Category Archives: Computers

Accessories, Computers, Gaming, Lifestyle, News

Razer’s Leviathan V2 PC Soundbar Takes Immersive Gaming to a Whole New Level for MYR 1,399

April 22, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Yesterday we said it is a good time to build a gaming PC. Specifically, we pointed out that building a budget gaming PC at this time is quite perfect. Thing is, it is not just budget PC parts that are being launched left and right, there are some high-end ones too like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, making it also the perfect time to build a high-end PC.

If you are looking to build a high-performance entertainment powerhouse though, you do not want to forget to kit it out with the best possible audio gear. While it is plenty overlooked, audio is an important component in not just gaming, but for general entertainment. It can enhance and even break your experience. Even in video calls, you tend to want to prioritise a clear and stable voice communication over video, because that is where a large portion of the communications happen.

Most of the time, when you build a high-end PC and decides on the audio solution, you do not want to stay with the built-in speakers your display comes with. Most users tend to buy a pair of headphones to work with in this case. But headphones tend to be a little restrictive, and uncomfortable in extended periods of gaming. What if you also want your audio gear to be your main listening tool for movies and music without being too restrictive?

You get a sound bar of course. Yes, just like the one you see for televisions (TV). Not just any sound bar though, you get a Razer gaming soundbar made specifically to fit your crowded gaming desk set up, look good on it, and sound stellar in gaming conditions.

Welcome to the Razer Leviathan V2, the follow-up to the highly acclaimed Razer Leviathan launched about seven years ago now. Like it predecessor, it also comes with a subwoofer box in the box. You might be fine without the subwoofer box though.

Compact, Powerful, Immersive

It packs two full range drivers to drive everything from the mid-range frequencies to the higher end ones. To give better clarity and detail on the higher-end frequencies though, Razer has also fitted two tweeters to accompany the full range drivers. To ensure that audio sounds full, especially in gaming, you must have big booms. For that, you get two down-firing subwoofers that brings some rumble to your desk when you need it.

You might think that having the speaker in front of you might take out some of its immersive feel. True, you do not have rear firing speakers to feed some spatial awareness into your ears. This soundbar comes with THX Spatial Audio technology though and is activated when you connect it to a PC. That also means that you get a virtual surround sound experience like no other on your gaming PC.

Visually Stunning and Versatile

To add to the visual drama, Razer fitted this soundbar with 18 lighting zones powered by Razer Chroma RGB. You can match the light works with your other Razer gear via Synapse, or even make your games for immersive by matching the lights to whatever you see on your screen.

It is also a rather versatile piece of kit to have on your desk. Like the older Leviathan, the V2 is also a wireless speaker when you want it to be. It is Bluetooth 5.2 enabled so that you can connect your smartphone to it for when you just want to listen to music without your PC. Bluetooth 5.2 also ensures that the connection between your smartphone and speakers stay stellar. Just to fine tune the speakers to your liking, Razer also made the feet on the speakers detachable and replaceable for differing angles.

Availability and Price

The Razer Leviathan V2 is now available on Razer.com and its authorised retailers across the nation. It will set you back MYR 1,399, which is about the same price as most decent all-in-one soundbar these days. More information on the Razer Leviathan V2 can be found on their website.

Computers, Gaming, Lifestyle, News

ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6400 GPUs are the Next Best Thing for 1080p Gaming

April 21, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Last year, if our friends asked us about building a PC or a gaming rig for themselves, we would have said that it is not a good time. We would have also told them to maybe get a gaming laptop instead, especially with prices of parts soaring out of control,

Fast forward to 2022 though and the PC component market has shown signs of recovery. Prices of GPUs and CPUs have dropped by 20-25%. While components are still sold above recommended retail prices, situations are not as bad as before and stocks are slowly becoming more available.

In terms of current component prices, it is a better time now to build your own PC. In the current market climate, there has never been a better time to build a PC because new components are launching left and right. It is an especially good time to build budget gaming rigs thanks to ASUS releasing the latest AMD Radeon GPU.

It is called the AMD Radeon RX 6400, and just as its numbers suggest, it is an entry-level GPU. It is still a modern AMD GPU though, and they say that it will do 1080p gaming rather well. We trust them on this and recommend that you stick to a 1080p gaming build on this.

It is meant for a budget rig, so you cannot expect miracles out of it. Still, you get 4GB of GDDR6 memory out of the card. You also get HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, which should allow you to have two monitors working simultaneously. It is also a PCIe 4.0 card, which also means that it should perform better than some of the AMD Radeon RX 5000 series GPUs.

Of course, the GPU comes with AMD’s latest RDNA 2 architecture on the 2039 MHz clocked chip. The GPU can be boosted up to 2321 MHz when you need maximum power for your games. When the GPU consumes little to no power, its fans turn off for silent operation. The Radeon RX 6400 also comes with support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, AMD Fidelity FX technology, AMD Radeon Super Resolution, and AMD’s Smart Access Memory technology for even better gaming experiences.

ASUS’ AMD Radeon RX 6400 comes in two flavours – ASUS Dual Radeon RX 6400 and ASUS Phoenix Radeon RX 6400. The Dual variant comes with two fans for maximum cooling performance while the Phoenix comes with a single fan design. Currently only the ASUS Dual Radeon RX 6400 will be available in Malaysia for MYR 960. There are no confirmations on when the more affordable single-fan Phoenix Radeon RX 6400 will be available in Malaysia. More information on the AMD Radeon RX 6400 can be found on AMD’s website.

