Another day, and tons more news… Yesterday was my birthday, so I sorta took the day off…

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Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer

Printers are something that many of us take for granted, most people just settle for whatever is on sale and they really don’t look before buying them, they just figure as long as it prints they’ll be happy. That’s regular printers though, since digital cameras have become so popular it’s now become a feature for most all printers that they can print photos, but don’t believe it, I’ve had several printers that claimed that and they were garbage truthfully. This includes expensive one and inexpensive ones, I’ve always been leery of printers that claim to print lab quality photos, that is until recently when I reviewed the Epson WorkForce 600, even though it’s typically an office printer, it does photos beautifully. Now today I’ve got another Epson product for review, this one is specifically designed with the artist in mind, and it shows aesthetically and with the quality of what can be produced with it.

Today I’ve got the Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer for review, and yes it’s a multi-functional printer, but it’s primary one for the artist in all of us, it’s centered more around creativity than office work. Don’t get me wrong though it can handle office tasks as well with ease, but it does it with style and grace. The built-in 7.8″ touch panel is wonderful to work with, and there’s even a 3.5″ LCD display as well, the Artisan 800 is what a printer should be.

http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/review/epson-artisan-800-all-in-one-printer/

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Thecus N3200PRO

We all need more storage space, but with most computers there is only so many hard drives you can install, of course you could get an add-in card to enable more drive headers, but that can be a pain. When you’ve got your own network though it’s nice to be able to have one place on the network where everyone can store and share files, that’s where a NAS, or Network Attached Storage device comes in handy. NAS Boxes comes in many shapes, sizes and configurations with varying amounts of storage available to you, these can be a great place to allow everyone access to files, be it on the home network or even while they’re away. In this day and age we’ve got tons of stuff that we need to store and a NAS box is something that allows us to store our things elsewhere as not to use up space on the computer’s hard drives, but most NAS boxes are equipped with a plethora of other features as well that most people will find attractive and very useful.

I’ve got a fairly large review for you today, it’s a rather small product but it’s just packed with features. Today I’ve got the Thecus 3200Pro NAS box, and it’s a powerhouse in a small package. The N3200Pro is equipped with an AMD Geode processor to insure everything from file transfers to streaming media will run nice and smooth. In the N3200Pro you can put up to three 1 Terabyte hard drives which can give you 3 Terabytes of storage, but you can also choose from several RAID options as well like the main feature, RAID 5, that allows you to have anything you put on the N3200Pro to be nice and secure. So read on to learn about what is probably the most fully featured NAS box on the market today…

http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/review/thecus-n3200pro/

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Titel: Xilence Xilent Blade Pro ’4all.pro’

Text:
Das deutsch-chinesische Unternehmen Xilence hat sich der Kühlung und der Geräuschminimierung der PC-Komponenten verschrieben und so soll der Xilent Blade Pro, oder auch ’4all.pro’, den Prozessor nicht nur kühlen, sondern dies auch noch bei einer angenehmen Geräuschkulisse erledigen. Auf den ersten Blick erinnert der Xilent Blade Pro an vorangegangene Kühler aus dem Hause Xilence. Jedoch hat sich eine entscheidende Änderung beim ’4all.pro’ ergeben, er setzt auf die H.D.T. Technologie. Ob das Konzept aufgeht, erfahrt ihr im folgenden Review.

URL: http://www.dexgo.com/index.php?site=artikel/view.php&rubrik=Hardware&id=342
English translated by Babel Fish: http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=de_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dexgo.com%2Findex.php%3Fsite%3Dartikel%2Fview.php%26rubrik%3DHardware%26id%3D342
English translated by Google: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dexgo.com%2Findex.php%3Fsite%3Dartikel%2Fview.php%26rubrik%3DHardware%26id%3D342&sl=de&tl=en&hl=de&ie=UTF-8

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NEW CONTENT (Visual) – Leadtek WinFast GTX 260 EXTREME+ in SLI

QUOTE: “The GTX 260 has quickly become one of those confusing models. We had the card originally launch in June of 2008 and towards the end of last year word came of an updated model that would carry with it 216 shader processors over the original 192 we saw at launch.

Today we’re going to be looking at the Leadtek GTX 260 EXTREME+. While the card doesn’t carry the new 55nm core, it does carry the upgraded shader processors. Before we get stuck into the performance of the card, though, let’s take the time to have a quick look at the package along with a closer look at the card and the clocks it carries. Hopefully the card will warrant the Extreme name tag, so let’s not delay and get stuck into it.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1768/leadtek_winfast_gtx_260_extreme_in_sli/index.html

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Hardware Bistro has opened a giveaway contest for our readers.

Read More:
http://hardwarebistro.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=87&func=view&id=3&catid=30

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After a grueling 3 hour drive … we managed to get to the Sno!Bar at the Xscape centre in Milton Keynes. The place was buzzing and packed with eager overclockers and enthusiasts. We wasted no time and took photos of all the action.

Competing teams and individuals included:

• BenchTec – LN2 cooling
• DarkCat - Air cooling
• YoYoTech – Water cooling
• Ben – Air cooling
• Midland – Air cooling

Let’s take a look at the preparation … http://www.cpu3d.com/article/7189-1/cpu3d-special-gigabyte-go-oc-uk-championship-2009/introduction.html

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Date: 2-27-2009 By Vlad Mihaiescu

You will not see any new technologies on display in this title, nor will you find the best and most accurate game physics in a game, but what you get is the ability to role-play a bitter, grumpy, selfish alien, an alien with some pretty sweet gadgets at his disposal. This game is fun and at the same time, it is reasonably priced. Most Xbox360 games are around sixty bucks, but this game sells for $39.99 brand new. This game certainly is silly, but at the same time, razing down entire buildings in a flying saucer is a lot of fun. As for the heart of the aliens, they are much warmer and nicer compared to Niko Bellic; I see why this game is rated T and not M.

Link: http://www.gamepyre.com/reviewsd.html?aid=1057&p=1

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Thecus N4100 Pro NAS Review

Author: Ben Sun Date: 02-27-2009

Thecus spent a lot of time making the N4100PRO easy to set up and use for even the most novice of users. The need for a NAS server for the Home business or even for the family that wants to share a lot of files between themselves or Music has never been more apparent than in today’s media based American culture. Thecus’s N4100PRO is available online for a modest $420, making it the same cost as a Netbook laptop computer. But for the $420 you get a NAS computer that can hold up to 4TB of HDD space, manage your files across a network and act like a fileserver. In that sense, the N4100PRO does the job just like the N5200BR and N3200 did and is an excellent product for the money.

Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1860_1.html

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Title: NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller @ Techgage

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

Quote: Whether you are looking to add some eye-candy to your machine, or want full control over your cooling system, adding in a robust fan controller isn’t a bad idea. One of the best we’ve seen to date is NZXT’s Sentry LX, which we happen to be taking a look at here. It’s well-priced, looks good and works well… three things we like to see with any product.

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ASUS Striker II NSE nVidia nForce 790i SLI Motherboard Review

“The ASUS Striker II NSE motherboard continues in this tradition, with a heavy dose of the fastest NVIDIA-based platform for Intel socket 775 processors out there, some serious kick ass, and a healthy pinch of Take-that! To make this all possible ASUS has selected NVIDIA’s DDR3-exclusive nForce 90i SLI chipset and taken advantage of its three-way SLI capabilities, so that a trio of NVIDIA graphics cards can be used together during gaming.”

