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…

Read Full Review HERE

Los Angeles, CA – August 4th, 2008 - mophie gives more power to iPhone 3G fanatics everywhere with the all-new juice pack 3G™ battery extender.  The mophie juice pack 3G comes ‘pre-charged’ and ready to go straight out of the package. The redesigned case houses a rechargeable lithium polymer battery within an ergonomic, comfort-grip case with a soft-touch, non-slip finish.  The added “juice” gives consumers up to an additional 350 hours of standby time, 6 hours of talk time on 3G, 12  hours of talk time on 2G, 6 hours of Internet use on 3G, 8 hours of video playback, or 28 hours of audio playback.  The juice pack™ ’s proprietary design provides short circuit, over-charge and temperature protection as well as smart power management. The juice pack™ also integrates a 4 LED ‘charge status’ indicator letting you know how much juice is left, and connects to your computer via USB passthrough - making it easy to simultaneously charge and sync your iPhone 3G.

“Since its debut, power users of the iPhone 3G have demanded a product that will boost battery life for extended on-the-go use” says Ross Howe, Sales and Product Development Director for mStation/mophie.  “juice pack 3G delivers this exceptional battery enhancement while keeping the unique style and feel of the iPhone intact.”

The mophie juice pack 3G™ will be available online and in stores this September at an MSRP of $99.95.  For more information mophie, please visit www.mophie.com. Mophie.com is currently taking entries to raffle off 10 free juice pack 3Gs when they ship this fall.

About mStation/mophie
mStation is consistently praised for its ability to create quality products with cool Industrial Design. mStation recently acquired mophie, an iPod accessory company with a wide array of award-winning cases.  Their products can be found in Apple Stores and major retailers across the country and in select retail outlets in both Canada and Mexico.

XFX GeForce 8200 Motherboard Review

Author: Ben Sun Date: 08-04-2008

The integrated graphics market is an interesting one to say the least. With the release of the HD3200 graphics on AMD’s 780G platform and the release of the 8300/8200 from NVIDIA there are two good choices to integrated graphics on the AMD side of the platform while on the Intel side of the market there’s only one, as Intel’s integrated graphics just doesn’t cut the mustard. The 8200 is not for the hardcore enthusiast wanting to play the latest games with AA and AF on. Instead it is for the HTPC enthusiast wanting an inexpensive motherboard with onboard graphics to play their Blu-Ray Discs on their HDMI HDTV, light gaming and everyday use. XFX’s solution offers everything you need to run a HTPC with HDMI connection, good High Definition Audio and the small form factor size, the 8200 from XFX gets the job done.

Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1799_1.html

Date: 08-04-2008 By Doc Overclock

Everything inside the case can be removed easily and then reassembled with that same ease, which is the priceless aspect of any product is how ergonomic it is for you. When building a system, especially your own system ease of use is of paramount importance and good looks just make you get a big grin on your face when the systems completely built. The P80R is lightweight, very well made and has looks that kill, not to mention all its features and user friendliness. The only thing that may be daunting is the price tag of this bad-boy as it is a $600.00 case, and that is minus a PSU, which you will still have to buy to be up and going with the ARMORSUIT. The thing is, like cars the people who are into them have a different value level of what is important and they want the best, usually in lieu of the price tag attached to any said item of choice. Lian Li has a solid Gamers Gold with the P80R ARMORSUIT; it offers the best things any enthusiast case should offer.

Link: http://www.gamepyre.com/hardwared.html?aid=1002&p=1

Title: Raidmax Aura Case Review
Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/596
Category: Reviews

Summary:
Raidmax has just launched a series of mini-tower cases targeted to the female audience, Aura, available in four unique colors: seashell pink, emerald green, polar blue and “really black”.

Here is a snippet:
“Raidmax has just launched a series of mini-tower cases targeted to the female audience, Aura, available in four unique colors: seashell pink, emerald green, polar blue and “really black”. This case has five external 5 ¼” bays, two external 3 ½” bays and three internal 3 ½” bays, coming with two 120-mm fans, one on the left side panel and the other on the rear panel, and screwless mechanisms for fastening disk drives. We reviewed the seashell pink version, check it out.”

We’ve posted a look at eVGA’s mid-range motherboard, the 750i SLI FTW.

Title: eVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW @ Techgage

Link: http://techgage.com/article/evga_nforce_750i_sli_ftw/

Quote: Need an SLI motherboard but have less than $200 to spend? No need to stress, as the 750i SLI chipset was designed with you in mind. We are taking a look at how eVGA put the chipset to good use in the form of their 750i SLI FTW board, which offers solid performance and overclocking-ability, in addition to great board design.

Titel:
NorthQ Siberian Tiger Water Cooling System Review

Teaser:
Simple, not expensive but comfortable - NorthQ wants to offer Water Cooling Systems that provide just that.

Link:
http://www.tweakpc.de/hardware/tests/kuehler/wasserkuehlung/northq_siberian_tiger/s01.php

Please note the little flag on the site for an automatic translation.

