Viewsonic Unvails Flat Screen Monitor With Built-In PC
Now here's a product which I think is quite innovative: How about a desktop pc that is entirely built into the pc's flatscreen monitor?
Yes, it had to happen at some point in time right? Viewsonic has introduced what in my opinion will probably become the future of the traditional desktop pc as we know it today.
The Viewsonic VPC100 All-in-One PC is essentially a desktop pc with all of it's .essential parts - the processor, hard drive and all the usb ports designed to fit into what looks like a flatscreen pc monitor only. So, in a nutshell...pardon the punn, the entire desktop pc which used to consist of keybord, tower case, monitor and mouse, has now become the keybord, mouse and monitor. No more tower case.
Off course something like this had to happen at some point in time, with manufacturers always exploring new avenues to make their products more compact, more user friendly. Now, having said that, one would think that the manufacturers may have compromised somewhat on performance and specs to be able to fit. Surprisingly, compromise is not a word that comes to mind when hearing about the specs of this machine. While the pc may not be classifed as one of the most powerful machines on the market today, it does not really stand back when it comes to performance. I would think that for the eveyday software and applications that most of us use, this machine would be adequate. So, what are the specs you ask?
Well here they are: The pc features an 18.5" Color TFT Active Matrix LCD screen, with an effective display area of 16.1" horizontal x 9.1" vertical, and 18.5" diagonally.
Resolution is 1366x768, with a contrast Ratio of 1000:1 (typ), 5ms (typ) response time, and a 1.3 megapixel web cam. It also features 2x3 watt speakers. An Intel Atom N270 CPU processor does all the hard work behind the uhm...scenes. Processing speed: 1.6GHz Single Core, FSB 533MHz, BGA. Chipset is an Intel 945GSE + ICH7M. Now for the interesting part - the system has a 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, Windows XP Home operating system and a 2.5", 160GB SATA hard drive.
In addtion, you can also look forward to 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2x PS/2, RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Earphone and Microphone jacks, and 4-in-1 card reader (XD, SD, MMC, MS). Without having listed all of the features here, we think these are pretty impressive specs considering the size of the device. So how have they done it?
Actually, if you have ever opened up a computer towercase, you would probably have noticed something right away - a fairly large portion of unused space. I suppose we can compare it with an old 1965 model car. If you've ever checked under the hood, you would also notice the same phenomenon - a large amount of unused space inside the engine compartment. These days of course, there is hardly any space for a mouse to even move around in the engine compartments of newer model cars.
The pc is now available at selected outlets and sells for about $500, which is surpising when one considers that any new type of technology or application of that technology is usually costly - at least at first. Not so in this case, it seems.
If you have already purchased, or are using a Viewsonic VPC100, then why not let us and all of our other readers now what you think about it. You're welcome to let us know - simply give us your opinion by replying to the email newsletter that brought you to this page. Although we can't promise to include every single review, we'll certainly do our best to post as many of your reviews as possible. Personally, I think it is a great, innovative space saver, but let us know what you think.
Now here's a product which I think is quite innovative: How about a desktop pc that is entirely built into the pc's flatscreen monitor? Yes, it had to happen at some point in time right? Viewsonic has introduced what in my opinion will probably become the future of the traditional desktop pc as we know it today.
The Viewsonic VPC100 All-in-One PC is essentially a desktop pc with all of it's .essential parts - the processor, hard drive and all the usb ports designed to fit into what looks like a flatscreen pc monitor only. So, in a nutshell...pardon the punn, the entire desktop pc which used to consist of keybord, tower case, monitor and mouse, has now become the keybord, mouse and monitor. No more tower case.
Off course something like this had to happen at some point in time, with manufacturers always exploring new avenues to make their products more compact, more user friendly. Now, having said that, one would think that the manufacturers may have compromised somewhat on performance and specs to be able to fit. Surprisingly, compromise is not a word that comes to mind when hearing about the specs of this machine. While the pc may not be classifed as one of the most powerful machines on the market today, it does not really stand back when it comes to performance. I would think that for the eveyday software and applications that most of us use, this machine would be adequate. So, what are the specs you ask?
Well here they are: The pc features an 18.5" Color TFT Active Matrix LCD screen, with an effective display area of 16.1" horizontal x 9.1" vertical, and 18.5" diagonally.
Resolution is 1366x768, with a contrast Ratio of 1000:1 (typ), 5ms (typ) response time, and a 1.3 megapixel web cam. It also features 2x3 watt speakers. An Intel Atom N270 CPU processor does all the hard work behind the uhm...scenes. Processing speed: 1.6GHz Single Core, FSB 533MHz, BGA. Chipset is an Intel 945GSE + ICH7M. Now for the interesting part - the system has a 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, Windows XP Home operating system and a 2.5", 160GB SATA hard drive.
In addtion, you can also look forward to 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2x PS/2, RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Earphone and Microphone jacks, and 4-in-1 card reader (XD, SD, MMC, MS). Without having listed all of the features here, we think these are pretty impressive specs considering the size of the device. So how have they done it?
Actually, if you have ever opened up a computer towercase, you would probably have noticed something right away - a fairly large portion of unused space. I suppose we can compare it with an old 1965 model car. If you've ever checked under the hood, you would also notice the same phenomenon - a large amount of unused space inside the engine compartment. These days of course, there is hardly any space for a mouse to even move around in the engine compartments of newer model cars.
The pc is now available at selected outlets and sells for about $500, which is surpising when one considers that any new type of technology or application of that technology is usually costly - at least at first. Not so in this case, it seems.
If you have already purchased, or are using a Viewsonic VPC100, then why not let us and all of our other readers now what you think about it. You're welcome to let us know - simply give us your opinion by replying to the email newsletter that brought you to this page. Although we can't promise to include every single review, we'll certainly do our best to post as many of your reviews as possible. Personally, I think it is a great, innovative space saver, but let us know what you think.
General Motors has confirmed that it will launch a new GM plug-in electric SUV next year. The sport-utility electric vehicle will be part of the 2011 SUV lineup that will include new hybrid cars and plug-in vehicles. There was no word on what mileage the new vehicle will achieve.
