Reviews 51951 Published by

Happy new year everyone! Here part 1 of this weekends reviews roundup with the following articles:

- 7" Sylvania SDVD8732 Widescreen Portable DVD Player w/Additional LCD Screen Review
- Samsung HMX-T10 Digital Camcorder Review
- dBLogic Headphones Review
- Western Digital WD TV Live Hub Review
- Arctic Cooling P531 Headphones Review
- Kingston HyperX MAX USB 3.0 128GB External SSD Review
- Beginner's Guide to HTPC Codecs, File Formats, Containers, Filetypes
- 7" 800×480 USB Secondary LCD Monitor Review
- Antec ISK100 Mini-ITX Desktop / HTPC Chassis Review
- Deepcool Ice Matrix 400 Heatsink Review
- Corsair Vengeance 12GB DDR3 Memory Kit review
- Patriot Viper Xtreme DDR3-2000 6GB Triple Channel Memory Kit Review
- LG Hitachi 8x Blu-Ray Burner WH08LS20 Review
- In Win Dragon Rider Review
- Xigmatek S128264 Aegir Stacked Heatpipe Heatsink Review
- Speedlink Ferret Gaming Mouse Review
- Razer Naga Molten Special Edition MMO Gaming Mouse Review
- Zalman ZM-MH200 U3 USB 3.0 Dual HDD Docking Station Review
- Zalman CNPS9900 Max Review
- Kingston 32GB Micro SDHC Card Review
- Asus Crosshair IV Extreme: More Lucid for AMD
- CoolIT Systems ECO A.L.C. 240 CPU Cooler Review
- Epson Perfection V600 Review
- Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme Plus meets HD 6970
- MSI Big Bang XPower X58 Review



7" Sylvania SDVD8732 Widescreen Portable DVD Player w/Additional LCD Screen Review
TestFreaks posted a review on the 7" Sylvania SDVD8732 Widescreen Portable DVD Player w/Additional LCD

Today for review I’ve got another product from our friends over at Geeks.com, this is one though that I was kind of excited about getting, sort of. I was more excited about getting it to stop arguments in my home, my kids fight all the time over things and anything to can stop that would be very nice. The product is a portable DVD player from Sylvania, model number SDVD8732, but it has one unique difference, it includes two 7” LCD screens so you can play the same movie on both screens. It includes straps to mount to car headrests so you can use it while traveling and it has a five hour battery.
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Samsung HMX-T10 Digital Camcorder Review
Dreamware Computers posted a review on the Samsung HMX-T10 Digital Camcorder

Regular definition flash video cameras have become fairly inexpensive and abundant on the market. High definition models often teeter into the territory of being just a little more than people on a humble budget want to spend. With the release of the HMX-T10, Samsung is hoping to put a high definition video camera into the hands of those who don't have high definition budgets and don't demand all the fancy features that more expensive HD cams bring along with them too.
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dBLogic Headphones Review
TestFreaks posted a review on the dBLogic Headphones

Today we will look at dBLogic’s first headphone release. Strangely dBLogic have not assigned a model name or number to this product so it is simply known as the dBLogic Headphone. dBLogic was kind enough to send us a pre release model of the dBLogic Headphones so there was no packaging with this sample. Supposedly it will be packaged with a carrying case.
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Western Digital WD TV Live Hub Review
HotHardware.com posted a review on the Western Digital WD TV Live Hub

Western Digital's WD TV Live Hub, which is what we're looking at today, is the company's fourth generation media streamer, and it's the most fully functional to date. Unlike the previous generation WD TV Live Plus, as well those that came out before it, this latest iteration adds several welcome additions, including a built-in 1TB hard drive, a built-in media server to stream content to multiple rooms, and more apps than before, including the ability to download movies and TV shows from Blockbuster On Demand...
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Arctic Cooling P531 Headphones Review
Viperlair posted a review on the Arctic Cooling P531 Headphones

