Data recovered from shuttle Columbia hard drive

The Space Shuttle Columbia exploded during reentry on February 1, 2003, killing all seven crewmembers.

A hard drive was recovered from the wreckage, that hard drive was part of an experiment to study how xeon gas flows in microgravity.

Amazingly 99% of the data of the hard drive was able to be recovered and now, over 5 years after the explosion, the results of that experiment has been published in the journal Physics Review E.

RIP Colonel Rick Husband, Commander William McCool, Lt. Colonel Michael Anderson, Colonel Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, Captain David Brown, and Captain Laurel Clark.

(scientificamerican, via engadget)

OCZ announces 4GB PC3-16000 DDR3 memory kits

OCZ is now the leader in the race for the fastest most awesome overclockable desktop pc memory.

They just announced the availability of 4GB PC3-16000 DDR3 memory kits designed for overclockers who want the best possible memory.

They are 100% hand-tested, have a lifetime warranty, and unsurprisingly the price has not been released - if you need to know the price you probably can't afford it.

(press release)

Super Talent announces new solid state drives

Super talent has announced a new line of solid state drives (SSDs).

The MasterDrive series are designed as direct replacements for laptop 2.5" drives and connect over the SATA-II interface. They also feature Super Talent's patented wear leveling algorithms and bad bit management for extended lifespan.

The news drives come in 30GB, 60GB and 120GB capacities with 120/40 MB/sec read/write, consume 85% less power than a conventional hard drive, and retail for $299, $449, and $699.

(more at supertalent)

EVGA announces two USB graphics adapters

EVGA has come out with a couple of cool new stackable USB based graphics adapters that allow you to easily add an additional monitor to your PC without needing to open the box.

They don't have a GPU processor of their own so don't expect to run games on them but they sounds great for adding an extra monitor for improved web browsing or locating widgets or email off your main screen.Both have a DVD outlet and a DVI to VGA converter for older monitors, the UV-12 supports up to 1280x1024 resolution and the DV-16 supports up to 1600x1200.

Eee PC 900 - battery life not good

Blogeee has done some testing of the battery shipped with the Eee PC 900 and the performance is not that impressive.

With the display at 100% using openoffice word processor spreadsheet etc they only got 82 minutes of life out of the battery, stop using the mouse turn off wifi and turn the screen down to 30% and you still only get 108 minutes.

Want to watch a movie? I hope it's a short one: just 50 minutes battery life watching a movie on a USB drive or 66 minutes if the movie is stored on the SSD.

As much as we love owning the latest and best gadgets we think it may make sense to wait for an ultraportable using Intel's delayed Atom processor to get a good battery life.

(more at blogeee)

Steelseries ikari laser mouse and 7G keyboard hands-on

Engadget got their hands on the Steelseries ikari laser mouse and the new 7G keyboard that launched May 5th.

Here's what they thought:

"Both of these products are obviously built for pro and casual gamers, but we found a productivity boost in our regular day-to-day blogging operations, which requires large quantities of precise link clicking (how's that for a resume line item?) and rapidly written posts. In addition to these two, SteelSeries is bringing its entire line of Euro-popular gaming peripherals to the States, including headphones and crazily fancy mouse pads."

(loads of photos at engadget)

3 way SLI GeForce 9800 GTX testing

tbreak have dome some testing to see how the Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX scales from single use to dual SLI through to triple SLI.

Here's what they found:

"So there you have it- at the resolutions that we tested these games under, Triple SLI does not really bring much to the table. Out of the eight games, there was noticeable (20% or higher) difference in four- Company of Heroes, Crysis, Enemy Territory and Lost Planet. The other four games didn't show that big of an improvement.

So at the moment, Triple SLI might only be worth for people with displays capable of extremely high resolutions- we're talking 30" LCDs here. For everyone else including a high-end gamer that plays at 1920x1200 with 4X AA, your standard dual card SLI is more than capable and the scaling of Triple SLI is not required."

(full review at http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?id=607)

Dvico FusionHDTV7: first dual HDTV PCI express tuner

Dvico has launched what they say is the first dual tuner HDTV PCI express TV tuner.

It allows you to watch or record two 1080i HDTV channels at one time using two of the latest XC5000 silicon TV tuners from Samsung and supports digital cable (64QAM/256QAM) and ATSC terrestrial reception.

The FusionHDTV7 is available now at cyberestore for $139.00.

(cyberestore, via tvsquad)

Hard drive crusher

PC Magazine recently got sent a destroyed hard drive by eDR solutions to show off their hard drive crusher.

The hard drive crusher drills a hole through the spindle of the hard drive which according to eRD "creates ripples in the platters making it impossible to recover the data".

This 19" x 13.5" x 12" gadget runs off a standard AC outlet and can destroy 60 drives an hour with the actual crushing taking just 10 seconds.

The hard drive crusher costs $11,500 plus an extra $895 for a hand pump to use if the power is out. For that sort of money they seem to be targeting the military and embassies as customers.

