The world's most expensive Yalos Diamond Keymat TV

First there was the piano black fridge embellished with sparkling Swarovski crystals; now Pocket-lint brings you news of the most expensive TV set in the world, the Yalos Diamonds.

At least, it's advertised as the most expensive TV, but LG may have the edge with their 24-carat gold plated TV home entertainment system. However, while Italian TV manufacturer Keymat is quite candid about the price, LG is a bit coy about the figures.

The Diamonds set is studded with – you guessed it – diamonds that sparkle on the glossy black frame.

The price for this gorgeous little number is a worrying €100,000; personally, we’d rather wear the diamonds than have our TV studded with them.

Keymat says that Yalos is made with “unconventional materials such as glass and Plexiglass”, but quite what is so unconventional about them is not clear. However, the set doesn’t show any signs of screws and welds, and the logo has apparently been screen-printed backwards and changes colour depending on whether the set is on or off.
So, you thought the 103-inch Plasma from Panasonic carried a bit of heft around the price tag, eh? Well check out this $130,000 YALOS Diamond LCD TV from Keymat. Now, just forget everything you thought was important when measuring the value of a good LCD panel -- you know: brightness, contrast ratio, response, pixel resolution, and so on -- those measurements are for fools, boy. As any self-righteous heiress knows, a good TV must feature a white gold plating and at least 160 diamonds totaling to a minimum of 20 carats. Think differently and you might just end up dodging Blackberries with the rest of the help.
So, you were planning on spending some serious money on an LCD TV, right? Well, how about $130,000? Does that sound about right?

This YALOS Diamond LCD TV from Keymat is arguably the most expensive LCD TV ever made. This one of a kind television screen features not just a diamond or two, but 160 diamonds, totaling more than 20 carats. I am sure you will also appreciate the white gold plating as well.

Whew, now that’s an LCD TV an heiress can be proud of!
Its time to compare your LCD TV by carats instead of inches. The Yalos Diamond is the perfect gadget for the ‘bling-thing lovers’ to liven up their home entertainment system.

The 20-carat Yalos Diamond is the costliest LCD TV in the world that incorporated 160 diamonds. The punk beast will be displayed on the stand of Italian Keymat Industrie at Berlin IFA 2006.
The Yalos Diamond TV was presented at the IFA2006 event back in September, it comes with white gold plus 160 diamonds and is suppose to be the most expensive TV on the world costing €100,000 (close to $128,000).

Besides the bling-bling, there are different models that differ in size but all feature a LCD screen with a contrast ratio of 1200:1. This expensive product is produced by the Italian mafia company - Keymat Industrie.

There will be 5 models available in the near future: 32, 37, 40, 46 and 52-inches.
The 20 carats of YALOS Diamond, the ultimate cult object with 160 real diamonds, will be exhibited in 400 square meters stand of the Italian Keymat Industrie s.p.a. at the International Fair of Berlin IFA Fair Hall 2.5, Stand 101, from September first to September 6, 2006.


Keymat industrie. launches today
Yalos Diamond a new Lcd Tv with 160 real diamonds.
Naples Italy - - September 1, 2006 - - Yalos Diamond is a jewel and a TV set, a cult object, a sculpture of glass, stormed of pure diamonds: the most expensive LCD TV in the world which is measured by carats other than inches or centimetres.

The 20 carats of YALOS Diamond, the ultimate cult object with 160 real diamonds, will be exhibited in 400 square meters stand of the Italian Keymat Industrie s.p.a. at the International Fair of Berlin IFA Fair Hall 2.5, Stand 101, from September first to September 6, 2006.

So the Diamonds are no longer a girl's best friend, according to a fresh U.S. study that found three of four women would prefer a new plasma TV/ LCD to a diamond necklace. But what if you dig up something that’s a merges both of them unmistakably? An amalgamation of technology and design, YALOS Diamond is here to sweep you/her off your feet. It’s a jewel? It’s a TV set? It’s Yalos, a jewel of a TV set, a sculpture of glass, encrusted in pure diamonds, the most expensive LCD TV in the world, which is measured by carats, not inches or centimeters. The luxurious “Yalos Diamond” TV set is studded with 160 real diamonds worth 20 carats unlike the Loewe Swarovski studded LCD's or other flashy home appliances including Gorenje Eye catcher fridge with 7000 Swarovski crystals.

The 20 carats of YALOS Diamond, the ultimate cult object, is on display in the stand of the Italian company Keymat Industries at the International Fair of Berlin, IFA from September 1 to September 6, 2006.
Modern projection television, flat panel LCDs and plasma TVs have come a long way since the black and white tubes which were first introduced in the 20th century. The TV is the centerpiece and often the TV is the most expensive purchase for one’s home theater system. Someone who truly wants to impress others with their set might ask what is the most expensive television in the wordl?


From Italian company Keymat Industrie comes an expensive television studded with 160 real diamonds, 20 carats. Costing €100,000, the Yalos Diamond is the most expensive TV in the world. This expensive TV has no visible screws or welds, and the aesthetics are the work of Japanese designer Takahide Sano.

Not everyone can afford such an expensive LCD TV, but for those who absolutely must have the world’s most expensive television, the Yalos Diamond is the current choice. If you were thinking of upgrading to your first HDTV, this may not be the best option, but if you are remodeling your mansion, consider this expensive TV set.
So Italian company Keymat decided to put some diamonds on the frame of their stylish LCD HDTV and make it this way the most expensive TV in the world.

The Yalos Diamond is available with up to 46 inch screen sizes. Well, if I go to spend a ton of money on a TV I want it big, like the 103 inch Plasma from Panasonic. It is an old trick by now to throw some diamonds or gold onto standard gadgets to make them unique. Just look at the Gold RAZR.
More details on Playfuls and on the Keymat Yalos site.


For those, who have money to spend without counts, an Italian manufacturer has designed what is the most expensive LCD TV in the world or to be correct, the most expensive TV set in the world. The opulent ‘Yalos Diamond’ TV set is studded with 160 real diamonds worth 20 carats unlike the swarvoski encrusted Loewe’s LCD TV from CY Digital or the other shiny home appliances including Gorenje Touch Fridge-freezer that were all decked-up with swarovski crystals. This most expensive LCD TV in the world is on display at IFA, Berlin. The Diamond TV will be on display at the IFA from September1to September 6, 2006. The most expensive TV set in the world flaunts a cool price of $130,000. If you think, nothing could outdo Panasonic’s 103-inch plasma, not even Philips Ambilight LCD prototype then will love to hear what you have to say about this ultra-luxurious LCD TV from the Italian manufacturer, Keymat Industrie which is counted not by its size but by its diamonds!!

Further interesting features of the Yalos “Diamonds” LCD TV are that there are no visible screws or joins which affords this TV is incredibly sleek and refined appearance. The official site even mentions that the TV’s logo has “been screen-printed backwards and changes colour depending on whether the set is on or off”.

The set has provision for 1080i and 720p high definition picture formats and utilises Pixelworks technology so as to further unsure that the television’s picture is as clean and sharp as the sets overall design.

Further features include one HDMI, VGA, DVI, 2 x YPbPr, 2 x Scart, 2 x S-Video, 2 x CVBS connections, a resolution of 1366 x 768, a double RF tuner and a picture contrast ratio of 1200:1.

The price? A staggering £67,500.00.

So, you thought the 103-inch Plasma from Panasonic carried a bit of heft around the price tag, eh? Well check out this $130,000 YALOS Diamond LCD TV from Keymat. Now, just forget everything you thought was important when measuring the value of a good LCD panel -- you know: brightness, contrast ratio, response, pixel resolution, and so on -- those measurements are for fools, boy. As any self-righteous heiress knows, a good TV must feature a white gold plating and at least 160 diamonds totaling to a minimum of 20 carats. Think differently and you might just end up dodging Blackberries with the rest of the help.

Yalos Diamond is a jewel and a TV set, a cult object, a sculpture of glass, stormed of pure diamonds: the most expensive LCD TV in the world which is measured by carats other than inches or centimetres.


The 20 carats of YALOS Diamond, the ultimate cult object with 160 real diamonds, will be exhibited in 400 square meters stand of the Italian Keymat Industrie s.p.a. at the International Fair of Berlin IFA Fair Hall 2.5, Stand 101, from September first to September 6, 2006.
Keymat Industrie, based in Nola, near Naples, is a leading name in Information Technology, as well as Telecommunications and Consumer Electronics sectors. Positioned in the high-end segment, Keymat Industrie offers the most advanced products in terms of quality and worldwide assistance.

