Reviews 51951 Published by

Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

ASUS Strix GeForce GTX 970 OC Review
Dell Venue 11 Pro 7000 Series Hands-On Review
Entry-level PC - November 2014
Gigabyte X99-UD4 Motherboard Review
GTX 970 Roundup (EVGA, GALAX, Gigabyte)
How to Find and Remove Duplicate Files on Linux
In depth: 12 iPhone battery life tips and tricks
LUXA2 PL3 10400mAh Leather Power Bank Review
Oregon Scientific Weather@Home Bluetooth Thermometer Review
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge review: Innovation, experiment or gimmick
Silicon Power Blaze B05 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review
WASDs Code keyboard with Cherry MX clear switches reviewed



ASUS Strix GeForce GTX 970 OC Review

Take a Maxwell Core, overclock it and then add arguably the best air cooling solution available and what do you get? The ASUS Strix GTX 970 OC. This card appears to have it all, the latest technology from NVIDIA, supreme cooling in the form of the ASUS Direct CU II and a subtle, yet significant factory overclock. This along with the excellent ASUS support makes for a very mouth watering graphics card. The GTX 980 reigns supreme currently, easily bettering the AMD R9-290X so how the GTX 970 will fair remains to be seen but with a slightly lower specification than the GTX 980, ASUS hope to close this deficit somewhat by overclocking the GTX 970 core.

Read full article @ Vortez

Dell Venue 11 Pro 7000 Series Hands-On Review

We take a look at Dell's Intel Core M-powered Surface Pro 3 rival. AUSTIN: DELL ANNOUNCED at Dell World this week that it is giving its Venue 11 Pro 7000 series Windows tablet a significant upgrade in a bid to give Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 a run for its money.

The Venue 11 Pro aims to "accelerate productivity for mobile workers" in the enterprise space with a thinner and fanless design, an extended battery life that claims to "get through the work day", a travel keyboard for a full laptop experience and a full HD display.

Read full article @ The Inquirer

Entry-level PC - November 2014

Our guidelines for the Entry-level PC category are as follows. The entire computer system, excluding OS, should not exceed £420. Its primary, but not only, function is to provide a smooth and enjoyable online experience. This means that the cheapest processors won’t be enough, as modern web pages and internet applications do demand some processing power.

Additionally, the system has to be able to efficiently perform internet-related tasks. This includes basic photo editing (cropping and resizing to upload or send a photo) and extracting compressed files. At the same time the necessary background programmes need to be active, such as a virus scanner, a firewall, and anti-spyware software. The computer also needs to be able to efficiently run word processing software and administrative programmes.

The cheapest PCs that you can currently buy are good enough for internet use. If you want to do other things, however, then you will quickly notice the limitations of the CPU and graphics processor. More powerful pre-assembled computers often turn out to have one weak component that becomes a bottleneck. Maybe it has a very fast processor, but lacks enough RAM, hard disk space, or a good enough graphics card.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

Gigabyte X99-UD4 Motherboard Review

While the Haswell-E CPUs and X99-based motherboards of Intel’s newest HEDT platform put a considerable dent in the pocket of any enthusiast, there are ways to lighten the cost burden. We recently reviewed the six-core 5820K and found it to be an excellent choice for users who value compute performance and want Haswell-E at the lowest possible cost. Another way to achieve an aggressive budget target is to buy a low cost X99 motherboard. That’s where Gigabyte’s X99-UD4 fits in. Do the features and performance make the sub-£170 board an interesting value option?

Read full article @ KitGuru

GTX 970 Roundup (EVGA, GALAX, Gigabyte)

NVIDIA’s GTX 970 has received quite a bit of face time lately and with good reason. When paired up with a good heatsink and some slightly higher clock speeds, it can give the GTX 980 a run for its money. Meanwhile, in SLI the inexpensive GTX 970 provides an amazing amount of performance relative to the setup’s cost of less than $700.

Part of the GTX 970’s allure is the wide variety of cards NVIDIA’s board partners have launched. Since this is a “virtual” design, they’ve been given a free hand to stretch the limits of board design provided minimum specifications are met. As a result we’ve seen everything from typical blower-style setups to some wild cooling setups and exceedingly high clock speeds. All of these are priced well under $400 which makes them extremely good values.

Read full article @ Hardware Canucks

How to Find and Remove Duplicate Files on Linux

Whether youre using Linux on your desktop or a server, there are good tools that will scan your system for duplicate files and help you remove them to free up space. Solid graphical and command-line interfaces are both available.

Read full article @ Howtogeek

In depth: 12 iPhone battery life tips and tricks

The frustration of a dead battery will be familiar to every iPhone owner. But what can you do to avoid it, other than use your phone less? Apple is good at squeezing maximum performance out of the hardware in the iPhone and that's one of the reasons that the iPhone's battery is comparatively small. The first iPhone had a 1400mAh battery, and seven years later the iPhone 6 has a 1810mAh battery, although the iPhone 6 Plus has a whopping 2910mAh offering.

Read full article @ Techradar

LUXA2 PL3 10400mAh Leather Power Bank Review

Whenever I’m out enjoying a cup of coffee and my smartphone runs out of juice i open my shoulder backpack to get whichever portable battery i happen to carry along with me since i never leave home without one. Now up till this day usually whenever i did that people stared at me like I was from mars or something similar but a week ago that changed since i wasn't the only one with a portable battery at that cafe (there were portable batteries on two tables near my own). I know that portable batteries are not something new and I’ve seen people use then abroad but where i live things are not as "advanced" when it comes to electronics so although many of my friends have such devices (i try to keep all of them up to date) this was the very first time I’ve seen people use them in public. The battery pack i was using back then was the latest PL3 10400mAh leather power bank by LUXA2 which is also what today's review is all about.

