[Golden Legacy]

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held in Las Vegas currently, this amazing monitor was displayed - twice as wide as a typical widescreen monitor, it's concave to mimic peripheral vision. It's still a prototype, but there are a few great pictures and even a video of it running Crysis (Wind Dude will be happy <_<).

[Drizzy Drake]

I got an AW laptop and PC. I love em. But that. I could drool. Ok. I will. *Drools over new AW moniter*

[Lemontime]

WANT!!
How would that go for just regular internet browsing and multimedia things? :S

[Drizzy Drake]

It would probably be a waste of money just to browse the internet with it.

[Someone Else]

Omg WANT.

I've always though it'd be so cool to have peripheral vision in an FPS! This is what I've been dreaming of. Seriously, I'm psyched though I know I'll never get one.

Excellent find, GL! You're my favorite person for the day. <_<

[Moonear]

WTF! That's freaking awesome! Perfect for racing games and shooters. ALSO WANTS.

[Drizzy Drake]

ALienware is the perfect gaming machine. Plus the higher end ones can hold 250,000+ songs and like, 1000 movies. And ALOT of games.

[Split Infinity]

Of course, there would be very few games that would support such a resolution.

The back looks really weird.

[Toasty]

If I want a gameing PC, I'll make my own. I can get better quality parts for a better price, and I'll know my PC inside and out. And there is NO such thing as a gameing laptop. That is why I hate Alienware (mostly because they overcharge you on everything. I can get a quad-core Xeon running 3.2Ghz with more memory in the L1 and L2 cache's for less then they offer a Core 2 Quad running at a slower clock speed).

HOWEVER. I'm in love with this monitor. I'm only frustrated that Alienware made it. D:

[Split Infinity]

There's no such thing as a gaming laptop...why?

[Toasty]

First off, why would you ever play any PC games while riding in a car? You could just take your PC with you and set it up where ever you're going, assumeing you'll be staying for a while.

Also, a laptop doesn't physically have as much potential as a PC. The fact that the components are bunched together means excess heat that can't be easily dissipated. The fact that heat builds up more easily in a laptop means that the components can't physically run as fast as they would in a PC. All laptops that I know of have integrated graphics, which are usually toned down versions of their PC cousins built to be more portable and run cooler. They also can only have one hard drive, makeing storage more expensive. RAM for laptops is also more expensive.

Overall, the BEST components available for use in laptops can't, and aren't as good as the BEST components availble for PC's. And because the components have to run cooler and fit in a more confined space, laptops are also have a worse cost to power ratio. Basically, you can have a gameing laptop, but it's a complete waste if you're a serious gamer. You get WAY more for your money by getting/building a PC. Therefore makeing a "gameing laptop" a giant heap of wasted cash, and therefore not a "real" gameing machine.

If you want a laptop, get something that can handle what you'd be doing when you aren't gameing.

[Split Infinity]

So you're saying that a computer can't be a gaming PC unless it has the absoloute best possible components available at the time? And when did I say anything about cars?

[Toasty]

You missed the point. A PC with the same stats as a Laptop will run cooler (therefore perform better)0, and be FAR cheaper. It has nothign to do with how top of the line the parts are, it's how well the perforem for their cost in their given environments.

And as far as I know, people use their laptops while they're in a car, as long as they're not driving. At least, that's what everyone that I know who own's a laptop does. Besides, if you have a PC at home, why use your laptop instead of the PC?

[Split Infinity]

Because, a) This is the family PC and I'll be damned if my dad will let me modify it to play a few games, b) I don't want a huge PC cluttering my desk, and I'd like to be able to carry it around with me, c) I won't be the one paying for it and, d) USB mouse ftw.

[Toasty]

Well it's your money. But you can alwas put the PC tower off to the side of the desk, or under it. It may not be portable, but you'll get a lot more bang for your buck. Plus, a PC will last you longer since you can always upgrade it. All you can upgrade on a laptop is the CPU, Hard Drive, and RAM. And if you're lucky, the WiFi chip too. But on top of that, it's also more expensive to upgrade a laptop.

The absolute only reason to get a laptop in my opinion, is if you really need it to be portable. Like if you were in college or something.

[Split Infinity]

Well like I said, I won't be paying for it, and if it's good to begin with I probably won't be upgrading it for several years, unless I get a sweet job. Plus the CPU, Hard Drive and RAM would probably be the only things I'd want to upgrade.

[Toasty]

New graphics cards come out every few years. Games that require their superior power to perform come shortly there-after.

If you get a REALLY good, and I mean TOP of the line laptop, it'll last 4, maybe 5 years at the most before needing to be replaced. And I DOUBT that your parents will spend more than $1000. In which case, you can expect it to become a pile of junk within a couple years. 3 at the most.

