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

steel mouse pad looks nice

[stonebeat.org]

would make a nice holiday present. it reminds of those old grid lined steel mouse pads that were shipped with Sun Sparc and Ultras. I think Sparc were shipped with a digital mouse, and so were SGI machines. I had a Sparc 20 and 10.

Re:steel mouse pad looks nice

[JaredOfEuropa]

Oh yes, those.... they are actually very very bad for you. I used the Sun metal mousepad for quite a while.

When you use a mouse, your wrist will actually rest on the mousepad quite often. A metal one will drain the warmth from your wrist nicely, which does nothing to help prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. After a few months of using this thing my wrist started to hurt, and my physician recommended "keeping my hands warm", even wearing gloves, since cold hands and wrists are more susceptible to CTS than warm ones. I switched to a regular mouse and my problems went away.

No bloody way I am ever using a metal mosuepad again. I'm using an optical mouse now that requires no mousepad at all.

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...

[cybergibbons]

You don't get it.

It turns on a multiway mains adaptor (powerstrip, four way etc.)using the 12V as a signal from your PC, so everything will go on and off at once. The power does not come from the power supply in the PC.

It was pretty clear from the article.

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.

Oh Dear God!

[Cyclopedian]

My eyes screamed in pain on the overclocking christmas lights article. The neon green page background was just too much.

Excuse me while I go and color correct my eyes.

-Cyc

New mod box ideas... add them here.

[dagg]

Idea #1: A litter box

Anything else?

indestructible mouse pad?

[sczimme]

[From the DV Hardware link]

The black colored Steelpad comes from Denmark and is made out of a 3.5mm aluminium plate.

So the Steelpad is made of aluminum; that makes sense.

It's also hardended [sic] to ensure the durability under all conditions

That's good, too: I know my mousepads always ended up twisted and mangled from daily use...

A few of my favorite things

[SteweyGriffin]

I just put a really sweet computer together for my son's big Christmas present this year.

I made sure to get him all the best computer case stuff, since that what all his friend will see. Looks are really important to little kids! I can't wait until he opens this up and sees how non-beige his very own PC is!

Case: Kingwin KT-436B-WM Aluminum Case - Blue (image)

Power supply: Enermax EG365P-VE(FCA) 350 Watt (image)

Light kit: Dual Cold Cathode Light Kit (image)

Screws: Anodized Thumbscrew - Blue (image)

Re:A few of my favorite things

[cuyler]

A nice computer for Christmas...? Nice.

Are you interested in adopting a 21 year old Comp. Eng. student who could really use presents like this for Christmas?

The secret...

[ziggy_travesty]

From the Antec case review:

"Details & Specs

As I had said earlier, this unit packs a punch in terms of performance. Due to its large size there is much more room for fans as well as allow much better air circulation. This particular tower came to us equipped with 2 80MM Antec fans serving as rear exhausts. I added 2 additional fans, 1 on the side, acting as a blower, and 1 in the front acting as an intake. In total there is room to place 5 80MM fans. Again, due to its size, and the fact that components aren?t tightly packed together, you can expect much better airflow right off the bat. With the combined fans, things simply run much cooler.
"

Damn...I wish I had known all this time that the reason my computer is so damn slow is because of the case! Instead of upgrading my PII/300 motherboard and processor, I'm gonna get my self a hi-performance case!!!

Thanks Slashdot!

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.

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.

Christmas Stuff?

[AtariDatacenter]

I guess not many people clicked on the "Christmas Stuff", huh? For one, I'm glad to find a source for the LED christmas lights. That's a really big plus. I haven't shopped at Albertson's for a while because of the prices.

But come on, someone has to mention something about overclocking the Christmas Lights. Going from a mild 30hz to a blazing 60hz! Imagine a Beowulf chain of those... *

* - These lights cannot be chained, from what I've read.

Too much time...

[johnraphone]

Another example of too much time.

"Toilet PC"
"In my new quest to find odd objects to turn into computers, my fiancee Julie and I were at the grocery store one day when I thought of this idea. At the grocery store there was a child's training toilette sitting in a shopping cart"

damn at lease i use my free time to get free tshirts

Cool case?

[SensitiveMale]

It is a steel 'Alienware' case.

Oh, oh, be still my beating heart.

First review sites praise aluminum cases and now they praise a case because it is steel.

Can PC case makers build some taste into these things?

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.

AC/DC Convertor

[wynlyndd]

Wouldn't that have smoothed out the power and removed the flicker?

220 isn't much more dangerous than 110

[upper]

Perhaps if the standard US voltage was 220V like much of the world, there might be far more fatalities.

The danger doesn't always increase with voltage. It's the current, and the duration of the current, that kills. And the resistance of a human body varies so much with so many variables that a factor of 2 in the voltage isn't likely to be the difference between life and death.

Voltage does affect how your muscles react to a shock, though. As I understand it, you are likely to close your hand tightly and involuntarily if you come into contact with voltages in the 100-250 range. If you can't break contact, you're in serious trouble, hence the old advice to touch the wire with the back of your hand first. But for voltages more than a few hundred volts, muscles react so strongly that you're likely to throw yourself clear, even if you make contact with your palm. (I'm not sure I completely believe that.) So both US and european line voltages are about as dangerous as any voltage we could have chosen.

I'm not sure that a lower voltage would reduce fatalities, though. It would increase current, and probably increase the risk of fire from overheated wires. Which kills more, electrocution or home fires?

Do not trust your life to the info in this comment. IANA electrician or safety expert.

I've been doing it all wrong...

[Grip3n]

DV Hardware a little article about an aluminium mousepad, called the Steelpad

Wow, and to think all this time I've been using nice, soft gel. Time to throw that out and get me a nice block of steel...that'll do wonders for the 'ol carpal tunnel...

Monster Tach!

[DG]

Oh, come on.

If you're going to add a tach, don't go with one of those puny little Sun tachs. Use one of these bad boys:

http://www.autometer.com/hp/2001_catalog/data_ac qu isition/76.html

It'll be about as much use on a computer as it is on the typical riced-up Civic....

DG