Computex 2012 pre-show warmup

Brian Ambrozy 31 May, 2012 at 4:37pm ET Article published in Icrontic

While we’ve been covering major trade shows such as CES, E3, SDCC, and SIGGRAPH for years now, Computex has always been a … bit out of our reach due to the fact that, well, it was on the other side of the planet from where most of us are located.

Every year in Taipei, Taiwan, all the big names in the PC world gather together to announce products, show off new technology, and wow everyone with the state of the art in computers. While CES is geared primarily towards consumer electronics, Computex is almost exclusively focused on PCs and mobile devices. Being where it is, it’s at the epicenter of development for things like motherboards, tablets, smartphones, memory, storage, and all the good stuff that we love.

This year, Icrontic was truly blessed with the opportunity to cover Computex, and all of our coverage this year is sponsored by Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS). ECS has been a household name in PC components, primarily motherboards, for years. The famous ECS K7S5A may be familiar to many of us, as Icrontic’s roots go back to this era of PC technology, and the K7S5A was one of the best of the bunch for Athlon motherboards. Back in 2004, our own Kanezfan noted, “It’s one of the best boards for Athlons”.

That legacy hasn’t died; ECS is creating some of the best motherboards out there today, especially with their new Golden Boards.

Anyways, I just wanted to mention that ECS is sponsoring our coverage, and we’re very grateful for the opportunity.

That doesn’t mean we’ll only be covering ECS, though (although we do have a normal booth appointment with them like everybody else). We’ve got appointments lined up with Noctua, OCZ, ROCCAT, NZXT, ADATA, Fractal Design, Thermaltake, Lian Li, AMD, and Genius. We’ll be floating the show floor, stopping by to visit with ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and more.

Follow along with Icrontic and primesuspect (me!) on Twitter. You can also subscribe to the Icrontic Facebook and Google+ pages for updates. We’ll also have nightly posts and stories here on Icrontic, tagged Computex.

Comments

31 May 2012 ~ 5:50pm Garg I'm glad you have an appointment with Fractal Design. I'd love to see their stuff reviewed here!

If you see any convertible Windows 8 touchscreen notebooks, I'd love to hear more about them. I'm due for a new laptop, and am tempted by some options coming out in the next couple of months, but also considering waiting for a good touchscreen design to better support Win 8.
31 May 2012 ~ 7:09pm Straight_Man I would like to see some info about pros and cons of features of 10.1 inch tablets. I say 10.1 inch because I am nearsighted.

Is Lenovo planning to be at Computex??? Would like to have some info about their 10.1 inch tablets if you can get some hands-on time with them-- I know the more expensive ones use Gorilla glass (positive) but they seem limited in memory support and CPU speed. Maybe it is just me. But I compare my laptop's speed (over 2 GHz) to what I want in a tablet.
31 May 2012 ~ 7:31pm midga Neat
Eat some of that good Taiwan food!
31 May 2012 ~ 7:47pm Tushon
I would like to see some info about pros and cons of features of 10.1 inch tablets. I say 10.1 inch because I am nearsighted.

Is Lenovo planning to be at Computex??? Would like to have some info about their 10.1 inch tablets if you can get some hands-on time with them-- I know the more expensive ones use Gorilla glass (positive) but they seem limited in memory support and CPU speed. Maybe it is just me. But I compare my laptop's speed (over 2 GHz) to what I want in a tablet.
Depends on the use case for the tablet. Is it a laptop replacement, vs how I use my nook color (a few games, some web browsing/facebook/email, but almost exclusively reading ebooks)
31 May 2012 ~ 8:19pm Straight_Man Well, given that I do not need a laptop replacement now, but might in future, I would like a blend of the best of both worlds-- something that is quite expandable and durable. I would be buying say 5-6 months from now at earliest, and perhaps wait as much as a year.

Here is what would sell me for real-- the capability to have 64 GB micro-SD modules for memory expansion with a micro-SD slot externally accessible. Gorilla glass display. CPU quad with about 1.6 GHz or better speed (my laptop right now is running at about 2.6-2.7 GHz depending on load).

I have a wifi-capable router and a data dongle for USB to data cellular(backup should storms mess up local Comcast node or for use while travelling or during hurricane evac), so I think Wifi and a USB port will do. I have big fingers, so multiple USB ports would be nice for a mouse and the data dongle at once-- other than that, NOT too fine a touch screen.

Cell phone would work for surfing in emergency except for wide-tipped fingers-- I turn my thumb edge-on to use my basic cell phone (and it has a coarse touch-screen). So, went the data dongle route. The laptop is Wifi-N capable.

I eRead on my Laptop now so maybe the tablet would be useful for that for some reading in future.

More questions, ask please.
31 May 2012 ~ 8:23pm midga So, what you're talking about is a Windows tablet-laptop, not an Android big-smartphone-sorta tablet?
31 May 2012 ~ 8:49pm PirateNinja This makes me want to buy an ECS motherboard for my next build. I'm very grateful for them and their sponsorship to Icrontic.
31 May 2012 ~ 8:54pm Straight_Man
So, what you're talking about is a Windows tablet-laptop, not an Android big-smartphone-sorta tablet?
Well, I HAVE a 6-month old laptop (Lenovo), but I want something yet more compact. Maybe an ultrabook next.... Probably something along the size of a Windows tablet-laptop kinda, but of a type that is just becoming practical soon (within the next 2 years). I do not travel a lot, except for less-often-than-annual trips up North (within the US) to see family and friends.

Given that there are quad-core CPUs for smartphones or will be in a year or two, tablets are likely to get them also-- possibly sooner for tablets (more space for heat dissipation, so hotter running CPUs can be used in them). I am looking for a possibly business-grade tablet. Barnes and Noble (which I buy most of my eBooks from due to sheer availability) has an Android app as well as a PC app, so for eReading I am OS agnostic.

I use the PC app on my Laptop now-- I bought a business style laptop for durability and it has 2 years plus of warranty left on it (I bought an extended Warranty). So, MAYBE windows tablet, yes, unless Android support mousing or will. Maybe, to get what I want in a tablet, will need to wait more than a year.

But if the right thing or something close to it is shown at Computex this year or next I would like to hear about it. Prime linked on Twitter to the multi-lingual Computex site, there is a tablet that is Android 4.0, has one USB and one micro-USB port, and a micro-SD slot (but the tablet is limited to 32 GB size microSD modules)-- If Prime happens upon booth L2007 at Computex then I would like his impressions of the 10.1 inch tablet that should be on display there. If it is durable looking and feeling and works reasonably well and he can get some hands-on time with it....

Here's a link to it on Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA10U0948540
1 Jun 2012 ~ 5:02pm Cliff_Forster Personally I'm interested in all things AMD Trinity. Laptop parts, desktop parts, hopefully some really cool mini itx stuff for home theater PC's.

I'm also interested in cloud services, what's new, how is my connected life about to get better?
3 Jun 2012 ~ 1:22pm primesuspect Safely ensconced in Taipei. If you want to follow along pictorially, I'll be updating this Google Plus photo album as well
3 Jun 2012 ~ 5:15pm Straight_Man Convertible Tablet/Laptop combos if any there would be nice to know about. More and more folks are getting laptops younger now... And since money is hard to save for many these days, a combo computer makes sense.

I myself would not be buying one this year, spent two much last year on computers. So, I've got myself a tablet coming (a Toshiba Excite 10), which I will be willing to review in about a month, soon as I learn Android. This tablet is a bit slower than my ideal, but it does have a quad-core processor.