Hardware Bits

Zygo writes "Again a little bit of hardware news for today: At MonkeyReview a very cool case... At DV Hardware a little article about an aluminium mousepad, called the Steelpad... OCCanada takes a look at the Gigabyte GA8PE667-Pro... ExtremeMHz brings you a guide to power... Some Christmas stuff... And Modthebox checks out a cool tachometer for PC's!" richie2000 submits a holiday-themed case mod: "A gingerbread case mod. Don't tell me you didn't see this one coming. And here's a mirror of one of the images."

Comments

Maybe I just don't get it...

[Soulfader]

Our total cost for this project was approximately $25.00. Considering that we can now power up to 7 external components, we believe it is well worth it. Now when we turn on our computer, anything that is connected to the surge protector will power on automatically....water pump, fan, auxiliary PSU, printer etc...etc.

I know some mods are worth doing just because, but this strikes me as a little... odd. The last thing I want to do is run more stuff off my power supply. Why not save a couple bucks (and your PS) and just buy a power strip?

Enlightenment, anyone?

Re:Maybe I just don't get it...

[moosesocks]

So.... why not just use a PSU with an A/C passthrough, and plug a powerstrip into that.

Requires a $2 adapter plus a powerstrip with no modifications necessary.

Or even better, tell your bios to automatically power on the pc after a power failure (in other words, plug the PC into an outlet with a lightswitch.) Turn the lightswitch on, the pc goes on, as well as anything else plugged into the outlet.

Geeks with no electrical knowledge?

[cybergibbons]

The article at ExtremeMhz with the relay controlling the four way is pretty bad. Messing with mains voltage if you do not know what you are doing is stupid - and things like this encourage people.

First off, the bit about the relay mentions that there is an AC side and a DC side. WTF? There is a coil, and there are switch contacts. Next, he says that they are rated in current and voltage. Yes, true, but a voltage for the coil, and voltage and current ratings for the contacts (for AC and DC). A "12V 10A relay" means very little. I have what could be described as a "12V 45A relay" here. It has a 12V coil and will switch 12V at 45A. Not mains (110V or 240V). See how easy it is to get this wrong when people just copy your article.

In this country (UK), a 10A relay is not enough to power a four way. A maximum of 13A can be drawn through a plug, so you would need a higher current rating on the contacts of the relay. I do not know about the US, but because it is 110V, I would assume currents to be higher. This relay is probably quite inadeqate.

And if you have to tell someone how to drill a hole into a plastic box, surely they aren't competant to play with mains?

Moving on. He mounts a mains voltage relay inside a plastic box with absolutely no regards to strain relief on the cables. All it would take is a trip on the four way and the cables would be yanked out the box, possibly leaving live conductors bare. Not good at all.

Also, those "quick disconnects", which are called spade connectors, should be covered by a plastic shroud when they are used on a relay such as that. There is the possibility of the 12V wire coming into contact with mains, which would have dire consequences. Also, try fixing the relay into the box...

I'm just not keen on the number of people who write things like this, essentially idiots guides, which people blindly follow. They aren't a good idea when people can get hurt.

It reminds me of a rudeboy car magazine I read which showed you how to install NOS into a Citreon Saxo. Drill this, thread this, this colour wire goes here, etc. No explanation of how or why... quite ridiculous really.

Re:Geeks with no electrical knowledge?

[evilviper]

As someone (with extensive electrical knowledge) from the US, allow me to say how I am continually surprised how few accidental electrocutions there are anually. Many, many, unqualified "weekend" electricians like to "fix" things in the most half-assed ways. You would find it hard to imagine (as I did) the dangerous situations lurking around most homes due to bad wiring.

My own relatives were routinely plugging-in and unplugging a toaster who's rubber shielding had been damaged near the plug. I cringe at the thought of such terrible practices, but a surprising number of people are exposed to similar conditions multiple times every day, and yet surprisingly few get killed, although, there are no shortages of stories about kids who cut through lamp cords, or electricians who don't shut off circuit breakers, and get knocked 20 yards (err... meters) across a room.

Perhaps if the standard US voltage was 220V like much of the world, there might be far more fatalities. In addition to the low voltages, GFI outlets or very common, which protect those people that like to take a bath along with their hair dryer, radio, etc. Although, a huge number of house fires are caused by electricity.

