News archives from April, 2004

"The computer is not getting more compact, but it is becoming more essential to our recreational life. We have heard of HTPC, which stands for "Home Theater Personal Computer". But today we would like to introduce the HEPC which stands for Home entertainment personal computer. It is here to replace your old audio with a futuristic look, but it still has all the features to explore the internet and play games."

"Life''s good at LG, being the first company to release an all compatible DVD burner. We knew it was bound to happen, and being lucky enough for LG to be the first company to surpass all of the boundaries. This burner reads all of the available DVD formats except the DVD-RAM cartridge."

I would like to start off by saying that we all know how messy the inside of a computer can get. In this day and age especially if you have a window in your computer with all the lights and CCFLs, these wires hanging there in all there multi colored glory can be an eyesore. Vantec has come up with a solution to this problem. They have developed a revolutionary product that will not only tidy up them ugly wires in your case, but it also looks pretty darn good! So read on as we take our wire sleeving kit, touch it, hold it, smell it, and test it to find out if its really as good as it looks in the pictures on the box.

If you have heard of Star wars, you probably know what Millennium falcon is. It s one of the fastest and versatile ship in Starwars trilogy. Well, ingenious modder has brought this monster back to life. And, this is not just a mod, but one of the most innovative mod I ve ever seen. Let s see how this beauty will turn in to.

"Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation will next week unveil some details of its first 65nm process technology and will demonstrate the first SRAM device made using the process. In addition, the company will also unveil its vision of addressing issues with design and manufacturing of the leading-edge processors at the company s technology symposium next week."

"When topped out at DDR550, that brings the FSB of an Intel Pentium 4 system up to 1100 MHz! This is a TON of bandwidth available for your OC''d P4 CPU. In fact, probably more than you''ll ever need. But at the very least, you will know that you are going to reach the limits of your CPU long before you reach that of the memory, when paired up with one of the above products."

Home Theater PC''s aren''t just cool, but efficient as well! Well, I am not too sure about you, but I don''t want to use just a plain old keyboard and mouse, they really don''t fit the "home theater" look. Luckily Ahanix has come to the rescue! They released their iMON pc remote, that basically enables you to use the remote to cover your mouse AND keyboard! Impress your friends when they ask "Where is the mouse and keyboard?" Easy and fast to
install, the iMON is loaded with features just at your fingertips!

"Interested in making some slick looking liquid effects with Photoshop? Well read on, because in a few easy steps we''ll show you one of the best methods of getting that look"

"While I''m not a hardcore HTPC fanatic, I can safely say the iMon is a great piece of hardware. From opening the package to controlling my movies, the iMon was a smooth ride that was both quick and easy. Like any product there is always room for improvement, such as the lack of a physical manual or extensive application-specific software, but overall Ahanix did a respectable job of delivering a quality product."

Dae hoon, Nam has made an excellent Mini PC. By looking at it, I don''t think I have seen a home made computer smaller than this. Nam, used AutoCAD to design the layout. A laser was used to cut out the acrylic; to make the case more durable and efficient, he constructed 3 visible layers. No modification to the motherboard was applied, except that the power supply connectors had to be taken out, so the board will fit into the case.

MY RECENT PURCHASE of a laptop computer created a dilemma almost immediately. I bought it to use primarily for business, so I could have a means of keeping in touch when traveling and, thanks to a wireless router, the ability to work at various places in or around the house.

The laptop was a big hit well before business travel began, because there''s nothing quite like computing from the couch or the kitchen counter. I could work on it and keep one watchful eye on the kids, or just have a nice change of pace. Unfortunately, so could my wife, and it wasn''t long before she''d virtually taken possession of the laptop. It became a fixture on our kitchen counter, where either one of us could check mail, surf the web, pay bills, or the like. She''d even use the computer to send instant messages into the belly of Damage Labs, communicating vital info without cracking open the door and letting the kids spill downstairs into the testing area carrying static charges like midget agents of electronic death.

IT TOOK what seemed like forever for AMD to release its Opteron processor for servers and workstations. However, while the server crowd sunk its teeth into AMD''s new 64-bit platform right away, workstation users and SMP enthusiasts waited months for the first dual Opteron boards with AGP slots to trickle onto the market.

Despite all the hype over AMD64, only a handful of mobo manufacturers has jumped into the dual Opteron workstation game since the chip''s launch. Don''t let the limited number of boards fool you, though. We''ve rounded up a trio of dual Opteron boards, and there''s quite a bit of variety to be had. Read on to find out which board best suits your workstation needs or enthusiast desires.