TViX Slim S1 : Bidding Adieu to the Realtek RTD1283

DViCO is one of the leading multimedia product manufacturers in the European and Asia-Pacific markets. Their media streamer lineup comes under the TViX series. Historically, they have carried products based on both Realtek and Sigma chipsets, but, for 2010, they decided to go the Realtek-only route. For the non-US markets, PVR functionality is necessary, and the Realtek 1283 chipset provides support for a tuner and PVR combo. The TVIX PVR M-6640N Duo is the flagship 2010 PVR model with dual tuners and HD-PVR functionality. Note that the model which sells in the US has a ATSC tuner while the rest have a DVB-T one.
Today, however, we will be looking at the streamer-only model with the same industrial design, the TViX Slim S1.

The Slim S1 can be purchased in the US for around $199. For this price, you get a media streamer with the following features:

1. Realtek RTD1283DD+ processor with a MIPS core running at 400 MHz.
2. Slot for internal 3.5" hard drive (screwless installation supported)
3. Wireless networking capable, but not bundled.
4. Usage of unit as an external hard drive (USB 2.0 interface only), provided internal hard disk is installed.

There are a number of companies making Realtek 1283 based products and TViX is known pretty well for its custom firmware with good UI and ease of use. How much can TViX differentiate itself with the 1283 platform? We will try to find that out, but, first, let us take a look at the package contents and what is inside the Slim S1.

Toshiba Satellite L645D: Mobile AMD at 3GHz

Introducing the Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4106
While the drought of Sandy Bridge notebook hardware is thankfully approaching its sweet, merciful end, there are still a healthy amount of AMD-based notebooks on the market at good prices awaiting happy homes. Toshiba was kind enough to send us their L645D, a 14" notebook sporting a mobile Phenom II dual-core processor running at a speedy 3GHz, Radeon HD 4250 integrated graphics, and a Blu-ray drive: all yours for a potentially exciting value proposition of just $619. Is it worth it?

The Toshiba L645D would seem bog standard for a budget AMD notebook if not for two things: the Phenom II N660 powering it is the fastest "non-extreme" dual-core mobile processor AMD offers, and Toshiba packs it into a 14" chassis instead of the 15.6" ones we've become accustomed to. Top that off with a Blu-ray drive and you have the makings of a strong multimedia contender at a reasonable price. So let's see how Toshiba specs it.

Toshiba L645D-S4106 Specifications
Processor	AMD Phenom II N660 (2x3GHz, 45nm, 2MB L2, 35W)
Chipset	AMD RS880M Northbridge + AMD SB800 Southbridge
Memory	2x2GB DDR3-1066 (Max 2x4GB)
Graphics	ATI Radeon HD 4250 IGP (40 stream processors, 500MHZ core clock)
Display	14" LED Glossy 16:9 1366x768 (AU Optronics B140XW01 V6 Panel)
Hard Drive(s)	Toshiba 640GB 5400RPM SATA 3Gbps Hard Disk
Optical Drive	BD-ROM/DVD+-RW Combo Drive w/ Labelflash
Networking	Atheros AR8152 10/100 Ethernet Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n
Audio	Conexant Cx20585 HD Audio Stereo speakers Headphone and microphone jacks
Battery	6-Cell, 10.8V, 48Wh battery
Front Side	Indicator lights SD/MS/MMC reader
Left Side	Kensington lock Exhaust vent Ethernet jack HDMI Combo eSATA/USB 2.0 USB 2.0 Microphone jack Headphone jack
Right Side	Optical drive USB 2.0 VGA AC adaptor jack
Back Side	-
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Dimensions	13.3" x 9.13" x 1.34"-1.50" (WxDxH)
Weight	4.98 lbs
Extras	Webcam Flash reader (MMC, SD/Mini SD, MS/Duo/Pro/Pro Duo) Blu-ray drive
Warranty	1-year limited warranty
Pricing	MSRP at $699 Available online at $619

