Monday, December 08, 2003

Daily mailbox: eCoustics, TweakTown, Computer Critics, Legit Reviews, MetkuMods, HWZ, Tweaknews, etc — Cormac @ 16:03 

DVD Writer Roundup @ TrustedReviews

"Talking of high-speed media, as soon as we get our hands on some eight-speed DVD+R media we’ll be testing the Plextor PX-708A again to show how it would perform with the right speed DVD+R and +RW media. By that time there will probably be more eight-speed drives available, so expect yet another roundup in the not too distant future."

Read more at TrustedReviews.

Epson PhotoPC L-400 @ TrustedReviews

"At first glance, I was suitably impressed because I am always a sucker for products constructed from metal rather than plastic. The L-400 is almost entirely encased in an aluminium and steel body making the camera feel solid in the hand as well as cool to the touch."

Read more at TrustedReviews.

aTuner 1.7.27 released @ 3DCenter.org

"Our ATi & nVidia graphic cards tweak tool aTuner has reached a new version. aTuner 1.7.27 supports ATi drivers from version 3.0 up to 3.9 and nVidia drivers from version 23.11 up to 52.16. The new version has the following updates:
- support for Radeon 9800XT
- preparation for external profiles
- better hardware identification
- bug fix: file extension registration"

Read more at 3DCenter.org.

Logitech Z-2200 THX 2.1 Speakers Reviewed on eCoustics

"The bottom line is that if you are looking into buying a 2.1-speaker system the Z-2200s will surround you with great sound quality at even extreme volume levels, with a relatively smooth and detailed midrange, clear treble and excellent bass response."

Read more at eCoustics.

Soltek SL-87CW-EL Motherboard — Canterwood on a budget @ TweakTown

"Soltek are a company who are known for producing many different value-end motherboards. Today we have their SL-87CW-EL motherboard based on the Intel Canterwood chipset for the Pentium 4 on the test bed which offers great value for money."

Read more at TweakTown.

Cooler Master Musketeer System Dynamic Detector @ Computer Critics

"Want to monitor power, temperature, & sound in one retro funky device and make your case look really cool at the same time? Computer Critics checks out the Cooler Master Musketeer."

Read more at Computer Critics.

Power Color Radeon 9800 XT 256MB Review @ TweakTown

"ATI´s super fast Radeon 9800 XT graphics processor has been on the market for a little while now. Today we´ve got Power Color´s vanilla version for you and we´ve put it head-to-head against its older brother, the Power Color 9800 Pro. Read on and find out if it is worth upgrading!"

Read more at TweakTown.

AOpen AK77-600 Max Review @ Legit Reviews

"AOpen motherboards are synonymous with well-roundedness, and the AK77-600 Max lives up to these expectations with a large bundle of accessories and a quality motherboard. Physically, the board is a pleasure to look at and install, with logical placement of just about every component..."

Read more at Legit Reviews.

Shuttle SB62G2 XPC reviewed @ MetkuMods

"This was the first time when I played with a small barebone for a longer period of time. I have to confess that I fell in love with this Shuttle´s SB62G2. Small dimensions and black stylish appearance gives this unit a certain feeling that can´t be copied. Performance was at par with regular desktop setup, PCI and AGP slots offer good expansion possibilities and two network ports great access to different networked resources."

Read more at MetkuMods.

HWZ Review: Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 250GB (SATA)

"All in all, we believe that the new Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 will make a good storage option for high performance desktops targeted at either the office or home user. The large 250GB storage space would easily satisfy the needs of the storage hungry user while its fast seek access will enhance the user´s computing experience with lightning speed response. Overall, we quite like what Hitachi did with the Deskstar 7K250 and it would have had a perfect scorecard had it not falter in IOmeter. "

Read more at HWZ.

Corsair TwinX XMS4000PRO High Performance Dual Channel Memory Review @ Tweaknews.net

"With bandwidth numbers encroaching and surpassing 6000Mb/sec, the XMS4000 is by far the fastest memory I have tested to date on Tweaknews.net. If you are a serious overclocker and require only the best for your system, this memory kit with definitely take the memory hindrance out of the equation. When coupled with the Abit IC7-G, I could easily overclock a 2.4C to well over 3.45Ghz which is where I was limited by the motherboards 2.8volt memory voltage limit.
From what I have heard, this memory kit is capable of handling amazing memory over-voltages over 3.4volts and if you have a motherboard that supports such high values, I can´t see a 3.6Ghz overclock from a 2.4C being nothing but a couple BIOS settings away."

Read more at Tweaknews.