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"This company made massive mistakes," he said, citing a decision to get rid of sales people and other mismanagement. What's more, given the credit market freeze, Whalin added that no manufacturer wants to sell to any retailer who doesn't have money to pay for the merchandise. At the same time, Whalin said there's still a very slim chance that one or more firms that have expressed an interest in buying Circuit City could still buy it out of bankruptcy over the next few days. "I wouldn't say it's completely over yet for Circuit City, but it's almost over," Whalin said.
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The Bush administration has taken a dim view of Internet regulations in the form of Net neutrality rules, warning last year that they could "inefficiently skew investment, delay innovation, and diminish consumer welfare, and there is reason to believe that the kinds of broad marketplace restrictions proposed in the name of 'neutrality' would do just that, with respect to the Internet." A report from the Federal Trade Commission reached the same conclusion in 2007. In addition, a recent study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says that the absence of Net neutrality laws or similar federally mandated regulations has spurred telecommunications companies to invest heavily in infrastructure, and changing the rules "would have a devastating effect on the U.S. economy, investment, and innovation." Now, perhaps extensive Net neutrality regulations are wise. But enough people seem to have honest, deep-seated reservations about them to justify a sincere discussion of costs and benefits--rather than having the requirements stealthily injected into what supposed to be an emergency save-the-economy bill scheduled for a floor vote within a week or so.
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When Intel released their Core i7 CPU and the platform that enabled its use, it brought about a few new technologies that haven't been seen on the Intel side of things. One of them is the QPI or Quick Path Interconnect. Intel, being the king of "not invented here" syndrome, couldn't accept AMD's Hypertransport point to point high speed data bus. QPI is basically the same thing as Hypertransport and Intel has finally moved the memory controller onto the CPU die. No longer is there a FSB (sort of) that communicates with different components and the CPU. Along the same line, Intel moved to include triple channel memory support in its latest chipset, the X58. Do we really need triple channel and the added expense? This article hopes to shed some light on how triple channel interleaved memory compares with the same setup in single channel.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Quote: The Baram CPU cooler made a strong first impression for ThermoLab and what they are capable of... I hope to see more products from them in the future. The cooler performed quite well during testing, and for those interested in running their system in near silence, the Baram will cooperate with temperatures that may be better than on some more popular (and louder) coolers.
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Quote: The CNPS9900 LED CPU cooler features the familiar look of a Zalman product, with a variety of innovations and refinements that make it stand out over models from previous generations in the CNPS (Computer Noise Prevention System) product line. A 120mm fan is located in between two rings of thin copper fins that dissipate the processor's heat thanks to three heatpipe loops.
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The GTX285 is basically a GTX280 with the same number of Shaders and the same memory interface that has been moved from 65nm to 55nm manufacturing process with clock speeds increased on the memory, Shaders and core- something many manufacturers have already done with their GTX280 GPU powered cards (except for the die-shrink, of course).
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Quote: We actually, went outside to test the range of the Callpod Dragon V2 Bluetooth Headset to see just how far we could get away from the mobile device. While on the phone, I sat my Blackberry Bold on the mailbox in front of the house and started walking up the street. Well, I'm not sure I got 100 meters away, but the Dragon V2 didn't seem to care about distance as it kept the connection with no static. I went a bit further up the road, but started to get concerned since I couldn't really see my cell phone anymore (see red arrow in above picture)...
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One of the least thought about components, but most important, when building a computer system is the power supply. A quality power supply can make all the difference between a nice stable system and one that is constantly giving you random errors that are next to impossible to track down. In a worst case situation, a low quality power supply can actually damage your components or completely kill your entire dream system.
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Thecus took a great NAS and made it even better with the N3200 Pro. It's difficult to tell it apart from the original N3200 just by looking at it, because underneath the hood is where all the upgrades have taken place. During testing, RAID 5 build time was impressive and transferring files with the Pro model is faster when compared to its predecessor.
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During CES 2009 Lian-Li introduced a concept case, PC-888, shaped like a billowing sail - making it to look like the famous Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai -, made of blue anodized aluminum and costing a fortune - according to the manufacturer since this case is a limited handcraft edition, it should not reach the market for less than USD 500. Let's take a look on this very different case.
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Good business notebook should be lightweight, reliable, fast and with long autonomy and good quality. Toshiba built Tecra R10 for business users that travel a lot and we will see if Toshiba fulfilled its goal. At first sight Toshiba Tecra R10-10S doesn't look tough. This impression is consequence mostly because of slim and flexible cover. Surprisingly, even under severe bending of cover, there was no picture distortion. After thorough inspection we concluded that toughness and quality of Tecra R10 aren't that bad. Although if you expected casing that can withstand extreme punches you will be slightly disappointed.
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When a device tries to be all things to all people, it usually winds up satisfying no one. Most all-in-one printers, for example, are good for lightweight office tasks, but they make lousy photo printers. Epson's Artisan 800 is much better than that: It's a fabulous photo printer and a pretty good light-duty office machine. We expect a multi-function printer with a $300 price tag to include a long list of features and deliver impeccable performance, and the Artisan 800 doesn't disappoint on either count. Let's take a look at features, first, available by clicking to go to the next page.