I know how I destroy hard drives: I take them to the range and put about 20 7.65x51mm NATO rounds through them - it's fun and I know the military can use the same solution and spend $10 on ammo instead of $11,500 on a crusher.

(via gearlog)

Continue reading "Hard drive crusher"

Western Digital Velociraptor reviewed

Extreme tech has reviewed the 300GB Western Digital Velociraptor that is really a 2.5" drive wrapped in a massive heat sink and asked "Can a 2.5-inch drive really outperform a high density, 3.5-inch drive?".

Here's the answer:

"Overall performance is quite good, while write performance is particularly excellent--and likely to be better than most (but not all) solid state drives. However, even at $299, it's still vastly less expensive than solid state drives of much lower capacity. Given its substantial performance advantage over 7,200RPM drives, we'll no doubt see these arriving in most enthusiast-class systems and lower-end workstations. For those users, performance trumps capacity for the system drive. After all, you can always add a big 7,200RPM drive (or array) as a secondary drive, if you need capacity."

(more at extremetech)

Continue reading "Western Digital Velociraptor reviewed"

MSI Titan 700 mini-ITX barebones computer

MSI has announced a new Mini-ITX basebones PC that would be a perfect base for a media center pc or a car computer.

The Titan 700 is just 7.3" x 9.4" x 2.7" and comes with the VIA® CN700 + 8237R+ chipset, 60w power supply, slim DVD burner, 2.5" drive, and Gigabit LAN.

(more at msi)

Asus Crosshair II Formula 3 way SLI motherboard

"Taipei, Taiwan, April 30, 2008 - Catering to users who require extreme graphical support and robust performance, ASUS, leading producer of motherboards, has today released the new ASUS Crosshair II Formula Motherboard. This powerful motherboard includes innovative technologies like CPU Level Up, Hybrid SLI and 3-Way SLI for the best performance and graphical support. It is also ready for AMD® Socket AM2+ Phenom™ FX / Phenom X4 / Phenom X2 / Athlon™ X2 / Sempron™ and legacy AM2 processors; and features up to 5200 MT/s via HyperTransport™ 3.0-based system bus speeds for AM2+ CPUs. "

Continue reading "Asus Crosshair II Formula 3 way SLI motherboard"

LG GGW-H20L HD combo drive reviewed

The Register has reviewed the $250 LG GGW-H20L HD combo drive, they seem to feel a drive that supports HD-DVD is still needed but we disagree.

Here's what they thought:

"Blu-ray writing has a certain appeal but ultimately it's a bit pointless. Most people can't read a Blu-ray video disc, especially on their PC, and the format doesn't have enough capacity and write-speed - an a low enough cost - to put DVD-R in the shade.

For movie playback, a combo drive with both Blu-ray and HD DVD in a high-end media centre is a winner, but the GGW-H20L falls betwixt and between, as you pay £50 for a feature that may only get occasional use."

(full review at theregister)

Asus P45-Based P5Q Deluxe motherboard

Intel's new P45 chipset should be getting released in the next few weeks and Hot Hardware got their hands on one of the first motherboards to use it: the Asus P5Q Deluxe.

The P45 chipset bring a few good enhancements to the table: support for 1600MHz FSB processors, PCI Express 2.0 and 65mn manufacturing (reduce heat and power). SATA connectivity is also improved due to a new ICH10 southbridge.

Hot Hardware don't have it up and running yet but they have posted some pics.

(more at hothardware)

Intel Atom processor delays

According to a report in the Taiwanese newspaper Apply Daily Intel is having a supply problem that will lead to it only delivering half the ordered Atom processors in the next month.

This will result in delays for manufacturers pinning their hopes on Atom to power ultracompact PCs to compete with the Eee PC 900 and the HP Mini-Note.

(via electronista)

New iMacs running overclocked Penryn chips

When apple announced the iMac upgrade yesterday people were excited to see that the top of the line model boasted specs equivalent to the upcoming X9100 Montevideo chip not the expected Penryn chip.

It turns out Apple didn't get the first bite at Montevideo, instead they are using overclocked Penryn chips that use 55W of power instead of the Montevideo's 44W.

With that kind of overclocking I wonder how that affects the chip's lifespan. No worries though, the mac fanatics will be upgrading next year to the new new iMac running the new new mac operating system.

(via tgdaily)

46 watt home theater pc

Jeff Atwood at coding horror decided to improve on his existing homemade home theater pc by taking advantage of the simplicity and low power of the AMD 780G platform.

He ended up with a small form factor home theater pc with directx 10 support and dual TV tuner, and you can copy his setup for around $500.

(full instructions at codinghorror)

Alienware Area 51 gets CrossfireX

Alienware has announced that they are now offering 4 GPU CrossFireX graphics using a pair of Radeon HD 3879 X2 cards on their Area-51 gaming PC.

