2/19 PCMag.com: New Product Reviews

PCMag.com: New Product Reviews         Corsair Obsidian Series 800D February 19, 2011 at 7:16 AM   Has the miniaturization trend got you down? Are you longing to build a PC that catapults you back to those halcyon days of the 1980s and '90s when cases came up almost to your waist and weighed more than both your dogs together? Then the Corsair Obsidian Series 800D is for you: It's a thrilling throwback to the days of DIY yore. It's got space to contain all the components you can imagine, and then some—and then some more. Working in it couldn't be easier. And it's got proper airflow down to a science. The problems? Well, it's big, heavy, expensive ($299.99 list), and on the square and boxy side, and not all its elements are elegant. The 800 is ideal for serious builders (and rebuilders) who couldn't care less about how something looks, as long as it gives them every option imaginable. Design Assuming you have the back to carry it (it weighs about 44 pounds empty) and a place to put it (it measures 24 by 24 by 9 inches, HWD), however, this all-black, steel case is loaded with amenities. These begin on the motherboard tray, which features one large (about 7.5-by-6-inch) rectangular hole for installing aftermarket CPU coolers. One unusual twist on this is that the hole is covered by a removable door underneath, accessible through the opposite side panel. Also on hand are 11 more grommeted holes, in two different sizes (1.25 by 2.25 and 1.75 by 3.5), for routing cables behind the tray. Another nice touch: There are ten integrated standoffs for supporting an ATX motherboard, as well as additional holes for installing microATX or Extended ATX (EATX) boards. The power supply area is its own separate chamber, at the bottom of the case. It has two of the larger grommeted holes of its own, for easily sending cables out to the motherboard and drive area. The chamber will hold extra-long power supplies, and in addition to a sizable vent (outfitted with a dust filter) on the floor, on the far right (closest to the front of the case) is a removable plastic shield that sequesters the case's lowest drive bays. Speaking of which, the 800D is admirably outfitted in that department, as well. The aforementioned shield isolates two 3.5-inch bays, which will preferably contain drives you won't want to move too often. (You can insert them through the front if you remove the front panel.) Just above those are four more 3.5-inch bays that open on the front panel and have SATA backplanes, meaning you can hot-swap the drives you put in them at any time you like. Just push a button to release the drive clamp, then pull out the tray to add or remove a drive. (The backplanes also hide behind their own removable plastic shield.) Finishing off the storage cavalcade are a full five external 5.25-inch bays, for optical drives or other devices. At the top of the front panel you'll find a the power button and a push-button door that hides four USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, one FireWire port, and the reset button—its position in here makes it nearly impossible to hit it when you mean to press the power button. What else could Corsair pack into the 800D? Fans and additional cooling options, to start with. There are three 140mm fans inside the case itself: one on the rear panel, one on the ceiling of the power supply chamber, and one for the four external-access 3.5-inch drives that's hidden behind a removable plastic shroud. (We found this a bit tricky to take off and put back on.) This bears all the evidence of a smartly designed cooling system: The case is elevated an inch off the ground, thanks to three sturdy "feet" on the case, leaving the PSU chamber fan to pull in cool air from the floor vent and blow it across the video cards and motherboard, while the hard drives have their own fan and enclosed spaces to prevent heat from mingling. Should you want to cool things even further, there's room to install three 120mm fans or a large liquid-cooling radiator in the case ceiling, and two grommeted holes in both the rear panel and the PSU chamber ceiling facilitate channeling liquid-cooling piping throughout the case. If all that still isn't enough for you, the 800D also features almost entirely tool-free construction. Optical drives attach with sturdy, easy-to-operate plastic restraints, the four hot-swappable drive trays and the rails for the stay-in-place 3.5-inch drives are simple to use, and the seven expansion slots all come with generously sized thumb screws. You don't even need your Phillips to get into the case: Just push an unlocking button and pull off the appropriate side panel. (Unless the case is standing up and you have gravity working in your favor, this is not something you can do with one hand, which is a bit on the inconvenient side.) Building Building in the 800D was just as pleasurable as we expected: We couldn't devise a scenario that left us with insufficient elbow room. (A microATX motherboard works well in this case, of course, but you'll have an astonishing amount of space left over.) If you install a video card of above-average length, such as the ATI Radeon HD 5970, the longest card currently on the market, you have more than two inches of clearances before the nearest obstruction. In fact, Corsair even pre-answered a need we didn't know we'd have. When hooking up the SATA backplanes we needed four SATA data connectors and four SATA power connectors. Corsair included all of the former, but also designed a special four-way SATA power cable that let us connect them all at once. Another surprise we loved: a supplemental motherboard eight-pin power cable that terminated in both four- and