July 6 - 4:05pm EDT   PC maker Medion recently announced it will soon offer its 11.6-inch Akoya Mini E1312 netbook. The screen has a 1366x768 resolution and is paired with an HDMI output for a similar resolution on a TV, with graphics processing coming via an ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 chipset. Rather than choose Intel's Atom, Medion instead opts for AMD's low-power 1.5GHz Sempron 210U, and there is 1GB of RAM onboard. The 160GB hard drive will be preloaded with Windows XP. [full story]

June 17 - 4:40pm EDT   Shuttle PC has recently announced a new barebones mini-PC, the SA76G2, which is its first barebones product to support AMD socket AM3 processors using the 760G chipset, including the Phenom II as well as original Phenom, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64 and Sempron CPUs. There are also two DDR2 DIMM slots for up to 8GB of RAM. The PC is backwards-compatible with AM2 and AM2+ CPUs. [full story]

June 16 - 4:00pm EDT   BenQ recently announced the upcoming release of its ultra-portable netbook, the 13.3-inch Joybook Lite T131. Weighing in at just under 4lbs, the 13.3-inch T131 sports a 1.6GHz AMD Sempron 200U processor based on the same platform as the Athlon Neo and which should give performance better than netbooks without a major increase in bulk. A minimum of 1GB of RAM is onboard, as is an ATI Mobility Radeon X1270 graphics chipset that can drive HD video playback. The standard 250GB hard drive -- a 320GB drive is an option -- comes preloaded with Windows Vista Home Basic. [full story]

May 12 - 3:05pm EDT   Dell today lived up to promises and put its new-look Inspiron desktops on sale today in the US. Now called the Inspiron 537 and 537s, the finished systems are distinguished by their option of several colors and range in speed from Celeron through Core 2 Quad processors for Intel systems and Semprons through Phenom X4 processors for AMD. They can all have up to 8GB of RAM as well as dedicated ATI Radeon HD video, though storage varies slightly with a slimline tower limited to a 750GB drive while the larger mini-tower holds up to 1TB. [full story]

April 29 - 8:55pm EDT   HP tonight officially unwrapped a key update to its MediaSmart Servers in the LX195. The new version of the Windows Home Server is more compact and power-efficient than earlier models by dropping the existing AMD Sempron and Intel Celeron processors in favor of a 1.6GHz Atom and by removing interior expansion: a single 640GB drive provides storage, with 4 USB ports on the back allowing for more space through external disks. It's also the first MediaSmart Server to support Time Machine backups over the network on Mac OS X in addition to Windows Home Server backups. [full story]

March 30 - 1:25pm EDT   Dell on mid-Monday launcheed a major update to the look of its Inspiron desktops. The new models have sleeker redesigns and come in 8 solid colors for both slimline and regular mini-tower versions. The Texas PC creator also promises a wide spread between low-cost and mid-range systems ranging from either an AMD Sempron or Intel Celeron starter up to quad-core Phenom X4 and Core 2 Quad chips. [full story]

February 18 - 4:10pm EST   BenQ on Wednesday announced it has developed two all-in-one PCs, part of its nScreen range, with the 18.5-inch i91 and 21.5-inch i221. The two PCs sport 16:9 aspect ratio displays and built-in 1.3-megapixel webcams. The i221 can display 1080p resolution images, while the i91's maximum resolution is fixed at 720p, or 1366x768. BenQ is touting ease of use for all members of the family, including seniors, as the PCs' strong suit. The large, radio-like knob on the bottom corner of the diplays allows users to power on the machine, adjust its volume, brightness and other functions. [full story]

January 6 - 10:45am EST   AMD today fought back against the mounting wave of Intel-based netbooks by introducing the Athlon Neo processor and a matching platform. A compromise between low-power but also slow chips like Intel's Atom and traditional notebook chips, the Neo consumes at most 15W of typical power and measures just under 1.1 inches square but still clocks in at 1.6GHz and with the feature set of a larger notebook chip, such as a 1.6GHz system bus, a 512KB Level 2 cache and 64-bit code support. [full story]

December 11 - 10:50am EST   HP on Thursday broke new ground for itself by introducing its first-ever Linux desktop aimed at small offices and schools. The HP Compaq dc5850 now has the option of SUSE Linux preinstalled rather than having to choose FreeDOS and install the open-source software afterwards. It also comes preloaded with multiple similarly open-source apps such as OpenOffice as well as its web browser, e-mail and IM suites; schools also get access to about 40 educational games and learning tools. [full story]

July 18 - 3:00pm EDT   Shuttle has switched its attention back to AMD with the launch of one of its first small form factor barebones systems designed with AMD's Phenom processor in mind. The SN78H7 can handle at least some versions of the tri-core and quad-core AMD chips and comes with a 300W power supply to handle both the processor as well as peripherals attached to the system. The mainboard also comes with GeForce 8200 video built-in that can take on most of the workload for processing Blu-ray movies in home theater systems as well as providing enough 3D power for Vista Home Premium. [full story]

April 17 - 2:25pm EDT   eMachines on Thursday released a pair of AMD-based towers that serve as the very entry level for desktops. At $300, the T3646 is the Gateway label's least expensive system and accomplishes the feat with a 2.2GHz Sempron, 1GB of memory, and a 160GB hard drive; Vista Home Basic also trims the price and reduces the operating system's demands on the computer. [full story]