Alienware are famous for their high performance gaming PCs and this enhancement helps keep them at the top of the field.

(press release after the jump)

(via engadget)

Continue reading "Alienware Area 51 gets CrossfireX"

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor

Hot Hardware has taken a close look at the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor. This $270 chip is the replacement for the Q6600: the most popular member of intel's product line in terms of speed compared to value.

Here's what they thought of it:

"We would recommend this chip for those who want an inexpensive and low-power quad-core option for desktop or workstation usage. For gamers, we would recommend opting for a higher-clock speed dual-core model like the Core 2 Duo E8500, which can deliver better stock performance compared to the Q9300 in a gaming environment. If you want quad-core and top-notch gaming performance, we would recommend opting for one of Intel's higher-end quad-core models with a full 12 MB of cache, like the Q9450 and up."

(full review at hothardware)

New entry level graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 9600 GSO

Nvidia has quietly launched a new entry level graphics card.

The Nvidia GeForce 9600 GSO is SLI capable and features 96 processor cores, 550MHz core clock, 1375KHz shader clock, 800MHz memory clock, 384MB of RAM, 192-bit memory interface, a memory bandwidth of 38.4 GB/sec, and a texture fill rate of 26.4 billion/sec.

Pretty impressive for a card that is expected to compete directly with the $120 ATI Radeon HD 3830.

(more at nvidia)

Continue reading "New entry level graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 9600 GSO"

AMD goes business class

AMD just put out a press release announcing "AMD Business Class", "designed with business in mind".

Seems like a marketing invented phrase with no real substance behind it. Most of the press release is about the launch of a "new line of commercial stable AMD Athlon(tm) and AMD Phenom(tm) processors" "with up to 24-month stability".

Um, you mean their regular processors aren't stable?

Their marketing department just backfired again. Maybe if AMD stuck to flying in coach they would be more profitable and successful.....

Continue reading "AMD goes business class"

PQI Phoenix RAM: that's quite an impressive heatsink

A bunch of other sites posted about this new RAM from PQI today. It was actually released a month ago but you know how the internet is: someone posts something, other people copy the post without checking the facts etc.

Another example was the "new" combination microwave/toaster that was all over the gadget sites last week.... we have had one of those in our office for the past year (mini review: it feels cheap but does a good enough job).

Anyway, back to this RAM.... I can't tell if that heatsink is on steroids or viagra, either way it looks pretty impressive. The specs of the 4GB memory kit aren't bad either (see the full press release after the jump).

Continue reading "PQI Phoenix RAM: that's quite an impressive heatsink"

Loads of HP mini-note articles

Liliputing just received a HP Mini-note eee pc lookalike and they seem pretty excited: posting 5 articles about it so far from unboxing to comparing XP startup speed to an eee pc:

Unboxing video
First impressions
Comparison to eee pc slideshow
Windows XP startup speed video
Impressions on SUSE linux

Nvidia releasing GeForce 9900 early

According to VR-Zone Nvidia is going to release the 9900 as soon as July to keep ahead of Radeon and their HD4800. Here's what they had to say:

"It seems Nvidia has decided to launch them as early as July to counter RV770 and steal the performance crown away. Nvidia has earlier confirmed GT200 existence and revealed that the GPU has about 1B transistors. Our sources are suggesting a 512-bit memory interface with GDDR3 memories for GeForce 9900 GTX using P651 PCB and a 448-bit memory interface for the GeForce 9900 GTS."

(vrzone, via engadget)

Apple's quarterly results

Despite the economy being in the toilet, gas being over $3.50 a gallon, and rice being rationed at Sam's Club, people are still buying their cool gadgets thanks to uncle sugar and his tax rebates.

Apple just announced their quarterly results and they had a great quarter:

* 2.29 million Macs shipped, up 51% over this time last year
* iPod sales were flat but revenues were up
* 73% of portable music player market, 85% of (legal) music downloads
* 1.7m iPhones sold in the quarter
* still expecting 10 million iPhones this year (better hurry up and launch a 3G iPhone)

AMD announced 3 new phenom chips

AMD has announced an update to it's phenom line of processors, adding three updated X3 triple-core chips.

The Phenom X3 8750 (2.4GHz) processor is priced at $195, the 8650 (2.3GHz) at $165, and the 8450 (2.1GHz) at $145.

AMD is currently under a lot of pricing pressure after Intel cut prices on some quad-core chips by up to 50%.

(list of AMD chips after the jump)

Continue reading "AMD announced 3 new phenom chips"

DIY Solid State Drive (SSD)

Over the next few years we hope hard drives go the way of the dodo and get replaced in all our PCs with solid state drives (SSDs) which offer the advantages of faster startup, near instantaneous access, no noise, low power requirements, and more reliability.

The downside is that large SSDs are very expensive: up to 100 times the price of a comparably sized hard drive.

Prices are gradually coming down but in the meantime century has come out with a gadget that lets you create a DIY SSD using 3 compactflash card at a fraction of the price of a true SSD.