eight-pin plugs. This was an enormous plus considering we never seem to have exactly the PSU or cable we need for the motherboard we're working with. With so much that's positive about the 800D, what's not to like? Aside from the above-mentioned niggles and its back-breaking stature and bank-breaking price, it's not much to look at. The case's sole capitulation to questions of style is a windowed side panel—otherwise, it's just a big, black box, living up to its name with little flair. There's not necessarily anything wrong with that, but aesthetics do play something of a role with enthusiast cases at this price. Corsair's own 600T looks smoother and shinier, with even better side-panel doors and almost as much interior space—and costs considerably less at $159.99 (list). Swinging the other direction, the Thermaltake Level 10 offers even more innovation, and is a true design marvel that earns its stratospheric $800 asking price. With its built-in handle and carefully cut base, it's also much easier to carry, despite being even heavier. The Corsair Obsidian Series 800D, then, is a case designed for set-it-and-forget-it enthusiast types who may like tinkering with their systems, but don't really plan to cart them around much. They're the people most likely to benefit (and get their money's worth) from this oversized case. But if they can afford it, we can't imagine they'll be likely to outgrow it any time soon. •   Corsair Obsidian Series 800D •   Thermaltake Dokker •   Antec LanBoy Air •   NZXT Phantom Case •   Antec DF-85 Case •   more Powered By WizardRSS         HP Mini 210-2000 February 19, 2011 at 7:16 AM   Light, portable, cheap—these are the defining characteristics of a netbook. These pint-sized devices offer basic Internet access and computing capability in a portable package, with a smaller price tag than a standard laptop. The HP Mini 210-2000 ($599 direct) checks off all of the required boxes, but won't blow you away in any given category considering its parts. What it will do is go the distance in terms of battery life. Design Weighing in at just under 3 pounds, the Mini 210-2000 offers great portability for the mobile user that will do anything to lighten their load, and is only a few ounces heavier than the 2.5-pound Acer Aspire One AOD255-1203 ($329.99 street, 4 stars), the lightest netbook we've reviewed. Students will appreciate that it's lighter than the average textbook, and small enough that it can fit easily into a backpack or large hand bag. The Mini 210-2000 also functions as a colorful accessory, available in Charcoal (Dark Grey), Luminous Rose (Pink), and Ocean Drive (Blue). The plastic chassis may not be as thin as the Acer AOD255-1203 or offer the aluminum finish of the HP Mini 5103 ($650 street, 4 stars), it has a semi-gloss finish that hides fingerprints and smudges, keeping a clean look. The netbook measures 1.25 by 10.5 by 7.5 inches (HWD). The 10.1-inch screen has a standard 1,024 by 600 resolution. It doesn't have the resolution to display high-definition video and images, but it's perfect for reading text, browsing the Web, and viewing YouTube clips. The keyboard is nearly full sized, and offers a comfortable typing experience. It has chiclet-style keys, which helps when trying to differentiate one key from another by feel. The mouse uses a clickpad, which combines the trackpad and mouse buttons into one smooth surface. It's multitouch-capable, and gesture controls like pinch and zoom or two-finger scrolling are ideal when using a small screen where content may be resized or cut off. The touchpad itself is a tad undersized, measuring only 1.75 by 3.6 inches, but it offers more mousing real estate than the Acer Aspire One AOD255-1203 ($329.99 street, 4 stars) and Dell Inspiron Mini 10 ($425 direct, 3.5 stars). Features There are 3 USB ports, a VGA output, and a combination headphone-out/microphone-in jack on the HP Mini 210-2000. There's also a 5-in-1 digital card reader and an integrated webcam. The HP Mini has multiple networking connections, including an Ethernet port, a wireless 802.11b/g/n adapter, and Bluetooth networking, which lets you to wirelessly tether to a broadband smartphone. The HP Mini 210-2000 does come with a number of programs pre-installed. A 60-day trial of Microsoft Office, a similar trial of Norton Internet Security, and a hefty handful of game demos from WildTangent clutter up the system. A desktop link to eBay, and a New York Times reader program further clutter the desktop. Many users will want to deactivate these trial programs when they first power up the netbook. And speaking of starting up the machine, when powered on, instead of booting directly to Windows, the Mini 210-2000 instead pulls up a Splashtop, which is a lightweight operating system that lets you access the Web, enjoy your media, and play simple games right away. In addition to shortening the wait to get online, it also lets you access your favorite media and play simple games, all without entering Windows. When you do want to get into the Windows OS, just one click will take you there. Performance The HP Mini 210-2000 is outfitted with an Intel Atom N455 processor, a single-core processor with 1GB of RAM and integrated Intel graphics. While these components are sufficient for basic Web browsing and document editing, something as simple as browsing with multiple tabs open can cause noticeably slow performance. For those who are willing to spend a little more for a power boost, you can configure this netbook with a dual-core Atom N550, and RAM can be expanded to 2GB. When run through SYSMark 2007, the Mini 210-2000 produced average results. An overall score of 37 puts it right alongside the Editors' Choice Samsung