Far Cry 3

titleWhen Wes first asked if there were any games that I had in mind to review, I immediately thought about Far Cry 3. It’s a game that looks like a blast, but not one that I would be likely to purchase. This is due to problems I had with the second Far Cry, which were mostly PC related issues. However it is with an open mind and heart that I take a look at Far Cry 3, but with shooters being a dime a dozen, and open world games starting to run their course, let us hope that Far Cry 3 has that something special, that little extra “uhmph” to make it something that I will enjoy reviewing rather than regret.

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NuTouch Gloves

titleBeing in the dead of winter it might be a good idea to take a look at your winter wear. Going over your items now will save your butt from freezing outside when the temps really start to drop. With mobile getting bigger and taking more of our lives every day we need to access them at any time, day, night, cold, hot. Whatever the weather might be we rely on our phones so much these days that they are a part of our lives. That being said, what about when it’s really cold outside? Say 0 degrees? You still need access to your phone. NewerTechnology sent over a set of their NuTouch Gloves for us to try out. Did they actually work? Are they worth the money? We are about to find out. 

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Cooler Master Seidon 240M

titleWhen it comes to keeping your fancy new CPU cool there are so many options available that it can be very confusing. You really can have just about any style and performance if your budget allows it. Recently sealed water cooling kits have been all the rage and in the past 6 month/year larger 240 kits have been popping up from all of the manufactures as well. Cooler Master is no different than everyone else, they recently jumped in with their take on them with the Seidon 120M and now today they are introducing the Seidon 240M variation. Let’s take a look to see how it performs.

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Poetic Atmosphere Nexus 4

titleRecently I took a look at the Poetic Borderline Bumper for the Nexus 4, I was impressed with some of its features and found it to be an amazing value when compared to the LG/Google official bumper. Of course it wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t feel like it would do much to protect my easily damaged Nexus 4. So I was excited just a few days later to get in the second Poetic case that I had ordered, this time around a full case, not a bumper. Today I’m going to talk about my experience with the Poetic Atmosphere for the Nexus 4 and put it to the test against two bumpers and one other case to see what is the best case for your new Google Experience phone. My Atmosphere came in just in time for CES, perfect timing and a great way to put the case to the test.

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AverMedia Game Capture HD

titleThere have been moments in time where I have performed the impossible. Moments when I have slayed entire hordes of enemies with no health or mana, moments when I have scored the last second touchdown to win the Super Bowl, and moments when I have done silly things not meant for the eyes of minors. These moments have all been lost in time and no one seems to believe that they actually happened. With the Game Capture HD from AverMedia this will never happen again. The Game Capture HD looks to be an easy to use capture card for console gamers. It requires no internal installation and is incredibly easy to set up. This capture device is an alternative to cards that go into your PC, and while you may not be able to get 1080p quality videos, it is certainly much less daunting to set up and use.

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A look back at 2012's top picks

top2012We have made it through another year. This year we published 116 reviews ranging from phones to computer components and beyond.  Of those reviews we had a few that stood out enough at the time of publishing to earn an Editor’s Choice Award. This is a little different than our Top Honors or Recommended awards. Top Honors, for example, is given to a product that had at most a trivial issue that we could list as a fault and Recommended is anything that we would still recommend if you are on the market. Editor’s Choice on the other hand means that I would pick the product up for myself; a few times we had products with faults that still fell into this category. Today I’m going to look back and see what I’m still using and if things have changed.

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In-Win GRone

frontIn-Win is well known for their unique design, and has a robust line of towers to choose from. The majority of the line, however, is for ATX and below; until now only two entries, the Maelstrom and the Dragon Rider, were full towers. The company introduced two new cases, one of which is a new E-ATX compatible full tower, the GRone. A quick look at the specifications foreshadows a contender for enthusiast builds, crafted from steel and plenty of room to expand. PC chassis is a flooded market; will the GRone sink?

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Poetic Nexus 4 Borderline Bumper

 

titleWith a lot of people still waiting for their Google Nexus 4 to come in the demand for cases is only starting to grow. A lot of owners have been limited to TPU cases available on amazon and on Ebay or if they are lucky the LG bumper that is perpetually out of stock on the Google store. We just so happen to have in our hands the newest bumper on the market for the Nexus 4, the Poetic Borderline Bumper. It’s so new that it’s still not listed on their website, but we were able to preorder one about a month ago and it finally came in (sooner than promised to boot).  Today we are going to take a quick look at the case and compare it to the official bumper that we have been using on our Nexus 4.

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Assassin's Creed 3

titleInnovation is a tough thing in the gaming industry. Not just coming up with something new and exciting that will get fans of all ages to line up to play, but once you have those fans you must innovate to keep them. This is something that the Assassin’s Creed franchise has had great success with. With the original release of Assassin’s Creed, it was something that gamers had never seen before and it was awesome. The gameplay got a bit repetitive and bland at times, but Ubisoft quickly improved on it with the next installment in the series giving gamers more things to do and a more in depth storyline. After that followed multiplayer and countless hours of online fun. I am extremely excited for this review of Assassin’s Creed 3 because it is set around the American Revolution, a time that has not been looked at before in the franchise and an interesting piece of history in my eyes. Sit back and grab your muskets because “The British are coming, the British are coming!”

