the time they tend
to watch movies or play games. And it's
common knowledge that playing movies
and games today requires some powerful
processing, which is not possible with
this budget of ours! Of course there is
the argument that people from rural
areas won't do all of this, but it is
also a fact that these people always
hesitate to buy computers as they
don't realise their potential. The only
time they require computers is when
they have to check their children's results
or something like that. So I don't see a lot of
these people spending Rs 10k on something that
they don't use for a long time. I read about some
service which is helpful to such people. I don't
Sachin Pandit
T h is ri
a cc e s s o d b y :
re
remember exactly what it sponso
ET T E
was but it is based on cloud AMK
computing and it is offered by a
company which rents out systems for
a very low price, well below Rs 5k, and all the storage
is at the company's central server. However I don't
remember the company's name or if it's still around
today, but the concept is interesting and promises to
work well for people with really minimal computing
needs. If your team knows about this please spread the
word so that people who can't afford the nettop
configs you mentioned can also enjoy the basics of
computing.
– KRISHNA HAAS
Hi Krishna,
Thanks for your letter. One of the things we constantly
see is that people find their own ways of using
computers and technology, often defying all
expectations and assumptions. Those who thought there
were only fixed uses and scenarios in which tech
products and services could be of use to people have
often been quite cleverly surprised! We will be keeping a
close eye on how new computing applications including
cloud-based concepts are received by all types of users.
- TEAM CHIP

CONTACT INFO OS choice issues this becomes a problem for those Dell offers this with the Alienware
Please send your I have been a reader of your who wish to use Linux and those desktops that are highly priced.

letters to: magazine for about three years
now and I can say that you are
editor@chip.in
doing a very commendable job.
with "LETTERS" in
You have been educating people
the subject line
about branded PCs and also
building our own. Even though
branded PCs are a good bet there
are some issues that they have not
addressed. Two particular things
that annoy me are that they are
almost always bundled with
Windows and they almost always
use entry-level graphics cards. I
agree that piracy can be curbed
by bundling an OS with systems but
who already own a previous
version of Windows. I think these
people can at least provide the
option during customization. In my
case I bought a PC two years ago
with Vista Home Premium and due
to a power problem the PC got
burnt. Now if I want to buy a
branded PC I should be able to use
Vista on it right, but I have to buy
Windows 7. The other thing is no
brand offers a high end graphics
card on their PCs. These people
bundle Windows 7 but do not
include a DirectX 11 option. Only
Why can’t they offer a HD 5850 or
something at least a midrange such
as a HD 5670? I hope these
problems are rectified by the next
time I buy a new PC. For now I have
decided to go for a unbranded PC.
– SHASHIDHARA MURTHY
Hi Shashidhara,
You definitely make a valid point, and
if you have a legally purchased copy
of an operating system, you have
every right to use it on a new or
upgraded computer. Manufacturers
include OSes to be sure that

140 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP


everything works perfectly out of the
box, including drivers which the user
can be sure are compatible. This
gives users an unproblematic
experience when they use their new
PCs. However if the OS came free
with a branded PC, chances are the
OEM license is for that machine only.
You won't be able to use it legally on
another computer even if you have
an OS CD or DVD.
- TEAM CHIP
Learning from scratch
Howdy!,
I, being a regular reader of the
fantastic CHIP magazine, have been
able to take out some time to write
in for your esteemed letters column
despite of my upcoming Exams. I
appreciate your work in the March
2010 about the Ultra budget
Computers. The issue really helped
me take some important steps in
buying a low cost laptop for me.
My main question is that we
can't live without computers. I mean
we perform almost all our daily
work with the help of machines that
have circuits. Most of us also face
many maintenance issues everyday
which is like hell for me. I was in
Class IV when I started using
computers. I learnt to use the most
minimal features. The world of
computers seemed to be fantastic
for me, so I began learning more
about the topic. I still remember
that strange viruses coming from
pen drives created panic amongst
my friends, but I came to know
about the autorun.inf file and was
successful in getting rid of the
viruses. Then I began playing with
the system DLL files and replaced
Microsoft Corporation with
Himanshu Dutt Corporation, the
craziest trick for which I got a lot of
praise from my mates. Then began
the main journey of learning VB .Net
and Java. I completed that along
with my studies and began
exploring the depths of an operating
system. I want to get rid of all the
problems that we face every day,
such as "Explorer.exe has stopped
working", "The DLL file is missing",
"unable to connect to server", etc.
