Hardware Block

Zygo writes "The Swiftech MCX462+T at 3dGameMan, a very solid and beautiful Antec case over here, Coffee and maybe even some ram at OverclockerCafe, the Logitech Cordless Optical MX700 over here, the DFI AD77 Infinity KT400 mobo over at PC stats, Coolermaster ramsinks at Mikhailtech, the Canon S230 here, another case review, the Tyan Tachyon 9700 Pro, 19" ViewSonic monitor, Vantec's Nexus NXP-101 A True Review, Freecom FX-1 USB-2 CD-RW at Blagged-HW, the Nexland Wireless ISB Router at LanAddict and to end the Icemat."

Comments

Intellesting..

[Anonymous Coward]

They re-review the Icemat purely because a new coloured version was released? Them Apple review sites must be pretty cluttered..

Glass Mouse Mat???

[md81544]

Hmmm... a glass mouse mat?? Am I the only person who slams his mouse down in frustration when everything in Windows suddenly stops? Hey! Bonus! Automatic wrist slitting when using Windows. It would certainly force me onto my Linux box more frequently.

Re:Glass Mouse Mat???

[robbieduncan]

Perhaps this is a problem for some people, but I have used one of these mats for over a year at work and have to say that it really is very good. Unfortunatly it messes up some optical mice (the newest ones seem to work OK).

Re:Glass Mouse Mat???

[tjensor]

Do the words "Tempered safety glass" mean anything to you?

You forgot a link in that quagmire!

[Motherfucking Shit]

The word "Coffee" should have pointed to www.starbucks.com...

ISB Router

[packeteer]

This router, in fact, is not actually a wireless router. It is a wired router with wireless ability added in using external hardware. I was not pleased with this, it felt like a hack of their wired router rather than a router designed with wirless in mind.

Wow, what an uninformed reviewer. When the reviewer noticed that the router had a PCMCIA slot in the back where a card plugs in to give it the wireless abilities he got scared and thought it was low quality. If you open up many other wireless routers you will find the same thing only you dont have the option to switch in a better card. Any home access point will basically be a wires router with a PCMCIA card with a coax cable running to the external antannea. Personally i would prefer it if on an AP gave me the option of switching out the card to one with a better antannea or if it broke.

Its really sad to see the current situation of internet review sites. Most of them are done by people with a bit of knowledge about computer but not much more than anyone else. The reviewer really should give more than just the opinion of any other end user. I realize that end users need to be heard otherwise the real consumer would not know what to expect but im tired of sites slamming or paising hardware because they dont know how good or bad it really is.

Re:ISB Router

[mrpuffypants]

no kidding, about 5 or 6 hardware review sites open up every week it seems

and with the internet blocking their real identity i'll bet that most of them are run by people still reading dickens in high school english classes.

as a journalist myself on some level, it sickens me that real journalists now have to compete with "jimmy @ 3Xtr3m3 h@rdware" for credibility.

Re:ISB Router

[evilviper]

Personally i would prefer it if on an AP gave me the option of switching out the card to one with a better antannea or if it broke.

I don't see how that would be possible.

More than just drivers, to be an AP, you must send the special, ``magic" code to the Wireless card to tell it to do so. So I don't see how an AP could even potentially allow swapping of cards.

Re:ISB Router

[JabberWokky]

Heck, most PCI wireless cards are a PCMCIA card socketed onto a PCI board.

--
Evan

Re:ISB Router

[twoshortplanks]

The card in the picture looks like a normal Lucent/Buffalo card. Adding an extra antenna requires you not to remove the card, but to simply plug one into the mini-socket that you can uncover by removing a tiny dust cover in the middle of the exposed block.

I've got a big 'lightsabre' type antenna plugged into my Airport at home (which also uses a lucent card.) I had to prise the nice Apple case off to do that (It now looks considerably less well designed ;-) ). At least with the reviewed router there's no unscrewing or removing of pannels to do something similar

Re:ISB Router

[Max Romantschuk]

The poor quality of hardware review sites is fortunately something some sites are aware of...

Also some follow-up here.

Re:ISB Router

[evilviper]

Well, I assumed people were NOT so dense as to think my statement applied to replacing a card with the same model/chipset/whatever. Thanks for setting a new, low-IQ record, here on slashdot.