The mid range, at default settings was lower than expected, but the EQ can set things right. You'll want to raise the trebles, mids and bass for average movie/game listening. Once this is done, you'll really enjoy the sound from the Arctic Cooling P531 Headphones. It can be a little enclosed at times, but it's pretty much always spacial sounding without being hollow. There are issues with the Arctic Cooling P531 Headphones; they are not glasses friendly and the blinking blue light to be precise. But the plus points certainly out weigh these issues. Great sound, a very versatile positioning microphone, surround sound that sounds technically correct position wise, strong bass without distortion, USB plug'n'play and included easy to use software.
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Kingston HyperX MAX USB 3.0 128GB External SSD Review
Legit Reviews posted a review on the Kingston HyperX MAX USB 3.0 128GB External SSD

Kingston's HyperX MAX 3.0 is an external SSD with a USB 3.0 interface that promises reads up to 195MB/s and writes up to 160MB/s. Akin to an over-sized and supercharged thumb drive, it could just be your salvation for a speedy and portable backup solution. Read the full article to see if it performs and wins our hearts.

Overall performance of the Kingston HyperX Max 3.0 was great. It exceeded Kingston's rated specifications in our synthetic benchmarks and although limited by the USB 3.0 interface from really stretching its legs, it's a welcomed change from the slug that is USB 2.0. In case you missed it the Kingston HyperX MAX 3.0 has a read speed of up to 195MB/sec., and a write speed of up to 160MB/sec. We were able to hit 206MB/s read and 189MB/s write in ATTO. Fit and finish are excellent and the rounded edge design makes it comfortable to hold and small enough to fit in your pocket although it's obviously a fair amount larger than a thumb drive...
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Beginner's Guide to HTPC Codecs, File Formats, Containers, Filetypes
MissingRemote.com posted a Beginner's Guide to HTPC Codecs, File Formats, Containers, Filetypes

Codecs? File types? Oh my! If you have ever tried to watch a video you downloaded from the internet only to find it unable to be played (or maybe just audio but no video), then this is the guide for you! We're going to try to do our best to cover most of the more common file types that are out there, and what they mean to you and your home theater experience. Before we get into the details, let's cover the basics of the terminology. Codec is an acronym for compressing\decompressing. This technology is used to execute an algorithm to compress or decompress video or audio. An example of this is playback of your PVR recordings on your HTPC; when the file plays back your PC is decompressing, or decoding, the MPEG-2 or H.264 video and MPEG-Audio or AC-3 audio contained in the file.
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7" 800×480 USB Secondary LCD Monitor Review
TestFreaks takes a look at the 7" 800×480 USB Secondary LCD Monitor

I’m sure a lot of you out there got a digital photo frame for Christmas, they’re one of the more popular gifts. I bet though that the one you got couldn’t also be used as a USB monitor, well that’s what I got, not for Christmas but for review from Geeks.com. The photo frame slash USB monitor I got for review is what one would call no-name or generic, it’s just called the 7” 800×480 USB Secondary LCD Monitor. It features a USB port and an SD card slot so you can view your pictures and it has 1gig of internal memory as well.
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Antec ISK100 Mini-ITX Desktop / HTPC Chassis Review
TweakTown posted a review on the Antec ISK100 Mini-ITX Desktop / HTPC Chassis

With the recent purchase of a new Samsung TV for my living room, I took the Thermaltake Element Q and set the ZOTAC board to work on a more daily basis in my HTPC setup. As time went on, I realized I was streaming a lot of the movies from the router and had little use for the optical drive I had installed. The second thing that I came to notice was that the onboard video was more than capable of running my TV, so I could ditch the VGA and lessen the electrical draw. This left me wanting another chassis to try out in my HTPC setup that was built more to my new found needs.

Antec has developed the newer line of cases called the ISK series. There are a few chassis' in the lineup that offer various features and a range of sizes. Today we are going to take a look at the smallest chassis in that lineup, and it just so happens that this chassis is a better fit to my own personal needs as well. The chassis in question is the ISK100 and we are going to be taking a good look at it today. Join me in seeing just what the ISK offers and just how much Antec packed into this Mini-ITX chassis.
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Deepcool Ice Matrix 400 Heatsink Review
FrostyTech posted a review on the Deepcool Ice Matrix 400 Heatsink

