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Soul Calibur 4
August 20th, 2008
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When I first started playing Soul Calibur 4, I was convinced it was going to be simply an upgraded version of the previous titles. The main menu screen presented several familiar options- single player, versus, character creator, and the museum. Anxious to see how the new installment ran, I jumped straight into the classic Arcade mode. Like everyone who bought SC4, Star Wars fan or not, I was curious to see how the new guest characters performed. Since I had the 360 version, my special character was Yoda, a fighter whose height often gives him an advantage parallel to that of Oddjob. While in the previous SC games one could select from several costumes and weapons, the only customization available was between two appearances. So I chose one at random and began my first match. The screen that reveals which two characters will be matched up has been upgraded; a black background with the character striking some battle poses now introduces each side. And, of course, the on-stage character intro that allows for some trash talking and taunts still exists, and even seems to posses a higher CG quality than the actual gameplay, similar to a cut scene. Read more…
TRITTON USB Sharenet
July 31st, 2008
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The widespread use of laptops in today’s on the go lifestyle has accelerated the use of external storage due to the smaller hard drive space in laptops. With a lot of homes having more than one computer, you now have people looking for easy ways to share there files between computers. Most of the time this means you are unplugging your external and plugging it into other computers. TRITTON has produced the USB Sharenet for people who have this problem. Considering in our household we have 4 people online and sharing files at any given time this product is perfect for us, if it works the way its described. Click to find out how it worked for us.
Coolink GFXChilla
July 24th, 2008
Considering the performance and sound of stock video card coolers it’s amazing that more people don’t buy aftermarket coolers. As we have found out in the past one of the big hurdles is how intimidating and difficult to install they can be. Coolink a Kolink company decided to put there spin on the situation with their GFXChilla. We are going to see how it performs compared to the stock cooler along with the Thermalright HR-03 GT that we tested about a month ago. Considering that we found Coolink because they shared a book with our friends over at Noctua we have high expectations of their products. Click to see how they performed. Read more…
VIZO Milano Media Enclosure
July 22nd, 2008
Just a few days ago I was considering building a media pc. It just so happens that VIZO provided us there Milano to review. It is described as a media hard drive enclosure. Can it prove to be an alternative to a media pc? Read on to find out… Read more…
Noctua HT-H1 Thermal Paste
July 16th, 2008
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Continuing on our testing from last week, today we are checking out another thermal paste. This time is from our friends in Austria at Noctua. They have provided us with some of their NT-H1 thermal paste. We are going to put it against some of the best thermal pastes in the business along with stock thermal paste to see how it compares. I’m very excited to find out how it compares, we have had great luck with Noctua’s other products. Click to find out. Read more…
Kensington Si670m bluetooth mouse and Micro USB Adapter
July 9th, 2008
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With Bluetooth becoming so widespread it’s not a big surprise that it is popular with the mobile computing crowd. In fact a lot of the midrange to high end notebooks are equipped with Bluetooth from the start. People with integrated Bluetooth can pick up a nice mouse like Kensington’s Si670m and not have to worry about a large USB dongle for their wireless mouse. Unfortunately my laptop doesn’t have integrated Bluetooth, but Kensington didn’t forget people like me. There USB Micro Bluetooth Adapter is made small enough to stay plugged in all of the time. Today we are going to check out the two items together. Click to read more. Read more…
VIZO UFO 4 port USB Hub
July 4th, 2008
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Having been looking for a powered USB hug to replace the junk one that came with our rock band kit I’ve learned two things. One, it’s hard to find any one hub that people can recommend. It seems the quality of almost every hub is hit or miss at best. Two it’s hard to find one that stands out. VIZO has been kind enough to send one of their “UFO” USB hubs along with a power kit. Let’s find out how they perform. Read more…
LapLogic Aerogel Lapdesks
July 2nd, 2008
The word laptop is a very deceptive term. The general construction of it implies that such a device would be comfortable on a person’s lap. More often than not, however, this is not the case. They tend to heat up and nearly catch you aflame or are just plain uncomfortable. Personally, I have never used a laptop that proved comfortable after a few hours of use. Laplogic offers their own unique approach to this solution with their Aerogel Lapdesk . We had the privilege of trying their new G800 and W800 Aerogel Extreme lapdesks to see how they solve our heat and comfort woes. Read more…
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
July 1st, 2008
The vast majority of individuals who put their MGS4 disc into their system had been waiting for it since Hideo Kojima announced it as the final chapter of Solid Snake. Being the first in the series to be on the current next-gen systems, expectations were all the more elevated. There are few sequels that actually deliver on such prospects, especially when carrying on a storyline that has spanned over seven titles. Guns of the Patriots is really nothing new; same Snake, same stealth action, same particularly loud sound blip to let you know that yes, they’ve seen you. Which is one of the most impressive aspects of the game: its still an unbelievable experience. In an era of sequels, developers attempt to pull gamers back to a series by introducing some new aspect of gameplay, which usually ends up second-rate. MGS4 may not revolutionary, but fans of the series didn’t necessarily want something new. Besides, the series has already established itself as leader in the stealth genre. The only two features that have seen some adjustment are the camera view (Guns of the Patriots takes a more first-person view) and, of course, the graphics.
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Steel Series 3H
June 25th, 2008
Its news to me, but a headset is apparently very important to Gaming. All of those years I thought you could just yell at the screen. It turns out you needed a headset for everyone to hear you. Steel Series apparently knew I was having this problem and sent me one of their 3H headsets. This is the same headset that we gave away at our last lanparty also. If it’s anything like our experiences with steel series in the past we should be happy. Click to find out
Launch of GELID Solutions
June 20th, 2008
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GELID Solutions designs and manufactures innovative, virtually silent & high-performance CPU coolers, case fans, thermal compound and other computer hardware for both gamers and silent enthusiasts. They provide computer hardware distributors, retailers and system integrators with top quality one-stop thermal solutions – from bearings to thermal compound, from design to shipping, from the molding of the fan to the print on the box – with state-of-the-art machines and experienced staff. Expect to see more of them around very soon; in fact we will be taking a first look at their thermal compound over the next week. Take a look at there website to see what they are all about! www.gelidsolutions.com
Evo-G Mouse Bungee
June 6th, 2008
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When Evo-G told me they would be sending a mouse bungee for review my mind was racing picturing things like how you would strap the little guy in, how high in the air would he be jumping from, and where I am going to get a live mouse. After my little day dream I realized that it was a product to keep your mouse cord from getting tangled with anything else on your desk. How did they know my desk is always a mess? Click to find out how it worked out for me. Read more…
Luxon Advanced ED
April 7th, 2008
I’m what some people would call a pack rat. Not in the traditional sense though.I save just about every file that ends up on my computer. I think it comes from being on dial up when I was younger. Why would you delete something that will take another 12 hours to re-download; if no one picks up the phone during that time. I’ve been hording for many years so as you can imagine, I’ve got a lot of junk. Because of this I am running 4 hard drives in my computer. With my case being a small mid tower I’m really hurting for space. That’s where the Luxon Advanced ED comes in; I finally have a way to add another hard drive without hollowing out a 3.5inch slot in my desk. Read on to see what I thought about it…
5/5
