Philips Digital Cam Review
posted: February 21, 2001 @ 6:43 EST by: ryan
NeoSeeker posted up their review of the Philips Vesta Pro Scan PC Camera which acts as a portable scanner (come with a tripod), digicam and webcam all in one. Here's a quote:
"In all honesty, I requested to review the cam, right after I was told it could scan images and text off of the desktop. I was intrigued by the idea: point the camera at a sheet of paper, click on a button or two in the software and voila, 30 seconds later you have a good chunk of text or images that you can directly cut and paste into whatever application you need. Maybe I was just caught off guard by novelty of the idea, but somehow the concept of cameras that can also scan documents really appealed to me."
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CPU-Cool Z1-D Heatsink/Fan
posted: February 20, 2001 @ 9:09 EST by: ryan
DreddNews has posted a review of PC Power & Cooling, INC.'s CPU-Cool Z1-D Heatsink/Fan combo for up to 1Ghz Processors. Here's a snip:
I know what you're thinking when you look at that HSF, "Ooooooooohhhhhhh, look at that cute lil' HSF and it's 40mm fan, I bet that cools better than the time I put my whole PC on the barbecue!" Well, it may not be the best, but the results may suprise you.
Read the review here.
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Quiet Your Computer
posted: February 20, 2001 @ 7:22 EST by: ryan
Overclockers Online posted a review of all the Quiet PC products, which are intended to make your rig ultra quiet. For all of you who ever wanted to do something about the noise coming from their computer... Snip:
"If I tell you these fans are quiet, I really mean QUIET! They produce about 20dB, which is as good as nothing! When I turn them on and I hold them next to my ear, I still can't hear them (I almost lost a piece of my ear because of this test ;))."
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Mini30 All Aluminum ATX
posted: February 20, 2001 @ 7:21 EST by: ryan
GideonTech.com has just finished their review on one of the nicest cases to ever come across our testing benches, PCMods Mini30 All Aluminum ATX. Snip:
"The first impression of the case when it was taken out of the box was wow, this is something different! The case is constructed with all aluminum and is ultra light coming in at 4.8KGs! All removable parts on the case is constructed with thumb screws. Great for people who want to do everything hands on. There are no sharp edges on the case either so there should not be any blisters after using it!"
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Icemat Mousepad Review
posted: February 20, 2001 @ 6:05 EST by: ryan
TweakTown have posted a quick four page review of the Icemat Mousepad which is made totally of glass and manufactured in Denmark. The Icemat is slightly smaller than the Everglide Giganta and offers a similar mouse movement smoothness:
"Many mouse pads and mousing products are being released into the market for consumer level use. First we had the now famous plastic style mouse pads from Everglide, which are still very popular. I have been using an Everglide Giganta mouse pad for the past few months with an Everglide wrist rest plus, it was going to take a lot for me to change mouse pads, after getting so used to the Everglide setup with my Microsoft Intellimouse Optical USB mouse. After seeing a new mouse pad released called the Icemat, I just had to get one to try it out."
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Iomega 12X ZipCD Review
posted: February 20, 2001 @ 6:04 EST by: ryan
NeoSeeker just finished their review of the Iomega 12X ZipCD (CDRW) drive. Here's a snippet:
"The Iomega ZipCD 12x10x32 is similar to Iomega’s other two drives, the 12x4x32 and the 8x4x32 models with the most significant difference being the introduction of Sanyo’s BURN-Proof technology. “BURN” stands for Buffer UnderRuN and the technology is a major improvement to the CD burning process. In the past, the one problem that has thwarted more CD burning attempts than any other, is the buffer-underrun. During the burning, the data that is being supplied to the CD-RW must remain in a constant and (somewhat) steady stream. If this stream of data is interrupted, the CD-RW will run out of data to burn, the laser will turn off and you can kiss that CD goodbye. At least, that’s how it used to happen. With Sanyo’s BURN-Proof and Ricoh’s “Just-Link”, buffer underruns are quickly becoming relics of another age."
