Archive for January, 2010
Start Your Codecs: Microsoft Revs Up New Windows Media
Microsoft accelerated the race to establish the next-generation streaming media standard yesterday with the release of Windows Media Audio and Video 8. The upgrade to the Windows Media format, which runs on current versions of Windows Media Player, promises better quality at lower bandwidths, Microsoft says, and will come as standard equipment on Windows XP.
Solid Hardware, But Strange Drivers: The Philips Acoustic Edge
Philips is a widely known company to most, although soundcards aren’t very high on the ‘consumer recognition’ list. Philips looks to change that with its Acoustic Edge, and 3D Spotlight gives it the once-over in their review.
Portable, Interchangeable Storage for Your Palm
8MB seems like a lot of memory for a PDA, but with the increasing number of Palm OS programs and databases, it can disappear quickly. The MemPlug from Portable Innovations provides an unlimited amount of memory expansion using 3.3V SmartMedia cards. SystemLogic.net checks it out in its review.
Packed With Features: The Gigabyte GA-7ZXR
Gigabyte has been a staunch AMD supporter since the release of the Athlon back in 1999. Over time Gigabyte has continued to develop its GA-7 series of motherboards, and it’s just released the GA-7ZXR. Neoseeker takes a look at this eminently overclockable mobo in its review.
Bringing DDR to the Masses: The Asus CUV266
In an attempt to bring DDR functionality down to the mainstream enthusiast market, VIA has developed a chipset that offers a theoretical 2.1GB/s of bandwidth to Intel’s Pentium III proc. This chipset, the Apollo Pro266, is the centerpiece for ASUS’ newest mobo, the CUV266. got|apex subjects it to their battery of tests in the review.
Three Platters Means Faster Access: the IBM Deskstar 60GXP
IBM’s entry in the 20-gig-platter wars, the Deskstar 60GXP, is just now hitting the channels. All eyes have thus been fixed on the 75GXP’s successor–because even if it can only equal the 75GXP’s performance, it becomes the new 7200 RPM ATA drive of choice. Did it make it? Storage Review finds out.
Are Firmware RAID Cards Fast Enough?
RAID cards without a dedicated RISC processor are oftentimes called ‘firmware RAID’, with all RAID calculations being done by the system’s main processor. It’s been long acknowledged that on-board processing is faster–but have firmware cards closed the gap? Storage Review puts two of them on the bench in their evaluation.
A Professional-Level Digital Camera: The Olympus E-10
Digital cameras continue to improve in quality, giving their more traditional brethren a run for the money. Olympus pulls out the big guns with its E-10, a full-featured four-megapixel digital camera. But is it worth two grand? Neoseeker was very careful not to drop the unit they checked out in their review.
