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.

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.

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.

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.