If you enjoyed our test of a new 30'' monitor from Dell but can't quite stomach the 2 000 USD / 1 645 GBP starting price, then you might be interested in this Daewoo model we've found online for just 760 euros (around 1000 USD / 590 GBP).

It's available from French retailer Izprice, here.

We've not tested this screen, as Daewoo have made clear that they don't want us to consider their products after a nasty incident involving a two-star review. 

Obviously, it's up to them if they don't want to send samples to our labs for testing, although we're always disappointed not to be able to give you as full a picture as possible of the state of the marke ...

And without bigging ourselves up too much, any criticisms that we make of a product aren't just for the sake of it and should be able to help manufacturers do better next time.

And for half the price?

Let's have a look then at what you can expect from this new Daewoo model, even if we don't have one in front of s.

As with other 30 inch screens, its native resolution is 2560 x 1600, although you'll need a powerful graphics card with a DVI Dual Link port to profit from this resolution.

The panel it includes has a response time of 8 ms, leading us to think that it features either PVA or IPS technology.

It's by far the most likely that the former is true--and it's only the fact that we can't confirm it that prevents us from saying definitively that it is a PVA--which means that it will probably behave a little like the Samsung 305T, which we have tested.

It produced blacks of around 0.2 cd/m² with brightness at 135 cd/m², giving a contrast ratio of 675:1, noticeably better than the Dell 3008WFP with its IPS panel which we tested today. 

Elsewhere in the Product Face-Off between the Samsung and Dell 30'' LCDs, things are very much a draw: Samsung has better color handling with its PVA panel, but Dell's IPS has the upper hand when it comes to viewing angles.

How the Daewoo performs on these tests, of course, remains to be seen.

> Product Survey: 30'' LCD monitors

Asus are proudly proclaiming their status as the first laptop manufacturer to integrate smells into their computers.

We can't help but wonder whether or not being second or third to try this out might have been a better idea as we're far from convinced that it's an idea that's going to take off.

Warmer ...

The hotter the new Asus F6V, a 13.3'' model gets, the more you can smell the perfume built-in under the keyboard.

We went for a sniff this morning and tried four of the different smells Asus are offering up. 

From a rather sweet, sickly aroma on the pink model you can see in the picture below, to something more musky for the black one, we have to say that they didn't smell too good.
Or rather, that they smelled too much, although Asus were keen to reassure us that the aromas only last around six months before all of the special compound has evaporated.

Innovation

In what is now an incredibly competitive field, it is unsurprising that manufacturers are keen to innovate.

Indeed, the arrival of the netbook form factor, from which Asus in particular have profited, has seen some radical changes to portable computers.

Nevertheless, it seems that some innovations are slightly more driven by marketing than is wise.

The F6V, despite Asus' best intentions, probably falls into this last category.


If you're interested anyway, you might like to know that the four models ship in cases featuring interesting designs.

The move away from boring glossy silver frames is definitely something we can appreciate, and the inclusion of a free mouse whose design matches the laptop case with each of these models is a nice addition.

We announced all of the models as they were released last week, but as well as all the new things Apple's new laptops brought along, they also saw a few things disappear, too.

Here's a quick list of what wasn't part of Apple's announcement last week:

• no Blu-ray -- Apple never believed in it anyway

• no more matte panels -- it's glossy all the way for Apple's laptops now

• no HDMI, and DVI is out too -- Display Port and Mini Display Port are, according to Apple, now an 'industry standard'

• no Firewire for MacBook users -- though MacBook Pros still feature the connector

Apple under Steve Jobs has made a point of sudden changes of direction.

The switch from IBM's PowerPC to Intel processors was the biggest move, but it seems to have paid off because the California computer giant's sales have continued to grow since then.

Nevertheless, a lot of buzz has been created on some Internet forums complaining about what these new MacBooks are missing ...

On paper, the Dell 3008WFP is a dream come true: a 30'' widescreen display with a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels and all of the connectivity you need.

It's still got a few problems, though--amongst which Dell's very poor default color settings are perhaps the easiest to fix.

> Full Test: Dell 3008WFP

> Product Survey: 30 inch LCD monitors