Deepcool's Ice Matrix 400 heatsink is a relatively thin profile tower cooler that stands 160mm tall, but is only 71mm deep. It weighs upwards of 1030grams and is built with no fewer than four, 6mm diameter copper heatpipes. As with DeepCool's previously tested heatsinks, the Ice Matrix 400 ships with a novel kind of fan that skips the whole rubber-fan-post fad for a resilient layer of rubber in the fan frame itself.
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Corsair Vengeance 12GB DDR3 Memory Kit review
The Guru of 3D posted a review on the Corsair Vengeance 12GB DDR3 Memory Kit

Today we'll have a look at Corsair's Vengeance 12GB PC3-12800 1600Mhz DDR3 DIMM Memory Kit, it will be exceptionally hard to show you any performance difference in-between 6GB and 12GB, but any transcoding, photoshopping, productivity enthusiast with at little common sense will conclude with us, this kit is going to be one heck of a deal.
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Patriot Viper Xtreme DDR3-2000 6GB Triple Channel Memory Kit Review
ThinkComputers.org posted Patriot Viper Xtreme DDR3-2000 6GB Triple Channel Memory Kit Review

DDR3 has really taken off in the past year and it only seemed like a little while ago 1333MHz DDR3 was the standard, but now it seems like 1600MHz DDR3 is now. While the 1600MHz memory is fine for most people us enthusiasts want the fastest memory possible for our system to run at its best. Today we will be looking at a very fast memory kit from Patriot. It is their Viper Xtreme PC3-16000 (2000MHz) 6GB triple channel kit with timings of 9-10-9-27. Let’s take a look at this kit and see what it can do!
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LG Hitachi 8x Blu-Ray Burner WH08LS20 Review
OCIA.net has posted their review of the LG Hitachi 8x Blu-Ray Burner WH08LS20

Blu-ray Disk or BD has been around for nearly a decade, but it has really taken off in popularity the last few years. With the explosion in sales of progressively lower-priced LCD and Plasma HDTVs, and the end of the format war with HD DVD, Blu-ray has firmly established itself as the new standard for high definition video. While initially very expensive, just as DVD-R and CD-R were in their infancy, BD-R drives have recently hit the sub-$100 level, and blanks can be had for about a buck a piece when purchased in bulk. The LG WH08LS20 combo drive from Geeks.com fits this category, and is the subject of our review today.
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In Win Dragon Rider Review
OCC has published a review on the In Win Dragon Rider

Overall, the Dragon Rider proved to be quite an impressive beast. It came with similar features seen in other full-tower cases but it even managed to present some never before seen features, again at least as far as I've seen, such as the 8-pin CPU power extension cables. Of course it also featured the largest number of fans I have seen included with any case.
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Xigmatek S128264 Aegir Stacked Heatpipe Heatsink Review
FrostyTech posted Xigmatek S128264 Aegir Stacked Heatpipe Heatsink Review

Xigmatek continues the new trend of 'heatpipe stacking' with its latest heatsink, the SD128264 Aegir. The Aegir is an exposed heatpipe base tower heatsink made to accommodate one or two 120mm fans. A single 120mm 2200-1000RPM PWM fan is supplied with it, and judging by the excellent thermal test results there's really no need for a second... unless you're planning on operating both fans at the slowest possible speeds.
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Speedlink Ferret Gaming Mouse Review
Rbmods posted a review on the Speedlink Ferret Gaming Mouse

On the move a lot? Miss the gaming setup at home? Speedlink has released a gaming mouse for when you are on the move. This means that mouse is mobile and a bit smaller than the standard gaming mouse on the market. My question is how well does a small mobile mouse work together with games?
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Razer Naga Molten Special Edition MMO Gaming Mouse Review
HardwareHeaven.com posted a review on the Razer Naga Molten Special Edition MMO Gaming Mouse

Now Razer has released a special edition Naga mouse, designed to tie into the new expansion for World of WarCraft. The Razer Naga Molten Special Edition has unique graphics which match the new Cataclysm expansion and today we have one connected to our test system. Read on to find out what we think of the latest addition to Razers range.
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Zalman ZM-MH200 U3 USB 3.0 Dual HDD Docking Station Review
ThinkComputers.org posted a review on the Zalman ZM-MH200 U3 USB 3.0 Dual HDD Docking Station