URL LINK: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2375
TAG-LINE:  ASUS Striker II NSE nVidia nForce 790i SLI Motherboard Review  @ PCSTATS.com

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“Apple’s iLife ’09 is one of the most impressive collection of media applications on the market. If you are an iLife ’06 user and your system can run Mac OS X 10.5 smoothly, iLife ’09 is certainly a significant step forward, but if you are happy with iLife ’08 then it becomes a harder sell. Apple doesn’t reward loyalty either: there are no discounts to owners of earlier versions, so whether you are running iLife ’04, ’06 or ’08, the ’09 version will cost you the same. Nonetheless, iLife is still the best suite out there for combining your photos, videos, and audio recording into stunning projects to show friends and family. If you’ve got multiple Macs in your house, you may want to consider the Family Pack (Best Current Price: £73.60), which comes with rights to install the software on up to five different machines.”

http://www.itreviewed.co.uk/rev.php?id=940

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OCIA.net has posted their review of the OCZ Technology Solid Series SSD Drive.  Below is a direct quote from the review:

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Title: Will truly DIY laptops ever exist?
Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/blog/127
Category: Blog

Here is a snippet:
“Today we don’t have much control over the laptop configuration. We have to choose a portable from one of the list of available models from the manufacturer (it is true that big manufacturers provide a myriad of models to try to accommodate all kinds of user). Even with manufacturers that allow personalized configurations, you have to order the laptop and they will assemble one with the exact specs you requested and have to wait the system to be delivered. Today there is no way to build your laptop like the way we build desktops.”

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Title: Revoltec FightMouse Pro Review on Technic3D

Link: http://www.technic3d.com/article-826,1-revoltec-fightmouse-pro-sportfahrwerk.htm

Quote: “The new Revoltec FightMouse Pro arrived Technic3D.
The Revoltec FightMouse PRO comes equipped with a laser sensor capable of handling up to 3200 dpi. The additional weights provide for customized handling. The dpi switch integrated beneath the scroll wheel makes it easy to change between the 4 custom-definable dpi levels. The colour of the scroll wheel signalises the currently selected dpi level and the mode button allows the user to switch between mouse profiles, which can be freely customised using the software. The included software allows for 8 of the 9 buttons to be custom programmed. Up to three different mouse profiles are also available. These are stored in the Revoltec FightMouse PRO’s 8kb of on-board memory. More you can see in the following Review on Technic3D. Better than the OCZ Dominatrix or Cyber Sniper Stinger?”

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Title: MNPCTECH Spring Loaded Case Handles at Modders-Inc

Summary: So, you’ve just finished modding a kick butt gaming rig, adding a killer paint job that causes neck snapping double-takes, to take to LAN parties? But, it is a pain to carry around, it’s heavy for one thing and having to clean finger prints etc off the paint is a drag. If only it had handles eh?

Articles URL: http://www.modders-inc.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=262

Site URL:  http://www.modders-inc.com

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Hardware Bistro has just posted latest review on Popcorn Hour A-110 Networked Media Tank.

Quote: “Looking for a media player to play all kinds of digital video, audio and photo on your home theater system? If yes then you may probably interest with this device; A-110. Popcorn Hour A-110 is a “Networked Media Tank” which is a standalone device to play the digital files flawlessly. Let us go through together to find out what this machine can do for you.

Read More:
http://hardwarebistro.com/index.php?option=com_simple_review&Itemid=84&review=66-Popcorn-Hour-Networked-Media-Tank-Review

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Title:
Silverstone Fortress & Strider 750W

Link:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Silverstone/Fortress_FT01

Brief:
The Silverstone Fortress aims to shrink the same awe inspiring and award winning uni-body construction of the legendary TJ07 to a mid-tower case, while still offering modern functionality and all the bells and whistles one should expect from an enthusiast enclosure.

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iXBT Labs Review: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295

Excerpt:
“GeForce GTX 295 is based on two 55nm GT200b chips, which differ from their 65nm predecessors only in smaller die surface and lower power consumption. The transition to the 55nm process technology allows the card with two powerful GPUs to consume less than 300W and keep heat release at a level that its redesigned dual-slot cooling system can handle.”

Article: http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/video/gt200-6-part1-p1.html

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TechwareLabs has published a review of the Pyramat Game Bag 2.1. Here’s a clip from the review:

Quote: Tired of sitting way back on your couch, 30 feet back, having to listen to the sub par speakers on that 26″ LCD you bought on sale at Wal-Mart? Why not move a little closer and hear a little better? Join Ilya as we take a look at the Game Bag 2.1 by Pyramat to see if it can help you destroy the enemy.

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/PowerSupply/pyramat_gamebag_2_1

Title: TechwareLabs Reviews the Pyramat Game Bag 2.1

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NEW CONTENT (Visual) – Windows 7 vs. Vista VGA Performance Analysis

QUOTE: “I’m one of those people who love Vista; I will openly admit it and honestly, from day one I’ve loved it. Over time it’s only gotten better and as someone who loves their graphics cards and games, why would you not want to experience DirectX 10?

Today we want to see how VGA performance looks under the new Windows 7 in comparison to the now very well established Vista. We want performance to be close to Vista, but with Windows 7 still being in its Beta stage, we’re not going to hold our breath.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1767/windows_7_vs_vista_vga_performance_analysis/index.html

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ASUS M3A78-T AMD 790GX Socket AM2+ Motherboard Review

“The ASUS M3A78-T motherboard features AMD’s latest Integrated Graphics Processor, the Radeon HD 3300. The interesting point about this IGP is that it has 128MB of additional DDR3 Sideport memory just for itself. In previous reviews of 790GX motherboards we’ve seen that this is one of the fastest integrated graphics processors on the market, mainly because it’s more like an integrated videocard than standard IGPs which are not equipped with dedicated RAM. The AMD 790GX chipset is essentially a cherry-picked Radeon HD 3200 IGP, overclocked from 500MHz to a 700MHz core clock.”

URL LINK: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2374
TAG-LINE:  ASUS M3A78-T AMD 790GX Socket AM2+ Motherboard Review @ PCSTATS.com

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TITLE: Patriot Viper 6GB 1600MHz DDR3 Memory Kit @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: When most shoppers compare system memory kits, they often look for the highest speeds for the best price. Everyone is different, but overclockers and performance enthusiasts generally aim for the best combination of low-latency high-speed RAM they can get find. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the performance of a top-speed triple-channel product for the Intel Core i7 platform. The Patriot Viper 6GB 1600MHz DDR3 memory kit PVT36G1600ELK will be compared against several other products and benchmarked for bandwidth and gaming performance. Are the higher speeds worth the money, or can this memory kit overclock to their level? By the end of this article, you’ll have your answer.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=275&Itemid=67

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TITLE: Steelseries Ikari Laser Mouse Reviewed @ LanOC Reviews

DESCRIPTION: Steelseries is well known for being a quality gaming peripheral company. Their headsets and mouse pads are seen all over any just about any lanpartys or tournament that you go to. Up until last year their mouse line was basically a Microsoft mouse with a paint job. Designing a mouse takes time, and designing a mouse of the caliber of their other products takes a lot of time, fifteen months in fact. A year later we finally have a chance to take a look at the Ikari Laser to see if the time they invested was worth it.

ARTICLE URL: http://lanoc.org/reviews/steelseries-ikari-laser-mouse/

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NEW CONTENT (Input Peripherals) – OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator – Mind Over Hand

QUOTE: “OCZ is a company that has joined the gaming peripherals bandwagon only in recent times, launching a slew of products such as the OCZ Dominatrix Mouse. Now they have decided that anybody can release a mouse and keyboard and instead their top engineers have come up with a completely revolutionary input device – the Neural impulse Actuator (or NIA for short).

