For as long as I can remember I’ve used laptops for my primary day-to-day work and most of my after-hours browsing and general use. I recently replaced my 17″ Dell notebook with a smaller 15.4″ m1530 XPS (due to weight, and I no longer do any hardcore gaming on my laptop). I hadn’t given much thought about netbooks until we received a review sample of the Lenovo IdeaPad S10. I picked it up, and my first reaction was that it was tiny compared to my m1530, and very light (about 2.5 pounds). My second thought was am I really going to get much use out of something this size?
The review machine I received was equipped with an Atom N270 CPU (1.6GHz), 1GB DDR2, an 80gb 2.5″ Hitachi HDD, and a 10.2″ (1024×600) screen. It came installed with Windows XP Home, Norton Internet Security 2008 (which I replaced with NIS 2009), and CyberLink OneKey Recovery (pre-configured with a factory-default restore setting, in case you need to blow everything out). Also included was a new 6 cell extended runtime battery (which I used for testing), that provided about 4:30-5hrs of runtime during my tests.
Click Here To Read The Full Article @ Neowin
Review: Lenovo IdeaPad S10
Viliv S5 And X70 Mids Hands-On
We just played around with Viliv’s latest MIDs, the stylish S5 and X70. Both devices use haptic feedback for onscreen keyboard input, and despite the resistive screen we found them both to offer some of the best touchscreen interaction we’ve seen on devices like this. They were both running Windows Vista, and seemed rather responsive and usable, even with Atom under the hood. What’s really impressive is the X70 (pictured), which is thinner than the S5, and also can be mounted to an optional leather case that brings a keyboard and foldability to the device, and turns the unit into a laptop of sorts.
Click Here To Read The Full Article @ Engadget
UMID M1 MID Hands-On: Demo
We had a chance to spend some brief time with the UMID M1 MID at Mobile World Congress this week, courtesy of Intel’s stand, and in the plastic it certainly does little to disappoint if it’s a super-small full QWERTY notebook you’re looking for. One thing that was hammered home after some hands-on time: this is very much a niche product.
The keyboard could be one significant limiting factor for a lot of people. As the photos with the M1 alongside the Sony VAIO P show, it’s a seriously small layout; we tried typing and found that, with the limited key travel and minimal spacing in-between, it’s tough to do much more than peck out emails. Similarly, the touchscreen - which is a mere 4.8-inches - is tough on the eyes at 1024 x 600 and it makes it tricky to select things with a fingertip. That’s doubly difficult at the very edges of the display, where the raised bezel and the small graphics mean the Windows close-window ‘X’ is almost impossible to tap: expect to either hit Alt+F4 or whip out the stylus.
Click Here To Read The Full Article @ SlashGear
Western Digital My Book World Edition Review
We’ve long been encouraging people to invest in Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices. They let you store all your commonly used files, like music, videos, pictures, and maybe even spreadsheets and word processor documents, in a centralised location that is accessible from any computer connected to your home or office network (or even from the Internet). So no matter whether you’re in bed using a laptop, at your main computer in your study, or down the bottom of the garden on your smartphone, you can access all your files quickly and easily.
The latest addition to this fleet of undeniably desirable products is the Western Digital My Book World Edition that was just announced today. It’s available in 1TB and 2TB versions with list prices of £168.99 for the 1TB version and a slightly more wince-inducing £369.99 for the 2TB version. Today we’re looking at the 1TB version so let’s see how it fares.
Straight out the box, the My Book World Edition impresses with its beautiful glossy white exterior and subtle silver WD logos. The profile is typical WD - all its external hard drives have a name that’s some variation on book - with the curved spine at the front and the ventilation grill ‘pages’ running round the top, back, and bottom. It’s a style that works well and we’d have to say this is the most attractive NAS box we’ve seen to date.
£32 32GB CN Memory USB Drive Review
This USB stick has a massive 32GB worth of storage. Bearing in mind a lot of entry level spec laptops only have 80GB it shows just how advanced this product is.
It can hold the equivalent of 13056 pictures (dependent on megapixel) or up to 512 hours of music.
Click Here To Read The Full Article @ ITProPortal
HIS Radeon HD 4870 IceQ4+ TURBO Graphics Card Review
If we’ve learnt anything over the last few years, it’s never to write one of the two major VGA manufacturers off. ATI know that they can’t extract enough power out of their current top cards to be faster than the two new NVIDIA offerings.
The red team aren’t stupid, though. If you can’t beat them in performance, you hit them in value. And in these tough economic times everyone’s looking for a good bang for buck product.