Right off the bat, there's the dual-core AMD Phenom II N660 processor running at 3GHz. AMD now has an ungainly three different mainstream mobile processor lines with the Athlon, Turion, and Phenoms basically in order of "good, better, best" and sporting borderline indecipherable model numbers, so hats off to them for following Intel's footsteps into the realm of being utterly mystifying to the end consumer. The mobile Phenom IIs are largely equivalent to the desktop Athlon II chips, which means the N660 doesn't have any L3 cache. That leaves it specced with 1MB of L2 cache per core and enjoying a 1.8GHz HyperTransport clock. In fact the only differentiator between Phenom II and Turion II mobile processors is clock speed; the Turion IIs stop at 2.6GHz, while 2.6GHz is the lowest-clocked Phenom II (but at a 25-watt TDP). The N660's 3GHz results in a 35-watt TDP.
Supporting the N660 is 4GB of DDR3-1066 and the aging Mobility Radeon HD 4250. As I've harped before, the 40-shader 780G was a fine IGP when it landed, but time has been unkind to this particular core design, and the minimal update to DirectX 10.1 just hasn't been enough. The 4250's 40 shaders run at 500MHz, down from the 700MHz the 4250 runs at on the desktop. It's still more desirable than Arrandale's Intel HD graphics due to generally superior driver quality and compatibility along with similar overall performance, but as you'll see, Sandy Bridge's Intel HD 3000 graphics mop the floor with it. Thankfully the 4250 is not long for this world; AMD's ultraportable platform now favors the E-350 with its far more capable Radeon HD 6310 IGP, and Llano is drawing ever closer.
Rounding out the L645D is the bare minimum of connectivity and an anemic 640GB 5400RPM hard disk. Toshiba's mobile hard disks have typically been poor performers, but I imagine it keeps costs down and at least the capacity is generous. The highlight, however, is the inclusion of a combination Blu-ray reader/DVD writer. With an asking price of $699 MSRP and online price of $619, this notebook comes within striking distance of the recently reviewed Sony EE34.

iOS 4.3 Review

Earlier today, Apple made the iOS 4.3 available to its customers via iTunes, two days ahead of its previously announced March 11th release date.
iOS 4.3 is the release that will ship with the iPad 2, but it will also work with the iPhone 3GS, the AT&T iPhone 4, the third- and fourth-gen iPod touch, and the original iPad. If Apple sticks to its normal summer release schedule for new iOS versions, 4.3 will likely be the last major revision to iOS 4 before iOS 5 comes down the pike.
With this update, Apple has pulled the plug on iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod Touch users – rather than giving them a version of the 4.3 release stripped of its more performance-intensive features, the company has simply declined to issue iOS 4.3 for these devices at all. Also missing from the support list is the Verizon iPhone, though I suspect that this will be rectified through either a separate iOS 4.3 build or perhaps a 4.3.x build at some point in the near future.
The end of support for older devices isn’t exactly surprising, though I do wish that Apple had at least waited until iOS 5 to completely drop support for the slower hardware – Apple was selling new second-gen iPod Touches as recently as September 2010, and it continues to sell them refurbished as of this writing. All things must pass, but to cut off such recent customers seems a bit harsh. Still, Apple’s willingness to be the bad guy in this instance does help to prevent the hardware and software fragmentation endemic to the Android platform.
Older hardware aside, this article will focus mostly on what iOS 4.3 brings to users of existing devices. This is partly because the iPhone 3GS and first-generation iPad are what I’ve got to play with, and partly because most of the iPad 2-exclusive features relate to FaceTime, which by now is a thoroughly known quantity for iOS users.
A major component of the update is improved JavaScript rendering speed, courtesy of the same Nitro engine found in the desktop version of Safari. Apple says the new engine is about twice as fast as the old one, but is it true?

Sunspider isn’t everthing, but as a standard benchmark it’s a useful tool for measuring relative performance - relative to iOS 4.2.1, iOS 4.3 is actually a bit more than twice as fast at running JavaScript.
This is a welcome and impressive improvement, especially for those of us who aren’t using Apple’s latest and greatest. The Motorola Xoom is included for comparison, and while JavaScript performance isn’t quite as good on the original iPad, iOS 4.3 does a lot to close the gap, especially given the iPad’s older internals.
In practice, I wouldn’t say there’s a night-and-day difference, but pages seem to load with a bit more pep. No, it’s not a scientific analysis, but you can rest easy knowing that iOS 4.3 isn’t going to slow your device down while you’re on the Web.