XCM Hot Rock Wii Case

IMG_4824_lanoc_frontIn the US you can only buy the Wii in the white variety. If you wanted the colors that Nintendo teased us with at expos long passed, then keep dreaming. Enter XCM, a company which specializes in case replacements for consoles and handhelds. How do they stack up against the official thing? I will be reviewing the II Hot Rock case for the Nintendo Wii.

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Left 4 Dead 2

l4d2_pc_box_sm_One of the most surprising announcements at last year's E3 was that Valve's zombie-survival thriller Left 4 Dead was already getting a sequel. The game would only have been out for exactly one year from Left 4 Dead 2's date of arrival, November 17, 2009. The gaming industry was swept with a broad range of emotions, from excitement to enough resentment to incite a boycott. Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) has been out for a few weeks now, and we've sat down with it to see if it not only has deemed itself worthy of a full core game, but helped to heal the wounds that a rocky launch left behind.

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Plextor PX-B320SA 8X Blu-ray Disc Drive

PlextorPXB320SA_02A while back I took a look at a BluRay drive from Plextor, a well known manufacture in the disc drive market. Today I have the chance to take a look at another BluRay drive from them. This time we will be looking at the B320SA with a speed of 8X in comparison to the 6x speed of the B310SA I reviewed before. 2x doesn't seem like that drastic of a change but will it make a noticeable difference? Read more to find out.

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Thermaltake BlacX Duet

dec_035_LanOC_frontHard drive docks can come in handy in several instances: home or office data transfer, back-up files or switching hard drives, or even at the LAN scene. Most models' convenience ends with one external and one internal hard drive. Imagine, however, the possibilities if you could have two docks in one, allowing for data transfer from not only an external to internal, but external to external, and being able to read and write two hard drives simultaneously. Even more impressive would be if both docks supported 2.5" and 3.5" hard drives. Thermaltake had those very ideas in mind when designing the BlacX Duet, and has sent us the end product to try for ourselves.

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Seagate FreeAgent Go 1Tb

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If the 500 gig Seagate BlackArmor we reviewed a while back isn't enough space for you, you now have other options. Amazingly you can pick up a drive up to a full 1Tb! Still using a USB 2.0 interface I'm curious to see if it will be limited by its transfer speeds more than its capacity. Of course even if that is the case, you can always just brag that your portable hard drive is bigger than anyone else.

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Patriot DDR3 Viper Series Tri-Channel Kit

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Memory these days comes in just about every speed, shape, color and price. Recently we have taken a look at memory with LED's, and even memory with a platinum finish. Today I'm taking a look at a triple channel kit from Patriot from their Viper Series, designed specifically for i7 rigs. We are going to find out how well they performed compared to the kits we have tested in the past. Will the Viper Series come out on top?

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NZXT Sentry 2

fsp_ps_004_LanOC_frontGaming PCs  have long since reached a point where multiple fans of different sizes and RPM are necessary to adequately cool the hardware it uses. With such a variety comes the potential of tweaking each individual fan to a certain speed, in order to preserve power when not needed and control the airflow of the rig. If you are using standard fans connected to a power supply alone, this is impossible. The solution to all these problems is a fan controller, in this case a 5.25" expansion bay and hardware that, at the very least, controls multiple fans. The interface of a controller, how it controls the speeds, style, and capacity are but a few things that set models apart from one another. NZXT has sent us the Sentry 2 to see how it performs.

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Seagate FreeAgent Dockstar

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We have looked at Seagate's FreeAgent Go series a few times in the past and were very impressed with the Free Agent Go Dock that goes along with them. You wouldn't think Seagate would be able to improve on a simple dock too much but surprisingly they did. With the new Dockstar, they included an Ethernet port to help share your files over your network and over the Internet. What kind of difference can one lowly ethernet port make? Read more to find out.

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Logitech G19 Keyboard

g19_33Everyone's idea of a high-end gaming keyboard is different. Logitech has taken the LCD route for some time with their G15. The ability to have extra information showing while in a game can be helpful. Of course to follow up the G15 they had to really up their game, and because of that we have the G19. The smaller LCD screen of the G15 was given an upgrade to a larger full color screen and the ability to change the lighting to any color. Today I'll be taking a closer look at the G19: is it really the gaming monster Logitech makes it out to be?

