The XTracPads Pro is a specialty mouse pad. The smooth surface and small size coupled with a great sense of accuracy make it perfect for RPG or real time strategy gamers. We take a close look at each of these attributes and its durability to see if it is the pro choice for these type of games.
It is big and it is cool - It's the iCEAGE from 3RSystem. With a 120 mm fan and new heatpipe technology that has the heatpipes as part of the contact base it sure does look promising. Today we will put the iCEAGE to the test and see if it can live up to its name. We'll take a closer look at the Direct Touch Heatpipe design, and see if it does make a difference or not.
Today NVIDIA announced their latest new graphics processors of the GeForce 8 Series. The new cards are called GeForce 8500 GT, 8600 GT and 8600 GTS. In our preview we examine the differences between the products and how they stack up against the last generation GeForce 7 products.
Sapphire's X1950 Pro Dual is the world's first video card that uses two ATI RV570 GPUs on a single PCB. The board comes with 2x 512 MB of GDDR3 memory for a price of $349. In our testing the card shows that it has to potential to narrow the performance gap to NVIDIA's lineup until R600 is released.
Razer's Pro|Type is their latest keyboard that comes in an iPod like white color with an integrated iPod docking station. The keyboard has two USB connectors to make sure there's always enough power for your keyboard and the iPod. Also included is a line-out so you can play music from your iPod directly on your home audio system.
The Vizo Uranus looks quite different than most other HDD enclosures. The shape clearly dictates the use of the stand and the rounded corners, thick aluminum, blue color and modern label will surely look good on your desk. Vizo includes everything from eSATA bracket to special screws and screw drivers, as well as software to use with the backup function of the Uranus. We benchmark it and take a quick look at the included software, to find out if it has what it takes under that shiny aluminum shell.
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.
In the past A-DATA has been making USB sticks with an official Disney license that were themed like the movie Cars, The Incredibles or Mickey. Now they added a flash drive with a Pirates of the Caribbean theme. Pirates of the Caribbean has been the best-selling movie in 2006. In addition to just the flash drive, buyers will get a set of MSN display pictures and wallpapers.
The Saitek GH50 may look quite normal at first glance and even though it is very light, the headset packs quite a punch. As soon as the SRS is turned on, you may never want to go back to using those normal stereo variants. We try the GH50 with games, movies and music after taking a close look and let you know if it really fares as good as it sounds.
The Verbatim Store 'n' Go memory sticks occupy the budget end of the entire Store 'n' Go series. They offer size and quality over performance and features, but have a smaller price tag than the other Store 'n' Go variants. 4GB at $30-35 may not sound bad, so we take a close look the USB stick and see if the savings are worth it.
The Lanbox Lite is geared toward the budget minded user, while still giving you all the benefits of its more expensive Lanbox brethren. With a large price difference of around 30-40 USD and no major differences, besides the front of the case, this is an easy choice for anyone wanting an affordable small form factor case. We try it out and let you know if it is just as good as the bigger, more expensive variant.
The Nuke-Z mouse pads come packaged in a black plastic tube, making it look like it houses some radioactive material. The N-2000 has the same logo printed on it. It is thick and features a smooth surface. The pad is constructed exactly like the Nuke-Z Z8 we had the pleasure of testing, thus only differs in size as it is geared toward the high sensitivity gamer. We take our mice for a spin on the N-2000 and let you know if its performance and proportions result in some great gaming performance.
The Antec Fusion is a fully featured HTPC case that includes a 430W power supply. The case looks more like a A/V receiver than a case. This fact makes it by far the best fitting HTPC we had the pleasure of testing so far. It completely blends in with the big volume knob, VFD and beautiful white LED. But not only the outsides of the case are unique, the inside is divided in compartments for the mainboard, power supply and hard drives. We fill the case with hardware and take a close look at all the features, hoping it delivers more than just beautiful looks at a great price point.
3R System offers a full range of cases and quite a few HTPC variants. The newest such case is the HT-4000, which is a mid tower. This may be quite unusual for high quality HTPC cases, but everything found in such cases can also be found here - including the LCD, card reader and remote control. 3R System has managed to create a great, fully featured, beautiful and rock solid home theater case.
The Nuke-Z mouse pads come packaged in a black plastic tube, making it look like it houses some radioactive material. The Z8 has the same logo printed on it. It it thick and features a smooth surface. The 270g weight and 3.9 mm thickness may not be liked by some and loved by others. We take our mice for a spin on the Z8 and let you know if it makes us glow green with joy.
The Saitek GK200 may look like a normal keyboard, but it is geared toward gamers, who are on a budget and would like a normal sized input device. The gaming keys are a great feature while the Audio and USB 2.0 connector round up for a well balanced gaming keyboard - all for the price of a normal one.
When it comes to cases Lian Li is one of the biggest names around. Today we take a look at the new PC-A16b case from Lian Li. Features like an adjustable HDD rack, thumb screw design, lots of room to work in a mid-tower, it's very well designed. If you're looking for a well made mid-tower with simple looks, or just a case in general; the Lian Li PC-A16 is good place to start.
When it comes to cases, there are a couple of names that really stand out. Lian Li is one of them, and this year at CeBIT they were showing off the best of what they have. From Media Cases and towers, and their accessories, Lian Li had a very nice booth. They had some new cases which were based on existing cases with new face plates, and they were all looking very fine.
Gigabyte has a very large booth, showing off all their different offerings. Even though they also have the current items on display, we will focus mostly on the newcomers and future products like motherboards using the new Intel Bearlake Chipsets.
The Rantopad Mammoth may look somewhat normal at first glance, with its square surface, normal size and black color. This plastic pad is quite different than the traditional variants out there. The bottom features a new anti-skid surface to keep it secure during gaming while the mouse surface is great. The Mammoth is not the biggest pad out there, but it is incredibly thin and offers some mammoth performance.
OCZ's mice are called Equalizer and feature a 2500 DPI laser sensor made by Agilent technology. The mice come in two different sizes, one aimed at gaming and one made for laptop users. One of the special features that the Equalizer has is a Triple-Threat button which should fire three shots in rapid succession, besides that the button should function as a double-click button in standard Windows applications.
Sapphire's new X1950 GT is based on ATI's RV570 GPU. It comes with 256 MB of GDDR3 memory and is cheaper than the Radeon X1900 GT. Of course you can not expect performance wonders from a $140 card, but it is a great way to survive the wait for ATI's next-gen products while being able to play all the latest games.
There are a few other companies, offering very interesting new releases and upcoming products. In this article you will find water cooling for Mushkin memory from Alphacool, some interesting hardware from North Q, DirectX 10 graphic cards from MSI, brand new mATX and DTX cases from Silverstone and prototype enclosures and keyboards from Enermax.
MaxPoint is showing of their entire line-up of A+ cases at CeBIT. They are one of the few firms with a whole slew of new and unique offerings. They have cases with two 25 cm side fans, or a mATX case with a 25 cm fan up top. There are multiple all aluminum cases, as well as multiple HTPC cases. Even their new standard cases look great.
