ASE Labs: Computers, Technology, News & Reviews

Core i7: Triple vs. Single Channel: Triple channel memory? It wasn't too long ago that dual channel was the newest thing. How much of a performance increase will you get with triple channel? It depends. (December 30, 2008)

Intel DG45FC ITX Motherboard: The Intel DG45FC is an ITX motherboard with none of the stigma attached to small form factor systems. It is feature rich and supports fast processors. (December 10, 2008)

Western Digital MyBook Studio 2 WDH2Q20000N: The Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II combines dual 1TB drives in a very sleek and well made package. The unit has excellent performance and works great. (November 24, 2008)

Kingston DTMS 4GB USB Drive: Kingston releases a new slim type flash drive specifically made for consumers that care about size. This tiny 4GB unit handles daily tasks with ease. (November 10, 2008)

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Today, Monday January 5, 2009

Monday Reviews

Posted at 11:24:03 AM by Aron Schatz

Intel DG45FC ITX Motherboard @ ASE Labs

When people think about ITX, there are a few stigmas that come to mind. The first is that there is limited choice. The second is that performance is lacking. While these two points may have been true in the past, no longer is ITX relegated to the specific niche crowd. Intel has been releasing ITX boards for a long time and their latest releases have come a long way. The DG45FC is an ITX board that accepts 45nm CPUs. Pairing this board with a Core 2 will give you performance of a full sized desktop in a tiny package.

Western Digital MyBook Studio 2 @ ASE Labs

Western Digital makes some excellent products and relatively recently, it pushed very hard into the external storage market. When I asked about if they are worried about the impending SSD emerging market, there was really no big worry, yet. Even so, hard drives are their bread and butter and solutions exists for nearly every segment of the market. I always say how important it is to have a backup solution and the My Book Studio Edition II aims to fit that bill with ease.

Kingston DTMS 4GB USB Drive @ ASE Labs

Kingston Technology makes all kinds of memory products. While most enthusiasts know of their high end RAM, there is another facet of products that Kingston has a bring presences in. Flash is a huge consumer market and Kingston hopes to capture all segments of the market including the tiny form factor type drives. The 4GB Data Traveler Mini Slim drive comes in to sweep up this "size matters" crowd.

Antec Micro Fusion Remote 350 @ ASE Labs

Antec makes superb computer cases for all types of situations. One of the latest markets of custom cases is the entertainment PC. There are specific requirements for a PC that fits with a home theater setup including good cooling and a small A/V form factor. Antec has a new case called the Micro Fusion Remote 350 which targets this exact market.

NZXT College Football Bowl Game Challenge @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: NZXT is teaming up with Bigbruin.com to sponsor a College Football Bowl Game Challenge! Up for grabs are four great items from the NZXT line up, and in order to enter you just need to make your picks for seven of this season's top college football bowl games! The first of the bowl games involved is to be played on January 1st, so there is still time to enter.

ASUS Xonar D1 PCI Audio Card Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: The ASUS Xonar D1 is a 7.1 channel solution designed to fit into full sized or low profile systems, and offers exceptional audio in 3D games and home theater applications. If you are serious enough about sound to realize that the onboard solution just isn't cutting it, the Xonar D1 is worth considering. It offers great sound, appealing features, and it won't break the bank.

OCZ Technology SLI-Ready 2GB DDR3-2000 Memory Kit Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: The OCZ Technology SLI-Ready 2GB DDR3-2000 dual channel memory kit is almost ahead of its time. The eVGA 790i motherboard does support SLI-Ready memory up to 2000MHz, but it did have some trouble staying stable at that speed. Testing really didn't show much advantage over a 'slower' kit, and if you can run with tighter timings at lower speeds you may be better off.

Sapphire Atomic Radeon HD4870 X2 2048MB Graphics Card Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: The features, specifications, real world performance, and physical appearance of the Sapphire Atomic Radeon HD4870 X2 2048MB graphics card are all incredible. It is one of the highest performance cards on the market, while also probably being one of the coolest and quietest. This low noise and low heat is even more impressive when you consider that it isn't just the GPU being cooled, but the CPU and the case, too.

Corsair Dominator 1600MHz 6GB Triple-Channel Memory Kit @ Legit Reviews

Quote: "The Corsair Dominator 6GB PC3-12800 DDR3 triple channel memory kit was a fun memory kit to review as it features a revised heat spreader and some Samsung ICs that were friendly to overclocking. The memory performance seen on Intel Core i7 platforms never gets old and is just as impressive today as it was when I saw it for the very first time. It was only a matter of time before Intel moved beyond dual channel technology and it seems that the time was right other than the fact that the country is in a recession...."

Xigmatek NRP-PC501 500W Power Supply Review @ JonnyGURU.com

Xigmatek is an unfamiliar name for power supplies in these parts. However, the company does have some degree of presence out there in the world of CPU cooling; and we've gotten more than a few requests to see how good their watt boxes are. Today I'm finally taking a look at one of them in the NRP-PC501. This is a 500W value oriented unit boasting a good sized 140mm fan and 80 Plus certification.

Pinnacle Video Transfer Reviewed @ TestFreaks.com

Pinnacle has sent me over their Video Transfer product for review, it allows the user to simply and easily transfer videos from numerous sources and store them on a portable hard drive, flash drive, iPod or even a PSP. It encodes in MPEG-4 format so the end results will be playable on most devices, and you can even select from three different quality settings as well. The great thing about this device is that it does not use your PC, it's a stand alone unit, you plug your source video into on end, your storage device into the other, hit record and walk away, no fuss, very simple and easy to do.

Koolance VID-487 GPU Water Block @ Bjorn3D

When the Big Boss Man said that we were getting another Koolance full coverage video card block in for review and it was for an ATi HD 4870, I jumped at the chance. Koolance has been around from the beginning and they are well known for their high quality products. As a matter of fact, my first ever video card water block was from Koolance many years ago. One of the main reasons I stopped using them back then is that they were primarily small tube low flow systems and I had moved on to massive big tube custom built high flow systems. But here in the past year or so, Koolance has developed products that work well with both types of water cooling loops. So I'm really looking forward to seeing just how well their block will stand up to one of the industries' favorites, the Swiftech MCW60, as well as Sapphire's own high-end air cooler, the Vapor-X.

OCZ Fatal1ty Series 700W Power Supply Review @ ThinkComputers.org

* Jonathan Wendell, better known by his gaming handle "Fatal1ty," came to fame in the gaming world after winning many well-known video game tournaments. With his success came sponsorships and eventually his own brand of computer parts and gaming supplies. OCZ produces Fatal1ty-brand RAM and has now produced a Fatal1ty-brand, non-modular, 700W power supply unit. ThinkComputers checks it out in this review."