By harnessing the power of your facial muscles, you can substitute keyboard and joystick controls in-game and free up your left hand for other key combinations.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1766/ocz_neural_impulse_actuator_mind_over_hand/index.html

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“To our slightly older readers brand Titan is well known for their cooling solutions. Titan coolers were always aiming at low-budget user group although there are some “serious” products in their portfolio. Titan products were always named with female names and had mythical beings on their product packages. This time in our test lab arrived Titan CPU cooler that supports Intel LGA 775/1366 and AMD K8/AM2/AM3 sockets and it is named upon mythical wolf – Fenrir…”

Article link:

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Cooling/Titan-Fenrir.html

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Title: Cooler Master Storm Sniper Review at Overclockers Online
Link: http://www.overclockersonline.net/?page=articles&num=2561
Quote: After my tour of duty with the CM Storm Sniper case, I’ve come away with
a positive experience overall. From top to bottom the Sniper packs in some
useful features such as the built in fan controller and StormGuard peripheral
retention system. The Storm shows that Cooler Master is listening to gamers and
enthusiasts by including features from past cases that work and giving us new
features that work.

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IcyDock MB674SPF-B 4-Bay Tooless Hard Drive Bay Module

“The ICYDock MB674SPF-B provides a convenient way to increase data storage capacity in any computer case with at least three open 5.25″ drive bays. Just open up one of the four bays, slide a SATA hard drive in and close the door. The hard drive automatically engages with SATA data and power connectors, no screws required! The ICYDock MB674SPF-B is a seriously convenient Serial ATA hard drive backplane module. “

URL LINK: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2372
TAG-LINE:  IcyDock MB674SPF-B 4-Bay Tooless Hard Drive Bay Module  @ PCSTATS.com

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XFX GeForce GTX 285 Black Edition Review

Author: Ben Sun Date: 2-26-2009

The GTX 285 is the fastest single chip video card on the market today. XFX includes a great bundle in the form of the hit game from last year Far Cry 2 and the Double Lifetime warranty they are famous for. For those with a GTX 280 they aren’t likely shopping for a new card at this time anyway. As we move further into 2009, the 65nm GTX 280s should go the way of the Dodo, extinct; meaning those wanting a high end card in this price range from NVIDIA will want a GTX 285. Stereoscopic 3D works with the GTX 285, and if you can get used to the effect on games that are not coded for it, is the future of how we will play games. This is the latest offering in the affordable high-end VGA card and a Hot Product indeed.

Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1859_1.html

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Date: 02-26-2009 By Vlad Mihaiescu

This expansion pack does not include just some new sounds, a few new graphics and some new missions. Rockstar put together an almost brand new game for us. Once again, much of the gameplay and controls section of the new expansion pack are features found in the original GTA IV, but at the same time, The Lost and Damned has a multitude of new features.

One of the game’s new features is what I like to call the “brotherhood” approach. Niko Bellic was looking out for Niko Bellic but in The Lost and Damned Johnny has to look out for his gang and at the same time The Lost looks out for him (mostly). Many of the missions in this expansion pack involve a group of The Lost doing what the boss dictates. As your “brothers” help you complete missions they earn experience that makes them better soldiers. If one of your fellow bikers gets killed he is replaced by another Lost but unfortunately, the new replacement has to survive other missions if you want his experience to go up.

Link: http://www.gamepyre.com/reviewsd.html?aid=1063&p=1

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The Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds is a rather unique product, targeted squarely at mobile professionals who require the power, features, and performance of workstation-class machine on the go. We previously evaluated the standard ThinkPad W700 and praised the system for its performance and stand-out integrated features, like a Wacom Digitizer Tablet and X-Rite Color Calibrator. The ThinkPad W700ds takes all of the features offered by the W700 and ads a secondary, slide-out display, which increases monitor real-estate by 39%.

The machine we received for evaluation was outfitted with 4GB of RAM, a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300, an NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M 1GB GPU, and dual Hitachi hard drives running in RAID 0 configuration. Its sale price? $6,209.00 as configured. ThinkPad W700ds pricing ranges from just over $4000 though, to approximately $8000 for a fully loaded configuration.

Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds Dual-Screen Mobile Workstation

http://hothardware.com/Articles/Lenovo-ThinkPad-W700ds-Mobile-Workstation/

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Title: Corsair XMS3 Dominator 6GB Kit DDR3 1600 CL8 Memory Review on Technic3D

Link: http://www.technic3d.com/article-822,1-corsair-xms3-dominator-6gb-kit-ddr3-1600-cl8.htm

Quote: “The Corsair XMS3 Dominator 6GB Kit DDR3 1600 CL8 (TR3X6G1600C8D) arrived Technic3D. Technic3D will see as good they are with Overclocking against the G.Skill 1600 Memory Kit on Windows Vista Ultimate and the Foxconn X58 Mainboard. You can see 1.805 MHz with 9-9-9-24 and Command Rate 1 in the following Review.”

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Quote: ASUS has released images of their Marine Cool concept motherboard which promises increased stability over overclocking prowess.

Link: http://www.overclock3d.net/news.php?/cpu_mainboard/asus_marine_cool_concept_motherboard/1

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Posted in Everything and Anything, Product Reviews

more news… lots of it…

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Title: Safari 4 Beta – First Look @ TestFreaks

Review Link: http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/information/safari-4-beta-first-look/

Review Snipit:
“Like every other tech site, we were blind sided by yesterday’s unannounced release of Safari 4 Beta. The latest version of Apple web browser comes in both OS X and Windows flavors and features a redesigned user interface, next generation standards support, the implementation of Cover Flow, history view and much more. ”
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Title: VisTablet Reveiwed @ TestFreaks

Review Link: http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/review/vistablet/

Review Snipit:
“Today for review I’m taking a look at the VisTabelt, and don’t be fooled by the name it’s not just for Vista, it also works on Macs and Xp. The VisTablet is a well made product that works well and comes in at an attractive price point, overall it’s not a bad choice for a tablet really. ”
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TechwareLabs has published an Explanation of your System Cache. Here’s a clip from the editorial:

Quote: Have you ever wondered what the term Cache means? Join Brad as we explain the ins and outs of the term and how it can help or hurt you in your computer.

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/articles/editorials/system_cache

Title: System Cache Explained at TechwareLabs

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Title – Win a Thermaltake V9 Black Edition Gaming Case  @ eTeknix

Link – http://www.eteknix.com/2009/win-a-thermaltake-v9-black-edition-gaming-case/

Quote – “To be within a chance of winning this case, all you have to do is refer other people to eTeknix. It couldn’t be much simpler than that.
eTeknix is a fairly new site and to show how much we care about our visitors, we are giving you the chance to win this fantastic case, all you simple need to do is refer people to the site, and make sure that they post at least 15 posts (this will be monitored and spam will be deleted)”

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While the performance of the Core i7 920 at stock speeds is very remarkable, it really shines when it comes to overclocking.  I was able to clock this processor  up over 1.5GHz above it stock rated speed and keep the system stable – that’s a 57% overclock!  At these speeds there is nothing from the other camp that can come close to the performance of this “budget” processor. . .

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Whoopty has reviewed the Mionix Alioth 400 mouse mat

Title: Mionix Alioth 400 Review @ XSReviews

Review Link: http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/mouse-mats/mionix-alioth-400/

Quote: “Mouse mats aren’t considered to be the most exciting of review products, as their usually fairly mundane, and with the rather opinionated testing methods, it’s not something every reviewer looks forward to. However, now and again one comes along that really catches your eye, like today. Powerdrive Computers have sent over a new mat from a company called Mionix. This is their Alioth 400. Let’s see if it performs as well as it looks.“

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here’re the Redaktion ocinside.de News from Thursday, February 26, 2009:

The ocinside.de OC-Database currently comprises more than 10,000 PCs
and thousands of processor overclocking results.
Several updates and new CPUs are now added for the immediate selection and comparison.
E.g. the new AMD Phenom II, Intel Atom CPU or the Intel Core i7 processors
are now additionally selectable in the OC database.
The database is updated each night. So when you register your system today,
you can compare it tomorrow with more than 10,000 PCs.