NF310-A01 ($399.99 street, 4.5 stars) and Toshiba mini NB305-N410 ($359.99 list, 4.5 stars), both of which scored 38 points. However, it couldn't match the 53 points scored by the Asus EeePC 1215N ($500 street, 4 stars). Where the HP Mini 210-2000 stands out is battery life: In MobileMark 2007, the 6-cell 66Wh battery lasted a whopping 9 hours 50 minutes. This marathon time beat out even most other long-lived netbooks, like the 8:55 of the MSI Wind U160-007US ($380 street, 3 stars) and 8:59 of the Toshiba mini NB305-N410. All things considered, the HP Mini 210-2000 is a light netbook that can be used to browse the Web and edit documents for hours and hours on end. If more computing power is a necessity, you might prefer the Editors' Choice Samsung NF310-A01 or an ultraportable, such as our Editors' Choice, the Toshiba Portege R705-P35 ($899.99 list, 4 stars). For students who don't need a lot of processing power or graphics capability, the backpack-friendly size and budget-friendly price tag makes the HP Mini 210-2000 worth looking at. BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS: Check out the test scores for the HP Mini 210-2000 COMPARISON TABLE Compare the HP Mini 210-2000 with several other laptops side by side. More laptop reviews: •   Acer Aspire AS1830T-3935 (AT&T) •   HP Envy 17 3D •   Lenovo IdeaPad U260 •   HP EliteBook 8740w •   HP Pavilion dv7-4272us •   more Powered By WizardRSS         Canon Pixma MX360 Inkjet Office All-In-One February 19, 2011 at 7:16 AM   The Canon Pixma MX360 Inkjet Office All-In-One ($79.99 direct) is a good low-priced MFP (multifunction printer) for a home-business owner who wants to connect a printer directly to his or her PC. It prints, copies, scans, and faxes, and has an automatic document feeder (ADF). Above-par text quality, and solid graphics and photos round out the picture. The 7.8 by 18.1 by 16.4-inch (HWD) MX360 weighs 18 pounds has rounded corners and white sides. The ADF and input tray on top are surrounded by a black beveled strip that gives the front panel–which holds the display, alphanumeric fax keypad, and a number of function buttons—an upward tilt. The MX360 is slightly more basic than the Canon Pixma MX340 ($99.99 direct, 4 stars) that we reviewed last spring. It lacks WiFi and Ethernet connectivity. It has no media-card slots—which may be just as well, as you can't preview photos on the one-line monochrome text display. It does have a port for a PictBridge-enabled camera, or a USB key (which you can scan to, but not print from). The lack of these features shouldn't deter a home-business owner looking for a USB-connected PC, as the computer's own display, ports, and card slots can handle all the photo or file transfer and viewing. The MX360 offers fax capability, as well as a 30-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) for scanning, copying, or faxing multi-page documents. A 100-sheet paper feeder, though par for the MX360's price, limits its business use to the lightest of home-office duties. We tested the MX360 over a USB 2.0 connection to a computer running Windows Vista. Print Speed and Output Quality We clocked the MX360 on the latest version of our business applications suite (as timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software), which combines graphics pages, text pages, and pages with mixed content, at 1.8 effective pages per minute (ppm). This matched the Pixma MX340's speed, while the Editors' Choice Epson Stylus NX625 ($149 direct, 4 stars) zipped through the tests at 4 ppm. The Brother MFC-J410w ($100 street, 3.5 stars) was a little faster than the Canon, at 2.2 ppm. Text quality was good for an inkjet, and very good for an MFP at its price. Characters were reasonably crisp and dark for an inkjet. Output is good enough for internal business use, though you might not want to use the MX360 for documents such as resumes with which you want to impress someone through their visual appearance. Graphics quality was on a par with the majority of inkjets we've tested, good enough for general business use, including PowerPoint handouts. Colors were rich. Issues, all minor, included banding (a regular pattern of stripes of discoloration in some solid-color areas), dithering (the breakdown of solid areas into fine graininess), and trouble printing some very thin lines. Photo quality was typical of inkjet MFPs. Colors were well saturated but not overly so. A monochrome print showed a slight tint. There was some loss of detail in bright areas in a couple of the photos. Their overall quality was at about the level you'd expect of drugstore prints. In addition to serving as a home-office MFP, the Canon Pixma MX360 could fill double duty as a home-office and home printer, thanks to its decent photo quality, or it could serve as a personal printer in a larger office. It has its limitations befitting an $80 MFP. Its speed and paper capacity are typical of its price, and you're limited to connecting it directly to a PC via USB. But it has fax and an ADF (which the Editors' Choice Epson Stylus NX625—though far faster and with a fuller feature set, lacks—and prints beautiful text, plus solid graphics and photos. The Brother MFC-J410w offers more features—such as an (admittedly tiny) LCD screen and Wi-Fi capabilities—but it stumbles a bit on output quality, which is one place where the MX360 shines. BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS Check out the test scores for the Canon Pixma MX360 Inkjet Office All-In-One. COMPARISON TABLE Compare the Canon Pixma MX882 Wireless Inkjet Office All-in-One with several other MFPs side by side. More Multi-function Printer Reviews: •   Canon Pixma MX360 Inkjet Office All-In-One •   Samsung