Brothers Gianluigi and Massimo Ricciolio, are the successful Neapolitan industrialists behind Keymat Industrie:”We offer a wide array of Made in Italy products that are highly competitive in terms of both prices and of technological content. Environment-friendly colour TVs that incorporate CRT, Plasma and LCD TFT technology, as the new brand Yalos, are a new range of products that perfectly represent the Keymat Industrie soul and the result of its technological engagement in research and development activities. We are aware of the fact that the after sale services are as important as the products quality, that’s why we offer after-sale world wide service, in all languages, all calibrated to precise customer needs”.
Yalos Diamond is a jewel and a TV set, a cult object, a sculpture of glass, stormed of pure diamonds: the most expensive LCD TV in the world which is measured by carats other than inches or centimetres. Naples Italy - - September 1, 2006 - - Yalos Diamond is a jewel and a TV set, a cult object, a sculpture of glass, stormed of pure diamonds: the most expensive LCD TV in the world which is measured by carats other than inches or centimetres.

The 20 carats of YALOS Diamond, the ultimate cult object with 160 real diamonds, will be exhibited in 400 square meters stand of the Italian Keymat Industrie s.p.a. at the International Fair of Berlin IFA Fair Hall 2.5, Stand 101, from September first to September 6, 2006.


Keymat Industrie, based in Nola, near Naples, is a leading name in Information Technology, as well as Telecommunications and Consumer Electronics sectors. Positioned in the high-end segment, Keymat Industrie (www.keymatindustrie.it) offers the most advanced products in terms of quality and worldwide assistance

24 Carat gold plated Mac Book Pro laptop

For Apple owners, there's one consistent event that can make their shiny new device seem dull and boring: the replacement of their specific device with a new one from Apple. Now there's a new Apple gadget on the block that literally makes every other Apple device look dull. A company called Computer Choppers has put together a Gold-plated MacBook Pro, with an appropriately diamond studded Apple logo. Should go nicely with your gold plated ... HP ... LaserJet. Yeah. Get ready to sell your house.
Looking for a more upmarket metal finish for your laptop? The 24 carat gold and diamonds MacBook Pro should fit the bill - at a price.

Created by the worryingly-named Computer Choppers, there's an option of a machine with or without the diamonds. The 15-inch diamond machine comes with 2.2GHz or 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 802.11n wireless, up to 4GB of 667MHz DDR2 memory, 160 GB internal drive and an 8x double-layer SuperDrive. There's also a 24 carat gold-plated machine (without the gems), which has a similar specification, but with a satin gold interior.

Interested? Check out Powermax, an Apple authorized reseller, which is selling the Gold & Diamonds model for $8999 and the gold version for $5999.
Computer Choppers has finished their custom 24-carat gold Macbook Pro modification. And it looks just...golden...other than the Apple logo, of course, which houses more diamonds than will allow us to ever send this link to our wife. We actually gave creator Alex Wiley a quick call today to get the lowdown on pricing...and maybe even placed an order of our own. (OK, we totally didn't place an order, but we did get some interesting info).

The swank picture you see above would run you about $7,000 to $8,000. That includes the computer, the 24-carat gold plating process and about three carats in diamonds. Don't have the money? Corners could be cut! Plating alone will run you only about $1,500 as a standalone procedure, and the total package price could drop all the way to $5,500 if you were interested in cubic zirconia diamonds (but she would know, my friend, she would know).

Interestingly enough, the finished blingification adds almost no weight—only a few ounces—mostly from the gems.
Any "filler" can be chosen where the Apple logo once existed. We recommend the always suitable lightning bolt.
But at the end of the day, what's the point of a gold laptop? Is there even a market, or is the story just perfect fodder for an amusing weekend click?
"For these things, I don't even know if there is a good [market]," Wiley said. "This is a first for me, but I'm gearing up to get some more out."
Well, there was at least a market for this particular unit. Because it's already been sold, fanboys.
Computer-choppers present these bling'ed out creations. Each plated in 24kt Gold (and diamonds for the macbook), these gadgets would make anyone stare in envy.

For gadget owners, getting the latest and hottest tech is enough to catch the attention of people close to you but nothing spells "look-at-me" better than these beauties. You can go ho-hum on other people's "regular" iPhones while you blind them with reflections on your gold plated iPhone.

IMHO, great gadgets for High-rollers, although I think it suits women more than men.(you might look like a pimp with all that bling, yo.) But with the rate of how technology is improving, the lives of these gadgets wont last a lifetime (they'd make great displays nonetheless).

Below are pics of each gold-plated gadget.

computer-choppers offer gold plating services on their site. With numerous appearances in popular pc mags and blogs everywhere, their exposure has skyrocketed. New orders keep coming in and we can expect more cool creations from them.
Except for the trademark Apple logo on the lid and LCD screen, every surface of this special edition MacBook Pro is gold plated.

Say hello to the new mod for MacBook Pro notebook. This one is unique in a lot of ways. Not only is it very extreme which makes you question why in the world would anyone do something like this. Secondly, it'd be so expensive that most of us wouldn't even care. But that doesn't stop us from drooling over a '24-carat gold plated Apple MacBook Pro'.


Believe it or not, even the keyboard, the lid, touchpad and the exteriors of the speakers have been given a gold finish. Only part to not get a feel of gold is the screen and the Apple logo. Disappointed? don't be. The case-modders at Computer Shoppers have gone ahead and provided a diamond-encrusted Apple logo on the lid!


Those interested in similar plating on their oh-so-precious electronic paraphernalia can avail the services of Computer Shoppers.
The 24-carat Gold plated MacBook Pro is finally complete and the credit for this goes to the modders at Computer Chopper. Apart from being a high-end deluxe darling with every square-centimeter finished with Gold, it also has the opulence of a Diamond studded Apple logo. If you like your one to be designed according to your style, the work of plating, painting and etching work will cost you about $1200 to $1500 (Not much for a Mac Book over and done with Gold).


The Computer choppers must be blazing with pride after producing such a wonderful thing.
If a gold-plated MacBook Pro isn’t enough, perhaps one with a diamond-encrusted Apple logo will win her heart forever. Approximately 2 carat total weight in diamonds (H/I in color and SI1-2 in clarity with a gold base) make this a true conversation piece and collector’s item, or maybe just the wildest engagement ring anyone has ever been given. The customized MacPro comes complete with a one-year warranty on the hardware, plating, and custom painted keyboard/track pad. Also included are extra case feet, a microfiber cleaning kit, a Radtech Sleevz and …

World Most Expensive Computer Mouse Ever..

Pat Says Now is a Swiss manufacturer of computer mice. They design and produce mice in all shapes and colours. Pat Says Now combines Swiss quality with innovative ideas and creative designs – they bring colour into office life and make working truly fun!

The company has now launched the world's most expensive computer mouse, cast from 18 carat white gold and set with 59 brilliant cut diamonds. There are two variants to choose from - the beautiful "Diamond Flower" design and the "Scattered Diamond" design.

The mouse is a 800-dpi optical three button mouse with a scroll wheel and connects through both USB and PS/2. It works on PC and Mac platforms and even comes with a three year warranty. The mouse is also available in yellow or red gold, with black or white trim.

Well, the most interesting part of this story - this mouse costs £12,400 ($24,180) only!!
Personalise your mouse with diamond initials or pattern of your choice! Choose from yellow, red or white gold with white or black trim. Email us at hello@fabstuff.net with your ideas for your design or telephone our helpline and discuss your creation with us on 0800 458 5448. Each mouse is made to order and you will need to allow up to 3 weeks for delivery

Pat Says Now is a Swiss manufacturer of individual computer mice. They design and produce mice in all shapes and colours. Pat Says Now combines Swiss quality with innovative ideas and creative designs – they bring colour into office life and make working truly fun!

Their innovative design makes Pat Says Now mice a perfect gift for anybody working with a computer. Attractively wrapped in a specially designed box, these trendy “desk pets” are a temptation not many can resist.