MSI Radeon HD 4830 512MB OC Edition Graphics Card

I have to admit that until the HD 4830 arrived on my door step I really hadn't heard of it; a bit like what happened to NVIDIA a while back when everyone was more interested in seeing what ATI was doing with the new HD 4800 series. Now the tables have turned and everyone is paying more attention to the new NVIDIA cards due out rather than what ATI is doing at the moment. The HD 4830 is the latest card to enter the HD 4800 series line-up and is the lowest of the bunch. The thing is, though, I really do wonder how much lower it is than the HD 4850, which is one of the best valued cards on the market to date.

Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q4 2008 @ Benchmark Reviews

From my experience, 2008 has been a very good year for CPU coolers. We've tested the OCZ Vendetta 2 to perform as well or better than coolers twice its price, and we've discovered that the Thermaltake V14 Pro can deliver top cooling performance while looking good. But heading into 2009 we must bid farewell to the LGA775 platform, which has been the home to many of our most popular products, and welcome in the new LGA1366 socket for the Intel Core i7 CPU & X58 platform. This Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q4 2008 article will be the last foreseeable socket T series round-up from Benchmark Reviews, unless something really big changes the landscape.

NZXT Guardian 921 @ techPowerUp

The Guardian 921 is an interesting looking chassis, featuring a "shield" as a door and a "head" raised above the rest of the case with a temperature LCD screen. Included with the case are three temperature sensors that can be placed at important locations that need to be monitored.

Cooler Master Aquagate Max @ Bjorn3D

These cooling methods have always been more expensive than traditional air coolers. Today, Cooler Master has helped sooth this issue by putting together their Aquagate Max cooling system. This system comes with everything you will need to get your water cooled rig ready to go. There have been many kits such as this that simply don't offer any benefit over air cooling due to their cheap construction. Cooler Master hopes to buck this trend, but can they do it while still maintaining a decent price?

PowerSquid Home Theater Surge Protector PD-SQ3K-CALAMARI @ TestFreaks.com

Our friends at Cable Organizer sent me over the PowerSquid Home Theater Surge Protector for review, yes it's the real thing, from Flexity, the original makers of the Squid surge protectors. There are many other imitations out there, I've got a few myself actually, but only the real PowerSquid from Flexity is the original that offers great features over the imitations like swiveling plug, illuminated outlets, lifetime warranty and warranty protection of up to $500,000 for connected equipment.

Swiftech H2O-120 Compact review at Icrontic

Put simply, the Swiftech H2O-120 kit is a real winner. There are a lot of good things to say about it. It is beautiful in its simplicity with high quality components and top-notch performance. You couldn't find a more compact water cooling system that performs as well as the H2O-120 kit if you tried. We'd like to also give special mention to the incredibly innovative Apogee Drive water pump that is also available on its own. This is a fantastic little pump and waterblock combo that can make any DIY compact water cooling project a joy.

CoolIT Systems Domino A.L.C. Water Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews

Quote: "The performance of the Domino A.L.C. simply blew me away like no other cooler has in years. When the performance numbers showed that the Domino A.L.C. was outperforming the Thermaltake BigWater 760is I was floored to say the least. The price tag on the Thermaltake BigWater 760is is $149, which is more than double that of the Domino A.L.C. and it performed worse. This just goes to show that a water cooling kit needs to be a well rounded and polished to get the best performance. CoolIT Systems seems to have the Domino A.L.C. setup with the optimal hardware and water flow to have a winner on their hands..."

Linux Solid-State Drive Benchmarks

"With the number of netbooks on the market continuing to increase each month and more of these mobile devices switching to solid-state drives for their reliability, extended battery life, and faster performance, SSDs are becoming quite common and finding themselves meeting many Linux hosts. How though does the real-world performance differ between hard disk drives and solid-state drives on Linux? We have run several tests atop Ubuntu on a Samsung netbook with a HDD and SSD. In addition, we have also looked at the encryption performance using both types of drives."

SilenX IXG-80HA2 IXG-3F2 @ Bjorn3D

With video cards not only getting bigger and faster, they are requiring a lot more power to run them. And with them using more volts and having more capabilities, it is only natural for them to run hotter. Video card manufacturers usually only use the bare minimum on cooling solutions for the cards that they sell. For many of us, when we buy a new CPU, we normally purchase an after market cooler for them because we know that the standard cooler just does not cut it when it comes to cooling. With this being said, we can not expect a standard cooler to handle today's video cards. It is also rare to find a GPU cooler that fits both Nvidia's 2xxGTX's and ATI's HD48xx video cards. The folks at SilenX have made a GPU cooler that not only cools well, but fits both Nvidia's 2xxGTX series of cards and ATI's HD4870 GPU's. So, let's take a look at the IXG-80HA2 GPU cooler and the Tri fan IXG-3F2from SilenX.

Sony BDP-S350 Review @ Digital Trends

Now that the price has dropped on Sony's BDP-S350 to $299, full-featured Blu-ray Disc players are coming into reach for the rest of us. Early generation Blu-ray Disc players were not only more expensive, but bulky, and took a long time to start up (time to run to the kitchen for a snack). Sony addressed these problems in the BDP-S350, a player that launched this past summer. The Quick Start feature shaves minutes off start up time, and the new design is no larger than a slim-line DVD player. But don't let the familiar look and feel fool you: This is full high-definition picture and sound. Add features like 1080p/24 for filmed movie playback, BD-Live and Bonus View for online special features, and you have a player that will give you all you want from a Blu-ray Disc player at a more affordable price.

ECS X58B-A Black Edition Motherboard Review @ Legit Reviews

The Black Series X58B-A "Nehalem" Motherboard with LGA1366 socket support for Intel's all-new "Core-i7" processors is currently the flagship motherboard for ECS Elitegroup. With the Intel X58 Express chipset handling the North Bridge duties and the Intel Intel ICH10R South Bridge handling the rest of the board you know this will be a sound and stable platform. Read on to see how the ECS X58B-A motherboard does on the benchmarks and to see it overclocks.

Kingston HyperX TC DDR3 1600 @ Bjorn3D

Every once in a while two of the titans in memory manufacturing produce a kit that could almost be twin brothers on paper. When that happens it's that rare time when we can do an SPD shootout. By that we mean we can compare two kits that will run at the same speed with the same timings against one another with a level playing field. In this case a 6 GB kit of Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600 and a kit of Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600. In all fairness to the Corsair Dominator kit the specified timings are 8-8-8-24 @ 1.65v and the Kingston kit is rated to run at 8-8-8-20 1.65v so there is that minor difference in the kits.

Gaming Performance: Core i7 vs. Core 2 Quad @ InsideHW

In the review of Nehalem CPU we haven't said anything about gaming performances. Since new X58 chipset has support for nVIDIA SLI and ATi CrossFire, it would be great to see those performances, but that combination would come with hefty price tag at the moment, so we decided to test single graphics card system. We have used Intel DX58SO motherboard in combination with Palit Revolution 700 Deluxe (HD 4870 X2) and Palit GeForce GTX 280. Other configuration was based on ASUS Rampage Formula motherboard as representative of older X48 chipset.

