Vista PC Reviewed: Gateway GT5408 Desktop

This Gateway® GT5408 Desktop is one of three Vista PC’s I worked on shortly after Windows Vista was released. The other two are Gateway® GT5404 Desktop and HP Pavilion Slimline s7700n PC.

Specifications
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E4300 dual-core Processor 64-bit processor with Intel® EM64T Technology (1.80GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache)
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Chipset: Intel® 945G DH Chipset(Viiv™)
Memory: 1024MB dual-channel DDR2 Memory (2 x 512MB), 533MHz (PC4200). Expandable to 4GB (2x2048MB) 667MHz (PC5300)
Video: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with up to 224MB Shared Video Memory – VGA port
Audio: 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio
Hard Drive: 320GB SATA II (7200rpm, 8MB cache)10
Optical Drives: 16x multiformat dual-layer DVD±RW drive
15-in-1 Digital Media Manager™ (Memory Card Reader)
56K ITU V.92 ready fax/modem (RJ-11 port)
Intel® 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
6 USB 2.0 Ports (2 in front, 4 in back)
2 IEEE 1394 port “FireWire” (1 in front, 1 in back)
1 Parallel Port, 1 Serial Port
2 PS/2 Ports (Keyboard and Mouse)
5 Audio (Rear): Front/Headphone (Stereo), Rear (Stereo), Center/Sub, Microphone, Line-in/Side (Stereo), plus S/PDIF Optical
2 Audio (Front): Microphone, Front/Headphone (Stereo)
1 PCI-E x16, 1 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI

Out of the box, Gateway GT5408 Desktop is somewhat an adequate performer. It does have an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor for nice performance potential. It comes with 1GB of RAM (2x512MB) and an integrated Intel GMA 950 with up to 224MB shared video memory. That leaves 800MB of RAM to the system. Booting Windows Vista on this PC is a little bit painful. Right of the bat Windows Vista is using 700MB-900MB of RAM and settles around 500MB.

To increase the performance of this computer, consider upgrading the Memory to at least 2GB and/or installing a decent Video Card with minimum of dedicated 128MB of video RAM.

This computer comes with an optical mouse and a USB-powered stereo speaker. The mouse is nice enough to use. The speaker lacks low frequency and sounds terrible when it comes to music.

GT5408 CPUz 01 GT5408 CPUz 02 GT5408 CPUz 03

…….to be updated

Apple Releases iTunes 7.1.1

Apple updates iTunes again, 11 days after version 7.1 was released.

iTunes 7.1.1 addresses a stability issue and minor compatibility problems in iTunes 7.1.

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

In somewhat related news, Apple has also re-released iPod shuffle Reset Utility and renamed it to simply iPod Reset Utility. The utility supports 1st and 2nd generation iPod shuffle. (03.15.2007)

About iPod Reset Utility 1.0 for Windows

Use iPod Reset Utility to restore the following iPod models back to their factory settings, when iTunes is unable to do so:
– iPod shuffle (1st Generation)
– iPod shuffle (2nd Generation)

iPod Reset Utility 1.0 for Mac3.4MB
iPod Reset Utility 1.0 for Windows2.2MB

If you’re using Windows Vista and iTunes, please read the following Apple knowledgebase:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305042

Nine Inch Nails Releases “Survivalism” Track in GarageBand Format

Following “The Hand That Feed” and “Only”, Nine Inch Nail’s “Survivalism” is released in GarageBand Format. (104MB)

Nine Inch Nail also plan to release every track on “Year Zero” in GarageBand format (and maybe others) gradually for the next few months.

http://www.nin.com/current/

From nin.com:

Surprise! Click here to download the multitrack session for Survivalism in GarageBand* format. No strings attached. Similar to what we did with The Hand That Feed and Only. You now have the ability to reconstruct / deconstruct Survivalism any way you choose. We will soon present the details on where you can upload your own mixes so get to work and have fun with this!

[We plan to release every track on the album this way over the next few months… Keep checking back]

*Mac OS X with GarageBand 3 Required

http://www.nin.com/
http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

Microsoft Releases Windows Server 2003 & Windows XP x64 Service Pack 2

In lieu of Patch Tuesday, Microsoft releases Service Pack 2 for 64-bit Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2/overview.mspx 

Windows Server 2003 x86 (32-bit) Service Pack 2
WindowsServer2003-KB914961-SP2-x86-ENU.exe – 372.0 MB

Windows Server 2003 x64 (64-bit) and Windows XP x64 (64-bit) Service Pack 2
WindowsServer2003.WindowsXP-KB914961-SP2-x64-ENU.exe – 350.9 MB

Apple Releases Updates for Tiger, Panther and iPhoto

Apple releases Mac OS X 10.4.9, iPhoto 6.0.6, and Security Update 2007-003 for Mac OS X 10.3.9 today.

Security Update 2007-003 (10.3.9 Client)36MB
Security Update 2007-003 (10.3.9 Server)49.5MB
Security Update 2007-003 is recommended for all servers.

Mac OS X 10.4.9 Update (PPC)72MB
Mac OS X 10.4.9 Update (Intel)160MB
Mac OS X 10.4.9 Combo Update (PPC)163MB
Mac OS X 10.4.9 Combo Update (Intel)310MB
This update includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes and compatibility updates.

Mac OS X Server 10.4.9 Update (PPC)127MB
Mac OS X Server 10.4.9 Update (Universal)249MB
Mac OS X Server 10.4.9 Combo Update (PPC)216MB
Mac OS X Server 10.4.9 Combo Update (Universal)350MB
The 10.4.9 Server Update is recommended for all servers and includes fixes for the operating system and various applications, services and technologies.

Continue reading “Apple Releases Updates for Tiger, Panther and iPhoto”

South Park Season 11 is Now on iTunes Store

South Park Season 11 Season Pass has just been added to iTunes Store. The Season Pass costs $23.99 and will include all the future Season 11 episodes. Based on past seasons, there would be total of 14 episodes on Season 11. This time iTunes Store sells the Season Pass for the entire season, unlike the “split” Season 10 Season Pass.

Get South Park Season 11 on iTunes Store. (As usual, you need to have iTunes installed)