Can you print some of the
common maintenance tips that I
perform once a month so that I
can ensure smooth working of
my computer?
– HIMANSHU DUTT
CHIP appreciation
Dear CHIP,
You all are really doing a great
job. I usually do not write letters
like this but CHIP has inspired
me to. It is really a pleasure
reading your magazine. I have
been reading it since November
2008. You all really do very
thorough research on what you
publish and never hold back.
Because of you I have now become
a technofreak! When I ask you to
feed my curiosity about technology,
your issue contains the topics I
wanted to know about the very
next month. I don’t know how you
people do this but for me it is just
some sort of magic. You people
always keep up your word; “CHIP -
at the heart of technology”. Not
forgetting of the CD you provide, it
contains applications which I would
not be able to get even if I spent a
thousand bucks. Your issues attract
readers so much that they cannot
afford of neglecting it. I owe my
tech knowledge to CHIP.
– SAKSHAM SINGHAL
Free vs legal
Hello CHIP,
This is the first time I am writing to
you. The march issue was
interesting, especially the Dual
Layer DVD, and was full of tech
updates and knowledge. The
hardware and software reviews
were both fantastic. I want to share
a story with you.
I am currently using Genuine
Windows 7 but nearly all of my
friends are using illegal or pirated
copies. They didn't know the
dangers but came to know about
them when their PCs started having
trouble. The Regedit and Task
Manager programs got disabled and
their PCs hung and crashed now
and then. I recommended Linux
Mint 8 to them and they found it
excellent as it's free and cool. But
LETTERS
MARCH 2010 • VOLUME 7 • ISSUE 4 • Rs 150 WIN! Rs 1.5 lakh
worth of prizes including games, movies, books
SMS US
Since we like knowing what’s
on your mind and what you
CCHIP
H PLUS
Rajdeep Sardesai on think about our magazine,
journalism in the era
of social networking we bring you another way
to get in touch. Do you have
ULTRABUDGET something to say about a test
COMPUTING or review? Liked a feature
Low on price, not performance story? Was the workshop
useful? SMS us your feedback!
For general comments, create
the following message:
ICCO <Your comments here>
REVIVE Example: ICCO The cover story
YOUR LAPTOP
Service and upgrade an old was very useful
laptop to extend its life
TESTED
28CELLPHONES To rate a story, product
UNDER Rs 5K
review, etc look out for the
7QWERTY PHONES
UNDER Rs 7K
PRODUCT OF THE MONTH
NIKON COOLPIX S1000PJ
story tag at the base of each
Compact camera with
a built-in projector!
article and type:
ICCO <Story tag> <Rating>
BLACKBERRY BOLD 9700 • APPLE IMAC 27-INCH • HP TOUCHSMART 300
Example: ICCO PWS 5
then they curiously asked about The “Story tag” is mentioned
at the base of every story in
where I got it! Then I gave them this the magazine and the “Rating”
issue along with the DVD and they is on a scale of 1 to 5.
became fans of CHIP at first sight.
Finally, send your messages to
Now some of them are going to 51818. Cheers!
subscribe to it too. They might not
Please keep comments to
know about the dangers of pirated 160 characters per message!
software but now their PCs are Include your email address
secure. This is the case with nearly to help us reply or check out
the SMS Feedback thread at
all people who don't read such tech www.chip.in/forums
magazines. They don't know about
what is happening on their systems.
There is need for people to buy
legal and genuine software, or if
they are unable to pay for it, then
they should use free software.
You guys are doing good work
and continue to provide such free
programs along with trial versions
and game demos. Try to fit some
more articles and reviews as I read
the magazine in a fortnight and
then I have to wait for the next
issue! You are the best guys who
continue to update us. Once again
lots of thanks for publishing such
an awesome and interesting
magazine. Carry on the good work!