RiDATA Ultra-S Plus 128GB SSD review at Icrontic.com

For those who have the budget and inclination to plunk down the cash for the RiDATA Ultra-S Plus 128GB, it makes a significant and worthwhile upgrade. The rest of us can hope that they come down in price and start appearing as standard features in popular notebook models.

iXBT Labs Review: Foxconn A7VA Motherboard

"This motherboard has a successful classic design -- it can accommodate a graphics card of any dimensions without hampering other devices or blocking three PCI slots. Owners of PCI devices must be pleased, because this board does not have any connectors behind the outermost PCI slot (for brackets with USB, etc)."

iXBT Labs Review: 'New Old' Core i7 Architecture

"In the first part of this article, devoted to the new architecture from Intel, we'll try to find out what we can expect from the new processor without tests, proceeding only from its specifications. And the second part of the article, to be published a tad later, will be devoted to verifying our assumptions in practice."

iXBT Labs Review: ASUS P5Q Deluxe Motherboard

"ASUS P5Q Deluxe motherboard is a good example of a top model, which does not irritate common users with its exotic features for 'hardcore gamers' and the like. Four LAN ports are twice as cool as two ports, of course, and six PCIEx16 slots are approximately three times as 'powerful' as two standard slots. But this motherboard works out its high price not resorting to quantitative measures."

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2 Comments

Steve Jobs' Health Concerns

Posted at 10:31:23 AM by Aron Schatz

Steve Jobs is having some health problems and that is the reason that he won't speak at Macworld. Hopefully Steve will regain good health soon. Steve has suffered from a bad form of cancer for years.

The startling admission that Apple and Jobs knew several weeks ago that health concerns had become his number one priority calls into question the company's handling of Jobs' absence from Macworld. There are no hard-and-fast guidelines that dictate how companies are supposed to handle health concerns, the way strict guidelines dictate the handling of material financial information.

But it's clear to anyone with a pulse in the tech industry that a health-related reason for a Jobs-less keynote would be a huge blow to Apple's stock. Apple representatives refused to answer questions about Jobs' health when the news first surfaced in December, insisting that the only reason Jobs would be absent from the keynote was because the company was done with Macworld.

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Thursday January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!

Posted at 12:02:06 AM by Tornado

Make sure to be safe, and try to follow your resolutions.

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4 Comments

Monday December 29, 2008

Leap Second On New Years

Posted at 11:23:00 AM by Aron Schatz

Well, right before New Years. The bulletin states that Dec 31, 2008 will have 86401 seconds. There will be a December 31, 2008 23:59:60!

Code:

.

                                   UTC TIME STEP

                            on the 1st of January 2009

 A positive leap second will be introduced at the end of December 2008.

 The sequence of dates of the UTC second markers will be:          

                          2008 December 31,     23h 59m 59s

                          2008 December 31,     23h 59m 60s

                          2009 January   1,      0h  0m  0s

 The difference between UTC and the International Atomic Time TAI is:

  from 2006 January 1, 0h UTC, to 2009 January 1  0h UTC  : UTC-TAI = - 33s

  from 2009 January 1, 0h UTC, until further notice       : UTC-TAI = - 34s 

 Leap seconds can be introduced in UTC at the end of the months of December 

 or June, depending on the evolution of UT1-TAI. Bulletin C is mailed every 

 six months, either to announce a time step in UTC or to confirm that there 

 will be no time step at the next possible date.

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Thursday December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

Posted at 10:28:33 AM by Aron Schatz

Have a safe holiday and remember not to drink and drive, hmm? Christmas is more than just giving gifts so find out why the date is special for those that celebrate it.

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Wednesday December 24, 2008

Happy Chanukkah

Posted at 11:42:20 AM by Aron Schatz

A bit belated, but we're almost half way through those eight crazy nights. This year, Christmas falls right in the thick of Chanukkah which doesn't happen that often.

Though, remember that both holidays aren't about giving gifts. There are stories and traditions that actually mean something instead of the "rush" that stores want you to believe.

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1 Comment

Wednesday December 17, 2008

Wed Reviews

Posted at 11:07:08 AM by Aron Schatz

Intel DG45FC ITX Motherboard @ ASE Labs

Western Digital MyBook Studio 2 @ ASE Labs

Kingston DTMS 4GB USB Drive @ ASE Labs

Antec Micro Fusion Remote 350 @ ASE Labs

CyberPower Gamer Xtreme XT System Review @ HardwareLogic

While we haven't been disappointed with the CyberPower machines we've reviewed in the past, we've yet to have our socks knocked off. CyberPower's new Gamer Xtreme XT has the potential to do just that, utilizing Intel's freshly minted Core i7 platform, a smokin' fast HIS Radeon HD 4870 X2 videocard, and a Blu-ray burner all wrapped up in a affordable package. Keep reading to find out if this newest addition to CyberPower's gaming lineup dazzles or disappoints.

Silverstone Noble Breeze NB01B Notebook Cooler Review

We're all familiar with Silverstone's exquisitely crafted enclosures, but how many of us realize that Silverstone also caters to the laptop crowd? Entering the fray is Silverstone's debut into the notebook cooler arena, the Silverstone Noble Breeze NB01B. Utilizing three 92mm cooling fans and all aluminum construction, this cooler looks to usurp our long standing favorite, the NZXT Cryo LX. Will the NB01B manage to oust its competition? Has Silverstone crafted a notebook cooling masterpiece, their first ever in this hotly contested market?

College Football Bowl Game Challenge - Win Prizes From NZXT @ Bigbruin.com

NZXT is teaming up with Bigbruin.com to sponsor a College Football Bowl Game Challenge! Up for grabs are four great items from the NZXT line up, and in order to enter you just need to make your picks for seven of this season's top college football bowl games!

ASUS EEE PC 4G 701 Netbook Review @ Bigbruin.com

The bottom line is that the entire series of ASUS EEE PC netbooks are pretty cool, fun, and easy to use; and the refurbished EEE PC 4G 701 netbook is no different. If you are looking for a low cost, light weight device to keep you connected when you are away from your main computer, this is a great option to consider.

NZXT Avatar Gaming Mouse Review @ Bigbruin.com

This may be NZXT's first foray into gaming mice, but they have produced a solid initial offering. The Avatar seems to mix elements from other popular gaming mice with a bit of NZXT's own innovation to create a recommendable product. The comfort and performance of the mouse are key selling points, but the high level of customization is obviously important, too.

