dsmTechNews

G.SKILL PIS Series 4GB Kit 2000MHz (F3-16000CL6D-4GBPIS).
G.SKILL has been making affordable memory DIMM’s since 1989 and if you’ve built a computer within the past 2-3 years, you more than likely know exactly who G.SKILL is. It’s hard to look passed G.SKILL’s value line of memory especially if you’re on a budget, but what about the hardcore enthusiast? With their PI Series line of memory, G.SKILL has been known to offer high frequency compatible memory at decent pricing. This DDR3, 2000MHz, 4GB dual channel kit we received from G.SKILL is no exception. With 6-9-6-24 2N timings and 2000MHz of frequency to play with, we were very eager to see what this PI Series kit was capable of.
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1806

JMicron JMF612 Solid State Drive @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: Western Digital depends on the JMicron JMF612 Solid State Drive controller inside their WD SiliconEdge-Blue SSD to produce 250Mbps reads and 170Mbps write transfers. JMicron has also secured their JMF612 processor in the A-DATA S596, the upcoming Corsair Reactor SSD series, and the yet-to-ever-release Active Media Predator-X7. While the SSD industry grows daily, only a few select manufacturers offer popularly-accepted Flash NAND SSD controllers. In this article, Benchmark Reviews evaluates the JMicron JMF612 Solid State Drive processor.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=481&Itemid=60

Seagate BlackArmor PS110 500GB USB 3.0 Portable Drive
Link: http://www.bigbruin.com/content/seagateps110_1
Quote: The BlackArmor PS110 500GB drive is Seagate’s first entry into the new world of USB 3.0 hard drives. And considering that it may be the typical consumers first USB 3.0 product, they have put together a great bundle to make the transition as easy as possible. You get not only the 500GB drive, but everything else you might need to use this with a laptop computer.

LITE-ON iHOS104-08 Blu-Ray Drive @ TechwareLabs

Quote: Just a couple of years ago, 1080p TVs were a thing of miracles and if you were to mention that you had a Blu-Ray drive, you would be considered a sort of miniature deity. Now everyone and their brother had an HDTV. Let’s check out what Lite-On has that can get the best high-def out of your HTPC, without breaking the bank.
LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/lite-on-ihos104/

Kingston & Mushkin: High-speed DDR3 memory kits @ InsideHW
Kingston’s HyperX is the fastest DDR3 memory kit we’ve met so far and we have to disregard its price and honour it with an “Editor’s Choice” award, while Mushkin kits are still very good choice.
Article link:http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Memory/Kingston-and-Mushkin-High-speed-DDR3-memory-kits.html

Crucial 8GB Kit DDR3-1333/PC3-10600 CT2KIT51264BA1339 Memory Review
Link:http://www.ocinside.de/html/results/crucial_8gb_pc3_10600.html

These new Crucial 4GB UDIMM DDR3 modules were announced recently and each module has 4GB per module instead of the so far usual 2GB per module.
This capacity makes an enormously high memory upgrade possible for current High-End systems, because with e.g. 4x 4 GB modules it is possible to reach gigantic 16GB DDR3 RAM. This is fantastic for developer of 3D animations and graphic designer, but also for all other power users with a 64 bit operating system.

Audio / Video:

Arctic Cooling E361-WM Earphones Review
Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/948
Summary:The cooler makers try their hand on the audio market with an earphone (with integrated microphone) for the iPhone, smartphones and PCs. Let’s see how they fared.

Ankit Stay True Headphones and the link to the review is:
http://www.topreviewshop.com/ankit_stay_true_headphones
“Ankit aims to bridge the gap between earphone and accessory without losing focus of the main purpose of the former – sound. Could their line of in-ear earphones really appeal to both the hipster and the audiophile? Let’s find out.”

Arctic Cooling Arctic Sound E352 Earphones @ PCShopTalk
Quote:
“Arctic Cooling have diversified a lot their product types. Now we get to see from them game consoles, portable game consoles or even audio devices. In the next article I’m going to take a look upon their Arctic Sound E352 earphones model for a more in-depth presentation.”
Link: http://www.pcshoptalk.com/content.php?282-Arctic-Cooling-Arctic-Sound-E352-Earphones

SanDisk slotRadio Player
Quote: Never heard of slotRadio? It is an initiative by SanDisk to capitalize on the DRM encumbered music market. For a one time fee, you get lots of music that is playable on certain devices that can play slotRadio media. We at ASE Labs thought that the market moved on from proprietary forms of media. Still, we’ll see if it has some worth to it.
Link: http://www.aselabs.com/articles.php?id=5628

Arctic Sound E361-BM Earbuds @ Techgage
Link: http://techgage.com/article/quick-gage_arctic_sound_e361-bm_earbuds/
Quote: It’s not uncommon for a company which focuses on one thing to branch out into another, but I am not sure many people would have predicted a company such as Arctic Cooling would begin producing audio equipment. Fortunately though, the company has obviously done its research, as the audio quality is very good (with great bass!).

Sennheiser HD800

Link:http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sennheiser/HD800
Sennheiser’s latest and greatest headphones are put to the test. The HD800s created quite a fuzz when released, not only were they one of the most expensive headphones launched last year, they were also the most anticipated ones. In this review we put them to the test and see if there can be a reason to spend $1800 on headphones.

SteelSeries Siberia v2 headset and mobile device adapter review
“At last, let’s take a proper look at the headset itself, which comprises of a pair of headphones complete with a design that automatically adjusts to comfortably fit the size of your head thanks to the flexible black band you can see above the headphones themselves, something which really works rather well, only proving to be very slightly uncomfortable after a long period of use. SteelSeries also provides an two metre extension cable with support for both line-out and microphone jacks, giving you a three metre cable length to play with in total – A joy to behold compared to the excruciatingly short cables offered by many headphones.”
http://www.elitebastards.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1332&catid=13&Itemid=27

Arctic Cooling E352 Earphones
QUOTE: “Since the last pair I looked at things have not changed a whole lot. Output power stays the same, as does impendence, cable length and connection type. However, we do see a change to the frequency`s response with a lower, or as I like to call it, more accurate rating of 18Hz – 22KHz.
The most notable change here is of course the wooden chassis used instead of the aluminum one. However, I cannot see any specific information regarding the choice to use wood other than ‘warm sound definition by exquisite wooden chassis’. So, clearly Arctic Sound thought they were onto a winner, but equally did not want to give too much away.”
For more information, please visit – http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3186/arctic_cooling_e352_earphones/index.html

Mobile Related / Laptop / Desktop:

Acer AspireRevo Review
“There’s something to be said about a “desktop PC” small enough to fit in a drawer, yet brawny enough to power a whole entertainment system. Acer’s AspireRevo R3610 nettop PC fits just that role. Hovering around $400 certainly doesn’t hurt its cause, either, except the price may be too good to be true if you’re looking to make this your primary PC.”
Link to the review:http://www.digitaltrends.com/product-reviews/desktop-computer-reviews/compact-computer-reviews/acer-aspirerevo-review/

Overclockers UK Titan Goliath Core i7 Full Gamer System Review @ Verdis Reviews

Starting at £854.99, the OverclockersUK Titan Goliath features an array of customisation with numerous different graphics cards, hard drives & SSDs, cases and operating systems to be added for a performance boost. Described as the “pinnacle of performance”, the Goliath certainly looks good on paper but how will it compete against rivalling systems? Let’s take a look…”

URL:http://verdisreviews.com/reviews/overclockers-uk-titan-goliath-core-i7-full-gamer-system-review/

OtterBox iPhone 3G / 3GS Impact Series Case @ PCShopTalk
“On the market there are tens if not hundreds of case types for the Iphone 3G/3GS. Most of them are made to enhance the phone design, but do not offer full case protection. OtterBox has designed a case that looks stylish, but also offers full phone protection. Let’s look further upon this review for a more in-depth presentation. “
Link: http://www.pcshoptalk.com/content.php?281-OtterBox-iPhone-3G-3GS-Impact-Series-Case

Coolink Lapchilla Laptop Cooler Review @ Tech-Reviews.co.uk

Briefing: Today we have the Coolink LapChilla Laptop Cooler. Coolink has created a cooler which allows you to change the adjustment for your particular use with a multi-angle design.

Link: http://tech-reviews.co.uk/reviews/coolink-lapchilla-laptop-cooler/

Evercool FIT NB-FT1 Notebook Cooler Review
“Since 1992 Evercool Thermal Co Ltd have been specializing in producing thermal solutions for the computer and telecomms industries. They have an extensive product range. Today we look at the Evercool FIT notebook cooler.”
LINK: http://www.vortez.co.uk/review.php?id=143

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 13″ Notebook Review
http://www.techspot.com/review/254-lenovo-thinkpad-edge/
The ThinkPad Edge notebook that we’ll be looking at today is part of an all-new series from Lenovo announced early this year at CES. The ThinkPad Edge blends some of the things we liked on the IdeaPad with the power and legacy of ThinkPads. Aimed at style- and budget-conscious business users, this system features some firsts from Lenovo, like a new keyboard layout and a low entry price for ThinkPads at just $579.

Assorted Stuffs:

Interesting News: Facebook’s Warning to Avoid Using Bogus Apps

If you have deliberating on using any applications which allow you to see who is viewing your profile then you might want to think twice.

http://www.gaj-it.com/16661/facebook-warning-avoid-using-apps-allowing-you-to-see-who-is-viewing-your-profile/

‘Dubai Twestival March 25′
The first Twestival of 2010 takes place March 25 at the Intercontinental,Dubai.
The Full Article can be viewed at http://tech.tbreak.com/2010/03/dubai-twestival-march-25/

A Guide To Going Green for Saint Patrick’s Day

The legend of Saint Patrick says that he was responsible for banishing snakes from Ireland. He was also known as a patron saint of Ireland, but the holiday named in his honor is probably better known for its never-ending flow of green beer, hooligans and shenanigans. Before you hit up the bar for some festive ale, perhaps you should consider taking on some green habits as part of your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Here are a few green tips to help keep the environment happy.

Direct Link:http://www.futurelooks.com/a-guide-to-going-green-for-saint-patricks-day/

Home Theater PC Building – A HotHardware How-To
http://hothardware.com/Articles/Home-Theater-PC-Building–A-HotHardware-HowTo/

Building a Home Theater PC is often times a much better option for enabling your entertainment center for various forms of digital media playback capability. Rather than stepping up to additional discrete components, like a stand-alone Blu-ray, DVD or CD player, why not infuse your living room entertainment center with real intelligence and multimedia muscle and build an HTPC (Home Theater PC)?

Interesting New: Augmented Reality App for Auto Trader

So how does it all work? If you see a car which catches your fancy when you are out, then all you would need to do is take the picture of the car, crop the image and leave just the number plate and the app will use the iPhone’s GPS and 3G connections to search for similar models for sale near you.

http://www.gaj-it.com/16573/iphone-ipod-touch-app-auto-traders-augmented-reality-app-for-second-hand-car-hunting/

Integrated Systems Europe 2010 Tradeshow

We visited Integrated Systems Europe 2010 this year, the show for professional Audio Video and electronic systems integrations, located in Amsterdam RAI.
http://www.madshrimps.be/gotoartik.php?articID=990

Techgage’s 5th Birthday Contest – Win a Gaming PC! @ Techgage
Link: http://techgage.com/article/techgages_5th_birthday_contest/
Quote: Techgage has just turned five, so what better reason to celebrate? To help kill two birds with one stone, we’re looking to YOU for input on what we’re doing right, and what you want to see more of (or improve). As a thanks for taking our site survey, you’ll be entered to have a chance at winning our custom-built gaming PC, valued at $4,200!

WIN with Noctua – NF-P14 FLX and NT-H1
DESCRIPTION:
“There’s just one week left until our Noctua competition closes. Be sure to get your entry in to be in with a chance of winning a Noctua NF-P14 FLX and NT-H1. For details follow the link.”
LINK: http://www.vortez.co.uk/contentteller/content_page/win_with_noctua_nf_p14_flx_and_nt_h1.html

Megacon 2010 Coverage @ TechwareLabs

Quote: From costumes and celebrities to models, magic and more the MegaCon 2010 show has it all. We walked down the hall of the Orlando Convention Center and through the doors and might as well have stepped into another galaxy. Our journey through MegaCon lasted a short four hours and we only managed to see a small part of the events and happenings going on. The walls were lined with memorabilia and every gizmo and gadget from your favorite show, comic, and film. Check out our huge gallery of pictures from the event where people dressed as their favorite characters.
LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/megacon-2010-coverage/

News for Saturday March 13th 2010

Kristofer — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:13:08 +0000

Time for the news from around the world…

Quick Links:

PowerColor HD 5750 Go Green @ techPowerUp

Altitude – PC @ LanOC Reviews

NZXT Panzerbox @ LanOC Reviews

InWin Diva MITX Case @ TechwareLabs

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Mionix NAOS 5000 Review

Antec P183 Advanced Mid Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org

SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse

Lian Li PC-T1R Spider @ techPowerUp

Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1GB Review @ XSReviews

CoolerMaster GX Series 750 Watt ATX Power Supply Review

Thermaltake SpinQ VT CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews

CeBIT 2010 Coverage with more than 100 pictures on 11 pages

Enermax MODU 87+ 600W PSU Review on Technic3D

NZXT Hades @ techPowerUp

ASUS HD 5870 Matrix 2GB & ASUS HD 5870 "V2" Sneak Peek @ Hardware Canucks

iXBT Labs Review: AMD Athlon II X2 215 Processor

Zalman CNPS10X Performa CPU Cooler Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Win a Dell XPS Laptop with OC3D and Dell Outlet.

