July 1 - 12:00pm EDT   HP this morning used an educational conference as an opportunity to unveil a quad-core workstation inexpensive enough to be bought by anyone: the xw4550 uses a latest-generation 2GHz AMD Opteron to offer up performance which is normally off-limits to those in school or at work. The system can handle video editing and other heavy-duty tasks while still being durable and tamper-proof enough to sit in a public place, according to its creator. The system can appropriately be locked down in hardware and software. [full story]

April 17 - 1:55pm EDT   NVIDIA has quietly upgraded the higher end of its workstation card line via the Quadro FX 4700 X2. A professional cousin to the GeForce 9800 X2, the Quadro shares the same tactic of incorporating two mid-range graphics processors into a single card; the approach offers more performance than a single chip but without consuming more than one PCI Express slot. While core clock speeds are unavailable, the combined card holds 2GB of video RAM clocked at 800MHz (1.6GHz effective). [full story]

March 22 - 10:40am EDT   Dell will lead off the introduction of its completely overhauled Latitude E-series with mainstream models that promise both a better image and new wireless features, according to details reported today by Engadget. Besides the visual redesign, the 14-inch E6400 and 15.4-inch E6500 will be the first Latitudes in their class to bring LED-backlit displays that offer better color and light; both receive the option with a 1440x900 panel, while the larger E6500 will also have the option of a 1920x1200 screen. The systems will have the option of 256MB dedicated NVIDIA graphics (likely Quadro chipsets) to drive their sharper displays. [full story]