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Quote: The Pico-ITX form factor specifications call for the board to be 10 x 7.2 cm (3.9 x 2.8 in) and that is exactly what size the NVIDIA Ion board is. To get an idea of just how small the Pico-ITX form factor is you really need to place it next to an ATX motherboard, which is 305 mm wide by 244 mm deep (12 x 9.6). The NVIDIA Ion platform is dwarfed by today's standard desktop motherboards, but at the same time still offers true-fidelity 7.1 HD audio and HDMI outputs that can do resolutions as high as 2560 x 1600...
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When building or upgrading a new PC there are always several options to consider regarding every component. One of the most confusing, for many users at least, is memory. I have friends(as I'm sure most of us do)that have trouble distinguishing between memory and hard disk space, that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about all the different options out there. DDR2 had several different categories as the specifications aged and evolved. When DDR3 came about we were faced with an array of choices since the day the first product hit the shelves. Memory rated for different bus speeds, timings, voltages, and of course, prices.
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When it comes to your computer case, the choices seem to be endless, however when you boil it down most of them are an enclosed rectangle box. Antec has taken a different approach with their latest case, the Skeleton. They have broken out of the 'box' in more ways than one with this latest case.
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Most netbooks currently on the market offer 512MB or 1GB of system memory and only a single DDR2 SO-DIMM slot. However, with most of the netbooks a 2GB memory module could be easily installed, but what performance benefits does that yield for an Intel Atom powered device? In this article we have a few benchmarks comparing the 1GB versus 2GB memory performance on the Atom-powered Samsung NC10.
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This article was exciting to do for two reasons; the first was of course the fact that we were going to just see how powerful two of the fastest graphics cards on the market would perform when put together. This in total gave us four GPUs to play with across two cards and what this results in is a bucket load of power. The second reason was that I would finally get a chance to take SLI for a spin on the newly built testbed. It's really been ages since I've had the ability to test SLI on my main testbed. It was great that the X58 closed that gap where we no longer need one motherboard for Crossfire and another for SLI.
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One month ago we have tested XFX GTX260 Black Edition graphics card based on GTX260+ version of nVIDIA GPU, and we concluded that ATI HD 4870 offered better price/performance ratio. In last month nVIDIA and ATI have dropped prices for both products and made choice for your next graphics card much interesting and harder. This time we compared performances of GTX260+ with very interesting model of HD 4870 signed by Palit. Let the match begin.
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You've purchased a beautiful big-screen HDTV, and now you want a tuneful home theater audio system to go with it. Shopping for a surround-sound system, however, can be mind-boggling. Not only is the difference in quality across the spectrum of available speakers vast, there are several different types of systems that you can purchase - from floor-standing models, to bookshelf speakers, to all-in-one designs. Adding to shopper confusion, speakers are notoriously hard to buy because their sound depends, in large part, on the nature of your room. Finally, there are really inexpensive choices that sound terrible, but there are also some bargain systems from respected manufacturers that sound incredible (the same is true for more expensive models). Here, we'll focus on budget solutions that offer a high-quality audio experience for a relatively low price. For home theater, you really need surround sound, so for our purposes we have limited our audio selection to systems providing true or virtual surround sound.
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(or even care), or that there's a difference between NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas data. You just want to avoid being late. To that end, the TeleNav Shotgun accomplishes the goal as an in-car navigation device, even if it can't quite measure up to the more powerful features found on competing Navigon and TomTom products. Unfortunately, the device does falls short though when it comes to some simple pathfinding activities.
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During CES 2009 ASUS presented a prototype for their Eee Keyboard, a complete computer - including a 5 touch-screen display - housed inside a keyboard running Windows XP. So don't be fooled by its name: Eee Keyboard is a complete functional computer that you can use to write texts, surf the web, check e-mails, use Skype, etc. The idea is to connect it to a video monitor or HDTV wirelessly. We took a look on this innovative product.
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It's that magical time of year again when CES is just hours away and new products to excite and tempt the computer enthusiast are popping up all over the place. One of the most exciting products out there is the Nvidia GTX-295, reported to be the fastest single GPU (Single PCI-E slot connection, dual slot cooler, Dual GPU) out there. We've chosen the Asus GTX-295 for our lead out article. Asus has been a major player in the computer industry for a long time and viewed as one of the premium brands. They were kind enough to ship us their Asus GTX-295 (ENGTX-295) to run against our battery of tests and considerable selection of GPU's. We'll run our usual battery of tests against this graphics behemoth, and step outside the box and throw in some additional testing to see if it is indeed the fastest single GPU on the planet.
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LAS VEGAS -- CES -- Jan. 6, 2009 -- The G-series line of gaming peripherals from Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) gives gamers what they want: complete control. Today, Logitech unveiled an extension of its award-winning G-series by introducing three new products that deliver precision, high performance and customization: the Logitech G19 keyboard for gaming, the Logitech G35 surround sound headset and the Logitech G9x laser mouse. Delivering everything gamers need for a competitive edge – from programmable buttons to 7.1-channel surround sound and 5000 dpi laser sensors to backlit keys – Logitech’s best-in-class gaming peripherals are engineered to deliver everything you have always wanted.
