Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Intel intros ultra-compact 310 SSD series

Intel has launched a new ultra-tiny solid-state drive series that practically matches the performance of its 2.5-inch drives in a fraction of the footprint. The company's new 310 SSD series measures only 51 x 30 x 5mm and weighs less than 10 grams. Despite their compact size, the new drives offers peak sustained reads and writes of 200MB/s and 70MB/s, which isn't far behind the 2.5-inch 80GB X25-M's read/write rates of 250MB/s and 70MB/s.

310 Series 40GB 310 Series 80GB X25-V 40GB X25-M 80GB
Sustained reads 170MB/s 200MB/s 170MB/s 250MB/s
Sustained writes 35MB/s 70MB/s 35MB/s 70MB/s
4KB random reads 25k IOPS 35k IOPS 25k IOPS 35k IOPS
4KB random writes 2.5k IOPS 6.6k IOPS 2.5k IOPS 6.6k IOPS

MSI intros Big Bang Marshal board with eight PCIe x16 slots

With Intel's Sandy Bridge processors set to debut at CES 2011, MSI has taken the opportunity to unveil its new flagship P67 motherboard offering, the "Big Bang Marshal." Demonstrating the very definition of overkill, MSI's upcoming board utilizes the XL-ATX format and sports eight PCI Express x16 slots, eight USB 3.0 ports, and three BIOS chips.



Tuesday, December 28, 2010

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 14 : Final Thoughts


Earlier this month we saw the Radeon HD 6970 clash against the GeForce GTX 570 and while each card showed its strengths and weakness across the 14 games that we tested with, in the end they delivered much the same performance at 1920x1200. The Radeon HD 6970 did have a small performance advantage at 2560x1600, which might make a difference to gamers playing on larger screens, either that or the small $30 price advantage of the GeForce could tip the scales on its favor.

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 13 : Overclocking Performance


Overclocking Performance

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 12 : Power Consumption & Temperatures


Power Consumption & Temperatures

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 11 : Benchmarks: Battlefield Bad Company 2, Splinter Cell Conviction


Benchmarks: Battlefield Bad Company 2, Splinter Cell Conviction

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 10 : Benchmarks: Metro 2033, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat


Benchmarks: Metro 2033, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 09 : Benchmarks: Just Cause 2, Mass Effect 2


Benchmarks: Just Cause 2, Mass Effect 2

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 08 : Benchmarks: Crysis Warhead, World in Conflict


Benchmarks: Crysis Warhead, World in Conflict

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 07 : Benchmarks: Far Cry 2, Aliens vs. Predator


Benchmarks: Far Cry 2, Aliens vs. Predator

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 06 : Benchmarks: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops


Benchmarks: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 05 : Benchmarks: Dirt 2, F1 2010


Benchmarks: Dirt 2, F1 2010

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 04 : Test System Specs & 3Dmark 11







Test System Specs & 3Dmark 11

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 03 : Radeon HD 6950 Board in Detail

Like its bigger brother, the Radeon HD 6950 still measures 27cm long (10.6 in), the typical length for today's high-end graphics cards. For example, the old Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics card measures 28cm long, as does the more recent Radeon HD 5870. The Radeon HD 6950 is also the same length as the more expensive GeForce GTX 580 graphics card.

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 02 : Radeon HD 6900 Series Upgrades

Much of the information covered here was already reviewed in our Radeon HD 6970 review earlier this month, so feel free to skip this page if you read that already.

The high-end "Cayman" architecture used by the Radeon HD 6900 series is a little different from Barts, which debuted with the Radeon HD 6870 and HD 6850 graphics cards.

Barts used the same VLIW5 configuration as the Radeon HD 5000 series, which features SIMD units with 4 simple and 1 complex stream processing unit.