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Mionix KEID 20 Review

Razer Imperator Gaming Mouse @ TechwareLabs

COGAGE TRUE Spirit LGA1366 Heatsink Review

iXBT Labs Review: MSI 770-C35 Motherboard

akasa NeroS heatpipe CPU cooler Review @ XtremeComputing

Jetway NC96 NC96-510-LF @ Phoronix

MSI HD 5870 Lightning @ techPowerUp

ASUS Crosshair IV Formula AM3 890FX Motherboard Sneak Peak @ Hardware Canucks

Razer Imperator Gaming Mouse and Vespula Mouse Mat Video Review

AZZA Helios 910R Case Review

Radeon HD5830 DirectX-11 Gaming Performance @ Benchmark Reviews

CoolerMaster 690 II Advanced vs. CoolerMaster 690 @ Ninjalane

Asus Maximus 3 Extreme @ Bjorn3D

Enhancing Your Dual Boot System @ TechwareLabs

Cooler Master HAF 932 AMD Edition Full Tower Case Review @ Legit Reviews

Silverstone Fortress FT02 90 Degree Motherboard Case at Modders-Inc

Logitech Wireless Keyboard K350 Review on Technic3D

Zaward Golf Fan II Review @ Tech-Reviews.co.uk

Prolimatech MK-13 VGA cooler

Noctua NF-P14 FLX 140mm Fan @ Rbmods

iXBT Labs Review: 59 CPU Roundup

Axle GeForce G210 512MB Review at Overclockers Online

Intel H55/H57 Round-up: Full coverage for Core i3 and i5 @ InsideHW

Facebook launches payments between friends service

Storage Related:

Imation M-Class 128GB SSD
Quote: With SSDs becoming more popular and with newer operating systems finally offering native support, it is only natural that more and more companies would be stepping into the ring with products. Today, HardwareLogic has the Imation M-Class 128GB SSD for review, and is one of Imation’s many entries into the SSD market.
Link: http://www.hardwarelogic.com/articles.php?id=5629

Title: Ineo Technologies I-NA314Ue – Review
Article Clip: Being a computer enthusiast, i often use accessories to get my work done. I have a lot of files which i keep on about 20 hard drives and sometimes it takes me a while to find the right hard drive with the right files. There are few accessories on the market which will let you to plug your hard drive in and browse the files with in. Those accessories are very much valuable in the geek world. Today we are going to take a look at one of these accessories, I-NA314Ue by Ineo Technologies.
Article Link: http://umlan.com/reviews/hardware/h113.html

Everything USB is pleased to announce our in-depth review on Seagate BlackArmor PS 110 Portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive review.
Storage is critical in today’s technologically advanced home and business. Some would say more storage is better, others would say performance is king, but what would you say if you could have both performance, capacity and portability in one simple and attractive kit at a generous price? Today we’ll review Seagate BlackArmor PS 110 – the world’s first truly portable USB 3.0 hard drive – over the fastest consumer storage interface available.
http://www.everythingusb.com/seagate-blackarmor-ps-110-usb-3.0-performance-kit-18298.html

G.Skill PC3-18400 (2300MHz) PI Series 4GB Kit
QUOTE: "When I think of memory companies that want nothing but speed, only a few really come to mind and one of them would have to be G.Skill. While so many companies these days produce high end memory, we only really see a few leading the pack and when I say that I mean we see the same few companies ahead of everyone with most other companies playing catch up when it comes to speed.
While most companies are sitting around the PC3-17600 mark these days, G.Skill as always has kicked it up a notch with a PC3-19200 kit and a PC3-18400 one which we have on hand today. Like most high performance memory kits at the moment, the modules are aimed at P55 platforms due to them coming in dual-channel packets."
For more information, please visit – http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3175/g_skill_pc3_18400_2300mhz_pi_series_4gb_kit/index.html

Kingston SSDNow V+ Series 128GB Solid State Drive
Link: http://www.bigbruin.com/content/kingstonvplus_1
Quote: The Performance Upgrade Kit is a great way to purchase the Kingston SSDNow V+ Series 128GB SSD. Not only do you get the drive, but you get an external enclosure, mounting rails, and additional cables to allow you to connect your new SSD to just about any system. You might not need all of these extras, but for the difference in price you might as well get the bundle.

Asus TS Mini Home Server Review @ Tweaknews
Article Url: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/asus_ts_mini_home_server_review/
Article Snippet:
"Today I’m going to take the Asus TS Mini home server for a test run and see how it performs when integrated into a typical home network. Since this is a product designed for the home market, it should be easy to setup and maintain, operate quietly, and be small enough to not be in the way of other electronic equipment."

A-DATA PC3-17600 (2200MHz) Gaming Series 4GB Kit
QUOTE: "There doesn’t seem to be a single memory company standing still at the moment; every week we’re getting a press release from someone that they’ve released a new high speed kit. PC3-16000 seems so last year all of a sudden as PC3-17600 has become the number high end users want.
Today we’ll be looking at an A-DATA kit which is part of the Gaming series. While we haven’t seen anything from the Gaming series before, hopefully the modules follow the same winning formula that we’ve seen on previous kits of A-DATA memory."
For more information, please visit – http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3181/a_data_pc3_17600_2200mhz_gaming_series_4gb_kit/index.html

Axus FiT RAID 500 Storage Device Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Review URL: http://www.thinkcomputers.org/axus-fit-raid-500-storage-device-review/

Quote: “I myself have not played around with a RAID setup as I’ve never had more than 1 of the same hard drive kicking around to try it out. I have seen RAID in action and some of my buddies love to have RAID setups, but I’ve never really looked into it until now. When asked what I wanted to look at next in terms of product reviews, I wanted to look at a storage system with redundant capabilities. In my head I thought some sort of RAID system. Bob got back to me and asked if I wanted to look at a RAID enclosure made by a company called Axus. I got to choose between a 3-disk setup and a 5-disk setu p, naturally I choose the 5-disk setup known as the FiT 500."

Tsunami Ultimate II 3500 Review @ XSReviews

Review Link: http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/cases/tsunami-ultimate-ii-3500/
Quote: "While we’re reviewed some pretty expensive and feature heavy hard drive enclosures and NAS drives in recent weeks here at XSR, not everyone wants something so complicated and all encompassing. What of those that want something that’s far more plug and play, far more simple and most importantly far cheaper. For those perhaps the Tsunami-Tech Ultimate II 3500 is what you’re after. Let’s find out."

Mobile Related:

BELKIN Iphone 3G/3GS Leather Folio Case @ PCShopTalk
Quote:
"For the Iphone 3G and 3GS there are a lot of cases on the market, from different materials; not all of them offer complete protection: for example, some of the cases do not cover the main Iphone button which can become damaged after a while because of dust accumulation. In this review I will take a look upon the Belkin Iphone 3G/3GS Leather Folio case made from leather, which offers complete protection to your phone and looks extremely well when it is closed."
Link: http://www.pcshoptalk.com/content.php?280-BELKIN-Iphone-3G-3GS-Leather-Folio-Case

X2 Snowboarding –iPhone Game Review

Even though the Winter Olympics are over you can still become a virtual Shaun White with today reviewed iPhone game – X2 Snowboarding. This digital snowboarding game comes from X2 games and combines impressive game play with graphics are on par with those found on PSP games.

Link: http://www.mobilitydigest.com/x2-snowboarding-iphone-game-review/

Lenovo ThinkPad T410 Review:
http://hothardware.com/Articles/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T410-Review/

Lenovo proved at the Consumer Electronics Show in January that it wasn’t messing around when it comes to latest generation of notebook technologies. The company has a vast array of options, from tiny to huge, and they span the gamut from casual road warriors to hardcore business users. There’s also a machine or two in there for the gaming and multimedia crowd, though you probably wouldn’t guess that the ThinkPad T410 was in that category at first glance. This machine, along with the T410s, T510 and W510, received notable upgrades just last month, with Intel’s latest Core i5 and Core i7 processors hopping on board to give the classically tough and plain ThinkPad line a much-needed breath of life.

The T410 that we’re reviewing today is a ThinkPad through and through. From top to bottom, side to side, there’s no mistaking that this is a member of the iconic ThinkPad family…

Top 10 Essential (And Not So Essential) Car Gadgets

If there are two things that we guys really like, it’s cars and gadgets. And when you combine the two and give us gadgets for our cars, well, that’s Heaven on four wheels.

Link: http://www.thebachelorguy.com/top-10-essential-and-not-so-essential-car-gadgets.html

Review: Destinator 9 for iPhone

The iPhone version of the application brings a rich, featured filled GPS client complete with real time traffic updates, on-board maps, voice guided directions, extended POIs and more.

link: http://www.geardiary.com/2010/03/12/review-destinator-9-for-iphone/

This Week’s Best iPhone Apps

In this week’s bipolar app roundup: Foursquare, squared! Slow ISPs, tattled on! Videos, easily streamed! Street Fighter fans’ high standards, met! Twitter apps, set free! Your entire life, documented! Your every plan, shared! And more…

link: http://gizmodo.com/5492332/this-weeks-best-iphone-apps

Audio / Video:

QNAP NMP-1000 NETWORK MEDIA PLAYER REVIEW @ APH NETWORKS

Description: When I started to plan the upcoming review schedule for APH Networks early last month, the influx of new network media players onto the market really caught my attention. Providing more digital media integration
with your living room audio/video equipment than ever before, long gone are the days when we were restricted to watching certain videos on our computers only, or swapping a bunch of CDs every time you wanted to listen to those songs on the big system. Last month, we reviewed the Patriot Box Office network media player, which delivered excellent media compatibility for a very low price of admission, but failed to provide the kind of experience users would come to expect for a home entertainment device. Inevitably, there are compromises due to its cost. At the same time, I also began testing QNAP’s NMP-1000 network media player. QNAP is known for making absolutely brilliant network appliances in both performance and reliability, such as the QNAP TS-439 Pro network attached storage system we examined back in September last year. But here’s the thing: The QNAP NMP-1000 retails for $400 at press time — effectively four times the price of products such as Asus’ O!Play and the Patriot Box Office as aforementioned. It is probably no surprise that you are wondering at this point what makes the NMP-1000 so much more expensive than other products that carry out pretty much the same tasks. And you know what? I was asking the same question before I got my hands on these products as well, haha. Is the QNAP NMP-1000 truly the ultimate, no compromise, fully featured high performance network appliance with multimedia features for the home user to justify its price tag, or will it fail to hold its own against the competition? To answer all these questions and address everything else in a detailed and thorough manner, well, let me present to you this week’s review!

* Link: http://aphnetworks.com/reviews/qnap_nmp_1000

Plantronics Gamecom 777 Surround Sound Gaming Headset Review on Technic3D

Link: http://www.technic3d.com/article-1044,1-plantronics-gamecom-777-surround-sound-fuer-gamerohren.htm

Translation Link: http://translate.google.de/translate?u=http%3a%2F%2fwww.technic3d.com%2Farticle-1044%2C1-plantronics-gamecom-777-surround-sound-fuer-gamerohren.htm&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

Quote: "The Plantronics Gamecom 777 Surround Sound Gaming Headset arrived Technic3D. With full 5.1 Dolby surround sound capabilities, the GameCom 777 Stereo Headset will let you hear your opponents before you actually see them, so you can fire off crisp, clear orders during your next line of attack? The GameCom 777’s 5.1 Dolby technology gives you the surround sound effects of a five-speaker setup by using digital signal processing that electronically simulates five speakers in a virtual room. This and more see you in the following Rewiew."

Title: Patriot Box Office Media Player
URL: http://www.bcchardware.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8335&Itemid=40
Quote:

I must admit that I am kind of spoiled. My primary media box is a full PC running XBMC and so I have come to have high expectations from my media device. I don’t think I am alone though in my expectations. However the Box Office does definitely have price in its favor, and if you can overlook some of its UI shortcomings you will get an inexpensive device that is well built, quiet as a mouse (even after playing 1080P video), power friendly and very small. . .

Arctic Sound E361 Earphones and the link to the review is:
http://www.topreviewshop.com/arctic_sound_e361_earphones
"The Arctic Sound E361 earphones are advertised to work equally well with mobile phones, digital music players and computers. Let’s find out if these Swiss earphones live up to the reputation Arctic Cooling has earned in other markets."

Arctic Cooling E361-BM Earphone
Review Link : http://www.bayreviews.com/electronics/2445-arctic-cooling-e361bm-earphone
Quote : "I recently had a chance to check out these head phones by Arctic Cooling and I have to say, they are awesome. If you like bass, this is a must have. It also has outside noise cancellation so you can enjoy your music even more."