Title:
CPU OverClocking Database Update

Link:
http://www.forum-inside.de/cgi-bin/forum/ocdatabase_e.cgi

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Title: Kingston HyperX PC3-16000 3GB Tri-Channel Memory Review @ Virtual-Hideout

Review link: http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/Kingston_HyperX_PC3-1600_3GB_Tri-Channel/index.shtml

Quote: “The new HyperX 2000 MHz Triple Channel 3GB Kit is perfect for extreme gamers that play titles like Command & Conquer, Supreme Commander, or even Farcry 2. It’s also the right amount of memory for XP Pro and Vista 32-bit users who realistically don’t need more than that. 64-bit users will want something a little larger which we hear is already well under way and should arrive very soon. In the meantime, if your I7 is going to be your new extreme gaming system and need the fastest memory available, this is the current memory of choice. This is HyperX at its best!”

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“Painter 11 is the newest edition of Corel’s fantastic painting and illustration software. With more than 40 new and enhanced features, Painter 11 (£264) provides one of the most approachable painting tools available. Painter is actually a raster-based digital art application that simulates as accurately as possible the appearance and behaviour of traditional media associated with drawing, painting, and printmaking. It is intended to be used in real-time by professional digital artists as a functional creative tool, but it’s also great fun for aspiring artists getting involved in digital art. Painter 11 is not revolutionary, but a well-tuned update, yet is still an invaluable artist’s tool. Its target market obviously means it won’t appeal to everyone, especially as it can’t compete with photo editing package such as Paint Shop Pro Photo or Photoshop, but it is brilliant for graphic artists, illustrators and fine artists. The only possible downside is that a digital tablet all but a prerequisite, which means further expense to an already relatively expensive application.”

http://www.itreviewed.co.uk/rev.php?id=938

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Quote: ASUS has released images of their Marine Cool concept motherboard which promises increased stability over overclocking prowess.

Link: http://www.overclock3d.net/news.php?/cpu_mainboard/asus_marine_cool_concept_motherboard/1

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“Dell’s Studio Slim is a solid value desktop PC and offers an impressive mix of storage and connectivity. Intel’s Core 2 Quad chips are no second-rate processors, but they’re also no next-generation Core i7. In addition, the 8GB of DDR2 memory isn’t as productive under this system’s 32-bit version of Windows Vista as it would have under the 64-bit edition. But at least you get 500GB of storage space as standard (an above-average amount for the value-PC category) to store your ever-growing range of multimedia, and ATI’s Radeon HD 3450 graphics card is no slouch, either. Sure it’ll struggle with the latest 3D games, but casual gamers have nothing to worry about. Overall, the Studio Slim is above-average value PC for general Windows performance. Just remember to budget for a monitor.”

http://www.itreviewed.co.uk/rev.php?id=937

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TITLE: Steelseries Siberia Neckband Headset @ LanOC Reviews

DESCRIPTION: In the past, we have worked with Steelseries with our lan parties and reviews. Considering their focus on creating performance enhancing gaming gear, it’s not a surprise really that we have a close relationship with them. Today I will be looking at their Siberia Neckband headset. With a neckband design being much different than any other headset I have tested I am excited but unsure how it will perform. Although considering past experiences with Steel Series I’m sure it will be a quality product.

ARTICLE URL: http://lanoc.org/reviews/steelseries-siberia-neckband-headset/

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Audio is one of least appreciated aspects of gaming. Will the SteelSeries Siberia Full-Size headset provide the quality needed? Visit the review here: http://techarkade.com/component/content/article/42-peripherals/129-steelseries-siberia-full-size-headset.html?directory=54

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Ninjalane has posted their review of a barebones style motherboard from Sapphire. This is a MicroATX design perfect for the HTPC.

Subject: Sapphire PURE Innovation 780V Motherboard Review @ Ninjalane
URL: http://www.ninjalane.com/display.aspx?docname=sapphire-780v

Quote: In this review we will be looking at the newest MicroATX motherboard from Sapphire called the PURE Innovation 780V. As the name suggests the PURE Innovation 780V is based on the AMD 780V chipset which is a mid-range IGP designed for mainstream use.

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NEW CONTENT (Mobile and Communications) – Sony PRS-505 E-Book Reader

QUOTE: “So, why should you give a damn about these new fangled displays and why haven’t you heard more about them? – Well, they’re a new type of display designed to fill a niche in the market for displays that don’t require constant refreshing, unlike a monitor.

E-ink and e-paper displays have been subtly infiltrating our lives in a much more interesting way as well. Because of their incredibly low power drain, they make great static signs in just about every environment, from supermarket price tags, to mobile phone displays. The reason e-ink displays have been picked up for the e-book reader market is because of their low power consumption ability, the fact that the screen does not need to refresh until you turn a page and also their excellent readability in any lighting conditions.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1764/sony_prs_505_e_book_reader/index.html

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“The Studio XPS 13’s blend of power, poise and portability is more than enough to tempt. Beyond the sterling build and fine design the keyboard is comfortable to type upon – there’s plenty of travel and a soft but positive action to each key – and the display provides even brightness. Colour reproduction isn’t amazing, but the wide viewing angles and crispness is great is everyday use. Plus, should you find that native resolution too limiting you can always hook up a display to the VGA, HDMI or DisplayPort outputs. Our biggest criticism is that the Studio XPS 13’s metallic underside heats up rapidly, which is a problem for our male readers wanting children. This wasn’t enough to put us off and we highly recommend the Studio XPS 13.”

http://www.itreviewed.co.uk/rev.php?id=936

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Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU Cooler Review:

Link: http://www.rbmods.com/content/6416/noctua-nhu12p-se1366-cpu-cooler-review.aspx

Quote: We have earlier reviewed several Noctua coolers and they have all been top of the line with very low noise. Now that Intel has released their Core i7 cpu´s we got a sample of a cpu cooler that will work with the new socket also so lets see what type of results we can expect.

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“Safari is a great looking browser that does away with clutter. It’s also very quick at loading Web pages and running Javascripts, but the real gain comes from a set of features that make it easier to monitor and access the Web sites you visit habitually, both through simple keyword searches and a visual timeline. Sadly, while the new browser delivers significant gains it fails to offer a match for one of the most popular features from its competitors – the extensions loved by Firefox users. Apple is keeping quiet about Safari’s security credentials, too, which makes us nervous. Crucial features such as phishing protection are not clear and – unlike Opera – there’s no real-time fraud protection feature to tell you if a site is a phishing site. Apart from that, official plug-in support is still missing. Safari is a worthwhile download, but Apple’s seemingly flippant attitude towards security is a big worry – especially to Windows users. There’s nothing here to challenge Firefox, Chrome or even Opera.”

http://www.itreviewed.co.uk/rev.php?id=935

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Title: Antec Nine Hundred Two Case Review
Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/696
Category: Reviews

Summary:
Antec has just released a new version of their famous Nine Hundred mid-tower case. Let’s see the differences between the two models and if Nine Hundred Two is really a good product.

Here is a snippet:
“Antec has just released a new version of their famous Nine Hundred mid-tower case, called Nine Hundred Two. This is not the first time Antec is revamping one of their products: recently they launched NSK 4480 II, a new version of their NSK 4480 case. Let’s see the differences between the two models and if Nine Hundred Two is really a good product.”

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Article Name: Sapphire Radeon HD4850 X2 2Gb Video Card Review @ Tweaknews
Article Url: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/sapphire_radeon_hd4850_x2/

Article Snippet:

“So did Sapphire fill a niche void and provide a card to the consumer that wanted a dual core card without the killer huge price? You bet. This card at around US$275-$300 at the time of this review is a great deal and will have anyone enjoying the latest games with higher resolutions and quality settings while still providing decent framerates. Although this is no HD4870 X2 killer by any means, it does hold it own when it comes to your performance dollar.”