Let us introduce the world's most expensive computer mouse, cast from 18 carat white gold and set with 59 brilliant cut diamonds. Choose from the beautiful "Diamond Flower" design and the "Scattered Diamond" design. If you would prefer your mouse in yellow (as seen below) or red gold, with black or white trim, email us at hello@fabstuff.net . Be the first in the UK to own this unique and exclusive toy!
Every now and then we happen to come across some products aimed directly at those people who have so much money that they really don't know what to do with it. So, if you've already got a yacht, the latest pimped up Brabus Mercedes, a private jet and, why not, your own island, then you probably can also afford a computer mouse worth 18,600 Euro (or 24,180 US dollars), namely the "Diamond Flower" model developed by the well-known Swiss manufacturer of weird and extravagant mouses, Pat Says Now.

So, why is this thing so extremely expensive? Well, the main reason is probably the fact that the "Diamond Flower" is cast from 18-carat white gold and set with 59 brilliants. And we're not talking about some fake or minuscule brilliants, but about 58 stones with a diameter of 2 mm and 1 with the diameter of 4 mm. Moreover, the manufacturer assures us that none of the gems is a "conflict diamond", meaning that none of them comes from certain countries sanctioned by the UN.

Besides being a real piece of jewelry, the mouse doesn't offer any impressive technical specifications. Thus, we're talking about an ordinary 3-button wheel mouse, which connects either via USB or via PS/2 to a PC or Mac system, and sports an 800 dpi resolution. This very impressive (at least at a visual level) mouse is available in 2 models, the aforementioned "Diamond Flower" model, as well as the "Scattered Diamond", which sports the same number of brilliants, but this time scattered all around the surface of the mouse. So, what do you think? Would you pay that kind of money for this thing?
Pat Says Now, a Swiss manufacturer of individual computer mice has designed a mouse which is embedded with all kind of fancy jewelry. For about $24180, it seems that it's world's costly mouse. It comes in white, red or yellow gold with 59 brilliant-cut scattered diamonds or a diamond flower design or you can have it with black or white trim. I think it'll work wonders when paired with a million dollar PC. As far as usability is concerned, the three button optical wheel mouse features a resolution of 800dpi and works on a Windows / Mac based PC.
Price:
£12,400.00
($24,180.00 USD)
10,39,740 Indian Rupees (Approx)

Fabian says.... ''A perfect gift for a 60th wedding anniversary, as diamond is the traditional gift for this event, it is also a great choice for a 50th wedding anniversary, as Gold is the traditional gift for this event!''

Personalise your mouse with diamond initials or pattern of your choice! Choose from yellow, red or white gold with white or black trim. Email us at hello@fabstuff.net with your ideas for your design or telephone our helpline and discuss your creation with us on 0800 458 5448. Each mouse is made to order and you will need to allow up to 3 weeks for delivery


Pat Says Now is a Swiss manufacturer of individual computer mice. They design and produce mice in all shapes and colours. Pat Says Now combines Swiss quality with innovative ideas and creative designs – they bring colour into office life and make working truly fun!

Their innovative design makes Pat Says Now mice a perfect gift for anybody working with a computer. Attractively wrapped in a specially designed box, these trendy “desk pets” are a temptation not many can resist.

Let us introduce the world's most expensive computer mouse, cast from 18 carat white gold and set with 59 brilliant cut diamonds. Choose from the beautiful "Diamond Flower" design and the "Scattered Diamond" design. If you would prefer your mouse in yellow (as seen below) or red gold, with black or white trim, email us at hello@fabstuff.net . Be the first in the UK to own this unique and exclusive toy!

Modern 3-button Wheel Mouse. Connection USB with PS/2 (for PC and Mac). Resolution 800dpi. Easy to Install. 3-year warranty. Optical.
Can you imagine that you have to spend more than 10 grands for buying a mouse? This is really a special mouse! How special is it? I’m not too sure whether it’s a functioning mouse but it’s cast from 18 carat white gold and set with 59 brilliant cut diamonds, i.e it’s the Pat Says Now mouse! If you have one make sure you lock it safely in your secuirty safe!

The product page suggests that “this mouse is the perfect gift for a 60th wedding anniversary, as diamond is the traditional gift for this event, it is also a great choice for a 50th wedding anniversary….”. Well, it might be a good choice as the coming valentine’s day gift, if it’s affordable for you.

The Pat Says Now mice come in white, red or yellow gold with 59 brilliant-cut scattered diamonds or a diamond flower design or you can have it with black or white trim. It’s 3-button optical mouse, compatible with PC and Mac, with resolution of 800dpi and comes with 3-year warranty.
There are plenty of different computer mouses but not many cost the same as the SpaceMouse Plus which is made for people that work with 3D software, it has a price tag of $500.

The main feature is the inclusion of 11 programmable buttons on the front so you can make several actions to your 3D model quickly and the same time, like: rotate + zoom + undo + redo, etc. The second main feature is that it saves time so therefore the productivity is suppose to increase.

The SpaceMouse Plus works via USB, it is compatible with more than 100 programs and supports Windows 2000/XP + Linux.

Available online
I don't know many computing Grannies so perhaps offering this diamond scattered mouse as ''A perfect gift for a 60th wedding anniversary, as diamond is the traditional gift for this event" may not work. Still, you never know. The world's most expensive mouse comes in white, red or yellow gold with 59 brilliant-cut scattered diamonds or a diamond flower design or you can have it with black or white trim. Does it actually work as a functioning mouse though? Yes, it's a three button optical wheel mouse, compatible with MAC or PC, has a resolution of 800dpi and comes with a three year warranty. At a price tag of $23,250, it’s certainly the most expensive mouse, I have ever come across, in the world. It’s called the Diamond Flower Mouse.

The diamond flower mouse is available in 18-carat white or yellow gold and set with 59 brilliant diamonds in the shape of a beautiful flower. It’s an optical mouse that connects to your computer using the USB port. The diamond flower mouse has 3-button optical scroll and virtually runs on any operating system that supports USB or PS/2 port based devices.
This ultra-bling mouse will definitely be a girl's best friend many times over, boasting 59 brilliant-cut diamonds scattered all over or in a diamond flower design, depending on your preference. Choose from a white, red, or yellow gold exterior complete with a black or white trim. While it looks really nice to wear around your neck (despite its impractical size), you can still use it as any other three-button optical wheel mouse, complete with an 800dpi resolution and a three year warranty. Picking one up will set you back by a whooping

Bugatti Most Expensive Car In The World

What is the most expensive car in the world? The 1931 Bugatti Royale Kellner Coupe was sold for $8,700,000 in 1987. However, that car and many alike will not be included in this list because it is not available on the market today. It is hard to imagine someone would actually spend 8 million dollars on a car instead of using it for something more productive. However, if you have the money and the opportunity, you will definitely spend a small fraction of it to place a few of these supercars in your garage. Here is the 10 most expensive cars available on the market.

Bugatti Veyron $1,192,057. This is by far the most expensive street legal car available on the market today. It is the fastest accelerating car reaching 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. It claims to be the fastest car with a top speed of 253 mph+. However, the title for the fastest car goes to the SSC Ultimate Aero which exceed 253 mph pushing this car to 2nd place for the fastest car.

Produced by a small independent company in Italy, the Pagani Zonda C12 F is the 8th fastest car in the world. It promises to delivery a top speed of 215 mph+ and it an reach 0-60 in 3.5 seconds.

Don’t let the price tag fool you, the 3rd most expensive car is actually fastest street legal car in the world with a top speed of 257 mph+ and reaching 0-60 in 2.7 seconds. This baby cost nearly half as much as the Bugatti Veyron, yet has enough power to top the most expensive car in a speed race. It is estimated that only 25 of this exact model will ever be produced.

Doesn’t this look like a race car? Yet, with $645k, you can get this car and legally drive to your local supermarket and buy groceries. It has a top speed of 229 mph+ and although it was intentionally made for racing, it may be bought and show off to your neighbors.

The first true American production certified supercar, this cowboy is rank #4 for the fastest car in the world. It has a top speed of 248 mph+ and it can reach 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. If you are a true American patriot, you can be proud to show off this car.
Swedish made, the Koenigsegg is fighting hard to become the fastest car in the world. Currently the 3rd fastest car in the world with a top speed of 250 mph+, the car manufacture Koenigsegg is not giving up and will continue to try and produce the fastest car.

A supercar with dynamic stability control and a top speed of 209 mph+ and it can reach 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. The Porsche Carrera GT applies the absolute calibers of a true racing car to offer an unprecedented driving feeling on the road.

Bugatti Veyron Or Bugatti Royale

There is speculation Bugatti Automobiles is developing a second model of the Bugatti Veyron supercar that is estimated to cost a whopping 3 million US Dollars! I even saw some referring this new Bugatti Veyron as the most expensive car in the world. But is it really the most expensive car in the world? If not which car is the world's most expensive car?