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Adventures With Thermal Paste
posted: February 20, 2001 @ 6:01 EST by: ryan
OverclockedCafe has posted up a little article about their adventures with Thermal Paste ... OMG :)
"It has taken me awhile, but I finally had the time to run the tests I had planned for my old card on it's successor. I replaced the dead card with a Creative Labs 3DBlaster Annihilator 2, powered by the Geforce 2 GTS chip and 32 megs of DDR RAM. Since that time I've added a Geforce 2 Ultra to my stable, but I felt that the CL card was a perfect test bed for some extreme overclocking. First, it has headroom. The Ultra doesn't have nearly as much. Second, it shipped with no RAM heat sinks, so adding them would be a perfect way to test."
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Copper Hedgehog Review
posted: February 20, 2001 @ 6:00 EST by: ryan
HardCoreWare tells a grand tale of the love & hate relationship two competing heatsinks embark on.
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Win a OCZ Titan2 GeForce2
posted: February 20, 2001 @ 5:58 EST by: ryan
SystemLogic.net is giving away a OCZ Titan2 MXTreme GeForce 2 MX video card.
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Epox 8KTA3+ Motherboard
posted: February 20, 2001 @ 5:57 EST by: ryan
Amdmb.com has posted a review of the Epox 8KTA3+ motherboard, which features the KT133A chipset and on-board IDE RAID solution.
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Senfu Thermometer Review
posted: February 19, 2001 @ 10:16 EST by: ryan
Adrian's Rojak Pot just posted a review of the Senfu thermometer - an external thermal probe for the PC. Here's a quote:
"Ever wanted to keep track of your CPU or graphics chip temperature while you are working? Well, you can use software monitoring utilities but what if your motherboard doesn't come with temperature monitoring support? Or what if you want to measure the temperature of a component which your motherboard cannot?"
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Benchmarking Your Comp
posted: February 19, 2001 @ 10:14 EST by: ryan
G3D:Gaming In 3D's has posted up an article on how to benchmark stuff. Here's a bit:
"Direct3D is one of the APIs in a set, available for application development. Direct3D is available to the developer as an API, using which, applications utilizing 3D graphics can be developed much faster using a standard way. The Direct3D API is part of DirectX."
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Fate of the Dragon Shots
posted: February 19, 2001 @ 10:12 EST by: ryan
GameSpyDaily just posted 6 new images from Eidos Interactive's Fate of the Dragon RTS.
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Oni Review
posted: February 19, 2001 @ 8:04 EST by: ryan
The Game Den takes a look at the Japanese inspired third person adventure game - ONI. Here's a clip of their review:
"Oni is a third person adventure that evokes qualities similar to Japanese cartoons. The story takes place in a futuristic nightmare where a single government reigns supreme with their capitalistic might. As the main heroine of the game, “Konoko” participates in a highly classified Police force determined to wipeout any opposition willing to threaten the establishment. With her special abilities and cunning instincts, Konoko will inevitably face decisions that will affect the people and world around her."
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Plextor PlexWriter 16/10/40A
posted: February 19, 2001 @ 8:03 EST by: ryan
The Tech Zone reviews the Plextor PlexWriter 16/10/40A.
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Antec SX1030 ATX Review
posted: February 19, 2001 @ 8:03 EST by: ryan
TweakTown have posted a review of the Antec SX1030 ATX SOHO File Server case. The case includes a total of 8 fans based around all positions of the case with also many other good features:
"The case also comes standard with two 80mm fans that blow hot air out the back of the case. Add to that the two built in housings for additional 80mm fans on the front of the case, and you've got yourself a lot of added airflow without the trouble of building places to mount them, or without having to cut blowholes in the case. One thing that I was extremely impressed with was that one of the mountings for a fan on the front of the case blows cool outside air right into the drive bay that houses the hard drive."
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Epox 8KTA3 Review
posted: February 19, 2001 @ 8:02 EST by: ryan
BrokenPixel.com has just posted a review of the Epox 8KTA3 Mainboard.
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Arcanum First Look
posted: February 18, 2001 @ 9:21 EST by: ryan
This weekend's preview on EuroGamer takes a big ol' hands-on look at "Arcanum : Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura", the new steampunk role-playing game from the brains behind the Fallout series.
