How to Assemble a Custom PC Hi Tech Legion :: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
"Back in December I figured out what my new year’s resolution was going to be… I’m giving up pre-built computer systems! Oh those packaged Dells, Gateways and HPs certainly have their place. They’re great if you’re a complete novice, or if your computing needs are quite modest. But they can be very limiting in terms of expansion and customization. A much better choice is to build your own custom computer, which despite what one might at first think, is not rocket science."
HornetTek Travel Plus 2.5" SATA to USB External Enclosure Dragonsteel Mods :: Monday, March 30, 2009
Have a spare 2.5” hard drive floating
around? I've got a few of them and I've found they make nice, large
capacity portable storage devices, but you'll need some sort of
enclosure to make it usable really for portable storage. There are
many on the market, I've reviewed several of them, but the one I've
got today is one that I find I like quite a bit, it's from a new
company called HornetTek, and it's called the Travel Plus. The Travel
Plus is a nicely made enclosure, mostly metal to protect and keep
your hard drive cool, but what I like most is the built in USB cable
so I no longer have to carry a USB cable around with me to use with
the drive.
Nanoxia FX Series 80mm Fans Dragonsteel Mods :: Monday, March 30, 2009
We've all got fans in our cases to keep
our computers cool, but some of those fans, especially those that
come in a pre-built system can be quite loud so we need to find a
quiet replacement, but yet one that can still keep our systems cool.
Today for review I've got two of the FX
Series of 80MM fans from Nanoxia, a 1600RPM fan and a 3000RPM fans.
In my time with these fans I've found them to be very well made,
quiet and they can move quite a bit of air around. These fans come
included with silicone bolts to keep them even quieter and a PCI
bracket style fan controller as well.
XPAD SLIM Non-slip Laptop Cooler & Heatshield Dragonsteel Mods :: Monday, March 30, 2009
Laptops are great products, they allow
us to take our computers with us easily to get work done and have fun
as well. There's one problem with most laptops though, they're really
not meant to be on your lap, they all can get fairly hot and being on
your lap is the possibly of covering the vents or fans making them
even hotter and even more uncomfortable to use.
There are many types of laptop coolers
and pads out there, but many of them are big and bulky and also many
have fans in them requiring power thus draining your battery a bit
quicker than normal. Quite a while back I reviewed the Xpad laptop
cooler and found it to be a very nice product overall, today I've got
the latest version, the Xpad Slim. The Xpad Slim is much thinner than
it's predecessor, and lighter, though it is essentially the same
look, an X style pattern of raised bumps that lifts your laptop up to
allow better airflow under it, while at the same time shielding you
legs from the heat.
So continue on to learn more...
3-in-1 USB Adapter for HTC Phones Dragonsteel Mods :: Monday, March 30, 2009
So yesterday we took a look at a USB
adapter for HTC cellphones, and it's a good product but I found it
lacking one thing, a standard 3.5MM jack for headphones. USBFever
carries many products, and they sent me over another HTC USB adapter,
this one is similar to the one I reviewed yesterday, but it includes
the 3.5mm audio jack, along with the mini-USB audio jack and the
standard sync/charge mini-UBS port. It's aptly named the 3-in-1 USB
Adapter for HTC Phones, so if you've got an HTC phone as I do you
might be interested in this product, so read one to learn more...
Weekly Giveaway - Vizo Ninja HS Notebook Cooler Dragonsteel Mods :: Monday, March 30, 2009
Ok, time for the weekly Give Away.
This week we've got something to keep your laptop cool, it's the Vizo Ninja HS Notebook Cooler.
Read on to learn what you need to do to get it!
Interview with ALexandra Kogan / Enermax Driver Heaven :: Thursday, March 26, 2009
I recently sat down with Alexandra Kogan, Marketing Coordinator with Enermax. We chatted about their power supplies and direction within the industry.
Amazon Kindle 2 Review Digital Trends :: Wednesday, March 25, 2009
"Reading a book online is like cooking a hotdog with your bare hands at a campfire: it doesn't really work, and the longer you try, the more it hurts. Even if you find a really compelling e-book, current generation LCD screens flicker too much - your brain and your eyes know this, even if you can't tell - and the resolution is too low. Besides, no one wants to curl up for the night in front of their Dell desktop. Yet, as major newspapers such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer move to an online-only format, the issue of reading online will only become more important. Amazon recently upgraded its first eBook reader, the Kindle, to make online reading more bearable - without a computer and without the Web. It's an intelligent device, marred only slightly by a less-than-stylish approach and scant "open e-book" support."