The DIY card will be available shortly at geekstuff4u.

(via akihabara news)

Continue reading "DIY Solid State Drive (SSD)"

Dell jumps on the green bandwagon

earth2tech reported on Michael Dell's speech at the Fortune Green conference where he showed off a new green inspired computer with a bamboo case and that is "filled with recycled materials like old bottles, milk jugs and detergent cases" (in other words the plastic parts of the computer are probably made with plastic that contains some percentage of recycled material).

According to Dell the computer is 81% smaller than a standard desktop PC, uses 70% less power, will be out later this year, and will cost between $500 and $700. No word on the specs of the computer but in order to cut power usage by 70% I expect the performance to be mediocre.

I applaud companies that really do try to limit their consumption of non-renewable resources but I wonder how many of the current crop of companies releasing "green" products are just doing it for the marketing buzz and how many really try to reduce energy use and waste in their own production facilities and offices.

(more at earth2tech)

Continue reading "Dell jumps on the green bandwagon"

Another Eee PC copycat, the Kira 100

Another Eee PC clone has been launched in Europe by the Spanish company Airis. The Airis Kira sure sounds (and looks) a lot like the Eee PC: 7 inch display, 800 x 480 resolution, 1GHz VIA C7 mobile processor, 2 GB flash memory, 512mb RAM, Ethernet, 56kbps modem.

It is powered by Windows XP, it weighs 2.2lb, its dimensions are 9.5" x 6.7" x 1.1", and it costs 299 Euros ($470).

I guess the old adage still stands: "if you can't beat them, copy them", although it is interesting seeing a European company copying an Asian one, it's normally the other way around.

Unlike the Eee PC it also comes in pretty colors (pink and yellow) as well as black and white.

(more at airis)

Continue reading "Another Eee PC copycat, the Kira 100"

Fujitsu launches 320GB 2.5" encrypted hard drive

Fujitsu has added automatic hardware-based encryption to it's MHZ2 CJ 320GB hard drive.

This hardware based encryption supports the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and unlike software based encryption (such as Truecrypt) the key does not reside in the computers memory and the encryption does not use an processor power from the laptop.

The new drive will be available at the end of May 2008.

(more at pclaunches)

Iogear USB External DVI Graphics Card

Want to add a second monitor to your PC but scared (or unable) to open the case?

Iogear comes to the rescue with an external DVI graphics card that connects to your PC over USB.

It works with Windows XP and Vista, costs $149.99, and while they don't give any specs for how fast it is I wouldn't be planning on using to play recent games - it's strictly for the office word/excel crowd.

(full press release after the jump)

Continue reading "Iogear USB External DVI Graphics Card"

Seagate ships one billionth hard drive

Seagate just announced they have shipped their one billionth hard drive. According to them that's 79 million terabytes of data storage, 158 billion hours of digital video (not sure if that is hi-def or not), or 1.2 trillion hours of music.

Amongst other interesting (and not so interesting) factoids in their press release:

It took 29 years to ship a billion drives, they estimate they will ship their next billion in 5 years.

and,

Their first hard drive could hold 5 megabytes, weighed 5lb and cost $1,500.

(click here for the full exciting press release)

Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 840 Dual Core Processor

Tech Report has reviewed the first dual-core processor from Intel: the Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 840 Dual Core Processor.

The 840 is Intel's current flagship desktop processor featuring a pair of Prescott 3.2GHz Pentium 4 cores each with 1MB of L2 cache, and buying one will hit your wallet for a hefty $999.

Is it worth that major moolah?, the answer is yes if you need speed and your applications support threading, but try running older non-threading applications and you will be left in the dust compared to a good Athlon 64.

(Full Review at Tech Report)

Power over Ethernet

DSP Design has unveiled the first PC that is powered through a standard ethernet (CAT5) cable.

The POET 6000 is less than an inch thick, silent, runs windows XP from a flash drive, has a touch screen, uses only 13w of power, and in our opinion would be perfect as a media center extender & web browser in your kitchen/bedroom etc.

(more from DSP Design via BBC)

AMD Alchemy Processor for PMPs

AMD has announced a new range of processors designed specifically for personal media players (PMPs).

The Alchemy chips have processor speeds of 333-500MHz and are optimized for low power consumption, and playback of video at 720 by 480 pixels.

This means that PMPs don't need a seperate graphics processor and will be capable of resizing video on the fly at resolutions of up to 1024x768.

AMD also announced that the new chips are compatible with TivoToGo so you should soon be able to buy a device you can plug into your network and copy across a couple of show to watch on the train or plane (but please not in your car if you are driving).

Sparkle GeForce 6600GT Review

We bought a new Dell PC recently that was a great bargain, offered all the latest technology, but its gaming was very poor due to it coming with a basic Radeon X300 graphics card.