I remember when it came out some sites and papers were saying the current Bugatti Veyron which is US$1.5 million was the world's most expensive car. At that price Bugatti Veyron is certainly one of the most expensive cars (its the fastest accelerating and most powerful street going car in the world) but it is another Bugatti that seems to be most expensive car ever.

According to what I could find from a little searching the real most expensive car in the world is this 1930 Bugatti Type 41 Royale.

The Type 41 Royale was Bugatti's most outrageous car. It was also his most exclusive, as only six were ever manufactured. Each had considerable presence due their massive length, 12 litre engine and huge wheels.One of the most expensive cars in the world is the Type 41 Coupe de Ville Napoleon. It was the first Royale made, and was Ettore Bugatti's personal transportation. It eventually ended up with the Schlumpf brothers, and still resides in their Mulhouse Museum.The Kellener-bodied Royale still holds the world record for fetching $8 700 000 USD at Christie's Auction in 1983. When adjusted for inflation, this price would be over 16 million, a price which only other Royales, or the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, could eclipse

Vertu's Signature Cobra Phone

Now here's a phone that not only feels heavy in your pocket, but actually burns several holes in it! Vertu unleased its Signature Cobra series of cell phones complete with diamond and ruby embellishments. Which sorta gives it an ugly look and feel. But hey, if that's your thing, go right ahead and splurge.
Designed by Frenchman Boucheron, the Signature Cobra is made from a pear-cut diamond, a round white diamond, two emerald eyes and all of 439 rubies. Count 'em yourself.
If that's not mind-boggling, take a look at the price tag: US $310,000. That's right, kids. Well okay, they do have a discounted version running for $115,000, so if you're not upper crust enough, you might want to settle for this baby.

Vertu's Signature Cobra Cellphone can be yours for only $310,000. Cheaper version sells for $ 115,000. Created with various diamonds and 439 rubies.
I am honored to introduce our next cellphone; Vertu’s Signature Cobra. I don’t know much about the phone features but I know it’s expensive. What is the Cobra? The Signature Cobra is a luxurious cellphone encrusted with precious rocks by French jeweler Boucheron and it cost $310,000 USD. Why? The Signature Cobra is a ritzy gadget made from one pear-cut diamond, one round white diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies. Does it feature speaker phone, streaming video, or a nice to-do list? I’ve come to this conclusion. Do features matter when an overprice cellphone is worth more than the average home?

For the savvy, intelligent, and bargain shopper does this make an impression? NO. It’s a Paris Hilton phone marketed to those who love the bling lifestyle. The Signature Cobra, as one might observe, is merely a regular phone laced with expensive rocks. It’s the equivalent of crystallizing an apple or some other fruit. A once ordinary object is now engulfed with shinny specs of light which glitter from every angle. If you can’t afford the $310,000 model a cheaper version is available for an affordable $115,000 USD. Thanks to the discount, .5% of the world’s population can now afford it. Vertu, the luxury phone company that creates and markets the Signature Cobra, is now taking orders which are currently limited to 8, but only 26 Signature Cobras will be made for the lucky few who make that decision.
FYI: According to Wikipedia.com, Vertu is an independently run fully owned subsidiary of the phone manufacturer Nokia.

Sony Ericsson Black Diamond

Industrial designer Jaren Goh has created his newest concept,the Black Diamond mobile phone for Sony Ericsson,Could this be Sony Ericsson's answer to Nokia's Vertu?I certainly hope so.This high end 4 megapixel phone is Cased in a layer of polycarbonate with mirror finish cladding.The OLED technology makes for vivid illumination under the polycarbonate skin and gives it a borderless screen effect.The ultra thin profile,clean lines,and ultra-glossy finish are all qualities sure to attract Sony Ericsson fans and gadget freaks alike.

Here are the technical and design specifications of the eye-pleasing beast:

•Diamonds 2X (in front Joystick & back).

•Quad band GSM with 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.

•Motorola Freescale CPU MC5249.

•CPU Processor: Intel Xcale PXA255.

•128MB RAM and 16MB Nor Flash.

•2” Touchscreen TFT Display.

•Titan chassis structure with Touch sensitive keypad.

•Whooping 4Mpix camera.The hefty price tag of US $300K speaks the story itself about the unique and stylish Black Diamond.

All sleek looking cell phone designs have to come from Korea. After all, Motorola’s RAZR is perhaps one of the most popular form factors ever conceived, but that doesn’t mean that Sony Ericsson has nothing to offer. Quite the contrary, this new Black Diamond concept is looking incredibly hot, especially the “borderless screen” effect. This was achieved by throwing on a layer of polycarbonate, coupled with integrated a screen based on OLED technology. Although candybar style handsets might not be as popular as swiveling, sliding, or flipping phones, this Black Diamond idea can certainly grow into those form factors down the line, much like how the RAZR morphed into a SLVR.Not much is known about the Black Diamond handset designed by Jaren Goh, but based on the snapshots, it should include a 4.0 megapixel camera. The usual stuff will probably also be included, like Bluetooth support and all that jazz, but of course none of that is confirmed yet.

there's nothign earth shattering about the phone, Wi-Fi on Phones in not new nor is the Touchscreen. you haven't even mentioned the XScale Processor speed by the way. the only thing diffrent is 4MP Camera, but samsung launched a 5MP Camera phone a Long while ago. The Phone Also looks so totally gay. i don't want to be engative here, but it will grace a lady's palm better. also $300 isn't much, infact it equals Rs.14,000 so it's not Expensive At All.

by the looks it seems to have a long body. Also lacking are the navigation jog which i love in SE. other sites say no flash either (now thats a big one with a 4 mp camera). SE has leaked this design to get reviews thats what i think. But anyhow a fantastic peice of artwork and SE shoule launch a working model soon (with improvements though).

Koh-i-Noor (Kohinoor) The Queen of All Diamonds

It has been said that whoever owned the Koh-I-Noor ruled the world, a suitable statement for this, the most famous of all diamonds and a veritable household name in many parts of the world. Legend has suggested that the stone may date from before the time of Christ; theory indicates the possibility of its appearance in the early years of the 1300s; history proves its existence for the past two and a half centuries. The first writer has stated:
"Reguarding its traditional history, which extends 5000 years further back, nothing need be said here; though it has afforded sundry imaginative writers with a subject for highly characteristic paragraphs we have no record of its having been at any time a cut stone."
The earliest authentic reference to a diamond which may have been the Koh-I-Noor is found in the Baburnama, the memoirs of Babur, the first Mogul ruler of India. Born in 1483, Babur (meaning 'lion' -- the name was not given to him at birth but appears to be a nickname, deriving from an Arabic or Persian word meaning 'lion' or 'tiger') was descended in the fifth generation from Tamerlane on the male side and in th fifteenth degree from Genghis Khan on the female side. With the blood in his veins of two of the greatest conquerors Asia has ever seen, it is not all that surprising that Babur himself should have become a great conqueror in his own right.
As a young man Babur owed his survival and success on the political and military battlefields to a combination of winning personal qualities and swift opportunism; these were to insure his conquest of the plains of northern India. But in addition to being a warrior, Babur was a cultured and civilized man.

