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Feature
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PC Magazine's Essential Upgrade Guide
Let’s face it: Most computers could use an upgrade. Unless you purchased your PC within the last three months, chances are good that something is out of date. Frankly, if your PC is more than two years old, you’re in danger of being left behind as technology marches forward. The good news is that you can keep up with today’s tech without having to start over completely. In this year’s Upgrade Guide, you’ll find expert advice on everything from replacing your hard drive (at less than 25 cents a gig, why not?) to updating your business network.
By Dan Evans & Jeremy Kaplan
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After Hours
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 | FaceBreaker The most definitive boxing game made in recent years has to be the amazing Fight Night series done by EA’s Chicago studios. FaceBreaker, the first game released by EA’s Freestyle studio, is also boxing themed, but takes on a more casual and arcade style approach in both presentation and gameplay. So does this game have what it takes to knock gamers off their feet? One of the things that make FaceBreaker stand out immediately is its visual design. While most games today opt for a more realistic experience, FaceBreaker takes it in the opposite direction with intentionally cartoony graphics. Equally entertaining are the stereotypical characters, like the fat role-playing geek Steve, or the huge and probably crazy muscleman Molotov. Varying degrees of injuries will also appear as they beat each other into submission, resulting in comically deformed heads by the final bell. By Garvin Mak
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Online Looks
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HIS Radeon HD 4670
Every single ATI attempt in the entry level segment since the Radeon 1600 series has never really taken off, primarily due to uninspiring GPU architecture. But since the introduction of Radeon HD 4800 series, things have changed quite considerably. ATI has placed NVIDIA under intense pressure through aggressive pricing strategy. First it was the Radone HD 4850 and Radeon HD 4870 combination in June this year, followed by the Radeon HD “twin die” 4870X2, just two months after, and just several weeks back, they released the Radeon HD 4670 to spice up the entry level market. This Radeon 4000 series assault has seemingly turned into an unstoppable locomotive.
We don’t normally pay a lot of attention on entry level products because 99% of them fail to offer playable performance on the latest game titles. They would run casual games just fine but anything more than that will reveal their weakness. The Radeon HD 4670, though, spells a different story because for SGD169 you will be getting a performance level that’s just a tiny notch lower than that of the Radeon HD 3850, which in case you have forgotten is ATI’s high-performance mainstream graphics solution for gamers. The gap is on the average about 10 frames between these two cards, but considering both of them clocked in more than 30 FPS in three out of the four tests we carried out, it’s not too shabby for the Radeon HD 4670.
By GJF
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Online Looks
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 | Fujitsu Lifebook U2010
The Lifebook U2010 is an update of the U1010, sharing a similar body frame, albeit with more striking colours. The U2010 sports the new Z530 Atom processor, which replaces the old A100 Stealey which for a time was a commonly-used processor in MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices). The new processor is also paired with a new Intel System Controller, making up the Centrino Atom platform. If first impressions count for something, then the U2010 without doubt will invoke mixed feelings. It’s extremely light (610g), and physically small to the point that you will wonder if it is actually usable. Touch-typing is something you will obviously exclude from its list of features, as the keys are too compact. However, they offer enough tactile feedback to be usable. No question that smaller hands will fare better here. By Justin Choo
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