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Hercules Vcard Roundup
posted: February 18, 2001 @ 9:20 EST by: ryan
Hexus.net has posted up a MASSIVE roundup of the hercules cards, this is a welcoming on the Nv20:
"In real life gaming situations, the difference between the MX and the DDR is not really that noticeable, the same can be said for the Ultra and the Pro, they both only really show their strengths and weakness's in the benchmarks. The DDR and MX both really slow down considerably above 1024 resolution where as the Pro and Ultra continue to work in 1280*1024 resolution and with the Ultra it still gets reasonable performance in the highest resolution my monitor can support of 1600*1200 resolution."
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Win Some Stuff
posted: February 18, 2001 @ 9:19 EST by: ryan
Overwear Online has been running a competition for the past month, and it is nearly time for it to be drawn.
1st Prize: Globalwin FOP38
2nd Prize: Thermaltake Blue Orb
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BA7500 Speakers Review
posted: February 17, 2001 @ 7:57 EST by: ryan
GideonTech.com has posted up their review of the Boston Acoustics Digital Speakers. Snip:
"The Boston Acoustics 7500 deliver the ultimate package to computer gaming enthusiast. The set is composed of four flat panel 10" tall speakers and a 6.5" (165mm) sub. The satellites come in pairs of two, the two front ones, which are intended to be positioned on the desk, like the every day computer speakers. The second pair, come with a set of stands, and are intended to be set up behind the user, about shoulder height and aimed toward them. The subwoofer is rather large, about the size of the Klipsch Promedia's Sub."
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The Core Review
posted: February 17, 2001 @ 7:56 EST by: ryan
Hexus.net has posted up a review of the CORE. Here is a snip:
"This is the latest creation from the boys over at CPUfx, it is massive, we received some pictures of this several weeks ago after they did the initial run, we were most impressed and I believe my words were "WHERE IS MINE" I have watched the development of this and have been over impressed with how efficient it has been. They have developed a Duo-Mounting system, you can use little sidearm to hold it on your motherboard or you can use 4 plastic screws, both ways are good, perhaps the latter could be regarded as stronger ;)"
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Pocket PC Benchmarks
posted: February 17, 2001 @ 7:55 EST by: ryan
Adrian's Rojak Pot just updated their GAPI Benchmark 1.0 results page! New Pocket PCs have been added to the list, including a 221MHz and a 236MHz Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC.
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Unreal Fortress Team Interview
posted: February 17, 2001 @ 3:06 EST by: ryan
New at GlideUnderground.com today they have an interview with a few of the team members that are working on the new, great Unreal Fortress (UNF) mod for Unreal Tournament. It's in the form of an edited chat log, because there is quite a bit of interaction between our staff and theirs. Most of it is on task, some of is... well... isn't.
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Act Labs Stuff
posted: February 17, 2001 @ 8:56 EST by: ryan
The Tech Zone just got back from a road trip. Act Labs recently moved into a new office and invited them over for a visit. For those who don't know, Act Labs makes some kick ass joysticks and force feedback steering wheels.
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MidiLand S4 7100 Plus
posted: February 17, 2001 @ 8:55 EST by: ryan
For the weekend PlanetHardware has posted a review of Midiland's new Dolby 5.1 system, the S4 7100 Plus.
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Rounded IDE Cables
posted: February 16, 2001 @ 9:10 EST by: ryan
AcidHardware have just posted a review on the HighSpeedPC Rounded IDE and Floppy cables. These are excellent if space is at a premium in your case:
"People are always constantly looking for solutions to both problems. Rounded IDE/Floppy cables provide a neat and aesthetically pleasing solution to the problem with the added bonus that they reduce clutter around the case. This in turns produces better airflow which leads to better cooling for your system components. A while ago there was much talk about cable rounding after [H]ardOCP posted their original cable rounding article here. They claimed to have learnt the tip off people working at Compaq. This ignited the spark that lead people to realize that they didn't have to put up with cluttered cases any longer. After these home made cables became popular. Manufacturers started producing the machine made commerical version of the rounded IDE cable."