"Mountain of Light"; also spelled Kohinoor, Koh-e Noor or Koh-i-Nur) is a 105 carat (21.6 g) diamond that was once the largest known diamond in the world. The Kohinoor originated at Golconda in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India, belonged to various Mughal and Persian rulers who fought bitterly over it at various points in history, and seized as a spoil of war, was finally taken by the British and became part of the British Crown Jewels when British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli proclaimed Queen Victoria Empress of India in 1877.
Like all significant jewels, the Kohinoor has its share of legends. It is reputed to bring misfortune or death to any male who wears or owns it. Conversely, it is reputed to bring good luck to female owners. According to another legend, whoever owns the Koh-i-Noor rules the world.
The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, famous for building the Taj Mahal, had the stone placed into his ornate Peacock Throne. His son, Aurangazeb, imprisoned his ailing father at nearby Agra Fort. Legend has it that he had the Kohinoor positioned near a window so that Shah Jahan could see the Taj only by looking at its reflection in the stone. There it stayed until the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739 and the sacking of Agra and Delhi. Along with the Peacock Throne, he also carried off the Koh-i-noor to Persia in 1739. It was allegedly Nadir Shah who exclaimed Koh-i-Noor! when he finally managed to obtain the famous stone, and this is how the stone gained its present name. There is no reference to this name before 1739.
The valuation of the Kohinoor is given in the legend that one of Nadir Shah's consorts supposedly said, "If a strong man should take five stones, and throw one north, one south, one east, and one west, and the last straight up into the air, and the space between filled with gold and gems, that would equal the value of the Koh-i-noor."
After the assassination of Nadir Shah in 1747, the stone came into the hands of Ahmed Shah Abdali of Afghanistan. In 1830, Shah Shuja, the deposed ruler of Afghanistan, managed to flee with the Kohinoor diamond. He then came to Lahore where it was given to the Sikh Maharaja (King) of Punjab, Ranjit Singh; in return for this Maharaja Ranjit Singh was able to persuade the East India Company to lend their troops and win back the Afghan throne for Shah Shuja

2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom

Chauffeur-driven. It’s an image the company has been trying to play down for decades; to win over new buyers who will become brand enthusiasts, loving their Roller for its dynamic appeal rather than its rear legroom. The Phantom Coupé – to be unveiled at next month’s Geneva Motor Show in production trim – is the model that might finally do just that.
Bosses at the U.K.-based, BMW-owned, firm believe this is the most driver-orientated model in the Phantom range. They’re trumpeting its subtle change in character while still playing up RR’s traditional strengths of luxury, comfort, design and craftsmanship. They’re also confident they’ve created the world’s foremost transcontinental tourer.
Chief designer Ian Cameron explained: “Rolls-Royce has always been about pace, performance and style. For the Coupé we gave the quintessential design a dynamic twist. This adds a sense of drama to the outstanding engineering and drivability that are fundamentals of Rolls-Royce cars.”
The two-door four-seater is based on the 101EX concept, first shown at the Geneva expo in 2006. The Coupé is 9.8 inches shorter than the Phantom sedan, but like the other members of the family, it features rear-hinged doors. Crucially, they aid the overall stiffness of the body as they allow for an uninterrupted A-pillar. The result is the most torsionally rigid Rolls-Royce ever. A brushed steel finish to the A-pillar and bonnet, as seen for the first time on earlier 100EX prototype, is also on the Coupé.
Built around a lightweight aluminum chassis, at the heart of the Coupé is the same 6.75-liter V-12 that’s in the Phantom. It produces 453 hp, with the 0-60 mph sprint completed in 5.6 seconds. That’s the same as the Drophead Coupé – the convertible version of the car – though a 25 percent increase in fuel tank capacity over that model has boosted the driving range.

Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe

Gliding along a gently meandering stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway north of San Francisco, or 'Highway 1' as it is more properly referred to in Northern California, one is struck by the sheer and utter quiet experienced within the confines of the 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe.Traveling at speeds well in excess of 60 miles per hour, the tires literally whisper along the tarmac. The very epitome of smoothness and stability, only the most violent of pavement aberrations make their way up through the chassis to announce their presence to the comfortably firm, yet sumptuously padded and upholstered seats. Similarly, common sense tells you the engine is out there in front of you––after all, the car is moving. But the V12 emits no sound. Even the sonic signature of the wind, usually generously deposited as it rushes around the greenhouse of lesser automobiles, is absolutely blatant in its absence. Further, despite the acres of board feet of highly polished wood, reams of creamy, aromatic leather and hundreds of pounds of gleaming chrome adorning the Phantom Coupé, there is nary a squeak, creak, or rattle to be heard. The 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé behaves as one solid piece of some excruciatingly rare element, one capable of levitating slightly above the road. In steady state operation, there is a surreal stillness inside the car that must be experienced to be believed.Now before you decide this equates to a boring drive, please be informed that oh-so-quiet 6.75-liter V12 is capable of emitting a torrential 531 foot-pounds of torque, along with 453 horsepower. Hit the sport button on the steering wheel, introduce your a.Testoni driving loafer crisply to the throttle, floor it with serious intent, and the V12 emits a distant melodious growl as the stately Coupé gathers up its 5,798 pounds and whisks you to 60 miles per hour in less than six seconds. Thanks to gargantuan brake rotors, sized nearly 15 inches all around, the Rolls-Royce will stop from 60 just as fast as it accelerated there. And, while 185 miles per hour is most certainly within its grasp, top speed is electronically limited to 155. Another part of Highway 1, the 10.3 miles that writhe between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach, is renowned as one of the most challenging sections of road anywhere on Earth. Religiously deferring to the topography of the coastal mountains along the western edge of the North American continent, this part of Highway 1 is adorned with practically every sort of curve ever created––with off camber undulations and severe elevation changes thrown in for good measure. The road is a chassis engineer’s S.A.T. If they nailed it, their car is a delight. If they flunked it, their car comes back twisted and beaten. Remarkably, even with its regal stateliness, the Phantom Coupé acquits itself admirably in what would seem to be a foreign environment. After all, the big Coupé will most often be seen depositing bejeweled occupants decked out in tuxedoes and evening gowns at glittering events, That said, sports cars needn’t fear being outrun between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach by a Phantom Coupé, but they will find that Rolls-Royce isn’t falling too far behind either. The ultra-rigid, hand welded, all-aluminum space frame provides a rock solid platform to which highly sophisticated aluminum suspension componentry is attached. The result? Remarkable agility lies at the disposal of a Phantom Coupé pilot.However, while this Rolls-Royce is a willing accomplice at GT follies, pampering four remarkably fortunate souls is what the Phantom Coupé is really all about. The striking rear-hinged doors make it easy for a lady to alight in a dress without drama or undue exposure. Closed electrically at the touch of a button, they don’t require a gentleman to overextend himself to close them once settled behind the wheel either. Meanwhile, umbrellas are thoughtfully stored in the doorframes for use in inclement weather.Inside, the overall ambiance is more old-world living room than motorcar. Entirely hand crafted of naturally occurring materials specifically selected for Rolls-Royce, the attention to detail is overwhelming. The leather for the seats, dash, headliner, armrests and door panels in each individual car is carefully matched and comes from cows raised in an area of central Europe where barbed wire isn’t used and mosquitoes and other biting insects are rare. This prevents the hides from displaying undue imperfections. Additionally, only bulls are used because they don’t get pregnant and suffer stretch marks. This results in a purity of finish unmatched by the leather in any other car. The rear seat looks like a sofa sourced from Roche-Bobois. The front seats compliment it perfectly, and are more reminiscent of overstuffed chairs in a drawing room than seats in a car. The carpets are wool of course, but specifically, they are wool with a cashmere blend.The Coupé’s occupants face what is easily the broadest swath of wood deployed in any contemporary motorcar, save of course the Phantom Sedan and Phantom Drophead Coupé. Composed of woods chosen specifically for their depth of color and the complexity of their grain patterns, it is brilliantly polished and hand-laid so the grain matches perfectly all the way across. In addition to the dash, the same wood can be found on the center console, the window surrounds and nestled into the C-pillars in the rear part of the cabin where it frames the frosted glass covered boulevard lights.Opening the iDrive controller compartment hidden in the forward section of the center console swivels the brushed aluminum panel in the middle of the dash housing the clock. This reveals a monitor wherein the vast majority of the secondary comfort and convenience functions of the Phantom Coupé are accessed. Navigation, communication, entertainment and functional setup programs are all displayed there––as well as broadcast television. The audio system is Logic7 Surround by Lexicon. Delivering 420 watts, it feeds 15 speakers strategically deployed around the cabin for perfect imaging. Subwoofers reside beneath the seats. Full iPod control is available should you choose that option, otherwise you’ll get a six-disc CD changer.Hidden beneath the center armrest are controls for seat adjustment and the single most breathtaking feature of the Phantom Coupé’s interior–the starlight headliner. Several hundred tiny white LEDs embedded in the ceiling can be dimmed for mood or brightened to read by. Rolls will even custom configure the starlight headliner to depict the night sky on the date of your birth or any other pattern you desire. Absolutely timeless in approach and gorgeous in execution, the Phantom Coupé interior wins extremely high marks for quality and style––but low marks for how readily switches can be located and deciphered. Heavy reliance on chrome and discreet labeling makes most of the switches difficult to read. Because of that, very few secondary functions are intuitive. The operation of many will be determined only by reading the owner’s manual. Also, while we’re on the subject of things that could be better, thanks to the sloping roof and narrow rear window, rearward vision is somewhat obscured. Perhaps in the ultimate act of automotive snobbery, all you see in your rearview mirror are the grilles of the cars directly behind you, not their drivers, or even their roofs. (Makes it tough to keep an eye out for cops in a car that will do 100 miles per hour without making a sound.) Also, it is remarkable that in a model year 2009 car costing $400,000, several conveniences we’ve come to take for granted in contemporary luxury cars are conspicuously absent in the Phantom Coupé. Active cruise control, voice actuation of secondary functions, automatic climate control, and a one touch emergency assistance calling service are basic features in mainstream 21st century luxury cars––but absent in the Rolls Coupé. Seriously high-tech features such as hard disc digital media storage, night vision, blind spot warning, lane departure warning, and lane departure prevention systems are also now starting to show up in $50,000 mid-level luxury cars. Meanwhile Rolls-Royce still expects you to modulate the speed of the car yourself if you get stuck in traffic.Please understand, we fully acknowledge and deeply appreciate the history, tradition, craftsmanship, achievement, and greatness that are inherent to the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé. But things have changed since the early 1900’s when the concept of Rolls-Royce was first established. While many are content with the opulence, performance, and presence of a Rolls-Royce, we are of a mind that if a car is to be the Rolls-Royce of personal coupés today, it should encompass absolutely every luxury feature known to humankind at the time of its build. In other words, the phrase “state-of-the-art” should be irreversibly intertwined with the phrase Rolls-Royce. Given that Rolls-Royce is now owned by BMW, and given that all of those features are available on a BMW 760 Li (which costs a fraction of what the Phantom Coupé does), it is somewhat perplexing that these technologies are not even offered with the Phantom Coupé. It can’t be about price, after all, a Rolls-Royce represents a money-is-no-object purchase. That said, it is undeniable that being in a Rolls makes you feel truly special. The Phantom Coupé’s irrefutable style, outstanding comfort, amazing build quality, abundant performance capability, and all-encompassing presence make it an experience absolutely unlike any other. And, uh, yes, we definitely want one––in white please.