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OCZ Platinum 1600Mhz Ram Triple Channel

oczplatinum_01In the ram market there isn't any one manufacture who is top dog, but there are a few that stand out. One of the few manufactures that targets enthusiasts and benchmarkers is OCZ. They entered the memory market in August of 2000 hoping to make the best high performance memory; over nine years later they have grown to be one of the most successful enthusiast ram manufactures on the market. Recently they have been known for their SSD's but their memory is what started it all. Today I have the chance to take a look at one of their 1600Mhz Triple channel kits for the i7 platform. Read on to see how it performed.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - PS3

MW2PreviewCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is not only one of the most anticipated games of this year, it is also one of the most anticipated games of all time. With so much hype surrounding a game it can be difficult to keep a clear head. Today I do my best to ignore all the bru-ha-ha and give Modern Warfare 2 an honest try.

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Thermaltake Element G

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Thermaltake's element series has grown from just a few cases to an entire line with cases of all sizes and shapes. I recently had a chance to look at the Element T. Even though it had its strengths, I did have a list of complaints and issues. That brings us to the Element G; another mid tower design from the Element line. Let's take a look.

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VIZO Ninja HS

rev1_034_LanOC_frontCompanies have been trying to produce the perfect laptop cooler for years, trying to cover all range of sizes and focusing on unique hot spots of the laptop models. This is near impossible with one set mold, or at the very least spreads each aspect so thin it hardly does any good. However The people over at VIZO weren't satisfied with one specific mold. They decided that the best way to satisfy each individual user was to let the user decide their own measurements and fan placements, to meet their own unique cooling needs. The result is the Ninja HS, and VIZO has sent us a sample to try for ourselves.

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FSP NB S90

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It's often something we don't think about until we need it the most: a new notebook power adapter. Your laptop manufacture sent one with the computer, and its been great. But there are many reasons to consider picking up a spare and even more if you're a regular LAN attendee. These underestimated pieces of hardware can save you from a catastrophically epic fail. Great for gaming, work, or leisure an extra notebook adapter can even make you the savior of someone elses good time. However you look at, an extra adapter can never hurt. In fact, the one you pick up may end up out performing the adapter your laptop manufacturer sent. FSP Group has sent us a sample: the NB S90, with that exact goal in mind.

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VIZO Arius II

ariusrev_038_lanocfrontAn external hard drive is great if you're looking for something to interchange between computers, but what if you're looking for a more permanent solution to your 2.5" hard drive problems? Sure, you can take a dock with you pretty much anywhere you go, but it is another piece of equipment to worry about, and at times you may find your LAN bag about to bust open the way it is. Regardless of the reason, making the jump to an internal SATA rack is a reasonable option, but how and where do you start? VIZO has offered us an answer with their 2.5" hard drive rack from the Arius line, the Arius II.

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Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 - Xbox 360

MUA2_Iceman_1 Play as a team of your favorite superheroes in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Play as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Daredevil and many others as you fight your way through a story inspired by Marvel's Civil War comic books. MUA 2 picks up the story right where the first game left off. Vicarious Vision has added some fresh ideas and re-vamped some of the old mechanics. Did the developers listen to fans and create an ultimate sequel or did the changes ultimately ruin the game? Read on to find out what I thought!

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Lian Li PC-B70

IMG_6693_lrA while back I took a look at a case from LanCool called the K58. LanCool is a Lian Li company that gives you Lian Li quality on a budget. Today I have the chance to take a look at Lian Li’s new PC-B70 case. This is my first experience with an all aluminum case; I’m excited to take a closer look.

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VIZO Arius Ex

ariusrev_066_lanocHardware limitations are a problem that are often encountered in any media PC environment. That limit could be a memory capacity or perhaps running out of hard drive bays in your case. Or maybe you're just sick of constantly removing a side panel to swap hard drives. The perfect solution in all the cases above is an internal hard drive rack. These convenient pieces of expansion hardware allow a user to spend a 5.25" bay and convert it to an additional 3.5" hard drive bay. VIZO Technology Corp has sent us their 3.5" contender in the Arius line, the Arius EX, to test.

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CoGage True Spirit

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One of the top heatsink manufactures, Thermalright, has impressed us multiple times with their top performing heatsinks. Recently, they introduced a new brand and product line called CoGage. CoGage products are designed for penny pinching enthusiasts who want Thermalright's performance, on a budget. When Our new friends over at Acoustic PC contacted us, and asked if we wanted to check out the True Spirit. We said,"Of course, we would love too." So, They sent us a whole box full of goodies, to help in the testing. Big thanks go out to them!

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Noctua NF-S12B FLX

IMG_6595_lrMost people don't give the fans in their PC any thought, even most enthusiasts worry about colors and led's not the noise level or performance. Noctua is in the minority when it comes to fan manufactures because they design their fans to be as quite as possible with no concern for LED's or special colors. Today I have the chance to test out their newest fan the NF-12B FLX. Similar to the NF-P12 that we tested before, but with a few updates. Let's take a look to see how their changes effected the fans performance.

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