Tired of your smart TV's horrible interface? Looking to add Wi-Fi and digital media options to your home theatre? Want Windows in your living room? ECS's LIVA X is the cost-effective, silent solution to meet those needs, as well as the basic compute needs of most Internet users. With added storage-expansion options and more CPU power, the new LIVA X is the mini PC many have been waiting for.
The award-winning ASRock M8 barebones chassis has received an upgrade recently, sporting Intel's latest Z97 chipset as well as a larger 600W PSU. Ready to accept nearly any add-in VGA and nearly any LGA1150 CPU, the ASRock Z97 M8 barebones is that system many lust over, and we get our own chance to see why.
Today, we take a look at ECS's LIVA Mini PC Kit, a small and affordable PC with very low power consumption, a small price, and lightweight computing capabilities. With a sub-US$200 price tag, expecting top-notch performance would be ill advised, yet what can you get for $200 that fits in the palm of your hand? An ECS LIVA Mini PC Kit, of course.
Recently purchased a new Haswell-based CPU only to run into an overclocking nightmare? Looking for some tips to get a bit more out of your chip? After pushing the limits for several weeks and ending up with more than a few dead chips, we've come up with a guide focused on 24/7 overclocking with Haswell!
The Intel DC3217IYE Next Unit Computing is quite the beast, with the ability to connect two HDMI screens at the same time and the power of an Intel Core i3 and QS77 Express Chipset all in a tiny package. Just add memory and SSD and take this tiny system for a ride - we sure did!
Card readers are steadily catching up with the fastest memory cards out there, and with the help of USB 3.0, speeds well beyond those of USB 2.0 can be achieved. Lexar packs all this punch into the Professional USB 3.0 Dual-Slot Reader aimed at professional users that need the fasted transfer speeds.
Creative's long awaited new line of sound cards is here. Today, we take a thorough look at the new entry-level model called "Sound Blaster Z". The sound card comes equipped with the new Sound Core processor and Creative even bundles it with a decent microphone.
Parrot's infamous AR.Drone just got revamped and we take the new and much improved 2.0 version for a spin around the block. The new drone comes with updated on-board hardware and brand new software tricks as well.
With more and more smartphones and tablets in people's hands, Soundgraph is aiming to bridge the gap between the HTPC and these devices by offering the Smartbay. We take the device for a spin to see if Soundgraph has done their homework or if the money could have been spent in a more efficient manner.
With more and more possibilities to store and playback media to and from different devices the limiting factor tends to be how you can lay down a cable to connect these. PowerColor aims to break that bond with their JustSling, a WHDI solution allowing for wireless, 1080p HDMI to be beamed to your TV without the need of any cables. We take the JustSling for a spin to see if it can sling all our favorite media from end end of the home to the other successfully or if it falls short.
Parrot's AR.Drone is a remarkable piece of kit which incorporates video games with RC-piloting. The AR.Drone is a fully fledged drone with on-board cameras and hardware which allows it to almost fly itself.
Lamptron Touch is the first touch screen fan controller in a series of notable releases from Lamptron. The Touch places excellent customization at your finger tips while an external brushed aluminum front will certainly go well with any case. We'll place this high end controller under our thumb and see how it stacks up against the competition.
iTwin aims to enable secure access to your data in the office or at home with plug and play ease. The 99 US Dollar device does not require setup, nor does it have any capacity restrictions for the amount of data you may access. While other implementations are based on software or online storage scenarios, the iTwin is completely independent and may be used on any Windows based system.
There are very few manufacturers of completely passive systems out there. Impactics is jumping into the fray, aiming to offer fan-less systems, but without the large price premium associated to such computers. We take a look at the black, H55 and i3-530 equipped system to see if it can keep going under the pressure, or if it crumbles under the heat.
Inadequate cooling is never to be taken lightly in a world that is getting hotter and hotter. Fortunately for all us desk bound gadget lovers Arctic Cooling have realized this and given us the Breeze Mobile.
The ZM-M215W is the part of the newest line-up of 3D monitors by Zalman. Instead of plucking down hundreds of dollars on NVIDIA shutter glasses and being bound to NVIDIA GPUs, you can pluck down hundreds over a normal 2D monitor of the similar size, but be free from the shackles, allowed to use any GPU of your choice. Is that still worth it? We put on the glasses and take a really close look.
The Lamptron FC5 is the company's high-end model to control fans, display their information as well as monitor the temperature within your chassis. The front of each FC5 is milled out of a single block of aluminum and the unit can power up to 4 fans with 30W draw each - all attributes of an excellent quality.
Soundgraph is well known for their LCD and VFD products in the majority of HTPC enclosures from virtually all major brand names out there. The new FingerVU series takes the control of the PC to the next level with a 4" or 7" inch, high-res, USB powered LCD touch screen at your finger tips.
The Addonics Pocket DigiDrive combines both the flexibility of a card reader and the speed of the eSATA interface into one functional package. We take the unit for a spin with a blazing fast Compact Flash card to see how it will keep up.
The Megtron is a dual color LCD display which is simply powered by the USB bus and utilizes a slim and small software application to output all kinds of important information. With a market being flooded by plenty of secondary displays, the SDC Megtron does offer some very useful features and functionality.
With more people having more than one computer the need to share and transfer files between them has grown. Vantec has come up with a product geared towards this market with the Vantec ezSHARE Adapter. It boasts an easy setup with no additional software to install and a setup time of only seconds. Let's see what the ezSHARE Adapter has in store.
The Coolmax PS-224 Power Supply Tester is a great little gadget to have handy to take a quick look at any power supply when troubleshooting a PC. It takes the guesswork out of the equation and hits you with the hard cold facts, to show you if your PSU is still up for the job or not.
There are plenty of fingerprint readers out there and odds are that you may have used one here and there. Upek is one of the companies behind such units and also offers two very interesting retail products, which managed to surprise with both Windows and OS X functionality.
The Sentry LX is a high-end, well constructed thermal monitoring unit, which gives you constant access to five thermal sensors and five case fans at once. It also includes a date & time display, so you can enjoy those longer gaming sessions without losing track of time.