Assorted Stuffs:

‘So did you order an iPad yet?’
Yesterday Apple started accepting pre-orders for the iPad to be delivered in the US on April 3. Did you pre-order an iPad yesterday? If so, which one did you go for?
The Full Article can be viewed at http://tech.tbreak.com/2010/03/so-did-you-order-an-ipad-yet/

Gaj-it Weekly Round Up of Gadget News and Reviews

WIN the perfect formula – ASUS Crosshair III Formula Motherboard
DESCRIPTION:
"It’s competition time again. We have teamed up with ASUS UK to give one lucky reader the chance of winning an ASUS Crosshair III Formula Motherboard worth over £150."
LINK: http://www.vortez.co.uk/contentteller/content_page/win_the_perfect_formula_asus_crosshair_iii_formula_motherboard.html

A List of PC Game Classics Available Free of Charge
http://www.techspot.com/guides/258-free-pc-game-classics-list/
Major game companies don’t hesitate to charge an arm and a leg for new releases, with most launching around $60 these days. As much as you enjoy lining up outside the local GameStop at 3AM to embrace the latest shooter, parting with 60 big ones hurts a little inside. It doesn’t help that many developers rub salt in the wound by lacing titles with DRM mechanisms — but let’s not go there.
Alternatively, there are tons of free games online, but very few are worth playing (yeah, we’re looking at you Obama Alien Defense). What you may not be aware of however, is the wealth of older commercial titles freely available, just waiting to be discovered.
Dozens of old school favorites like Doom and GTA can be had at no cost. We’ve compiled a brief list of popular titles from yesteryear that you can download absolutely free of charge — and that’s something to appreciate in an age of hidden fees and fine print.

Proluma Deluxe Triple LCD Stand
QUOTE: "Since the release of Eyefinity, we’ve seen a larger push for multi screen setups. Sure, the technology has been around for years and years; I was using a dual 17" CRT setup back in the day myself which was always fun. But what ATI have done is make the technology a bit more mainstream. Sure, Matrox did it a few years ago with the TripleHead2Go, but they don’t have the same weight as a company like ATI.
Eyefinity has brought with it a more mainstream push for multi screen setups. What we’re seeing is companies working on getting bezels thinner and other ways to make the technology simply better. Something that was lacking was high quality monitor stands for three-monitor setups. Having a look around eBay we found some cheap ones that promised support for 24" monitors, but didn’t actually support them. You can find a few floating around the U.S. market, but they’re extremely expensive and it doesn’t help people in other parts of the world."
For more information, please visit – http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3176/proluma_deluxe_triple_lcd_stand/index.html

, ‘Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 Review’
Top notch features at a reasonable price.
The Full Article can be viewed at
http://tbreak.com/tech/2010/03/kaspersky-internet-security-2010-review/

DIY Guides: Exploring CPU Performance in Windows Vista vs. Win 7

"Stuck with an older PC that runs slow in Vista? Upgrading to Windows 7 might breath new life into that PC and extend its useful life. In this DIY Guide PCSTATS is going to compare the performance of a handful of AMD and Intel processors running under Windows Vista to Windows 7, with an eye towards answering this question; "Will upgrading to Windows 7 breath new life into older PC hardware previously sluggish under Windows Vista?"

URL: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2507

Core i7 Six Core CPU Coverage:

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Intel 980x Gulftown.

Quote: Intels Gulftown is the tock to the i7 tick. Have we got unlimited power within our grasp?
Link: http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/intel_980x_gulftown/1

PC Games Hardware has reviewed the Core i7-980X, Intel’s first 6-core Gulftown. We ran benchmarks in applications and games to check the performance of the new processor. Furthermore we took a look at the overclocking capabilities as well as the new Boxed Cooler.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,699873/Core-i7-980X-aka-Core-i9-Review-of-the-six-core-Gulftown/Reviews/

Intel I7-980X Gulftown Six Core Processor Review @ Tweaknews
Article Url: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/intel_i7-980x_gulftown_processor_review/
Article Snippet:
"The Intel I7-980x being reviewed today is one of those products coming onto the market that you know know is more of a 32nm victory lap rather than a product that is trying to leap-frog the competition. With nothing in sight that could even touch the Nehalem in terms of performance, the Gulftown adds to an impressive performance market lead that will not be superceded by anyone but themselves for some time to come."

Intel Core i7 980X 6 Core Gulftown CPU Review

Without a doubt, the Core i7-980X is a fast CPU, the fastest out of the box CPU available. The 980X has a retail price of $999, meaning it will replace the 975X in Intel’s lineup. In terms of applications that will take advantage of the 6 cores, there are many game manufacturers working on optimization for multiple cores and with the support for DirectX 11 multithreaded rendering speeding up performance in games that support it, the Core i7-980X CPU to the next level, allowing for higher level of detail and more animations in games that support multi-threading. . The new CPU cooler allows the retail purchaser to overclock the CPU more than the traditional Intel cooler that doesn’t provide much leeway due to thermal margins.

Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/2024_15.html

Intel’s new Gulftown Six Core CPU meets LN2 Extreme Cooling
QUOTE: "I’ve been chomping at the bit to have an opportunity to torture this latest offering. With whispers of massive headroom for overclocking, more tolerance for extreme cooling and performance to die for, it’s enough to get any tech-head excited.
For this article we will be torturing this latest offering from Intel over a variety of multi-threaded applications at pre-determined speeds as well as seeing how much further we can push the cooling before we start hitting cold bugs (most Bloomfields stopped operating around -90 to -100 degrees celcius)."
For more information, please visit – http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/3178/intel_s_new_gulftown_six_core_cpu_meets_ln2_extreme_cooling/index.html

Intel’s Core i7-980X Extreme Edition – Ready for Sick Scores? @ Techgage
Link: http://techgage.com/article/intels_core_i7-980x_extreme_edition_-_ready_for_sick_scores/
Quote: It’s official. We’re now entering the six-core realm, thanks to Intel’s Gulftown. The first model, Core i7-980X, is more than capable of delivering the sick scores that our title suggests, and along with it, we can begin to see some major benefits of the 32nm process. To sweeten the deal further, Intel even includes an effective new CPU cooler.

Intel Core i7-980X 32nm LGA-1366 Six Core CPU
QUOTE: "In the current market our CPUs are multi-core. It is almost unheard of to have a CPU with a single core, unless you are buying a netbook or a very low-end system. Starting at the mainstream level the dual core is king. You find them in all shapes and sizes. Moving up, AMD has their tri cores. From there both AMD and Intel have quads and finally Intel has the quad with Hyper Threading; the 8 thread monster called the Core i7.
Well, Intel is looking to add a new level at the very top. This is a 6 core, 12 thread behemoth called Gulftown. Once it hits the retail channels it will be the Core i7-980X. But Gulftown is more than just 6 cores on a CPU die. Intel has moved to 32nm and also stuffed in some new instructions (including AES encryption)."
For more information, please visit – http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3177/intel_core_i7_980x_32nm_lga_1366_six_core_cpu/index.html

Intel Core i7-980X Extreme 6-Core Processor:
http://hothardware.com/articles/Intel-Core-i7980X-Extreme-6Core-Processor/

The new Core i7-980X Extreme is an interesting animal, however, that requires much explanation. Although its branding implies that it may be just a simple speed-bump over the previous flagship Core i7-975 Extreme, the 980X is actually a totally different beast. Come on by and take a look…

Intel Core i7 980X Extreme 6 Core Gulftown Desktop CPU Video Review

Well Intel Has done it again folks and they now bring to the table the first Six-Core CPU to the desktop market. The Core i7-980X is codenamed Gulftown and replaces the Core i7-975X CPU in Intel’s lineup as their top of the line CPU. Gulftown is their first 6-core consumer CPU to hit the market. This also marks the separation from the mainstream i7 CPUs as the new CPU requires the X58 chipset and won’t work on the LGA-1156 CPU Socket found on the P55/H55/H57 etc chipsets. This CPU is also an Extreme Edition CPU, meaning that it is unlocked and can be overclocked higher by changing the multiplier as well as the BCLK upwards. This CPU will become publicaly available in a few weekes from the release of this review. Want to see the fastest CPU available? Check out the review.

Review Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggDpMHB4bI4

Today Intel launched a new CPU based on their newest 32nm process technology codenamed "Gulftown". It is an "Extreme" CPU both in name and price – weighing in at 3.33 GHz (base, Turbo hits up to 3.60 GHz) with six individual cores (and thanks to HyperThreading that means twelve threads) and 12MB of shared L3 cache, the Core i7 980X Extreme Edition will set you back a bit over $1000 when it hits e-store e-shelves this week.

We put it to the test against the identically clocked (and nearly identically priced) Core i7 975 Extreme, and a handful of other $500+ processors to see how it competes in today’s applications (we threw in a Phenom II for good measure, too).

So how does this beast perform today? Read on to find out!

http://www.hardcoreware.net/intel-core-i7-980x-extreme-six-core-cpu-review/

TITLE: Intel Core i7-980X Gulftown Processor Review @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: Intel offers something for everyone, as their extensive product line can prove. The chipmaker produces desktop, notebook, server, and personal digital appliance CPUs, Ethernet and WiFi network processors, and countless co-processor units. Keep this in mind as Benchmark Reviews presents the Intel Core i7-980X processor, a six-core Westmere 32nm CPU. Codenamed Gulftown, this 3.33GHz Extreme Edition processor features an unlocked clock speed multiplier with twelve computing threads and a 12MB cache. Built for the Intel X58-Express enthusiast platform, Benchmark Reviews tests the BX80613I7980X retail part in gaming, computing, and overclocking performance.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=475&Itemid=63

Hardware Canucks is pleased to present our review of the new Intel Core i7-980X Gulftown Six-Core 32nm processor.

Article URL: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/29632-intel-core-i7-980x-gulftown-six-core-32nm-processor-review.html

Quote: It has been a long time coming. Intel’s six core processors have been talked about since the Nehalem architecture was first introduced and with the Core i7 980X, Gulftown has finally seen the light of day. Naturally, this new processor is expensive but with six physical cores and 12 threads, can it perform up to everyone’s expectations?

Intel i7 980x (Extreme).
SNIP:
With the Intel Core i7 980x in hand benchmarks have been humming along. Strictly business gaming sessions (that’s our story), photo editing, and general computing have been eye popping. Some things have been flying by so fast that we had to re-check them just to make sure they actually happened.
With six cores (32nm) and 12 threads pushing the Westmere processors, 1.17 billion transistors sitting on a 248mm square die data isn’t the only thing pumping along. Once in a great while you get your hands on a game changing product that sets your blood pumping and the mind careening wildly along possibility paths previously unexplored. The Intel Core i7 980x is one of those products.
When the Core i7 965x hit the bench it was a thrilling day even for seasoned reviewers. At that time it meant upgrading your motherboard to LGA 1366, upgrading to (then) expensive DDR3 triple channel RAM, and purchasing a top end i7 965 that ran (at release) $1200. The thought of sitting on a cutting edge i7 965 was a daunting proposal. The i7 980x is an LGA 1366 drop in upgrade. If you’re sitting on a LGA 1366 platform already, simply flash to the latest BIOS, pop out the old processor and drop in the i7 980x and you will be running the top desktop processor on the planet.
In the short time we’ve had the Core i7 980x we’ve been flooded with benchmarks and fielding a lot of inquiries. We couldn’t comment on the i7 980x because of Non-Disclosure Agreements but one question we get asked almost daily is: ‘What’s the fastest desktop computer on the planet?’ All we could do under those conditions was point to the test bench and say with certainty, ‘That one.’
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1801

Intel’s dominance with the Nehalem Core i7s has been nearly complete, and yet a replacement will soon arrive in the form of Gulftown, a 32-nm, six-core monster with 12MB of cache. How good is it? Should it replace your Pentium 4? Your Core 2 Quad Q6600? We investigate.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/18581

Intel Core i7-980XE Gulftown 6-Core 32nm Processor Review

Today’s processor technology is the result of years of innovative thinking put to action. For instance, Intel’s microprocessor architecture has proven that we’ve taken the first steps into an era where computers are capable of doing far more than just calculating a few spread sheets or playing video games.

There is a lot more unlocked potential from Intel and if you love your Quad-Core i7, then you’re going to love this! How about a 6-core Intel Core i7-980XE Gulftown 32nm Processor? That’s right! We’ve got Hexa-Core!

Direct Link: http://www.futurelooks.com/intel-core-i7-980xe-gulftown-6-core-32nm-processor-review/

Article Title: Intel Core i7-980X Processor Extreme Edition Review @ Legit Reviews
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1245/1/

Quote: "The Intel Core i7-980X Desktop Processor Extreme Edition was found to exceed our exceed our initial expectations, which says a ton. Having six physical processing cores created an amazing user experience when running multi-threaded applications. The enormous growth of HD media content in the home is driving the demand for computer systems that have the horse power to deliver an enjoyable user experience for the consumer. If you have ever tried to create a Blu-ray movie or just tried to transcode some HD movies you know how much time it takes to work on a project and that can be frustrating for those that do it often. With the new Intel Core i7-980X Processor you can improve productivity, save power and the best part is that it can be a drop-in replacement for those with existing socket LGA1366 motherboard. Anybody that runs multi-thread applications is sure to appreciate a six-core processor…"

Source R&D Debuts Wireless Laptop Docking Station for Mac & PC Users

Kristofer — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:58:18 +0000

Ok I want one…

Source R&D announced today the availability of the Warpia Easy Dock, which will allow users to wirelessly connect their notebook/netbook/Macbook to any traditional desktop setting. With the Easy Dock’s straightforward plug-and-play interface, consumers can have both the convenience and portability of a laptop, as well as the comfort of a desktop computer. Easier on the eyes, ears and hands, users will no longer have to squint at a miniature screen, deal with a below average sound quality, or fumble with a tiny keyboard.

Based on wireless technology from Wisair, a leading provider of single-chip based Wireless USB solutions, the Easy Dock consists of a USB dongle that connects to your laptop and a receiver that connects to your monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speakers. Your laptop will instantly recognize the dongle and begin submitting a wireless signal to the receiver, transmitting the image with a resolution of up to1400×1050 to your monitor’s screen.