Accessories, Computers, eSports, Gaming, Lifestyle, News

Acer Brings New Monitors into Malaysia for Work and Play

April 8, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

When you start with a PC build, there are a few essential things you need. You usually think of the spec of your build first, what hardware you want in your PC. How much CPU and GPU power you need also determines the kind of power supply you get for your PC.

Building a PC though is not just about getting the best CPU and GPU in your build. You need to think about your entire set-up from the ground up. Sometimes its better to start at what you can afford or the sort of performance you aim for. That usually starts from the things that you put on your table, your monitor and speakers.

People tend to forget that the display is a big part of their set up. Your display can sometimes dictate an entire build. If you are working with a budget, it realistically determines how much you have left to spend on your desktop tower PC and other peripherals. If you are going for a high-end build, your display determines how much you want to spend for your desktop PC.

How do you choose the right displays for yourself? That is a tough question. That question is made even tougher with Acer’s new offerings to the market.

The No Compromise 4K Gaming Build – Predator X28

Acer’s no compromise gaming set-up always has one name attached to their device – Predator. You know it gets serious when you see the Predator branding on any device. In this case, you cannot get any more serious than the Predator X28.

As its name suggests, it is a 28-inch display. What its name did not suggest was the power contained within the 28-inch IPS panel. It packs 4K UHD resolution to take full advantage of NVIDIA’s new GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GPU. If you already have the RTX 3090, you can still benefit from it.

It even refreshes at up to 152Hz (overclocked) with ultra-low response times at 0.2ms (G-to-G), important for esports titles and even racing simulators. With NVIDIA’s G-Sync compatibility, screen tearing is a thing that you have only heard of. For the most realistic and immersive experience, the display offers up to 90% of DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage with Delta E <2. While DisplayHDR 400 does not sound like much, it should still mean that gamers still get a stellar graphics experience from the display.

The “Do Everything” QHD Build – Acer Nitro EI322QURP

It is a 31.5-inch curved display, larger than the Predator X28. The curved VA panel offers QHD 1440p in resolution with up to 165Hz in refresh rate, for fast gaming response. This will be perfect for builds with NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3070 or anything equivalent.

It is not a compromised gaming build still though with 1ms of response time on offer. With AMD’s Radeon FreeSync 2 technology on offer, you still can game tear-free too. There is also one thing that it does better compared to the high-end Predator display: its colour accuracy. At 93% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and DisplayHDR 400 rating, games are more immersive than ever on this large-format display.

The Budget Gamer Full HD Build – Acer Nitro XZ306CX

What if you only have the money to work with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 or equivalent builds? To take full advantage of it, you might want to prioritise higher frame rates than resolution. In that case, Full HD will be more than enough to work with.

The Acer Nitro XZ306CX offers up to 200Hz in refresh rate for ultra-smooth gaming experience, 1ms response time for ultra-quick reaction times; important in esports titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). At 29.5-inch as well, you get to immerse yourself into the world that is the game in front of you. It is an Ultrawide display too, so you get to see a little more than your usual display.

Like its higher resolution Nitro brother, it also offers up to 93% in DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage. DisplayHDR 400 ensures that you get all the details from dark to light. It also offers AMD Radeon FreeSync 2 for a tear-free gaming experience you can expect from any good gaming monitors.

The All-Purpose-Productivity Build – Acer CB292CU

Gaming might not be your thing. You might not even be considering getting a gaming PC for your build. You just want a versatile laptop that you can rely on and bring anywhere you need it to work. You just want a simple PC that you can use for all sorts of things other than gaming. In that case, you just want a bigger display at a reasonable price you can plug into at home.

For that, the Acer CB292CU is perfect. It is an ultra-wide Full HD display that offers up to 2,560 by 1,080 in resolution. The extra display real estate allows you to have more windows on display as well without making the display feel cramped and small. At 29-inch, you will not feel as if you have a small display too.

The 21:9 aspect ratio is quite perfect for most films eliminating the top and bottom black bars in most cinematic formats. Sure, YouTube videos might suffer a little with 16:9 aspect ratio, but it just means you can have a little bit of a multitasking set up with a wider display. You can be sure to also enjoy your films or just lightly edit videos on the display with up to 99% sRGB colour gamut coverage, if you need to. Accurate colours is always an enjoyable feature on any display.

Price and Availability

All the products mentioned are now available for purchase from all authorized Acer stores and retailers. Of course, you can get them from Acer’s official online stores as well, including their own online store, Shopee, and Lazada. The Predator X28 will set you back MYR 3,699. The Acer Nitro EI322QURP and Nitro XZ306CX with set you back MYR 1,299 each. The more budget option Acer CB292CU will set you back MYR 899.

Computers, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

A Microsoft Garage Project Evolves, Welcome to Microsoft Journal

April 6, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

There is something about writing notes on a piece of paper. The granular feel of the paper is irreplaceable, at least to us. But writing on endless amount of paper is quite unrealistic, especially in a world where businesses have declared a war on paper waste in the name of ecological “wokeness”. So, we end up with a replacement medium, digital ink.

Digital ink is nothing new too. We have seen very early implementations in the early days of high-end handheld devices like a PDA. Most of them comes with styluses that helps you navigate the tiny interface that was Windows for PDA devices, and help you write out notes in the form of handwriting recognition.

