HighPoint Technologies RocketRAID 3510 (Take 2)
Bios Level :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
“After looking at HighPoint’s RocketRAID 3120, we received the more powerful RocketRAID 3510 (RR3510). The RR3510 features an 800MHz Intel IOP341 RAID I/O Processor, supporting RAID levels 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD. The RR3510 also doubles the amount of onboard DDR2 ECC RAM that the RR3120 had, with 256MB.”
Mod of the Month – July 2008
Bit-Tech Modding :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
We’re baaaack! The month of July is coming to a close, and that means it’s time again for us to bring you some of the world’s best works in progress hand picked straight from our forums. That’s right, it’s time for Mod of the Month for July!
Thecus N3200 NAS Box Review
Dragonsteel Mods :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
It’s nice to be able to take stuff our data with us wherever we go in the form of USB drives or portable hard drives, but there are times when it just isn’t feasible to take these things with us. In the world we live in now it’s quite possible that while traveling you could have your laptop and data seized at the border, for everyone that’s just not something we want to happen. The laws are just amazing now, we live in basically a police state where not even our personal data is safe, it’s bad enough to lose personal stuff but even worse when it’s our business and work related data. Sure there are things you can do to secure your data, but what does it matter when your entire laptop is confiscated? You’ve lost everything basically, the state of things right now is something to discuss elsewhere, but there are things you can do to minimize your potential losses such as a NAS box, or Network Attached Storage system that allows you to access your information from anywhere you go via the web. Some NAS boxes are more than just for accessing data from afar, they can offer many other features as well.. Today for review I’ve got an excellent product from Thecus, it’s the N3200 NAS box and it is a truly feature rich product that can add a new dimension to your storage capabilities of your home network. The N3200 is essentially a home storage server and it’s billed as a ‘Home NAS’ but it’s much more than that, it offers features that even a small business can utilize. With the N3200 you can have up to 3 Terabytes of storage capacity added to your network, the N3200 also offers various RAID solutions including RAID 5 which offers excellent security and performance for your data. On top of the security features theN3200 offers the ability to stream your media to other devices, a built in surveillance system with compatible webcams, HTTP, FTP and Bittorrent file transfer protocols, a print server, and even the ability to be wirelessly networked. The N3200 in physical size is small as well, but don’t let it’s size fool you, it’s a fully featured NAS box that anyone can utilize for their storage needs. So enough chit-chat, let’s just get into this review, I’ve got lots of pictures and tons of screen shots as well, so sit back, relax and enjoy…
Xigmatek SD964 HDT CPU Cooler Review
Dragonsteel Mods :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Keep those CPUs cool, that’s the main thing most people worry about with their computers, and for the most part the stock coolers do a decent job, but there are those of use that desire to keep our CPUs running cooler than the stock solution can provide. We all know that the cooler the CPU is the longer it will last, at least theoretically, and of course if the CPU is cooler there is always room for a bit of overclocking as well to eek out a bit more performance. Up on the review block today I’ve got one from Xigmatek, it’s the SD964 HDT CPU cooler, not a real fancy name, but then again what’s in a name right? It really doesn’t matter what it’s called as long as it performs! The SD964 is a small heatpipe style CPU cooler, at least in comparison to others on the market today, but it is by no means small in terms of performance. The SD964 dominates over most others out there in our tests on both C2D and C2Q CPUs…
Kingston 8GB microSDHC Card Review
Dragonsteel Mods :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
In a time when we take so much stuff with us, it’s always nice to have more storage to be able to take our pictures, movies and music with us where every we go. Most phones these days have the ability to use microSD cards or microSDHC cards and they are getting larger and larger as time goes by, the price is also coming down so it’s much more affordable to take all of that data with us. Today for review I’ve got an 8gb microSDHC card from Kingston, it’s a Class 4 card which means it should perform well with a rated transfer rate of 4MB/s. So read on to see if this microSDHC card lives up to its rating and how it compares to a couple other microSD cards I’ve got on hand. I personally use microSD cards in my AT T Tilt cellphone, so this card will provide me with quite a bit more storage to take my stuff with me wherever I go.