AMD Radeon HD 6950 Review 01 : Introduction


After much anticipation AMD launched their Radeon HD 6900 series earlier this month. Many hoped that the new HD 6970 would go head to head with the GeForce GTX 580, possibly forcing Nvidia to make price cuts. However with a retail price that was undercutting the competition's flagship board, the slower HD 6970 was destined to take on the GTX 570 instead.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Dell is already working on the commerctial for the Streak 7

We've told you about Dell's plans to launch a 7 inch tablet and then a 10 inch model as followup to the first 5 inch Streak. We now have confirmation of the 7 inch tablet, simply called Dell Streak 7, as Engadget got a hold on the blueprints of the TV commercial that will introduce the 7 inch Android public to consumers. As you can expect, since there are no significant differences between the 5 and 7 inch model, the commercial focuses on the screen size, which is said to be perfect this time for gaming, browsing and other meaningless tasks.



Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Viliv tablets officially announced, full specs

Viliv has officially announced their tablet lineup that'll make an appearance tomorrow at CES (or tonight, depending on where you are). We already knew what they had in store for us, but now the full specs are up for each. The lineup includes the Viliv X70 Windows 7 slate and X7 and X10 Android tablets.



Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Maingear Shift Gaming PC with Super Stock Options Review

Usage Impressions and Wrap Up

Looking at how the system came configured, it's not too hard to believe the Maingear Shift is the fastest computer I have ever used. I've worked with several i7 systems and multiple dedicated gaming systems, but nothing has come close to the speed and responsiveness of the Shift.

Monday, December 20, 2010

NEC to showcase dual-screen LifeTouch Android tablet at CES


NEC are set to unveil their 7” dual-screen tablet at the upcoming CES show in Las Vegas. Apparently the device will be based around the single-screen LifeTouch slate which was revealed in Tokyo last month. What’s interesting about the tablet is the design, with SlashGear’s mock up showcasing its dual-screen in action it looks surprisingly like a Nintendo DSi (but with a bigger screen).

Friday, December 17, 2010

AKG Q701 Quincy Jones Signature Headphones

A top-class newcomer from AKG that's been developed with music legend Quincy Jones and it shows



AKG has enlisted the help of legendary music producer god, Quincy Jones, with its new range of high-quality headphones. Musicians endorse all sorts of things and for all sorts of reasons, and even good ones don't necessarily have good sonic taste – we can vouch for that from personal experience.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Rumored iPad 2 launch in February may be smaller iPad instead


Last week we heard rumors that Apple intends to release the iPad 2 by the end of February. That’s based on reports that Foxconn’s plant is preparing to ship hardware within the next 100 days. But while it has been assumed this is going to be an iPad 2, it may in fact be another model of iPad.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Apple disables iOS jailbreak detection API


According to Networkworld Apple have quietly disabled their jailbreak detection API that was built in to its iOS 4.2 firmware, less than six months after it was first introduced.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Iomega eGo 1TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive Review


Several technology companies throughout history have been defined by a single product. Microsoft gained worldwide notoriety with Windows 95, Intel's Pentium processor boosted the company to new heights and many would argue that the iPod saved Apple from an untimely fate. For storage company Iomega, their claim to fame came in 1994 with the Zip drive, a disk-based storage system that filled the capacity gap between floppy disks and the rewritable optical disc that followed a few years later.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Acer Veriton Z410G: Business All-in-One Touts Function Over Form


The Veriton Z410G is a budget-friendly ($720 as of December 4, 2010) all-in-one desktop geared toward small businesses. It's a well-connected machine with eight USB ports, two PS/2 serial connections, and DVI and VGA output ports, but it lacks the feature set (and aesthetic appeal) of its pricier counterparts.

Monday, December 6, 2010

MSI Wind Top AE2420 3D: Excellent All-in-One Hobbled by Poor Peripherals


 The MSI Wind Top AE2420 3D wants to be your everything. This slick PC is the first big-screen all-in-one to offer 3D technology, shutter glasses included. If you don't find 3D terribly enchanting, it also has a large multitouch screen, myriad ports (including two USB 3.0 connections), and a speedy Intel Core i7 processor.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Dell Inspiron Zino HD 410: Back With a Blu-ray Player


Dell's squarish Inspiron Zino HD 410 compact desktop PC is back, with a few impressive tweaks to make it even stronger than it was before. But the internals of this tiny, black PC aren't the only things that Dell amped up: The price of our configured system jumped to $825 (up from $557 for its predecessor). We love the upgrades Dell that explain the higher price, but the Inspiron Zino HD 410 is approaching budget desktop PC territory, where $825 buys a lot of power and versatility.