To replace the card we had two choices, spend $400+ on a top of the range Radeon X800/X850 or GeForce 6800 card, or keep the budget more sensible and get a mid-range card for around $200 such as a Radeon X600 or GeForce 6600 card.

We wanted a card that would handle the latest games like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 at a good resolution (1280x1024) with high graphics settings, and after researching we bought a Sparkle GeForce 6600GT graphics card from Directron for $207.

How did the card perform, and how much did it improve over the 16377 Aquamark3 benchmark score we got with the old X300 card? Keep reading to find out......

Continue reading "Sparkle GeForce 6600GT Review"

Asus Spresso Barebones PC

Here's a nice looking barebones small form factor PC from Asus: The S-presso SI-P111.

The Asus Spresso comes with the fancy looking case, LED panel, TV tuner, remote control, memory card reader, and a high-end Asus motherboard. All you do is add a hard drive, operating system of your choice (this would be great for Windows Media Center), DDR memory, socket 478 processor, and a graphics card (it has been tested with most recent high-power 8x AGP card, making it suitable for a gaming PC).

The Asus Spresso SI-P111 is 9.5" x 7.1" x 13", and costs around $300.

More on the Spresso from Asus (via Slashdot)

GeForce 6600GT vs Radeon X700 Pro

We are writing a series of articles about our $649 low price high performance PC and we are looking at the best $200 upgrades.

The first component we are upgrading is the graphics card; switching out the anaemic ATI X300 solution for a nice new GeForce 6600GT.

When we made that decision it was a choice between two types of cards, both of which are available for around $200: 128mb GeForce 6600GT or 256mb Radeon X700 pro

At first we wanted to go for the X700 pro as it had twice the memory and used the same drivers as the X300 (making for an easier upgrade), but we heard there was a big performance difference that made the GeForce 6600 a better buy.

Anandtech has just confirmed what we heard in a faceoff between GeForce 6600GT and Radeon X700 pro cards. The GeForce 6600GT got a 20% better frame rate in Half-Life 2, 70% better in Doom 3, and between 5% and 20% improvement in other games.

Looks like we made the right choice.

Full Article from Anandtech.

Trust HU-3340M Mini USB hub

bios has a review of the Trust HU-3340M Mini USB hub.

Ok, we've all seen millions of USB hubs before but this one does have some redeeming features: light, aluminium, and most importantly, is powered:

We were using a mini USB hub with my wife's laptop and the mouse kept going screwy, jumping all over the screen, and clicking randomly, we tested for spyware viruses and adware but in the end the problem turned out to be the hub, it was unpowered and with 4 devices connected there wasn't enough power getting through to the mouse (the mouse worked perfectly when connected directly to the laptop's USB port.

So, if you are going to buy a USB hub pay a little more for a powered one like the Trust HU-3340M Mini USB hub.

bios magazine review

GeForce 6600GT Graphics Card Face-Off

Our $649 low price high performance PC arrived (we will have a review up in a few days), and if you remember we are going to be upgrading a few components.

The first component we are upgrading is the graphics card; switching out the anaemic ATI X300 solution for a nice new GeForce 6600GT. We bought a Sparkle GeForce 6600GT card (as we found a good price online) but were wondering how it compares to other 6600GT cards.

Anandtech came to our rescue as they have just published a face-off between retail GeForce 6600GT cards from 11 manufacturers.

The cards they looked at were from: Albatron, Gigabyte, Palit, Sparkle, Leadtek, Chaintech, Prolink, MSI, XFX, Inno3D, Galaxy and NVIDIA.

The end result is the the Sparkle isn't the best but it still performs good and should prove to be a good upograde for the money.

Full Review from Anandtech.

Dell Accessories Deals

Dell Home has a bunch of coupons today:

Dell Axim X30 high Pocket PC: $379 with free shipping (use $35 off $350 code)
Dell Axim V50v VGA Pocket PC: $464 with free shipping (use $35 off $350 code)
Canon Powershot S500 5 megapixel digital camera: $324 with free shipping (use $35 off $350 code)
Canon Powershot S410 4 megapixel digital camera: $279 with free shipping (use $35 off $350 code)
Dell 2001fp 1600x1200 pixel 20 inch LCD monitor: $604 with free shipping (use $35 off $350 code)
Dell 2005fp 1680x1050 pixel widescreen 20 inch LCD monitor: $644 with free shipping (use $35 off $350 code)

$35 off $350 accessories purchase with code BPDHZ0CHM?ZBLZ (expires 11/11/04)

25% off $999 Inspiron laptops with code 2WL7WMLD3Q4G23 (expires 11/15/04)
25% off $1299 Dimension desktops with code M60LDQM2TH?N37 (expires 11/18/04)
30% off $1799 Dimension desktops with code 3TB6R405280WT1 (expires 11/18/04)
(above codes replace the 15% to 25% discounts shown for desktops and laptops)

Ultra X-Connect 500w PSU Review

We had been planning on upgrading the power supply on our main PC for a while as our power supply was noisy and underpowered for the 3 hard drives, 2 optical drives, and power guzzling ATI graphics card in our system.

