Reviews 51949 Published by

Here part 1 of this weekends reviews roundup with 35 new articles:

- Noctua NH-C14 Topflow Cooler Review
- Kingston Data Traveller Mini Fun G2 Roundup
- Western Digital AV-GP 2 TB Hard Disk Drive Review
- GIGABYTE Aivia K8100 Gaming Keyboard Review
- AMD Radeon HD 6950 CrossfireX Review
- Razer Lachesis 5600 DPI Gaming Mouse Review
- Speck Core Pack Fly Messenger Bag Review
- Lian Li PC-Q08 Mini-ITX Cube Case Review
- Thermaltake Challenger Pro Review
- Patriot Viper Xtreme PC3 16000 CAS 9 2X2GB Memory Review
- Arctic M571 Budget Gaming Mouse Review
- Thermaltake Armor A60 Review
- Gigabyte GTX 570 vs Sapphire Radeon 6970 / 6950 vs Radeon 5870 - All Overclocked
- NZXT Sentry LXE Fan Controller Review
- Sparkle Nvidia Geforce GTX465 Video Card Review
- ROCCAT Kone+ Gaming Mouse review
- Nexus VCT-9000 Heatsink Review
- Sanyo Xacti PD2 Pocket Camcorder Review
- Zalman CNPS 9900 MAX review
- MSI Wind Top AE2400 Review
- Razer BlackWidow Ultimate keyboard Review
- ASUS ENGTX580 Review
- CoolIT Vantage A.L.C. CPU Water Cooler Review
- GlacialLight PalmSiren Dynamo 3 LED Torch Review
- Razer Lachesis 5600DPI Gaming Mouse Review
- Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 8GB Dual Channel Memory Kit Review
- Quick Review: Cooler Master Choiix Cruiser Mouse and Power Fort Charger
- ASUS HD 6870 DirectCU Graphics Card Review
- Lian Li Pitstop T60 ATX / M-ATX Test Bench Review
- Inno3D GTX570 Review
- Titan Hati TTC-NC15TZ Heatsink Review
- In Win Griffin Computer Case Review
- LG Vortex Cell Phone Review
- Arctic Sound P531 Surround Sound Headset Review
- Innergie mCube Mini Review



Noctua NH-C14 Topflow Cooler Review
Hardwareoverclock.com has posted a review on the new Noctua NH-C14 Topflow cooler

The NH-C14 brings top-flow cooling to a new level by offering an exquisite, uniquely flexible 140mm dual fan setup: The two supplied NF-P14 premium fans can be installed on top and underneath the fin-stack to configure the cooler for maximum performance in dual fan mode and either lower profile (105mm) or maximum component clearance in single fan modes.
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Kingston Data Traveller Mini Fun G2 Roundup
XSReviews have a roundup of Kingston Data Traveller Mini Fun G2

Flash drives, pen drives, dongles, butt-plugs, flash memory sticks certainly have a lot of names; and that's quite fitting, as they come in a lot of different shapes, sizes and configurations. Some are business orientated, others more gamer like; and there are some that are designed to appeal to the inner child.

Today I'm looking at a group of drives that are certainly in the latter category. Part of the Data Traveller range, these little drives are collectively called the "Mini Fun G2" sticks from Kingston. Let's see how fun they really are.
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Western Digital AV-GP 2 TB Hard Disk Drive Review
MissingRemote.com posted a review on the Western Digital AV-GP 2 TB Hard Disk Drive

Over the years there has always been one constant when it comes to digital media consumption--hard drives, an essential necessity in the world of digital entertainment. If it wasn’t for a hard drive we would not have digital video recorders, computers and in our niche of the world, home theater computers. It seems like yesterday when I got my first computer which came with a whopping 40MB hard drive that was three times the size of todays standard hard drives. My how the times have changed. Now my HTPC runs 4 terabytes (TB) of storage space for recording TV shows and my WHS machine has over 10TB of storage. In the latest of a long line of hard drives from Western Digital comes their AV-GP line of hard drives. Courtesy of HDStor, Inc the 2TB AV-GP is an audio-video optimized version of their WD Caviar Green hard disk drive line. With specialized firmware this drive is optimized for recording and storing audio and video. This review will dive into just how well this hard drive performs, and if it does what it says it will do.
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GIGABYTE Aivia K8100 Gaming Keyboard Review
TweakTown posted a review on the GIGABYTE Aivia K8100 Gaming Keyboard

GIGABYTE is making waves in a whole lot of computer component segments. Mostly known for their motherboards and video cards, the company has been branching out into a ton of new sectors lately. The gaming centered peripherals market is one of those areas as their mouse line-up has gotten positive reviews from a lot of places.