“Perfect for professionals working from home, students on-the-go, or families with both MacBook and PC laptops, the Easy Dock gives customers ultimate portability and comfort,” says Marc Levaggi, VP of Marketing for Source R&D. “They can take their compact notebook to business meetings, while still having the option to do more intensive work at home with a full-size keyboard and monitor. It’s also a great solution for those who want to play media on high quality speakers.”

Compared to other laptop docks on the market, Easy Dock stands out for its wireless quality; adding capability without contributing to cable clutter. Priced affordably at $149.99, the Easy Dock and works with Windows 7, Vista, XP, Mac OS X Leopard, and Snow Leopard. For more information, please visit http://warpia.com/Product_Guide-Easy_Dock.pdf.

About Source R&D:
Source R&D, Inc., maker of the Warpia Wireless USB Adapter, is one of the world’s premier technology providers. Specializing in emerging technologies and innovations, Source R&D serves as a vital link in the technology value chain by creating sales and profitability opportunities for OEMS, ODMs, vendors and resellers through unique marketing programs, logistics services, backend support, financial services and product aggregation and distribution. For additional details, visit Source R&D web site at http://www.sourcerandd.com or the Warpia website at www.Warpia.com.

About Wisair:
Wisair is a fabless semiconductor company providing Ultra Wideband (UWB) and Certified Wireless USB solutions based on its CMOS single chip. Recognized for their superior coverage, and throughput, Wisair’s solutions offer the best combination of performance, price, and power consumption for Wireless USB. For more information, visit www.wisair.com.

News for Tuesday March 9th 2010

Kristofer — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:55:33 +0000

It’s time for the news!! And we got a lot of it!

Quick Links:

NZXT LEXA S Crafted Series PC Case Review @DragonSteelMods

THERMALTAKE SILENT 1156 CPU HEATSINK @ APH NETWORKS

Noctua NH-D14 and C12P-SE14 Review @ XSReviews

DimasTech Bench Table V2.5 @ techPowerUp

Thermaltake Contac 29 Direct Touch CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews

Battlefield Bad Company 2 (PC) Game Review on Technic3D.

Halo Legends HD Movie Review

The Informant Blu-Ray Review @ Ascully.com

SilverStone TJ07 Case Review

SteelSeries 9HD Pro Gaming Surface

Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 Video Card in CrossFire

Hardware Canucks is pleased to present our NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 Roundup featuring cards from EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI & Sparkle.

Coolermaster USP100 Case Review @ High Tech Reviews

In Win Fanqua Mid Tower Chassis Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Gelid Solutions Tranquillo @ LanOC Reviews

Gigabyte H55M-USB3 – The Ultimate $100 H55 Board? @ Techgage

MSI H55-GD65 Gamer Series LGA1156 ATX Motherboard Review

ASUS Maximus III Formula motherboard review @ Elite Bastards

Gigabyte KM7580: Keyboard and Mouse Combo @ Bjorn3D

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 GPU Performance In-depth

iPhone 4G to Include Video Calls: Confirmed by New O2 Tariffs

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: NZXT Panzerbox

Thermaltake Element V Chassis Review

Steelseries Xai Review @ XSReviews

UMLan Article Release: Ineo Technologies I-NA205Ue – Review

Razer Naga und Megasoma Review on Technic3D

Newegg Releases Statement Regarding Fake Processors

Cooler Master 690 II Advanced Review at Overclockers Online

Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler Review @ BayReviews.com

Steel Series Siberia v2 @ LanOC Reviews

Raidmax Skyline Windowed Mid-Tower Chassis

Cooler Master V8 Heatpipe CPU Cooler Review @ Bigbruin.com

Review: Greed Corp @ Xbox360Digest

Aluratek Cinecam HD DV Camcorder- Review

Storage Related:

Thecus N7700 Pro 7 Drive NAS Server
QUOTE: "Thecus has their own history of Tick Tock behavior with their NAS servers. In April 2009 we reviewed the Thecus N7700 and found it to be an exciting product that was a step above the more consumer focused N5200 Pro while also being worthy of our highest award, the TweakTown Editors Choice. Since that time we reviewed the QNAP TS-809 Pro TurboNAS and found it to be able to transfer data faster with its faster processor (Core 2 Duo compared to the N7700’s Celeron M) and more memory.
Thecus’ answer to the flagship QNAP unit is now here, the N8800 Pro and N7700 Pro. The new Pro model of the 7700 features a Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of memory. All of that pales in comparison to what came next. For the first time ever a product in this price category has an option to use a 10GbE data connection."

Kingston SSDNow V-Series 30GB Solid State Boot Drive Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Review URL: http://www.thinkcomputers.org/kingston-ssdnow-v-series-30gb-solid-state-boot-drive-review/

Quote: “Upgrading from a normal hard drive to a solid state drive can be quite expensive and for most people it really does not make that much sense. Solid state capacities are getting larger, but that just brings the price of the drives up even higher. Kingston wants to help people out who want to take advantage of the blazing speeds of solid state drives, but don’t want to break the bank. They have just released the SSDNow V-Series 30GB solid state boot drive. This drive will retail at around $100 and will allow you to load your operating system and applications on it for fast load times, and then you can just put all of your media on a normal SATA drive. This is a great upgrade option for people looking to get a solid state drive, but might not have that much extra money for one."

WD SiliconEdge-Blue Solid State Drive @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: Western Digital has been the leading name in consumer storage technology since the early 1970’s. Just in time for their 40th anniversary, the WD SiliconEdge-Blue Solid State Drive debuts as the first consumer SSD they’ve ever offered. Based on the JMicron JMF612 SATA-3Gbps SSD processor, the SiliconEdge-Blue promises 250/170Mbps read and write transfers with 5000-4KB IOPS. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests the WD SiliconEdge-Blue SSD, 256GB model SSC-D0256SC-2100, against a myriad of high-performance solid-state enthusiast storage devices.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=478

Kingston SSDNow V Series 30GB Boot Drive
Quote: Why would Kingston be coming out with a 30GB SSD boot drive if they already have a 40GB for sale? Without providing TRIM or garbage collection, Kingston scrapped the product and wanted to produce something the community was asking for. The 30GB boot drive was born with a new controller and slightly better specs.
Link: http://www.hardwarelogic.com/articles.php?id=6441

Corsair Dominator GT PC3-12800 DDR3 Dual Channel Kit Review
DESCRIPTION:
"There are two things you should take into consideration when choosing what memory to upgrade to – the first is overall speed which is sometimes called data rate. Such as the kit we are going to look at today – 1600MHz. The faster this is the larger the bandwidth and thus better overall performance. The second is latency, which is often overlooked by consumers. You may well have fast rated memory modules but if the latency timings are high bandwidth could experience issues. Today we take a look at Corsair’s Dominator GT series, a DDR3 dual channel kit designed specifically for the AMD platform. This kit has some pretty tight timings and is reasonably rated and since Corsair are one of the main players in the high performance memory marketplace it will be interesting to see how these modules perform a little later on."
LINK: http://www.vortez.co.uk/review.php?id=142

A-DATA N002 USB 3.0 and SATA II 128GB SSD Review

The interesting thing about the A-DATA N002 drive is it is one of the first USB 3.0 devices on the market, as well as a SATA drive. This opens possibilities for the end-user of using the N002 as an external USB 3.0 OR SATA to move files from one computer to another fast. The drive showed excellent performance across the spectrum of benchmarks that we use on both the USB and SATA interface, actually scoring higher than some of the other SSD drives we have tested. These are a good indication of sustained read and write performance across a wide variety of programs. A-DATA has taken the concept of the SSD drive and driven it with a new feature that allows it to be used on motherboards with USB 3.0 ports or an expansion card that adds it to the motherboard and does it well. The A-DATA N002 is not available online as of yet but gets a Hot Product award due to its excellent feature set and high performance. Look for it to sell in the $299.00 to $349.00 US price range.

Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/2023_1.html

Kingston 128GB V Series Notebook Upgrade Kit Review

Kingston thought of everything when it comes to designing an SSD drive for the notebook market at large. The drive has adequate performance, but it is primary designed to slide into the enclosure and work as an external drive hooked up through the USB interface which allows up to 480Mb/s of bandwidth between the two devices. The SATA 2 interface is not necessary as the bundle includes an enclosure to work with notebook PCs that have limited expansion bays and may not fit an SSD drive internally .At the end of the day, the Kingston Notebook Replacement drive is a SSD drive with all of the positives you could want and is available online for under $300 making it a good fit for those wanting a SSD drive without paying the high price of some others on the market that may offer higher performance but cost more. The Kingston 128GB Notebook Upgrade Kit is available at most e-tailors and many PC DYI centers.

Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/2022_1.html

LaCie Network Space 2 Review
"Of all the tech appliances you might want to prominently display, a mundane network attached storage device probably falls about 78th on most people s lists, right after VoIP desk phones and before network switches. LaCie s Network Space 2 may change that. The attractive 1TB NAS sports an exterior design as clean and intuitive as the software that runs it. As we found out, it s also just as basic as its shape but entry-level consumers might not mind the lack of high-end features or Formula One performance."
Link to the review:http://www.digitaltrends.com/product-reviews/networking-and-wi-fi-reviews/media-streamers-reviews/lacie-network-space-2-review/

Audio/ Video:

Samsung PN58B650 58 Inch Plasma TV Review @ Tweaknews

Article Snippet:"The Samsung PN58B650 is one of those products that can be a little confusing to sum up in a couple paragraphs. For one, this TV is quite a bit cheaper than the higher end 850 series model, but other than the dimensions, it has a better overall visual viewing experience."

EOS wireless loudspeaker system @ TechwareLabs

Quote: More and more great music is being transmitted to you via the web, break out of your browser and together with the EOS loudspeaker system you can fill your house with sound.
LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/eos-wireless-loudspeaker-system/

, ‘Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP8 ‘
An ultra-compact camera that delivers great performance.
http://tbreak.com/tech/2010/03/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fp8/

Arctic Cooling E361-WM Headphones:
English link: http://www.rbmods.com/content/19847/introduction.aspx
Swedish link: http://www.rbmods.se/content/14141/test–sammanfattning.aspx
Quote: Arctic Cooling is well known of their coolers. Their newest product isn’t a cooler, but headphones. We will take a look at their E361-WM headphones which are built to be portable gaming headphones. How will they perform against similarly priced Koss and Sennheiser headphones? Let’s have a look!

ARCTIC COOLING Arctic Sound E352 Earphones Review
DESCRIPTION:
"It’s always interesting to see companies venture in other areas other than those that they have been specialising for awhile. Take ARCTIC COOLING for example. For years, this Swiss company has become synonymous with quality cooling devices, such as fans, CPU and VGA coolers, and computer cases. Recently, ARCTIC COOLING has expanded in various domains including game consoles, audio devices and, even, rechargeable batteries!
LINK:http://www.vortez.co.uk/review.php?id=126

Laptops/Netbooks Etc:

MSI Wind Box Intel Atom 330 NetTops @ Phoronix
Direct Link: http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=14648
Summary: "Through Phoromatic you can easily build a benchmarking test farm with minimal effort and combined with Phoromatic Tracker you can monitor the performance of a given software or hardware component over the course of time. We used our own tools to launch a Linux kernel tracker that monitors the performance of the very latest Linux kernel code on a daily basis at kernel-tracker.phoromatic.com. We are also announcing another new, important public tracker coming soon, but first off, we needed a few more low-powered Intel Atom systems. We ended up purchasing two MSI Wind Box NetTops (the 6667BB-003US and 6667BB-004US) that are both based around an Intel Atom 330 dual-core processor within a very low-profile enclosure. The MSI 6667BB-003US utilizes Intel GMA 950 graphics while the 6667BB-004US boasts an ATI Radeon HD 4330 graphics processor. Here is our Linux look at these two Intel nettop computers."

ASUS EAH 5850 TOP DirectCU

Link:http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/EAH_5850_TOP_DirectCu

Brief:
ASUS has released what seems to be one of the best custom designed HD 5850s. The card which supports DirectX 11 and Eyefinity is extremely quiet, offers better price/performance than the AMD reference design, comes with an overclock out of the box and supports voltage control via SmartDoctor.

Toshiba Satellite E205-S1904 Laptop Review:
http://hothardware.com/Articles/Toshiba-Satellite-E205S1904-Laptop-Review/

If you could design your own laptop in an effort to have the perfect balance of performance, price, size, weight, and features, what would you include and what could you live without? As part of its Blue Label program, Best Buy asked that question of its customers–accepting as much feedback as its customers could give and then channeling that information back to the laptop manufacturers it partners with. The ensuing results of this feedback now manifest themselves in the three current Best Buy Blue Label exclusive laptop offerings: the Dell Studio s15Z-2249CPN, Sony Vaio VPCS11FM/S, and Toshiba Satellite E205-S1904.