SCX-4623FW •   Dell V313w All-in-One Wireless Printer •   Brother MFC-J615w •   Lexmark Impact S305 •   more Powered By WizardRSS         iPartition 3.3.1 February 19, 2011 at 3:11 AM   OS X includes so many powerful, well-designed utilities that vendors need to come up with something special if they want you to pay for their products. Coriolis Systems' iPartition is one of the few commercial utilities for OS X that are definitely worth paying for—but you'll probably want it only if you need one of a few specific features that iPartition performs effortlessly but that the Disk Utility that comes with OS X can't handle at all. Before I tell you about iPartition's elegant interface and smooth operations (and a few of its drawbacks), let me describe the special features that make it worth having in the first place. Resize Windows Partitions First, iPartition, unlike Apple's Disk Utility, can resize a Windows partition on your Mac machine. Apple's Boot Camp utility can create a Windows partition and perform some low-level tricks to make Windows boot normally on hardware that it normally can't work with. But Disk Utility can't expand or contract a Windows partition after it's created it. If you want to decrease the size of your OS X partition and expand your Windows partition, you're out of luck if you don't have iPartition. If you're running Vista or Windows 7 on your Mac, there are complicated workarounds that let you perform this feat, but these workarounds aren't available for Windows XP. It's much easier to let iPartition take care of it. More Disk Divisions Next, iPartition, unlike anything provided by Apple, lets you divide your Mac disk into a Windows partition and two separate OS X partitions—or even a Windows partition, an OS X partition, and a Linux partition. I wanted to build a triple-boot Mac with three partitions, one for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, one for OS X 10.5 Leopard, and one for Windows XP. Apple's Disk Utility would let me split my original OS X partition into two partitions, one for each OS X version, but when I did that, Windows XP wouldn't boot. Enter iPartition, which effortlessly split my OS X partition in two, and wrote some low-level code to the Mac's boot data so that Windows XP would still boot. Move Your Partitions Third, iPartition, also unlike Apple's Disk Utility, can move partitions, not just resize them. Let's say you've got a Mac with two partitions for OS X, one for data, one for applications, and you want to reduce the size of both partitions, and add a third partition in the resulting empty space. Apple's Disk Utility can reduce the size of both partitions, but it can't then move up the second one so that it's adjacent to the first, and you're left with two separate blocks of empty space, instead of the single block of empty space that you want for your third partition. Again, enter iPartition, which can resize and move both partitions, and then create a new partition in the combined empty space. Using iPartition Unlike Apple's Disk Utility, you can't run iPartition from the disk that you're going to modify, so you'll need to do one of two things. Either run iPartition from a bootable external disk, like a USB backup disk, or use the built-in menu item that creates a bootable DVD with a copy of iPartition, and then boot from that DVD. When you launch iPartition it displays your hard disk in the form of a pie chart, with each partition in a different color. To perform any operation on a partition, click on it to highlight it. A curved handle appears at the outer edge of the partition, in the form of an arc that's concentric with the outer edge of the pie chart. Drag the handle to resize the partition. Then do the same with any other partition, then click the Go button to perform all your pending operations. It sounds more complicated than it is, and you'll get an idea of how intuitive it is if you check out our slideshow. iPartition's Weaknesses Not everything is perfect in iPartition. The help file isn't up to date, so it tells you to use a separate supplied utility to create a bootable DVD. In fact the separate utility doesn't exist, and you simply use iPartition's own menu to create a DVD. Also, after you've created multiple partitions with iPartition, you won't be able to resize them in Apple's Disk Utility, because Disk Utility won't mess with a disk that has partitioning features it doesn't recognize. You'll need to break out your copy of iPartition to manage that disk. No Other Option Yes, it's got a few flaws, but without iPartition, I couldn't have set up my Mac to work the way I want it to work, with two partitions for OS X, and one for Windows. When a product does exactly what I want it to do, and does it as elegantly and efficiently as iPartition does, it gets a thumbs-up from me. You'll never need iPartition if you use your Mac exactly as Apple wants you to use it, but if you need its features, nothing else will do. More Backup Utility Software: •   iPartition 3.3.1 •   Jungle Disk 3.1 •   GoodSync Pro (for Mac) •   CrashPlan 3.0 •   KineticD •   more Powered By WizardRSS             This email was sent to kajo.sunsuke@gmail.com. Delivered by Feed My Inbox PO Box 682532 Franklin, TN 37068 Account Login Unsubscribe Here

2/19 TweakTown Everything Feed