Today’s storage needs are not that of what was required a few years ago, files are increasing larger in size. Whether it is movies, games, music, or pictures there is need for faster and larger drives. Most importantly with these growing demands comes the need for better access to that data, including higher speeds of transfer and ease of swapping drives between computers to share that data. This is where Zalman’s USB 3.0 HDD docking station comes into focus, it primary function to utilize the newest USB 3.0 technology to help users gain access to their data in one of the fastest ways possible, while still allowing the options for swapping and raid functionality should it be needed or required.
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Zalman CNPS9900 Max Review
OCC has published a review on the Zalman CNPS9900 Max

The Zalman CNPS9900 MAX is a very strong performer, and brings a lot of attractive features to the table. It is relatively compact compared to other high end heatsinks, has a mirror-polished base, and is lightweight. Not only does it come close to the top performing Noctua NH-D14, but it does so with one less fan and with about 200g less mass.
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Kingston 32GB Micro SDHC Card Review
Bigbruin.com checked out the Kingston 32GB Micro SDHC Card

The bottom line is that the Kingston 32GB Micro SDHC card is definitely worth considering if you want to add as much storage space to your tablet PC, smart phone, or other mobile device as is physically possible. 32GB Micro SDHC cards are not all that common yet, and the Kingston unit is a leader in terms or price and speed rating.
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Asus Crosshair IV Extreme: More Lucid for AMD
PC Perspective posted a review on the Asus Crosshair IV Extreme

Asus has a strong history of high end and expensive motherboards, and they are adding to that resume on the AMD side with the Crosshair IV Extreme. This board features all the bells and whistles that one would expect on a board of this class, and it also integrates the Lucid Hydra technology for multi-GPU functionality across a multitude of card types and manufacturers.

Asus makes a pretty mean board, and by using the Hydra controller it is allowing multi-GPU with NVIDIA cards on the AMD platform to continue. Eventually the older NVIDIA 980 and 750 SLI chipsets will go away, and when that happens then it is unlikely that NVIDIA will grant AMD a SLI license for their chipsets. Asus and MSI are both investing a lot into Hydra, and with an entity the size of Asus on board, we can expect to see much better driver support and improved performance over the next several months. We have already seen Lucid increase its driver release rate in the past six months with all of the support (and pushing) they are likely getting from these large manufacturers.
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CoolIT Systems ECO A.L.C. 240 CPU Cooler Review
Legit Reviews posted CoolIT Systems ECO A.L.C. 240 CPU Cooler Review

Last week we looked at the Vantage A.L.C. from CoolIT Systems, today we are looking at their ECO A.L.C. 240. This is the first sealed kit water cooler with a 240mm radiator we have seen here at Legit Reviews. The ECO C240 A.L.C. retails for $124.99 and includes retentions brackets for Intel 775, 1156, 1366 and AMD AM2, AM2+, and AM3 CPU sockets types. We look to see how it does on an Intel Core i7-930 processor at stock and overclocked speeds!

Now the new ECO ALC 240 is just like the ECO ALC 120 in regards to the types of fans and pump/block unit. The only difference is the larger radiator. The ECO ALC 240 is a self-contained, sealed loop CPU water cooler. With the unit being sealed there is no need for the system coolant 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 use self-contained units.
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Epson Perfection V600 Review
TechReviewSource.com posted a review on the Epson Perfection V600 scanner

Some might find a dedicated scanner to be unnecessary these days with multifunction printers so common, but the Epson Perfection V600 provides high-quality scans and the ability to scan film and slides. There's also many image correction features too, including photo restoration and color correction.
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Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme Plus meets HD 6970
Hardwareoverclock.com has reviewed the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme Plus vga cooler on a HD 6970.

This videocard is very interesting, fast in performance, but also too load. Maybe we have found a quieter alternative with the Xtreme Plus. The results are very amazing.
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MSI Big Bang XPower X58 Review
ocaholic posted a review on the MSI Big Bang XPower X58

The Big Bang XPower is MSIs recent flagship model regarding the socket 1366. Especially overclockers as well as PC-enthusiasts should be able to enjoy this thing. Therefore, not only its looks are amazing hopefully the performance is on a high level too.
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