Thermaltake Battle Dragon Bag

titleWe try to make it out to as many LAN’s as possible every year on top of our own events. Because of that we have had a strong interest in finding different ways to make packing up your rig to make going to LAN’s easier. In the past we have taken a look at the difference between a SFF build and a laptop, looked at ways to pack your peripherals, and even a SFF build for my wife. The SFF build for my wife has been perfect, but none of our solutions have helped her be able to pack everything up easily and carry it all into a LAN in one trip. Thermaltake’s new dragon bag lets you pack everything but your PC in it, including your monitor. Finally a way to cut those loading and unloading trips down to one!

Read more ...

PLAYSEAT Office - Elite

titleYou've built yourself a custom PC sparing no expense, you have two or three monitors setup on your desk, but yet something doesn’t feel right. That office chair you picked up just isn’t cutting it when compared to the rest of your setup. Up until now there just hasn’t been a chair that fits the bill and can truly be called 'epic'. A few years ago I spotted a chair that met those standards at PLAYSEAT’s booth and I wasted no time trying to get one in to check out. This November, after far too long in development, they offered that chair up for sale on their website. This has to be one of the coolest items we will cover all year, don't miss out!

Read more ...

TN Games Tactile Gaming Vest

103_1596_lanoc_front_lanoc_watermarkImmersing oneself seems to be the popular idea these days in the gaming industry, with 3-D and motion control climbing their way onto every platform. Debatable as they may be, they only aim to improve upon the senses already used in gaming. TN Games has taken a different approach, to introduce something new to your game: the ability to react depending on what you feel physically, with the Tactile Gaming Vest. Scary? Perhaps, especially when your editor volunteers you to try it out while he uses a rapid fire Barret Sniper Rifle.

Read more ...

Razer Gear Rack

titleWhen packing up your rig to head to a LAN party, you will find yourself trying to find the best way to pack your keyboard and other peripherals. I have seen people use everything from backpacks, totes, and even plastic shopping bags. The need for a good way to pack your equipment is there, but oddly enough you won’t find many options. Razer quietly introduced what they call the “Razer Gear Rack” last year along with their gaming gear line. Today we finally have a chance to look at their Gear Rack a little closer; maybe this is product we have been looking for.

Read more ...

Choiix Power Fort Advanced

titleHow many times have you been away from an outlet and needed to give your cell phone, DS, or PSP a charge. I know I have found myself in that position more times than I can count. Choiix just released a product with that in mind called the Power Fort. Over the past week I have had the chance to put their Power Fort Advanced model, has it been helpful? Let’s find out.

Read more ...

Gamer Grub

gamergrub_frontBeing the gamers and LAN goers that we are, we often sacrifice a good meal for a quick snack and more gaming time. Usually, it's more than our physical health that pays the price, it's also the health of our equipment. When we heard that a company had designed a snack food particularly for gamers, of course we were excited to check it out. Promises of no crumbs and grease transfer were appealing, but after checking out the product in-depth, we learned how much more it offered.

Read more ...

Fox-it eSlick

eslick_11

When you are looking for a fast and easy to use PDF reader you may come across a company called Fox-It. They make a fast, if not the fastest PDF reader; you can say they do a better job with adobe PDF files than Adobe themselves. When I found out last year that Fox-It was bringing out an e-reader, I was excited to see if their PDF knowledge would improve on the already great e-reader.

Read more ...

23” De-Branded HDMI Monitor

debranded23_1What If I told you that you could pick up a 23 inch monitor today for less than 160 bucks? A lot of people including one of our staff would jump right on that. Of course, no matter what the price it won’t make any difference if it’s sporting dead pixels. That’s why today I will be taking a closer look at one of these hot deals, I’m sure you have already ordered yours so you can read about my experience with it while you wait for it to come in the mail.

 

Read more ...

VIZO Red Cold Cathodes

045_lanocWhen it comes to PC gaming, owning your competition in-game just isn't enough anymore. When you arrive to a LAN and first power on your rig, they should know that you mean business. Whether your looking to complete a theme, light your PC up like a Christmas tree, or just trying to spruce up an old build, nothing gets the job done like cold cathodes. VIZO has a long line of lighting options, including UV reactant cables and binding kits (which we've already had the pleasure of testing). Today, they've sent us a more simple option, a set of cold cathode lights, to see how they perform.

Read more ...

Playseats Evolution

IMG_5162 [lr] [lrsm]I don't think I have known anyone gamer or non gamer that doesn't enjoy playing a racing game every once in a while. While I was growing up I spent any time I could in the arcade playing Ridge Racer and Nascar racing games. Playing racing games on my 52 inch HD television, surround sound, and next generation systems still doesn't compare to the experience you get sitting in your seat holding on to a steering wheel. A company called Playseats apparently agrees with me, of course they have the knowledge and skills needed to duplicate that experience. The Playseat Evolution is designed to put all of your controls near you while sitting in a car racing like seat. Today I will be taking a look at the Evolution, will it bring me back to the good ol days?