GIGABYTE is now building on that positive momentum and bringing on their first keyboard aimed specifically at gamers with the introduction of their Aivia series K8100 gaming keyboards. Available in black, red, or yellow, these keyboards are designed to turn heads with their flashy design and look, but as we all know, flash is nothing without performance. Aivia stands for advanced, intuitive, and versatile interface archetype, so let's dig in and see if the K8100 holds to the standards that GIGABYTE has set.
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AMD Radeon HD 6950 CrossfireX Review
The Guru of 3D posted a review on the AMD Radeon HD 6950 CrossfireX video card

Where we are a little puzzled about the Radeon HD 6950 all by itself, but in CrossfireX this solutions seems to kick ass massively. See with two Cayman PRO GPUs on board you effectively can double up everything without being extremely CPU limited.

Joining us today in this article is a R6950 board from Gigabyte, this is a reference board with a Gigabyte sticker really. Since we do not continuously want to report about reference performance we decided to get the Gigabyte board as leading card in this review. So on the next page we'll chat a little about multi-GPU setups, we'll walk through the Gigabyte bundle and then head on over to check out variables like power consumptions, heat, noise and of course all game tests ... the results will not disappoint, no Sir.
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Razer Lachesis 5600 DPI Gaming Mouse Review
techPowerUp posted a review on the Razer Lachesis 5600 DPI Gaming Mouse

Razer has just released a revamped version of their old Lachesis mouse. The revision features a much newer Philip Twin-eye laser sensor which is capable of producing coherent tracking at up to 200 IPS, at a maximum resolution of 5600 DPI. We put it to the test and see if this specification-monster is good in real life application.
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Speck Core Pack Fly Messenger Bag Review
TestFreaks posted a review on the Speck Core Pack Fly Messenger Bag

Speck created the CorePack Fly with a separate laptop pocket allowing the X-ray visualization of the computer without any extraneous cables or wires. Theoretically this design should allow passengers rapid transit through security lines. However in recent months TSA security has become more stringent requiring the direct visualization of all computer devices prior to passengers passing security checkpoints making TSA “friendly” bag slightly less friendly. Thankfully this does not make the bag any less useful or render its design invalid.
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Lian Li PC-Q08 Mini-ITX Cube Case Review
ThinkComputers.org posted a review on the Lian Li PC-Q08 Mini-ITX Cube Case

Mini-ITX motherboards are becoming more and more powerful and with that we can do a lot more with them. Their small size and low cost makes them perfect for home theater PC’s (HTPC’s). When putting together your HTPC system you want a case that is very visually appealing, but still has enough room for all of your media drives and has the necessary connections for easy file transfers. Today we will taking a look at the PC-Q08 from Lian Li which has room for 6 3.5-inch hard drives has 2 front mounted USB 3.0 ports.
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Thermaltake Challenger Pro Review
PureOverclock checked out the Thermaltake Challenger Pro gaming keyboard

Today we will be looking at one of their newest additions to Thermaltake's peripheral line-up: the Challenger Pro gaming keyboard. It has a sleek aesthetic, programmable macros, backlighting, and a docking station. Let's dive into the review and see what Thermaltake has to offer the gaming community.
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Patriot Viper Xtreme PC3 16000 CAS 9 2X2GB Memory Review
OCC has published a review on the Patriot Viper Xtreme PC3 16000 CAS 9 2X2GB Memory

The addition of the copper strips between the memory modules and the extruded aluminum heat spreaders is a nice addition to help keep the heat down in these memory modules. This design improves on the AOC concept used on the original Viper Series modules. The cool running modules help bring stability to higher end overclocks. When overclocked, I was able to push Viper Xtreme modules up another 112MHz. Not earth shattering but worth the effort to get them to this level.
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Arctic M571 Budget Gaming Mouse Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the Arctic M571 Budget Gaming Mouse

Normally at this point we would take a look at the included software bundle, but there is no software for the M571 - it's truly plug and play. This is nice in that you don't have to spend time configuring the software and setting up a ton of macro buttons, but also a bit restrictive in that you can't fine-tune the mouse to your exact liking. For example, you are stuck with the preset DPI settings and button mapping that Arctic Cooling has selected for you.
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Thermaltake Armor A60 Review
Neoseeker posted Thermaltake Armor A60 Review

Thermaltake introduces a $90 mid-tower case for the value market, the Armor A60, and it sports some features which could help it stand out from the competition in this increasingly contested market segment. Hit our latest case review to see if the Armor A60 really brings value.

