Tag: entertainment PC
Samsung entertains with the R720 17.3-inch notebook
I feel like computer manufacturers have really started to get it right recently and the announcement of the 17.3-inch Samsung R720 is just that kind proof within the laptop pudding.
It’s designed as a gaming/entertainment PC with a 16:9 SuperBright Gloss LED screen. Were it smaller, I’d suggest that matte might have been the way to go but, if it’s going to be staying at home, I think gloss is probably the right call.
There’s Sound Retrieval System (SRS) 3D sound effects to back up the visuals. It’s supposed to offer a richer, deeper experience through the two onboard 2W speakers and dedicated sub-woofer and, if you plug in your headphones phones, you’ll get a virtual 5.1 surround effect.
There’s a 512MB/1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4650 graphics card for your inner gamer and a Blu-ray player to appreciate the machine in all its high-defness. Presumably there’s some HDMI ports to out the signal to your big old TV but I can confirm six whole USB ports including one which is chargeable and another in combo with eSATA for 3GB per second data transfer potential.
It’s all powered by an Intel Centrino 2 chipset, as everything seems to be these days. No mention of the exact model or amount of RAM but I can imagine you’ve plenty of upgrade options to choose from.
Last of all is the slightly hyperchondriac addition of an anti-bacterial keyboard. It’s making me think about the kinds of entertainment people use their entertainment PCs for. I’d probably best stop there. Sorry, hope I haven’t spoilt your afternoon tea and biscuit – soggy or otherwise.
It’s out from July starting at just £599 and sounds like a pretty good option to me.
Medion Akoya P6618: 16" entertainment latop – just £599
Dell might have ceased offering value for the time being but you can always trust Medion to pipe up with a bargain of a 16″ entertainment laptop when times are hard.
The Medion Akoya P6618 comes with a 16:9 HD 1366 x 768 TFT and an Intel Centrino system with Core 2 Duo T6600 2.2GHz processor and 4GB of DDR2 to push it all through. Add to that a very respectable 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS graphics card and a 500GB HDD for just £599 and you’re looking at a pretty good, all round deal.
Sure it’s DVD drives instead of Blu-rays, the screen ain’t no LED and there’s solid state storage but what do you expect for the price? You’re still hooked up with HDMI ports, a good set of on board speakers, a 4-in-1 card reader, Gigabit LAN, draft-N wireless, eSATA, 32-bit Vista and enough software to do pretty much whatever you want. If you’re looking for an economic entertainment PC, then all you need to do is go to Aldi in 3 days time, or maybe even now by the looks of things.