The introduction of smartphones made the stylus quite unpopular, since you can input everything with your fingers on an iPhone. But styluses did not go out of style as Samsung has proven in their Samsung Galaxy Note series introduced in the same year the Samsung Galaxy S2 was introduced. It exploded and became one of Samsung’s biggest trademark series.

A digital pen is not a regular pen that writes on paper, but it is a good trade off when you need to quickly take notes in a meeting, jot down ideas, and even get a quick sketch going. After all, your smartphone or tablet will always be next to you or in your bag for their versatility and convenience. We say tablet and smartphones also because there hasn’t been a competing support on Windows devices that could compare to the likes of Samsung Notes or Apple’s proprietary note taking applications. This is about to change though.

Welcome to Microsoft Journal, Microsoft’s proprietary note taking digital ink tool native to Windows. Finally, Windows has a note taking tool that supports just doodles on your screen. It is the perfect tool for when you have a stylus to work with. In the case of the Microsoft Surface devices, your Surface Pen is now more functional than before.

Thing is, an app like this is not technically new. You can find similar apps that supports note taking and sharing across devices already in the market, excluding Samsung and Apple’s proprietary offerings. So, how is this a revolutionary thing?

A Garage Product Turned into Official Product

Microsoft Garage Gallery — Source; Microsoft

First, you want to understand what a Garage Project is. Microsoft has this in-house incubation and development program, and they call it the Garage. If you have come across our articles and podcasts that covers Red Hat’s Innovation Labs, you can liken the Garage to that. It is technically a collaboration space that was initially created for Microsoft’s employees to develop new ideas. It could be a new app, new tool, or new ways of doing things.

From Garage, employees and partners can come together to experiment with new ideas, develop the ideas into a working prototype, and work along further to bring the idea to life. At the end of it, hopefully the project gets to see the light of day in the hands of other users. Microsoft’s Journal is one such project.

For Working with Stylus and With Microsoft 365

The Journal app is made with digital inks first in mind, especially in Windows based tablets. But it also packs a very clever AI that makes the notes made in the Journal app a little more than just scribblings. Instead of turning the scribbles into typed out words, the AI recognizes everything from underlines, headlines, lists, and important marks. What that does is allow the app to organize the notes accordingly. When you need to pull them up, you can even use the same gestures to find the notes again.

At the same time, the notes can be synced directly with your Microsoft 365 calendar. It attaches to your meetings that you’ve put on the calendar so that you can pull it up again or refer to it again whenever you need a reminder on what your meeting is all about. Of course, you can access your journal anywhere you have access to your Microsoft 365.

In short, the Microsoft Journal app allows you to be completely random with your notes. You can scribble or note down things that you need or want quickly in a meeting. While you do that, the app makes sense of things for you so you can remain organized without wasting half an evening sorting out your notes into its own folders.

The Microsoft Journal app is now available for free from the Microsoft Store. It works on both Windows 11 and Windows 10 if you have not updated to Windows 11. To know more about Microsoft Journal, you can find out more on their website.

Accessories, Computers, Gaming, News

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is Here! What Does This Mean for GPUs?

April 4, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

First, yes, we realise that the newly announced NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is not in any way an affordable piece of kit. In fact, it is NVIDIA’s most expensive RTX 30 series GPU to date at US$ 1,999 which is nearly MYR 8,500 by today’s estimation. But this also is not a regular GPU made for the regular consumer.

To be fair, yes, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti broke cover a few days ago. It is still a brand-new piece of kit that hardly comes by though. While conditions in the market is not getting worse, it is not getting that much better either. Prices of GPUs are still quite inflated and item availability is still not great. So, does this mean that NVIDIA’s move in launching a new card going to screw us, customers over even more with an even more pricey GPU?

As it turns out, not really. Let us go into that a little bit later. For now, the GPU; the star of the show.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is not really a new GPU. Like its siblings, the RTX 3090 Ti is more like a small improvement over the mighty RTX 3090. In some partner board cases, it is even bigger than the RTX 3090 which just makes them ridiculous to look at and to have.

As mentioned earlier, it is no ordinary consumer class GPU. The regular RTX 3090 was not a regular consumer class GPU either, so you should not expect this one to be at its asking price. NVIDIA targets not only the most demanding gamers with this card, they want the prosumers to also notice. It is made to chew applications like Maya, Blender, Cinema4D, and other 3D rendering software then spitting out masterpieces as quickly as you can conceptualize them. Of course, I am exaggerating a little bit here, but you get the idea.

It packs 10,752 CUDA cores with 24GB of onboard memory that is capable of 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40-Shader-TFLOPs, and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs. That basically means it can do a lot of calculations. The regular RTX 3090 only houses 10,496 CUDA cores in comparison. The result is a GPU that is overall 9% faster than the one that it evolves from. It is also about 50% faster than the most expensive GPU NVIDIA had before, the TITAN RTX.

All these not just enables gamers to game with up to 8K resolutions in smooth fashion. It also enables content creators to work even more seamlessly with 8K resolution contents. The demand for contents today has brought 8K resolution videos as standard. This would be the perfect GPU to work with for 8K contents.