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Body Of Lies Blu-Ray Review @ Ascully.com

Quote

“A movie that changes my perception of something in real life doesn’t come along very often. Miracle at St. Anna came along. I’m not a history buff nor am I aware of what being judged by my race is like, and I never will. The thing is, this movie shines a light on both of these things for me. Even if it’s in the Spike Lee universe and a film version of reality, it’s all based in some truth.”

Article Link – http://www.ascully.com/blu-ray-reviews/body-of-lies/

Podcast link – http://www.ascully.com/after-the-show-58-body-of-lies-blu-ray-review/

Article Title – Body Of Lies Blu-Ray Review @ Ascully.com

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7 Intel Core i7 X58 Motherboards Tested and Compared

---

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NEW CONTENT (Digital Lounge) – Get Smart HD Movie Review

QUOTE: “Get Smart is the 2008 remake of the 1960’s comedy series created by comic legend Mel Brooks, with Steve Carrell taking over the iconic role of Maxwell Smart and Anna Hathaway as Agent 99. Smart is little more than a desk jockey at the U.S. Government spy agency, CONTROL; but when old rival KAOS obtains the identities of CONTROL’s operatives globally and starts killing them off, Max is promoted to field agent and paired with Agent 99 to discover how KAOS has obtained nuclear weapons and stop them detonating any.

With production values that rival the Jason Bourne or James Bond franchises, Get Smart is a very competent action comedy film, littering the film with a nice amount of comedy and action that gives a friendly tip of the hat to the original series.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1765/get_smart_hd_movie_review/index.html
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Today we’ve got a detailed look at the latest revision of the Asus line of Eee PC 1000 series netbooks – the Asus Eee PC 1000HE.  Asus continues to refine their hugely successful 10” netbook family.

Here’s a snip:

The fit and finish, build quality and overall allure of this machine isn’t all that different versus its closely related family members. And, as you can certainly tell from the model number, Asus didn’t intend for it to be any huge departure from the norm. In fact, the 1000HE leads you on to believe that this is simply an Extended version (in terms of battery life, not cargo room) of the existing 1000H. In many ways, that’s absolutely true, but as you’ll see when venturing through the pages ahead, there were enough tweaks made to give even existing Eee owners a reason to pay attention.

Direct Link:

http://hothardware.com/Articles/Asus-Eee-PC-1000HE-Netbook/

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TITLE: XCM Sniper 3.0 Plus @ LanOC Reviews

DESCRIPTION: The PC vs. Console argument has been an ongoing battle. With new consoles focusing on online play the issue mainly comes down to controls in FPR and RTS games. Diehard PC gamers have a hard time playing those games with a controller, and console gamers don’t see the need for a keyboard and mouse. Until recently, if you wanted to play console games you had to use a normal controller. XCM recently released their Sniper 3.0 Plus, an adapter to be able to use a mouse and keyboard on your favorite console games. Well considering or focus on gaming and gaming gear I had to get my hands on the Sniper 3.0 Plus. As a PC FPS gamer, I could not wait to jump in and see how well I could do on console games with my preferred input device.

ARTICLE URL: http://lanoc.org/reviews/xcm-sniper-30-plus/

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Title: Zotac GTX 285 Infinity Pictures on Technic3D

Link: http://www.technic3d.com/news-3856-erste-bilder-der-zotac-infinity-gtx285.htm

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TechwareLabs has published a review of the Atrio Earbuds by FutureSonics. Here’s a clip from the review:

Quote: Tired of those flimsy earbuds that came with your iPod? Wish you could hear those lows a little clearer? Now you can. Join Ian as we take a look at the Atrio brand Earbuds by FutureSonics. With replaceable tips to fit any ear, will these earbuds be right for you?

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/audio/futuresonics_atrio_earbuds

Title: TechwareLabs Reviews the Atrio Earbuds by FutureSonics

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NEW CONTENT (Visual) – PowerColor Radeon HD 4830 Graphics Card

QUOTE: “Today we have PowerColors version of the card. To date we’ve only had one HD 4830 come through the door and that card managed to set the bar high for the model. You have to wonder, is PowerColor going to come within arm’s reach of the bar, or hop straight over it?

There’s ultimately only one way to find out, so let’s have a look at what the company has done with the package before we have a closer look at the card and then its performance. From there we will wrap it all up and hopefully the PowerColor card can offer us something that we didn’t get from the MSI one which managed to impress.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1763/powercolor_radeon_hd_4830_graphics_card/index.html

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Posted in Everything and Anything, Product Reviews

Ok, let’s get back to business here…. here’s the news…

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Title: Killzone2 Exclusive Trailer and Art @ TestFreaks

Link: http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/news/killzone2-exclusive-trailer-and-art/

Snipit:
“Just got this from the PR Team from Killzone2 and thought I’d share it with you… Press Release, Exclusive Trailer and Concept Art. ”
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Title: Latosta Portable Laptop Stand @ TestFreaks

Review Link: http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/review/latosta-portable-laptop-stand/

Review Snipit:
“Today for review I’ve got a small and simple product that’s very useful, and well made. It’s called the Latosta Portable Laptop Stand, it’s from a company called Starlight Creations, and I have to say it’s the most potable laptop stand I have ever seen, it’s so small that you can easily fit it into your pocket. The Latosta is made of stainless steel making it very tough, virtually indestructible really, it’s very easy to use, and it’s inexpensive as well. ”

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Title: Tuniq Potency 650w Review @ XSReviews

Review Link: http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/power-supply-units/tuniq-potency-650w/

Quote: “With the extremes having being recently reviewed here on XSReviews, from 1000w to 450W, today we have a PSU that is somewhere in the middle with a wattage of 650. The manufacturer Tuniq has a reputation for producing high quality units so let’s hope the Potency 650 is no different. Only one way to find out.“

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Title: TheGameCade Launched

Site Link: http://www.thegamecade.com/


Quote: “In a partnership between the owners of XSReviews and Tech-Reviews, we’ve launched a new flash gaming website, designed to showcase simply the best games the web has to offer. It features a wide range of genre games, with comment accounts and full search integration allowing you to find exactly the game you want.“

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NEW CONTENT (Motherboards) – ASRock X58 SuperComputer Motherboard

QUOTE: “ASRock has been known to us here at TweakTown as producing a more rounded board aimed at the mainstream and value end of the spectrum. Never would we consider putting this motherboard maker into the hardcore and overclocking segments that ASUS, MSI and GIGABYTE has managed to push into, yet ASRock for all their trying are aiming for the top. And why not!

Today’s motherboard market is cut throat. To survive you need to either have a unique product or to produce a mainstream product at the cheapest price. ASRock hasn’t produced anything unique, but they are able to keep prices down. The ASRock X58 SuperComputer aimed towards the mainstream and extreme users comes to us at a price of $294.99 USD from Newegg and at this price it’s one of the cheapest X58 boards out there. But how does it perform compared to the likes of ASUS and MSI? – Let’s find out.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1761/asrock_x58_supercomputer_motherboard/index.html

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Could SSDs replace traditional hard drives? It certainly has the potential. Its small size in the 2.5″ form factor means that it can also be used in most notebooks, laptops and netbooks. No mechanical moving parts means better reliability and longevity, while the low power consumption means less heat. So far all the advantages seem to out weigh the negatives … that being price.

Read the rest of the article here … http://www.cpu3d.com/review/7289-1/adata-xpg-64gb-sata-ii-2-5-ssd/introduction.html

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Title: QNAP TS-209 Pro II NAS Review at CCE Reviews
Link: http://www.ccereviews.com/reviews/qnap-ts-209-pro-ii-nas/
Quote: QNAP is making its presence felt in the NAS industry with solutions
for everyone. The QNAP TS-209 Pro II fits the bill for anyone looking for
a small, flexible and powerful NAS. It provides 2 drives configurable as a
bunch of disks, RAID 0 or 1 and offer a download management interface and
doubles as a webserver, media & iTunes servers.