The Thermaltake Armor A60 has a suggested retail price of around $90, which when taking into account all of the features this case includes seems very reasonable. However, the price puts it in direct competition with some of the best sub-$100 cases around. Just a few years ago any PC chassis that cost less than $100 was relatively cheap in design and function. But now $100 cases are made of high quality materials and include a wide array of supported technologies. This means A60 will really have to deliver the goods to stand out in what is quickly becoming an overcrowded market.
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Gigabyte GTX 570 vs Sapphire Radeon 6970 / 6950 vs Radeon 5870 - All Overclocked
HardwareHeaven.com compared Gigabyte GTX 570 vs Sapphire Radeon 6970 / 6950 vs Radeon 5870 - All Overclocked

On our test bench is a GTX 570 from Gigabyte and the Radeon 6970/6950 from Sapphire. We will be overclocking each of these and putting them head to head against each other and an overclocked Radeon 5870 to find out how the new cards compare in this scenario. As always real world gameplay will be used, including Black Ops and HAWX 2 and just for fun we will throw in 3DMark 2011 Professional.
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NZXT Sentry LXE Fan Controller Review
Vortez posted a review on the NZXT Sentry LXE Fan Controller

Since the earliest days of high performance hardware, it's needed cooling somehow. The element of control over the cooling fans used is now of even more importance when using performance hardware in your office, bedroom and even lounge. Fan controllers over the years have mostly trodden the same design path - simple drive bay devices with dials that adjust fan RPM, often with temperature monitoring. Indeed, this has always seemed like the most sensible design but it's no longer particularly exciting. NZXT began to shake this up with the release of their first Sentry fan controller, which was met with a warm reception back in 2007, featuring an LCD screen with temperature readings and control over 2 fans, and most importantly it was affordable. The Sentry 2 followed, which we looked at ourselves here at Vortez and was worthy of a Silver award. The Sentry LX also demonstrated that NZXT could integrate a complex 5-fan control and temperature monitoring touch screen unit into 2 drive bays, however this isn't the most convenient use of space. The use of 2 5.25" drive bays may be unacceptable for a lot of users.

Step in the Sentry LXE, an externally mounted 5-fan controller with temperature monitoring and automatic fan control, via a touch screen interface.
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Sparkle Nvidia Geforce GTX465 Video Card Review
TestFreaks posted a review on the Sparkle Nvidia Geforce GTX465 Video Card

If you’re a gamer then you know the video card is probably the most important part of your system, without a decent one you won’t be able to play those games that you love so much. The problem with good video cards is that they cost a lot of money, and a lot of us can’t afford them so most of us aim a little lower towards the more mid-range priced cards. I think one should be able to get a fairly decent card that will play most games at relatively high settings and not have to take out a loan or get a second mortgage to do it. Today for review I’ve got the Sparkle GeForce GTX465 video card, it’s a fairly big card, but most cards are these days that can provide good performance for your system. The best part about this card I think is the price, for about $200 you can get a fairly decent performing card.
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ROCCAT Kone+ Gaming Mouse review
Metku.net took a closer look at ROCCAT's top-end gaming mouse - Kone+

We are not new to ROCCAT's products as we've already reviewed their mobile gaming mouse, Pyra, as well as the Vire earphones and Tusko TFT-carry case. So far the products have offered great quality, so when we heard of the new Roccat Kone+ mouse, the expectations were already high.
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Nexus VCT-9000 Heatsink Review
FrostyTech posted Nexus VCT-9000 Heatsink Review

Frostytech is not going to waste your time by leaving the most important information till the very end of this review - the Nexus VCT-9000 heatsink is an interesting looking thermal solution, but it fails completely in its execution. Nexus have manufactured the VCT-9000 heatsink poorly, resulting in uneven exposed heatpipes that may not contact the processor properly. The heatsink does not perform very well as a result, so the rest is pretty much moot. It's a critical flaw that no heatsink can afford make, undermining all other potential innovations and leaving us with a 635g hunk of metal good for the scrap bin.
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Sanyo Xacti PD2 Pocket Camcorder Review
Everything USB posted a review on the Sanyo Xacti PD2 Pocket Camcorder

Over the past couple years, the portable video recorder niche (or Handycams as they used to be called back in the digital stone age called the 80's) has blossomed. Thanks to the miracle of miniaturization, what once was the size of an old fashioned metal lunch box is now the size of a small cell phone! The Sanyo Xacti PD2 pocket camcorder is one such miracle of miniaturization as it not only boasts 1080p recording but also an amazingly small price tag of only $170. So what does $170 get you these days? Read on for my full review to find out.