[Split Infinity]

Pile of junk? I highly doubt that. Have at your opinions!

[Nosferatu]

...Want. Just want.
Mwhahaha. I love having ass loads of money.

GL, like WD said, you are my favourite person for today.

[Split Infinity]

Idea. How awesome would it be if it supported touch screen input?

[Toasty]

Spam King, on Jan 8 2008, 12:15 AM, said:

Pile of junk? I highly doubt that. Have at your opinions!

You haven't spent enough time with computers then. Intel is planning on haveing a 64 Core processor by the year 2011. Just three years from now. The possibility that your laptop lasts even two years before becomming garbage is almost a pipe dream. Heck, back in '01 my PC was one of THE best on the market. Cost my dad $2200, and here I am 6 or 7 years later, and it's practically a giant paper weight. It became obsolete about 3 or 4 years ago.

But that was quite a few years ago. Right now, electronics are advanceing at a faster pace than they did back in '01 to '03 or so.

[Split Infinity]

Alright then, I'll just upgrade it. Happy?

[Toasty]

Not if it's a laptop.

[Split Infinity]

You just said you can upgrade the CPU, Hard Drive, and RAM. Aren't those pretty much the entire computer save for video and audio cards?

And I stress the term 'pretty much'.

[Toasty]

Yeah, but you see, the videocard is nearly as important as the CPU if you're gameing. I'd actually be able to run Crysis, or at least Oblivion if I just had a better card. That's the ONLY thing keeping me from playing those games. In a laptop, since you can't upgrade the videocard, then when games start comming out that don't support your videocard anymore, you can forget about playing them until you find a new computer.

In a PC, you simply buy a new card.

[Split Infinity]

I know you'll just counter this with a point, but I also doubt it's impossible to replace a video card in a laptop. Complicated maybe, but not impossible.

[Toasty]

Split, the videocard is litterally a part of the motherboard in a laptop. It's called integrated graphics. Also, since there's no way you'd fit a normal graphics card in a laptop, and since they don't make ones for laptops (as far as I know at least), you couldn't replace the graphics card even if you wanted too.

[Split Infinity]

The CPU is also part of the motherboard. And if they don't make video cards for laptops, then where the hell do they come from?

[Toasty]

*sigh* Wow split. You should try looking inside your computer for once. <_<

The CPU isn't part of the motherboard. Not even in a Laptop. It connects to the motherboard through a socket. There's a number of processors that can fit into any given socket type, but you can't just grab any CPU and shove it in. For instance, an AMD processor will never fit into a socket designed for Intel CPU's. The most common socket types at the moment, for Intel's at least, are the 775 and LGA775.

On a desktop computer, the graphics card is usually connected through a PCI-E X16 slot, or an AGP X2/X4/X8 slot.

In a laptop, the chips that would normally be put on the graphics card are imbedded into the motherboard. You cannot remove them. It's called integrated graphics. But, if you have a PC with integrated graphics, you can still get a new videocard because you PC will have either one of those two types of sockets most commonly used by graphics cards. Either that, or you'll have PCI 2.0 slots.

In a laptop, you don't have any kind of slot for a graphics card to fit into. As far as I know, you've only ever been able to upgrade the GPU's (graphic processing unit) RAM, but that was in much older models. I haven't seen a laptop that had memory expansion for it's GPU, or even GDDR/2/3 RAM or the older GRAM sticks being sold.

So if you get a laptop, the ONLY thing you can upgrade is the CPU, the HDD (hard disk drive), and the RAM.

[Max]

Dude of Wind, I'm sorry, but I believe you are misinformed about laptop hardware. First off, for at least the last two years, if not longer, many laptops (esp. those billed as "gaming" laptops) do in fact come with a discrete graphics card. I have a mobile Quadro card in my laptop, the equivalent of an 8600GT mobile part. I was able to play Bioshock just fine, though I haven't tried Crysis yet.

nVidia has been standardizing their discrete laptop cards connector configuration, so that you can upgrade your graphics card. For example, I can take out a few screws on the bottom of this laptop and pull out the graphics card, put in a new one, and it should (in theory) work just fine.

Also, on many laptop motherboards, the processors are in fact soldered on, to insure the maximum possible heat transfer rate. As you said, heat dissipation is the primary concern for laptops, and this is one way some manufacturers choose to deal with it. I'm not sure specifically what AW does, but I would imagine they might leave it unsoldered for upgradability.

You are correct for the most part, though. Laptops parts are more expensive, generally perform less (or appear to, due to power/battery life saving measures), and are far more difficult to upgrade. However, for most people, carrying their 40+ lb case around with them is simply not an option, especially if you are flying somewhere. Even the heaviest laptops, at 8-10lbs, are not too much of a burden to carry around. And most people don't game "on the go", since the battery life would be about 2 hours. Instead, they take their laptop somewhere else (say, school, or another house, or a vacation) and then plug it into a wall socket so battery life isn't a concern and the parts don't throttle down performance to compensate.