Replacing a power supply is one of the most complex do-it-yourself jobs on a PC, in my mind second only in complexity to replacing a motherboard. We therefore looked around for a solution that promised to be a high-quality replacement that wouldn't need to be upgraded again for years.

We thought the Ultra X-Connect 500w PSU looked to be a good fit for our needs and Ultra Products were kind enough to send one over for us to review.

An additional advantage to upgrading to the Ultra X-Connect is that is has a modular cable system where you just install the cables you need removing a lot of the clutter from your PC (hopefully improving airflow and reliability at the same time).

How did we fare at replacing our power supply?, and how has it performed?, keep reading to find out......

Continue reading "Ultra X-Connect 500w PSU Review"

NEC Fuel Cell Laptop

NEC are unveiling a new laptop at the WPC expo show in Japan.

The new NEC is the first laptop powered by a fuel cell instead of a standard li-ion battery, and the battery life is said to be an impressive 10 hours.

Press Release (Japanese)

(via sorobangeeks)

Logitech V500 Cordless Notebook Mouse

I've been looking for a good travel mouse for a while and just stumbled upon the new Logitech V500 Cordless Notebook Mouse that seems to be exactly what I am looking for.

The Logitech V500 Cordless Notebook Mouse is small, but not too small, has a 4-way solid-state scroll panel (instead of and better than a scroll wheel), 2.4GHz wireless, an "all terrain optical engine" sensor, and takes 2 AAA batteries.

The Logitech V500 Cordless Notebook Mouse will cost $69.95.

(logitech via ubergizmo)

Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook

bios took a look at the Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook.

The Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook is a PCMCIA card that gives laptop users a greatly improved sound experience over the regular sound output of laptop computers.

Every laptop these days has a PCMCIA card slot or two but there are less and less things to do with it now that wireless, ethernet, modem etc is built into the laptop. It's nice to find something new to do with an otherwise empty PCMCIA slot.

The Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook has high quality sound output:

"It delivers THX® certified 24-bit ADVANCED HD™ audio quality playback with incredible 104dB SNR, allowing the highest resolution audio playback with support for DVD-Audio at up to 24-bit/192kHz and Windows Media 9: 24-bit multi-channel audio format.

The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook also provides encompassing 7.1 surround sound for Dolby® Digital EX as well as DTS-ES™ supported DVD movies; any DirectSound3D games and CMSS 3D virtualized 7.1 stereo music. Gamers will love the hardware accelerated EAX® 4.0 ADVANCED HD™ that not only brings games to life, but delivers maximum performance! Musicians will also enjoy true 24-bit recording and low latency ASIO support for the ultimate audio recording platform. Notebook audio just got very, very interesting!"

More from Creative

Pioneer DVR-108 16x DVD Burner Review

The Pioneer DVR-108 is the OEM version of the first 16x DVD Writer that also supports 4x dual-layer write speeds.

The main differences between this and the retail box version (DVR-A08) are that the DVR-108 comes with a plain faceplate and no software or cables.

We got a Pioneer DVR-108 to test from Directron. Keep reading to find out what we thought of it.

Continue reading "Pioneer DVR-108 16x DVD Burner Review"

Fingerprint Sensing LCD Screen

Casio has developed a 1.2" LCD screen with a fingerprint sensor layered into it.

The idea behind the concept is to built biometric security into cellphones without needing a seperate sensor.

Casio said it could also be used in PDAs (but that would require a larger, higher resolution LCD).

Sounds nice but what I don't get is: why would I want a PDA or cellphone whose LCD screen is always covered in greasy dirty fingerprints?

(more from PC World)

Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard Review

PocketPcThoughts has reviewed the Think Outside Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard.

The Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard is a very small (5.5" x 3.9" x 0.5") box that folds out for form a good sized (9.9" x 5.8" x 0.5") 4 row QWERTY keyboard.

The Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard should work with any bluetooth equipped pocket pc (or a pocket pc wit a socket bluetooth SD or CF card) as well as many bluetooth equipped smart phones.

The list of compatible devices on the Think Outside site is a little out of date and doesn't specifically mention any of the new VGA Pocket PCs although they should work with the keyboard without problems.

(pocketpcthoughts full review)

Logitech MX1000 Laser Mouse Review

Hardware Central has posted a review of Logitech's new mouse, the MX1000, that uses a laser instead of the usual optical sensor.

The laser is said to be 20 times as accurate as a normal optical mouse.

The MX1000 is wireless and has a cute little battery status monitor on the side.

Hardware Central liked everything except the price of the Logitech MX1000.

(review)

ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 Review

The ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 is an external TV tuner for PCs (mostly useful to notebook owners) that sends uncompressed video images from an aerial, composite video cables or an S-video cable through a USB 2.0 connection to your PC or notebook.