The Verdict:
While it does have many limitations, if you understand these limitations and work within them, you will be happy with the Sanyo Xacti PD2 pocket camcorder. With such a low asking price its hard to not like it! Just don't forget to buy a SD card as one is not included!

The Good:
+ Affordable
+ Decent grip and feel
+ 3x optical zoom
+ 60fps video capture
+ Easy to use
+ Fairly colour accurate colours
+ Pretty quick recharge time
+ Uploading software comes preloaded on the device
+ Stereo microphone

The Bad:
- Short warranty
- Digital not optical image stabilization
- Very basic camera abilities (no control over ISO, shutter speed, aperture, etc)
- Digital zoom can not be turned OFF
- Can not zoom OUT further than what you start recording at
- Short battery life
- No SD card included
- Microphones are on the SIDE and NOT forward facing
- While screen is on the back, the small speaker is on the FRONT
- Less than great low light video abilities
- 60fps limited to ONLY 720p capture
- No editing software included
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Zalman CNPS 9900 MAX review
The Guru of 3D posted a review on the Zalman CNPS 9900 MAX

Zalman decided to reintroduce the CNPS 9900 model one more time, slightly updated tagged with MAX. The CNPS 9900 MAX which comes with Zalmans heat transfer solution by utilizing composite heatpipe technology allowing a Q-Max of 300W, along with a bigger 135mm LED fan for, what Zalman claims to be, quiet operation and broad compatibility for both Intel 1156/1366/775 & AMD AM3/AM2+/AM2.
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MSI Wind Top AE2400 Review
Kitguru posted a review on the MSI Wind Top AE2400

The iMac has been selling well for Apple for many years and PC centric manufacturers are beginning to realise that there is a viable market for an attractive, capable ‘All In One’ unit. Today we are looking at the MSI Wind Top AE2400 desktop system which features an Intel processor and AMD discrete graphics paired up with a high quality 24inch 1080p touch screen.

The MSI Wind Top AE2400 on paper looks to be an ideal, general purpose ‘jack of all trades’ system to suit kids and older people who might struggle with a traditionally designed computer.
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Razer BlackWidow Ultimate keyboard Review
t-break posted a review on the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate keyboard

The best money can buy, the best your fingers will feel.
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ASUS ENGTX580 Review
ocaholic posted a review on the ASUS ENGTX580 graphics card

With the ENGTX580, ASUS sends its first GTX580 based card into the ring to fight for the performance crown. The starting position should definitely be a good one and were therefore very curious about the results which will be achieved in our tests. Furthermore ASUS also provides a software which allows adjustems of the GPU voltage, which is very useful for overclocking.
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CoolIT Vantage A.L.C. CPU Water Cooler Review
Legit Reviews posted a review on the CoolIT Vantage A.L.C. CPU Water Cooler

Today we are looking at the CoolIT Vantage A.L.C. from CoolIT Systems. The Vantage is one of the newest additions to the A.L.C. series of self contained water cooling units that CoolIT produces. Join us today as we see how well the new Vantage A.L.C. holds up on our Intel Core i7 930 test system at stock speeds and overclocked up to 4GHz!

The Vantage A.L.C. is a self-contained CPU water cooler; what that means is the unit is sealed. With the unit being sealed there is no need for the system to be filled, or topped off, like a custom water cooling loop would require due to water evaporating from the coolant reservoir. This maintenance free operation is also one of the attractions for some users to self-contained units like the Vantage A.L.C...
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GlacialLight PalmSiren Dynamo 3 LED Torch Review
Madshrimps posted GlacialLight PalmSiren Dynamo 3 LED Torch Review

The new revision of the PalmSiren Dynamo from GlacialLight brings a lot of improvements over the old V2 and is very useful in case we aren't near any power source: mountain climbing/camping, house work maintenance when there's a power outage.
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Razer Lachesis 5600DPI Gaming Mouse Review
t-break posted Razer Lachesis 5600DPI Gaming Mouse Review

The old pit viper is back, with an upgraded attack.[/quote6
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Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 8GB Dual Channel Memory Kit Review
ThinkComputers.org posted a review on the Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 8GB Dual Channel Memory Kit

Corsair is a company that we all know for memory and rightfully so, their Dominator Series of memory has been the flagship for their DDR3 line for some time now. Today we will be looking at a new enthusiast line of memory called Vengeance. The Vengeance line is aggressively priced and with a lower voltage rating of 1.5V instead of the normal 1.65V you should be able to these modules to the limit. Today we will be taking a look at the 8GB 1600MHz dual channel DDR3 kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9) and putting it through it’s paces. Read on to see how well them perform!
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Quick Review: Cooler Master Choiix Cruiser Mouse and Power Fort Charger
TweakTown posted a quick review on the Cooler Master Choiix Cruiser Mouse and Power Fort Charger

The world is getting more and more mobile when it comes to technology that used to be centered on the home computer. More and more people are now depending on laptops to do what used to only be attainable via the desktop at home. While this can partly be attributed to the fact that laptops are now just as capable as desktops when it comes to basic functions like internet surfing, word processing, and the like, the move to mobile is also for convenience whenever you are away from home.