Re:ISB Router

[packeteer]

This lack of good reviewing makes me upset. Although there ar good sites out there its not a good situation untill i can read several well written reviews of one product on different sites. As a 17 year old student of High School i can understand that i am not the best person to review this hardware so i dont do it. If i want someone who doesn't know anything to tell me about computers i would ask almost any kid who has a computer in my school. In my science classes they have always forced us to use the scientific process and now i understand why. If only these review sites would use some type of controlled process to evaluate their hardware i would trust them much more.

Logitech MX Series Mice

[fishbert42]

Tom's Hardware has a decent review of the new Logitech MX series of mice (MX300, MX500, MX700). About as in-depth as you can get with something as simple as a mouse, I think.

Long time PC/Linux user...

[C0vardeAn0nim0]

but all i lust for in terms of hardware now is that amazing iBook with a 17" LCD...

_THATS_ a cool piece of hardware. and the best part, it already comes with Unix, so I don't even have to bother instaling linux...

Help!

[Dark Lord Seth]

MCX462+T? DFI AD77? KT400? S230? NXP-101?! FX-1!?! ISB!?!? NNNGGGHHHH!!!! TECHINICAL BUZZWORDS!!! %$#^$%!!! *toot*

Connection reset by nice men in white coats.

The Antec / Chieftech / Chenming cases

[(H)elix1]

The Antec / Chieftech / Chenming cases are all manufactured by the same folks. Good stuff, however. For building boxes, this is my standard non-rackmount chassis. No sharp edges, solid structure, good ventilation and fan placement. If you watch, these things go on sale often... The last chassis I picked up was for my bride - with 420w PS and a window, $75USD. Lots of color options out there too.

Not sure if this will link, but her are some better photo from newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=11 -1 25-132-01.JPG/11-125-132-02.jpg/11-125-132-03.jpg/ 11-125-132-04.jpg/11-125-132-05.jpg/11-125-132-06. jpg/11-125-132-07.jpg

Um, er, oh

[thatguywhoiam]

"The Swiftech MCX462+T at 3dGameMan, a very solid and beautiful Antec case over here, Coffee and maybe even some ram at OverclockerCafe, the Logitech Cordless Optical MX700 over here, the DFI AD77 Infinity KT400 mobo over at PC stats, Coolermaster ramsinks at Mikhailtech, the Canon S230 here, another case review, the Tyan Tachyon 9700 Pro, 19" ViewSonic monitor, Vantec's Nexus NXP-101 A True Review, Freecom FX-1 USB-2 CD-RW at Blagged-HW, the Nexland Wireless ISB Router at LanAddict and to end the Icemat."

Does anyone else think this blurb looks like the decription of one of the prop computers in the Sims?

'Zwoop Macrotic 1349/k GigaProcessor at 14.2 Ketaflops with Super HypWire MonstraDrive, Insana3 Radio-centric Flux Tachyon Coprocessor, Renticular magneto-sensing thermoptic camoflage, and 128X ZCDVD-RW.'

Right. Mine's grape.

I've got two of these

[legLess]

FWIW, I have two of these pieces of hardware, albiet slightly older versions. My Antec case is the same, but without the whiz-bang pretty features (panels, lights, whatnot). It's sweet - big, easy to work with, tons of drive bays.

I've also got 2 of the ViewSonic P95f monitors. The ones reviewed are P95f+ models, which are capable of a higher resolution, but with a slightly lower refresh rate for all other resolutions (stupid, IMHO). These are great screens, especially for the price. Perfectly flat, exceptionally clear and crisp.

Mouse batteries

[phorm]

It seems odd to me that the Logitech Optical mouse was only said to last about 3-4 days. I remember reading on other cordless opticals that they can last weeks or even months, but perhaps this is because they aren't using rechargable batteries. With NimH (sp) batteries I would have expected better performance.
Can somebody verify this? I was actually quite interested in this mouse due to the recharging basestation, but if it dies a lot quicker than others I'll just go with a non-recharging mouse on a Lithium-Ion battery.

OT: Fifty eight -1+ posts on front page article?

[StupidKatz]

Excuse me, do you know what time it is? I think I just missed the Rapture.