LUXA2- is a Taiwanese based designer and manufacturer of award winning portable accessories. Established in 2009, LUXA2 is committed to creating the best user-experience by consistently designing and innovating each and every product from concept to reality. LUXA2 believes that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication; and it is with this belief that our product designs are not only simplistic in nature but also incorporates functionality and premium aesthetic appeal at affordable prices. We promote not just products but total solutions. LUXA2s’ products are sold worldwide in major consumer and electronic retailers and online via www.luxa2.com and www.ttbuy.com.tw. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, the LUXA2 team possesses many talented specialists from all around the globe ranging from: sales mavericks, marketing aficionados, design wizards and R&D demons which are all lead by a top-gun management team. With offices in the USA, China, Australia and Germany, LUXA2’s presence on the global stage is ever-increasing to ultimately bring our mission of creating a simple, unique and luxury lifestyle to customers, and ultimately, a uniquely you.

A while back we had the PL2 leather power bank here with us again by LUXA2 which packs 6000mAh worth of battery capacity and aside its single 5V/2.1A USB charging port it also features a very useful LED flashlight. Of course although we did like the PL2 quite a bit back then we had a single objection, the lack of a second USB charging port which could be used to charge smaller devices like smartphones without hurting their batteries. Now i don't know if LUXA2 listened to us since the PL3 arrived a lot sooner than expected (it was probably in production by the time we reviewed the PL2) but this time over they've placed two 5V USB charging ports (1A/2.1A) with which you can charge virtually everything from smartphones, wireless headsets and mp3/mp4 players to tablets, cameras, gaming devices, camcorders and even portable wireless speakers. Of course to fully charge some tablets you need way more than the 6000mAh featured in the PL2 model so the PL3 offers a total of 10400mAh again by using high quality Samsung cells. So do all these mean that the PL3 is the perfect power bank?

Read full article @ NikKTech

Oregon Scientific Weather@Home Bluetooth Thermometer Review

There are two types of people in this world – those who want to know the weather before they go outside and those who walk out the door without ever checking. In my household I fall in the latter category while my wife is one of the former. The Weather@Home Bluetooth-enabled Weather Station (EMR2211) is designed to make even the least whether informed of us more enlightened. Its like having a meteorologist in your home.

Oregon Scientific is well known for their various weather related devices. With the integration of smart devices into our digital lives it was fairly obvious that they would design a product that can interact with our smart phones and tablets. Using Bluetooth technology the base station of the Oregon Scientific EMR 211 can send weather data to your iOS or Android-based device.

Read full article @ Technogog

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge review: Innovation, experiment or gimmick

Just because you can do something, should you? Samsung thinks so. Its second experimentally screened phone taps into its hardware R&D and production clout to offer something not many other companies can make, let alone bring to the public outside of a fuzzy proof of concept. And so, following the Galaxy Round, here's the Galaxy Edge. If you take the basic shape and concept, it's the spitting image of the curved-screen Youm prototype spied at CES a little less than two years ago. Now, though, it's a for-real smartphone you can buy. I've been testing it out in Japan, where it launched instead of the Note 4, although both the Note 4 and the Note Edge will eventually be available in the US. Fortunately, despite the unusual, (addictively stroke-able) curved screen, it still packs all of the good things that made the Note 4 such a strong choice. But bragging rights aside, is there enough of an argument for a curved screen? Should you just get the Note 4 anyway?

Read full article @ Engadget

Silicon Power Blaze B05 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review

Pink is one of the many traditions here at APH Networks. Starting off with the FSP NB Q90 laptop power adapter reviewed by Jeremy To back in 2011 and the SilverStone Air Penetrator SST-AP121-USB by my colleague Kenneth in 2012, both products added a hint of pink in some way or another. This is not to mention we talk about how our Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Kwan is a fan of the color pink; judging by his T-shirt collection and Windows Live Messenger font color back in the day. It is no doubt that pink is the new trend around here. The staff here at APH Networks -- myself included -- sometimes joke that each member will have their chance in reviewing a pink product sooner or later. I am sure there are many pink consumer electronics out on the market, as we have reviewed a couple of them already. Yet, we have not gotten bored of this color yet. Lately, we have been covering a bunch of products from Silicon Power. Namely, we have the Marvel M70 64GB and Diamond D06 1TB. In the next few weeks, we will review the Jewel J80 32GB and Mobile X31 32GB. But let us not get too far ahead of ourselves. What we have here today is -- you have guessed it -- another pink product in our hands. Shipped with the Jewel J80 and the Mobile X31, let me introduce you to the Silicon Power Blaze B05 64GB. Being we still are a fan of pink, you may be thinking we have grown tired of reviewing USB drives. Fear not, because as long as the Blaze B05 is glowingly pink, we will still see how well newly released products perform. Read on to see the Blaze B05's pinkness awesomeness!

Read full article @ APH Networks

WASDs Code keyboard with Cherry MX clear switches reviewed

We've been meaning to try out Cherry MX's clear key switches for a while, and now, we've finally gotten our wish. Join us for a look at WASD Keyboards' Cherry MX clear-infused Code keyboard, a tenkeyless offering with more than a few tricks up its sleeve.

Read full article @ The Tech Report