In any case, that monitor is pretty nice, though probably going to cost as much as an expensive computer once it comes out (if it ever does). Doesn't hurt to dream though.

[Kuchiyose]

Geeez that monitor is a beast XD

[Drizzy Drake]

Like your mom

Yes, yes it is. Do we know the cost of it yet?

[Split Infinity]

Nope, it's due for release in 2008. Which is this year...

Toasty, unlike you I don't randomly pull things apart to see how they work. <_<

[Kuchiyose]

Quote

Like your mom

Duuuuuuuuuude! Keep these things to yourself XD
Hmmm any guess on how much it will cost?

[Split Infinity]

Well I did a little research, and they predict it'll be around three to five thousand bucks.

[Someone Else]

That's about what I expected it to cost, too. I could buy my own personal gaming-worthy computer for that much. =/

[Drizzy Drake]

If it's 5 grand, that is as expensive as their most expensive laptop. That's an expensive moniter, but then again, it looks great.

[Toasty]

Spam King, on Jan 8 2008, 02:22 PM, said:

Toasty, unlike you I don't randomly pull things apart to see how they work. ;)

How'd you know that I do that?! ^_^

I expected it to be in the 3 to 5K range. Especially considering that it's comming from Alienware.

And I suspected that you might possibly be upgrade the graphics in a laptop, as I've seen slots where one might go sitting right next to the GPU, but I've only seen very few, and I've never seen a mobile GPU that wasn't soldered to a motherboard. But that's good to hear. It means were that much closer to being able to build laptops from scratch.

[Split Infinity]

Have they invented system resources that can be connected via USB yet?

[Toasty]

What do you mean by that? And if I'm guessing correctly about what you mean, then they use CAT 5e cables for that. It's more efficient.

[Split Infinity]

Like a coprocessor that you can just hook up to your computer for a speed boost.

[Toasty]

Not as far as I know, other than haveing a server farm and tapping into it's resources, but that still uses either fiber optic or CAT 5e cords. You can, however, get a dual CPU adapter that allows you to put two CPU's in a single socket motherboard from what I understand, though I don't think it would perform well unless it had a direct line to the PSU for extra power. That, and it'd be a pain to cool. They do, however, have server based motherboards with dual sockets for two CPU's, but they usually don't offer many PCI or PCI-E sockets. Apples iMac G5 is a dual CPU based system.

[Split Infinity]

Yeah. I don't how to do that.

~ 2995 ~

[Toasty]

All I know is that Nvidia has a GPU thingy that you can stack up and connect to your PC thingy for extra graphics processing power. But a GPU wouldn't do a good job at being a CPU. Plus, that certain GPU is REALLY expensive and mostly intended for media companies and scientists. http://store.nvidia.com/servlet/Controller...ductID=89884400

[Eugine]

The monitor looks cool, but honestly only fanatics will buy it x.x

[Caael]

I'd rather buy a 50" LCD TV for less money, with more options, better picture quality, TV usage, and bigger size that can be mounted on my wall.

[Eugine]

Well, I assume businesses, and very rich people will buy it.

With technology in its golden age it seems, in about 5 years I'm sure the monitor will be verry old.

[Caael]

By then you'll wear monitors.

[Drizzy Drake]

Not 5. Maybe 6, but then that's still stretching it.

[Eugine]

I personally believe they are more promising technology than the Alienware curved monitor, for example this [link]

Edit: The link I posted was removed by Google x.x
Here's a clip

[Toasty]

Skidzorz, on Jan 9 2008, 04:03 PM, said:

Not 5. Maybe 6, but then that's still stretching it.

More like 3 or 4. Technology is advancing pretty fast, and only seems to move faster over time.

But the resolution is pretty good. Not full HD (1080i), but better than 720p. But it's price is a little too much in my opinion. I'd pay $3k at the most.

[Drizzy Drake]

Dude of Wind, on Jan 9 2008, 08:14 PM, said:

More like 3 or 4. Technology is advancing pretty fast, and only seems to move faster over time.

But the resolution is pretty good. Not full HD (1080i), but better than 720p. But it's price is a little too much in my opinion. I'd pay $3k at the most.

Twas a joke.

[Caael]

They're probably going to make a loss from this. For $5000 or however much, you could buy 5 50" LCD TV's, which would be a better way to spend the money. It imitates peripheral vision, so what? Not many people will buy these; it's only purpose is for gaming, and i'm not sure about you, but if I used my PC for gaming, i'd use the money to buy the best damn equipment for my PC that I could buy. It's not going to be bought by massive businesses, because a) they're too expensive and :P you dont need a screen that size for anything. Seriously, think of a practical use of that screen apart from gaming.

