Anyone who remembers “Back to the Future” can be dated quite neatly as an “80s” baby, which isn’t such a bad thing. It was a golden age of iconic paraphernalia that includes the Lucas films and the resurgent Indiana Jones.

Asus’ Eee PC 901 serves up a lot of the same delectable tastiness we savored with the original 701, but with some of the same failings as well. In both cases though, the price and the obvious focus on quality makes up for it to some extent. We take a look at the differences and the new features of the Eee PC 901 in this entry.

                                             Sleeker and shinier: the Asus Eee PC 901.

HWM was invited to AMD / ATI’s press briefing on the 4800 series of Radeon videocards on June 25, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. I expected a more-or-less rote announcement on Radeon’s answer to the recently released GTX 280 / 260, but didn’t expect the palpable excitement clearly evident in the travel-weary yet still pumped AMD/ ATI executives Paul Ayscough and Terry Makedon. This entry will be more of an observation on the current status of AMD/ATI after a short time with them learning of their latest product and their current focus as a company.

Panasonic’s recent unveiling of a number of new models under the Viera line made clear the subtle yet important differences that can be discerned between quality displays versus those with a lot of marketing fluff. The Viera line was convincingly demonstrated and tested right in front of the attendees at the lunch event held at The Renaissance in Makati.

Intel’s 65nm chips are still going strong especially here in the Philippines, with the Q6600 starting to turn into a mainstream option for some shoppers wanting a bit more zing for their buck. If you’re looking into buying a new computer based around an Intel chip, I’d advise you to pause and join us as we take a look at a sample of the newest 45nm Intel product: the “Wolfdale” E8500.

Nvidia’s newest GPU, the GTX 280, is starting to show up under popular brands like Leadtek, XFX, and Zotac, represented by the Zotac GTX 280 AMP! Edition as tested in the July issue of our print edition. As well as being the newest and best hyper-enthusiast videocard available from the Green team, this release is also significant for the future direction of “general” computing for the PC buyer.

It always pays to watch out for the underdog, be it in sports matches or in industry competition. This being HWZ, the latter is the focus of this entry, specifically the mobile phone industry. Big names that immediately come to mind include Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony-Ericsson. China King, or CKing, is obviously not one of the big names. Yet they have made an announcement that will not be ignored by any of the former – the first commercially available “phone-projector”.

Look around your home, and chances are you’ll see a Korean electronic appliance somewhere sitting pretty. With strong presence in displays, video systems, personal entertainment devices, and other general electronic home appliances, it is difficult to avoid the Samsung name in most homes. Samsung’s presence in the corporate side of the business is not as even however, and the Korean company is going all out to change this situation with a series of events under the Samsung Printing InspirAsia Tour 2008.

In the course of testing all of the stuff that passes through the HWM offices, we find ourselves having to sift through a lot of dross to get to the good stuff. A side effect of all of this is that the editors here, including me, gradually acquire a kind of “sixth sense” that is able to tell a good product from the horrible dross. In this case however, I’m glad to report that my vaunted “sixth sense” was way off the mark, and what I originally earmarked for a quick test and put-down turned out to be one of the better gems to pass through my hands this month. The product in question is the X-Minimax Portable Speakers.

                                             It's really tiny, but you can't see it with this picture..

We have often identified our computers over the years by the frequency of the CPU, or the central processing unit. This was a convenient measure of a PC’s performance, and gave buyers an easy measuring stick to determine what kind of PC they were paying for. These days however, things are much more complicated, given that most parts have their own brands of performance that one must consider, depending on its intended use, the user’s budget, and the compatibility of the parts.

Western Digital’s new Velociraptor has only been available for around a month worldwide, and wonder of wonders, HWZ’s demo unit arrived with nary any drama – ahead of anyone else in our little corner of the world. We give to you a quick look-see at the currently most desirable piece of storage for the enthusiast – officially designated as the WD3000GLFS, the VelociRaptor.

It’s not often that we see genuinely never-saw-it-before products here at our offices, and when something like this does happen, there’s a scramble to determine who gets to review the strange, new product that no-one’s seen before. This is the case with Asus’ MA3850M, a graphics card with a stand-alone color processor.

                                             Looks like any normal, buff Asus videocard from the front, if a bit shorter.

A knockout event for a knockout product – last May 30 was the designated release day of the HP Mini-Note PC, and if the geek-tastic ultra portable wasn’t enough to poleax any self-respecting geek, the event itself was replete with numerous sights and sounds to tickle the senses and generally to invite celebration for a truly definitive turning point in HP’s product line and our choices as a consumer.

Not a lot of technological innovations stem from necessity, despite the adage of necessity being the mother of invention. Then again, to put this adage into perspective, a lot of inventors absolutely believe some inventions are necessary for them. Or are necessarily evil, whichever. When it comes to some inventions, sometimes no “necessity” is actually factored into the equation.

If you’re leery of RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) due to your work or play sessions, then getting an alternative keyboard would be your best bet. As long as the alternative doesn’t come in meter sizes or must be operated by hopping around to reach each letter.