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OCIA.net has posted their review of the NZXT Avatar Gaming Mouse v2.  Below is a direct quote from the review:

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Case fans are the one part of a computer that many people overlook in the midst of such techno-talk as new GPUs, SLI compatibility, and SATA hard drives. I, however, have had a very nasty experience with an overheating computer and I never wish to live through the ordeal again. In comes Nanoxia, a German manufacturer with nothing but the cool side of life on their mind.

The three Nanoxia products I reviewed were simply their FX08 80 millimeter fan, their FX09 92 millimeter fan, and finally their FX12 120 millimeter fan. First things first, each fan not only comes with, obviously, the fan itself, but four of their Vibekiller shock absorber bolts, a fan speed controller, and a 10 year warranty.

Review URL ::
http://www.ocmodshop.com/ocmodshop.aspx?a=1486

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TITLE: OCZ 6GB 1600MHz CL7 DDR3 OCZ3P1600LV6GK @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the performance of an top-speed triple-channel product for the Intel Core i7 platform. The OCZ 6GB 1600 MHz CL7-7-7-24 DDR3 memory kit OCZ3P1600LV6GK will be compared against several other products and benchmarked for bandwidth and gaming performance. Are the higher speeds worth the money, or can this memory kit overclock to their level? System memory is one of the most over-looked hardware components in computer systems, and with applications demanding greater memory overhead it is best to use as much memory as allowed. But not all memory is made the same; and even memory of the same speed can have different consumer targets.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=260&Itemid=67

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Article Name: Sunnytek ST-2320 S/UESR Two Bay Hard Drive Enclosure Review @ Tweaknews
Article Url: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/sunnytek_st-2320_hard_drive_enclosure/

Article Snippet:

“Sunnytek’s dual-bay enclosure is a decent product all around, but is best suited for users constantly on the go. The built-in carrying handle makes for a quick and easy way to transport the enclosure, and you can rest easy knowing the drives inside are being protected by a thick layer of sturdy aluminum.”

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Title: NZXT Zero 2 Full-Tower @ Techgage

Link: http://techgage.com/article/nzxt_zero_2_full-tower/

Quote: NZXT has impressed us time and time again with their unique chassis designs and attention to detail, so when we saw that they were offering a $100 full-tower with a fully customizable cooling system, we had to check it out. With a clean design and lots of available space, did NZXT create a a must-have for the value-conscious consumer?

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NEW CONTENT (Software) – ATI Catalyst 9.2 Analysis – XP & Vista

QUOTE: “As another month almost closes to an end, we see that the ATI driver team is just able to sneak out a new driver release in time. No doubt with the short month and the late release of the 9.1s, the driver team had to be on their toes to get a release out in their usual monthly fashion.

The good news, however, is that this month it seems the driver team hasn’t been sitting down and just working on those boring bug fixes. They have given us the promise of extra performance, which is always nice to see. Let’s have a quick look below at what ATI has promised before we get stuck into the benchmarking side of things to take a look for ourselves.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1760/ati_catalyst_9_2_analysis_xp_vista/index.html

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Title: Latosta Portable Laptop Stand

URL: http://www.bigbruin.com/2009/lightlaptopstand_1

Quote:  For those with a compatible computer, the Latosta portable laptop stand is an extremely lightweight and compact stand that can make it much more comfortable to use your laptop for extended periods of time. The typing angle created is more comfortable than a flat surface, and the elevated screen takes some of the strain off of your neck.

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In Win has spent there time on the details, as I have shown with some of there other products.  This case is no different.  What is making In Win unique in a market of flashing lights and windows, is a theme.  Each of their new cases (and power supplies for that matter) have some sort of a theme to make them unique and perfect for their user.

http://techarkade.com/component/content/article/37-cases-a-accessories/116-in-win-gd-mid-tower.html?directory=57

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While there are no perfect solutions for home network security, the Home Network Defender from Linksys goes a long way to fill in the gap between security and ease-of-use.  The interface looks great and is nice and simple to use.  The price of the entire solutions is pretty attractive as well.  The Home Network Defender comes bundled with four 1-year licenses for Trend Micro Anti-Virus as well as all the customization you need to keep people on your network protected. . . for $59.99. . .

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Title: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU Cooler Review @ Vortez Hardware

Link: http://www.vortez.co.uk/contentteller/articles_pages/noctua_u12p_se1366_review,1.html

Snippet: ”With the advent of the new Intel i7 chip, the cooling firms are gradually bringing out CPU coolers to accommodate this new platform. One of the first companies to bring us an i7 ready cooler is Noctua. Noctua have taken all the qualities of the NH-U12P, designed a new fitting kit – SecuFirm2, included an additional fan and brought us the NH-U12P SE1366.“

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Ninjalane has posted their review of the ThermalTake Big Typ 14Pro heatsink. This is a 130W monster that is lacking in being compact.

Subject: Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro Heatsink Review @ Ninjalane
URL: http://www.ninjalane.com/display.aspx?docname=bigtyp14pro

Quote: Thermaltake has been making great heatsinks since the day of the awesome ORB coolers and with each new heatsink we have something a little more interesting to look at. One of the most incredible coolers they ever produced was the Big Typhoon. Well Ninjalane has been given the opportunity to look at the next incarnation of the Big Typhoon.

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There’s quite a lot of variance in DDR3 modules today, which can certainly be overwhelming for potential new buyers. While the Core i7 processor is officially rated to run at only DDR3-1066 speeds, modules that can run at DDR3-2000 or even higher are available for the Core i7, and many new motherboards support speeds even greater than these. There is also the introduction of huge 12 GB (6 x 2 GB modules) capacity kits to consider, and we have latencies in the CAS 7 to CAS 9 range, all of which affect pricing of these various modules kits dramatically.

Today, we’re going to look at some of these new kits and see if we can break down what memory-related aspects users should look for when buying an X58 / Core i7 platform. We’ve got kits from big names like Corsair, Kingston, and OCZ in the labs. Let’s try to clear up some questions, shall we?

DDR3 Round-Up: Memory Performance With The Core i7:

http://hothardware.com/Articles/Triple-Channel-DDR3-with-the-Core-i7/

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Hawking HomeRemote Starter Kit Review:

Link: http://www.rbmods.com/Articles/Hawking/Homeremote_starter_kit/1.php

Quote: Home control and remote monitoring is a field that has yet to really catch on as a mainstream industry, perhaps because setting up the devices and linking them over a network is complicated and not readily available.  Hawking, makers of a wide range of networking products, might have solved that problem with their line of home automation products.  Today we’ll look at the Hawking HomeRemote Pro Starter Kit, which promises out-of-the-box home automation.  Will this product prove to make home control and monitoring easy?  Read on to find out.

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After a nearly four year wait, two expansion packs, a change of publishers, and a title change, the follow up to our 2005 Game of the Year award winner F.E.A.R. is finally here. After successfully obtaining the rights to the name F.E.A.R., the new sequel is called F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin instead of the planned Project Origin. Regardless of what it is called, developer Monolith Productions and Publisher Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment have unleashed one of the best 3D shooters and action games ever made.

These time out players are put in the role of Sgt Michael Becket as you and your team are dispatched to obtain Aristide, an executive with Armacham Technology Corporation. Starting roughly thirty minutes before the climatic events that concluded the first team, you race through various locales doing battle with private security and fearsome Armacham Black Op soldiers as well as the deadly Replica soldiers.

Review URL ::
http://www.ocmodshop.com/ocmodshop.aspx?a=1485

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Title: Hiper M1000 PSU Review on Technic3D

Link: http://www.technic3d.com/article-814,1-netzteil-hiper-m-1000-arbeitspferd-mit-1kw.htm

Quote: “The Hiper M1000 PSU arrived Technic3D. See you in the following Review from Technic3D the next Big PSU with 135mm Fan, 4x 12V rails, 8x Serial ATA connectors and 3x PCI-e 6+2 Pin.”