TweakTown Everything Feed         Corsair Announces Transition Plan for Force Series Solid-state Drives February 19, 2011 at 12:56 PM   Corsair Announces Transition Plan for Force Series Solid-state Drives FREMONT, California — February 18, 2011 — Corsair®, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced its plans for the upcoming transition from 34 nanometer to 25 nanometer flash chips used on its solid-state drives. "There is a lot of confusion in the market about the impact the move from 34 to 25nm flash will have on both the price and the performance of solid-state drives," said John Beekley, VP of Technical Marketing at Corsair. "We've been working closely with SandForce to ensure the smoothest possible transition and we're sharing the details today." Flash memory manufacturers are transitioning to using 25nm process for fabrication, allowing them to boost capacity and reduce costs, which in turn will allow SSD suppliers to pass those savings to the consumer. The downside is that SSDs built using 25nm flash ICs may require more over-provisioning (a technique used to ensure reliability) which lowers the capacity of the SSD and may also see a reduction in performance. "The Corsair and SandForce engineering teams have been working closely with the key flash memory suppliers to profile and qualify 25nm parts," continued Beekley, "and we've been running our Force drives through performance and reliability testing alongside them. We're pleased with the progress that's been made in getting the Force Series 25nm drives ready to ship to customers." In the Corsair Labs, using the ATTO synthetic benchmark, only a small reduction in performance (roughly 3-4%) was seen when testing Force Series SSDs built with 25nm flash. Real-world tests, such as copying groups of files or measuring Windows boot times, support the ATTO results and show little to no performance loss. However, the over-provisioning needed means that in some cases the capacity of the drives will be reduced. "So that our customers are perfectly clear about what they are getting, we will be changing the model numbers on all 25nm based drives and transitioning the drive capacities we offer where necessary. For example, a drive that would have been sold as 120GB when built with 34nm flash will be launched as a 115GB version," said Jared Peck, Global Product Marketing Manager for SSDs at Corsair, "All Force Series drives built with 25nm flash will also have a '-A' suffix on the part and/or model number, making it easy to determine exactly what you're getting." Force Series 115GB and 80GB 25nm drives will be available by the end of February from Corsair's worldwide network of resellers and distributors. The F115-A has a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $215 and the F80-A has an MSRP of $169 in the U.S. For comparison the current Force Series F120 has an MSRP of $249 and the F80 has an MSRP of $199. You can read more about the transition plan, including the full set of results from our Corsair Lab performance testing, on the Corsair Blog. Images of the Force Series can be found in the SSD section of the web site. About Corsair Founded in 1994, Corsair supplies high performance products purchased primarily by PC gaming enthusiasts who build their own PCs or buy pre-assembled customized systems. The company's award-winning products include DRAM memory modules, USB flash drives, power supply units, solid-state drives, cooling systems, computer cases, and headset and speakers systems. Copyright© 2011 Corsair. All rights reserved. Corsair, and the Sails logo are registered trademarks, andForce Series are trademarks of Corsair in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks, and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice. Media Files 5057f.gif (GIF Image)         Apollo 18 trailer - a sci-fi horror thriller February 19, 2011 at 9:24 AM   Apollo 18 is a movie filmed in the "found footage" documentary style which involves the story of the Apollo 18 undocumented and covert mission to the moon which reveals other life forms which are quite disturbing. The movie is produced by Night Watch/Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov with the movie poster teasing "There's a Reason We've Never Gone Back To The Moon." It's like the love child of Paranormal Activity and Alien and actually looks quite good. Media Files 18931f.gif (GIF Image)         Intel announces new manufacturing plant with Obama on hand February 19, 2011 at 9:23 AM   U.S. President Barack Obama wrapped up his week of mingling with leaders in the tech industry with a tour of Intel's Hillsboro, Oregon manufacturing facility. While a large portion of many tech manufacturing jobs remain based in other countries, Intel remains steadfastly dedicated to being a U.S company from start to finish. Intel plans on creating over 4,000 jobs this year outside other future endeavors. Obama seemed very impressed by the facility. "We just had an amazing tour. One of my staff said it's like magic. I had a chance to see everything from an electron microscope, to the inside of the microprocessor plant--the clean room. Of all the gadgets you got here, what actually most impressed me is the students and science projects here." Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel, was on hand as host and also made the announcement of Intel's new facility coming to Arizona. It is going to be named Fab 42 and will be a $5 billion facility dedicated to 14 nanometer development and manufacturing as well as future projects. This is on top of the plans for a 14 nanometer facility that will be added on to the existing Oregon complex. Media Files 18932f.gif (GIF Image)         Bulletstorm beta get leaked - elaborate marketing stunts for leaked games? February 19, 2011 at 8:45 AM   Crysis 2 and Killzone 3 have each been leaked out to the internet and now Bulletstorm has joined them. Elaborate marketing stunt or behind the scenes leaks? Are leaked games the new cheap marketing stunt? These AAA titles will still sell in the millions so a few leaks isn't going to hurt them, right? EA has taken another hit with