ROG Strix LC and TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Graphics Cards — Source: ASUS

The first of the board partners that have come out and announced their RTX 3090 (at least in Malaysia) is ASUS with their ROG Strix and TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GPUs. The Strix is quite unique, a water-cooled GPU with its own AiO cooler that you need to find space for in your case, if you want one. The TUF Gaming GPU is a more regular GPU, but you still do need some clearance for it with a 3.2 slot heatsink. You can get the ROG GPU at MYR 11,000 and the TUF Gaming GPU from MYR 9,700, which is around the ballpark price of a high-end GPU these days.

So, What Does This Mean?

A quick Shopee search for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 GPU will bring you some clue to the answers. You would see prices of the previous halo product going anywhere between MYR 10,000 to about MYR 12,000. This would be considered a reasonable price before the RTX 3090 Ti showed up. Considering stocks are low, with demands that stocks could not meet, it is understandable these prices.

A few months ago, a quick search of the NVIDIA GeForece RTX 3090 yields result that hover anywhere between MYR 12,000 to even MYR 20,000 for a single GPU. This also means that GPUs have gone down in prices for the past few months and that is a good thing. But it is not necessarily good enough because GPUs are still sold way above their retail prices, just because they can.

Here is the thing though, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti marks an end of stock shortages in the GPU market, it is basically NVIDIA producing a new halo product because they can finally do it with ease. It is why the RTX 3080 Ti was released and the RTX 3090 Ti had to wait a few more months before it comes to light.

If you look closely, even with ASUS’ inflated pricing, the RTX 3090 Ti is priced lower than plenty of the current RTX 3090 GPUs you can find in the market. This should, in turn, drive down prices of GPUs that are currently out in the market even lower. At this point as well, retailers might not even be able to use the “stocks are still scarce” excuse to price their GPUs. There is enough GPUs to go around now, and prices should have come down to earth.

Sure, a halo product like this will still come in limited quantities. It is, after all, the most expensive GPU you can buy in 2022. But it does mean that you can go out and buy a GPU. It signals to us that you can start haggling down prices of the GPUs that you want from the retailers, at least a little bit. It also means that you have enough GPUs to go around now. It is now almost a reasonable time to go out and buy a GPU.

Computers, Gaming, Lifestyle, News

Intel’s Core i9-12900KS is The World’s Fastest CPU at 5.5 GHz

March 29, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Intel, on a recent note, has been making quite a comeback. Their competitor, AMD really wiped the floor when they introduced the 5000 series Ryzen processors that made Intel’s 10^th and 11^th Generation processors look like old processors. When Intel introduced their 12^th generation Core processors, people paid attention again, we paid attention.

The 12^th generation Core processors codenamed Alder Lake has already shown some of its power since the series’ launch. The higher-end processors have proven that Intel has not forgotten how to make powerful processors for gamers and content creators alike. They are also unique in the space of PC processors with a Big Small architecture that we are more used to seeing on smartphone chips. The 12^th Generation Core i9, for example, packs eight performance and eight efficiency cores. They are also known to be very power-hungry chips, so if you are considering an Intel Alder Lake build, you do want to really think about beefing up your PSU (Power Supply Unit).

Just having the lead on performance never seems enough though. Intel wants to keep the lead and destroy its competition. On a side note, it is good to see the two protagonists in the CPU industry outdoing each other every step of the way. We are the winners here. We are also looking forward to AMD announcing their Ryzen 7000 series CPUs in this case,

Back to the topic, Intel wants to also wipe the floor with 12^th generation Core CPUs, just before AMD makes their move with the 7000 series. They released their most powerful CPU yet, the Core i9-12900KS. While the naming scheme is a little confusing, it is a new Core i9 that we are seeing here.

To be fair, when we say new, it is not an entirely new CPU. It is still an Alder Lake architecture. Structurally, it is the same as any Inte Core i9-12900 series chips. What differs though is how much power it commands.

intel core i9 12900ks 2 16x9 1 — Source: Intel

The eight performance cores can now be clocked to up to 5.5 GHz with turbo boost. The previeous Intel Core i9-12900K could only boost up to 5.2 GHz at best. You could overclock it, obviously, since it is an unlocked processor. Why would you attempt to overclock an Intel Core i9-12900K when you can get the already overclocked stock Core i9-12900KS. The newly announced processor is also unlocked, by the way.

There is a small catch though. While the Core i9-12900K draws a minimum of 125W, the new 12900KS needs at least 150W from your PSU. Turbo boost will draw up to 241W for both processors, no increases there, which is sort of good news for your PSU. Other than a slight increase in the clock speeds for the efficiency cores, everything else remains the same as the older 12900K.

As with the current 12^th generation chips, you want to work with the Z690 chipset motherboards to get the most out of it. It also supposed DDR5 4800 MT/s RAM and PCIe gen 5.0 technology. Of course, the older DDR4 and PCIe Gen 4.0 (no, this is not that old) technologies are still supported.

You might be wondering; “who needs all this power?” We will say that no one really needs all this power unless they are working in the creative industry and needs some extra horsepower to render videos and 3D animations. Then again, there are specifically built workhorses for that. This is made for “gamers and overclocking enthusiasts”, according to Intel. We will go with that, but these are people with money and time.

It will be available April 5^th onward in select regions. We do not know if that includes Malaysia or not. As it is, supply situations in Malaysia are still quite dire. It will also set you back at least US$ 739 (MYR 3,120*). We say at least because that also depends on stock availability and demand. For more information on the Intel Core i9-12900KS, you can head over to their website.

