Gadget corner
Sound investment
For those just building a home theatre system, the Marantz SR3001 (above) surround sound receiver makes an excellent start. Built with a solid aluminium front panel and rigid metal chassis, the device guarantees 60 watts of power per channel to help speakers provide pristine sound quality. It has an easy setup, seven amplifier channels and is compatible with Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Pro Logic IIx and Digital Theatre System (DTS) decoding. It also has a variety of video inputs and outputs. The Marantz SR3001 sells for HK$2,280 at Fortress.
Keep in touch
Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC adds extra functionality to its Touch Diamond format with the new Touch Pro (below left). Besides a touch-activated 2.8-inch display, the Touch Pro has a slide-out, five-row Qwerty keyboard - configured with many of the features found on a desktop computer, which makes it useful for any lengthy work outside the office. It has a 3.2-megapixel camera and 3.5G network connection. The device also has built-in TV-out functionality, so users can deliver a PowerPoint presentation and project pictures and videos to an external large screen without a laptop in sight. Exclusively sold by CSL, the HTC Touch Pro costs HK$6,380.
Dream machine
Designed for creative professionals and well-heeled gadget enthusiasts, Hewlett-Packard's EliteBook 8730w Mobile Workstation (below) offers more advanced technology than Apple's most expensive MacBook Pro. The centrepiece of HP's new top-of-the-line notebook is its 17-inch DreamColor display, the technology of which was co-developed with US studio DreamWorks Animation SKG. The display provides about 1 billion colours, compared with 260,000 on a standard laptop, giving exceptional colour accuracy for graphics-intensive applications. It also has Intel's Centrino 2 mobile technology, Microsoft Windows Vista Business operating system, a 320-gigabyte hard disk, Blu-ray optical drive, Nvidia's Quadro FX 3700M graphics chipset and a sturdy brushed anodised-aluminium exterior with a magnesium alloy chassis. This EliteBook 8730w configuration costs HK$44,980; a model without the DreamColor display is priced at under HK$20,000.