TrustedReviews got hold of an ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 card and tested it out, they liked it despite the lack of a remote control.

TrustedReviews review

Shuttle SB81P Review

Bittech reviewed the Shuttle SB81P XPC small form factor pc.

The Shuttle SB81PC is a small computer case, 350w silent power supply, and motherboard: you have to add a processor, memory, hard drive, CD/DVD drive, keyboard, mouse, etc.

The Shuttle SB81PC is 12.7" long, 8.3" wide, and 8.7" high, this is a little larger than many shuttle cases but it allows the building of a more powerful system.

The Shuttle SB81P supports socket 775 pentium 4 and celeron 800/533MHz processors, up to 2GB of DDR 400 RAM, up to 3 3.5" SATA hard drives and a 5.25" optical drive (DVD/CD), and has 2 expansion slotS: a PCI slot and a new PCI Express slot for more powerful graphics.

Overall Bittech liked the performance, silence, and style but didn't like the onboard graphics.

Full review

Microsoft Starck Mouse

The new Microsoft optical mouse created by the world-famous designer Philippe Starck is now available at amazon.com for $29.95.

It is a good choice if you wanty a basic wired optical mouse, clean simple look, works equally well left or right handed, and has a good optical sensor.

The Microsoft Starck Mouse comes with wither a blue or orange stripe.

Logitech MX1000 Laser Mouse

Logitech has announced a new mouse, the MX1000, that uses a laser instead of the usual optical sensor.

The laser is said to be 20 times as accurate as a normal optical mouse.

The MX1000 is wireless and has a cute little battery status monitor on the side.

I reviewed the MX900 bluetooth mouse and was very impressed. Expect to see a bluetooth laser version of this mouse in the next few months.

Pentium 4 Price Cuts

The Inquirer reports that intel are having a big round of price cuts on Pentuim 4 processors. The cuts will happen August 22nd.

The prices listed are the bulk prices (the price paid for batches of 1000+ by computer manufacturers).

All Pentium 4 processors below 3ghz are phased out, and prices on other Pentium 4's are cut.

What the price cut really means is that if you are looking to buy a new PC you should wait. A computer with a 2.8ghz processor should come with a 3ghz, one with a 3ghz should come with a 3.2ghz etc, for the same price after August 22nd.

Hush ATX Silent PC

TrustedReviews has a review of the new Hush ATX "Silent PC" from Hush Technologies.

The Hush ATX uses standard PC components such as Intel Pentium 4 Processors, up to 160gb hard drives, TV tuners, DVD drive, up to 2gb RAM etc but cuts out all the noise by not using a single fan.

Instead of fans the Hush ATX uses a custom built case that acts as a massive solid aluminium heatsink.

Does it work?, check out the review at TrustedReviews to find out.

Apple Tablet Speculation

The Register has found an interesting European design trademark filing by Apple.

It is for a "handheld computer" that look like a mini ibook screen.

The rumormongers are talking about a touch sensitive tablet with an 8" screen running Mac OS X that can act as the control pad for your home network, viewing video, controlling itunes, etc.

Power-ful Ultra X-Connect Power Supply

My main PC is home built and a couple of years old, it has been regularly upgraded from the motherboard up except for the power supply.

With graphics cards needing more and more power, I think the next thing I need to upgrade is my old 350w power supply, which is why I was pleased to find a review of the Ultra X-Connect 500w Power Supply.

The thing I like most about this power supply is the individual power leads: much better than the tangle of messy interconnected power leads in the average PC.

Review at Viperlair.com

BenQ M310 Wireless Optical Mouse

On our recent 2 week business trip we were missing a few things to make ou lives even easier.

One of those things was a good usable travel mouse, and now it looks like PC Mag has found one.

The BenQ M310 Wireless Optical Mouse is a small (but not too small) wireless optical mouse, it has a wireless USB connecter that plugs into the mouse when not in use for easy portability and less chance of getting lost.

More fromn PCMag

(thanks engadget)

Logitech MX900 Bluetooth Optical Mouse Review

The MX900 is Logitech's Cordless Mouse that connects with Bluetooth Wireless technology and uses their new MX Optical Engine which they say is the fastest most accurate mouse technology around.

What do I think of it? read the full review below and find out.....

Continue reading "Logitech MX900 Bluetooth Optical Mouse Review"

Netgear WGR101 802.11g Travel Router part 2

Last week I mentioned the WGR101 802.11g wireless travel router, but didn't have a good link for you to buy it.

I am going to be traveling a lot in the next 3 weeks (San Francisco, Hong Kong, and China) and thought it would be an idea to get one of these gadgets and try it out on the road.

Buy.com has a good price on the WGR101 at the moment: $58.88 after $20 mail-in rebate so I just bought one and will let you know how it works....

Update 7/9: See extended entry below.

Update 7/27: Lots more on the Netgear WGR-101 in my Axim X30 Review

Continue reading "Netgear WGR101 802.11g Travel Router part 2"

Is that a network in your pocket......