*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.22 on xe.com as of 29/03/2022

Computers, Editor's Choice, Gaming, Lifestyle, Reviews, Video

[Video] The Predator Triton 500 SE In-Depth Review – The Thin Beast Thing

Video March 28, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Acer’s Predator gaming laptop line-up in 2020 was one that was filled with products that sort of look like each other. One gaming laptop stood out though. That one gaming laptop that stood out above the rest is the Predator Triton 500 gaming laptop. It was thin, thinner than any Predator gaming laptop you can find. It is not unreasonably thin that temperature becomes a concern too. At the same time it looks completely ordinary.

We love the form factor the Predator Triton 500 presented. But is a product with 10th Generation Intel Core processor and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 20 series GPU. There is a new one, and it packs Intel’s and NVIDIA’s latest. Not just the latest though, the most powerful in the mobile line-up; the Core i9 and the GeForce RTX 3080.

It also comes with a new age design that is even more minimalist than before. It gained a little bit of heft and weight too. But essentially, the philosophy of the product is the same. Make it thin, as thin as possible. But make it powerful also, immensely powerful.

That means that the price is also bumped up to MYR 12,999. Does it still live up to the Triton 500 name? Is the Triton 500 SE even worth that kind of money? We find out.

Get your Predator Triton 500 SE here: https://acer.co/36NWtkm!
More information on the Predator Triton 500 SE here: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/MY/content/predator-series/predatortriton500se!

Computers, Gaming, Lifestyle, News

Neotez AQUILA Gaming Monitors Now Available in Malaysia

March 25, 2022 Nur Jeevan Leave a comment

Blink and you’ll miss it. That’s how it feels right now with the mushrooming amount of gaming monitor brands appearing. There’s a new challenger in Malaysia too – Neotez. Neotez is a company just spreading its wings; founded in 2021 in Australia, it’s looking to bring a new wave of affordable, premium gaming experiences to the masses. No, you didn’t read that wrong. “Affordable” and “premium” are in the same sentence side by side.

The company is bringing their first wave of offerings to Malaysia after a successful year in Australia. Neotez is bringing their nascent AQUILA brand which has three monitors which cater to three different niches. The AQUILA 24, 27 and 34 offer different resolutions and sizes that cater to different budgets and gaming needs.

The Neotez AQUILA lineup offers high resolution, IPS displays with 165Hz refresh rates with quick response times. AQUILA monitors also offer anti-glare, low blue light panels with HDR400 and Adaptive-Sync support. There are slight differences across the lineup but they generally offer more bang for your buck across the board.

The AQUILA 24 and 27 both offer flat IPS displays with 165Hz and a 16:9 aspect ratio. They both cover 100% of the sRGB gamut. However, the AQUILA 24 only covers 78% of the DCI-P3 gamut while the 27 covers 90%. So, not the best for colour sensitive work, but they still offer commendable specs for their price points. Additionally, the 24 only offers FHD resolution while the 27 offers higher, QHD resolution. The AQUILA 27 offers additional HDR400 support and RGB Lighting. Both come with two HDMI 2.0 ports and a single DisplayPort 1.4 port.

The larger AQUILA 34 offers 2K resolution and is the only curved display in Neotez arsenal. It’s also an ultra-wide monitor with a 1500R curve. That said, the higher resolution brings along a lower 144Hz refresh rate. It’s also got a higher 4000:1 contrast ratio compared to the 1000:1 of the 24 and 27. The 34 has HDR400 support but covers only 93% of the DCI-P3 gamut and 99% sRGB gamut. The Neotez AQUILA 34 comes with two HDMI 2.0 ports and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports and red LED backlighting.

All the monitors come with built-in speakers. The AQUILA 24 and 27 come with dual 3W speakers while the 27 come with dual 2W speakers. You also get a single audio port on all the monitors.

Pricing & Availability

The monitors are currently available from the official Neotez stores on Shopee and LAZADA. The Neotez AQUILA 24 will be priced at MYR899 while the AQUILA 27 will cost MYR1,549. The larger, ultrawide AQUILA 34 is priced at MYR2,099.

Neotez is having a special launch promotion where the monitors will be available at a discounted price for a limited time. During the promo, you’ll be able to get the Neotez AQUILA 24 for MYR899, the AQUILA 27 for MYR1,399 and the AQUILA 34 for MYR1,899.