Bulletstorm making its way to torrent sites, with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions popping up online with only the former being confirmed to work. The PC version has not made its way out. 2011 has started with quite a few leaks, is it a coincidence? Or is it a different form of marketing? Instead of spending $30 million on an advertising campaign, maybe having 1 million people download your game is less of a hit? It gets the game into peoples hands and lets them brag about it to friends who might in turn not want to risk getting hit by the ban hammer for their consoles and rushing out to buy it? Media Files 18930f.gif (GIF Image)         Quick Review: Mach Xtreme MX-FX USB 3.0 Thumb Drive February 19, 2011 at 3:42 AM   Last month Mach Xtreme celebrated their first anniversary. As a company starting business in the middle of a global recession, the hill is high from the start, but once you take a look at the companies Mach Xtreme is dog fighting against, the odds don't look all that good. Mach Xtreme is taking on the industry big boys, OCZ Technology, Kingston and the rest of the well known companies making SSDs, flash drives and memory modules. In order to survive, Mach Xtreme has to do things differently and that is what they have done from the starting block. Mach Xtreme offers 'urban' themed products and recruits inner city graffiti artists to design logos and product graphics. The result is a different form of technology, one that offers a unique style while still retaining function. Today we are looking at the Mach Xtreme MX-FX USB 3.0 thumb drive. Physically the MX-FX looks a lot like the Patriot Magnum; they share the same external aluminium housing, but the Magnum is a USB 2.0 drive and the MX-FX makes use of USB 3.0 technology. Mach Xtreme is offering the MX-FX in 16, 32, 64 and 128GB capacity sizes. Our 32GB sample has a claimed read speed of 125MB/s and a claimed write speed of up to 80MB/s. All of the drives in the MX-FX Series have different read and write speeds, but today we are focusing on the 32GB drive since that is what we have on hand. When it comes to price, we found the 32GB model available in the US for 120.73 USD. This is right around the same price of the Patriot Supersonic USB 3.0 Flash Drive we reviewed just the other day. The MX-FX has a higher rated read and write speed than the Patriot Supersonic, although the availability is much lower since Mach Xtreme doesn't have the same number of distribution and e-tail outlets as Patriot has built. This is something that will come with time as the company builds their reputation. Let's take a look at some benchmarks to get this review kicked into high gear. ATTO gives us a taste of what to expect from the Mach Xtreme MX-FX 32GB thumb drive. In our testing we achieved read speeds of up to 127MB/s and write speeds of up to 80MB/s. This is far faster than the USB 2.0 limits of 35MB/s. Using our standard testing methodology, we did find one area where things weren't so glamorous, and that is the write access times. In the write access time chart at the bottom of the previous column the Mach Xtreme MX-FX showed signs of JMicron cache style patterns. This is where the drive writes data very quickly until the cache fills and then the time it takes to write increases rapidly. For a storage device this isn't much of an issue, but if you are planning on running an operating system or virtual desktop like Ceedo, then having a high write access time is not an ideal situation. In Crystal Disk Mark we get to see the 4K read and write performance of the Mach Xtreme MX-FX 32GB thumb drive. The 4K read speed stays between 4 and 5 MB/s which is very good for a dual channel thumb drive. The Patriot Supersonic USB 3.0 that we reviewed a few days ago achieved between 7 and 8MB/s, but it uses a quad channel design. Let's take a look and see what this means to the real world file transfer tests. AS SSD Copy Benchmark was used to determine the real world file transfer speeds of the thumb drives. Three tests are ran; ISO, Program and Game. The ISO file is a large file, Program is a series of small files and Game is a mix of several large and small files. The ISO test on the Patriot was conducted in 24.07 seconds, a 44.61MB/s rating, while the MX-FX took 28.01 seconds, a rating of 38.35MB/s. The Mach Xtreme was just a little slower in this large file test. The Program test went a little different and the Mach Xtreme MX-FX outperformed the Supersonic by 27 seconds and 9MB/s. The Game test, the mix between large and small files also favoured the Mach Xtreme MX-FX. In this test the Mach Xtreme outperformed the Supersonic by 4MB/s, around 4 seconds faster. The Mach Xtreme MX-FX is a very fast USB 3.0 thumb drive; it's actually one of the fastest we've tested to date, but the MX-FX is not perfect. The only area we didn't like is how the drive handles access times when writing data. But as long as you are not running an operating system on the drive you won't be affected. As intended, the MX-FX is a portable storage drive and it excels at this function. The price is in line with other USB 3.0 Super Speed thumb drives and the performance is higher. .... Read the full content in your browser! Media Files 3856f.gif (GIF Image)         Build and protect with ease, in the latest In-Win BUC PC chassis February 18, 2011 at 11:09 PM   Build and protect with ease, in the latest In-Win BUC PC chassis Taiwan - February 2011 - In-Win Development Inc., a leading innovator in contemporary PC hardware and multiple winner of the internationally renowned reddot design award, has today launched its new performance PC chassis, the BUC. The "shield" concept behind the BUC's design is echoed across