There may be cheaper computers available, but the ASUS Eee Box just feels special, with it’s simplicity, display of design sense, and a small price. There is a $350 version of the computer available, featuring Windows XP, a 1.6GHz Atom processor, WiFi, memory card reader, 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. One great addition is the quick-boot Express Gate Linux tomfoolery, with a seven second boot time that leave your friends jealous. Black and white versions are available now.

We first saw the XPS 630 at CES and now it is official. As expected, the desktop is ATI CrossFire and NVIDIA SLI-ready and will support Intel’s Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme processors on a nForce 650i SLI chipset. Dell give you the option to add up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 1TB of HDD space or an Blu-ray drive and AGEIA PhysX accelerator, and you’ll have plenty of space for your iPod with six total USB 2.0 ports, an optional 19-in-1 media card reader, gigabit Ethernet, audio in / out, FireWire and even PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors. FYI, it’s the first pre-fab PC to support the Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA), and you can buy one for as little as $1,249 right now.

In the big box:

NVIDIA nForce650 SLI Chipset
NVIDIA SLI Single/Dual Graphic options
ATI Crossfire Single/Dual Graphic options
Overclockable Intel Processors
OverclockableCorsair® DOMINATOR® Memory
750-watt Power Supply
4 Internal HDD bays (Up to 3 Factory-Installed)
4 DIMM slots
Two PCIe™ X16 Graphic slots
Light FX 2.0 (4 lighting zones)
AGEIA PhysX™ Accelerator option
Blu-ray Disc™ Drive option
Red and Black Bezel Color Choice

Apple has just released OS X 10.5.2, and it weighs in at ‘massive’ 180MB. As we thought this update has many needed fixes, including Active Directory, AirPort, BTMM, Dashboard, Finder, iCal, iChat, iSync, Dock Mail, Preview, Safari, Time Machine, and many more.

Fixes include:

RAW support: Now supports more RAW formats
AirPort: Improves connection reliability and stability.
Dashboard: Widget performance improvements.
Time Machine: Adds a menu bar option for accessing Time Machine features.

Intel is known for their mighty Core 2 Duo, but it looks as though the processor was not home-grown. A lawsuit filed today by the University of Wisconsin claims that the processor infringes on patented technology developed by one of its professors. In 1998, the computer science department chair Gurindar Sohi presented some of his ideas relating to instruction level parallelism to Intel and offered to sell them, but Intel never paid for them yet used them to created the Core 2 Duo, according the the lawsuit. Intel says that it’s been talking to the Badgers for over a year and has not recieived a complaint, Intel may want to do something quick because the University of Wisconsin is asking for the court to stop shipments of the Core 2 Duo in addition to monetary damages and legal fees.

Intel has just released its first dual-core Celeron processors, making the bargin processor line up a little better. The first processor to be available is the 1.6GHz E1200 model, features 512K bytes of cache and an 800MHz front-side bus. It is not real impressive, but is a good deal considering its price of $53, in quantities of 1,000 units. We expect more models to come in the future.

Asus the maker of the great Eee PC’s spokesperson Holger Schmidt has confirmed that there is going to be an 8GB Eee PC with a 10-inch screen. The Eee PC is expected to ship in 2008, there are also rumors of an Eee desktop. Well we are excited for now. Once we hear the price we may be less excited.

Lenovo, a sub-division of IBM, today introduced two new business desktops targeted for big businesses. They feature either an Intel Core 2 or Core 2 Extreme processor, and an NVIDIA graphics chipset. The ThinkStation D10 shows off a faster CPU by featuring an Intel Quad Core Xeon processor. The systems are made for users who require a computer with power, a nice addition is they both meet Energy Star 4.0 requirements, and contain more than 50-percent recycled plastics content. The new Lenovo’s will be available in January, with the S10 starting at $1,199, and the D10 at $1,739.

VS.

Intel and Transmeta have now come to an agreement. The agreement calls for Intel to license Transmeta’s patents for $150M upfront and $20M a year for the next five years, and Intel can do nothing if Transmeta decides to license its LongRun tech to another company. No info on how the company plans to serve its two competitors.