Monthly driver updates from ATI still make the HD 4800 series of cards an attractive offering and today we’ll look at what HIS has done with the top single GPU card from ATI. With a fancy cooler, some mean clocks and a decent looking bundle, the lengthy named HIS HD 4870 IceQ4+ TURBO could well be a card worth keeping an eye out for.
- Introduction
- The Package
- The Card
- Test System Setup and 3DMark Vantage
- Benchmarks – PT Boats: Knights of the Sea
- Benchmarks – CINEBENCH R10
- Benchmarks - World in Conflict
- Benchmarks – Crysis Warhead
- Benchmarks – Far Cry 2
- Benchmarks – S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky
- Benchmarks – Left 4 Dead
- Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF
- Benchmarks – World in Conflict - XP
- Benchmarks – Far Cry 2 - XP
- Benchmarks – S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky - XP
- Temperature and Sound Tests
- Power Consumption Tests
- Final Thoughts
Xigmatek Thor’s Hammer S126384 CPU Cooler Review
Overclockers are always looking for the best CPU cooler made, and Benchmark Reviews has taken a new approach to determining this for them in every Cooling article we publish. Most enthusiasts are already very familiar with the Vendetta 2, TRUE, and HDT-S1283, but the landscape is going to change with the Xigmatek Thor’s Hammer S126384 CPU cooler. Benchmark Reviews compares the top coolers using the Yate Loon D12SH-12 and Kaze SlipStream 120 on an overclocked and over-volted Intel Core i7-920 Processor.
Xigmatek has been quick to release several new products lately, all of which offer a twist on their popular HDT-S1283 design. The latest designs all still offer HDT (Heat-pipe Direct Touch) architecture, but they introduce new features which set them apart from the large product family. Specific to the CAC-SXHH7-U01 product SKU, Xigmatek introduces a double-layer HDT design with overlapping rods. Thor’s Hammer is not meant for the average system, as its designed to perform best under extremely high thermal loads. With a few benchmarks to prove the initial claims, we will soon see how well the S126384 performs.
Gelid Solutions Wing 8 UV Case Fan Review
In today’s review, we have a new case fan from Gelid Solutions, the Wing 8. GELID Solutions Ltd. is a Hong Kong-based company with Swiss Management. GELID designs and manufactures thermal solutions, CPU coolers, fans and other computer hardware for gamers and silent enthusiasts. What makes the Wing series unique is the fact that they use a Nanoflux bearing (NFB), which is better known in the enthusiast community as an electromagnetic fan. By using a magnetic design, the fan is able to run friction-free and has no motor noise since no brushes are spinning inside the fan. This means that the fan will never have bearings that break down and begin to squeal as the fan ages over the years.
To get a better idea about the GELID Solutions WING fan, I started off by going to the Gelid Solutions website to see what their marketing department had to say about the Gelid Solutions Wing series of case fans.
VisionTek Radeon HD 4870 X2 Redux Review
To my surprise and chagrin, my first grope of an HD 4870 X2 was perilous. I came away from it a better person, maybe stronger, but scarred. I was uncertain about reencountering the double-edged machine, and rightfully so. It’s dangerous. An HD 4870 X2 consumes a commensurate amount of power and can withstand tremendous heat, but in the right, trained hands, it is absolutely a force. Forged of the blackest PCB, this VisionTek HD 4870 X2 is capable of bringing the fiercest games to reckoning.
And only after being bested by it could I ever hope to wield it’s… Oh screw it, it’s just a video card. I mean, it’s the best video card and all, and definitely not for everybody. Actually, as you’ll see, it’s not really intended for mainstream gaming. You need a damn big display to really see this card make frames. If you’re looking to spend serious dollars for the best gaming experience, you’re set. If you want a video card that will no doubt last years, here you go. But if you’re reading this on anything less than a 24-inch display, an HD 4870 X2 is probably overkill.
Intel Core 2 Extreme Discontinued in June 2009
It looks like Intel is giving a few of the LGA775 processors the axe. Both of the Core 2 Extreme quad core chips will be retired in June 2009.
Intel has already sent out the PDN (Product Discontinuance Notice) for both the QX9770 and QX9650 Extreme Edition chips. As a very large majority of the enthusiast community most likely already has their hands on these chips, they probably aren’t moving too many of them through inventory anymore compared to their new offerings for the Core i7’s. If you still want one you better grab it in the coming months before they go out of stock.
Source : Tweak Town
