Merging Lanes

[LPMiller]

I don’t have a ton of time this morning.

But I did want to say, regarding the AMD/ATI merger, that I think in the end, it will be a good thing. I think it will increase competition in video cards and processors, improve mainboard chipsets, and lead to bigger and better tech in the long run.

Notice I said long run, because these kinds of mergers tend to have a lot of short term pain. I don’t think that means you can’t buy an Athlon or ATI card, but structurally mergers like this…well, they hurt. Look at HP/Compaq. It wasn’t an easy merger. Yet now, Dell is getting creamed by HP in many areas of the market, their overall quality has improved (granted, that wasn’t all that hard to do, they couldn’t get worse, and after some fits and false starts, they are becoming the powerhouse envisioned by the merger.

But it’s going to take some time.

Digital Trends starts us off with the new Nike+iPod Sport Kit

XYZ goes at it with the Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Motherboard

Techgage puts pen to tablet with the Wacom Graphire4 6*8 Pen Tablet

Think Computers tries to rock out with the Altec Lansing VS2321 Powered Audio System

Hi Tech Reviews tests out the HIS X1900XT IceQ 3 Dual DVI

Techzone head bangs a bit with the Logitech Premium USB Headset 350

Bjorn3D totes around the Verbatim 4GB Store ‘n’ Go USB Drive

Hexus examines the Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 Intel P965 mainboard

Techspot looks into some NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT SLI Performance

Trusted Reviews takes a picture to make it last longer with the Axis Communications 207W Network Camera

Pro Clockers chills with the OCZ Tempest CPU Cooler

Big Bruin tries out the Hauppauge MediaMVP Networked Media Player

Techfear takes on the trusty ASUS P5WD2-E Premium

Techdomain looks into Overclocking the BFG 6800GT OC Edition

Gruntville saves change on the AOpen MP945-VX Viiv System

Tech Report looks into the AMD bid for ATI

That’s all I got.

You go have a day.