Official Specifications

Model	AQUILA 24	AQUILA 27	AQUILA 34
Display Size	24-inch	27-inch	34-inch
Display Shape	Flat	Flat	Curved
Display Resolution	Full HD (1920 x 1080px)	Quad HD (2560 x 1440px)	2K UWQHD (3400 x 1440px)
Bezel Type	3-sided borderless	ZeroBezel	3-sided borderless
Panel Type	IPS	Fast IPS	VA
Aspect Ratio	16:9	16:9	21:9
Curved Ratio	N/A	N/A	1500R
Refresh Rate	165Hz	165Hz	144Hz
Adaptive Sync	Yes	Yes	Yes
Brightness	350 nit	400 nit	350 nit
Response Time	3 ms	1 ms	1 ms
Contrast Ratio	1000:1	1000:1	4000:1
DisplayHDR	N/A	HDR400	HDR400
Colour Gamut	100% sRGB72% NTSC78% DCI-P316.7M Colour (8-bit)	100% sRGB90% DCI-P316.7M Colour (8-bit)	99% sRGB95% NTSC93% DCI-P316.7M Colour (8-bit)
Display Screen Features	Low Blue LightAnti-Glare PanelFlicker FreeDynamic Contrast Ratio	Low Blue LightAnti-Glare PanelFlicker FreeHigh Dynamic Range	Low Blue LightAnti-Glare PanelFlicker FreePIP/PBP (Screen Split)Dynamic Contrast Ratio
Aesthetics	N/A	RGB Lighting	LED Backlighting (Red)
Ports	2 x HDMI 2.0 1 x DP 1.4 1 x Audio 1 x AC In	2 x HDMI 2.02 x DP 1.41 x Audio1 x AC In	2 x HDMI 2.02 x DP 1.41 x Audio1 x AC In
Audio	2 x 3W Built-In Speakers	2 x 3W Built-In Speakers	2 x 2W Built-In Speakers
Viewing Angle	178 (Horizontal)178 (Vertical)	178 (Horizontal)178 (Vertical)	178 (Horizontal)178 (Vertical)
Ergonomics	Height, Swivel & Pivot	Height, Swivel & Pivot	Height & Swivel
Mount	VESA(100 x 100mm)	VESA(100 x 100mm)	VESA(75 x 75mm)
Price	RM899	RM1,549	RM2,099

Business, Computers, Lifestyle, News

MSI Launches new Productivity Powerhouses – Meet the Summit, Prestige, and Modern Series

March 25, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

MSI’s brand name is mostly associated with gaming and high-performing PCs. It is quite easy to assume that gaming PCs is all they do, because their biggest mindshare and market share is mostly thanks to their gaming PC line-up. They are a full-fledged PC builder though, so they do have more than just gaming PCs. They recently launched their creator focused line-up of laptops and desktops with sleek and muted designs containing high-performing internals. Yesterday, they launched completely new devices to take on the corporate world. Welcome to the Summit, Prestige, and Modern Series.

MSI Summit

Let us back it up a little bit. The Summit series is not new from MSI. It has been their flagship notebook series for the corporate world for a few years now. Existing products include a Summit E13 Flip Evo and Summit E16 Flip. Yesterday they added two more devices into the family; the Summit E14 Flip Evo and the Summit E14 Flip.

As its name suggests, both are 14-inch laptops. As names imply too, they are convertibles. Not that you can detach the keyboard or anything, it is just that you can tilt the display all the way around the keyboard to effectively make them chunky tablets.

Both devices get Intel’s 12^th Generation Core processors, quite obviously, it is 2022 after all. With the new generation processors, they also get Intel’s proven Iris X^e integrated graphics. You also get LPDDR5 RAM on both devices at 16GB (8GB x2), should be plenty enough for you to keep multiple Google Chrome windows and tabs running without slowing down.

Obviously, because this is a productivity focused notebook, you do not get a power-hungry GPU. You also do not get a fancy RGB lighting. You still get white backlighting on your keyboard though in case you need it in low-light conditions. Connectivity and portability also take thefront seat for this laptop.

It weighs 1.6kg, which is not as light as plenty of thing and light notebooks, to be fair. It is thin enough at 17.9mm though. You also get a full-sized USB 3.2 Type-A port, a MicroSD card reader, a full-sized HDMI port, and an audio combo jack alongside two Thunderbolt capable USB Type-C ports, either can be used to charge the 72Wh battery at 65W (USB Type-C charger provided). Both laptops also feature Windows Hello compatible Fingerprint sensor and an IR webcam for facial recognition.

There is one major difference between the MSI Summit E14 Flip Evo and Summit E14 Flip. The Evo variant gets a QHD+ display instead of the Full HD+ resolution of the regular Summit E14 Flip. Both are at 16:10 aspect ratio, of course. The Evo’s display offers 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage though, important if you are in the creative industry. The IPS display also supports MSI Pen input, effectively making it a touch sensitive panel.

Alongside the new Summit E14 Flip and Summit E14 Flip Evo, the Summit E13 Flip Evo, Summit E16 Flip, and Summit E16 Flip Evo are getting a refresher in the form of Intel’s 12^th Generation Core CPUs. The Summit E16 Flip is also getting a GPU upgrade in the form of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (up to) GPU.

MSI Prestige

The Prestige series should also be a familiar name to fans of MSI. It is made to be the mid-range productivity powerhouse that prides itself with great design and portability like no other in its class. For 2022, the new line-up is even better than before.

You can get the MSI Prestige in two sizes, 15 and 14 inches. Both sizes get Intel’s 12^th Generation Core processors for a start. You can think of them as entry-level gaming devices too with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti mobile GPU (RTX 3050 for Prestige 14) handling the graphics department. You also get up to 32GB in RAM (16GB for Prestige 14) for any high-performance computing needs on the go. With the 15-inch variant also you get another NVMe PCIe Gen 3 slot in case you need to expand your storage.

For its display, the Prestige 15 offers you a 15.6-inch UHD (up to) IPS panel that boasts 100% sRGB colour gamut coverage. The Prestige 14 only offers you up to a Full HD IPS panel. You still get 100% in sRGB colour gamut coverage. It is also much lighter at 1.29 kg over the 1.69 kg of the 15-incher.

