Despite the emergence of ultra-fast and voluminous SSD devices, data processing centers still require classical storage solutions. Hence, HGST, an affiliate company of Western Digital, decided to comply with the corporate demands by introducing budgetary hard drives entitled Ultrastar C10K1800. The new-comers are targeting exactly DPC-systems which are in need of high performance combined with fail-safe behavior.



HGST Ultrastar C10K1800 drives feature 2.5-inch form-factor and come in diverse capacity variations (from 300 GB to 1.8 TB). The models employ SAS interface with 12 Gb/sec throughput. It should be noted that designers involved the minimal amount of plates on the maximal possible tape density. The latter are thought to rotate with 10.520 RPM.


The implementation of only few plates provides for the reduction of power consumption; this is supposed to be a great benefit since the drives are estimated for a durable 24/7 operation. Thus, an average power consumption …

In Q2 next year Philips is going to launch retailing of its new product, demonstrated at the IFA 2017 exhibition. It’s a huge 49-inch 492P8 monitor, based on the curved VA (Vertical Alignment) matrix with the 32:9 aspect ratio, which can provide tough competition to the analogous C49HG90 sample from Samsung, however, the price is lower and equals 899 EUR/1,077 USD.



Philips 492P8 got the 3840 x 1080 resolution, 1,800 mm curve radius, 600 cd/m² and the 5000:1 static contrast. Viewing angles are 178° horizontally and vertically. There is no info about the response time and the refresh time yet. In the meantime, the manufacturer claims, this display can be utilized in multi monitors configuration, when displays are located next to each other or one above the other.


The image source is linked via D-Sub, DisplayPort and two HDMI interfaces. On the back side one may see a couple of Mini-Jacks for headphones and a mic, a USB Type-C connector, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, and a …

ASRock enters the market with a mainboard, targeting new Intel Apollo Lake CPUs (14 nm, Intel Goldmont micro-architecture). The J3355B-ITX model is thought to be integrated within laptops or entry-level all-in-one solutions. As seen from the codename, the board is developed in mini-ITX form-factor. It comes equipped with Intel Celeron J3355 processor, operating at 2.0-2.5 GHz frequency. The CPU features 10 W TDP; hence, cooling is backed by a noiseless passive cooler.



ASRock J3355B-ITX accommodates a pair of SO-DIMM slots for DDR3/DDRL3 modules with 1866 MHz frequency (up to 16 GB). The board comes with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 500 GPU that runs at 700 MHz. The connection of drives is realized via two SATA III ports. The incorporated PCIe 2.0 x16 slot is optimal for expansion cards, rather than a VGA card.


To continue, audio subsystem is based on 7.1-channel Realtek ALC887 controller, whereas network facilities are ensured with the help of Realtek RTL8111GR …