Comdex 2002 Day 1 & 2

[dang]

Hi all, thought I would post a quick summary of our Comdex 2002 activities for day 1 and 2.

Day 1: Busy day. Saw some very cool products. The overall theme of this years comdex appears to be the following:
1) Displays (LCD, Plasma)
2) Tablet & Weblet PCs
3) MP3 Players

Of course, there are lots of other cool stuff like cell phones, computer mods/cases/cooling.

Our best picks for day 1:
Dan: Fujitsu's iSeePet. This thing was hilarious. It's a pet food dispenser for a small dog or cat. You can use a net connection via a computer or cell phone to "call" your dog (basically play a chime). You can then watch your dog with the build in webcam and dispense a snack or full meal. This thing was great.
Here is a pic (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day1/100-0079_IMG.jpg)

Ian: VooDoo pc's new laptop. It's the M Class laptop quoted as being the fastest mobile gaming machine on earth. It's got a 533 MHZ FSB, a hybrid liquid and air circulation system with exhaust vent on the left side, up to 3GHZ P4 processors and a high-gloss automotive finish. It uses the new Radeon 9000 mobility graphics chip.
Here is a pic (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day1/100-0042_IMG.jpg)

Day 2:
We didn't get out too much today but we did stop by and talk with Nvidia, Maxtor and Viewsonic. We both picked the new Nvidia Geforce FX card. This thing rocks. The processor is 0.13 Micron chip, 125 million transistors, 1GHZ DDR II Memory made by Samsung, and deliver's what they are calling "Cinematic Effects". The demo's they had were stunning. The arms in the "Dancing Ogre" demo looked very realistic with the bending effects. Typically when a computer generated arm moves, you see "holes" in the texture mapping, this had neither and the bump mapping effects were very realistic..
The card takes up 2 slots due to the the huge fan (sucks in air and blows it over the gpu/heatsync).
Here's a pic (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day2/100-0096_IMG.jpg)

That's it for now. We'll provide more details and pics later when we have more time. We'll also be posting a summary at the end of the week.

Here's some other cools gadgets for your viewing pleasure:
Compaq Tablet PC (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day2/100-0098_IMG.jpg)
ViewSonic Tablet PC (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day2/101-0101_IMG.jpg)
Viewsonic 9.2 megapixel flatscreen (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day2/101-0103_IMG.jpg)
Fujitsu's 12 generation Tablet PC (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day1/100-0081_IMG.jpg)
Some very slim mp3+fm tuner players (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day1/100-0074_IMG.jpg)

And..finally! Babe of the day:
Serving Dan a Heineken (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day1/100-0084_IMG.jpg)
Up close (http://www.designtechnica.com/images/comdex/day1/100-0085_IMG.jpg)

[IronSerif]

Thanks for the updates!! And definately thanks for the babe of the day... :D

The VooDoo Pc's laptop seems impressive...as with all of their machines...but I also wouldn't be surprised to see a price tag which floats higher than the competition...just like the price tags of their pc's...But I'm sure it's well worth it :)


Updates from headquarters:
-We're still kicking

[llbbl]

That laptop is way sweet ! Almost as HOT as the babe. We should do a more in depth review of both items of interest. I will let you handle the babe side of things. See if you guys can get a demo to compare how she operates, the laptop I mean . :)

So did you get the babe's digits ? At least her email, ya know to send her the photo's of herself... LOL

I would definately spawn lots of mini' disco's with her.

[IronSerif]

Originally posted by vindisco
... I will let you handle the babe side of things. See if you guys can get a demo to compare how she operates, the laptop I mean . :)...

Yeah I was definately thinking that you were talking about the babe :D

but I'll definately do an in depth review..no problems what so ever...lol :)

[llbbl]

It would be nice if we were the technical reviewers on a major hardware / software site so we could get all the cooest gear to test out. Oh well, I still like it here!

[IronSerif]

Originally posted by vindisco
It would be nice if we were the technical reviewers on a major hardware / software site so we could get all the cooest gear to test out. Oh well, I still like it here!

Speaking of which, I've always wanted to involved in something like that. And I'm all into usability studies and stuff :)

Anyways...I love it here as well :D

[dang]

What do you guys mean "love it here as well"? talking like we doing get cool and innovative products! Sheez.

Seriously, we do have some really cool and innovative products that we have reviewed or have to review. I know my personal reviews are on hold a bit until the new site is ready..in a better put way, I'm spending 80% on new site, 20% on reviews.

We had a great products demonstration by Philips today. I'll post more on that later tonight or tomorrow morning (with pics!)

[IronSerif]

Oh no dude! I didn't mean anything against this site at all!

I was just figuratively speaking or something along those lines...lol...

[llbbl]

Somehow the topic of went from Comdex to Babes to Demo's to The Site to "We Love it Here".

