Conventional wisdom says that solid state drives (SSDs) should have lower failure rates than their mechanical counterparts simply because SSDs lack moving parts.  Sadly, it seems that theory and reality have clashed once again:“A large computer manufacturer is getting around 20 percent to 30 percent of the flash-based notebooks it is shipping sent back because of failure rates and performance that simply isn’t meeting customer expectations, the firm stated in a report on Monday. Avian gathered this information

As with all rumors, please take the following news item with a grain of salt until we can receive official confirmation or denial from Microsoft.“Vista SP1 shipped to duplication and OEMs Feb. 4, but since then it has only been available to previous beta testers, volume licensing customers and subscribers to IT subscription services. In fact, subscribers to TechNet and Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) only got access to SP1 after raising a ruckus, with some threatening to cancel their subscriptions and others

North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted about $1.23 billion in orders in February 2008, according to a report by trade organization SEMI.

The San Jose, Calif.-based group reported late Tuesday that manufacturers also had a book-to-bill ratio of 0.93 — meaning that $93 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month. The bookings figure is about 8 percent greater than the January 2008 level of $1.14 billion, but 12 percent less than the $1.40 billion in orders posted in February 2007.

The Tibetan riots are undoubtedly not the kind of publicity China wants prior to the Olympics.  In attempt to stem the flow of information, China has blocked access to some sites.China has blocked access to Google News and YouTube in an apparent attempt to stop the spread of video footage related the rioting going on in several cities in Tibet, including the capital Lhasa. Demonstrations in the city started on March 10, a day commemorating the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule after which

S3 Graphics today announced the S3 Graphics Chrome 430 GT desktop cards are now available at online retail affiliate stores. The first of the S3 Graphics Chrome 400 Series to market, the Chrome 430 GT combines advanced 3D graphics and incredible HD multimedia performance with extreme power-efficiency and rigidly low thermal specifications, breaking new ground in the highly competitive graphics industry.

The S3 Graphics Chrome 430 GT gives users the perfect balance of leading DirectX 10.1 3D performance, high-quality Blu-ray playback, and advanced bus and display connectivity in a 64-bit DDR2 configuration. Display connections allow dual-link DVI (DVI-D/DVI-I), VGA, and 1080p widescreen HDTV support. The Chrome 430 GT also utilizes the ChromotionHD 2.0 scalable video engine to perform smooth decoding of MPEG-4/AVC (H.264), MPEG-2, VC-1, WMV-HD, and AVS video for Blu-ray and HD content for theatre-like viewing entertainment.

Advanced Micro Devices is getting set to launch updated Phenom processors amid rumors that the chipmaker is reducing its workforce by 5 percent. AMD is slated to begin shipping quad-core Phenom 9850, 9750, 9650, 9550, and 9150 processors in the coming weeks, according to sources close to the company. The “50” branding scheme indicates that the processors are the B3 version of the Phenom that fixes the “TLB” bug.

Maybe more importantly, AMD is in the midst of handing out pink slips, according to a report in The Inquirer. The report states that AMD is “quietly” cutting about 5 percent of its workforce across the board, not in specific areas. The report also states that AMD may badly miss its numbers this quarter. AMD, when contacted, said that it can't comment on “rumor and speculation.”

“A recent study done by Avian Securities, LLC. charges that one of the largest system manufacturers has an SSD failure (return) rate of 20-30%. The study did not specifically state any names or name a system manufacturer as the culprit. However, Dell later confirmed that the reports were about itself, but went on to deny the numbers Avian Securities had come up with.”Part of the reason Dell might have denied the rumors is that they’ve been represented differently across the web.  The figures 20-30% are

Just in case you missed the new link at the top of the page, we’re writing this morning to let you all know that we’ve just posted  a new article here at HotHardware in which we evaluate the features and performance of Western Digital’s Caviar RE2 750 GB hard drive.  Western Digital’s RE2 lineup is targeted at workstations and servers, which need lots of disk capacity along with top-notch RAID performance and long-life reliability.  At its core, the RE2 lineup is identical to the SE16

Recently we reported that Steve Jobs had no use for Flash in the iPhone. Microsoft thinks, well, differently. Even though Microsoft is developing a rich-media alternative to Flash they call Silverlight, Adobe and Microsoft understand that for the time being, they’ll both do better by licensing Adobe’s Flash “Lite” for MS Windows Mobile. “People want vibrant experiences and access to entertainment and information anywhere, anytime,’ said John O’Rourke, general manager, Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft

As Doctor Venkman might say, it’s human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria! When Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh was having trouble configuring automatic archiving of e-mails by his Macintosh computers, at first he tried contacting the company directly for support. When that didn’t work out, he made an on-air appeal for help. To Steve Jobs. “I know we don’t agree on anything,” Mr. Limbaugh chuckled, referencing Mr. Jobs’s endorsement of Al Gore. But someone at Apple was