Lian Li 750W Maxima Force Series Power Supply Review @ Bigbruin.com

While I have been familiar with and impressed by cases from Lian Li for years, I did not know exactly what to expect from one of their power supplies. I assumed that the same high standards and attention to detail would be applied, and the 750W Maxima Force Series power supply confirmed that. It is a well made unit designed to serve in a variety of system configurations.

PaLiT Revolution 700 Deluxe Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews

The Palit Revolution 700 Deluxe graphics card is a one off Radeon HD 4870 X2 that features dual GPUs with a pre-overclocked core and memory speed, and 2GB of GDDR5 memory. With 2.4 teraFLOPS of graphics horsepower and 1,600 stream processors the Palit Revolution 700 Deluxe might just be the most powerful graphics weapon for gamers on the planet today. Read on to see what makes this card different and to see if it should be in your next gaming system.

AeroCool AeroRacer Pro PC Case @ TechwareLabs

Buying an awesome tricked out computer case is the nerdy equivalent to buying a suped up hot rod of a car. The case is the outward manifestation of awesomeness inside. AeroCool does its best to combine car and computer with its AeroRacer Pro case. Unfortunately AeroRacer won't get you as much attention with the ladies as a real car, but it terms of nerd street cred, it works rather nicely. Also unlike a car, this case won't break the bank with its cost. So does the AeroCool AeroRacer Pro have what it takes to leave others behind in the dust? Lets take a look and find out.

ATP 8gb ToughDrive Camo USB Flash Drive AF8GUFT2BK-SE @ TestFreaks.com

This is TestFreaks, and we like to test stuff! Today for review I've got what claims to be a tough and rugged USB drive, is it? Well it's the ATP ToughDrive Camo 8gb USB drive and I've put it to the test, I've run it over with a car, I've washed it with my laundry and I even turned it into an ice pop complete with stick! USB Popsicle anyone? Read on to learn more about it, check out the video of the adventure and some still pictures as well.

Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Copper Cooler @ Bjorn3D

Amongst aftermarket coolers there are the usual economical, performance, and no-holds-barred categories, and the cooler in this review most definitely is targeted at the no-holds-barred enthusiast that wants the best performance regardless of price. Of course, those simply wishing to own one of a very limited edition, high-performing, and flashy cooler to proudly display in their windowed PC during LAN parties might also crave a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Copper and be willing to spring for it.

Noctua NH-C12P INTEL/AMD Heatpipe CPU Cooler Review @ Tweaknews.net

Performance wise, the NH-C12P is one of the best downdraft coolers available, and compares favorably with the better coolers on the market irrespective of design. In my book, the board cooling benefits of a downdraft cooler are well worth the minimal performance hit incurred. Opinions will vary on this point, and it will be up to the user to decide what's most desirable for a particular platform.

Samsung_10.2 _Digital_Photo_Frame_with_UbiSync_USB_Monitor_Review

Possessing the largest LCD of any digital photo frame in its class, the widescreen Samsung SPF-105F Photo Frame is truly a gorgeous gadget for shutterbugs or photo buffs. From the high contrast, high resolution screen with bezel mounted touch controls to the extremely long feature set including USB monitor functionality and 1GB of built-in memory, this beast packs a ton of tech into its sleek and stylish case. Read on to find out if the Samsung photo frame can live up to its promises.

Logitech Alto Cordless Notebook Stand and Keyboard Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Laptops are more and more becoming desktop replacements for most people. You can get laptops that are just as powerful as desktop machines and even better you can take them with you. Since they are using the laptop as a desktop replacement often time's people use full-sized computer keyboards and definitely a mouse. Logitech has come up with the perfect thing for these people, the Alto. The Alto is a notebook stand matched with a full-sized keyboard. Read on to learn more about the Alto Cordless!

REVIEW - Swiftech MCW-NBMAX @ PureOverclock

When it comes to water cooling, Swiftech is one of the most popular brands out there, known for their high performance and high quality water blocks among liquid cooling enthusiasts everywhere. We look at their new MCW-NBMAX, a Northbridge chipset block for the ASUS Maximus II Formula and Rampage Extreme boards for today's review.

MSI GX720 MSI GT735 @ InsideHW

MSI offered to all gamers with limited budget G-Series of notebooks (G is for gaming). While most of other manufacturers classified gaming notebooks as higher range notebooks emphasizing more than just performances, MSI was led by a different logic. Driven by desire to cover as much as possible of the market, MSI turned the page and offered models that definitely move boundaries in quality sense comparing to previous notebook models from the same manufacturer. Models GX720 and GT735 have almost identical chassis and we will first tell something about mutual elements and then we'll look at their distinctiveness.

Diamond HD 4870 1GB CrossFire Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews

The Diamond HD 4870 1GB can take today's latest games and blitz right through them, providing buttery smooth gaming enjoyment. At a price under $300, high end gaming never looked so good and cost so little. In the driver department I have had no problems with ATI's 8.12's. The inclusion of the AVIVO video converter for FREE is a welcome sight. I like that I don't need to install third party applications or a second utility aside from the driver to do basic temperature monitoring, basic overclocking, and tweaking the fan speed...

NZXT Whisper Review - XSReviews

So you're looking to build a new computer or are upgrading your current system. The last thing on your list is probably the case. It really shouldn't be. If it is, you're usually left with a flimsy, cramp and ugly heap of metal which is supposedly a PC enclosure. You're kidding right? Well no, it's true and most of us can put our hands up and admit we've done this on more than the odd occasion. So how about a case which actually has an affect on your internal components and is a joy to work with? Will that step up a mark on your wish list of parts for a new rig? Well after reading this review on a case which offers silence, an aluminium chassis and modernity, you may just think twice. Introducing the NZXT Whisper...

Cryostasis PC Game TechDemo - Physics Benchmarking @ Legit Reviews

It was obvious from the second we started benchmarking that the ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB graphics card that the CATALYST 8.12 drivers have not been optimized for Cryostasis. Cryostasis is part of NVIDIA's 'The Way It's Meant to be Played' program and the game isn't due out for a couple months, so the ATI results don't mean much right now. The NVIDIA performance numbers, on the other hand, should be pretty close to what you'll see when the game hits store shelves and the numbers are solid. Adding a dedicated PhysX card to the system did improve the average frame rate, which is interesting to see considering we were using a GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 graphics card...

Xclio 1000 PC Case Reviewed @ DragonSteelMods.com

Today for review I've got a case that is huge, it's a full tower style case from our friends over at Xclio, but it's much more than that, it's got quite a few other features as well. The Xclio 1000 PC case features nine 120mm fans built in that can be changed to one of several different colors, along with the ability to control their speeds as well. The front has got three doors covering the drive bays, each door has its own fan along with individual controls for each one. Inside you'll find room enough for any system with room to spare for expansion, and there's a plethora of hard drive bays so you'll have room for terabytes of storage as well.

