Sunbeam is well known for their four channel Rheobus fan controller. Recently, they decided to create a new version called the Rheobus Extreme which has six channels and can support up to 30 W per channel. Each channel has a clear knob that glows blue, and the brightness changes with the fan speed setting. We take a look at this new fan controller and put it to the test.
These days, computer equipment is more sensitive to power disruptions than ever before. The Sanyo Denki A11H is a true on-line UPS that provides constant power to multiple computer systems, and its design allows it to work well with backup generators. We take a look at a 700W tower-style model and the optional LAN Interface card.
The AirLive WL-5460 builds on the features of the smaller WL-5400 and adds a pan & tilt function and built-in microphone to the device, while keeping the video quality the same. The included software also raises the parallel surveilance capability from 4 to 16 cameras.
The Vizo Milano Multimedia enclosure plays back all your favorite multimedia files stored on the internal hard drive on your TV at up to 1080i resolution. The ease of use and complete cable set make it a very interesting choice for everyone wanting to not only store these files but also have them at their immediate disposal when needed.
A-DATA has recently released a 16 GB SDHC storage card, which is the biggest capacity available on the market. Their card offers not only plenty of storage, it is also extremely fast. Even though it is specified as Class 6 with 6 MB/s, we saw amazing 18 MB/s read and 10 MB/s write speeds.
AirLive has a very diverse line-up. Their Skyphone-1000 is a wireless phone to be used with Skype. It makes calling other Skype users or normal numbers just as easy as with every other phone - it will even ring when someone calls you. As connection method a proprietary Bluetooth protocol is used which lets you use the phone without any corded connection.
The AirLive Sky-211 is an interesting little device, which transforms your home phone into a VoIP device, with which you can make and receive calls over the Internet using Skype. It is incredibly easy to set up and gives you all the comfort of a traditional phone combined with the benefits of a VoIP call.
BFG is one of two companies offering the Ageia PhysX card in form of a retail product. The PPU - physics proccesing unit - is an additioal processor to the GPU and CPU. It enables real life physics and interactivity within supporting games. While the first games and a high price tag upon launch did not live up to expectations, the brand new Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and a very affordable 120 USD price tag makes this a great addition nowadays.
Most users these days know to at least protect their PCs with a surge protector, but in truth, that is not nearly enough. Surge protectors do not protect against blackouts, brownouts or "dirty" power, but an interruptible power supply can. Today we takes a look at the Smart1000LCD UPS from Tripp Lite. It is a 1000VA / 500W unit with a blue backlit LCD display that provides real-time power status.
Watching video on an iPod is nice, but sometimes it can be difficult. The Myvu Personal Media Viewer allows the user to view video by looking through a set of glasses, putting the display up in front wherever the user looks. Add in a set of noise-reducing earbuds and the Myvu Personal Media Viewer is the perfect iPod accessory for the frequent traveler or a college dorm.
The AirLive WLAN IP Camera is a solid and easy to setup camera, which can be implemented into any existing wired or wireless network infrastructure. The included software allows you to control four devices at the same time, making it the perfect choice for all your surveilance purposes.
The AllInOne control panel from Akasa offers, just as the name implies, connectivity of all kinds. You will also get a small LCD display to control two fans and two temperature diodes. The unit itself is of high quality and the clean design should look great inside a case - even the red one.
The Killer NIC by Bigfoot Networks is a network card specifically designed for the needs of gamers. It comes with a 400 MHz RISC processor onboard that handles all network processing functions, giving the games more CPU time to use. In addition to that the processor can run small applications like a Firewall or BitTorrent client independently from the host system.
The Good Work Systems Fragpedal Elite gives your feet control during your favorite game. Our feet are the only part which we still do not use when sitting in front of the computer. The Fragpedal Elite give you four fully customizable buttons to use in any fashíon you would like. The included software with its own programming environment makes this possible. We give the pedals and the software a try, to see if it makes a good addition to your keyboard and mouse.
The OCZ Trifecta is a unique SD card, it features connectors for USB, regular SD and microSD at the same time. This makes the card very useful for a variety of PDAs, mobile phones and cameras because you can easily take your data with you. With a price tag of below $30 for the 1 GB version it is not too expensive as well.
The Microsoft Razer Reclusa is the second product to be released from the two companies. While it may look quite out of this world, it's functions are well placed and the Razer software rounds up the package. We take a close look at all the additional keys as well as the program behind the device and let you know if it is a steal for $60, or if we rather want to go back to our normal keyboards.
AMD's 690 Chipset Series is the first new product since the AMD/ATI merger in October last year. The RS690 is designed to be a low-cost, power efficient Athlon64 chipset which can be used in notebooks and desktop PCs. It features integrated VGA with support for HDMI and DVI - at the same time. With motherboards retailing in the $60 range this chipset has great potential on the budget market.
Soundgraph has updated their own VFD series with a new display which is not only twice as big, but one could say twice as good as well. The one aspect which did not get bigger, but in fact, smaller is its price. While the original Soundgraph VFD had a price tag of ~$100 the new Ultra Bay sells for $95. The new graphical LCD is a great choice to display any type of font, while the new buttons make navigating even easier than before. This is the display that makes any case into a home theater enclosure with some excellent software to control it.
The A-DATA Super Info SD card comes with a little LCD readout that can display volume name and remaining capacity. This is a very useful feature because it allows you to check what is on the card without inserting it into a computer. The performance of the card is good as well, transfer rates are in the 12 MB/s range with access speeds of only 1.3 ms.
The Pertelian X2040 is a multi purpose display, which can display IM messages, media information, stock and Ebay items among other things. Its software is based on an ever growing number of plugins, allowing the user to add further functionality to this LCD. The device is very well constructed and the display is quite bright. We give the display a try and set up a few plugins, to evaluate how useful such a secondary display can be.
OCZ's Dual 1GB SD-Card is a hybrid approach to giving you the optimum connectivity on an SD card. You can use the card either like any regular SD card or after removing a little cap like a USB stick. The card is rated at 80x speed which is about 12 MB/s. OCZ is selling the 1 GB version for about $40 which is a good price considered the added functionality of the product.
The Scythe Karma Meter is a drive bay device to monitor the temperature inside your case with 4 separate diodes, control the fan speed of up to four fans and set the master volume of the PC. The Kama Meter shines with perfect build quality as well as 8 different back light modes. We take a close look to see if its features are useful and temperatures are accurate.
The Scythe Kama-Thermo is a very simple, blue backlit temperature LCD display with a connected diode. The cheap price tag makes it very appealing to most case modders. It is quite small, but has large enough digits and a very good contrast so that the temperatures can be read from further away. The Kama-Thermo combines simplicity and functionality to form a great little device.
Wicked Lasers is very well known in the enthusiast laser community for making high-quality products that perform well. We test the 125 mW Fusion laser which emits a high-powered green beam that is visible for several miles without losing much of intensity. Also we test protective goggles which are designed to make sure you don't hurt your precious eyes when playing with lasers.
