IT News & Reviews

The Inspire 5.1 5500 speaker system includes 4 satellites and one center channel, each rated at 6W, one subwoofer rated at 18W, and Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic processing. The system features a frequency response of 45Hz-20kHz.

SOURCE: http://www.neoseeker.com/

One of two new additions to Acer's Business Series line of desktop displays is a well-appointed 27-inch LCD monitor. The Acer B273HU ($409 list) does an outstanding job of displaying tiny fonts, and it delivers good color and dark grayscale performance too. Although it suffers from a few flaws, most notably its light grayscale performance, the B273HU offers business users an affordable alternative to a dual-monitor setup. And its ability to handle 3D gaming and display smooth HD video allows it to pull double duty as an entertainment monitor.

COMPANY:
Acer Inc.
http://www.acer.com/

SPEC DATA:
Price as Tested: $409.00 List
Screen Size: 27 inches
Type: LCD Monitor
Landscape/Portrait Pivot: No
Native Resolution: 2048 x 1152
Supported Video Formats: 1080p
Pixel Pitch: 0.291 mm
Widescreen: Yes
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Video Inputs: DVI, HDMI
PC Interfaces: Analog VGA, Digital (DVI-D), HDMI
Brightness (Max): 400 cd/m^2
Max PC Resolution: 2048 x 1152 pixels
USB Ports: 4
EnergyStar Compliance: Yes

SOURCE: http://www.pcmag.com/

For game-changing immersion, the Logitech G35 Surround Sound Headset is the first Logitech headset to offer 7.1 surround sound – a perfect complement to the growing number of action games and high-definition movies that support 7.1-channel surround sound.
Immersive Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound. Powered by second-generation Dolby Headphone technology, the G35 simulates the complex acoustics of a listening room, creating a detailed, outside-the-head sound field. Plus, with its proprietary ear-enclosing design, the G35 headset greatly reduces ambient noise from interfering with your entertainment, while an adjustable, noise-canceling microphone focuses on your voice and reduces background noise.
Victory never sounded so good. Play with the best.

SOURCE: www.pclaptop-review.com

Every motherboard manufacturer now has their own Core i7 platform, although they pretty much all come in the same flavor. This market segment is very crowded and it seems like everything has been done before. As soon as a company comes up with something unique, the rest of the crowd shortly follows along with a similar feature. The i7 powered motherboards all sport the enthusiast X58 chipset and boast an equally enthusiatic price tag. With high end features such as triple channel DDR3 memory and support for both CrossFire and SLI, this isn't a platform for the faint of heart.

What we have today is truely different from what we are used too, although admitedly not unique. The Rampage II Gene is Asus' latest product out of the Republic of Gamers series. The RoG motherboards usually come in ATX and some even E-ATX format, but this one is a tiny mATX. Size matters, you say? Maybe not. The Gene is equipped with the usual six memory slots, a whole bunch of connectivity, X-Fi SupremeFX sound, CrossFire, SLI and the list goes on.

SOURCE: www.neoseeker.com

Manufacturers have been offering DDR3 memory for quite a while now, nearly two years to be exact. However, until recently, it used to be out of mostly everyone's budget. Now that both AMD and Intel have made the switch on their new processor line ups, DDR3 prices are constantly dropping while performance is better than ever.

Today we're taking a look at Mushkin's high performance mainstream triple channel DDR3 kit. These are PC3-12800 meaning they clock at 1600 MHz and carry pretty loose 9-9-9-24 timings. Those modules are rated to run between 1.5V and 1.6V, so they are well within the 1.65V limitation recommended by Intel on Core i7 processors.

Specifications:
1600MHz DDR3
CL 9-9-9-24 (CAS-TRCD-TRP-TRAS)
1.5-1.6 Volts
240 Pin DIMM
6GB (3X2048MB) T/C kit PN - 998659

SOURCE: www.neoseeker.com

Yep, it's the 'get an SSD or get an HDD?' question and MSI has come up with an innovative answer: BOTH! In officially announcing the 'U115 Hybrid' this week the company claims to have created a netbook which it believes will give users the best of both worlds - or battery life that is "super long" (yet unspecified), to use its own curious phrasing.

In essence how this works is simple. An 'ECO' mode enables users to switch off the HDD altogether and run on the more power efficient SSD when necessary. This can then be turned back on seamlessly when required. On the other hand, I have to question whether running both an SSD and an HDD in the first place isn't going to suck battery life more than usual - especially with MSI sticking to a piffling three cell battery?! We'll wait for our own tests before I completely damn it though.

Elsewhere the U115 Hybrid is pretty standard. The keyboard has had a re-jig to slightly increase the space between the keys and the finish on the touchpad has been improved but otherwise there's an Atom CPU, 1GB RAM, a 10in 1024 x 600 LCD, 2MP webcam, card reader, 3x USB 2.0 slots, WiFi and a 1Kg weight. Wireless n and Bluetooth v2.0 with EDR are optional extras as is the choice to boost the standard 8GB SSD and 120GB HDD to a 16GB SSD and 160GB HDD respectively.

SOURCE: www.trustedreviews.com