Lian-Li PC-7F Case Review @ Hardware Secrets

PC-7F is an all-aluminum mid-tower case from Lian-Li coming in two color options, black or silver, and two side panel options, solid or with a transparent side window (this version is also known as PC-7FW). It comes with a very attractive price tag (USD 130 - USD 140 in the US) and features that will certainly please the average user. Is this a good product? Let's see.

AMD Athlon X2 7750 and 5050e Dual-Core Processor Reviews @ Legit Reviews

Both the AMD Athlon X2 5050e and the Athlon X2 7750 processors serve a place in today's market, but the roles for the two processors are clear as night and day. The AMD Athlon X2 5050e is perfect for those wanting to build a system that uses low power and has a quiet cooling solution. The thermal properties on the Athlon X2 5050e were amazing and the fact that the processor runs at just 41C under load on the factory heat sink was most impressive...

iXBT Labs Review: ASRock A770CrossFire Motherboard

ASRock approached with maximum creativity and decided to squeeze everything possible not only from the Southbridge, but also from the Northbridge: they installed the 2nd graphics port and added nominal CrossFire support (8x + 8x), although only 790X and higher-end chipsets officially possess this feature.

Seagate 1.5TB WD 1.0TB Drives @ t-break

Storage demands are not getting any lower by the day and hard drive manufacturers keep increasing the capacities to cope up with all our digital data usage such as pictures, movies and audio files. We take a look at two drives today- the Western Digital Caviar Black with 1000GB of unformatted space and the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 which has the largest capacity for a single drive at the moment- 1500GB of unformatted space.

Tagan El Diablo Advance @ Bjorn3D

It has been awhile since the first designer cases showed up on the market, but the battle for the best continues. Manufacturers have always tried to make a design that looks very attractive, while having unsurpassed performance. Today, Tagan has supplied us with the El Diablo A+ case, which hopes to exceed in both fields. This case combines some cool elements, like LED lights, with unsurpassed cooling. If its 360mm fan isn't big enough for you, then I am afraid your thinking way too big. That is not the only thing that is big in this case, just about every other part of this case is simply huge.

NZXT Sentry LX @ techPowerUp

The Sentry LX is a high-end, well constructed thermal monitoring unit, which gives you constant access to five thermal sensors and five case fans at once. It also includes a date & time display, so you can enjoy those longer gaming sessions without losing track of time.

Vantec Aeroflow FX120 Heatpipe CPU Cooler Review @ Tweaknews.net

If you're looking for a cooling solution that is difficult to install, has mediocre cooling performance and is annoyingly loud, the Vantec AeroFlow FX 120 is the ideal product for you. On the other hand, if you're like most PC enthusiasts, you'll want to avoid this product like the plague. The installation process has more PITA than the Greek restaurant my wife and I visited last night. Furthermore, the cooling performance is lackluster at best and the fan whines like a harpy in a Greek tragedy.

Antec Skeleton Open Air PC Case Review @ Legit Reviews

Overall I have mixed feelings about the Antec Skeleton. The geek in me loves it; the dad in me is scared of it. As a father of two under the age of 10 there is more then one occasion that something will go flying across the room. Even in my office I was leery of people around the system that were holding drinks and leaning over the case. Those that have pets at home might also want to think twice as a cat on catnip might find the 250mm disco fan a little too interesting...

ASUS N10J @ InsideHW

After first wave of cheap netbooks, luxurious variants are starting to appear on the market. As it was the case with first netbooks, ASUS again made a first move in that direction and as result we got one crossbred luxurious netbook in our test lab. Even though ASUS N10J, technical sample that we got in our test lab, looks like classic representative of netbook product (with slightly bigger dimensions), it's not that simple to determine its product category. If we would try to define netbook product category in general, we would say that they have: small dimensions, low power consumption CPU, integrated graphics and no optical device. ASUS N10J is all that and something more.

Left4Dead GTX-280 SLI vs 4870 1GB Crossfire @ Bjorn3D

Left 4 Dead, a revival of the FPS Horror Genre, was released on November 18th 2008, published by Valve and much to our surprise, was a DX9 game. The single player game consists of four levels where you're trying to reach a destination and get rescued. Each of the four levels has its own rescue point. While making your way to the rescue points you'll encounter hordes of Zombies, the occasional Boomer, solitary Hunters, occasional Zombie Witches, choking Smokers, and the dreaded Tank. Each has its own strategy, and their AI allows them to attack in different ways. While Zombie AI is what you'd expect from the recently dead returned to life, Boomers and Hunters have a more refined AI that allows for some strategy.

HD Video Playback With A $20 CPU $30 GPU On Linux

A month ago NVIDIA had introduced the Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (VDPAU) that brought PureVideo-like features to Linux. Our initial benchmarks of this video decoding API within NVIDIA's binary driver were quite favorable as it was able to dramatically cut down on the CPU usage when playing H.264 video files. To see how well NVIDIA's VDPAU really is though, we have carried out some more thorough testing now and our hardware consists of a CPU we purchased for $20 USD and a NVIDIA GeForce graphics card that retails for just $30. Can this very low-end hardware manage to play high definition videos under Linux?

Cooler Master ATCS 840 Case Review @ Hardware Secrets

The new Cooler Master ATCS 840 is an all-aluminum full-tower case supporting two power supplies, coming with four fans (one 230-mm fan on the front panel, two 230-mm fans on the top and one 120-mm fan on the rear), removable motherboard tray, several other features we will talk about and a very conservative looks. Let's take an in-depth look on this latest release by Cooler Master.

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Tuesday December 16, 2008

Microsoft Document Strangle Ending

Posted at 10:34:33 AM by Aron Schatz

If anything really hits home about Microsoft losing their grip on proprietary office formats, it is the fact that they are building in ODF support right into Office 2K7. Now let's see if they make a proper implementation of the standard or do a hack Microsoft-ish implementation that's only readable by other MS Office copies... It has been done before.

For years, IT has struggled with how best to maintain the flow of data across heterogeneous environments without incurring data loss. Monoculture or no, customers often want to save documents in a variety of formats. This has not always worked to Microsoft's advantage. In fact, last year, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency filed a complaint with the European Commission in which it alleged that Office 2007 would impede educational initiatives because it failed to natively support open standards, in particular, ODF.

Doug Mahugh, a project manager at Microsoft who deals with interoperability issues connected with the Office software suite, described the steps taken today within the broader context of disclosure, transparency, and format support. "To get there, we found that it was not just sufficient to conform to a standard. We needed transparency about all the design decisions involved in getting to that standard...it was a way of pulling together lot of the things we were doing in interoperability." Rightly or not, the perception was that Microsoft Office did not treat ODF as first class citizen. "That kind of feedback is why we built ODF support into SP 2," Mahugh said.