There is another Prestige 14 option, the Prestige 14 Evo. It comes with Intel’s Evo certification. That means it does not come with any GPU. That should also allow for extended battery life on the Prestige 14 Evo. While the other Prestige models with discrete GPUs charge at 100W though, this one charges at 65W (USB Type-C charger included).

MSI Modern

This one, MSI says, is for the trendsetters. They have collaborated with French Illustrator, Lorrain Sorlet for this new Modern laptop series. In their Classic Black or Urban Silver colour choices though, the thin-and-light laptops does look like it will blend in anywhere you take it too.

There are also two display sizes here, a 14-inch and a 15-inch. Both offer Full HD resolutions and are IPS displays which also means colours on the display will pop. Just do not expect the colours to be as accurate as DCI-P3 or sRGB rated displays. Still good enough for most entertainment purposes though.

Of course, you can expect Intel’s 12^th Generation Core processors on the new laptops. No discrete GPUs here, just a good ol’ Intel Iris X^e integrated graphics here. The processor is also supported by up to 16GB (8GB x2) DDR RAM. You get a fast, nice SSD storage to comem with the new Modern 15 and Modern 14 too,

It is a little thicker than the other two laptops that MSI introduced alongside this one, but still quite thing at 19.9mm (19.35mm Modern 14). At 1.7 kg and 1.4 kg respectively, they are not what you would call heavy too. The extra thickness allows for a bit more practicality on the side though. Both devices pack two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, a full-sized HDMI port, a MicroSD card slot, a combo AUX jack, and one USB Type-C port. The USB Type-C port doubles as a charging port too with the included 65W USB Type-C charger.

Availability

MSI, in their launch, did not actually mention when the new laptops will be available just yet. They also did not include their pricing currently. The only thing we can do is wait and see. For more information on the new products, you can check out MSI’s website.

Computers, Gaming, News

ROG FLOW Z13 Launches in Malaysia; Price starts from MYR7,999

March 23, 2022 Nur Jeevan 1 Comment

ASUS took the stage in Las Vegas during CES 2022 to unveil a brand new slate of devices. Among them was one of the more interesting devices we’ve seen from ASUS and specifically the Republic of Gamers in a while – the ROG FLOW Z13. The new tablet brings gaming prowess and specifications to a form factor that we’ve yet to see for any device carrying its specifications.

The ROG FLOW Z13 comes with a 13.6-inch IPS display with up to 4K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The display comes with 100% coverage of the sRGB gamut with Pantone Validation and support for Dolby Vision HDR. Yes – like always, ASUS’s ROG goes over the top with all the bells and whistles for its first-ever gaming tablet. Together with the display, the FLOW Z13 comes with 16GB of onboard RAM with up to 1TB of M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD memory.

Here’s the kicker when it comes to the Z13, its body is only 1.2cm thick but it has specifications supporting up to an Intel Core i9 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti built-in. Yep – you read that right! BUILT-IN! You don’t have to hook up any additional accessories to get an RTX3050Ti GPU with the Z13. In fact, the ROG FLOW Z13 does support the ROG XG Mobile system we saw in the earlier ROG FLOW X13 with minor updates. However, adding on the XG Mobile system allows you to bump up to an RTX3080 with 16GB of GDDR6 RAM and 150W TGP. That’s a whole lot of power for a 13-inch tablet!

In addition to the insane CPU and GPU, the Z13 also supports stylus and touch inputs. It’s also not taking any hostages when it comes to connectivity. It comes with 1 USB 2.0 Type-A port, 1 Thunderbolt 4 port with DisplayPort support, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with DisplayPort, G-SYNC and USB-PD support, 1 microSD card slot, a 3.5mm combo jack and, of course, the ROG XG Mobile interface.

The keyboard bundled with the ROG FLOW Z13 is an RGB backlit Chiclet Keyboard. It also acts as a folio cover as well. It also comes with a triple microphone array for better video conferencing with the 8-megapixel, 720p webcam. On the speaker side of things, it has a 2-speaker system with Smart Amplifier technology. It also supports Windows Hello fingerprint recognition.

Pricing & Availability

The ROG FLOW Z13 will be available in three configurations in Malaysia. The lowest-end configuration will be sporting a 12th Generation Intel Core i7 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX3050 and will retail for MYR7,999. A step up will get you the Core i9 with a higher RTX3050Ti. This will cost MYR8,799. The maxed-out version for Malaysia will come with the Core i9, RTX3050Ti and a 4K display with a 60Hz refresh rate. It’s going to set you back a whopping MYR15,999.

All variants of the Z13 will be bundled with a ROG Sleeve bad, the ASUS PEN and a ROG mouse. The higher-end variant will come with the XG mobile platform bundled together which comes equipped with an RTX3080 and expands the connectivity options available on the tablet.

The maxed-out ROG FLOW Z13 will be available starting in April 2022 while the other two are now available on ROG’s LAZADA storefront.

