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A second (more complete) look at the Nvidia 3D Vision Kit

Last month, I did a first take on the Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision Kit. At the time, I'd only very briefly tested it and not at all thoroughly. Since then, thanks to help from Nvidia (new glasses, video card, and monitors) I've been able to move past the bugs mentioned in the first take.

This time, I did it big with an NVidia GeForce 280GTX, baby! Playing around with this card made me weep, as it's only $330, vs. the $600 ATI card I bought three years ago that's starting to disappoint me.

With the new … Read more

Samsung's 120Hz LCD monitor performance tested, revealed

120Hz LCD gaming is now officially here! What? Oh, I'm late to the party? We've been able to do this for years now? Oh. OK. Let me rephrase that then. 120Hz gaming on a 22-inch LCD computer monitor is officially here! Does that satisfy your anal retentiveness? Well, it better.

Last month I reviewed the ViewSonic VX2265wm. The first 120Hz LCD computer monitor CNET's reviewed. I gave it points for its compatibility with the Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision Kit, but its lack of features and overall average performance didn't win my recommendation.

This week, I have … Read more

Intel, GE chiefs announce health tech alliance

Updated on April 2 at 7:45 a.m. PDT with additional information throughout.

General Electric CEO and Chairman Jeff Immelt and Intel CEO Paul Otellini on Thursday jointly announced an alliance to market and develop home-based health technologies to help seniors.

The technologies will help seniors live independently and help patients with chronic conditions manage their care from their home, the companies said.

GE Healthcare will sell and market the Intel Health Guide (PDF), a care management tool designed for healthcare professionals who work with patients with chronic conditions.

The market for "telehealth" and home health monitoring … Read more

Report: Nvidia hit by S&P ratings downgrade

Nvidia was hit by a Standard & Poor's ratings downgrade Wednesday, according to a Dow Jones report, adding to the graphics chipmaker's woes.

Standard & Poor's ratings services ratcheted down its outlook on Nvidia from positive to stable, according to Dow Jones. S&P cited concerns about the graphics chipmaker's sinking revenue and profitability.

The ratings agency maintains a junk-level BB- grade on the company, and S&P noted that revenues from Nvidia's recent efforts to expand into cell phones, handheld devices, and supercomputer applications is small, according to Dow Jones. Nvidia also … Read more

Nvidia cites chip fix payments, nixes large event

Updated at 1:20 p.m. PDT with correction about the extent to which the Nvision conference is being scaled back.

Nvidia paid out $43.6 million to cover costs associated with graphics chip defects in its 2009 fiscal year, and in a separate development, a spokesman said Monday the company has no plans this year to hold the large-scale Nvision conference that it hosted last year.

In a Form 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nvidia said it paid $43.6 million in fiscal year 2009 "in deductions towards warranty accrual associated with incremental repair and … Read more

AMD: MacBook issues giving graphics bad rap

Advanced Micro Devices worries that lingering issues--both real and speculative--with Apple MacBooks are giving laptop graphics a black eye.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Stan Ossias, director of marketing, mobile graphics, at AMD, began by asserting that my March 11 post "overstated" the case about heat and the instability of graphics processors in laptops and that some readers may interpret heat issues too broadly.

"In the case of Apple's product, I don't know what happened with Nvidia's GPU but we'd like to avoid having the negative aspects taint the entire industry," he … Read more

Apple and the Nvidia 'problem'

Nvidia is again at the center of a graphics tempest in the media, this time surrounding performance issues of Apple's new 17-inch MacBook Pro. Two little pesky questions haven't been answered yet, however. Are Nvidia graphics chips really the problem? And are the issues really that widespread?

Postings in an Apple discussion forum cite a smorgasbord of problems: Some cite the Nvidia GeForce 9600M, while others point to issues with fan speed. Another post points to faulty wiring and another to the main processor (i.e., Intel). But this is just one forum. Does this really indicate widespread … Read more

Budget laptop with a little extra graphics muscle: the Asus X83VB-X2

With most of the laptops in our Winter 2009 Retail Review Roundup sporting a fairly uniform set of components and features, any entries that break the mold in a significant way have a good chance of standing out from the crowd.

In the crowded Budget category of retail laptops, ranging from $600 to $899, we were pleased to discover the $679 Asus X83VB-X2, a 14-inch system notable for its discrete Nvidia GeForce 9300 graphics. Sure, it's no gaming powerhouse, but casual gamers (and World of Warcraft addicts) will appreciate the extra gaming muscle in such an inexpensive laptop.

Read … Read more

Nvidia chips score big in Apple Mac lineup

Updated at 11:50 a.m. PST with additional information on Nvidia and ATI graphics in Mac Pro

Apple's rollout of new Macs Tuesday was a vote of confidence for Nvidia: its graphics chip have now become as ubiquitous as Intel's processors across the Mac line.

Apple's entire Mac lineup now features Nvidia GeForce GPUs. "If you go into a retail store, it's (Nvidia) top to bottom," said an Nvidia spokesperson today. "The message is that Apple is differentiating itself, investing in the GPU," he said.

The GPU, or graphics processing unit, … Read more