NZXT Tempest Crafted Series Mid-Tower PC Case Review
Dragonsteel Mods :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
PC Cases are a big business, you can find all styles, sizes and designs of them available for purchase today to be used to build a new system or just upgrade that blah case that came with the computer that you bought. Depending on what your needs and personal preferences are will be the deciding factor in the type of case you buy, be it gaming, htpc, sff, or even a server style case. As with any product though, all cases are not created equal, some are better than others in not only their quality but their design as well. Today for review I’ve got the Tempest Mid-Tower PC case from NZXT, this case is actually rather large, and it includes six 120mm fans to keep your system nice and cool. To be honest, when I saw those six fans included I was expecting a fairly loud case, especially with a name like ‘Tempest’, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I powered my system on to hear only a low hum coming from the Tempest. The Tempest is not only quiet but very well made, it has lots of room to get your system in there, and the blue LED accents really add to the overall look of the case. So continue on to check out the NZXT Tempest…
Monster ScreenClean for Cell Phone/PDA
Dragonsteel Mods :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
As an owner of several touch screen devices, I can see the effects of human interaction on these devices in the form of greasy finger prints that reside on the screen surfaces. Now, I generally use screen protectors, but even those can become smeared by human hands. Monster was kind enough to give us a sample of their Monster ScreenClean for Cell Phone/PDA at the recent Pepcom Digital Experience. Not only does the Monster ScreenClean for Cell Phone/PDA clean, it also controls germs with something called antimicrobial AEGIS technology. Does the Monster ScreenClean for Cell Phone/PDA provide a clean slate for your touch screen device or does it come short? I have had a chance to test it out on several devices, let’s see what the verdict is. Let’s gets started……
Delta to Offer Broadband Wi-Fi
PC Mechanic :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Delta announced that they will be offering Wi-Fi access on there entire domestic mainline fleet. Delta is partnering with airborne communications leader Aircell to offer Gogo. The Gogo service will allow Delta customers traveling with Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs, to access the Internet. The Wi-Fi will cost $9.95 on flights of three hours or less, and $12.95 on flights more than three hours. Aircell was chosen to install the Wi-Fi because it is much cheaper and easier to install compared to the once offered service Connexion by Boeing. Boeing offered Connexion in 2004 but, it was canceled in 2006 because it was too bulky to be used on Boeing’s smaller domestic planes. Other airlines like American Airlines, Virgin America, and JetBlue have similar Wi-Fi plans in place. All of Delta’s mainline aircraft in the U.S. will get the service installed. The first Delta planes to get Gogo installed will be it’s 133 MD 88/90 planes. By the end of 2009 Delta plans to have the Wi-Fi installed on more than 330 aircraft. Offering wifi service will surely help the struggling airline industry recoup from the high expenses of the higher fuel prices.
Downloadable Boot Discs To Save Your PC
PC Mechanic :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
[PREMIUM] – When your PC decides to take a crap on you, preparation is key to getting yourself out of a jam without losing your data. Part of that preparation is to have ways to boot the PC when you cannot do so normally. In this article, we will give you a variety of options for creating a bootable recovery disc so that you can boot your PC which is not otherwise booting up. You’ll be able to then use the disc to get access to your files or run diagnostic utilities to rescue your machine. In the old days, you could create a special floppy diskette to boot your computer. Windows even had a way to walk you through creating that book disk. But, today, hardly anybody even has floppy drives anymore. So, we need to deal with discs (as in CDs or DVDs). Not only that, but Windows no longer includes a built-in way to create a bootable disc. Please Login or Register to read the rest of this article.
AVG Free Version 8 Tweaks
PC Mechanic :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
As with any major upgrade of a program, there are usually several customizations and settings you have to review to get the program to behave the way you are accustomed to. AVG Free version 8 is no different. The new version boast a new interface as well as new features which included the controversial (rightfully so) link scanner component and the infamous general “annoyances” / “bloat”. Of course, with a few tweaks you can trim down AVG. This post in the TweakGuides forum does a great job of pointing out the changes you can make. After reviewing the changes myself, I cannot say I disagree with any of them and would second everything the poster recommends. As with any new version, you cannot expect it to be exactly the same as the previous one, but you can [try to] make it behave the way you prefer.
Day 21: Gold in Joint Venture Partnerships
PC Mechanic :: Wednesday, August 06, 2008
One of the secret weapons of internet marketing is the joint venture partnership, often called simply “JV”. A JV partnership is where you work in conjunction with another person to promote a product on the Internet. It allows you to take advantage of the resources built up by another. For example, let’s say you have a product you would like to promote. You have a mailing list. You have a website. But, there are others online who cater to the same market you do and they have their own mailing lists and clientele as well. There are two choices here: (1) You look at that other person as pure competition and you work to out market them, or (2) you look at that other person as a potential partner. So, you can work up a relationship with that other party and you can offer to do a JV deal. A JV deal can take a lot of different forms, but a very typical arrangement might be “You promote my widget to your mailing list and I will pay you XX% commission for every product sold.”. This allows you to get your product in front of that person’s database and it allows them to make some coin in the process. It can be work to set up a good joint venture partnership. You’re dealing with actual people here and they will need to be convinced to partner with you. Often, the successful people in a market are approached for JV deals quite often. You might be just another number to them. So, you need to exercise come tact when you deal with them and you need to have a product that is truly worthy of such promotion. We have a full series on how to set up joint venture partnerships here at PCMech. This series is available to members only, and it will walk you through the pitfalls of securing JV deals. JV deals can be the make-break point between an unsuccessful product launch and a very successful one. JVs are what allow some of the best known internet marketers to create these huge product launches and have million dollar paydays. Without JVs, they couldn’t do it. It is that powerful.