Everki Camber Laptop/Netbook Bag @ TechwareLabs

Quote: Looking for a carrying case for your netbook? Take a close look at EVERKI has to offer with their Camber 7” – 13” case. Sure, there are endless companies on the market today to choose from, but not too many have carrying bags for netbooks. The Camber from EVERKI is one that really stood out among others while attending CES 2010. Let’s take a closer look at the Camber to see why were excited to review it for you.
LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/everki-camber/

Dell Inspiron Zino HD Desktop Review:
http://hothardware.com/Articles/Dell-Inspiron-Zino-Desktop-Review/

For the last couple of years, Dell’s foray into the small-form-factor desktop market was its successful mini-tower (with the emphasis on "mini") Studio Hybrid. But with Dell’s latest small-form-factor entry, the Inspiron Zino HD, out goes the vertical mini-tower and in comes the horizontal square–7.8-inches wide by 7.8-inches deep to be exact, and a mere 3.4-inches tall. Like the Studio Hybrid (which Dell still sells), the Inspiron Zino HD (a.k.a. the Inspiron 400) is a solid little machine, with decent mainstream performance, and geared towards budget-minded consumers. Similar to how you could change the Studio Hybrid’s looks by swapping out different-colored sleeves, the Inspiron Zino HD can switch personality with the snap of new color or pattern lid. Of course, other than the default "Piano Black" lid, you’ll have to pay extra for any of the Inspiron Zino HD’s other color ($15 each) or pattern ($30) lids. And with a starting price of $249, the Inspiron Zino HD can give any number of nettop PCs a run for their money…

‘HP dv6-1390ev Notebook review’
Good performance- but its big and heavy with a lower-than-average battery life.
The Full Article can be viewed at
http://tech.tbreak.com/2010/03/hp-dv6-1390ev-notebook-review/

Asus G73J: The Ultimate Gaming Notebook @ InsideHW

The G73J is the ultimate gaming machine, with no performance bottlenecks whatsoever.
Article link: http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Notebooks/Asus-G73J-The-ultimate-gaming-notebook.html

‘Alienware M11x Notebook Review’
Its a hallmark moment for the Alienware family with the arrival of their new baby.
The Full Article can be viewed at
http://tech.tbreak.com/2010/03/alienware-m11x-notebook-review/

Everki Beacon Laptop/Notebook Backpack @ TechwareLabs

Quote: Everki sends us the largest bag in their lineup, the Beacon backpack. Join Will as he sees if this backpack is up to the "road warrior" lifestyle.
LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/everki-beacon-backpack/

Assorted Stuffs:

March Giveaway Contest – Win a free XO Skin for your cell phone or MP3 player!
http://www.topreviewshop.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&p=1707
"The giveaway contest starts on March 5th and ends on March 21st. We’ll be giving away 3 XO Skins for cell phones or MP3 players. In addition to skins for popular phones such as the iPhone, Nexus One, Blackberry Curve, Storm, Pearl and others, XO also offers a wide range of choices with skins for other cell phones and MP3 players."

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum v5.9 Giveaway
Contest Entry Details URL : http://www.bayreviews.com/blog/1-general/3382-winx-dvd-ripper-platinum-giveaway
Quote : "You likes free stuff… right? Of course you do! So we are holding our very first contest. That’s right, we are giving away 10 licenses for WinX DVD Ripper Platinum v5.9. "WinX DVD Ripper Platinum can rip the content of DVDs to all popular video formats such as AVI, MOV, FLV, WMV, MPEG, MP4, 3GP, etc. What’s more, it also owns the ability of ripping different DVDs (including encrypted DVDs) to Sony PSP, Apple iPhone, iPod, iTouch, Apple TV, Zune, Mobile phone, etc." You can get more information about it here. We would like to thank our friends at Digiarty Software who were nice enough to give us 10 licenses to giveaway."

Brother HL-3070CW LED Printer Review at CCE Reviews
Link: http://www.ccereviews.com/reviews/brother-hl-3070cw-led-printer/
Quote: The HL-3070CW delivers a very high quality black and white or color print perfect for the small office or at home. The overall print speed of 17ppm is fast enough for regular use without breaking the bank. I would have really liked to see the printer bundled with automatic duplex printing. However, the HL-3070CW does feature wireless print capability allowing you to store this printer anywhere there is a power outlet.

A Deep Dive Into Thecus NAS Software
QUOTE: "Testing NAS servers is a complicated and time consuming task. For the most part modern NAS products are computers in their own right with some using Intel Core2 Duo processors with 4GB of RAM. When writing a NAS review it is easy to focus on the hardware and capabilities, but often the software, applications and setup functionality take a back seat even though these functions are in many cases just as important as the hardware used.
To help ease the strain on both the reader and the writer, today we are going to cover the latest firmware / software release from Thecus. In a couple of days we will also publish a similar article covering the QNAP firmware / software since these are the two companies that send us a sample every other month and also have such extensive software. We plan to keep these available as living documents with updates published throughout the coming years."

Batterygate II: Exposing Fakes @ MobilityDigest

In my war against crappy cell phone batteries I’ve been dying to dig into the whole Chinese bathtub battery world as doing so could yield more effective and actionable information to use to shake things up and blow off lids than just fighting on the eBay feedback front would offer. But that’s a dark place you may not find on Google (or Pamela) to get access to and information about, one thing I’m hoping HTC can give me if they take my little email seriously. I want them to help me help them help me help you patronize the right people, you dig? That could take a while so I want to hand some of this off to you in case you ever buy a battery on eBay, either a counterfeit OEM, a crappy battery or a crappy counterfeit battery, as one of you might be able, with the right footwork, to crack their Great Wall of Cell Phone Accessory Secrecy. By they I mean China obviously. And Hong Kong and Singapore too at least have some peripheral involvement but we’re dealing with, primarily and as usual, China.

http://www.mobilitydigest.com/batterygate-ii-exposing-fakes/

CeBit 2010 Coverage:

CeBIT 2010 – CoolIT Vantage A.L.C @ Vortez.co.uk

CeBIT 2010 Coverage @ Madshrimps

CeBIT 2010 – CoolIT Omni A.L.C @ Vortez.co.uk

CeBIT 2010 – ASUS HD5970 ARES Preview @ Vortez.co.uk

CeBIT 2010 – Does Cooler Master have the X-Factor? The all new HAF X @ Vortez.co.uk

CeBIT 2010 – SteelSeries give an exclusive first look at the new 7H headset @ Vortez.co.uk

CeBIT 2010 – Thermaltake Armor A90, FRIO and a TOP SECRET preview @ Vortez.co.uk

Coverage from BCCHardware:

Day 4 – Patriot @ CeBIT 2010
Day 4 – Arctic Cooling @ CeBIT 2010
Day 4 – Loop @ CeBIT 2010

Day 3 – Silverstone @ CeBIT 2010
Day 3 – Spire @ CeBIT 2010
Day 3 – Scythe @ CeBIT 2010

Day 2 – Enermax @ CeBIT 2010
Day 2 – MSI @ CeBIT 2010

Cricket Introduces Samsung Stunt

Kristofer — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:27:51 +0000

Cricket Communications, Inc., a leading provider of unlimited wireless services and subsidiary of Leap Wireless International Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America ¹, the No.1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.², today announced the availability of the new Samsung Stunt™ (SCH-R100).

“The Samsung Stunt provides a slender, smart design and introduces BluetoothTM to our most affordable tier of devices”

A slim, sleek and stylish bar phone, the Samsung Stunt comes loaded with Mobile Web, Games & Apps, Bluetooth^TM, long battery life, speakerphone and voice commands. In addition, Crickets MyBackup, which enables subscribers to automatically protect their mobile contacts without the hassle of data cables, is available via a link in the contact list. The Samsung Stunt is a sophisticated evolution from its predecessor, the Samsung SCH-R211, and features a larger and more vibrant 128 x 160 color display and slimmer design. The Samsung Stunt measures 4.22” x 1.73” x .54” and weighs 2.61 oz.

“The Samsung Stunt provides a slender, smart design and introduces Bluetooth^TM to our most affordable tier of devices,” said Matt Stoiber, vice president and general manager of devices for Cricket. “And with its friendly user interface, it offers a sophisticated experience while remaining easy to use.”

The Samsung Stunt is now available for $99.99 at Cricket retail stores, dealers, mycricket.com and by calling 800-922-9169. For more information, please visit www.mycricket.com or www.samsungwireless.com.

About Cricket

Cricket is the pioneer of simple and affordable unlimited wireless services with no long-term commitments or credit checks required serving more than 4.7 million customers in 35 states and the District of Columbia. Cricket offers wireless voice and broadband Internet services over the latest technology, high-quality, all-digital 3G CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO wireless network. Cricket’s wireless voice service plans include unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited U.S. long distance, unlimited text and picture messaging, unlimited text to Mexico, unlimited Mobile Web, unlimited directory assistance, as well as a variety of calling features and feature-rich mobile applications such as popular games, ringtones and wallpapers. Cricket Broadband provides unlimited Internet access anywhere within Cricket’s coverage areas at speeds comparable to DSL. For more information on Cricket, visit www.mycricket.com. Cricket is offered by Leap Wireless International, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, Calif. For more information on Leap, visit www.leapwireless.com.

Leap is a U.S. registered trademark and the Leap logo is a trademark of Leap. Cricket, Jump, the Cricket “K” and Flex Bucket are U.S. registered trademarks of Cricket. In addition, the following are trademarks or service marks of Cricket: Cricket By Week, Cricket Choice, Cricket Connect, Cricket Nation and Cricket PAYGo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Samsung Telecommunications America

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsungmobileusa.com.

About Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2007 consolidated sales of US$105 billion. Employing approximately 150,000 people in 134 offices in 62 countries, the company consists of two main business units: Digital Media & Communications and Device Solutions. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

¹ Samsung Mobile is proud to provide ENERGY STAR-qualified power adapters with its mobile phones and accessories. ENERGY STAR qualified products use less energy, save money, and help protect the environment. Products that have earned the ENERGY STAR meet strict energy-efficiency guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy.

² Based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics Q1 2010 U.S. Market Share Handset Shipments Report.

News for Friday March 5th 2010

Kristofer — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:15:04 +0000

News, NEws and More news!

Storage Related:

ASUS External Slim Blu-ray Disc Combo SBC-06D1S-U Review
"As reported in our News section on 15th February – ASUS have launched two new external optical drives. ASUS have very kindly provided us with the SBC-06D1S-U to review today. ASUS are a hugely successful company known for their innovative product design and industry leading quality in the world of 3C (Computers, Communications and Consumer Electronics). Let’s take a look at one of their latest external optical drives and see if it continues their excellent pedigree."
LINK: http://www.vortez.co.uk/review.php?id=122

Kingston HyperX PC3-17066 (2133MHz) 4GB Kit
QUOTE: "Kingston has a reputation for creating some extremely high quality memory. What this means is that we tend not to see the company jump on the speed train as quick as some other makers do. They want to know when they release a module that it’s going to run 100% across many platforms.
Due to the nature of this, what tends to happen is we see only major step-ups in speed. To give you a better idea from Kingston, we see at the top of the table the 2133MHz DDR kit we have with us today. Moving downwards and we’ve got 2000MHz which was a major release, while below that there are 1800MHz DDR, 1600MHz DDR and 1333MHz DDR modules."

Corsair Nova 64GB and Reactor 60GB SSD Review on Technic3D

Link: http://www.technic3d.com/article-1034,1-corsair-nova-64gb-und-reactor-60gb-ssds-im-test-klassentreffen.htm

Translation Link: http://translate.google.de/translate?u=http%3a%2F%2fwww.technic3d.com%2Farticle-1034%2C1-corsair-nova-64gb-und-reactor-60gb-ssds-im-test-klassentreffen.htm&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

Quote: "The Corsair Nova 64GB and Reactor 60GB SSD arrived Technic3D. Available in 60GB, 64GB, 120GB and 128GB configurations. Results in extreme performance with up to 250MB/s sequential read and 130MB/s sequential write speeds? We will check this against the SSDs from OCZ and G.Skill."

Corsair 8GB Padlock 2 USB Flash Drive Review @ Legit Reviews
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1229/1/

"The Corsair Padlock 2 USB Flash drive would make an excellent off-site backup drive for your critical data as it offers both the security and portability to make this task a breeze. Overall, the only nitpick I had was the lack of place to secure the cap when the drive is in use. If that’s the only complaint I can come up with, Corsair must be doing something right. I found the Padlock 2 to be simple to use, aesthetically pleasing and darn good at its core function of protecting data. It doesn’t hurt that the price tag is less than many other secure drives at only $55…"

‘TwinMOS Mobile Disk Q7 64GB USB Drive Review’
This 64GB USB drive should let you carry plenty of data with you.
http://tech.tbreak.com/2010/02/twinmos-mobile-disk-q7-64gb-usb-drive-review/

Verbatim InSight Portable HDD 500GB:
English link: http://www.rbmods.com/content/20033/features.aspx
Swedish link: http://www.rbmods.se/content/14105/funktioner.aspx

Quote: We are taking a look at an external HDD from Verbatim today, they sent us a sample of their latest 500GB HDD that is equipped with a display on the front of the eclosure to show how much space is left on the HDD. Lets see how it will perform vs other removable drives.

ADAT

A S596 128GB SSD Video Review & Benchmarks

ADATA is a company that is new to us, but is a well established company in the east, making their way west. Watch in this video review as I actually beat this drive on a table a few times and then run it through a gauntlet of tests. This new S596 SSD is a very fast drive and can hold its own agains’t the competition. Check out the full review and I think you will like what you see, its pretty funny to watch just for the verbage and drive beating.

Review Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yjOL6PUt9I

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Silicon Power E10 and M10 SSDs.