– ASHOK BISHNOI
Hi Ashok,
You are one of the few people to
have experienced the benefits of fully
supported, licensed software! And it
sounds like your friends need to
install good antivirus and Internet
security software, and make sure
they install OS and browser security
updates as and when the software
makers release them.
- TEAM CHIP
INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP 04/2010 141
 LAST WORD
Kodak moments die hard
BY SURAJIT AGARWAL
K
odak commands premium mindspace
when you think of photography,
especially for the 30+ year-olds who
have actually used point and shoot cameras
that had 36-exposure film in them. The
process of extracting the maximum usable
amount out of each roll of film was part of
every newbie photographer's first challenge. I
still cringe at the memory of my dad's anger
when he found just four "keepers" of the first
roll I ever shot!
Considering the advent of affordable
point-and-shoots towards the end of the 90s
and the growth of middle class economies
in China, Latin America and South East
Asia, I would have imagined that the bosses
at Kodak were still sure of a few years of
comfortable growth—after all they had
everything from the cameras, rolls, processing
equipment and chemicals in place already.
Plus, early reactions to digital cameras
were hardly encouraging. These could
barely manage a megapixel, and were not
considered good enough for even the casual
photographer. So what could go wrong?
A lot, actually. Technology changed
quic
quickly, Chinese manufacturing knocked the
bottom out of prices (and therefore margins),
bott
and digital cameras with LCD screens and
reusable memory cards caught on with the
reus
public imagination. Kodak quickly found
pub
itself at the receiving end of the one of the
itse
biggest technology disruptions in the personal
bigg
electronics space (the only real competitor
elec
would
wou probably be the typewriter losing out
to the
t PC, but that’s really more of an office
productivity tool).
pro
Anyway, Kodak like every other camera
maker
ma embraced the digital camera
movement.
m Though the dominance of the
print
pr era was gone, the Kodak Moment
integrated well with the whole digital
marketplace. The company has a
decent presence in the digital camera
space, and has recently been among
the early movers in a new product
category—digital HD camcorders. So is
life good again? Well, not
exactly. The original
disruptive technology
is in danger of going
the way of the camera
146 04/2010 INTELLIGENT COMPUTING CHIP
roll too. Yes, I believe the digital camera is
headed for the museum. Before you rubbish
this as preposterous, consider this:
The cameras embedded in mobile phones
make it almost redundant to carry a digital
camera these days. What do you need to do
with a digital camera that cannot be done
with your camera mobile? Quality images,
video recording, big prints... the mobiles offer
all of that. Some have powerful flashes too.
Combine the cost of a decent cellphone and
a digital camera and you can pretty much get
an all-in-one device that does both functions
almost equally well. Sure, the sceptic will say
the quality of the image from a camera phone
is nowhere near that of a digital camera.
But, that is changing fast. I use a camera
phone with an 8-megapixel resolution. Since
I got it a year ago, there has been no reason
for me to use the digital camera. The fact
that I now have to carry only one charger
and data card makes the deal that much
sweeter. For the finicky photographer, camera
phones have already gone to 12-megapixels.
All manufacturers are getting set to launch
phones with HD video recording capabilities
this year, so what do we need a digital camera
for anymore? Those HD camcorders will be
redundant as well then!
Technology redundancy is natural fact of
life. While I'm pretty sure the digital camera
has had its day in the sun, optical disk/drive
manufacturers are now having sleepless
nights because of memory cards! You know it
is the end of the road for the CD/DVD when
audio players in Mumbai's black and yellow
cabs come equipped with USB ports and
media card readers! Netbooks with missing
CD/DVD drives are also reinforcing the fact
that the CD is no longer the media of choice
for digital storage and playback. Other
products that I think will not feature for long
CHIP’s pages include portable media players
(again, replaced by smartphones) and home
media players (next gen TV sets will just
include the circuitry to play different media
formats and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity to
receive multiple signals). All in all, quite a few
products are headed to the digital museum.
But that only means tech innovation is alive
and kicking!
– feedback@chip.in
SMS us!  Story code: BLW to 51818