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SteelSeries Wireless WoW Mouse

titleWhen it comes to mice designed for MMO use, options have been coming from all of the manufactures recently. One of the first, if not the first to enter the MMO mouse market, would be SteelSeries, with their original WoW mouse. Much like the game it’s based on, the SteelSeries WoW mouse has seen a couple versions, the latest being the new, wireless version. The last time we took a look at the WoW Mouse Legendary Edition we came out happy, I was excited to see what SteelSeries would do for their first wireless mouse. Let’s dive in and see what’s changed and what has stayed the same.

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Silverstone Fortress FT03

titleWhen it comes to interesting or creative designs for PC cases, Silverstone is one of only a few manufactures that come to mind. They are known for making stylish cases but they have also gone off the beaten path with designs like their Raven and Fortress cases where they have designed the motherboards rear I/O panel to vent out of the top of the case for improved airflow. When they introduced their Fortress FT03, they weren't replacing the previous model, instead bringing out a smaller model to sell along with it. It’s been out for some time but when Silverstone asked us what we wanted to take a look at it, it was still at the top of our list. Of course with all of this time waiting, we have high expectations. Let’s find out where it stands.

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Cooler Master Storm Quickfire TK

titleA little over a year ago at GeforceLAN I got my hands on my first Cooler Master Storm Quickfire Rapid with cherry black key switches and loved it. I later got an official review sample with cherry blue key switches as well as the cherry black version wasn’t available in the US at the time. For the past year we have been using both of these Quickfire Rapids on our test benches because they are amazing keyboards that take up little space. The two issues I had with them was their lack of backlighting and the adjustment time needed to get used to not having a number pad. Cooler Master recently introduced a new keyboard in the Quickfire product line, their Quickfire TK. The TK addresses both of the issues I had with the rapid. Let’s see how this unique design performs.

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Cooler Master Storm Stryker

titleAt our last LAN we gave away a couple Cooler Master Storm Trooper cases and I was extremely impressed with them. Of course right now white is all the rage, so it wasn’t a surprise that Cooler Master introduced a white version as well. This time they called it the Stryker, I’m sure that a white and black Storm branded Trooper made a few lawyers a little uncomfortable, so the name change when going white wasn’t a shock. No matter the name, I was excited to dig in and put the Stryker to the test.

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Thermaltake Level 10 Mouse

titleEvery time that I think they have done everything to a mouse, someone surprises me with something completely different or off the wall. Last year when we took a tour of Thermaltake’s US offices, they hinted that we would see a new exciting mouse that was a collaboration with BMW DesignworksUSA, much like the Level 10 case. A little over a year later, here I am finally getting a chance to take a look at that mouse, the Thermaltake Level 10 M. Being nothing like other mice that we have taken a look at, I’m not sure what to expect from the Level 10 M or its Avago ADNS-9800 sensor.

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Batman: Arkham City

titleWith the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum in late 2009, gamers finally had a super hero game that they could be excited about. The game was very well received and one of the most talked about titles of the year. When a sequel was announced for a 2011 release I, among hordes of others, were amped for another chance to play the man behind the mask. Get ready, put on your capes, and join me as I clean up the streets of Arkham City.

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Max Keyboard Nighthawk Custom Keyboard

titleAt this point, nearly every manufacture makes and sells a mechanical keyboard in some shape or form. Everyone has done something different trying to stand out in what is now a very packed market. On facebook recently I came across a new company offering up something completely new to me, full custom mechanical keyboards. This isn’t just your choice of what switch you would like to go with, you can mix and match switch types as well as LED backlighting. We put together a keyboard unique to us and then put it to the test.

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Genius Traveler 9010LS Wireless Laser Mouse

titleOne of the latest introductions to the Genius Traveler series is the Traveler 9010LS Wireless Laser Mouse. The 9010LS is a small, mobile sized, mouse that is that is ready to travel with you and your notebook.

The mouse is features a lightweight design, a visually aesthetic grip, adjustable DPI, a powerful 'Darkeye' laser for operation on glass, cloth, or other surfaces. This is one of my first interactions with Genius brand products, so I am interested to see how this product will perform. Let's go ahead and take a look at the Traveler 9010LS.

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Thecus N5550 NAS with Western Digital Red Drives

titleWhen it comes to storage, there is no question that cloud storage is growing in importance every year. For some this is all that you might need, but if you are like me, you need a lot more than what is available on the cloud. When combined with laptops and multi computer households, adding more storage to just your PC isn’t always the best option. This is where Network Attached Storage comes in: you can have almost endless amounts of storage available in your home. Companies like Thecus have built on that with a collection of features like built in antivirus, Bit-Torrent support, and multimedia support. We are going to take a look at Thecus’s N5550, a 5-bay NAS with USB 3.0.

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Happy Thanksgiving from LanOC Reviews

thanksgivingWe just wanted to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving. This year the secret that us gamers have is that with Dreamhack Winter starting, there will be more than enough E-Sports for everyone to enjoy throughout the day. For those of you who aren't interested in watching football this is a great alternative. Have a great holiday for those of you who are in the states, we will be back up and running tomorrow morning with a fresh review of the Thecus N5550 before we duck out early for a Black Friday LAN with the VW Turks. 

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