Maxell Unveils Consumer Battery Lineup Wednesday, March 25, 2009
For Maxell, this means a return to the company’s roots. The trusted brand can trace its beginnings directly back to the battery industry. “Maxell” was derived from the words “maximum capacity dry cell” and batteries were the first products they introduced into the US market over forty years ago.
ECONOMIC RECESSION : Rebirth Of The Smart Computer Consumer Tweaknews :: Wednesday, March 25, 2009
"Consumers are no longer replacing their computer every 2-3 years seeing the one they bought in 2002 after a format and OS reinstall is still perfectly fast and they are only out the cost of paying a tech to return their computer back to factory fresh."
VIA ARTiGO A2000 Storage Computer Review Think Computers :: Saturday, March 21, 2009
“Generally, when I think of a NAS, I think of computer which has been stripped of any input/output devices and is really little more than a hard drive on a motherboard with a network port. I liken it to a motorcycle compared to the car which is a desktop computer: only the necessities of storage, network, and processing power. The VIA ARTiGO storage computer is more the car than the motorcycle, but is aimed at the motorcycle-NAS-market. Powered by a VIA C7 processor on a Nano ITX motherboard, the ARTiGO A2000 desires to fill a need which cannot be met by shrinkwrap, walled garden NAS devices from Synol ogy, QNAP, D-Link, Buffalo, and the like. ThinkComputers checks out the device to see how it fares."
Interview With James Hildebrandt, CEO of Psyko Bjorn 3d :: Friday, March 20, 2009
Bjorn3D has an opportunity to do an interview with James Hildebrandt, head of Psyko. Psyko made a huge noise this year at CES with their hardware based 5.1 headset. James is kind enough to give us a bit more information about the headset and his background, his company, and his thought in the 5.1 heatset. We have invited our readers to contribute to the questions which we have compiled along with our own list and submitted to Psyko.
Just to provide our reader with a bit of information. The headset from Psyko is a radical departure from the old 5.1 headset. This headset is a hardware based rather than software based as the headset itself comes with speaker and it does not rely any software emulation to get real-time 3D audio position.
How to Stop Cold Calls and Credit Card Offers Hardware Secrets :: Friday, March 20, 2009
"O.k. I know that this has absolutely nothing to do with PC hardware, but since I HATE cold calls and junk mail, especially credit card offers, and spent some time researching how to stop them, I thought that it would be worthwhile sharing my knowledge, so other people on the same situation could stop being bothered."
Touch Screen Desktop PC Legit Reviews :: Thursday, March 19, 2009
"The ASUS Eee Top was designed with usefulness and convenience in mind. It is an excellent solution for networking, as an educational tool in small meetings or classrooms, leaving memos without the paper waste, or even for using at home for something as simple as looking up recipes online without taking up hardly any counter space!..."
What the OLPC project is screwing up Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Is the OLPC doomed to be the next Apple Newton, a niche device with a cult following but with lackluster sales? We cover what we feel the OLPC project is doing right and wrong and how the users and the market is reacting. Could the OLPC be the savior for educational systems or is too late?
Super Talent Ranks #38 in Wall Street Journal Patent Scorecard Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Wall Street Journal column, titled The Patent ScorecardTM is a snapshot measure of the patenting activity averaged over the prior 13-week period. The Patent Scorecard is a rating of corporate innovation and combines a series of industry-standard metrics to arrive at patent portfolio quality, technological strength and breadth of impact.
Interview with Sapphire's Bill Donnelly Driver Heaven :: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
We recently sat down with Sapphires Global PR Director Bill Donnelly and asked him a few questions.
Medis 24/7 PowerPack Fuel Cell i4u :: Saturday, March 14, 2009
"Today we are going to look at the Medis fuel cell for recharging all sorts of devices that use USB or other adapters. The fuel cell is a promising bit of technology that can allow users to shed the wires from their mobile devices and charge wherever they day or several days may take them. The promise of fuel cells sound good, but does the fuel cell reality live up to the promise. Read on to find out."
10 Best Ways to Backup Data Digital Trends :: Friday, March 13, 2009
"Most computer users recognize the importance of backing up key files on a regular basis -- be it documents, music, irreplaceable photos and camcorder footage -- but not everyone is aware of how to go about doing it, and which products are needed to pull it off. Here we look at a handful of top-rated backup solutions to help you make a suitable choice based on your needs and budget."
