While I love me some laptop computers, I've generally avoided them after my first purchase several years ago left me with a machine not graphically powerful enough to run the games I wanted to play. Unless you purchase a high-end gaming laptop you'll get stuck with a low-end graphics chip that generally isn't very upgradeable, if at all.

ASUS is looking to end all of that with the XG Station, the world's first external graphics card docking station for laptops. The device connects to your laptop through use of a PC card, and provides a PCI-E slot as well as USB ports and Dolby headphone technology. It even has a very Star Trek LCD readout that monitors GPU speed, temperature, fan speed, and even FPS.

With a release scheduled sometimes at the beginning of Q2 this year, the XG Station looks to be the answer for gamers seeking a truly viable desktop replacement laptop without sacrificing performance. Michael Fahey

ASUS XG Station world's first external graphics card station for notebook computers [Fareastgizmos.com - Thanks Steve!]