Official Specfications

Model	GZ301Z-CLD132W	GZ301Z-ELD236W	GZ301Z-ELC214W
Color	Black	Black	Black
Dimension (W x D x H)	30.2 x 20.4 x 1.20 ~ 1.20 cm	30.2 x 20.4 x 1.20 ~ 1.20 cm	30.2 x 20.4 x 1.20 ~ 1.20 cm
Weight	1.18 Kg	1.18 Kg	1.18 Kg
Processor	12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700H Processor 2.3 GHz (24M Cache, up to 4.7 GHz, 14 cores: 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores)	12th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900H Processor 2.5 GHz (24M Cache, up to 5.0 GHz, 14 cores: 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores)	12th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900H Processor 2.5 GHz (24M Cache, up to 5.0 GHz, 14 cores: 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores)
Laptop Graphic	NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 4GB GDDR6	NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 Ti 4GB GDDR6	NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 Ti 4GB GDDR6
DGPU Feature	MUX Switch + Optimus	MUX Switch + Optimus	MUX Switch + Optimus
Max Graphic TGP	40W	40W	40W
IGPU	Intel® Iris Xᵉ Graphics	Intel® Iris Xᵉ Graphics	Intel® Iris Xᵉ Graphics
Panel Size & Info	13.4-inch IPS WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 16:10 120Hz 500nits Touch Screen Panel Adaptive-Sync SRGB 100% Pantone Validated Dolby Vision HDR Stylus Support	13.4-inch IPS WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 16:10 120Hz 500nits Touch Screen Panel Adaptive-Sync SRGB 100% Pantone Validated Dolby Vision HDR Stylus Support	13.4-inch IPS WQUXGA (3840 x 2400) 16:10 60Hz 500nits Touch Screen Panel Adaptive-Sync SRGB 100% Pantone Validated Dolby Vision HDR Stylus Support
Total System Memory	Total 16GB RAM On-board: 8GB LPDDR5 x2	Total 16GB RAM On-board: 8GB LPDDR5 x2	Total 16GB RAM On-board: 8GB LPDDR5 x2
System Storage Installed M.2	Slot 1: 512GB M.2 2230 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSD	Slot 1: 1TB M.2 2230 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSD	Slot 1: 1TB M.2 2230 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSD
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth	Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax)+Bluetooth 5.2 (Dual band) 22 (BT version may change with OS upgrades.)	Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax)+Bluetooth 5.2 (Dual band) 22 (BT version may change with OS upgrades.)	Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax)+Bluetooth 5.2 (Dual band) 22 (BT version may change with OS upgrades.)
I/O Ports	1x ROG XG Mobile Interface 1x Thunderbolt™ 4 support DisplayPort™ / power delivery 1x USB 2.0 Type-A 1x card reader (microSD) (UHS-II) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort™ / power delivery / G-SYNC 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack	1x ROG XG Mobile Interface 1x Thunderbolt™ 4 support DisplayPort™ / power delivery 1x USB 2.0 Type-A 1x card reader (microSD) (UHS-II) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort™ / power delivery / G-SYNC 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack	1x ROG XG Mobile Interface 1x Thunderbolt™ 4 support DisplayPort™ / power delivery 1x USB 2.0 Type-A 1x card reader (microSD) (UHS-II) 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort™ / power delivery / G-SYNC 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
Camera	8MP camera and 720P HD Webcam	8MP camera and 720P HD Webcam	8MP camera and 720P HD Webcam
Mic	Built-in 3-microphone array	Built-in 3-microphone array	Built-in 3-microphone array
Keyboard Type	Backlit Chiclet Keyboard RGB	Backlit Chiclet Keyboard RGB	Backlit Chiclet Keyboard RGB
Aura Sync	YES	YES	YES
Speakers	2-speaker system with Smart Amplifier Technology	2-speaker system with Smart Amplifier Technology	2-speaker system with Smart Amplifier Technology
Audio Tech	AI noise-canceling technology Dolby Atmos Hi-Res certification Smart Amp Technology	AI noise-canceling technology Dolby Atmos Hi-Res certification Smart Amp Technology	AI noise-canceling technology Dolby Atmos Hi-Res certification Smart Amp Technology
FingerPrint	FingerPrint function available	FingerPrint function available	FingerPrint function available
Operating System	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home	Windows 11 Home
Battery	56WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion	56WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion	56WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion
Power	TYPE-C, 100W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 5A, 100W, Input: 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal	TYPE-C, 100W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 5A, 100W, Input: 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal	TYPE-C, 100W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 5A, 100W, Input: 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
Bundled Items	ROG sleeve bag ASUS PEN (SA201H) ROG Impact Gaming Mouse	ROG sleeve bag ASUS PEN (SA201H) ROG Impact Gaming Mouse	ROG sleeve bag ASUS PEN (SA201H) ROG Chakram Core mouse P511 ROG Delta Headset
XG Mobile	Not included	Not included	Bundled ROG XG Mobile (GC31S) 208 x 155 x 29.6mm (1kg) NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3080 16GB GDDR6 TGP 150W Power Supply 280W I/O ports 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DP 1.4 support G-SYNC 1x RJ-45 LAN port 1x DC input jack 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 1x SD Card reader(Standard)/UHS-II(312MB/s)
Warranty	2 Years Global Warranty (1st Year with Perfect Warranty)	2 Years Global Warranty (1st Year with Perfect Warranty)	2 Years Global Warranty (1st Year with Perfect Warranty)
SRP	RM7,999.00	RM8,799.00	RM15,999.00
Availability	Available Now in Malaysia (March 2022)	Available Now in Malaysia (March 2022)	April 2022

techENT

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ROG FLOW Z13 Launches in Malaysia; Price starts from MYR7,999

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