Quote: Today we have a look at two Solid State Drives from the Taiwanese company Silicon Power. Do they cut the mustard?
Link: http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/storage/silicon_power_e10_and_m10_ssds/1

Audio/Video Related:

Some Fun With A 6-Screen ATI Eyefinity Configuration:
http://hothardware.com/News/Some-Fun-With-A-6Screem-ATI-Eyefinity-Configuration/

We’re just doing a bit of testing here in the lab today, and wanted give you all a glimpse of what was on the test bench. We have already given you glimpses of AMD’s ATI Eyefinity technology running on more than three screens on a few occasions in the past, but we haven’t had the ability to do any hands-on with the technology up to this point because the Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition and the requisite software wasn’t quite ready yet. Well, it’s here now. And we’ll be able to give you the full scoop very soon. For now, here’s a fun preview…

Roku XR Review @ ASE Labs

Link: http://www.aselabs.com/articles.php?id=5623

Quote: Most people should have heard about the ease of use that the Netflix streaming service provides. One of the major components of this ease of use would be the set top boxes that provide the service on TVs. Roku was the original and is still the best way to get streaming Netflix to your TV, right now.

Gunnar Optiks Wi-FIVE Digital Performance Eyewear @ Legit Reviews
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1224/1/

Quote: "People are spending an ever-increasing amount of time in front of computer screens as our lives become more intertwined with technology. This increase correlates to an increase in health hazards from repetitive motion injuries, neck and back problems, and eye strain. Gunnar has recognized this and has put together a diverse product line dedicated to mitigating the strain we are putting on our eyes with some of their special lens and optic technologies. They sent us over a sample pair of their Wi-FIVE digital performance eyewear from their Catalyst collection to see how effective we felt they were. For $99, if they work as advertised, they should be well worth the investment…"

iXBT Labs Review: i3DSpeed, February 2010
Excerpt:
"The i3DSpeed informs you about performance of popular graphics cards and the best price/performance deals in the market. In this issue we updated the test results to reflect the performance of the latest drivers (as of February 2010)."
Article: http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/i3dspeed/0210/i0210-video-p1.html

Mobile Related:

Beware of Counterfeit OEM Batteries @ MobilityDigest

Link: http://www.mobilitydigest.com/beware-of-counterfeit-oem-batteries/

As you can guess these guys fib quite a bit on their numbers (the question being by how much, which is what I’ve been after) and I’ve been holding off on telling you the specifics until I had tested another handful of batteries.

XO Skin for iPhone 3Gs
http://www.topreviewshop.com/xo_skin_iphone_3gs
"Need protection for your iPhone 3Gs that can withstand a Dremel drilling? Take a look at the XO Skin."

Palm Pixi Plus Review
"What the Honda Civic is to the Accord, the Pixi Plus is to the Pre Plus. While not entirely hobbled, the Pixi flutters in the shadow of the Pre with a smaller screen, a slower processor, and a lower-resolution camera, but balances the handicaps with a lightweight, easy-to-use form factor that finds fans in nearly everyone who handles it. It will have to be the body that sells it. Even with Wi-Fi added for the Plus variant, we find it hard to recommend the stripped down Pixi when the much more capable Pre stands only $70 away."
Link to the review:http://www.digitaltrends.com/product-reviews/cell-phone-reviews/cell-phone-smart-phone-reviews/palm-pixi-plus-review/

Review: PDAir Leather Case for Zune HD

The horizontal pouch case has a simple design, with cushioned leather on the front and back that is held together with elastic sides. The case has white stitching, which adds a nice accent. The only other adornment is the PDAir logo stamped on the front of the case.

http://www.geardiary.com/2010/03/04/review-pdair-leather-case-for-zune-hd/

‘HTC HD2 Smartphone’
We look at what is probably the most best Windows Mobile phone you can purchase today.
The Full Article can be viewed at http://tech.tbreak.com/2010/02/htc-hd2-smartphone/

Evercool FIT Notebook Cooler
http://www.topreviewshop.com/evercool_fit_notebook_cooler

"There are a multitude of laptop coolers available, but today we take a look today at a unique cooling product from Evercool – the FIT Notebook Cooler. It is compatible with just about any notebook or netbook – from 9” to 18” sizes. It’s small enough to carry with you in your laptop bag, and it is also lightweight at only 60g total weight. But how well does it actually cool your laptop? Read on for our testing results."

NVIDIA NextGen ION Preview @ t-break

About a year after NVIDIA released the original ION, they are back with the Next Gen touting with a tag line of "10X Performance and 10 Hours of Battery Life."
http://tech.tbreak.com/2010/03/nvidia-nextgen-ion-preview/

ASUS G51J 3D 15.6" Gaming Notebook @ Techgage
Link: http://techgage.com/article/asus_g51j_3d_156_gaming_notebook/
Quote: The term "3D" has been used quite a bit over the past couple of months, and as it stands today, there’s a fair bit of content available to those with capable hardware. But on the mobile side of things, support is just beginning to creep in. The first available option was from ASUS, with its G51J 3D, and we’re taking a look at it here.

Assorted Stuffs:

The WikiReader @ TechwareLabs

Quote: Love dedicated devices filling your pockets? Here’s a great one for you: The WikiReader. This little guy contains all of Wikipedia for all of your argument winning needs.
LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/wikireader/

PC Power Supply Protections: They Won’t Always Protect You
Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/blog/167
Here is a snippet:
"PC power supplies usually come with some protections. The savvy user will always try to pick one that provides the most protections possible. But having protections available doesn’t mean that the power supply will in fact protect your equipment in case of malfunction. Let’s see why."

Join us this week to hear our panel debate over the Apple iPad launch, discuss our latest system guide, and provide a sneak preview of the Radeon HD 5830, among other things.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/18536

News: XPC maker Shuttle soldiers on, creates laptop ecosystem

Although its toaster-sized XPC barebones systems used to be a regular part of our review coverage, we haven’t heard the Shuttle name quite so much lately. Recently, we decided to check in with Shuttle and see what was new with this unlikely survivor of the consolidation trend in the motherboard business. Turns out Shuttle is still very much alive and kicking, and it’s working on new ways to promote its barebones systems, along with an unusual modular notebook initiative.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/18469

An Interview with Dow2Live.com @ alltern8

Quote: "Most strategy gamers out there are aware of the skill level they possess. You know there are certain players worse than you, and you’re certainly well aware that there are those that destroy you with no problems at all. However beyond playing your game of choice over and over, how’s a fella’ or lady supposed to improve their gaming ability? One way is to watch replays of the pros hacking away at each other.

2010 s Top Business Gadgets and Technology Trends
"Good news for modern professionals the future of high-tech is here, and it s rife with opportunities to enhance communications, maximize productivity, and revolutionize the way the way that business is done on nearly every front. As previewed earlier this year at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a wired wonderland where the hottest gadgets and technology trends of coming months are revealed, the future truly is now. From WiFi-ready, touchscreen-equipped cars to app-enabled home theater components and Skype-compatible TVs that let you videoconference right from your living room screen, there s no end to the commercial possibilities in sight. Imagine selling software programs direct to shoppers right on their 3D HDTV, marketing copies of your latest book for download via digital eReader or filling customers orders right from a shiny new tablet PC."
Link to the feature:http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/top-2010-business-gadgets-and-technology-trends/

Join us for this special edition of the TR Podcast in which Jordan and Scott discuss our latest CPU roundup extravaganza.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/18503

Gigabyte Media Event At Castle Oudaen

The Dutch media was kindly invited at the lovely city of Utrecht for a pre CeBIT presentation of Gigabyte and Intel Company. Rendez-vous took place at the castle of Oudaen. The major websites and magazines were present. Shrimps was represented by yours truly and [M] reviewer Danny Terwindt. Too bad we heard Intel canceled their presentation at last call, for till now unknown reasons. Without further ado let us quickly guide you through the presentation and show the new toys present.
http://www.madshrimps.be/gotoartik.php?articID=992

Four Tech Movies Every IT Pro Should See
Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/blog/166
"It doesn’t matter if you are a newcomer to the IT industry or a veteran with over 30 years of expertise: there are some movies that I love and think that all people working on the computer industry should watch. They are entertaining and educative at the same time."

Run XP Mode in VirtualBox Instead of Virtual PC

Windows 7 only: If you’ve been itching to use the new XP Mode feature in Windows 7, but you aren’t too keen on using Virtual PC or just prefer VirtualBox, here’s how to use XP Mode in VirtualBox.

http://lifehacker.com/5485879/run-xp-mode-in-virtualbox-instead-of-virtual-pc

10 Star Wars Products With Force Power

http://nerdapproved.com/approved-products/10-products-that-impart-the-force/

Was “The Force” simply a figment of George Lucas’ imagination, or is it a real power that is all around us? My guess is that the real Force exists with Star Wars-themed merchandise, and it is constantly beckoning us to open up our wallets. The following 10 Star Wars products have definitely harnessed that power.

Hands on: Opera 10.50 makes impressive performance gains

http://arstechnica.com/software/reviews/2010/03/hands-on-opera-1050-makes-impressive-performance-gains.ars

The Opera Web browser has taken a big step forward with the release of version 10.50, a significant update that brings some nice new features and a number of radical improvements under the hood. Opera Software contends that it has taken the lead in performance, leap-frogging its competitors. We conducted benchmarking and some hands-on tests to determine if the new Opera lives up to the hype.

Quick Links:

NZXT Tempest @ LanOC Reviews

ASUS X58 Rampage III Extreme Motherboard Preview @ Legit Reviews

AMD’s Radeon HD 5830 graphics card @ T-Break

HIS Digital HD5570 Review @ High Tech Reviews

Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX Motherboard @ TechwareLabs

AMD’s 890GX Chipset: Low-End Price, High-End Features @ Hardware Canucks

Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 Motherboard Review: AMD’s 890GX Chipset Makes Its Debut

Jetway NC94-510-LF Mini-ITX Atom Motherboard @ TechwareLabs

TITAN, Skalli – Universal CPU cooler Review @ XtremeComputing

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Biostar TH55XE H55

Supreme Commander 2 Details @ [OC]ModShop

Thermaltake V3 Black Edition Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Evercool Ever Green 40mm Fans @ PCShopTalk

ASUS M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 (AMD 890GX) Motherboard

NZXT M59 Classic Series Mid Tower Chassis

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 Motherboard Review @ Hardware Secrets

OCZ Gladiator Max CPU Cooler Review at Overclockers Online

Star Trek Online Expansion Details @ [OC]ModShop

Noctua NF-S12B FLX Cooling Fan Review @ [OC]ModShop

A Look at AMD’s 890GX Chipset @ Techgage

AMD 890GX SB850 Chipset Debut: Phenom II X6 Ready @ HotHardware.com

Thermaltake Silent 1156 Heatsink Review @ Ninjalane

Roccat Arvo Gaming Keyboard @ Rbmods

Zalman Z7 Plus Computer Case Review @ Tweaknews

Thermaltake SpinQ VT Heatsink Review @ frostytech.com

Scythe Grand Kama Cross SCKC-2000 Heatsink Review @ Frostytech.com

Corsair Obsidian 800D @ Bjorn3D

XFX RADEON HD 5830 Video Card Review

Arctic Cooling ARCTIC F12 Pro TC Case Fan Review @ Verdis Reviews

iXBT Labs Review: Gigabyte 790XTA-UD4 Motherboard

Thermaltake Element V Full Tower Chassis

OCZ Z Series 1000 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets

AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE @ Rbmods

Gigabyte GV-567OC-1GI Radeon HD 5670 Videocard Review @ PCSTATS.com

iXBT Labs Review: AMD 785G Motherboard Roundup

Whip It Blu-Ray Review @ Ascully.com

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Intel 980x Gulftown

XtremeGear HP-1216B HSF Review at Overclockers Online

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 890GX Motherboard Review @ Vortez.co.uk

Intel D510MO Mini-ITX Motherboard Review @ Bigbruin.com

Thermalright Venomous X CPU Cooler Review @ Vortez.co.uk

Athlon II X4 635: Quad-Cores Are In @ InsideHW

Thermaltake ISGC-300 CPU Cooler Review @ Tweaknews

ASUS TUF SaberTooth 55i @ Bjorn3D

Noctua NH-D14 @ Bjorn3D

AMD ATI Chips Comparison Table @ Hardware Secrets

SilverStone Fortress FT02 @ Phoronix

Enermax MODU87+ 700W Power Supply Review @ HardOCP

News for March 4th 2010

Kristofer — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:54:47 +0000

News, News and More news from around the wrold:

on=com_content&task=view&id=470&Itemid=38

Quick Links:

Logitech MX-620 Cordless Laser Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews

Jache 2.1 iPowerSpeaker J6 Review @ GadgetReview

Nexus RX-5300 530W PSU Review @ XtremeComputing

Intel’s Core i3-530 – The Budget Powerhouse? @ Techgage

Thermaltake TR2 RX 750Watt Power Supply Review @ Ninjalane

ASUS RoG Maximus III Extreme LGA 1156 Motherboard Preview @ Hardware Canucks

LUXA2 LM100 Mini HTPC Case @ PCShopTalk

Amacrox Free Earth 85PLUS 650 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets

SteelSeries Kinzu Optical Mouse Review @ Tech-Reviews.co.uk

Coolermaster Hyper 101 Review @ XSReviews

ASUS P6X58D Premium Motherboard Review

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AMD 890GX Motherboard Review @ PCSTATS.com

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3: A Fast Inheritor @ InsideHW

NZXT – Hades Crafted Series Computer Case @ TechwareLabs

Cooler Master 750 Watt GX PSU @ Bjorn3D

Indilinx Barefoot Firmware Testing with the RunCore Pro IV SSD

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Ozone Gaming Roundup

ECS A890GXM-A Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets

Top 5 Best Heatsink on Frostytech – UPDATED! @ Frostytech.com

AMD 890GX @ Bjorn3D

Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H Motherboard Review – AMD 890GX Chipset @ Legit Reviews