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Monday December 15, 2008

Internet More Important Than Sex

Posted at 1:01:22 PM by Aron Schatz

Yes, it's official. In a survey put out by Intel, People would rather go without sex for a length of time than give up the internet for the same length. Wow. Wait till 3D interactive porn comes out. Society will be screwed, not literally.

Sixty five percent of adults feel they cannot live without Internet access, and even more - 71 percent - responded that it is important or very important to have Internet-enabled devices that can provide them with real-time updates on important issues including the state of the economy.

When asked to rate certain discretionary items on a scale of 1 (completely expendable) to 5 (cannot live without it), having Internet access ranks highest among the items listed, with 65 percent of U.S. adults reporting they cannot live without it. The following items and activities were ranked below Internet access in importance: cable television subscriptions (39 percent); dining out (20 percent); shopping for clothes (18 percent); and, gym membership (10 percent).

This confirmed what I personally believed to be true - that the Internet is essential, maybe even indispensible, especially during the current economic situation we're facing. But what really surprised me here was just how essential the Internet has become. More than half ranked the Internet as completely expendable over things like cable TV, dining out and even gym memberships! If asked, I suppose I'd also make the same choices.

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Tuesday December 9, 2008

OpenCL API Released

Posted at 10:33:12 AM by Aron Schatz

Great news for everyone regarding open GPU calculations. Khronos has released the OpenCL API in record time. OpenCL is the open computing language that allows graphics cards to handle calculations that would otherwise have been done on the general purpose CPU. This will usher a huge wave in innovation. No longer will there be fragmented specific APIs (CUDA, GPGPU), instead we have an API that will run every architecture.

The people behind the standard come from many companies including AMD, Intel, Nvidia and others. This is the type of thing that gets the industry moving.

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Wednesday December 3, 2008

Wed Reviews

Posted at 10:35:20 AM by Aron Schatz

Western Digital MyBook Studio 2 @ ASE Labs

Kingston DTMS 4GB USB Drive @ ASE Labs

Antec Micro Fusion Remote 350 @ ASE Labs

Logitech Wave Pro Desktop @ ASE Labs

While Logitech is a company that graces ASE Labs' test bench often, it is not often that we get to see a highly targeted type of keyboard combo. The Logitech Wave Pro Desktop is targeted to the consumer market unlike their G series products. Don't let that fool you. This combo has some good (and not so good) features that set it apart from its gaming brethren.

G.Skill 4GB DDR2-800 Pi Black Series Dual Channel Memory Kit Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: The G.Skill 4GB DDR2-800 Pi Black Series dual channel memory kit is an interesting new offering in the aging PC2-6400 DDR2 memory market. The kit was able to run at 800MHz with extremely tight timings of 4-4-4-12, while using a rather economical 1.8V. While the kit is rated for 1.9V, I found that much voltage wasn't necessary at stock speed, and was adequate for running the modules all the way up to 1000MHz.

Sapphire Radeon HD4830 512MB Graphics Card Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: I am not exactly sure how I expected the Sapphire Radeon HD4830 512MB graphics card to fare during testing, but it wound up looking more like an enthusiast grade card than an entry level offering. It should be able to handle just about any game without having to sacrifice too much in terms of frame rates or settings, making it a great option for the gamer on a budget.

Thermaltake Toughpower QFan 650W Power Supply Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: The aesthetics of the unit are a little bit different from the norm, but everything is well done. In use, the Toughpower QFan 650W power supply is very impressive; providing excellent voltage regulation and near silent operation. Most high quality power supplies these days aim to be quiet, but Thermaltake takes a few extra steps to guarantee it on this unit.

Thermaltake BlacX SE Hard Drive Dock Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: The Thermaltake BlacX SE hard drive dock provides a convenient way to access 3.5 inch and 2.5 inch SATA drives without installing them in a computer, or in an external drive enclosure. You can swap out drives quickly and easily, and while the speed isn't what you might want for frequent, large transfers, it is quite good for USB 2.0.

Lian Li PC-A77B Full Tower Chassis Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: I am definitely impressed with this Lian Li PC-A77B full tower chassis. Being a fan of simplistic yet useful design, this case has it all. The top mounted I/O ports are in a great location to access while using the computer. Lian Li has designed this case to allow you to install your components in many different configurations, which makes customizing your setup very convenient.

Seagate Free Agent Go 320GB External Hard Drive Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: If you are looking for an extremely compact and stylish portable hard drive, the new Seagate Free Agent Go series is definitely worth checking out. While the aesthetics are a strong selling point, Seagate didn't sacrifice the performance in order to produce a pretty product. It may not offer the high speed transfers available with an eSATA drive, but the USB 2.0 interface performed quite respectably during testing.

Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4GB DDR3-1333 Memory Kit Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: The bottom line on the Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4GB DDR3-1333 memory kit is that it offers great performance right out of the box, and for those looking for more, they will gladly oblige. While they may not have the highest stock speed rating, even a novice overclocker should be able to get a few hundred extra MHz out of this kit.

Sapphire Radeon HD4850 X2 2048MB Graphics Card Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: Sapphire is back again with another specialty graphics card based on a high end ATI Radeon GPU. The newly released Sapphire Radeon HD4850 X2 2048MB graphics card incorporates a pair of Radeon HD4850 graphics processors and 2048MB of GDDR3 memory on a custom PCB to create one serious looking piece of equipment.

22 Inch HP Debranded LCD Monitor Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: This review is going to take a look at the 22 inch HP debranded DVI widescreen LCD monitor. What we have is an LCD monitor originally manufactured by HP that was rather highly regarded as a new product, and it has basically been refurbished by a third party and made available for $189.99 at Geeks.com minus the HP badging.

OCZ Technology Dominatrix Laser Gaming Mouse Review @ Bigbruin.com

Quote: This review will be taking a look at a provocatively named new mouse from OCZ Technology that includes features like on-the-fly resolution management, adjustable mouse weights, and an ergonomic design. Just this short list of items makes the Dominatrix laser gaming mouse sound promising; just don't expect this dominatrix to bend you over a table and give you a spanking!

Windows 7: Kicking Mac OS Butt? @ Digital Trends

shtick - has been well executed and very entertaining, it's also had an uneXPected side-effect as well. In short, it's lit a huge fire under the thousand or so people developing Microsoft's next operating system, Windows 7, and for the first time in over a decade, they're properly focused on slapping Apple upside the head. Much like Apple did with UNIX when the life of the company was on the line for OSX, Microsoft has taken Vista and made massive changes in the user eXPerience from how easy it is to use to how reliable it is and how well it integrates with the Web, including non-Microsoft sites and utilities (like iTunes). Of course, one disadvantage Microsoft has is that it's talking about most of this during the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) this week, and clearly Apple will see what was done and will have a little time to respond.