2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé

Base Price: $400,000

Engine: 6.75-liter V12

Horsepower: 453 @ 5350 RPM

Torque: 531 @ 3500 RPM

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Drivetrain: Front-engine/rear-drive

Intel Core i7 920, 940 and 965 Processor

Intel has finally lifted the embargo on the yet-to-be-launched Intel Core i7 processors and the Intel X58 Express chipset. Intel strongly believes that this new platform will be the must have work horse for digital media & gaming enthusiasts for many months to come. With so much to talk about this new platform we made the decision to focus just on processor performance for this article and then take a deeper dive at other features in the weeks to come. This should work out nicely as the processors won't be available to purchase until later this month and many companies are just now getting us production grade triple channel memory kits and video card drivers for this new platform.The Intel Core i7 Processor (known as Nehalem internally) has some very big architecture changes as you can tell from the picture above. The new Core i7 processor has 1366 pins and as a result the size of the processor, socket and heat sink mounting brackets are all larger than LGA 775 based processors that have been out now for a couple of years. The die size of Core i7 processors is 263 mm2 and the transistor count is 731 Million.Taking a look at the die of the Core i7 processor we see a first for Intel processors -- the integrated memory controller. This on-die, triple channel, DDR3 memory controller is unique in the fact that it allows consumers to run three memory modules together for optimal performance. By moving to an integrated memory controller and triple channel memory the platform has over 25GB/s of throughput between the processor and DDR3 memory modules!For those that follow processor architecture you will notice a brand new cache structure on the Core i7 diagram shown above. All Intel Core i7 processors feature L1, L2, and shared L3 caches. Before, Intel Core 2 Duo and Quad processors had just an L1 and L2 cache. The break down on the cache is as follows: there is a 64K L1 cache (32K Instruction, 32K Data) per core, 1MB of total L2 cache, and an impressive 8MB chunk of L3 cache that is shared across all the cores. That means that all Intel Core i7 processors have over 9MB of memory right there on the 45nm processor!Can it get any better than this?Of course it can! The new Core i7 processor has a huge list of improvements that have been made to it.New SSE4.2 InstructionsImproved Lock SupportAdditional Caching HierarchyDeeper BuffersImproved Loop StreamingSimultaneous Multi-ThreadingFaster VirtualizationBetter Branch PredictionIntel always told us that Hyper-Threading was not dead and they were right as the technology has surfaced again and is enabled on all of the Core i7 processors. With Hyper-Threading enabled on quad-core Core i7's processors the operating system sees eight virtual cores that can be used. Intel has told Legit Reviews that when Hyper-Threading originally came out the idea was solid, but that the Pentium 4 processor might not have been the best processor to bring it to market. The Core i7 series should highlight all the strong points of Hyper-Threading as they are calling it Hyper-Threading "done right" now. If you want a deeper look at the Intel Core i7 architecture take a look at this presentation that was given at the Spring 2008 IDF and this one that was given at the Fall IDF.Intel will be releasing three Core i7 processors and all have a TDP of 130W and an on-die shared L3 cache of 8MB. All current Core i7 processors are not intended for multi-processor motherboards, so it has only one Quick Path Interconnect (QPI).Core i7 965 Extreme Edition - 3.2GHz with 8MB Shared L3 cache and a 1x6.4GT/s QuickPath interconnect - $999Core i7 940 - 2.93GHz with 8MB Shared L3 cache and a 1x4.8GT/s QuickPath interconnect - $562Core i7 920 - 2.66GHz with 8MB Shared L3 cache and a 1x4.8GT/s QuickPath interconnect - $284Now that we know what the general processor improvements are let's take a closer look at the chipset changes.

Intel® Pentium® Processor Extreme Edition

The Intel® Pentium® Processor Extreme Edition, with the processing capabilities of four threads, delivers more computing capabilities that enable you to explore new ways to accomplish and enjoy performance-intensive tasks on your PC.Compare specifications for Intel® Pentium® Processor. Build a comparison chart that identifies which Pentium processors have the specific technical features you need. Compare all or a selection. Includes compatible motherboard and chipset information.Intel® processor numbers are not a measure of performance. Processor numbers differentiate features within each processor family, not across different processor families.† Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) requires a computer system with an Intel® Processor supporting Intel HT Technology and an Intel HT Technology enabled chipset, BIOS, and operating system. Performance will vary depending on the specific hardware and software you use.° Enabling Execute Disable Bit functionality requires a PC with a processor with Execute Disable Bit capability and a supporting operating system. Check with your PC manufacturer on whether your system delivers Execute Disable Bit functionality.Φ Intel® Virtualization Technology and Intel® Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel® EM64T) require a computer system with a processor, chipset, BIOS, enabling software and/or operating system, device drivers and applications designed for these features. Performance will vary depending on your configuration. Contact your vendor for more information.