its front panel, while the strong SECC steel construction and a hard-wearing black interior and exterior create a reliable, subtle and high quality case for PC builders. The BUC's design gem is the clever EZ-swap HDD drive bay, with a lockable door that allows access to three HDD without having to remove the whole side panel. The tool-less, vibration reducing drive bays complete the package to give a triple innovation. With convenient Super-speed USB 3.0, USB 2.0, audio and eSATA ports on the top of the chassis, users can easily connect headsets, cameras, cell phones, external hard drives and a wealth of other devices with ease. Finally, three integrated 120mm and several extra fan positions give it excellent cooling potential for all the latest hardware as well. With core design innovations and high quality of construction, the In-Win BUC PC chassis is a great choice for PC builders worldwide. About In Win IN WIN Development Inc., an ISO 9001 manufacturer of professional computer chassis, server chassis, power supplies and storage devices, is the leading provider of enclosure solutions to system integrators worldwide. Founded in 1986, IN-WIN provides high quality product that conform to all safety regulations, as well as unsurpassed customer service. Our slogan "Contemporary and Innovative" serves as the foundation of not only our product development but also our attitudes in serving and catering to our strategic partner's wishes. We take the "im" out of "impossible"… Media Files 5056f.gif (GIF Image)         The upcoming battle between Smartphone and next-gen Consoles February 18, 2011 at 9:32 PM   Let's discuss something that is not really being talked about right now, the smartphone and gaming industry. Smartphones really shined throughout 2010, with Apple's iPhone and iOS dominating as well as Google and their Android OS. These were based off single-core designs and relatively basic GPUs included. This year we're on the verge of having quad-core CPU smartphones backed up with 12-core GPU's all inside a smartphone (or should it be 'super-smartphone'?) that will barely get warm under load. Tablets are becoming a tour de force in all industries and will surely take pot shots at the notebook industry and possibly overtake it in a relatively short period of time. What does this mean for next-gen consoles? Surely they'll have to have more than just quad-core CPU's inside if a relatively basic (when in comparison) smartphone can include this. What about GPU power? Are Microsoft and Sony thinking of the future? Current gen consoles have been out for over five years and took multi-billion dollar losses to even get here. Both sides have committed to a ten year life span of consoles. Remember the RROD from the Xbox 360's? A billion dollar problem for Microsoft. We haven't seen that in any of the current generation smartphones or tablets. Technology has improved at an unprecedented rate over the past 5 years. Yes, technology has always moved this fast - but not in the leaps and bounds we're experiencing at the moment. The technology industry (TV's, smartphones, tablets, PC's, notebooks, consoles) is an industry that is very hard to predict, because there's so many players constantly releasing new products as well as having something behind the scenes that will literally knock the socks off of most people. Will this be the case for next-gen consoles? If so, with the amazing leaps and bounds smartphones and tablets are doing, consoles will have no option but to have an exponential increase in power. Not just CPU and GPU, but in all things they do (connectivity, prices of games, user-input, Kinect/Move, etc). PC's currently have a minimum of dual or quad core, 4 - 8GB of RAM, very powerful GPUs (and multiple one at that) and are constantly upgradeable. Next-gen consoles are going to need to stand out from an ever-evolving smartphone and tablet market in order to capture an audience that they are barely sustaining now. Game quality is getting lower as the restrictions of consoles are being realised; AAA titles need to sell 5 million copies or more to deem them "successful" in this world of Call of Duty $1 billion revenue-type games. How will the console market evolve? There's a box in front of Microsoft and Sony right now and it requires thinking out of it in order to move forward. Especially with billions of dollars, millions of customers and various developers and corporations that solely rely on game development and sales in order to exist. Will we see the usual thing we saw from Sony last time? Where the PS3 was meant to be capable of dual-HDMI output, with the console supporting dual 1080p outputs? AAA titles these days are usually rendered (on both consoles) at ~1200x600 resolution, then upscaled to 1280x720 or 1920x1080 by your TV. False promises can now be fulfilled on next-gen consoles with current GPU hardware more than capable of 1080p @ 60fps or 1080p @ 120fps (allowing either smooth 120fps or the option of 3D). Will this strike a change in the gaming market? Cheaper games? More indie developers? Consoles with upgradeable parts? - Right now, I'm sure Microsoft and Sony are shaking in their boots. The Mobile World Congress is showing them that all players in the market are willing to place bets on the smartphone and tablet markets, where the two juggernauts of the console industry are struggling to move past a ten-year development cycle. Games on smartphones are tipped to reach current-gen console quality within two years, yet current-gen consoles will still be offering the same thing they've offered since 2005. Will game developers wake up and realize that there needs to be a revolution in gaming instead of the usual evolution in