Veebeam HD Wireless USB PC-to-TV Video Streamer Review

For many consumers, the cost of a Home Theatre PC is simply cost prohibitive and yet a media appliance such as the Western Digital Live Plus, or Seagate GoFlex TV doesn't quite meet their needs. Many consumers DO however own a fairly powerful laptop yet have no way getting the signal off their laptop and onto the screen wirelessly. For this niche, the Veebeam HD video streamer may just be perfect as it allows - via Certified Wireless USB - customers to turn their laptop INTO a HTPC. This is the theory behind the Veebeam HD wireless USB streamer, but is the reality the same as the theory? Read on to find out in my full review.



Tuesday, November 23, 2010

V3 Move 3DS: 3D Gaming at Its Smallest, and Finest

At $1099 (as of November 23, 2010), the V3 Move 3DS sits in a precarious position. It's too pricey to rank as a budget desktop, despite being saddled with a relatively dinky Core i3 processor. And despite its stellar gaming performance (more on that in a bit), a comparatively paltry WorldBench 6 score leaves V3's cube fumbling around the middle of the mainstream desktop pack. But if you're sold on 3D gaming, or if you need a speedy, portable rig to haul to your next LAN session, V3's Move 3DS is a compelling option.

SmartFish Whirl Mini Notebook Laser Mouse defies gravity


Don’t get any funny ideas that the SmartFish Whirl Mini Notebook Laser Mouse is capable of floating while it is here on earth without any strings attached (literally) to the ceiling, but rather, it has been dubbed as a “gravity-defying travel mouse” because it can adapt to the motion of your hand movements.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

MSI intros budget-conscious WindTop AC1900 all-in-one

MSI's Classic series has expanded today with the introduction of its WindTop AC1900. Dubbed the 'all-in-one for everyone', the new machine is aimed at budget-minded folks looking for a no frills desktop solution -- and that's precisely what the AC1900 delivers. The system carries an 18.5-inch 1366x768 display (no touch support), a dual-core 2.6GHz Intel Celeron E3400 processor, integrated Intel GMA X4500 graphics, 2GB of DDR3 RAM (up to 4GB supported via two slots), and a 320GB hard drive.



Friday, October 15, 2010

Creative X-Fi Go! Pro review

Can Creative make the case for USB sound cards?

Although it's barely larger than a USB memory stick, Creative's latest external sound card, the Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro, is packed full of the kind of audio acronyms and certifications you might normally associate with more imposing gear.

There's a coveted THX badge, for example, as well as support for Creative's own EAX 5.0 in-game environmental effects and a clever noise-cancelling software feature for chatting on the phone.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Corsair Dominator GT 2133MHz review

Does Corsair's Dominator offer high performance for its high price?


£140 is a lot of cash for a dual-channel 4GB memory kit, even one rated at a lofty 2,133MHz. In fact, look a little closer at the Corsair Dominator GT 2133MHz's specifications and the pricing looks even more preposterous. After all, timings of 9-10-9-24 are nothing special, even taking into account the flighty frequency.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

AVADirect Custom Gaming PC: Power In Spades, But Lacking Grace


AVADirect's Custom Gaming PC might not have the most inspiring moniker, but this blue beast pays homage to the old school of Performance PCs: powerful, imposing, and woefully loud. It also isn't cheap, sitting at just over $6300 (as configured, as of 9/20/2010). Still, it's right in line with the upper echelons of the Perfomance PC category, and you're getting quite a bit of bang per buck. Unfortunately, when not bested in raw speed by similarly priced machines, it loses out to Performance desktops offering a stronger price to performance ratio.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Hard decisions: Tablet computer or netbook?

Berlin - Computer manufacturers are working hard on their answer to the iPad with models in various sizes and designs expected in the coming months.

Microsoft is leading the charge by working with numerous partners to develop small tablet computers running Windows 7. CEO Steve Ballmer has named Asus, Dell, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, and Lenovo by name, among others. This isn't Microsoft's first try in the tablet computer ring, either. The company's first models back in 2001 were primarily oriented toward business customers.