.... or are you just pleased to see me?

Netgear has announced a cool new gadget... a wireless (802.11g) router small enough to fit in your pocket (0.7"x2.3"x3.4"), perfect for road warriors who need to setup a wireless network at their hotel, airport or client's office.

It's not available at Amazon yet but other online stores are starting to stock it in the $75-$85 price range.

More info from Netgear
(thanks dailywireless and designtechnica)

Bluetooth Keyboard

Available now for pre-order and shipping in July, Think Outside has started selling a full-size wireless bluetooth keyboard, that folds up into a 5.5" x 3.9" x 0.5" box.

I had one of their keyboards for my old iPaq and it was great, actually made it worthwhile to try to write an email or a document on my pocket pc.

Unlike many bluetooth devices, the compatibility list is extensive: pcs and laptops with XP SP1 or OS X, most bluetooth enabled phones, pocket pcs, also works with bluetooth SD and CF cards for pocket pcs without bluetooth built-in.

The price is $149 with free shipping until July 4th.

Product Link

Wireless G Router

Amazon.com has the Microsoft MN-700 Wireless 802.11g Base Station Router for $46.44 (no rebates needed).

Continue reading "Wireless G Router"

Cheap UPS

ComputerGeeks.com has a basic 650VA two outlet 110V AC UPS (uninterruptible power supply for just $30 with $10 off promotional code GEEK650.

It basically gives you time to save files and close down your PC when there is a power failure. I got a more powerful UPS than this to keep my work PCs and wireless network alive whenever my dog decides to run under the table and sit on the cables or power switches.

Continue reading "Cheap UPS"

Athlon 2600+ PC under $400

ComputerGeeks.com has a Compaq Presarion Athlon XP 2600+ PC with 512mb RAM, 80gb hard drive, and a CDRW/DVD combo drive for just $399 with $50 off promotional code GEEK5000.

Continue reading "Athlon 2600+ PC under $400"

Buy.com 48 HR Sale

It's time for another Buy.com 48 hour sale. (ends 4/7)

Some good deals are:

Trendware 5-port ethernet switch: $8 after rebate
Viking 512mb Compact Flash card: $80 after rebate
Viking 256mb Compact Flash card: $35 after rebate
Viking 256mb Secure Digital card: $45 after rebate

CreativeLabs Audigy ZS Gamer PCI Soundcard

Looking for a new soundcard? Amazon has the CreativeLabs Audigy 2 ZS Gamer PCI Soundcard for $98.99 after $35 mail-in rebate. This comes bundled with 5 full version games: Halo Combat Evolved, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Includes 3 additional missions).
If you value each game at $20 you are basically getting the card for free.
The card was reviewed by Gamersdepot who gave it a score of 5 and a half out of 5 and a "drool award", and Cnet gives it 8.3 out of 10.

Continue reading "CreativeLabs Audigy ZS Gamer PCI Soundcard"

Free Lexmark Printer

Tigerdirect has the Lexmark X1150 4800x1200 dpi 14ppm USB 2.0 All-In-One Printer free after $70 mail-in rebate. Rebate expires 4/3/04 so act quick if you want this.

Buy.com 48 HR Sale

Buy.com is having a 48 hour sale. (ends 3/31)

Some good deals are:

Norton Systemworks 2004: $4.99 after rebates
Gigafast 8 port ethernet switch: $19.99
Viking 256mb Secure Digital card: $44.99 after rebate
Viking 256mb Compact Flash card: $33.29 after rebate
Altec Lansing 221 PC speakers: $29.99

Wireless Bluetooth Desktop

I just put together a PC for my living room that serves music, pictures etc to my TV. I needed a wireless keyboard and mouse but in the past I had problems with a regular wireless keyboard conflicting with my 802.11b network.
I bought this bluetooth set and it works great, I can control the PC from anywhere in the house. Easy to setup and use... just make sure you are running XP.

$76.99 with Free Shipping at Buy.com

Continue reading "Wireless Bluetooth Desktop"

External CD-RW

Need a new CD burner? ComputerGeeks.com has a very fast Norcent EW520 USB2 external 52x24x52 for just $47.50 with promotional code GEEKEW520.

Continue reading "External CD-RW"

TigerDirect Sale

TigerDirect has a 48-hr sale ending today, some good deals are:

emachines 2.5ghz 256MB 40GB PC for $329.99
HP 2.66mhz 512mb 40gb 15.4" screen Laptop for $1199.99
DVD-RW burner for $49.99
Samsung 17" LCD monitor for $389.99

Click here for all the sale bargains (ends 3/19)

Speedy Storage

A fast hard drive makes a big difference when you are opening applications, starting games, etc.

Serial ATA (SATA) is the new type of connector for hard drives and is typically more expensive but CompUSA has a 160gb SATA drive for $99.99 after $50 rebate.

PDF Rebate Link

Continue reading "Speedy Storage"