hardware? Since the 360 and PS3 we have had games with $50 - $100 million budgets; the games medium is being taken just as seriously as any tent-pole Hollywood movie. With this in mind, is it time for an exponential leap in graphics quality so that 10 years from now the console won't be over taken by smartphone and tablet technology? As an avid gamer, I can't wait to see what the next-generation of games brings us. .... Read the full content in your browser! Media Files 3863f.gif (GIF Image)         Girls of the Taipei Game Show 2011 (video) February 18, 2011 at 7:37 PM   Taipei Game Show 2011 - No excuses this time, this video is all about the girls of the Taipei Game Show 2011. Do I need to say anymore? Hope you enjoyed it! And if you are on a low bandwidth connection, there are plenty of pictures in the gallery below. Media Files 18929f.gif (GIF Image)         Cute Taiwanese girls playing with PlayStation Move at Taipei Game Show 2011 February 18, 2011 at 6:02 PM   Taipei Game Show 2011 - When I said in an earlier post that there was lots of cool technology at Taipei Game Show 2011, I meant it, but it was all being hogged by loads of lovely Taiwanese girls. That's not necessarily a bad thing, maybe just a reason for all the girlie videos today. Sorry ladies. So, besides Sony having a kick ass Gran Turismo 5 five screen simulator at their booth, they were also actively promoting PlayStation Move - the gaming controller competitor to Microsoft's Xbox Kinect that actually requires a controller. Booth babe ladies were scattered on a stationary merry-go-round setup with loads of PS3's and the Move motion controller. Sure, Move is far from new, but it's still kind of newish in Taiwan and the first I have really seen it in action for a considerable amount of time. Media Files 18928f.gif (GIF Image)         Awesome Gran Turismo 5 five screen simulator at Taipei Game Show 2011 February 18, 2011 at 5:24 PM   Taipei Game Show 2011 - Sony had a massive presence at the Taipei Game Show 2011 with it's large PlayStation booth going toe for toe right next to Microsoft and it's Kinect gaming stations. One of the cool things Sony was showcasing was an awesome Gran Turismo 5 racing simulator setup with no less than five Bravia HDTVs, racing chair and Logitech gaming hardware. The setup was made that little bit sweeter with a Taiwanese booth babe girl that even knew how to drive. Unfortunately I wasn't able to sit down and have a play, I think Sony wanted more attractive people than I sitting down and enjoying it. Nonetheless, a pretty cool setup by Sony who in my opinion had the best booth at TGS this year. Media Files 18927f.gif (GIF Image)         Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY PS Phone Hands-on at Taipei Game Show 2011 February 18, 2011 at 5:21 PM   Taipei Game Show 2011 - Today marked the first day of the Taipei Game 2011 and we went along to see what was on show. Besides the vast amount of beautiful show girls, there was some cool new technology to take in at the event. Don't worry; we're coming back to the show girls soon. Earlier this week at the Mobile World Congress in Spain, Sony Ericsson officially unveiled the PlayStation Phone aka the Xperia PLAY, the first PlayStation certified smartphone. Think of a Google Android 2.3 smartphone and a PlayStation Portable fused together. It has all the same controls as a PSP and the same level of graphics quality, but of course offers much more in terms of communications as you would expect from a phone. The Xperia PLAY we went hands-on with today is finished as far as the hardware and outside appearance goes, that part won't change. However, the firmware and other software bits still needs some work according to Kevin, the Sony Ericsson representative that we were talking to at the show. Apparently they will have the software up to scratch and at shipping level standard in around one month and the phone / portable gaming console should go on sale sometime in April for a worldwide launch. The representative was not prepared to discuss details on pricing. Watch the video above for a short and sweet hands-on introduction to the Xperia PLAY. Are you going to buy one? Let us know by commenting! Media Files 18926f.gif (GIF Image)         Download of the Day: Google Chrome 10.0.648.82 Beta February 18, 2011 at 5:00 PM   Our Download of the Day today is Google Chrome 10.0.648.82 Beta. Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier. One box for everything Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages. Thumbnails of your top sites Access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab. Incognito mode Don't want pages you visit to show up in your web history? Choose incognito mode for private browsing. Safe browsing Google Chrome warns you if you're about to visit a suspected phishing, malware or otherwise unsafe website. For information about alpha and developer builds, check out the Chrome dev channel here. The latest version includes the following changes: Changes in Version 10.0.648.82 Beta - Contains stability fixes. Media Files 18925f.gif (GIF Image)         Deal of the Day: Buffalo 2TB DriveStation External Hard Drive for Only $59.99 with FREE Shipping February 18, 2011 at 4:14 PM   Our Deal of the Day today is the Dell Small Business - Buffalo 2TB DriveStation External Hard Drive for Only $59.99 with FREE Shipping. Offer: A GREAT buy on a 2TB external hard drive! If you need external space for your laptop or desktop, this is a great one to consider. Hurry before they expire it! Media Files 18924f.gif (GIF Image)             This email was sent to kajo.sunsuke@gmail.com. Delivered by Feed My Inbox PO Box 682532 Franklin, TN 37068 Account Login Unsubscribe Here