Asus G50VT Gaming Laptop Review @ Digital Trends

Asus' G50Vt rolls an impressive array of hardware into a bulky-but-inexpensive package, with a heavy-handed dose of flair smeared on top. While the style might not be for everyone, and battery life makes its wall adapter an essential umbilical cord for use, it offers a very reasonably priced and playable system for those who want to game on the go without dropping thousands on pricy boutique systems.

iBuyPower Australia FragBox SFF PC

QUOTE: The thing is, there's something cool about having a 30 monitor powered by this tiny machine. Most of the things I find myself buying these days are because I want them, not need them. A Micro-ATX system would sit nicely in that category. The problem is that for so long there has never really been the components out there to really build a system that could power such a large monitor. But this has changed a few months ago thanks to two companies; the first was Lian Li who brought out a Micro-ATX case that was small, but not too small. What it allowed you to do was have a small footprint whilst still holding the goods.

Seeking The Best Performance per Watt for Folding@Home @ Hardware Secrets

We got so excited in participating in the Folding@Home project that we built as many high performance systems we could running both the SMP and GPU clients. We were very happy with the results until we received our first electricity bill: our energy consumption more than doubled - and we haven't even had our systems running 24/7 for 30 days! Since we still wanted to contribute as much as we can to Folding@Home, we decided to go in a quest to find out if there is a way to score lots of points at Folding@Home and, at the same time, not going bankrupt. We got all video cards we had available here in our lab to see which one provided the best performance/consumption ratio. Check it out.

Vidabox Premium Wireless Keyboard @ techPowerUp

With HTPC's gaining more and more in popularity, various input devices and peripherals for them are becoming a more integral part of the market. With many options to choose from for keyboards, mice and the combination of both, it's hard to come to a conclusion on what suits the HTPC best. Vidabox may have an answer with their Vidabox Premium Wireless Keybaord w/ laser trackball as an all in one solution.

Creative HS-1200 Wireless Headset review in Metku.net

Wireless really is one of the buzz-words in the business at the moment. It seems like anything wireless is cool nowadays. Sure wireless hardware will cut down on the cable-clutter that we often find on our desks, but will this come without a cost?

Animal Crossing Addiction - XSReviews

* One of PaulG's team chronicles her time spent playing Animal Crossing and it's surprising addictiveness that is often only spoken of when discussing WoW players. Discovering that it's surprising depth appealed more to her than her children which the title was originally intended for, it makes for an interesting read.

Zalman CNPS9300 AT CPU Cooler Review @ HardwareLogic

*Zalman recently sent us the new CNPS9300 AT that they tout as an ultra quiet cooler. We were glad to slap it on our test bench to see how it performs. Not only are we going to check on the acoustics, but we want to see if this still offers the same chill to our CPU that most Zalman products offer. Stick with us to find out.

JayBird JB-200 Bluetooth Stereo Headset Review @ Legit Reviews

The JayBird JB-200 is said to be the stay-put, out-of-the-way Bluetooth stereo headset for those that have active lifestyles. The headset is water and sweat resistant design that comes backed by a LIFETIME warranty against sweat. If you like to work out and don't want to worry about killing your Bluetooth stereo headset the JayBird JB-200 might be what you need.

Brother MFC-790CW Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer @ TestFreaks.com

A little while ago I took a look at an excellent all-in-one printer from Epson, the Workforce 600, today for review I've got another, this one is from Brother, it's the MFC-790CW. It's almost as feature packed as the Epson, but the Brother has a phone built in, LCD touchscreen and voice messaging center as well, something the Epson did not have.

AMD's X-Video Bitstream Acceleration

In early September we shared that UVD2 and XvMC is coming to Linux and that two new library files had begun shipping with the ATI Catalyst driver: AMDXvBA and XvBAW. Earlier this month the Unified Video Decoding 2 (UVD2) support was then enabled by default in the Catalyst 8.10 driver. These video acceleration improvements to the ATI Linux driver aren't exactly end-user friendly yet, but today we have information on how those interested can begin using the X-Video Motion Compensation extension with their ATI hardware along with what the XvBA extension will provide users in regards to advanced video acceleration that is very similar to Microsoft's DirectX Video Acceleration.

MSI HD 4670 @ Bjorn3D

The mid-range video card segment has been booming lately compared to just a few years ago when the HD 2600 and GeForce 8600 series were launched by ATI and Nvidia respectively. There was a huge gap then between the mid-range cards and the much more expensive high-end cards. This hole is being filled currently with the ATI HD 3670 and HD 3650 along with the 8800 GS, 9600 GT, and 9600 GSO from Nvidia. Now, ATI has engineered more cards to fill this gap with the HD 4650 and the HD 4670. Today we have the HD 4670 by MSI. This card hopes to keep money in your pocket while giving you great gaming performance.

Aerocool Aeroracer Pro Mid-Tower ATX Case Review @ Tweaknews.net

AeroCool's AeroRacer Pro turned out to be a mixed bag. I like the exterior finish treatment and the overall look of the case. The cooling performance was very good although I think a few minor tweaks could enhance the airflow while reducing audible noise. I even like the large power button with its chrome bezel and blue backlighting, but the ENGINE START business seems a bit gratuitous to me.

VIA Global Mobility Bazaar Program Launch Event Report @ VIA Arena

As the market for affordable mobile computing devices such as mini-notes and netbooks continues to grow at a pace that confounds even the most cynical of industry analysts, it should come as no surprise that more and more companies are looking to enter this fast growing new segment. This is particularly the case in China, where a growing number of manufacturers who have cut their teeth producing all manner of components, mobile phones, and consumer electronics devices are moving into this new area and are developing products for sale in both domestic and global markets. Providing these manufacturers with the right ecosystem for delivering high quality yet affordable mobile computing devices to market is the key objective of the VIA Global Mobility Bazaar Program, which was announced at an event in Shenzhen yesterday.

Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3 1333MHz @ Pro-Clockers

Just a few weeks ago Crucial released some new DDR3 modules under the Tracer line. The modules came rated at a mere 1333MHz but at a industry low 6-6-6-20 timings. One may look upon this as great when it comes to such low timings but not so great when it comes to the low speed rating. Well this is a kit from Crucial and you can beat it has plenty in the tank to give some very respectable numbers in the overclocking department. Read along to see just how high we got with this new kit.

BFG Tech GeForce GTX 260 OCX Graphics Card

Not too long ago BFG Tech thought that it was time to kick it up a notch and expand upon the popular OC line it already had. Expanding that line, two new OC variants were created; the OC2 which helped knock up clock speeds a bit more than the standard OC models and the OCX which was designed to offer a significant boost over stock clocks. We didn't want to look at the card that was just a bit overclocked, nor the card that was overclocked a little bit more. We wanted to look at the big daddy of the GTX 260 line from BFG, the OCX variant. So with that said, let's check out the package then from there we will have a look at the card itself and a closer look at the clockspeeds on tap before we get stuck into the benchmarking side of things.

