Reviews 51945 Published by

Here a roundup of the latest reviews and articles, incluidng Dell XPS 12 Convertible Ultrabook Review, Gigabyte Z77N-WiFi mITX Intel LGA 1155, HP Photosmart 5520 Review, Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 Review and The Tegra 4 GPU, NVIDIA Claims Better Performance Than iPad 4



Dell XPS 12 Convertible Ultrabook Review @ HotHardware.com
Tablets are extremely popular right now, but many users still need a more powerful machine to do serious work. For people who don't want two devices but desire the touch screen controls and convenience of a tablet, as well as the productivity capabilities of a notebook in a single machine, a convertible ultrabook may be a good fit.

We're starting to see more and more ultrabooks that convert from a traditional laptop into a tablet. Not long ago, we took a closer look at Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga 13 Ultrabook which features a touchscreen display with a dual-articulating hinge that allows the machine to convert to tablet mode. Today, we're going to take a hands-on look at Dell's XPS 12 convertible ultrabook, which takes a different approach.

Read more

Gigabyte Z77N-WiFi mITX Intel LGA 1155 @ techPowerUp
Looking to build a tiny HTPC, or a diminutive LAN box? Shopping for a board that fits? Today, we take a look at the Gigabyte Z77N-WiFi, a mITX Intel Z77 Express motherboard fitted with a slew of options including Intel's WiDi for wireless video connectivity.

Read more

Cougar GX-S 500 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
Cougar has released a power supply series with the 80 Plus Gold certification, called GX-S, with 400 W, 500 W, and 600 W models. They have two +12 V rails and don't come with a modular cabling system. Let's see if the 500 W version, also known as "CGR G2-500," is worth buying.

Read more

HP Photosmart 5520 Review @ TechReviewSource.com
The HP Photosmart 5520 is an inexpensive multifunction printer that offers built-in duplexing, a touch panel and ePrint capabilities. It also provides reliable and good looking output but it lacks an automatic document feeder and the scanner lid hinge does not float to accomodate thicker items.

Read more

Western Digital RE 4TB HDD @ TechwareLabs.com
While SSDs are by now the unquestioned performance kings when it comes to storage, their capacities are still too low and cost-per-gigabyte still too high for them to displace hard drives completely. While SSDs continue to improve at a meteoric rate, hard drive manufacturers aren't sitting still. Today, we'll be taking a look at Western Digital's latest attempt at pushing back the superparamagnetic limit, the WD RE SATA 4TB drive. Whether it's meant for large-capacity storage on a workstation, or as a way to expand the capacity of a high-load NAS device, this drive is WD's current cream of the crop for SATA drives. Let's take a look and see how it measures up.

Read more

Mushkin Atlas 30GB mSATA Solid State Drive Review @ Bigbruin.com
For many people, replacing a hard drive in a notebook requires them to take it to an expert so the data can be migrated to the new drive. Therefore, speeding up a hard drive to an SSD, can be a rather cumbersome and daunting process. The Mushkin Atlas 30GB mSATA solid state drive is one option that doesn't require a whole drive replacement. It is an SSD in a different form factor (mSATA as opposed to the more tarditional 2.5" SATA form factor) that can be used either as a true SSD, or as a cache drive. A cache drive allows frequently used data or applications to be moved to it which causes them to be accessible much faster.

Read more

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 Review @ Techradar
IntroductionWindows RT devices haven't exactly been flying off the shelves, and with delays besetting the whole market as manufacturers struggle to work out the demand, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 is here to give RT a much-needed boost. The Yoga 11 is the little brother of last year's Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, one of the flagship laptop-tablet hybrids for the launch of Windows 8. At 11 inches, it's smaller and runs the ARM-powered RT version of Windows, which means it has more in common with an Android tablet than a traditional laptop.While the market has been disappointingly quiet, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 offers something a little different for Windows hybrid hunters.

Read more

Steelseries World of Warcraft Wireless Gaming mouse @ Rbmods
World of Warcraft needs no further introduction, the biggest MMO ever has opened the manufacturers eyes years ago when they started creating products for this game. Steelseries recently released their latest WoW mouse that is a wireless edition with long battery time and is supposed to provide a comfortable gaming experience. Lets find out how well the Steelseries World of Warcraft Wireless gaming mouse performs.

Read more

Corsair Hydro Series Cooler Comparison and Review - H60, H80i, H100i @ PC Perspective
The Corsair Hydro Series™ CPU water coolers come in a variety of sizes and configurations to fit the needs of all classes of computer enthusiasts. We decided to look at their latest revisions of these coolers, embodied in the H60, H80i, and H100i cooling units. We put these units up against the Swiftech Apogee HD custom cooling system on our test bench to see just how well these coolers performed. Starting at a base price of $79.99 for the Corsair H60 cooler, you really can't go wrong with the any of these standalone units.