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New Arctic Silver II Out
posted: February 16, 2001 @ 6:56 EST by: ryan
There's a new Arctic Silver on the block! Arctic Silver II. This new version replaces both the "large" and "small contact area" compounds of the original version. It also comes in a smaller size (3gm, which means less expensive!) HighSpeed PC has it in stock now:
The incredible thermal properties of the original Arctic Silver are maintained while the viscosity improvements allow thinner, lower-resistance thermal interfaces.
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CRX160E-A1 CD-RW Review
posted: February 16, 2001 @ 6:51 EST by: ryan
LITTLEWHITEDOG has just released a review of Sony's Spressa CRX160E-A1 CD-RW. The review directly compares the drive to an HP 9500i, which has nearly the same technical specifications as the Sony.
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Kenwood 72x True-X Review
posted: February 16, 2001 @ 7:43 EST by: ryan
TweakTown's has reviewed one of the world's fastest CDROM drives, the Kenwood 72x True-X which uses a 7-Beam Pickup optical beam reader which results in super quiet operation. While the drive supports CD-R and CD-RW media, it does however refuse to read and access them, even with the latest drivers and firmware:
"How is it possible to attain these goals? Kenwood uses Xen's True-Xä technology to read 7 tracks in parallel. This is accomplished with 7 separate beams instead of the traditional 1 beam that is used on most CD-ROM drives on the market today. It then processes the data through a custom ASIC. It is also considerably quieter than most drives because the rotational speeds at the spindle are only ranging from 2,700-5,100 RPM's. Most drives of 40x or higher speeds are spinning at 10,000+ RPM's. This makes for a much louder drive, as well as one that causes a lot of vibration."
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Grado SR60 Headphones
posted: February 16, 2001 @ 7:42 EST by: ryan
ExHardware has posted up a reivew of the Grado SR60 Headphones. These aren't your everyday headphones and they can even come neck to neck in terms of performance when compared to many PC audio speakers. Here's a snip:
"Being an audiophile usually means a five figure expense on premium quality hifi components, no? In reality though, not everybody can afford to spend that much on a CD transport, DAC, power amplifier or speakers. Thankfully, headphones have been around for a really long time now and they may just be the perfect answer for the audiophile wanabe on a tight budget. This time around, we take a look at Grado Lab's value star - the Grado SR60."
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MSI 6340m Mobo Review
posted: February 16, 2001 @ 7:41 EST by: ryan
ViaHardware just posted their review of the MSI 6340m which is a micro-ATX board based on the VIA KM133 chipset. Here is a snip:
"VIA has long been a chipset supplier for AMD processors and provided many integrated platforms for AMD's K62 processors with the VIA MVP4 chipset. That trend continues today with the VIA KM133 chipset, we first previewed this chipset and were impressed with its performance and 3D ability. The KM133 chipset combines the features of the VIA KT133 chipset along with an integrated S4 graphics video. This setup gives users and OEMs a low cost solution with superior 3D performance over other integrated graphics solutions."
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Iwill KK266 Review
posted: February 16, 2001 @ 7:40 EST by: ryan
Amdmb.com has posted a review of the KT133A chipset motherboard from Iwill.
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Volcano II Review
posted: February 15, 2001 @ 9:04 EST by: ryan
So you think Thermaltake is all about weird looking Orb coolers huh? Well think again. Today hardCOREware reviews Thermaltake's latest entry into the Price/Performance CPU Cooling market they know so well; The Volcano II.
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WinGate Net Sharing Software
posted: February 15, 2001 @ 9:04 EST by: ryan
Speedguide.net has a new review up of a VERY populare NAT/Proxy software for sharing an Internet Connection, this software package is the famous WinGate Internet Sharing Software. Here is a quote:
"You may or may not have heard of Deerfield.com If you haven’t keep in mind they are a leading provider of some awesome home and business networking software. Some very famous software packages have come from Deerfield.com which include, FTP-Serv U, DNS 2 Go, MDaemon, Internet Neighborhood, Internet Quick, MailScan, Relay Fax, World Client and of course the one which we are reviewing here today, Wingate. Wingate, in the past and at present, is one of the leading Internet Sharing (NAT/Proxy) programs in existence; it’s very popular one of the top names in Proxy/NAT software."
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