So, I agree that things like this are very irresponsible, and dangerous, but they are not uncommon, and are probably less dangerous than conditions many people are exposed to on a daily basis. In my opinion, power lines should be converted to around 50v DC before they enter a residential home. Although that wouldn't help those poor bastards that decide to put up their TV antennas near high-voltage power lines.

Re:Geeks with no electrical knowledge?

[Intocabile]

You can't stepdown DC voltages efficiently because transformers work on the basis of magnetic flux. To create magnetic flux you have to have an alternating current. The reason they are more efficient then DC alternatives(voltage deviders) is because they don't consume power(idealy).

You know..

[The Terrorists]

I don't want any of this stuff. It's mostly in the cool gadget category. If Slashdot wanted, it could be a force for quality in the basics of hardware construction, design, and performance -- a Consumer Report of computing, as it were.

It will never be a cultural leader in computing. Others with cash take that mantle. The former, however, is needed.

Huh?

[Soulfader]

By your own figures, you could burn out your 2GHz processor 4 times and still have spent 10 pounds less.

Re:A few of my favorite things

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, there are. So why not cancel your internet account, sell your computer, and give the money to those starving children?

Works both ways, man. Please think before you take potshots at people.

Re:A few of my favorite things

[Anonymous Coward]

Because I'm not the one initiating self-righteous jabs at people for spending money on their loved ones. My post served as a point to affirm that old saying: practice what you preach [if you're going to preach at all]. Since I don't go around telling people they need to stop spending money on what I deem worthless and start donating to charities, I don't have to do that either.

Dear Slashdot:

[onomatomania]

Please, for the love of god, never link to dvhardware.net again. Fer christ's sake, with a readership in the tens to hundreds of thousands, you'd think Slashdot could accept articles that feature quality sites... which dvhardware.net is NOT. Hmmm, let's have a look at the checklist for crappy hardware reviews:

1. Article split into unnecessarily high number of pages? Check.
   
2. Verdana microsized font (specified in pixels in the stylesheet) which is unresizable? Check.
   
3. Terrible spelling and grammar? Check. (Note: I realize that English was probably not the author's primary language. Nevertheless, it doesn't excuse passages such as this:

   One of the good things about it is the material it's made of , aluminium. Another good thing is that the pad looks very cool! One of the downsides of the pad is the noise, the pad makes lot's of noise when you're moving your mouse on it. And then another thing , which is good and bad together :p , the pad always feels cold. This would be very good in summer but now in winter it feels too cold.

   If you want to be taken seriously you must write articles that don't sound like a twelve-year-old puked on the keyboard.
   
4. Useless pictures that look like they were taken by some retard with a digital camera, featuring a "click on me to enlarge" link which doesn't help at all? Check.
   
5. Overall vapid commentary that ends with a predominantly positive rating, in this case three stars? Check.
   
   For fuck's sake...
   
   

How much does it cost to get a life?

[LazloToth]

"The Xoxide PC Tachometer Kit is a neat and unique product that will definitely stand out at a LAN party." A person with better things to do than hook up an automotive tachometer to a CPU would stand out even more.

Do people never learn?...

[Xtraneous]

I had assumed that people had finally realized that there is many shall we say... "inconsistencies" in the boards that review sites get, and the consumer boards. Recently (about 2-4 months ago) asus realeased their P4S8X motherboard based on the SIS 648 chipset. Almost every hardware review site praised this board, yet when the boards hit the market, all hell broke loose, (some sites, such as Motherboards.org still have the P4S8X rated as the top board, when it is clear that this board is not worth the sand it was created with.) Enough hell that many people began reffering to the board as the P4Sux.

So why:
A)Post the review of a not-so-new board (based off of the I845PE board) and
B) Why even post it's review at all, especially now that we have learned not to trust review sites?

I am not trying to be troll-ish, but this is Slashdot, News for Nerds. Stuff that matters. Clearly this was neither of the two.

Rails

[itwerx]

I liked this quote from later in the article:

I noticed that the tower used drive rails for installing your 5 ¼" drives, this was my first time using them and I now see their very obvious advantage, quick removal.

This guy's never heard of drive rails and he's a reviewer?!? Egads...