Overclockers.com – MSI 890GXM-G65 Review

Thermaltake V3 Black ATX Mid Tower Case Review @ BayReviews.com

CeBIT Coverage – Day 1 Bundle – BCCHardware

Day 1 – CoolIT @ CeBIT 2010
Day 1 – Reeven @ CeBIT 2010
Day 1 – Matrox @ CeBIT 2010
Day 1 – Gigabyte @ CeBIT 2010
Day 1 – Synology and QNAP NAS at CeBIT 2010
Day 1 – ASRock at CeBIT 2010

Audio / Video Related:

Masscool MP-1370S ‘Media Mate’ Media Player Review @ Legit Reviews
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1227/1/

"Today we take a look at Masscool’s MP-1370S “Media Mate” high-definition media player. For us, Masscool is not exactly the first name you think of when you look to buy a HD media server, but the company has been in the business of designing and building HDD enclosures and media players since 2000. The Masscool MP-1370S is designed to not only be a media player that can access your favorite multimedia on your local or remote hard, but users are able to use the player to record to an attached USB device or an installed HDD. Priced at a very economical $100, it supports playing of video up to 1080i resolutions through an HDMI port and includes room for an 3.5” internal SATA hard drive so that you can load up all your favorite multimedia. Even if you don’t install an internal hard drive, the MP-1370S can connect to your local internet via the 10/100 Ethernet connection…"

Atomic Floyd TwistJax Review
"UK-based Atomic Floyd has been around for a couple years and has garnered quite a bit of attention, both in Europe and here in the States. At the time of publication, Atomic Floyd offers five different earphones: AirJax, AirDrum, HiDefDrum, HiDefJax and the new TwistJax. With a price of £129 or roughly $200 USD at today s exchange rate, the TwistJax are among the priciest in the Atomic Floyd lineup."
Link to the review: http://www.digitaltrends.com/product-reviews/mp3-player-reviews/headphone-reviews/atomic-floyd-twistjax-review/

Storage Related:

NAS File System Tests by Thecus Explored
QUOTE: "A couple of weeks ago my curiosity turned a light working weekend into a full on charge in exploring the ins and outs of NAS server file systems. While testing the Crucial RealSSD C300, we moved away from the ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer motherboard that was used to test storage released products and started using the GIGABYTE X58A-UD7. This left me with a free system at a key time to start taking a deep dive into file systems on NAS servers.
At first it started out as a harmless test with a single drive on a different file system to see what would happen to performance. Forty-eight hours later has evolved into a nonstop Bawls fueled obsession to see how much improvement we could find just by setting our NAS up differently."

OCZ Vertex Limited Edition 100GB Review
http://www.techspot.com/review/250-ocz-vertex-limited-edition/
Roughly a month ago we brought you an early preview of the OCZ Vertex 2 Pro SSD. This uber-fast product was supposed to be part of a new series of drives based on controllers from start-up SandForce. However, as we recently learned OCZ decided to scrap the Vertex 2 Pro altogether due to the high cost of its SF-1500 controller, and instead shift focus to the originally announced Vertex 2 and Vertex 2 EX.

Marvell 88SS9174-BJP2 SSD Controller Review @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: Just over two years ago there were only five companies involved in Solid State Drive technology, and as of January 2010 there are nearly 140 names in the business. Without doubt, the SSD market has enjoyed a powerful growth period with relatively painless consumer acceptance. Benchmark Reviews has been on top of the SSD scene since retail products were first introduced at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. Based on the Marvell 88SS9174-BJP2 SSD processor, the Crucial RealSSD-C300 becomes the industry’s first SATA-6G consumer Solid State Drive. Likewise, the C300 is also the first SSD to use ONFI 2.1 synchronous NAND flash. In this article, Benchmark Reviews inspects the Marvell 88SS9174-BJP2 SSD processor rated for 355/215 MBps read and write speeds.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=486&Itemid=60

Seagate BlackArmor NAS 220 – Review
Article Clip: Everyone is trying to save some money now a day and by everyone i mean regular joe and companies. It doesn’t matter if you own large or midrange or even small company, you must be concerned with the marketed being highly unstable and of course your assets and cash flow. Purchasing IT equipment is becoming more and more a science thing than anything else. Most small or medium size companies struggle to come up with some kind of budget whether it is renewal or upgrade of the equipment. I am IT Systems Engineer for a medium size company and i know first hand that it is not an easy to per sway my boss to purchase a 40k NAS for data storage. Most people in my positions either spend quite bit of money on equipment or use "bandaids and rubber bands" to prolong some of the IT assets.
Article Link: http://umlan.com/reviews/hardware/h111.html

MEGATech Previews – Patriot Memory Sector 5 2250MHz DDR3 Memory Kit Benchmarks

About three weeks ago, Patriot Memory announced their newest Sector 5 2250MHz DDR3 Memory Kits for the Intel Core i5/i7 Processors that utilize Dual Channel memory. That means it’s currently designed for motherboards with the Intel P55/P55A Chipsets. This 2×2GB Dual Channel DDR3 kit only needs a cool 1.65 volts to maintain its insanely fast stock 2250MHz frequency along with 9-9-9-27 memory timings. Here’s a quick preview of what these modules can do for you!

Direct Link: http://www.megatechnews.com/megatech-previews-patriot-memory-sector-5-2250mhz-ddr3-memory-benchmarks/

Western Digital SiliconEdge Blue 256GB SSD Review @ Legit Reviews
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1233/1/

"The new WD SiliconEdge Blue SSDs are available in capacities of up to 256 gigabytes (GB) and feature a SATA 3.0 gigabits per second (Gb/s) interface with sequential read speeds up to 250 megabytes per second (MB/s) and sequential write transfer rates up to 170 MB/s. Not bad performance for a mainstream consumer SSD that has is part of the ‘blue’ series of SSDs from WD. Those looking for a little more performance should keep their fingers crossed as we would guess that SiliconEdge Black SSDs are on the way in the future.Today, we have the WD SiliconEdge Blue 256 GB (SSC-D0256SC-2100) SSD and we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the drives features, internal components and the performance of the drive…"

WD SiliconEdge Blue 256GB SSD Review:
http://hothardware.com/Articles/WD-SiliconEdge-Blue-256GB-SSD-Review/

Storage is going solid state and the move to acquire Silicon Systems back in March of 2009, was a very deliberate course of action for WD that spoke clearly about their intentions. We’ve heard rumblings of offerings forthcoming from WD’s primary competitor, Seagate, as well but today WD makes it real with their new SiliconEdge line of SSD products. We’ve taken a 256GB SiliconEdge Blue drive out for a spin, or perhaps lack thereof, and have our impressions posted on the pages ahead of WD’s first foray into solid state drive technology…

Western Digital SiliconEdge Blue 256GB Solid State Drive
QUOTE: "When it comes to solid state drives the controller is the heart of the drive. There are SSDs on the market that are using bottom of the barrel, slow as molasses NAND flash, but their controller is able to make it all come together. Most of the time we are able to find out what controller is in a product and have a very good idea about the drives performance.
As it sits right now I have no idea what controller is in the Western Digital SiliconEdge Blue. To further aid to the confusion the cache is larger than anything we have tested before. The good thing is that when we buy SSDs we are rarely buying a name or the laser etches found on the controller. Pricing, performance, overall value between the two, length of warranty and a company’s reputation on standing behind their products is what we are breaking our wallets out for."

G.Skill ECO Kit 4 GB PC3-12800U CL7-8-7

Link:http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GSkill/F3-12800CL7D-4GBECO

Brief:G.Skill is offering a full range of P55 compatible memory kits, with the ECO being one of them. As the name implies, the memory aims to deliver the most performance while only requiring a mere 1.35V to run at 1600 MHz CL7-8-7.

Kingston SSDNow V+ Series 128GB SSD
Quote: It is always interesting when a new controller steps into the market for SSDs and today we are looking at the Kingston SSDNow V+ Series with the new Toshiba T6UG1XBG drive controller. Will this new controller be a step up or another JMicron disaster? Read on to find out.
Link: http://www.hardwarelogic.com/articles.php?id=5631

QNAP TS-259 Pro Turbo NAS Review at CCE Reviews
Link: http://www.ccereviews.com/reviews/qnap-ts-259-pro-turbo-nas/
Quote: Good things come in small packages and the QNAP TS-259 Pro is exactly that. You shouldn’t be fooled by the small footprint. Packed inside this small chassis is a very powerful dual core Intel Atom processor with 1GB of memory. The result is a powerful server capable of RAID 1 performance with little overhead loss or a lightning quick RAID 0 configuration. If you’re strictly concerned about numbers, the TS-259 Pro will easily put up 100MB/s+!

OCZ Technology 60GB Agility Series SATAII SSD Review

When recently asked what SSD would be ideal for regular users, that doesn’t cost too much, but contains quality components, I found myself going back over my notes. I found myself considering what kind of controller is used inside an SSD rather than basing it off the name brand. The controller is a major component that can make or break performance. And, it doesn’t hurt if an SSD has a little extra cache to maintain transfer rates.

Direct Link:http://www.futurelooks.com/ocz-technology-60gb-agility-series-sataii-ssd-review/

Thecus N2200

Link:http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Thecus/N2200

Brief:The N2200 is an entry level dual bay NAS. It has a fairly long list of features without making it overly complex to configure, plus it comes at a low price. Since Thecus seems confident about the N2200 we took a closer look at it to see if this is justified.

OCZ Vertex Limited Edition, Sandforce Powered SSD
http://hothardware.com/articles/OCZ-Vertex-LE-Sandforce-Powered-SSD-Review/

When we first took a look at OCZ’s Vertex 2 Pro series SSD back in February, we noted that our evaluation was a product "preview" due to the fact that the product was still being finalized in many ways and wasn’t yet available on the open market. Little did we know that exact product would never see the light of day in retail. In fact, the Vertex Limited Edition SSD that we’re taking a look at here today, will only be available in a limited 5K unit batch release from OCZ. That’s not to say that good things don’t come in limited quantities though.

OCZ Technology’s Vertex 2 Pro 100GB Solid State Disk
QUOTE: "As time goes on we are seeing what was once enterprise-only technology being weaved into consumer products. Dual core processors have eliminated the need for dual processor systems used for A/V production. In the storage field we have the adaption of 10K platter speeds and technological advances like Native Command Queuing.
Today we are looking at the OCZ Technology Vertex 2 Pro. What makes the Vertex 2 Pro so special is that it uses one of the first true enterprise grade solid state controllers and pairs it with low cost consumer grade Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash memory."

Patriot Valkyrie 2-Bay NAS Review @ Tweaknews
Article Url: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/patriot_valkyrie/
Article Snippet:
"Given the fairly large feature set wrapped up in a well constructed, attractive unit, the Valkyrie is a good buy for those in the market for a simple home NAS. It supports up to 4TB of storage and has all the most commonly used functions like an FTP server, print server, media server, and one touch backup to an external device."

Mobile Related:

nitroX X835 and X735 Bluetooth Headset @ Bjorn3D

nitroX has shipped us their X835, a Bluetooth handsfree kit, and X735, a Bluetooth stereo headset, for review. Let’s take a look at these Bluetooth devices for your portable player and cellphones.
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1802

‘Nokia C5, the el cheapo smartphone’
No, not el cheapo as in cheap and crappy necessarily but el cheapo as in cheap and very affordable. The just unveiled Nokia C5 will be available in the second quarter of 2010 (including the MEA market) at an expected retail price of just under AED 700.
That doesn’t seem like a dirt-cheap [...]
The Full Article can be viewed at http://tbreak.com/tech/2010/03/nokia-c5-the-el-cheapo-smartphone/

MSI to debut worlds first full HD 3D all-in-one PC

MSI are going to be showcasing their new range of all in one pcs at the forthcoming CeBIT expo in Hanover from March 2nd to March 6th 2010 and amongst them there’s one product that’s bound to attract a lot of attention. It is the world’s first large screen full high definition 3D all in one computer designed for the 3D home experience. The press release says it all.

