Attachments and upgrades are part and parcel of the serious photographer’s experience, and these additional gear can range from the simple (UV light filter for additional lens protection) to the extreme (400mm “wildlife” long-range zoom lens anyone?). In between there are the countless useful add-ons that nonetheless are extreme in their own way – one example is Nikon’s Fabre Photo EX Stereoscopic Microscope attachment.

DDR3 RAM modules have been enjoying moderate success and acceptance in the desktop field, primarily due to the release of the new X58 chipset and Core i7 platform. Other than this platform however, DDR3 is still less common than its DDR2 counterpart. Same goes for laptops and portable, though the divide is more indistinct here, with Centrino 2 laptops proving popular with consumers and thus pushing more and more DDR3 SO-DIMM modules out into the mainstream. While hardly the newest example of its kind, one of these DDR3 modules is Kingston’s HyperX DDR3 SO-DIMM 4GB memory kit – and it looks to be the most accomplished of the memory brands we’ve seen locally available.

Asus has a hit with their light and essentials-only Eee PC line, but Asus can do heavy and capable too, as seen very clearly with their rendition of the mid-high range multi-use 15” laptop – the Asus N50V. Specifically, the Asus N50V has a 15.4 WXGA LED-backed LCD screen, the LEDs being only one of many technologically advanced features that can be found in the N50V. We look at the rest of the goodies next.

As someone who came from the retail side of the computer business, it’s easy to forget that Epson isn’t just dot-matrix printers and entry-level inkjets. Truly, Epson is one of the most visible brands in our DIY-enamored local PC market, and its most popular products are the entry-level and the utilitarian imaging products. The launch held on January 30, ’09 at the Robinson’s Crowne Plaza Hotel was centered on something very much unlike those printers available for a few thousand bucks at Greenhills. The Epson Stylus Pro 7900 and 9900 were the stars of the show, and they display a totally different side of Epson we rarely get to see.

Large format for the large business - the majority of the attendees were from large companies.