Reviews 51945 Published by

Here the second reviews roundup with 12 articles, including OCZ Z-Drive R4 PCI Express SSD Performance Reviews, GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 2 Sandy Bride Motherboard Review, and PocketBoom Portable Vibration Speaker Review



Olympus Tough TG-310 Review
TechReviewSource.com posted a review on the Olympus Tough TG-310

The 14-megapixel Olympus Tough TG-310 digital camera is built to withstand some pretty harsh environments. You can submerge it in up to 10 feet of water, drop it from a height of five feet, and use it in temperatures as low as 14°F. Its lens covers a modest 3.6x zoom range and the camera lacks built-in GPS like you'll find in some other competing models.
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Corsair SP2500 High-Power 2.1 PC Speaker System Review
ThinkComputers.org posted a review on the Corsair SP2500 High-Power 2.1 PC Speaker System

A couple of weeks ago when Bob was unboxing the Corsair SP2500 High-Power 2.1 PC Speaker System he made mention of how large they were. I really did not think that much of it until I went to pick up the speakers up from Bob’s place I thought he was having me review a 21 inch CRT monitor. The box is that huge. Most of the time people can claim that a 2.1 system is small enough to be semi-portable. This system, by definition is the exact opposite. Heavy and Huge. I was excited to get these boys home to hook up and play with them. Lets see what that play session yielded.
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Zowie EC2 White Review
XSReviews has a new review, the Zowie EC2 White

Today folks, we're looking at a new gaming mouse from Zowie, the EC2. Designed with performance in mind by a company devoted to making top quality gaming gear, the EC2 seems set to annihilate the competition. Will it click and slide it's way to glory or scurry away with it's cable between it's legs in shame? Let's find out.
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Genius Pen Mouse Review
TechwareLabs.com posted a review on the Genius Pen Mouse

While the mouse has reigned supreme as the pointing device of choice since its popularization at the hands of Apple two and a half decades ago, it was neither the first pointing device invented, nor is it the only modern choice available. Today we check out an alternative from Genius the Pen Mouse, which aims to redefine your concept of this interface.
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NZXT Tempest 210 Case Review
Hardware Secrets posted NZXT Tempest 210 Case Review

NZXT is a brand known for providing cost-effective products, and, at USD 55, the new Tempest 210 mid-tower case is the perfect expression of the company's vision. Let's see if it is a good option or if you should pass.
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Kingston Wi-Drive Portable Wireless Storage 16GB Review
Real World Labs posted a review on the Kingston Wi-Drive Portable Wireless Storage 16GB

The latest Kingston Wi-Drive Portable Wireless Storage device is the ideal companion for frequent travelers since not only does it help you save space on your Apple iOS enabled products but it also allows you to stream media files and content directly onto them via Wi-Fi connectivity.
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OCZ Z-Drive R4 C PCI Express 1.6TB SSD Review - OCZ Z-Drive R4 versus FUSION-IO ioDrive Duo
The SSD Review posted a review on the OCZ Z-Drive R4 C PCI Express 1.6TB SSD

The OCZ Z-Drive R4 PCI Express SSD contains eight SandForce SF-2281 processors, 128 pieces of NAND flash memory and a Superscale Storage Controller. If ever a MONSTER storage device was created, the R4 definitely answers that call. In fact, a simple review just doesn't seem appropriate for the OCZ Z-Drive R4 (Z-R4). Let's throw it in the ring against FUSION-IO's ioDrive Duo (io-D), see who can go all twelve rounds and emerge the true heavyweight champion. Let the storage wars begin!
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OCZ Z-Drive R4 PCI Express SSD Performance Preview
HotHardware.com posted OCZ Z-Drive R4 PCI Express SSD Performance Preview

Today, OCZ is letting fly with the second coming of a VCA 2.0 product, this time squarely targeting the enterprise, datacenter and high-end workstation markets. Where OCZ's RevoDrive line targets more consumer-like price points, their Z-Drive line is about no holds barred performance for the enterprise. The Z-Drive R4 with VCA 2.0, the same SuperScale Storage Accelerator, and now an octet of SandForce SF-2200 controllers, has landed on our testbeds for a few cycles of the benchmark gauntlet. And oh yeah, it's packing a full 1.6TB (that's Terabytes) of usable capacity on board. As the old saying goes, let the games begin!
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OCZ Z-Drive R4 1.6TB PCIe 2.0 x8 SSD Full Review - 8 SF-2200's Can't Be Wrong!
PC Perspective posted a full review on the OCZ Z-Drive R4 1.6TB PCIe 2.0 x8 SSD

Back in June of last year, OCZ released the RevoDrive, followed up rather quickly by the RevoDrive x2. A further jump was made with the introduction of VCA 2.0 architecture with the RevoDrive 3 and 3 x2. Each iteration pushed the envelope further as better implementations of VCA were introduced, using faster and greater numbers of PCIe channels, linked to faster and greater numbers of SandForce controllers.

While the line of RevoDrives was tailored more towards power users and mild server use, OCZ has taken their VCA 2.0 solution to the next level entirely, putting their sights on full blown enterprise purposing. With that, we introduce the OCZ Z-Drive R4.
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GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 2 Sandy Bride Motherboard Review
HardOCP checked out the GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 2 Sandy Bride Motherboard

GIGABYE took a different approach with the G1.Sniper 2. This board is a lean, mean, fighting machine. Designed to be a champion, the board leverages key technologies, such as integrated Bigfoot Killer NIC and Creative X-Fi audio, that enable it to adeptly take out its more feature-rich brethren.
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PocketBoom Portable Vibration Speaker Review
Tech-Reviews.co.uk posted a review on the PocketBoom Portable Vibration Speaker

This is quite an interesting product that we have for review here today, courtesy of MobileFun.co.uk. The PocketBoom Portable Vibration Speaker can turn virtually anything into a speaker just by placing the vibration pod onto the surface of your chosen object.
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OCZ Z-Drive R4 CM88 (1.6TB PCIe SSD) Review
Anandtech posted their review on the OCZ Z-Drive R4 CM88 (1.6TB PCIe SSD)

In our last SandForce SSD roundup I talked about how undesirable the consumer SSD market is, at least for those companies who don't produce their own controllers and/or NAND. There's a downward trend in NAND and SSD pricing, which unfortunately squeezes drive manufacturers as they compete for marketshare. The shrinking margins in the consumer SSD space will ultimately drive companies out of the business, consolidating power in those companies who are fine operating with slim margins. There are other effects, such as insufficient validation testing that result from this price crunch.

Public companies are under an even greater pressure to maintain high profit margins. Investors don't care about good product, they care about good returns. What is a public SSD manufacturer like OCZ to do? Go after the enterprise market of course.

OCZ has quietly addressed the enterprise SSD space for a while now. Today you can custom order an OCZ Deneva 2 SSD which is an enterprise focused SF-2000 based solution. OCZ's enterprise drives are fully customizable down to the controller, firmware and NAND type on-board. If you want an SF-2000 drive with SAS support and SLC NAND, OCZ will build it for you.

In the enterprise segment where 1U and 2U servers are common, PCI Express SSDs are very attractive. You may not always have a ton of 2.5" drive bays but there's usually at least one high-bandwidth PCIe slot unused. The RevoDrive family of PCIe SSDs were targeted at the high-end desktop or workstation market, but for an enterprise-specific solution OCZ has its Z-Drive line.
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