Reviews 51950 Published by

Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

Aerocool Xpredator Cube Case Review
ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac Intel LGA1150 Mini-ITX Motherboard Review
Canon Pixma MG7520 All-in-One Inkjet Printer Review
Hands-on review: Pentax K-S1
HD Video Editing PC - November 2014
HTC Flip Case for HTC One for Windows Review
Install LibreOffice 4.3.3 in Ubuntu 14.10
Jabra Stealth Bluetooth Headset Review
Mini review: Dell AD211
MSI gives KitGuru a tour of the most powerful laptop ever
netTALK DUO WiFi VOIP Phone Review
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI Overclocked GPU Review
NZXT GRID+ Fan Controller Review
Patriot Memory Stellar Boost XT 64GB USB 3.0 OTG Drive Review
Ryse: Son of Rome PC: It’s Boring but Here’s Why You Should Still Buy It
Silicon Power Thunder T11 120 GB
Synology DiskStation DS1815+
The Best Graphics Cards of 2014: Nvidia vs. AMD at Every Price Point
Upcoming AMD R9 390X Fiji and GeForce GTX 960 details leak



Aerocool Xpredator Cube Case Review

Today we are going to take a look at another new case from Aerocool, the Xpredator Cube. Like the Strike-X Cube (http://goo.gl/lRQmYJ) that we reviewed recently, the Xpredator Cube is a micro-ATX model which is targeted at those users looking to build a compact gaming system, with room for powerful components.

Read full article @ KitGuru

ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac Intel LGA1150 Mini-ITX Motherboard Review

Today at OCinside.de we test a very small but powerful Mini-ITX motherboard, the ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac with Wi-Fi 802 11ac / Bluetooth v4.0 module and external WiFi antenna.
Amazing - on the top of the mini ITX mainboard is not enough space to meet all your wishes, so ASRock has continued without further ADO on the back of this ITX motherboard.
The ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac motherboard is based on the Intel Z97 chipset and offers even a M.2 slot, a mini PCIe slot and a PCIe slot, up to six USB 3.0 ports, up to six SATA3 ports, SATA Express, digital sound output via optical S/PDIF output, TPM, DisplayPort, DVI-I, HDMI output, HDMI input, Gigabit LAN port, and much more, which is by no means usual for such tiny boards.
Let us see what else this LGA1150 ITX mainboard has to offer.

Read full article @ OCinside.de

Canon Pixma MG7520 All-in-One Inkjet Printer Review

Canon's Pixma line of all-in-one inkjet printers is the Murderer's Row of photography printers. In addition to this year's 7150 model, and last year's iX6850 model, Canon has historically produced quality print/scan devices at affordable prices. Whether you're a photo enthusiast, a small business owner, or someone who just likes to print iPhone and GoPro stills, you'll likely enjoy most aspects of the Pixma printing experience. The new Canon Pixma MG7520 is no exception. Priced at $199 (about £170/AU$219) the Pixma MG7520 is eerily similar to the MG7150. Both print documents at a maximum color dpi of 9600 X 2400 with 1pl technology, and both scan documents and photos at 2400 x 4800 dpi.FeaturesLike the 7150, the 7520 features six ink tanks, including a tank that holds gray ink, to offer more color accuracy and balance. Most printers feature only one cartridge that creates ink of all colors from the same pool, which means you're forced to throw the cartridge away when the ink runs out regardless of which colors you use most often. If you typically run through a ton of ink, you'll appreciate the six separate tanks: you'll only need to replace the ink cartridges for colors you often use, and you won't need to replace the ones you seldom use. The 7150 is a small, lightweight model, which is ideal for home users and small businesses with cramped spaces. The 17.4 pound printer is only 17.2 wide and 5.9 tall, so it isn't exactly compact, but it is pound-for-pound a solid device. It's housed in a sleek, black plastic chassis that easily collects dust and fingerprint smudges. You'll want to wipe this machine down often in order to help it maintain its attractive appearance.

Read full article @ Techradar

Hands-on review: Pentax K-S1

Pentax has made some rather good digital SLRs even if they don't quite match the sophistication and consumer-friendly feel of Canon and Nikon offerings.(Don't forget to keep checking the Techradar Camera Channel home page for the latest camera reviews and news.)And on paper, the Pentax K-S1 looks like a perfectly decent alternative, with good basic specifications and some interesting technologies. Which makes it hard to understand why Pentax feels it needs to release it in an array of different colours – including a new 'sweets' collection.At its heart is a 20-megapixel CMOS sensor with a sensor-based shake reduction system – in principle, this will provide an image stabilising effect with any lens, and it does actually work very well.This system is also used for the Pentax's unique 'anti-alias simulation' modes.

