Tuesday Reviews

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When selecting computer components, careful and informed choices are crucial. Each component is thoroughly intertwined with each other to the point that changing one piece of hardware may force a change into many other pieces as well. Thankfully, some pieces of the computer can be made nearly independent from other components, but there is a large range of products to choose from. Video cards fall into this type of category. How you decide on the one to buy is very important in regards to the money you will spend and the performance you will get.

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When it comes to peripherals, for most people, looks are just as important as performance. Brando's 32-in-1 card reader performs very well, but its looks are questionable. This card reader and USB hub combo is speedy, small, and most of all, extremely convenient. For those who are a fan of the appearance, look no further because this card reader is sure to please!

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The front of the Victory is a plastic surface. I played with all kinds of mice and noticed no difference when switching between a laser, optical or old fashioned ball mouse. Each one of the mice I used worked great and seemed to glide over the Victory with ease. Cleaning the Victory was very easy. I contacted the company support and they suggest using a glass cleaner to clean it up. The text on the pad is protected by the plastic surface and does not rub off while cleaning.

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The Icy Dock MB455SPF 5-Bay Internal SATA Drive Enclosure is a great choice for someone that needs more hard drive bays or hot-swap capabilities. If you have a RAID array spanning multiple drives, something like this is an excellent idea since it allows you to use as little space as possible, lets you swap out drives on the fly, and provides additional cooling to the drives.

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Well, I'm pretty impressed. The GX700 VGA cooler from ZEROtherm is an excellent example of what a well-executed heatpipe design can accomplish, even in aluminum. This is an excellent first effort at VGA cooling from a company we're sure to see more of in the future. ZEROtherm calls the GX700 their main-stream VGA cooler, and represents, presumably, the lowest-cost cooler in their stable. At the proper price point, the GX700 from ZEROtherm could be an outstanding value.

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VR-Zone has a review up on the new GSkill F2-8000PHU2 1GBHZ 512MBx2 DDR2 kit and we have tested on the ASUS P5W DH board completed with memory voltage mods. To make things interesting, we have tested the pair of memories from 2.2V all the way up to 3.2V and the memories scale very well indeed attaining DDR2-1232 4-4-4-5 @ 2.7V and DDR2-1044 3-3-3-5 @ 3.2V.

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One word, Antec. If you are familiar with after-market power supplies or cases they you have definitely heard of Antec. Since 1986 Antec has been providing the highest quality of computer power and case products to over 25 countries. Today Antec has sent us their new Antec True Power Trio which features three +12V rails, Universal input which automatically selects voltages, Active PFC, and an efficiency rating of up to 85%. Plus this power supply is marked as a Quite Computing product so you'll be able to give your system the power it needs without loosing your hearing.

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Quote: Today in the BFR labs we have our first X1650 video card to review. The X1650Pro, along with the X1300XT and X1950XT, have just recently been released by ATI as a follow up to the orginal X1600, X1300, and X1900 lineup. These new editions are a slightly enhanced version of their respective predecessor featuring higher core and memory speeds. This X1650 Pro features a core speed of 625MHz and memory clock of 1.4GHz effective compared to the X1600 Pro's core/memory speed of 500MHz/800MHz.

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The new BF2142 demo is based on a slightly improved version of the Battlefield 2 engine, and indeed also performs roughly the same as BF2 does. Although tweaking BF2142 is similar to BF2, there are several important differences, a range of changed commands, and of course a series of problems which people may not experience in other Battlefield games. Therefore I've prepared this Battlefield 2142 Tweak Guide to give you all the information you need to customize, optimize and troubleshoot BF2142 so you can experience the game as smoothly as possible.

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When you think of a consumer focused remote control which doesn=92t require an installer to put in, what comes to mind? A $20 universal remote from Radio Shack? Logitech is hoping you=92ll think outside of the box with the recent unveiling of their latest Harmony remote control called the Logitech Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote.

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'After countless hours of hardship from everyone, we turned a few preliminary lines on a sketchbook into a beautiful actual creation. When the prototype returned, everyone wanted to be the first to see how our imaginations had turned out. After that, we fitted all the components into the prototype and started refining the goddess. Needless to say, there were a lot of refinements and revisions after the first prototype. The finished Mozart TX was simply stunningly beautiful and perfectly functional'

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The MB453SPF is an internal removable hard drive enclosure that contains three bays for easy relocation of hard drives. The MB453SPF makes it easy to take your data home with you if necessary, provided you have a docking station there. Icy Dock made the MB453SPF both appealing to the eye and easy to install. And another thing, the MB453 also cools on request. Let's see if the MB453SPF is your future storage solution.