News for August 20th 2010

Kristofer Brozio | August 20, 2010 | Xbox | No Comments

So it’s Friday, aren’t you happy? It doesn’t mean anything to me though, I work 24/7 pretty much, but that’s my life and I chose it right? Today I’ll have another Quick Review for you of another phone, then over the next few days I’ll have more reviews of another phone, a wireless router and another GPS unit..

Storage Related:

Patriot Inferno 100GB SSD @ PureOverclock

Review URL: http://www.pureoverclock.com/article1049.html

“The new SandForce drives offer killer performance, even leaving the Indilinx drives in the dust. Normally such performance boosts come with a very hefty premium, but that’s not happening for the most part, but especially with the Patriot Inferno 100GB. We have a drive here that is crazy fast and a pretty good deal when you look at the competition.”

Vantec NexStar CB-SATAU3 SATA to USB 3.0 Adapter
QUOTE: "How many times have you needed to plug in a drive for just a few minutes or your buddy drops by with that bomb track you have to hear and he brings it on a plain hard drive? The number of times a day when I have to plug a drive in is almost immeasurable. Even with several NAS servers, external enclosures and every other type of storage technology, there is always that one file that is on a drive and I need it right away.
Today we are looking at the Vantac NexStar CB-SATAU3 adapter that allows you it plug in a 2.5 or 3.5” SATA hard drive into a USB 2.0, or more importantly, USB 3.0 port. USB 3.0 offers blazing fast performance and in all but the most extreme cases can run your hard drive at native speeds."

Mushkin Ridgeback 4GB DDR31-600 CL6 @ PureOverclock

Review URL: http://www.pureoverclock.com/article1047.html

“If you’re looking for some high performance memory modules for your new Core i5/i7 system that aren’t fussy and won’t cost a fortune, today’s product will certainly interest you. We’re looking at a set of Mushkin Ridgeback 4GB DDR3-1600 CL6 modules that are optimized for use in the LGA1156 platform. They look sleek and have some good overclocking headroom at a great price. Backed by Mushkin’s strong product history and lifetime warranty, these Ridgeback modules might be something right up your enthusiast alley.”

Mobile Related:

ASRock Core 100HT NetTop @ Phoronix
Direct Link: http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=15213
Summary: "Last summer we reviewed the ASRock NetTop ION 330, which was the first Atom-powered NetTop computer that had come out of this vendor known for their affordable motherboards. The NetTop ION 330 combined an Intel Atom 330 CPU with NVIDIA’s ION platform to provide a low-power PC while offering modest computing and graphics capabilities. Earlier this year we then reviewed the ION 330HT-BD, which was ASRock’s revised nettop with more features and was topped off with a Blu-ray drive for greater media capabilities. Today we are now reviewing the ASRock Core 100HT, which is their newest nettop and it boasts an Intel Core i3-330M processor with 4GB of DDR3 system memory, a 500GB hard drive, and is completed with USB 3.0 and 802.11n wireless network connectivity."

Nokia N8 on pre-order in the US

So, Nokia’s US outpost is now ready to take your name down for an N8 with availability expected at the end of September 2010. Android, BlackBerry, iPhone are now leaders in the US smartphone market, but that won’t stop Nokia to launch the N8, its first Symbian^3 smartphone, in the States

http://www.mobilewitch.com/Nokia-N8-on-pre-order-in-the-US_news_details_450.htm

Luxor to sell Gresso’s $1 million cell phone

Luxor said its "Jackpot" phone is crafted from 6.3 ounces of pure gold, encrusted with 45.5-carats of black diamonds and features a back panel made of 200-year-old African Blackwood and each key is cut from a single hand-polished sapphire crystal.

http://www.mobilewitch.com/Luxor-to-sell-Gresso-s-1-million-cell-phone_news_details_449.htm

Choiix Power Fort Rechargeable Power Backup Battery Pack

As we start to haul around an increasingly large number of portable gadgets, our need for having some extra power on the go increases as well. This is becoming particularly true when it comes to smartphones, because we oftentimes find ourselves out of power before we have an opportunity to find a wall outlet. To this end, the Choiix Power Fort was developed. It’s a rechargeable external battery pack that can be used to top up just about anything that’ll take a charge from a USB port. We’ve seen similar products, but what makes this one different? Let’s find out!