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Title: Sansa Fuze MP3 Player Review
Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/695
Category: Reviews

Summary:
Our review of the Sandisk Sansa Fuze portable digital music player. Is this a good MP3 player? How does it compare to iPod nano? Check it out.

Here is a snippet:
“iPods are great music players, but there are also other options. The Sansa Fuze is an iPod nano competitor. The Fuze has an FM radio and a built-in voice recorder; two features that the nano lacks, so we decided to take a look and see how the Fuze stacks up against the iPod and other portable music players.”

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Title:  Enermax Liberty Eco 620W Power Supply Review

Summary: The last time we looked at an Enermax unit here at jonnyGURU.com was way back in mid 2007 when the founder of the site looked at the Galaxy DXX 850W unit. Well, the dry spell is over, for today I’m looking at my first Enermax unit, the brand new Liberty Eco series 620W. Let’s see if it’ll live up to my high expectations.

Articles URL: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=136

Site URL: http://www.jonnyguru.com

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TechwareLabs has published a review of the Crucial PC2-8500U DDR2 1066Mhz RAM. Here’s a clip from the review:

Quote: One of the most critical components inside your computer is the RAM. With Vista using so many resources its almost necessary to have 4GB. Join Matt as he takes a look at the Crucial DDR2-1066 PC2-8500. Will this cost effective high speed kit get the job done? Or will it send our computer flying out the window on flames? Join us as we take a look.

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/memory/crucial_ddr2_1066_pc2_8500u

Title: TechwareLabs Reviews the Crucial PC2-8500U DDR2 1066Mhz RAM

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NEW CONTENT (Networking) – TRENDnet TEW-645UB High Power Wireless N USB Adapter

QUOTE: “As more and more people design wireless home networks, the question becomes one of what to do with your older wireless and wired systems. This has become even more prominent with the increase in the number of inexpensive 300Mbps N specification routers and access points available. Newer laptops and netbooks do come with N wireless cards, but many devices that are less than a year old do not. Well, TRENDnet has an answer for you in the form of its TEW-645UB High Power Wireless N USB adapter.

The TEW-645UB boasts up to twice the range of traditional N USB adapters; with up to eight times the range of standard g adapters. Speed is also a feature of the TEW-645UB with maximum theoretical speeds of up to 300Mbps. Will the TEW-645UB be able to deliver on its promises? – It looks great on paper, but let’s see if it can perform in the real world.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1759/trendnet_tew_645ub_high_power_wireless_n_usb_adapter/index.html

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“The successor to the enormously popular EOS 5D improves on almost every aspect that the original was lacking. And by all measures, the EOS 5D Mark II is priced aggressively – when you consider the price of the EOS 1Ds Mark III, the 5D Mark II seems like a bargain. The camera is not too heavy, and we love the fact that Canon has improved its weather resistance and battery life. However, while having HD video is a nice add-on, it is definitely more important to have a viewfinder with a 100% coverage, more AF points, a faster burst mode and a dedicated button for ISO settings (there is plenty of space!) We didn’t particularly care for the Creative Auto mode, and find it surprising that Canon decided to include such a feature in a camera of this class. The video feature is a great add-on, but we’re not sure it will be used much by professional photographers. Overall the EOS 5D Mark II has an awful lot to recommend it to the serious photographer.”

http://www.itreviewed.co.uk/rev.php?id=932

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http://www.dvhardware.net/review152_asus_eee_pc_900a.html

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Title: Sapphire Ultimate Radeon HD4670 Graphics Card

URL: http://www.bigbruin.com/2009/sapphire4670_1

Quote:  The Sapphire Ultimate Radeon HD4670 is a passively cooled graphics card with plenty of features other than its silent operation that should appeal to HTPC owners. With an integrated HDMI port, DirectX 10.1, and Shader Model 4.1 support, it offers some of the things you look for in a gaming graphics card, but with an obvious focus on home theater performance.

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“Available in expanded colour palette options to express your personal style (Obsidian Black, Alpine White, Cherry Red, Pretty Pink, Ice Blue and Jade Green), the Mini 10 is more than capable of handling the basic computing tasks it was designed for. However, thanks to Intel’s wretched graphics chipset and poor driver support, the video playback – both streaming Internet video and files stored on the hard drive – brings the machine to a crippling halt. To add insult to injury, the Mini 10 boats an operating time of under 3 hours from the 4-cell battery, which is borderline acceptable. The Mini 10 is a fine all-round netbook, but we’d have liked a much better battery life and 3G built in as standard. The lack of solid state storage at launch (February 26) is another disappointment, as is no Gigabit Ethernet for super-speedy wired networking.”

http://www.itreviewed.co.uk/rev.php?id=931

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Title: XFX 285 GTX 1GB Review – NVIDIA GTX 285 1GB tested  @ ModReactor

Direct Link:
http://www.modreactor.com/english/Reviews/XFX-285-GTX-1GB-Review-NVIDIA-GTX-285-1GB-tested.html

Quote: “While NVIDIA keep the crown for single-GPU performance with
GeForce GTX 285 1GB, $380 ain’t cheap for a video card. Furthermore,
Radeon HD 4850 X2 2 GB could be obtained for about hundred less and in
some situations it is indeed faster than GTX 285. And while HD 4850 X2
even with the newest BIOS is still noisy, anything but energy
efficient, very dependent on software support – games optimized for
Crossfire and drivers (something not too many people are willing to
depend on and would rather turn down), still a 30% difference in price
is something to think about. Anyway NVIDIA GPUs still got CUDA and
PhysX and if we consider Far Cry 2 which comes with XFX GTX 285 1GB -
it’s a really good deal after all. We’d give the card 8.5/10 for
performance and no more than 7.5/10 for its bang-for-buck ratio.”

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Title: ASUS VW266H 25.5″ LCD Monitor @ Techgage

Link: http://techgage.com/article/asus_vw266h_255_lcd_monitor/

Quote: It’s been quite a while since we have last taken a look at an ASUS monitor, much less one that we’ve been ultimately impressed by, so when we received their latest model, the VW266H, we couldn’t wait to tear it out of the box to see if things have improved with their line-up. Read on as we find out whether this TN-based monitor is a winner.

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NEW CONTENT (Notebooks and Netbooks) – Alienware Area-51 m15x 15.4-inch Gaming Notebook

QUOTE: “Gaming notebooks are an odd breed of machine that tends to be much more expensive than what you could get a higher performance desktop for. However, anyone who has tried to lug a decked out full tower desktop gaming machine to a LAN party can tell you, sometimes giving up performance for portability isn’t such a bad thing.

Today we are going to look at one of the latest gaming notebooks form Alienware called the Area-51 m15x. As you can gather from the name of the gaming rig, it uses a 15-inch screen and packs oodles of performance inside the slick looking chassis. If you have the green and you want a serious 15-inch portable gaming machine, this is the review for you.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1758/alienware_area_51_m15x_15_4_inch_gaming_notebook/index.html
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TITLE: Plextor PX-B310SA Blu Ray drive @ LanOC Reviews

DESCRIPTION: In the Disc drive industry it’s really hard to stand out. Most people just pick the cheapest drive with the specs that they are looking for. This may work for some people but anyone who has lived with the cheap drives should know that they can sometimes be noisy and unreliable. One company that has made a reputation of quality in the disc drive market over many years is Plextor. I’ve seen people throw down two and sometimes three times the price of a cheap drive just to be able to have a Plextor drive. The reason for this is all about quality and noise, for those same reasons I was excited to hear that I was going to be able to check out their new PX-B310SA BD Combo Super Multi Drive. My excitement doubled when I realized I would be able to watch The Dark Knight and other Blu Ray movies in 1080p on our 52-inch television.  So today I’m going to find out if the PX-B310SA is a quality drive that’s quite enough to include in your HTPC without sounding like a weed eater running.

