Gadget Update: 1st for February

MacPCWiz welcomes February with our weekly Gadget Update, a repository of what’s hot, interesting, or just plain ugly in terms of gadgets and, errr… other stuff.

Here we go.

Netbook gaming on Alienware’s M11x

(Alienware: “It’s NOT a netbook!“) (MacPCWiz: “Yeah, we’ve heard that before, too.“)

Alienware's M11X - Gaming netbook

Hoping to put some muscle into the lightweight division of the PC world, Dell‘s boutique gaming division Alienware is coming up with the M11x, a small one that packs a wallop. Dell is actually allowing pre-orders of the system, although it’s scheduled to ship on March 1. With the M11x, you have a choice of a single core Intel Pentium SU4100 1.3GHz processor — usually found in light ultraportables, or a dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 1.3GHz. You can have as much as  8GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 500GB of HDD space, although the basic starts with a 160GB hard drive. Alienware recommends you run this with Windows 7.  Most notable is the new nVidia GeForce GT 335M graphics card with 1GB of graphics memory, which powers the 11.6-inch LED-backlit display.These systems start out at $799 with base configurations. The tricked out version, according to the Dell website, will cost us $1,569.

The M11X in action at CES 2010

Although Alienware does not use the “n” word anywhere here, they are obviously hoping to lure some of the netbook crowd into buying a robust gaming netbook.

First seen at ZDnet.com.

Belkin netbook sleeves become iPad sleeves

This is a good piece of business for Belkin, the business minds behind the computer accessory company obviously not resting when they have good profit to make.

The former Belkin netbook sleeves — they still fit netbooks of course, up to 10.2 inch ones –  named Vue ($39.99), Max ($39.99), and Grip ($29.99), are now wonderfully re-marketed for the recently launched iPad.

First seen at CNET.com.

The Avolusion MEDIAGEAR – A do-it-all media box

The Avolusion MEDIAGEAR - versatile media box

The MEDIAGEAR from China-based manufacturer Avolusion is a pretty nifty box. It is a standalone media player whose primary purpose is to bring video — and in High Definition too — to your big-ass LCD TV or Plasma TV. But it’ll also display photos and play music, just in case you need that. It has an 500GB internal hard drive as primary storage for all your hi-def movies, and other media. It has standard composite (RCA)  and component (YPbPr) video output for standard definition TVs. It has HDMI output for those of you who have swanky pricey TV sets. It also comes with a remote, which is good for us, ‘coz looking at the onboard controls on this box — they look fugly.

It will play just about anything you have– MPEG-1 (avi, mpg, dat), MPEG-2(avi, vob), MPEG-4 (avi, DIVX, XviD). It also does JPGs, BMPs, and MP3 audio. And if 500GB is just not enough for you, it has a USB port which will take and recognize any flash drive or portable hard drive you may have.

First seen at HardDrivesCentral.com.

The ASUS Waveface Ultra – wear your smartphone, on your wrist!

The ASUS Waveface Ultra - a smartphone on your wrist

With Apple’s iPad launching, there is no denying that light and portable is one of the primary directions for gadgets of the future. That doesn’t stop some radical minds at ASUS to think way ahead — way, way ahead. And we love it. Check out the demo video first.

The Waveface Ultra is still in concept form, althouh sources say that the hallowed concept labs at ASUSTek have a working prototype of this radical piece of gadgetry. It’s a watch-like device made out of bendable display technology, it can make phone calls and actually process a goodly amount of data. We told you — it’s a smartphone, on your wrist. Hey you ASUS, we’ll be waiting for this one, ok?

First seen at NYTIMES.com.

That does it for this week’s GADGET UPDATE. See you next week.