Direct Link: http://www.megatechnews.com/megatech-reviews-choiix-power-fort-rechargeable-power-backup-battery-pack/

Lenovo ThinkCenter M90z All-In-One Review:
http://hothardware.com/reviews/Lenovo-ThinkCenter-M90z-AllInOne-Review/

The ThinkCentre M90z is Lenovo’s newest 23" touch-enabled all-in-one PC, and it’s going up against some stiff competition. HP’s TouchSmart, Apple’s iMac line, as well as a number of MSI units offer similar features at a similar price, and some might say with more modern looking, stylish enclosures. So, what does the M90z have to set it apart? That’s exactly what we aim to find out in our analysis…

Motorola Droid X Smartphone
Review Link : http://www.bayreviews.com/electronics/9461-motorola-droidx
Quote : "I am one of those who purchased the Motorola Droid X on launch day (07/15/2010) and best of all, I was due for an upgrade. I had the ever popular Motorola Droid (original or 1) before and while I loved it, but I wanted a bigger and faster device. I was debating between the iPhone 4 and the Droid X but guess which device won me over?"

Mobility Digest Review – BB 6.0 Desktop

Earlier this week RIM released Blackberry Desktop Manager 6.0 for Windows users. The screenshots of it actually made it look kinda cool so I decided to try it out. Plus I have never used the Desktop Manager before so that was another reason to try this out.

http://blackberry.mobilitydigest.com/mobility-digest-review-bb-6-0-desktop/

Audio / Video:

Iiyama ProLite E2472HDD Review – LED for the masses @ KitGuru

KitGuru loves a high quality LED backlit screen and with pricing continually dropping they are now firmly in the grasp of the mainstream audience. Unfortunately while LED television screens are normally much better than traditional CCFL models we have found at KitGuru that buying an LED monitor for your computer doesn’t always translate to a significant jump in quality.

Today we are looking at the Ilyama ProLite E2472HDD which is an affordable LED backlit 24 inch screen and hopefully it will fare well during our testing. The E2472HDD is for all intents and purposes identical to the more commonplace ‘E2472HD’ model, except it loses an HDMI port, falling back on a dual port VGA and DVI configuration.

Read the review here: http://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/monitors/zardon/iiyama-prolite-e2472hdd-review-led-for-the-masses/

LG HS201: A Compact LED Projector @ InsideHW

Summary: LG HS201 offers 200 lumens of brightness, a decent resolution and most acceptable dimensions, which is not something that competing manufacturers always manage to integrate in a single device so neatly.
Article link: http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Multimedia/LG-HS201-A-Compact-LED-Projector.html

OCIA.net has posted their review of the Asus CineVibe Headset.

"Today, we are reviewing the Asus CineVibe headset. This particular headset has one feature that makes it stand out from the rest: it vibrates. The CineVibe headset comes equipped with a vibration unit installed in each earpiece, which shake in real time with the bass levels of the speakers. This product isn’t quite yet released by Asus at this point, hence the lack of design and labeling on the box. You can expect more on that front soon."

Direct Link: http://www.ocia.net/reviews/asuscinevibe/page1.shtml

Quick Review: Arctic Sound S111 2.0 Speakers
QUOTE: "Aimed at users wanting the ultimate in lightweight portability, the Arctic Sound S111 speakers from Arctic Cooling are a super-compact 2.0 speaker system. In an effort to design products that work well together, Arctic Cooling also aims to market this system for use with their new C1 mobile solar charging solution we looked at recently.
Inside the small and well labeled box we find the two small speakers along with a product manual to aid in setup. The speakers are linked by a removable RCA style cable. On the rear of the right speaker, we find a USB cable to provide power as well as the master volume control for the system. We found setup to be hassle-free and painless."

Samsung UN55C7000 55-inch 3D LCD HDTV Review

"3D home theatre televisions! The future is here, finally! If you’re a technology geek it’s hard not to get excited the first time you hear about 3D HDTV. It’s one of those amazing Jetsons-esque technologies that seems like we’d never quite get to, along with hover cars and robot butlers. PCSTATS cuts through the marketing hype and tells you if the 3D Samsung UN55C7000 55-inch HDTV is worth it. "

URL: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2537

Asus O!Play Air HDP-R3 Review @ KitGuru

With the ever growing market for home networking, it makes sense that companies create media players that can replace the common PC for viewing pictures, playing video content and streaming files from NAS systems.