ARTICLE URL: http://lanoc.org/reviews/plextor-px-b310sa-blu-ray-drive/

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TITLE: ASUS P5Q3 LGA775 Intel P45 ATX Motherboard @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: Launched last summer by Intel, the P45 chipset has quickly grown in popularity, replacing the aging P35 chipset. Intended for a mid to upper mainstream consumer base, the P45 chipset boasts some impressive features, such as: full DDR2/DDR3 support, 20 PCI Express 2.0 lanes, ATI Crossfire support, and a 65nm manufacturing process. By now manufacturers have had ample time to design and refine their P45 based motherboards and today Benchmark Reviews takes a look at ASUS’ mainstream P45 DDR3 motherboard: the P5Q3. As a twist on our usual motherboard reviews, this article will also shed some light on the growing DDR2 vs DDR3 debate with some hard numbers in the benchmark sections.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=303&Itemid=69

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Date: 2-22-2009 By Vlad Mihaiescu

If you can stay patient and accept the fact that this is a very slow moving game then the game’s potential can truly be appreciated. This game is full of strategy. From the weapons you decide to use to the location selection for deployment to basic decisions like when to kneel or when to go prone to shooting or even bribing your way out of a fight, Hired Guns – The Jagged Edge is a very well made game but the fact that it is such a slow moving game might deter a lot of people from enjoying it. It is also a very difficult game. But if you’re a patient person and love a challenge then this game is a must get.

Link: http://www.gamepyre.com/reviewsd.html?aid=1055&p=1

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Thermaltake Element S Case Review

Author: Ben Sun Date: 2-22-2009

Thermaltake took a lot time designing this case and it shows. The ability to install 7 HDDs is worth the tradeoff that it requires from the 5.25″ drive bays that would be found on other cases. A mid-Tower ATX case with a 230mm fan on top, two 60mm fans on the video card area and excellent airflow makes this case a good mid-range case for those that want plenty of airflow around their system and need six or seven HDDs in their system. The Element S case has a MSRP of $129.99 online and it is a good choice for those wanting a mid-sized tower ATX case without breaking the bank as some other cases on the market would.

Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1858_1.html

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HotHardware’s Mike Lin blogs up a nice quick-take guide today for building a solid Storage Media Server on the cheap and small.

Snip: In this post, we’ll show you a few select options for putting together an affordable media server computer for under $300 that can store all of your media in one central location and is small enough to fit just about anywhere in your house. This build guide is for a server that will probably be running headless (without a monitor) and not for an HTPC, although you can probably turn it into one by simply dropping in a discrete video card.

Direct Link:

http://hothardware.com/cs/blogs/ta/archive/2009/02/22/high-capacity-low-cost-300-budget-media-server.aspx

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Quote: ” In Win Commander PSU and NA Storage are creative products with high quality and good performance after our reviews and today we will take a step further to review their PC case. Our review subject today is Stealth Bomber B2 which is a Xtreme series PC case from In Win. In Win Stealth Bomber B2 is a high end PC case which is loaded with plenty of great features such as auto-sensing front door, VGA turbo cooling system and etc.”

Read More:
http://hardwarebistro.com/index.php?option=com_simple_review&Itemid=84&review=64-In-Win-Stealth-Bomber-B2-Case-Review

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InsideHW.com has reviewed XFX Radeon HD 4870 512MB XXX. Here is a quote from this review:

“The trend of expanding product’s portfolio among manufacturers of graphics cards doesn’t abate, and this situation resulted in many new products based on ATI GPUs on the market. Nvidia’s so far exclusive partners are beginning to reject this kind of “monogamy”. For some of those partners this decision was quite expected from the very beginning but XFX came out as a true surprise because of their reputation of being Nvidia’s “hard core” partner. Even though we had to wait little bit more than it was officially announced, the first XFX Radeon was finally introduced…”

Article link:

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Graphics-cards/XFX-Radeon-HD-4870-512MB-XXX.html

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It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the All-In-Wonder around here, but now it has arrived and it’s bringing with it some long awaited features.

“PC-based TV tuners are nothing new. For years, we’ve seen tuners of all kinds pass through the labs from a variety of manufacturers. ATSC tuners are a bit newer, but we’ve worked with those for a few years as well. An ATSC Tuner built on to a PCI Express video card, well, that is new for us.

Today we’ll be looking at the ATI All-In-Wonder HD. The card we’ll be reviewing is an ATI/AMD reference card and when shopping around, you’ll most likely find a version from one of AMD’s board partners. As the name implies, the card is designed with HD in mind, and while Over-the-Air (OTA) ATSC tuners have been released by ATI before, the AIW HD is a step forward in integration.”

http://www.viperlair.com/index.php/reviews/ati-all-in-wonder-hd.html

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Titel: XSPC RX360 Radiator im Vergleichstest

Text:
XSPC ist in Großbritannien ansässiger Hersteller, der auf Wasserkühlungskomponenten spezialisiert ist. Bislang war XSPC in erster Linie für günstige Produkte bekannt, die weniger die Leistungsspitze als ein möglichst gutes Preis/Leistungs-Verhältnis anstrebten. Bereits mit den Laing-DDC Pumpendeckel haben XSPC aber bewiesen, dass sie durchaus auch Spitzenprodukte liefern können. Die neue RX-Radiatoren-Serie soll nun im Bereiche der Wärmetauscher für ebensolche Spitzenleistung sorgen. Ob das gelingt, klärt unser Test, in dem wir den XSPC RX360 Radiator mit einem Thermochill PA120.3, dem Watercool HTSF 360 und dem Magicool Slim Triple Radiator vergleichen.

URL: http://www.dexgo.com/index.php?site=artikel/view.php&rubrik=Hardware&id=354
English translated by Babel Fish: http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=de_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dexgo.com%2Findex.php%3Fsite%3Dartikel%2Fview.php%26rubrik%3DHardware%26id%3D354
English translated by Google: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dexgo.com%2Findex.php%3Fsite%3Dartikel%2Fview.php%26rubrik%3DHardware%26id%3D354&sl=de&tl=en&hl=de&ie=UTF-8

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First, I hope you are having a nice weekend. Secondly, I would like to tell you that we have some new information regarding Windows Vista Service Pack 2 RC (download links and important installation issue). You could find it in the link below:

http://www.ngohq.com/news/15507-windows-vista-service-pack-2-rc.html

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Title: GELID Solutions GC-1 Thermal Compound Review at Overclockers Online
Link: http://www.overclockersonline.net/index.php?page=articles&num=2541
Quote: Arctic Silver 5 has long been hailed as the king of thermal compounds
but it seems the king is finally dead. The GELID GC-1 trumps the AS5 in a
couple of aspects. Letting the temperatures speak for themselves, the GC-1
does a much better job at conducting heat (or maybe, not impeding it as
much). There is a caveat here, however, as the “delta” temperatures were
somewhat close. With that said, the GC-1 did have a smaller “delta” between
the idle and load temperatures in every test.

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InsideHW.com has reviewed Silicon Power DDR3-1333 CL9. Here is a quote from this review:

“Taiwanese manufacturer Silicon Power was kind to send to us three 1GB memory modules declared at DDR3-1333 with CL9 latencies. This type of memory can be considered as budget solution so we weren’t surprised with declaration and absence of coolers. Silicon Power used blue coloured PCB and chips signed by ELIXIR. Full specification goes like this: 1333 (667MHz) CL 9-10-10-25, which is by our humble opinion very loosely set timings that leave space for tightening…”

Article link:

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Memory/Silicon-Power-DDR3-1333-CL9.html

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TITLE: Crackheads2 review @ LanOC Reviews

DESCRIPTION: It’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.

ARTICLE URL: http://lanoc.org/reviews/crackheads2/

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Posted in Everything and Anything, Product Reviews