Verbatim Nano Wireless Notebook Mouse
Quote: Add a dash of color and style to your day, with Verbatim’s Color Nano Wireless Mouse. In six new colors, this mouse travels well in tight spaces. With a receiver that’s small enough to plug into your laptop and leave, it offers 2.4 GHz wireless performance – that means no delays in cursor movements and fewer cords to pack. The receiver also slides right into the bottom of the mouse for safekeeping. Its sleek design offers a smooth, contoured comfort grip for right or left hand and a programmable roller button. Small enough to fit easily in work totes, backpacks or even handbags, Verbatim’s Color Nano Notebook Mouse offers cool colors to match your laptop, your bag or even your mood.
Link: http://www.aselabs.com/articles.php?id=5624

Cooler Master NotePal ErgoStand Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Review URL: http://www.thinkcomputers.org/cooler-master-notepal-ergostand-review/

Quote: “Lately these days many people are purchasing a notebook cooler when they purchase a new laptop. This is because many laptops still get very hot and many notebook coolers also act as a stand for their laptop. Today we will be taking a look at the NotePal ErgoStand from Cooler Master, which not only is a notebook cooler it acts as a notebook stand as well with 5 adjustable viewing angles. It also features a large 140mm fan, 4-port USB hub and a great ergonomic design. Let’s take a look…"

NVIDIA ION 2 Preview, Optimus Enabled:
http://hothardware.com/Articles/NVIDIA-NextGeneration-ION-2-Preview-Optimus-Enabled/

Ever since NVIDIA’s original ION chipset proved it was possible to pair Intel’s low-power Atom processor to a relatively powerful graphics core and attain acceptable multimedia performance, the market has been curious as to what NVIDIA’s Ion 2 Next-Generation Ion product might offer. This has also been a topic of some discussion between Intel, NVIDIA, and the FTC. Because Intel’s next-generation Atom platform is a system-on-chip (SoC), NVIDIA had to adjust its own plans for NG-Ion…

Second Generation NVIDIA ION Announced @ Legit Reviews
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1234/1/

Quote: "The next generation of the NVIDIA ION architecture brings some much needed changes in order to bring forth the performance desired by low-power, low-performance mobile users. While we have heard the ION 2 name bounced around leading up to the launch, it seems NVIDIA is just referring to the platform changes as the next generation of NVIDIA ION. So for those researching which netbook to purchase, keep in mind that NVIDIA ION netbooks and nettops featuring an Intel Atom N2xx or N3xx processor have the previous generation of ION with shared graphics and system memory. NVIDIA ION systems with an Intel Atom N4xx, D4xx or D5xx processor would have the new generation of NVIDIA ION with dedicated graphics memory instead of sharing with the system memory…"

Hardware Canucks is pleased to present A Look at NVIDIA’s Next Generation ION.

Article URL: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/29377-look-nvidia-s-next-generation-ion.html

Quote: There is no denying that Intel’s Atom family of processors are extremely popular and that companies are clamoring to get products out which feature it. NVIDIA’s original ION blazed the trail for better performing netbooks but with the release of the Pineview series of Atom processors, they needed to rethink their approach. In this article, we take a look at the next generation ION and all it has to offer.

WildCharge Wireless Charging Pad and iPhone 3G Adapter Case
QUOTE: "I have always been a fan of new technology. I enjoy the implementation, creation and even the way it is marketed to the consumer (for good or bad). I am sure this is no surprise to you (given what I do for a living), but what might surprise you is that I am even more intrigued by the recent resurgence of old ideas that are finally coming to light as new technology.
Today we are looking at another resurrected technology; this time from WildCharge. WildCharge is another of the companies that is working very hard to make wireless charging a standard. They offer one of the least expensive options for wireless charging with the WildCharger Pad and iPhone/iPod Touch Skin bundle running only $80 or so. We have their WildCharger pad and a single iPhone case in the lab to see how well it works."

An Insight to NVIDIAs Next-Gen ION Platform
QUOTE: "NVIDIA made many of us sit up and take notice of the hardware acceleration of HD video in netbooks and nettops back in 2009 at CES when the company showed off its first ION chip. The device took a while to come to market, but it eventually did and was welcomed by those looking for better HD video performance and graphics in small netbooks and nettops.
NVIDIA is now unveiling the successor to the original ION platform; this referred to as Next-Generation ION by NVIDIA, but often called ION 2 in the media. So far the only product to have been unveiled using the platform is the Acer Aspire One 532G. NVIDIA is betting big on the new platform and sees a huge market for netbooks moving forward, especially those that use quality graphics like ION."

Lenovo IdeaPad U150 Review
"Call it a netbook if you must, but Lenovo s U150 shines where many that share the category name crumble and fail. With an 11.6-inch high-resolution display, dual-core processor and a keyboard fit for the novelist, Lenovo s U150 stands as one of the most livable ultra-portables we ve tested."
Link to the review:http://www.digitaltrends.com/product-reviews/laptop-reviews/netbook-reviews/lenovo-ideapad-u150-review/
==

Speck CorePack Fly Laptop Messenger Bag Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Review URL: http://www.thinkcomputers.org/speck-corepack-fly-laptop-messenger-bag-review/

Quote: “One of the biggest pains of traveling is going through security. I hate having to always take my laptop out of my bag. Usually my bag is stuffed with gear so its always a struggle to get it out without something getting into the way. Lately we have seen many companies come out with “checkpoint safe” laptop bags that make it so you don’t have to take out your laptop when going through security. The thing about these bags is that they are noit attractive at all. This is where Speck comes in with the CorePack Fly bag, which is available in 2 very attractive colors."

Assorted Stuffs:

CyberPower AVRLCD UPS Battery Backup for PCs @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: It’s no secret that our cherished computers and personal electronic devices all depend on electricity. They can’t live without power, and we feel powerless without them. Conscious of our need for continuous productivity, CyberPower Systems has built an entire battery backup product line designed to supply uninterrupted power to our PCs and HDTVs. So when winter storms come or summer brown-outs occur, there’s no reason why your small business or home office should stop working. A sudden power-outage shouldn’t mean crashing your computer system in the middle of an exciting video game, and an enjoyable movie should not need to restart. In this article Benchmark Reviews demonstrates how important CyberPower UPS battery-backup devices are for sustained computing as their Intelligent LCD Series CP825AVRLCD, CP1000AVRLCD, and CP1500AVRLCD models are put to test.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=471&Itemid=71

Take Ownership of Windows 7 and Vista Files with a Shortcut
http://www.techspot.com/guides/253-take-ownership-windows-files/
While Windows 7 is a largely polished upgrade from Vista, a few headaches have carried over. Among them is a security feature that assigns ownership of many system and program files to an entity called "TrustedInstaller." Such a design is useful in the presence of inexperienced users, who might otherwise accidentally delete or modify important files. However, for the tech savvy, it can be an aggravating obstacle.

Windows PC-Fax Directly from Adobe Acrobat PDF @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: We here at Benchmark Reviews are probably just like you, when we hear "digital communication" we think e-mail, Facebook, twitter, or maybe a discussion forum. But there is a form of digital communication that predates all of these: the facimile. There are times when you just have to send a fax. Financial, legal, and medical matters often require that a signed form or letter be sent via fax. OK, but what if you don’t own a fax machine? It seems that fewer and fewer of us have fax machines these days, especially with the growth of e-mail and web-based fax services. But what if you don’t have one of these either? Well, luckily for us, Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 include a fax service. And Adobe Acrobat provides a perfect multiplatform application from which to fax. With Windows & an Acrobat PDF file, you can fax directly from your PC. We’re not only going to show you how to use the Windows fax service, we’re also going to review ! a simple USB fax modem hardware solution from Rosewill if your computer didn’t come with one.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=470&Itemid=38

Sceptre Unveils New PC Gaming Monitor

Kristofer — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:08:07 +0000

Sceptre, world class manufacturers of high-quality TV and PC monitors, has just released its 27-inch true 1080p LCD widescreen PC monitors featuring industry-impressive 60,000:1 contrast ratios and ultra-fast 2 ms response times for a more realistic and advanced PC gaming experience.

“In the crowded LCD display space, the jaw-dropping performance and stylish design of our monitors are second to none,” said Cathy Chou, vice president of operations, Sceptre. “Specifically designed for the PC gaming community, the unparalleled quality of our high-def monitors creates a more life-like gaming experience that is a cut above the rest. Plus, its energy saving attributes make gamers feel better about indulging in their favorite pastime.”

Perfect for the PC game enthusiast, these widescreen ultra high-resolution monitors keep action crisp and clear to maximize visual stimulation and offer users a top-of-the-line gaming experience – without sacrificing sleek stylish appeal and eco-conscious design. PC enthusiasts can game green with these Energy Star 5.0 complied monitors, which reduce unnecessary energy usage to increase environmental sustainability and prolong monitor life.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

Contrast ratio 1000:1 (Native) / 60,000:1 (DCR)
Response Time 2 ms (OD)
Aspect Ratio 16:9 Wide Screen
Resolution 1920 x 1080
Energy Star 5.0 complied
Brightness 400 cd/m2
16.7 million colors
50,000 hours lamp life
Viewing angle: 170° (horizontal) 160° (vertical)
Connections port: VGA, DVI, HDMI, Audio In
Built-in speakers: 3 watts per Channel

These sleek 27-inch LCD PC monitors are available in black for $399 MSRP at Costco and NewEgg.com. For more information, please visit www.sceptre.com.

# # #

About Sceptre
Headquartered in City of Industry, California, the hub of the computer industry, Sceptre is an internationally certified manufacturer of world class LCD flat panel monitors. Established in 1984, Sceptre is fully committed to maintaining its status as a leader in the industry by providing the latest advanced technology in LCD displays at affordable prices with tailored service programs. For more information, please visit www.sceptre.com.

MAINGEAR Launches New mX-L 15 Multimedia Notebook

Kristofer — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:50:09 +0000

MAINGEAR Computers, award-winning builders of custom computers for PC gamers and enthusiasts, unveils the new mX-L 15 multimedia notebook, a sophisticated mobile computing solution that gives consumers affordably powerful performance in a sleek design starting at $999.

Processing Power – mX-L 15 features the all new Intel® Core™ i5 / i7 mobile processors that boast a combination of fast cache, Turbo Boost Technology, and Hyper-Threading for faster multi-tasking and multimedia. Coupled with an integrated memory controller and dual channel DDR3 memory, the mX-L 15 delvers a silky smooth computing experience.

Vivid Graphics – mX-L 15 features ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics to give you a visual feast of high definition media and gaming on the vibrant, LED-backlit 15.6? widescreen display at resolutions up to 1600×900. You’ll get a clean, crisp image whether you’re working in Excel, surfing the web, or watching high definition movies.

Connectivity, Security, and Expandability– With wireless 802.11b/g/n technology, you get the fastest, most secure wireless experience. Coupled with an integrated fingerprint reader and you can be assured that your system is locked down from unwanted guests. A 2.0MP camera provides for easy tele-conference and is compatible with popular software like Skype. And don’t worry about running out of space on the mX-L. An e-SATA connection will enable you to connect external hard drives at speeds that match your internal storage.

Solid-State Hard Drives– Configurable with solid-state hard drives, the mX-L 15 eliminates moving parts, noise, slow boot times, and heat while drastically improving reliability so your data is kept safe and secure.

Sleek Design – The mX-L packs all these features and power into a package that is thin, aesthetically pleasing, and devoid of any unnecessary design aspects. The mX-L even features a full numeric keypad usually only found in larger, 17? notebooks and a multi-touch and gesture touchpad that allows users to zoom in and out and scroll through web pages quickly.

Consumers can purchase the mX-L 15 at MAINGEAR’s Web site http://www.maingear.com/custom/laptops/mxl-15/ or order by phone at (888-MAINGEAR). The base price for the mX-L 15 is $999 and comes with MAINGEAR’s premium Lifetime Labor and Phone Support with a 1 year hardware warranty and is backed by the best in-house support team in the country.

About MAINGEAR

MAINGEAR is the premier high performance systems integrator in North America. MAINGEAR

custom builds gaming, home office, mobile, multimedia, small business and 3D workstation

solutions of the highest quality, which have won them many editors’ choice awards in every major computer publication such as C-Net, [H]ard|OCP, Maximum PC, CPU Magazine, etc. For more information on MAINGEAR, please visit www.maingear.com or call, toll-free,

Thecus Introduces N4200 NAS with 6D Technology

Kristofer — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:40:15 +0000

Whether people are taking photos of their baby’s first steps, or filming their vacations with their digital camcorder, the need for more digital storage is growing at a rapid rate. For these users who need to make sure that their precious memories are protected, Thecus® has created the N4200 featuring exclusive 6D Technology.

Dual Core CPU – The N4200 is powered by the new Intel® Atom™ D510 dual-core processor. Running at 1.66GHz, this CPU, paired with 1GB of DDR2 memory, delivers quick system response and can even smoothly handle multiple client access. Data can be accessed and transferred quickly, so you don’t have to wait around to enjoy your favorite movies, music, photos and more. The N4200’s Intel® Atom™ D510 dual-core CPU offers wicked performance for the home user.

Dual DOM Technology – The Disk On Module (DOM) of a NAS device contains all of the software necessary to operate the machine. Should it fail for any reason, your NAS will become inaccessible and your data could be at risk. To ensure maximum uptime, the N4200 includes Thecus®’ Dual DOM Technology, which allows a secondary DOM to reprogram the primary one if anything goes wrong.

Dual Displays – Take control of your NAS with the N4200’s Dual Display Technology. The N4200 comes with an LCD display that shows you critical system information, while the 2.8” OLED display allows you to change a number of settings right from the device including WAN, LAN, Link Aggregation and language. Managing your home NAS just doesn’t get any easier than with the N4200.

Dual Power – If the power happens to go out during a critical firmware upgrade, your NAS could be in trouble. The N4200 comes equipped with its own Battery Backup Module (BBM) – a lithium-ion battery pack that kicks in during a power outage and allows the system to save unwritten data to the hard disks, thereby maintaining data integrity.

Dual HDD Profile Support – The N4200 features combo drive bays that allow users to install either 2.5” or 3.5” hard disks. Users can install the smaller 2.5” drives to save power and lower noise, or choose 3.5” drives for huge capacity, making the N4200 an incredibly flexible NAS.

Dual RAID – Why choose between performance and security? The N4200 allows you to configure two RAID modes simultaneously for optimum data transfer rates and rock-solid data integrity. With the power of Dual RAID, the N4200 is your digital data fortress.

Fast, secure, and incredibly easy-to-use, the N4200 with 6D Technology is the ideal storage device for the digital lifestyle.

For more information on the N4200, go to:

http://www.thecus.com/products_over.php?cid=10&pid=220

For more information on Thecus, go to:

http://www.thecus.com