Read the review here: http://www.kitguru.net/networking/zardon/asus-oplay-air-hdp-r3-review/

JVC Picsio Pocket HD Camcorder / Camera Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Review URL: http://www.thinkcomputers.org/jvc-picsio-pocket-hd-camcorder-camera-review/

Quote: “Today we are looking at yet another pocket HD Camcorder / Camera. This one is from JVC and records in full 1080p HD, has 4x digital zoom, is very stylish and even takes 8-megapixel still images. Many of these pocket HD camcorders do not shoot great photos or no photos as all, but the JVC Picsio does shoot 8-megapixel photos. Could this be the deciding factor on what pocket camcorder to get? Let’s take a look and find out!"

Assorted Stuffs:

Virus Creators are Sneaky, DUH! @ BURNED iN
QUOTE:
"You get a popup while you’re web surfing, it says your anti-virus program has detected viruses and/or spyware. "Your PC is INFECTED!" It appears to be doing a scan and the numbers keep rising. Oh no! How could you have some many?! Maybe visiting that, um, naughty site wasn’t the best idea… and, actually, there are many legitimate-appearing, non-porn sites that do this, so never think you are in the clear. This can happen to ANY web surfer. The thing is, the popup is NOT LEGITIMATE! When it happens to you, here’s what you do: "
ARTICLE URL: http://www.burnedin.com/blogpost/tech-tip-day-virus-creators-are-sneaky-duh

In his latest blog post, TR’s Geoff Gasior pays tribute to several generations of under-appreciated home file servers that toiled tirelessly out of the limelight in his closet. It’s amazing how an unobtrusive necessity can become an afterthought.
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/19491

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 – A Photographer’s Review @ Techgage.com

Link: http://techgage.com/article/adobe_photoshop_lightroom_3_-_a_photographers_review/

Quote: To produce top-rate photos, more is needed than just a camera and lens. You need tailored software that’s designed for post-processing raw camera images, and no, not Photoshop. Rather, Photoshop Lightroom, software that gives you utmost control over your photos. We’re taking a look at the recently released version 3.

The news of Intel’s $7.68 billion acquisition of McAfee was a bit of a surprise to many of us, and the vague justifications both sides offered for the deal largely focused on the proliferation of mobile devices. However, I couldn’t help but think of another implication of this acquisition for the traditional PC market. Buying McAfee instantly makes Intel one of the leading perpetrators of the pay-for-play bloatware model that infects brand-new PCs from nearly all of the major vendors with heaping amounts of unnecessary software.
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/19489

IBUYPOWER Paladin XLC Phantom Series System Review @ Legit Reviews
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1384/1/

"The iBUYPOWER Paladin XLC Phantom we got to play with is a beast of a system. Coming out of the box, todays system had a 25% overclock in place from the iBP Labs Level 3 Powerdrive Overclock. This gave the iBUYPOWER Palading XLC Phantom power to spare. The base specifications that we looked at on the first page of the article are impressive, once you upgrade the iBUYPOWER Paladin XLC Phantom to the features you want, it will make it even better. The performance of the iBUYPOWER Paladin XLC Phantom as we tested it today was top notch. Throw in the fact that the iBUYPOWER Paladin XLC Phantom can be purchased from iBUYPOWER for less than it would cost you to purchase all of the parts individually, and its a no brainer! "

Desktop PC Platform – Statistical Obituary @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: This is the third piece in an ongoing editorial series, in which the introductory article identified several threats which could potentially put an end the desktop PC platform. To summarize that piece, desktop computers are at risk of extinction by a wide range of predators: notebooks, netbooks, Smartphones, PDA devices, and gaming consoles. For this article, worldwide sales statistics make a strong argument against the longevity of desktop computers into the future. Will gaming consoles, notebook computers, and Smartphone devices replace the desktop PC anytime soon? Perhaps the obituary has already been written and we’re all just ignoring the bad news.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11429&Itemid=8