AMD Versus Intel Mobile Processor Review

As far as CPUs and platforms go, it's been AMD and Intel for a long time now. Sure, you can joke about your Cyrix, your VIA or your Transmeta, but the only ones we ever took seriously were AMD and Intel. They've had a lot of back and forth over the years, which of course has generally been great for the consumer as actual competition often is, and this past year has been particularly vicious between the two.Prior to mid-2006 and the release of Intel's Core 2 Duo on the desktop, Intel had a healthy lead in the mobile market while AMD's chips were the best desktop performers by far, and unfortunately, AMD didn't think to try and strangle the life out of its longtime rival by lowering its prices to continue to apply pressure.Cue 2007, where Intel continues to step on AMD's head while they're drowning. Isn't technology grand?Intel's had the best mobile platform for a few years with AMD constantly playing catch-up, blowing their one chance on any kind of lead by delivering the Turion 64 X2 months late and right on schedule to compete with Intel's mobile Core 2 Duo. Ouch. But Intel's ruthlessness is our benefit as consumers, because their willingness to reduce processor prices to put the hurt on AMD forces AMD to reduce their own processor prices, and that pretty much brings us to where we are today: two otherwise identically configured notebooks separated by $100 in the marketplace.So today we're not going to compete on clock for clock or any of those other BS metrics, because in the end for the vast majority of us, they don't matter. What we're interested in is how much we can get for how little we pay. I'll give you a hint: "a lot."TESTINGThe two competing notebooks are remarkably similar in their configurations and provide a nice apples-to-apples comparison: the AMD based HP Pavilion dv2610us and the Intel based HP Pavilion dv2615us. If you removed the stickers from them, you'd never tell them apart.PARTdv2610us (AMD)dv2615us (Intel)ProcessorAMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 (1.9GHz)Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 (1.5GHz)ChipsetnVidia 7150M/nForce 430 MobileIntel 965GM Express w/ ICH8-MMemory2GB Patriot DDR2-6672GB Patriot DDR2-667GraphicsnVidia GeForce 7150M (128MB)Intel GMA X3100 (set to max RAM)Graphic DriverForceWare 156.65 (HP)Intel 15.7SoundHD AudioHD AudioWirelessBroadcom 802.11g & HP BluetoothIntel 3945ABG & HP BluetoothHard Disk160GB Hitachi SATA 5400rpm160GB Hitachi SATA 5400rpmOperating SystemWindows Vista Home Premium 32-bitWindows Vista Home Premium 32-bitBattery6-cell Li-Ion6-cell Li-IonTypical Price (US)~$849~$899* Memory was upgraded in each unit from the 1GB DDR2-667 (2x512MB) the notebooks shipped with.I post "typical price" because the prices of these units tend to vary pretty significantly. For the dv2610us I'm using, for example, I paid $699. But these two notebooks really basically are at price parity, with the Intel one tending to be a little more pricey.In all testing situations, these two notebooks were configured as identically as possible.Now, I'm going to get this out of the way right now: I HATE synthetic benchmarks. As I've gotten older, I've just hated them more and more. PCMark spits out some number that I have a hard time applying practically to anything, and I've found that the best purpose these benchmarks serve is being able to check and see if your computer is running like it's supposed to by comparing with an existing benchmark of similar/identical hardware.With each test, I'll explain why I chose that particular program for testing and try to relate it to how you might practically apply it. I've also broken down the test suites into three categories: CPU, gaming, and battery.The CPU tests focus strictly on the raw computational power of the processors themselves, and they fall in line with how a computer might typically be used.The gaming tests I waffled on a bit, but they make sense to me. The graphics parts themselves may not be that comparable, but as the best and brightest of integrated graphics hardware for their respective platforms, they help to paint the big picture of the kind of performance you can expect from buying AMD or Intel.The battery test is a simple one: how much battery life can you expect out of this notebook in average use?CPU TEST 1: WINDOWS MEDIA ENCODER 9 (32-BIT)Windows Media Encoder 9 is a free program from Microsoft that can easily convert most video files into WMV files, which I've found to offer excellent quality in respectable file sizes. Many people prefer DivX and I wouldn't begrudge them that, but I've found Windows Media Encoder 9 preferable for my purposes, and I use it a LOT on the job. This program is one of the two programs I'm using to test the CPU that's multithreaded; this means it will employ both cores of the processor.For this test, I took a video file I produced for my job and converted it to a Windows Media Video file. The file itself is being converted with no perceptible quality loss.SPECOriginal FileWMV FileResolution720x480640x480TypeAVIWMVEncodingMicrosoft DVWindows Media 9 at DVD quality (VBR 2 pass)Size1.15GB93.6MBThe AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 converted the file in 17m:34s.The Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 converted the file in 17m:31s.At 400MHz slower, the Core 2 Duo still turns in a pretty impressive performance. The two are apparently so close in performance here that it makes sense they would achieve price parity. In regular use, this would be negligible and unnoticeable.WINNER: Intel Core 2 Duo T5250. (AMD - 0, Intel - 1)CPU TEST 2: wPRIME 1.55The program wPrime is the other multithreaded program in my testing suite, and it tests the raw mathematical computational power of each processor. It's also a popular program for stress testing processors to make sure they work properly and error free.It's more or less the multithreaded successor to the very popular Prime95, so the odd overclocking nerd in the audience will want to look it up when they're overclocking their computers.For this test I ran the 32M speed benchmark of wPrime in both single and dual threaded (read: utilizing a single core and then both cores) configurations.CPUSingleDualAMD Turion 64 X2 TL-5881.08940.889Intel Core 2 Duo T5250106.89453.805* Time measured in seconds (lower is better.)As you can see, the increase in performance going from a single core to both cores is effectively double; most programs will never be this efficient, but a program written to make use of more than one core will still see VERY healthy performance gains (typically between 60% to 80%), particularly multimedia software.What's notable here is how badly the TL-58 really murders the T5250; that extra 400MHz on the core pays off in spades here.WINNER: AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58. (AMD - 1, Intel - 1)CPU TEST 3: UNREAL TOURNAMENT 2004 (SOFTWARE RENDERING)A lot of older games can actually run completely independently of the 3D hardware in the computer. While Unreal Tournament 2004 doesn't explicitly let you do this, you can edit a file to force it to run entirely on the CPU. This proves to be a pretty good measure of a processor's more well-rounded performance, since in running Unreal Tournament 2004 entirely on it, all of the game's calculations must be run: physics, AI, sound, and graphics. It's a nice chunk of "everything."The game was run at the following settings:640x480, all settings on Normal, all checkboxes checked, shadows on "blob"For the benchmark, I used the program UMark, a free program available online that really makes it easy to benchmark the game. The benchmark ran on the Inferno map (one of my personal favorites) with twelve bots to help stress the system.CPUAvg. FPSMin. FPSMax. FPSAMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58321672Intel Core 2 Duo T5250371987It bears mentioning that it wasn't that long ago that processors didn't even really have the raw computing power needed to run this game; certainly when the game came out, using the software renderer was a pipe dream and I suspect that's at least part of the reason it was obscured.Showing how much Intel's gaming performance has improved since the Pentium M era, the Core 2 Duo really punishes the Turion here, maintaining both a smoother framerate and a perceptibly faster average despite the 400MHz clock speed deficit.WINNER: Intel Core 2 Duo T5250. (AMD - 1, Intel - 2)CPU TEST 4: DBPOWERAMP 12.3 CD RIPPERThis one should be pretty obvious. While most of you use iTunes or Windows Media Player to rip CDs, I've elected to use a program I've had a lot of good luck with: dbPowerAmp. It's easy to use, well-rounded, and produces quality MP3s.For this test, I set dbPowerAmp to rip the MP3s at Variable Bit Rate averaging roughly 160kbps, and set the encoding speed to "Slow (High Quality)." I was originally going to rip the newest CD from The Birthday Massacre, "Walking with Strangers," which I highly encourage people who love eighties music to check out, but that CD is enjoying an extended hiatus in the CD player in my car. I picked an alternative favorite, Toad the Wet Sprocket's last true album release, "Coil."Note that the optical drives in the notebooks are specced out identically, though allow for minor variance in the results due to different brands with the same specifications being used. This is actually really common practice for all of the major manufacturers; the drive I got in my dv2615us may very well be the same one you get in your dv2610us, and vice versa.The AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 ripped the entire CD in 5m:21s.The Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 ripped the entire CD in 3m:44s.Those numbers pretty much speak for themselves, and the Core 2 Duo's multimedia performance rears its head here, clocking a full minute and a half faster than the Turion.WINNER: Intel Core 2 Duo T5250. (AMD - 1, Intel - 3)GAMING TEST 1: DOOM 3 (OpenGL)Doom 3 is a favorite of mine, and is going to be my representative for OpenGL games (admittedly a dying breed). It's got an easy-to-use built in benchmark, and it still stresses modern hardware just enough.As I've mentioned before, the first run of the timedemo in Doom 3 is basically useless since the demo itself caches a lot of stuff on the fly, so I always use the second run after everything's cached. The game was set at 640x480, Low Quality, with shadows disabled. The game was also patched to 1.3.The AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 and GeForce 7150M recorded a framerate of 36 fps.The Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 and GMA X3100 with hardware shaders recorded a framerate of 11.2 fps.The Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 and GMA X3100 with software shaders recorded a framerate of 11.6 fps.Forgive me for being crass, but nVidia has basically made an ass out of Intel here. While Doom 3 is still pretty punishing on any