Read full article @ Techradar

HD Video Editing PC - November 2014

A few years ago, your PC just couldn't be fast enough for digital video processing. By now every average PC is able to process Standard Definition (PAL 720x576) as well as HD Ready, but technology doesn't stand still. By now just about every smartphone can record in HD or Full HD and the new frontier is Ultra HD, also known as 4K. This resolution and the 'accompanying' codec HEVC / H.265 require seriously powerful hardware.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

HTC Flip Case for HTC One for Windows Review

The HTC One (M8) for Windows is the first flagship Windows phone to be available in the US on Verizon and AT&T with T-Mobile due soon as well. Since the One M8 is available as an Android device as well, there are a ton of cases out there to choose from, which is good for Windows Phone fans. Today I'll take a look at HTC's own OEM Flip Case for the One M8.

Read full article @ Windows Central

Install LibreOffice 4.3.3 in Ubuntu 14.10

LibreOffice is a free and open source office suite, developed by The Document Foundation. It was forked from OpenOffice.org in 2010, which was an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice. The LibreOffice suite comprises programs to do word processing, spreadsheets, slideshows, diagrams and drawings, maintain databases, and compose mathematical formulae.

Read full article @ Ubuntu Geek

Jabra Stealth Bluetooth Headset Review

As smart phones incorporate new technologies such as Google Now on Android and Siri on iOS, Bluetooth headset companies continue to evolve as well. Jabra is a highly regarded name in the field of Bluetooth technology has released the Jabra Stealth that offers a dedicated Siri/Google Now button as well the ability to pair using NFC (near field communication) depending on the device.

In addition the Jabra Stealth has features you’d expect to find in a modern Bluetooth headset including high definition audio, noise reduction and long battery life.

Read full article @ Technogog

Mini review: Dell AD211

The Bluetooth speaker market might be crowded, but there's always extra room for more competition, especially when it comes in at a cool $59 (£68.39, AU$79). With the Dell Bluetooth Portable Speaker - AD211, it may not be eye-catching, but its low price tag sure is. And at that, it's impressively well-stocked with features and a satisfactory sound. Compared to more expensive and similarly-sized options like the Harman/Kardon Esquire Mini and the JBL Charge 2, the unimaginatively-named AD211 holds its own as a capable speaker, offering many of the features seen in the competition for less hefty of an investment. But how does it sound?DesignWith the AD211, Dell's choice to play it safe in its design isn't an oversight. The grey, energy drink-sized speaker canister is purposefully plain, matching the (rather appealing, if I do say so) aesthetic of Dell's office-friendly products. The biggest stride it makes in design is keeping it simple, which allows its functions to benefit from its form. For a bargain, the materials and design offer a basic, yet effective presentation.The speaker's design is conventional but tuned to be highly usable, no matter which of its two modes of orientation you utilize. If you choose to stand it upright, its bottom side rests on a stable, rubberized plate that hushes buzzing created by strong bass.

Read full article @ Techradar

MSI gives KitGuru a tour of the most powerful laptop ever

When a Director from MSI’s notebook team tells you that his new product will be the fastest ever, you have to pay attention. You should also fire up the 8mm GuruCam and get some footage.

Read full article @ KitGuru

netTALK DUO WiFi VOIP Phone Review

I know there are many of you out there today, this review being in November 2014, that still pay a monthly bill for dedicated landline telephone service. Admittedly I've been in the same boat as you all for some time now, even though I have a cell phone.
Honestly, I don't know why I've been waiting so long to get away from this old analog landline technology service when I've already heard for years about modern day digital voice technology, I'm referring to VOIP (Voice over IP). Just look at what's happened with pay phones, their pretty much obsolete now because of cellular technology. Yes there are some pay phones still operating in remote areas in and out of the city, but the numbers are small. They are good as collectables now.

I've already used Skype, used Google Voice, used various software applications such as WhatsApp, and BBM that has allowed me to make voice calls just by using Internet service with respective apps, so in that regard it's not like I've never used the technology before. I just don't know why I've never applied that on my home landline telephone service.