What Goes On Within AMD's Linux Beta Program? Phoronix :: Friday, March 13, 2009
"This year NVIDIA has been following the "release early,
release often" mantra with it seeming like two weeks can't even go by
without seeing a new Linux driver -- whether it's a beta driver, an
official driver update, or one of their legacy drivers picking up a few
fixes (at times they have even released four drivers at once). On the
opposite spectrum, AMD continues with monthly Catalyst driver updates on
both Linux and windows. Rather than a continual stream of new public
driver releases, AMD maintains a private beta program for their Catalyst
Linux driver. This private program is made up of AMD developers,
hardware vendors, users of different Linux distributions, other Linux
vendors, and end-users. Phoronix has been apart of this program for
years, but those testing this driver are under a strict Non-Disclosure
Agreement with AMD regarding pre-releases of their Linux software.
Today, however, AMD has decided to declassify some information
pertaining to its Linux Graphics Driver Beta Program."
Interview with nVidia's Chris Daniel Driver Heaven :: Thursday, March 12, 2009
Today we had a chance to speak to Chris Daniel, Software Product Manager for Nvidia's Geforce GPUs. Chris speaks about CUDA, PhysX and details Windows 7 driver support and development.
CeBIT 2009 Coverage with more than 70 pictures on 11 pages Thursday, March 12, 2009
The CeBIT 2009 in Hanover, Germany is like in past years one of the most important fairs for the IT industry.
Even if the halls were not completely full this year, it was worth to visit the CeBIT 2009 in any case.
On the following 11 pages of the CeBIT 2009 report you will see over 70 pictures with the main focus on current PC hardware components.
This ocinside.de CeBIT report contains some new motherboards, enclosures, coolers, PSUs, keyboards, SSDs, memory modules and mobile products like e.g. Netbooks.
It is only available in German language, but it is worth watching the pictures or use a translation tool.
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 Technology Report. Tech ARP :: Wednesday, March 11, 2009
When we were recently invited to one of NVIDIA's many conference calls, we were quite excited. After the shocking mauling by ATI's Radeon HD 4870 and its ilk, we expected NVIDIA to strike back with a new GPU or two. Something along the lines of the Empire Strikes Back, perhaps?
However, that hope was quickly dashed. The big announcement (with NDA and all) was nothing more than a rebranding exercise, and it was a weak one at that. If this is the best response NVIDIA can come up with, then 2009 is going to be a really painful year for them.
Don't believe us? Well, see for yourselves.
CeBIT 2009: Girls techPowerUp :: Monday, March 09, 2009
In times of economic crisis companies are saving where it hurts most: the amount of booth babes at this year's CeBIT has been at an all-time low. We looked extra hard to bring you proof that there are still companies out there who can afford to please your eyes.
2 BIOS Features added to the BIOS Optimization Guide Tech ARP :: Monday, March 09, 2009
"Both the DRAM Termination and the On-Die Termination control the impedance value of the DDR2 / DDR3 on-die termination resistors. DDR2 modules support impedance values of 50 ohms, 75 ohms and 150 ohms..."
CeBIT 2009 Day 5: Intel & Verbatim Inside HW :: Monday, March 09, 2009
“If you ever asked yourself if there will be smart application of eSATA port on your desktop configuration or mobile device, from Verbatim comes interesting series of products: eSATA SSD disks. Although these products will be available at the end of this year we are very happy that finally we will be able to put to good use eSATA ports. Besides these, Verbatim presented also new external disk (SSD and flash), memory cards along side with lot of other peripherals…”
Apple iMac 24in. (2.66GHz Core 2 Duo) reviewed IT Reviewed :: Monday, March 09, 2009
“Apple’s iMac is the pinnacle of all-in-one computing, making most Windows-based machines look like they’re out of the stone age. Even Sony VAIO LVs can’t match the iMac’s design and display quality. Apple has even made the pricing extremely competitive, undercutting Sony's offerings by a couple of hundred pounds and offering even better specifications - and a bigger display. And what a display! Viewing angles are accommodating for multiple viewers, and colour accuracy is good enough for keen photographers and graphic designers. The native resolution also makes working with high-resolution videos a pleasure, as well as allowing you open multiple browser windows simultaneously. If you’re not bothered about Windows, gaming, Blu-ray movie playback, remortgaging your house for upgrades, and don’t mind a computer that is limited in its expandability, the iMac remains the mother of all-in-ones.”
Apple MacBook A1181 Laptop PC World :: Monday, March 09, 2009
The system updates to new white MacBook are welcome, though subtle. The biggest news, however, is the new GPU.
MSI GT627 Laptop PC World :: Monday, March 09, 2009
The MSI GT627 offers a lot in a small package, but keyboard and screen compromises limit its appeal.