"The G-series product line is all about seeing how far we can push the envelope, giving gamers extraordinary, engineered-to-win features developed as a result of our deep connection with the gaming community," said Ruben Mookerjee, Logitech’s director of product marketing for gaming. "With each one of these new G-series products, gamers gain exceptional benefits; but most importantly, they can transform their gear to suit their gameplay."
The Logitech G19 Keyboard for Gaming
Giving you an arsenal of advanced gaming technology, the Logitech G19 keyboard for gaming is the first Logitech keyboard to feature a color GamePanel LCD. The tiltable, 320-by-240-pixel display provides valuable in-game information for over sixty games, including World of Warcraft (requires installation of included Logitech GamePanel software). In addition to in-game information, the screen can show VoIP communication data, clock, CPU load, or other non-gaming specific items such as pictures or videos. And you can easily switch among types of information – without ever leaving your game.
Logitech’s newest keyboard for gaming offers 12 fully programmable G-keys with three macros per key, giving you 36 time-saving commands per game. Performing multiple actions simultaneously is also made easier with the keyboard’s multi-key input-functionality, which allows you to engage up to five keys at the same time.
A popular feature with previous Logitech keyboards for gaming, the Game Mode switch can disable the Windows key so you don’t get accidentally locked out of your game. And so you can connect and power devices – such as your G9x mouse or G35 headset – the G19 keyboard features two high-speed USB 2.0 ports.
The G19 keyboard for gaming is compatible with both Windows-based and Mac computers.
The Logitech G35 Surround Sound Headset
For game-changing immersion, the Logitech G35 headset is the first Logitech headset to offer 7.1 surround sound – a perfect complement to the growing number of action games and high-definition movies that support 7.1-channel surround sound. Powered by second-generation Dolby Headphone technology, the G35 headset simulates the complex acoustics of a listening room, creating a detailed, outside-the-head sound field. Plus, with its proprietary ear-enclosing design, the G35 headset greatly reduces ambient noise from interfering with your entertainment, while an adjustable, noise-canceling microphone focuses on your voice and reduces background noise.
If you want to sound like your World of Warcraft character or disguise your voice when gaming, you can install the included software to enjoy six voice-morphing options, including cyborg, giant, mutant, space squirrel, troll and alien. If you use popular chat clients such as Ventrilo or Team Speak, the G35 headset includes three G-keys on the left earpiece for one-touch command over voice morphing. Additional on-ear audio controls provide quick access to volume, microphone mute and surround sound adjustments.
To ensure your headset remains comfortable during long gaming sessions, the G35 headset features three swappable headbands – thin, thick and contoured designs – so you can select the style that fits you best.
To enhance sound files recorded in more traditional formats, including MP3 files, the G35 headset uses Dolby Pro Logic II in conjunction with Dolby Headphone technology to create an expanded stereo sound.
The Logitech G9x Laser Mouse
Providing precision at any hand speed (up to 150 inches per second on most popular gaming-mousepad surfaces), the Logitech G9x laser mouse extends the promise of the award-winning Logitech G9 Laser Mouse with its next-generation laser sensor. Featuring on-the-fly adjustable dpi from 200 to 5000 dpi, the G9x mouse makes it easy to go from pixel-precise targeting to lightning-fast maneuvers without pausing the action.
The G9x mouse includes two interchangeable, snap-on grips that let you choose a fit and feel that’s best for your playing style. With more ways to tune for the way you play, the G9x mouse also features onboard memory – program up to five ready-to-play profiles. The weight-tuning system gives you up to 28 grams of extra weight. And custom-color LEDs let you match your G9x mouse to your personal preference – or the colors you choose for your G19 keyboard or G13 gameboard.
The Logitech G13 advanced gameboard wins Best of Innovations in Electronic Gaming
The new G-series products join the recently announced Logitech G13 advanced gameboard, which was just awarded the CES 2009 Design and Engineering Award: Best of Innovations in Electronic Gaming. The G13 gameboard offers a contoured design that complements the natural shape of your hand and fingers. So you don’t have to take your eyes off the screen, the concave keys along the home row make it easy to locate buttons by touch. And for a tactical advantage, the G13 gameboard includes 87 buttons, so you can set up custom button-profiles for each one of your favorite games, and a 160-by-43-pixel GamePanel LCD that shows live game stats, system info and messages from other players. The Logitech G13 advanced gameboard is available now in the U.S. and Europe in March for a suggested retail price of $79.99 (U.S.).
Pricing and Availability
The Logitech G19 keyboard for gaming is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe in March for a suggested retail price of $199.99 (U.S.). The Logitech G35 surround sound headset is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe in March for a suggested retail price of $129.99 (U.S.). The Logitech G9x laser mouse is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe in April for a suggested retail price of $99.99 (U.S.).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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* 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.
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*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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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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.