Read more ...

Gunnar Optiks Glasses

IMG_4736 copy [lr] [lrsm]Sitting here in front of my 28 inch monitor I'm sometimes reminded of when my mom would remind me to not sit close to the TV or I would go blind. With my eyes being sensitive, I already have to wear sun glasses anytime I am outside, sitting in front of this monster (and the 24 next to it) puts out enough light to light up the entire room. Of course I have turned down the brightness on both of my monitors, and I try to run a light in the background. Until recently I didn't know there were any other things I could do to prevent eye fatigue. I heard about a company named Gunnar Optiks that produces glasses designed specifically to prevent fatigue along with a list of other benefits. Today I will be writing about my experience using a pair of their glasses for my everyday life and how it affected game play and overall pc usage.

Read more ...

VIZO Starlet UV SATA-Cable

100_1745-lanocsmWe've come to a day and age where having just one hard drive, regardless of its size, just isn't enough. Whether its a media, gaming, or task computer, multiple hard drives have become a necessity. In non-transparent cases, this isn't much of a problem, but for those who are lookng to show-off their rig all those SATA cables can become as unappealing as any other. A reasonable solution is adding UV lights to any case, which can be paired with VIZO's Starlet line, in our case the UV reactant SATA cables.

Read more ...

Vizo Starlet Cable Binding Kit

100_1736-lanocsmCables suck. They're stubborn, thick, restrictive, and unattractive. While there have been countless attempts to try and eliminate the inconvenience, the cruel truth is that in our current generation, cords are a necessity. Even when wireless capabilites are available, a conflict of speed enters the equation. Bottom-line is they're not going away, so Vizo has come up with a way to help make cables a little more livable, and look good while doing it. Today we take a look at the Starlet Cable Binding kit.

Read more ...

Crackheads2

img_3381-lanoc-reviews-lanoc-reviews-smallIt's nice to see a company grow and come out with new and exciting products.  The Osmanium Candy Company launched Crackheads2 on October 17th, 2008 and Jitterbeans on November 3rd, 2008 according to their blog. I will be reviewing these two products today.

Read more ...

SumoSac Sultan

When I play video games, I do it as an outlet or a way to calm down. The same goes for watching movies, after a long day at work it is nice to be able to kick back and relax doing something you enjoy. When I was a kid, the best way I could kick back was in a beanbag chair. Well at least 20 years later I have grown to be a very large guy. A standard beanbag isn't large enough for me, and frankly wouldn't hold up to my weight. Sumo produces a variety of quality products designed to handle the abuse of adults. In the case of their SumoSac's they make a variety of sizes for different people. Today we are going to look at the Sultan; the Sultan is the 2 largest model that Sumo produces.

Read more ...

HardBody PRO 160 Disc CD Case

In the past with DVD’s, CD’s, BluRays, and any other kind of disc you have to worry about finding a case to hold your discs while traveling. I have always found that case logic cases protected your discs from scratched well but lacked style. When looking for a case with a little style I had trouble finding one that was made with good quality and protected my discs. When our lan sponsor Slappa sent us out a few things to review I was very excited too see that they included one of there HardBody CD cases. It worked out that by the time I found time to take a close look at this case I was packing up for ShowDown Lan and needed a quality case to carry my game and system discs. This was perfect chance to put the case through its paces while saving room in an already full car. Please read on to find out how the case performed.

Read more ...

VIZO UFO 4 port USB Hub

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 ...

Evo-G Mouse Bungee

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 ...

Bawls g33k b33r

If you haven’t tried Original Bawls it’s about time you did. Actually it’s crazy that I have to say original, it wasn’t that long that they had one flavor. Now they have sugar free original, Bawls Cherry and their newest drink G33k B33r. Today we will be checking out the G33k B33r the first ever high caffeine root beer.

 

 

 

Read more ...

Power Squid Surge3000 Calamari Edition

If I were Rob Gordon (John Cusack) in the movie High Fidelity and I was making a top 10 list of things that aggravate me. It would include power strip “warts”. If you don’t know what a wart is, it’s one of those power bricks that you can never find a way to plug into a power strip without losing at least 2 spots. Almost every power strip sold now has their own way of fixing this problem. Most of them have one plug for a “wart”. Me being the gaming dork that I am; in my old school console gaming area I have a Nintendo, a Super Nintendo, a stereo, my TV, our cordless phone, and a battery charger. Of those six devices four of them have power bricks. Not even small bricks, some of them are almost 3 inches long! Obviously a normal 6 plug power strip isn’t going to cut it. Not to mention I would like to keep my old Nintendo for many years to come, I’m going to need a good surge protector. This leads us to the Power squid; namely there top of the line Surge3000 Calamari Edition. Click to find out how it worked out for us.

Read more ...

We have 1546 guests and one member online

supportus