With this in mind, Cooler Master's Choiix line of products caters to the travelling laptop and mobile device user. The two products we are looking at today, the Choiix Cruiser mouse and Power Fort portable charger, look to enhance your mobile experience without taking up a whole lot of space in your bag. Let's take a look at what these two products have to offer.
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ASUS HD 6870 DirectCU Graphics Card Review
HardwareHeaven.com posted a review on the ASUS HD 6870 DirectCU Graphics Card

Today on our test bench we have the result of ASUS' work on enhancing the 6870 design. The Radeon EAH6870 DirectCU is a factory overclocked model which claims to run cooler than the reference model and certainly looks different. We will be running it through a selection of real world tests to find out how it performs in gaming, multimedia and GPU computing tasks. These include Blu-Ray 3D, Stereoscopic 3D gaming and he latest releases such as Black Ops and H.A.W.X. 2.
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Lian Li Pitstop T60 ATX / M-ATX Test Bench Review
Rbmods posted a review on the Lian Li Pitstop T60 ATX / M-ATX Test Bench

If you work with computers and use alot of various test setups this review will probably really come in handy for you. We are testing the Lian Li T60 testing case. This is a open case so you can easily swap parts and still be able to use a case.

Stay tuned to read what we think about this product!
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Inno3D GTX570 Review
KitGuru posted Inno3D GTX570 Review

Last month nVidia rocked the graphics world with the release of their phenomenal GTX580. This is the fastest single chip card on the market today – although AMD’s HD5970 is still the most powerful graphics card on the planet. Today we are looking at the more affordable GTX570, which targets the same (£280) market as the HD6970.
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Titan Hati TTC-NC15TZ Heatsink Review
FrostyTech posted Titan Hati TTC-NC15TZ Heatsink Review

In this review Frostytech is testing Titan's new Hati TTC-NC15TZ exposed heatpipe base CPU cooler. The TTC-NC15TZ is capable of very good performance results with the supplied 120mm PWM fan operating at full speed, however that trend quickly changes direction once fan speed is brought down for quieter operation... Like many tower heatsinks, the Hati TTC-NC15TZ heatsink has three exposed 8mm diameter direct contact heatpipes at the base.
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In Win Griffin Computer Case Review
Tweaknews posted In Win Griffin Computer Case Review

In Win's Griffin chassis has a lot going for it. A budget case with good cooling (due in large part to the big side panel fan,) is always good to see and a real boon to the enthusiast with limited funds. With a distinctive look and nice features like a hidden I/O panel and tool-free drive clips, the Griffin delivers a lot of bang for the buck.
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LG Vortex Cell Phone Review
Hardware Secrets posted a review on the LG Vortex Cell Phone

The LG Vortex, offered in the US by Verizon, is billed as an entry level Android smartphone. At USD 80 after discounts with a two-year Verizon contract, it is less expensive than many other Android phones. Yet it seems to have all the bells and whistles found in Android phones. We decided to take a closer look at what might have been sacrificed for its smaller price tag.
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Arctic Sound P531 Surround Sound Headset Review
Computing on Demand has posted a new article on the Arctic Sound P531 Surround Sound Headset

In my younger days, cough cough.. !NURSE!!, cough cough, I would game like there was no tomorrow. There was no Microsoft Office, there was no Quickbooks, Open Office, or LANDesk.  There was Unreal Tournament, NFS, Quake, Battlefield, C.O.D. (not this website).  My desk was a war zone, my office was a LAN party, and my friends were my comrades fighting battles on my self hosted gaming server.
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Innergie mCube Mini Review
XSReviews have a review of Innergie mCube Mini multi charger

There's nothing more annoying than your various electrical devices running out of power when you're travelling somewhere, except having to buy a lot of different adaptors to keep everything charged. Enter the Innergie mCube Mini, it comes with adaptors for a range of device brands and a plug so you can use it on airplanes. Sounds handy right? Lets see how it does.
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