Read full article @ ModSynergy.com

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI Overclocked GPU Review

What's better than two GTX 980s in SLI Two overclocked GTX 980s in SLI! If you want to know how these cards performed when pushed to the limit, make sure you read our NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 SLI Overclocked GPU review.
We take 2-Way GeForce GTX 980 SLI and overclock both video cards. While we are at it, let's also overclock Radeon R9 290X CrossFire and GeForce GTX 780 Ti SLI. Once we get these clocked to the highest rates we could reach, let's see how these all compare at 4K resolution, NV Surround, and AMD Eyefinity.

Read full article @ HardOCP

NZXT GRID+ Fan Controller Review

It’s amazing what a difference one symbol can make. Until the 16th century all math was written out as a word problem. And it wasn’t until the late 15th century that this frustratingly slow process was finally if only partially abbreviated by the invention of the “+” sign. Originally written as a shortened version of the Latin word for “and” it took much longer and many more visual iterations of the symbol before the common “+” symbol as we know it today took root. But let’s go back to the root word of the symbol: and. One of the most popular conjunctions in the English language, “and” refers to something else, something in addition to, more. So what, and why the history lesson you ask? You’re here to read about computers and hardware of course. Well interestingly enough hardware powerhouse NZXT has reinvented their simple but popular Grid fan hub. Intriguingly this new version of the hub is has been titled the Grid+. Being such a simple object we are thoroughly curious what NZXT has done to “add” to the original Grid. Indeed is the new Grid+ worthy of this new moniker?

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Patriot Memory Stellar Boost XT 64GB USB 3.0 OTG Drive Review

The new Stellar Boost XT drive from Patriot Memory has quite a small footprint and also features a durable rubberized chassis. The read performance of the drive is very good, nearing 150MB/s in our tests, while the writes are in the 35MB/s area, quite close to the best performing USB 2.0 drives. These speeds are more than enough for maxing out the transfers when connected to our favorite smartphone/tablet which supports OTG for doing backups, watching Full HD content and many other activities.

Read full article @ Madshrimps

Ryse: Son of Rome PC: It’s Boring but Here’s Why You Should Still Buy It

Crytek have had a fair streak of bad luck in recent months, especially with Ryse: Son of Rome bombing hard on Xbox One. The lackluster sales didn’t help their financial troubles at all and to help give them a boost, they ported Ryse over to PC. Given that the Xbox One hardware is very similar to PC, porting it should have been relatively simple. It’s also worth noting that Crytek don’t do lazy ports, something that is evident with the extended graphics features available in the PC release of Ryse; such as 4K resolution support.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Silicon Power Thunder T11 120 GB

Thunderbolt may not be a very wide-spread interface in the Windows domain, but nearly every modern Apple notebook or desktop features such a connector. Silicon Power aims to leverage this high-speed interface with the Thunder T11 series, offering 120 GB or 240 GB capacities for less than a Lacie or OWC alternative.

Read full article @ techPowerUp

Synology DiskStation DS1815+

Today we are checking out the DiskStation DS1815+ from Synology. The DS1815+ is powered by an Intel Atom C2538 quad-core processor and features a 2GB memory buffer, with a potential storage capacity of 108TB with two DX513 expansion units...

The DSx14 series consists of more than half a dozen DiskStation models featuring Marvell, Mindspeed and Intel SoC’s (System on Chips). Thus far the DSx15 series consists of just three models, including the DS1815+ that we are reviewing today.

Read full article @ Legion Hardware

The Best Graphics Cards of 2014: Nvidia vs. AMD at Every Price Point

It's been an eventful year for GPU releases with updated models and prices across all budgets from both AMD and Nvidia. With no more releases from either camp for the remainder of the year the competition will likely center on price. That's exciting news for those of you who have a shiny new GPU at the top of your Christmas list. Let's break down each price bracket to determine which company offers the best value product.

Read full article @ Techradar

Upcoming AMD R9 390X Fiji and GeForce GTX 960 details leak

Both AMD and Nvidia are preparing their graphics cards ranges for an update shortly and information regarding what might be on the way has recently emerged from unexpected channels. AMD appears to be readying its high-end R9 390 and R9 390X GPUs. Meanwhile Nvidia is preparing its GeForce GTX 960 graphics card to slot into its mid-range position. Both tidbits of information come courtesy of the Zauba import export shipping database.

Read full article @ Hexus