NZXT Khaos Full ATX case review
http://www.techspot.com/review/107-nzxt-khaos-case/

More often than not we get the pleasure of testing some of the hottest PC components. From processors to graphics cards, these can sometimes go for well over the $500 mark. And while these very expensive parts are usually targeted at gamers and the enthusiast crowd, you will find it rare to have this same group spending as much on other parts like a case, for example.

Those were our thoughts when NZXT contacted us last June announcing their new Khaos all-aluminum gaming chassis which is selling for nothing short of $400. NZXT is better known for their creative looking gaming cases that sell for $150 or less. However, we must respect the company’s evident intention of upping the ante with a flagship product of their own.

So what does the Khaos offer for this kind of money? This quickly turned out to be the $400 question as I ripped this case out of its enormous box. Having finally removed the packaging, I proceeded to lift the 34.6 pounds slab of case and dumped it on the nearest desk.

NEW CONTENT (Trade Shows) - QuakeCon 2008 – Visiting the Vendors

QUOTE: “Several PC companies came out to show their support of gaming. AMD, Intel, Dell, Kingston and Cyber Power were the big names of the show, but several others had smaller displays as well. Each company used their own methods to attract gamers; some gave away loads of products, and others had exotic booth babes. A few companies simply let their products speak for themselves. With so many gamers in attendance, all were successful.

QuakeCon was a perfect spot for these companies to showcase their products to users. While many attendees were only roaming the Vendor Halls looking for free swag, several were knowledgeable consumers looking to make their purchasing decision based on the companies that support their growing sport.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1529/quakecon_2008_visting_the_vendors/index.html

Best Regards,

The TweakTown Team
http://www.tweaktown.com

NEW CONTENT (Trade Shows) - QuakeCon 2008 - Paint, Glue & Sponge Bob

QUOTE: “QuakeCon is many things to many people. For the pro gamer it is a place to show your skills; challenging the best of the best and competing against the world’s top teams in everything from Guitar Hero to different variations of Quake. Gamers old and new travel to Dallas, Texas every year, trying to compete for their piece of the prize money.

Computer enthusiasts who do not compete on the professional level also attend QuakeCon. Many are there to participate in LAN gaming in what is known as the BYOC, or Bring Your Own Computer. This area features some of the world’s top enthusiasts, some flying in from places like Sweden, Germany and even Asia. The computers they bring are often one off, custom enclosures that take up to several months to fabricate.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1530/quakecon_2008_paint_glue_sponge_bob/index.html

Best Regards,

The TweakTown Team
http://www.tweaktown.com

Title:
Sapphire HD 4850 Toxic 512 MB

Link:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_4850_Toxic

Brief:
Sapphire’s new HD 4850 Toxic graphics card comes with a preinstalled Zalman VF-900 GPU cooler that greatly reduces the operating temperature of the card. Also the operating frequencies have been bumped quite a bit, with some additional overclocking potential left in the card.

08/05/2008- Aiming at enterprise and small & medium business environment, Thecus has been known to deliver stable storage device with unparallel performance and data security. Other than innovation in NAS technology, Thecus again rocks the storage world with the powerful iSCSI storage series, the i4500R and i5500, which deliver unbeatable value proposition for enterprises looking to store and secure valuable data.

Powered by Intel® Xscale CPU and 512MB of DDR memory, both i4500R and i5500 are guaranteed to provide blazing data transfer speed, over 100MB/s for read and write under RAID 6. The i4500R and i5500 come with 4 and 5 hot-swappable SATA drive bays respectively that accommodate up to 4TB and 5TB of storage. A wide selection of RAID modes, including RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 3, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD, offer unbeatable security. Both iSCSI series use dedicated hardware controller to configure the array, effectively shortening time required to build RAID than a software RAID array. When larger storage is required, users do not suffer from system downtime because both devices feature online RAID capacity expansion, which means that users can have bigger hard disks added to available slot and joining an existing RAID without having to power down the system.

Craving for incredible performance and dynamic storage volume management? With block level data transmission over regular Ethernet, Thecus iSCSI technology allows numerous host access to the units through the iSCSI protocol at unprecedented read and write performance under RAID data protection. Delivering unrivaled iSCSI performance, uninterrupted data capacity expansion, and air-tight security, Thecus iSCSI series is the complete package and has solutions to answer each and every requirement from enterprise application environment.

About Thecus
Thecus® Technology Corp. specializes in IP Storage Server solutions, including Network Attached Storage (NAS) and Wireless Media Bank products. The company was established in 2003 with the mission to make technology as transparent and easy-to-use as possible, and to make products that are not only the best on the market, but are accessible to experts and novices alike. With a best-in-class R&D team highly experienced in storage hardware and software and with a keen customer focus, Thecus® stays close to the market to develop high-quality products to fulfill the storage needs of today’s world.
For more information, please visit www.thecus.com