Sansa SlotMusic Player Review @ Digital Trends

SanDisk's slotMusic Initiative attempts to resuscitate physical media by substituting microSD cards preloaded with music for conventional CDs. While the distribution network might be shaky, the $20 slotMusic MP3 player designed to work with it actually functions as an admirably simple microSD MP3 player, whether you buy your music from SanDisk or not. On the bang-for-the-buck scale, it's hard to contest a solid player cheaper than dinner or a night on the town, but more advanced users eying the player on price alone might be better off looking elsewhere.

MSI N9800GT GeForce 9800 GT 512MB Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews

Quote: In the time I've had to spend with this card, I haven't really found much to dislike about it. The card has performed well in Folding@Home and in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Of course, I didn't try to push the card to ridiculous resolutions, as gamers that own 24 or 30 monitors probably aren't looking at sub-$120 video card to run them. Even with Crysis Warhead, where I thought the card could stumble and fall, as many higher priced cards did with the original Crysis, the 9800GT from MSI was able to play the game fairly smoothly at 1280x1024.

Silverstone Raven Gaming Mouse @ TestFreaks.com

Silverstone is known for excellent quality products, especially their PC cases, but they've decided to venture into the gaming mouse market. Their first entry is the Raven Gaming Mouse, it features an OLED display to let you know the DPI settings of your mouse, a laser sensor up to 3200DPI, Macros and a very unique feature called a Flip 3D Thumb Scroll.

Thermalright TRUE Black 120 @ Bjorn3D

As CPU thermal output is on the increase, heatsink companies are continually seeking new and improved thermal solutions. This time, Thermalright has sent us a TRUE Black 120. The TRUE Black 120 certainly doesn't disappoint in the looks department; with its shiny black finish and admirable towering posture, it doesn't cease to amaze. But no matter how good it looks, we certainly can't forget the most important aspect of an HSF: cooling performance. So does the performance hold up to the looks? Stick around as we find out.

WolfKing Trooper MVP Gaming Mouse Review @ Tweaknews.net

Next time you're out shopping for a gaming mouse, definitely take the Trooper MVP into consideration. It has enough buttons and DPI levels to keep many different types of gamers satisfied, but the main advantage I found over comparable mice was comfort. The ergonomics of the mouse are exceptional which prevents cramping and other issues over long periods of use.

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EFF Still Fighting Over Wiretapping

Posted at 10:21:39 AM by Aron Schatz

Remember that issue? The EFF is still fighting against the retro-active immunity. Why does a so-called conservative person piss all over the Constitution?

Nonetheless, last summer Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), a law that gives the U.S. attorney general the power to immunize telecom companies from lawsuits that accuse them of conducting unlawful spying at the bequest of the U.S. government.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Carl Nichols told Walker that the proper decision was to toss out the lawsuits and not second guess the Bush administration.

Nonsense, said Cindy Cohn, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that advocates for the rights of Internet users. EFF has brought a class-action lawsuit against AT&T on behalf of customers and accuses AT&T of turning over communication records to the National Security Agency. On Tuesday, Cohn and the EFF asked Walker to throw out the federal statute and to tell Congress to start over.

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Monday December 1, 2008

UDP For BitTorrent: Internet Cries

Posted at 11:41:59 AM by Aron Schatz

Many sites are crying over the development that uTorrent (from the company that made the BitTorrent protocol) is moving to UDP file transfers by default. The rationale is that while TCP can be congestion controlled, UDP transfers can't. Simply, they contend that this move will cause a collapse of the network and basically will throw us back into the dark ages. Well, we'll see.

Gamers, VoIP and video conference users beware. The leading BitTorrent software authors have declared war on you - and any users wanting to wring high performance out of their networks. A key design change in the P2P application promises to make the headaches faced by ISPs so far look like a party game. So what's happened, and why does it matter?

Upset about Bell Canada’s system for allocating bandwidth fairly among internet users, the developers of the uTorrent P2P application have decided to make the UDP protocol the default transport protocol for file transfers. BitTorrent implementations have long used UDP to exchange tracker information – the addresses of the computers where files could be found – but the new release uses it in preference to TCP for the actual transfer of files. The implications of this change are enormous.

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Thursday November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted at 10:07:34 AM by Aron Schatz

Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Remember to be thankful for things that are important to you. Don't be caught up in the material realm this holiday season, think of what really makes you happy.

Also, don't stuff yourself with too much Turkey!

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Monday November 24, 2008

Blackberry Storm Initial Report

Posted at 10:41:30 AM by Aron Schatz

I've had the Storm for about a day and I've been using it on and off. I mainly got the phone for data usage and since charging it to full yesterday at 2:30PM, it is about half full in battery life. I'll come back in a longer article about more specifics.

The Storm needs a firmware update, at least. Hopefully it comes quickly. The UI is sluggish (at best). The accelerometer doesn't work well and takes a very long time to switch to portrait or landscape mode. The SurePress clicking is nice, but it can be disabled and it should be an option. It wouldn't be that hard. Many apps I've downloaded use a normal touch instead of having to click.

The clicking function is awkward since there is a huge button in the center, but not the edges, of the screen. When you try to click the edge of the screen, it is much more difficult than clicking the center. The screen itself wiggles when you hold your thumb on it and move it around. That seems like a design flaw.

The backlight bleeds out of the unit which reeks of poor packaging.

There are other problems and many issues I have would probably be glossed over with a firmware update. I bet something is coming soon, it is pretty bad. The demo units in Verizon stores are sluggish and such. My unit crashed a few times as well.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend the Storm just yet. I don't know why Verizon released the phone in this state. It is pretty terrible. I'm sure an extra two weeks would have ironed out these issues that are blatantly there.

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Sunday November 23, 2008

Apple to position iPhone/iPod Touch as gaming machine. No one cares.

Posted at 3:52:01 AM by Tornado

Speaking exclusively to MCV, the company confessed that its new marketing campaign encourages consumers to buy iPod purely “to play our games” – and even marked the device out as a real threat to Nintendo and Sony’s handheld efforts.

Greg Joswiak, head of iPod and iPhone marketing told us: “It’s not just the screens that are superior to DS – it’s the graphics capability, the computing power and the App Store distribution model.

“I had an analyst tell me in September – and he was right – that the DS is the past of gaming devices, and iPod Touch is the future of gaming devices. It certainly has our competitors scrambling in what they’re going to do in reaction to this. This product is capable of so much more, and there’s a tremendous synergy we have with the iPod Touch and game developers.”

Linky.

Spoken like someone who truly has no grasp over the gaming industry. Seriously, there are so many hilarious, out-of-touch-with-reality statements in both quotes above that it will be nothing short of EPIC when they fail at it. I give them a year before they give up on the idea, if not less. At the very least, however, it may put a cap on Apple's current elitist attitude over every market they compete in.

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