So dang is the man behind the scenes. Does that mean that you did the custom php stuff? What is this talk about a new site? How long has this one been up w/o a major overhaul?

[dang]

Flashfire and I do the work on the php.
We haven't done a major overhaul on the current site in a while. I think the last time was when we added the new forums.

The new site will rock, just wait till you guys see it. It's pretty exciting. :)

Now, my pretties, on to check out my Comdex Day 3 post!

[Ioman]

I had to peel Dang off the babe at the ATI party....Just teasing. We had a Ford Excursion limo pick us up from the Dell party and take us to another party. Then Wed Philips sent a limo to pick us up at Comdex and take us to the Bellagio hotel for a private showing of their products. I was cool seeing the other reporters faces when the limo came to get Dan and I.

We also spent the evening with Lars from Tom's Hardware, Kyle Bennett from HardOCP, Daniel from Chip Magazine Germany, Blake the owner of Azzo computers and 3 Abit PR reps. We had a great time, but get in around 4am. Dan is sleeping now as I type this.....snoring like a stupid pig!!
:D

[IronSerif]

Ioman!!! We missed you man!!!! Group hug, lol :P

sounds like everything is going great so far man!

lol I'm soo hyped up about these Dell pocket PC's for some reason :)

[llbbl]

Originally posted by Ioman
I had to peel Dang off the babe at the ATI party....Just teasing. We had a Ford Excursion limo pick us up from the Dell party and take us to another party. Then Wed Philips sent a limo to pick us up at Comdex and take us to the Bellagio hotel for a private showing of their products. I was cool seeing the other reporters faces when the limo came to get Dan and I.

We also spent the evening with Lars from Tom's Hardware, Kyle Bennett from HardOCP, Daniel from Chip Magazine Germany, Blake the owner of Azzo computers and 3 Abit PR reps. We had a great time, but get in around 4am. Dan is sleeping now as I type this.....snoring like a stupid pig!!
:D

I guess that is the kind of treatment that you get for starting a great site. We all know you are the star !! :D

It sounds like you are making some great contacts while you are at the event. Fun Fun Fun ... I kinda feel left out :( :D

[IronSerif]

Originally posted by vindisco
...It sounds like you are making some great contacts while you are at the event. Fun Fun Fun ... I kinda feel left out :( :D

No way dude...you got a great contact right here...Doesn't get any better than this!

*smiles real big* :D

[llbbl]

Hold on a sec while I wipe the brown off my nose. You better check your also...



:P

[DizzyG]

What do you think of the rumors that the company who manages comdex filing bankruptcy because of low attendance and exibitors? I've never been to comdex, but I've been to several other trade shows before and after sept 11 of last year and there is a noticable difference. Less people with booths, less people at the shows. I always liked going to trade shows but think they are a waste of money for people showing products, it's like a giant penis measuring contest for big companies. Who's booth is the biggest with the most people basically. Now, how many contacts do you get out of these, tons of cards maybe a few phone numbers but as far as actually setting up a relationship with customers or partners it just doesn't seem like it works well, but that's just my opinion of things. Like to hear what you guys think of these overall.
Diz

[Ioman]

Originally posted by DizzyG
What do you think of the rumors that the company who manages comdex filing bankruptcy because of low attendance and exibitors? I've never been to comdex, but I've been to several other trade shows before and after sept 11 of last year and there is a noticable difference. Less people with booths, less people at the shows. I always liked going to trade shows but think they are a waste of money for people showing products, it's like a giant penis measuring contest for big companies. Who's booth is the biggest with the most people basically. Now, how many contacts do you get out of these, tons of cards maybe a few phone numbers but as far as actually setting up a relationship with customers or partners it just doesn't seem like it works well, but that's just my opinion of things. Like to hear what you guys think of these overall.
Diz

I think it depends on how you "attack" the show. This was our first year at Comdex and we thought the show seemed packed with people. The line to register just to get into the show was well over a 3 hour wait. There was not a whole lot of room to move at the show either due to so many people.

We setup times to meet companies before even attending the show. We had limos from Philips and Dell come and pick us up at Comdex and drive us to their hotel to meet. We also met with ATI, Nvidia and a ton of other companies. My recommendation is to call or e-mail the pr reps before even attending the show, let them know who you are and what you do. Then dress professionally. Wear slacks, a button up shirt and bring plenty of business cards. We made a ton of contacts, went out to the bars and mingled with many companies and other online publications like HardOCP, Toms Hardware, AMDZone etc...

You need to market yourself and your company so that large companies know who you are and want to entertain you. I heard that Comdex was filing for bankruptcy as well. Personally it is stupid that they don't charge a fee to go to the show. It is basically free. I would like to go to CES in Jan and compare the two shows.

[llbbl]

Mike's list has a good review of went down.

http://www.mikeslist.com/52.htm