Read more

NuForce Cube Portable Speaker @ MEGATechNews
I have trouble listening to music while I write. I know that some writers swear by it, but I always find myself distracted, even when listening to music without vocals. I even have a Spotify playlist titled “writing music,” a playlist that shouldn’t even exist in the first place. However, for this particular article, I’m giving it another shot.

Read more

ECBC Spear Laptop Tote @ PureOverclock
I was recently at a big box store grabbing a few items, and I noticed something interesting. People were buying high end laptops, tablets and ultra books without purchasing anything to protect them. I don’t mean the overpriced and possibly useless “Extended Warranty Protection Plan”. I mean a sleeve, backpack, laptop bag or any of the other options available today. Laptops and tablets are meant to be portable, so at some point you will take it to work, school or even a vacation. What will you put it in to keep it safe?

The last question is what brings us here. What will you use to protect your technology investment? There are many options in the world of laptop & tablet accessories ranging from cheap $5 sleeves to very expensive totes and backpacks. Among all of these choices there is a company that specializes in making sure your investment is safe during travel. ECBC focuses on giving people a more functional, comfortable and stylish way of transporting laptops, tablets and other essentials.

Read more

ASUS Orion Pro Gaming Headset Review @ Hi Tech Legion
In the world of gaming, lively sound is very desirable with exaggerated transients and dynamic range. This isn’t the case at all for music. You don’t want an acoustic piano sounding like it is being played with a sledgehammer. You want to hear the nuances along with a natural attack. The other huge issue for gaming is positioning. In games, you want to be able to locate opponents (among other things) that you cannot see by the sounds they make. The result of a speaker being able to do this leads to a very “close” and directional sound with narrow ambiance. Musically, this would leave you with an acoustic piano being played with a sledgehammer a foot from your head, directly on one side with the opposite ear plugged. Not exactly the effect you would be looking for. You would want the effect of the piano to fill the “room” naturally, as a real piano would, with a general direction of the piano but the acoustic reflections all intact. ASUS has mastered both ends of this spectrum with their audiophile Xonar Essence cards and their ROG headsets, and have been able to pull off some very impressive crossover performances.

The ASUS Orion Pro headset, with Spitfire USB Dongle, provides an all-in-one solution for incredible gaming audio and effects. The ASUS Orion Pro is the manifestation of extensive research in gaming audio characteristics, as well as comfort and ergonomics for those all night gaming sessions. The Orion headset features 50mm drivers with neodymium magnets sporting 20Hz-20KHz frequency response for incredible clarity and extended bass. 100mm full-sized padded ear cups provide 30dB of isolation along with great comfort, while the band easily adjusts for a perfect fit. Pressure is regulated to keep your Orion Pro snug, while never being tight enough to cause discomfort. A noise canceling microphone located in the left ear cup can easily extend and retract as needed. The Spitfire USB Dongle brings your gaming to life with flatter frequency response with no drop outs in the low and high end and added effects. 7.1 Virtual Surround can be turned on and off at the push of a button. FPS EQ emphasizes frequencies found to be most common in footsteps, enabling pin point precision in locating opponents. The Orion also has 3.5mm connectors on a 2.5mm braided cable, if you choose to use them without the Spitfire, as well as volume and mute controls in line.

Read more

ASUS RoG Orion Pro Gaming Headset Review @ Hardware Canucks
The Orion series is broken down into two different products: the Orion and Orion Pro. ASUS’ standard Orion is an $80 analog stereo headset while the $110 Orion Pro (which we’re reviewing here) ups the ante with a secondary USB dongle that adds a dedicated amp, a virtual 7.1 soundstage and various preset equalizer options.

At this point, there are plenty of headphones on the market which provide either analog stereo sound or virtual surround sound through a USB interface. The Orion Pro meanwhile literally offers the best of both worlds: it can operate in either analog stereo or USB 7.1 modes without sacrificing sound quality. ASUS offers this without tacked-on drivers, offering a true plug and play solution since the USB drivers are baked right into the hardware.

Read more

The Tegra 4 GPU, NVIDIA Claims Better Performance Than iPad 4 @ Anandtech
At CES last week, NVIDIA announced its Tegra 4 SoC featuring four ARM Cortex A15s running at up to 1.9GHz and a fifth Cortex A15 running at between 700 - 800MHz for lighter workloads. Although much of CEO Jen-Hsun Huang's presentation focused on the improvements in CPU and camera performance, GPU performance should see a significant boost over Tegra 3. The big disappointment for many was that NVIDIA maintained the non-unified architecture of Tegra 3, and won't fully support OpenGL ES 3.0 with the T4's GPU. NVIDIA claims the architecture is better suited for the type of content that will be available on devices during the Tegra 4's reign.

Read more