PC and Components: Reviews

Google's new Android development environment pairs rich layout and build capabilities with IntelliJ IDEA's famous ease

Toshiba's new KiraBook ultrabook offers a sleek, rich look along with high-end components, including a fine display and great speakers. The question is: Can you afford it?

Acer got a few things right and a number of things wrong with the Predator (specifically, Predator model AG3620-UR12). On the "right" side of the ledger, it has one of Intel's better processors - a 3.4GHz Core i7-3770--and 32GB of DDR3/1600 memory. With those components, the asking price of $US1299 is very reasonable.

HP 3PAR StoreServe 7400 combines high scalability, high performance, and a big bag of tricks for easing storage management

Lenovo's Atom-based Windows 8 tablet-laptop hybrid is lightweight and usable, but build quality doesn't cut it

Plenty of specialized companies out there sell PCs with Linux, but Dell is one of the very few mainstream contenders to have done so over the years. After some spotty initial offerings, it's taken a different approach with its latest Linux PC. Rather than try to sell Linux hardware to the masses, which the company has said typically requires support, it's focusing instead on developers, a savvy group that tends to need less help.

HP's smartly designed, solidly built, Atom-based Windows 8 tablet makes a solid case for mobile fleets

VMware takes virtualization higher and deeper with rich storage automation and more advanced virtual networking tools

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V brings advanced virtualization features to small shops, but VMware still reigns at the high end

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V combines easy setup and management with new features that lower the entry barrier to highly available virtualization clusters

Connecting remotely to network servers is a fact of life for millions of end users. Whether working from a PC or a mobile device, users rely on secure, reliable remote connections to maintain their productivity.

At first glance, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 doesn't look like anything special.

Samsung's Windows 8 convertible is long on horsepower, but short on build quality

Smart in design and stingy on power, HP's Envy convertible works well as a laptop or a tablet

After being delayed seven times due to reported problems with the new installer, Fedora 18 has arrived. On the plus side, Fedora 18 delivers new management functionality for IT administrators and offers improved Active Directory support. However, a complicated installation process and some issues with the user interface make it a less attractive option than desktop competitors like Ubuntu and Mint.

I was a big fan of Ultrabooks—or at least the concept of Ultrabooks—when they first debuted in 2012. After all, who doesn’t like the idea of sliver-thin laptops that run Windows?

Puppet is model-driven, Ruby is procedural, and both are large, messy, open source ecosystems plagued with pitfalls

As businesses make more use of social networks, the number of engagement, analysis and monitoring tools has exploded. Enterprises are trying to understand their return on social media investments, to find out if their Twitter and Facebook marketing campaigns are actually delivering customers. They want to track social mentions across multiple networks and be responsive to both kudos and complaints.

Samsung possesses one of the better design aesthetics in the industry, and it shows in the design of the 23.6-inch display model of the Series 7 All-in-One. This $1000 PC will draw many an admiring look, and its Core i5 CPU helps it deliver smooth everyday performance and wonderful movie viewing. But gameplay is strictly low-res, and as with most all-in-ones, you're paying a lot for the form factor.

With the introduction of Windows 8, touchscreens are coming to the desktop -- but they're not cheap. We look at three of the latest monitors from Acer, Dell and ViewSonic.