Government Technology - November 2007 - (Page 48)

our take on the latest technology roduct news j I product review ideas to Chief Copy Editor Miriam Jones Send t’s pleasing when a review product draws attention the minute it arrives at the office, especially when the box is large, black and features an alien head. Coworkers gathered ’round and jaws dropped as the Alienware MJ-12 8550i workstation was wheeled over to the editorial department. This machine’s configuration included an Intel Xeon 5355 processor, 2.66 GHz 1333 MHz FSB with 8 MB cache and Quad Core. It also had 4 GB dual channel memory DDR2 FBDIMM at 667 MHz — 4 x 1024 MB. The hard drives totaled 750 GB, and can be configured with as much as 16 GB of memory, and as many as four 15,000-rpm hard drives. The 18X dual layer DVD±RW/CD-RW drive burned DVDs twice as fast as the machine our reviewer — a member of our IT department — uses every day, which features a 150 GB Maxtor SATA hard drive and 3.0 GB Pentium 4 processor with 4 MB of cache. Two NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 video cards made all the difference to our reviewer, whose machine usually gives 30 frame-per-second (fps) performance while playing World of Warcraft with the display settings set at half. Just one card in the Alienware, however, gave 60 fps with all display settings going full blast. Both cards ran a standard total of 140 fps and peaked at 195 fps. Our test unit ran quietly for all the power it produced. The workstation’s feet make it sturdy, and instead of swinging outward on hinges, the door slides to one side, and then folds out of the way against the side of the two cents machine. The hard drives are located on the front of the box so users don’t have to open the case to remove them. Accessing the inside was still easy with the thumbscrews on the case’s back, however, and the inside wiring was neatly arranged and hidden well. The memory card reader on the front of the unit is a nice touch, and two USB and a FireWire port were also on the front. The one drawback of the workstation is that its fans didn’t offer quite enough cooling, given the robustness of the machine, but some excess heat is a small price to pay for performance. Although the workstation doesn’t come with a monitor, a Microsoft keyboard and mouse are included. And just a note: The workstation can handle as many as four monitors at once. The unit’s pricing starts at $2,500, but the configuration we received is worth $8,612. And with all the goods inside, it’s worth the cost. specs • Up to 16 GB of dual channel DDR FBDIMM at 667 MHz memory • Hard drive: from 250 GB to 3 TB of storage with four drives • Graphics: from 128 MB to 1024 MB NVIDIA Quadro FX and ATI FireGL • Sound card: Creative sound blasterXFi Xtreme Music High Definition 7.1 Surround Sound • Two IEEE 1394a ports (one back/ one front) • Six Hi-speed USB 2.0 ports (four back/two front) • Front mic and headphone jacks • 28-in-1 digital media reader/writer • Locking front panel secures and conceals drive bays • Up to three high-efficency, low-noise chassis fans — two 92 mm and one 120 mm rating: price: $2,500 Next month Though the Acer TravelMate 8210 is described as “stellar,” our interaction was less so. Find out why next month. BY MIRIAM JONES | CHIEF COPY EDITOR NOV_07 48 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - November 2007

Government Technology - November 2007 Contents Point of View Way Back Machine The Last Mile GT Spectrum Big Picture Building Better Government Up Close Inspector Gadget By the Numbers Money Talking No Greenwashing Pinching Pennies Bay Bridge Bustle Two Cents Products Signal: Noise

Government Technology - November 2007

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