Yeah, its cool and all, but there really wasnt much point in making this, other than to prove that they can.

[Eugine]

It wouldn't be bought by big businesses because it's too expensive? lol... You really underestimate the power and money large companies have.

I think businesses will buy it for events, and can be used as a loss leader to attract more people. I'm sure at the CES, Alienware got huge crowds cuz of that monitor and people discovered products they wouldn't have had without that monitor.

[Caael]

So everybody in their offices is going to have one of these? Thousands of people, tapping away in their offices with their $5000 monitor.

[Eugine]

Not exactly what I was thinking.
Say for instance there's a gaming tournament, and Alienware sponsors it then donate a few of those mointors, wouldn't that monitor atleast give you an incentive to check out other AW products?
Also, you go to an Alienware display (or website), and see that monitor, wouldn't you have a greater incentive to check out other Alienware products?
Edit: And yeah, what Toasty said too.

[Toasty]

No, but they probably WILL be found in conference rooms and in the offices of the higher-ups. Maybe even on the desks of some graphic designers.

[Caael]

.eugine, on Jan 14 2008, 12:14 AM, said:

Not exactly what I was thinking.
Say for instance there's a gaming tournament, and Alienware sponsors it then donate a few of those mointors, wouldn't that monitor atleast give you an incentive to check out other AW products?
Also, you go to an Alienware display (or website), and see that monitor, wouldn't you have a greater incentive to check out other Alienware products?
Edit: And yeah, what Toasty said too.

So they've made a massive loss, wasted craploads of money to advertise other products? Why bother? If they want to advertise, do it properly like the rest of us, not trying to show off.

[Eugine]

The monitor doesn't sound exactly like a loss leader, but it has some qualities.
http://en.wikipedia....iki/Loss_leader

And do you honestly believe AW is going to mass produce those monitors and hope people is going to rush out and buy them? I think they are going to take orders, then produce. I'm sure the technology and design will be used in smaller, more affordable monitors so I doubt they are going to make a loss as you suggested.

Also, if done right, AW wouldn't have to pay money to advertise. Didn't you see how the tech community exploded because of this monitor? Free advertisement for AW, and its monitor and you know what? People like me who forgot about AW suddenly remembered they are part of the tech community.

[Caael]

I suppose.

But seriously...I cant see a practical purpose for this, other than gaming. And for rich gamers as well.

[Someone Else]

If I had money to throw around and still played games I'd probably get one. That's a big if.

[Caael]

Again, a massive LCD TV would be better and cheaper.

[Someone Else]

Don't watch TV much. Probably still won't when I'm older.

[Toasty]

Caael, since AW doesn't mass produce ANYTHING as a whole (meaning entire systems. They still mass produce cases and keyboards/mouses), and on top of that, the technology behind this has already been around for quite some time (it's basically four DLP's squished together), they won't be wasteing any money in production, and more than likely, they only spent a little on the development. Nothing they couldn't make up for within a year or less.

So Caael, it's not a waste of money by them at ALL. It's good for advertiseing (heck, might've even been cheaper), and there are plenty of Pro PC gamers and just plain rich PC gamers who WILL buy this. On top of that, big buisnesse ALWAYS have money to throw around.

They may not sell craploads, but they'll sell plenty.

[Caael]

Wind Dude, on Jan 14 2008, 02:31 AM, said:

Don't watch TV much. Probably still won't when I'm older.

Yeah but if its got a VGA input it can be used as a monitor.

How many rich gamers do you think are out there? If I was a gamer, I'd much rather have more games than this. Dont get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the screen I just dont think it has much use other than for gaming.

[Toasty]

It doesn't other than it's superior pixel count, which equals more workspace. A lot of companies require plenty of workroom on their PC's screens. On example would be graphics designers for videogames, or someone that would be working on more than one thing at once.

[Eugine]

Honestly, Caael I do not fancy the monitor myself... I'm just saying it isn't useless.

[Max]

Actually, AW doesn't even make this monitor, it's made by some other company. NEC apparently had the exact same monitor in their CES booth, but Alienware did a better job of promoting it at the show. See http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/09/nec-has...gaming-display/

To clarify an earlier point, big businesses spend a ton of money on monitors. For example, I did an internship last year at an investment banking firm, and every person on the trading floor had at least 2 20-24" monitors, some even had 4 of them. And they were all on expensive monitor arms so they could be repositioned and moved around. So say $500 * 3 (average) = $1500/employee on monitors. From what I've gathered, the same is true at most design firms as well, anywhere where alot of data or resolution is needed at once.

[Split Infinity]

Don't forget, if this monitor is even remotely popular, the price will start to go down.