IGP except nVidia's, Intel can't do anything to scrape playability here.Clearly, the much publicized much improved GMA X3100 is worlds away from what was promised.WINNER: nVidia GeForce 7150M. (AMD - 2, Intel - 3)GAMING TEST 2: HALF-LIFE 2 - LOST COAST (DirectX)In the DirectX 9 corner, we have Half-Life 2: Lost Coast. I actually noodled what to use to represent DirectX for a while, but Half-Life 2 is so stupidly popular, and Lost Coast one of the most system stressing incarnations of it...it just seemed like the right call. It becomes especially relevant since Intel had been really pimping their Half-Life 2 performance back at GDC.For the benchmark, I used Lost Coast's video stress test. I set the game to 640x480, all settings on high and with full HDR.The AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 and GeForce 7150M recorded a framerate of 39.68 fps.The Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 and GMA X3100 with hardware shaders recorded a framerate of 18.72 fps.The Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 and GMA X3100 with software shaders was completely unplayable, less than 1 fps.The GMA X3100 is having really nasty growing pains, and that's evident here. Fog distance seemed a little bit off in parts of the test, and certain effects that didn't faze the 7150M (like the distorted glass) played havoc on the X3100.WINNER: nVidia GeForce 7150M. (AMD - 3, Intel - 3)BATTERY TESTBelieve me, I considered being lazy enough not to include this, but thought better of it. This is one of the major points of contention between the two platforms: which one offers better battery life? So, given similar configurations with the exact same shell, screen, and battery, this seemed like an excellent chance to compare.To best simulate and maximize the potential battery efficiency of the notebooks, I developed a custom power plan. The screen brightness was set to 20%, wireless networking was enabled, Bluetooth was disabled, and Sleep and Hibernate were both disabled. The screen was also prevented from shutting off. The remainder of the power plan was derived from Vista's "Balanced" plan. With these settings, I let the notebook "sit there" on the desktop with the screen saver running. This is more or less a best case scenario, but if you're just using the computer to take notes in class, this is a good indicator of how far you can stretch the battery without periodically putting it to sleep.It's also worth mentioning that for the battery tests, I used the original 1GB the notebooks came with, as opposed to the 2GB upgrade. This should have virtually no impact on battery life, as the number of DIMMs in the unit is the same, the capacity is just reduced. If anything, switching to 2GB may improve battery life by a little bit in regular use as the hard drive won't be hit as frequently.At these settings, the AMD-based dv2610us lasted 2h:58m before entering sleep mode at 5% battery life.At these settings, the Intel-based dv2615us lasted 4h:05m before entering sleep mode at 5% battery life.WINNER: Intel Core 2 Duo T5250. (AMD - 3, Intel - 4)USER EXPERIENCEI try very hard to be platform agnostic: I'm not a fanboy for either side, and I'll use whatever's the best on the market. That said, I do have certain personal biases. I've generally found in my experience that Intel machines - at least, efficient ones - tend to offer "smoother" performance. It's hard for me to quantify and most people wouldn't know the difference either way. I also personally prefer Intel chipsets. I've found them to be very stable, and their disk controllers have been consistently top notch.That said, there was a large period of time when nVidia was the de facto standard for performance on the AMD platform. I regret to say that in this case, it feels like nVidia sort of lets down the whole thing. There just isn't that polish, that "it just works" that I've experienced with Intel hardware. Most of this may be due to the depressing performance of the 7150M on Vista's Aero Glass which I referred to in my review of the dv2610us. Apparently, that was the result of the 7150M's power management; the clock speed it scales down to on the desktop is 100MHz, and apparently is just not adequate for running Aero Glass smoothly. I'm not sure who to blame for it, but I'm inclined to blame nVidia. Go 6150 based AMD machines don't share this problem.Taking the poor Aero Glass performance out of the picture, I've found the Intel based machine to feel snappier and more responsive in general. Of course, if you're not interested in using Vista and want to downgrade to XP, suddenly the AMD unit becomes a lot more attractive. The frugal buyer will likely be able to find the AMD-based dv2610us for around $100 cheaper than its Intel counterpart.In either case, upgrading the RAM to 2GB should be your top priority. With 2GB of DDR2-667 available in stores for around $50, and on NewEgg for even less, there's just no excuse not to do it, especially if you're running Vista. 2GB of RAM is the sweet spot in XP, and in Vista it's really the minimum to achieve smooth and enjoyable performance. The sweet spot for Vista - at least Vista 32-bit - is probably 3GB, which is impossible in a notebook with only two RAM slots using matched pairs.Remember that user experience is really key. All the raw horsepower in the world won't help you if you don't find using your machine a comfortable, enjoyable experience.CONCLUSIONI think if you have to pick between the two, the answer is going to be pretty obvious. Even though the AMD chip in the dv2610us is one of the newer ones that draws less power and dissipates less heat, it still has to run 400MHz faster to even think about keeping up with the Core 2 Duo T5250. Intel's chipsets and processors are, quite honestly, just plain more efficient across the board. At the exact same power settings as the dv2610us, the Intel-based dv2615us lasted more than a full HOUR longer.Now, that said, the AMD-based unit is cheaper and as far as casual gaming goes, it would get my wholehearted recommendation. The GeForce 7150M is very fast and in practical use I've actually found it to be much more desirable than the Radeon X1200 integrated graphics and Intel's GMA X3100. Remember, you can get an extended battery for HP's dv2000 and dv6000 series in the store, and if you shop right, you can usually pick it up for $100 and nearly double your battery life.Unfortunately, I've run into a bit of a conundrum as a casual computer and game user, and it has to do specifically with these two notebooks, making it hard to really recommend either one. Here's why:For the AMD-based dv2610us, I mentioned in my review of that particular notebook that the Vista Aero Glass performance is inexcusably poor, and at present, there is no reasonable fix for it. What appears to have happened is actually pretty clear: the GeForce 7150M's clock speed is locked at 100MHz while running in Vista's desktop, and that just isn't fast enough for Aero Glass. Yet when you look at the battery life numbers, it's pretty clear this was about the only way they were going to get decent battery life out of this notebook. In the future, I honestly expect that at some point, a driver will probably surface that will alleviate this problem. That doesn't do anyone any good in the short term, though, and I'm not interested in buying something because of its "potential." The fact of the matter is that the dv2610us shipped with a real flaw.For the Intel-based dv2615us, the problem gets a little more complex. First of all, everyone's been playing the waiting game with Intel's GMA X3100, hoping Intel would be able to unlock its actual potential. But it's been ten months since I saw them at GDC, and while I plan to review the part itself in more detail in the future, the fact is that right now, it's just not consistent enough. Framerates fluctuated wildly, and having to edit my registry to optimize it with certain games is frankly unreasonable. While theoretically you may be able to get better performance out of it in some games right now than other IGPs, and while theoretically it will improve over time, this is all theory. I'm not holding it in my hands. I'm not interested in promises, I'm interested in products.And then there's another issue with the dv2615us. Simply put, you can do better. From HP no less! Right now, for $829, you can order the exact same notebook from them if you configure it yourself. This is before using any coupons, and before students apply their (very easy to get) discount. You'll have to wait a couple weeks for it, but the benefits are obvious: get exactly what you want, take advantage of any deals they offer, and save some green in the process. In fact, for what amounted to about $50 less than I paid in the store, I was able to order the same notebook with a high capacity 6-cell battery, a 2GHz Core 2 Duo, and a dedicated graphics card using a coupon I found on this very site (hint: check the laptop deals button at the top of the screen, it's awesome).But we're not just talking about these two HP notebooks. In the broader sense, we're talking about AMD vs. Intel, and the situation is grim for AMD. Put simply, Intel's modern technology murders AMD's best and brightest. The only saving graces of the AMD platform are their consistently lower prices and consistently superior integrated graphics for the casual gamers. And that said, while AMD's processors may be "slower" than Intel's, they are by no means slow. The bar for modern hardware is really pretty high, and the average user probably won't even notice the difference.Of course, if you're not interested in doing any gaming, and you want something that'll last a while on the battery, suddenly AMD's value proposition looks a lot less impressive. If it means spending an extra $50 to get an Intel notebook, I'd have to suggest going with that.And for the casual gamers, it's important to note that with Dell and HP custom notebook prices so low and constantly seeing coupons and savings, there's really no reason you can't get an inexpensive laptop with dedicated gaming hardware. Even the low man on the modern mobile gaming totem pole right now, the nVidia GeForce 8400M G, is light years better than an integrated part. And once you bring that inexpensive dedicated hardware into the equation, suddenly you wonder why anyone would bother with AMD in the first place.It's a sad day for AMD, no doubt about it, but remember who benefits from Intel stepping on their head while they're drowning: you, the consumer. Competition between the two has pushed hardware prices lower and lower, and that's only better and better for us. With AMD based notebooks hitting $600 and under, it's incredible you can even get a budget notebook with a dual core processor in it; you shouldn't even settle for anything else at this point.AMD vs. Intel? It's been bloody, and hopefully in a year this situation will have changed. But right now, I think it's pretty clear who came out on top.