TheTechLounge - Recent Articles

Apple Wireless Keyboard

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 14:25:49 -0500

Mmm, Mac hardware. Sharp. Purposeful. Tasty. Downright industrial designelicious. Half of the people who make the vaunted switch do so because of this keyboard. I mean, not literally this keyboard, but because of the engineering and style that this wireless device is the apex embodiment of. The keyboard is small because it's cut down; the keys are standard but a lot is sacrificed to make the whole package as miniscule as possible without cramping digits. I see a lot of potential in this input device, and not because it's portable. But I also can't help but wonder, can design be taken too far?

Meridian F80 Audio System

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:58:28 -0500

If you've never heard of Meridian, well, I hate to say it, but it's probably because you're just like me and can't afford to spend your entire annual income on a pair of loudspeakers. While I think it's safe to say that the F80 won't set you back that much, it's definitely not a cheap audio solution either. Let's take a closer look and see what kind of value the unit has to offer...

Shuttle KPC K45 Barebones System

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:20:15 -0500

I've had this KPC for a month now. Maybe longer, actually. This review has seen setback after setback: I've had entirely too grand a time playing with this little Linux wonder to really bother with writing. Sure, it's got drawbacks--big ones, to be honest--but it also has this charm not readily engendered by other boxes, no matter how small, elegant, or polished they may be. And, pretty soon, I'm going to have to take it apart and stick its silicon organs into another machine so I can report on my KPC's performance. I want to delay that. I want to keep playing.

Logitech Squeezebox Duet Network Music System

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:58:35 -0500

This evolution of the Squeezebox should prove to be a winner for its new parent company. All the makings of a good sequel are there; extra goodies, unexpected surprises, a flashy new look and a slimmer and trimmer appearance. Logitech is unapologetically aiming squarely at Sonos with this one. Are the two systems direct competitors? Not exactly, but Logitech is bound to take a bite and woo away a few dollar conscious, tech savvy buyers. The included options and features are almost overwhelming to the average user. Acclimating oneself to all the various settings and streaming music account configurations takes a bit of time but pays out in a multitude of listening options. Once installed, Duet users will rarely need to fire up a browser for streaming music or launch an application to access their digital music reserve. If you are an obsessive hoarder of digital music files looking for a way to set them free, the Squeezebox Duet is tailor-made for your addiction.

Chaintech 9600 GT 512MB OC

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:40:02 -0500

Everyone recommends the GeForce 9600 GT first, and they should. It's got a price-to-performance ratio unlike any card before. I'm not exaggerating. This card could very well be the best deal NVIDIA has ever put to market. I spent a day with Chaintech's factory-overclocked card... And I found a couple things I didn't like. Deal breakers? Hardly.

Western Digital Launches Caviar Black - Three Flavors of Caviar

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:56:35 -0500

Welcomed by all, purchased by few: everyone wants a Western Digital VelociRaptor, but the people who have three hundred bucks to spend on three hundred gigs are... rare.

Without a doubt, Western Digital has wowed the enthusiasts, but they're not slowing down on the consumer and enterprise fronts. It's come to light that the very fast, very quiet, and very cool SE16s aren't the latest in hard disk tech, but the first with just a few of the new tricks up Western Digital's corporate sleeve. Today they are launching an all new desktop brand, Caviar Black, claimed to be "WD's best hard drive ever." The first products in this new line will be 750GB and 1TB models.

Of course, like all press, some of it's real and some of it's release, but Ted Deffenbaugh, Senior Director of Product Marketing, used to be one of the engineers; he doesn't like guile and was frank with me in our interview. He's quite proud of these new hard drives, and I'm, well, I'm actually excited about their new spinning metal.

A major part of this release is branding, which is an excellent idea on Western Digital's part. Even I don't like digging up reviews and part numbers to find out which hard drive might suit me best, and the new Caviar color scheme illuminates things well. Blue is boring. It's mostly for the cost-conscious, looking for a middle option. I don't sit on the fence, so Green and Black are more interesting. Green is, you know, "Eco." A low-power, very quiet option. Black is "Enthusiast," "Fast/Feature-Rich," and now brings with it a five-year warranty.

Western Digital still isn't getting great marks for long warranties, though. Blue and Green are only covered for three years, and five, while realistically greater than the practical lifespan of a hard drive, isn't, say, eight. Better than the warranty are the actual, metal-and-circuit improvements.

Logitech MX Air Cordless Mouse

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 14:28:41 -0500

Logitech continues to innovate and redesign one of the most basic elements of computing: the mouse. I've been fortunate enough to have reviewed several of their offerings over the past few years and have been impressed with nearly all. It's been several months since I first received the MX Air, and my schedule has finally slowed enough for me to get some words down. Rather than give a detailed account of every last feature, I thought I would share a little about what life is like with this quality mouse.

Diamond Viper HD 3650 PE 512MB

Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:31:27 -0500

ATI's HD 3650 replaces the HD 2600 Pro, a frustrating underachiever. Generally, I dislike video cards in the $50-100 range, mainly because they're not going to play new games well and, if you're after features, then you're better off buying a lesser model from the same series. The features here are the real selling points--two of which stand out ahead of price, connectivity (HDMI), and low power-consumption. First is video playback. ATI swings when it comes to playing movies, and even their entry-level cards are going to do well, if not flawlessly. Second is Hybrid CrossFire. All 3000-series cards can be run in CrossFire with motherboards that have the 780G (and upcoming 790GX) chipsets, in either a performance mode (like regular CrossFire) or power-saving mode, which completely powers down the video card when integrated video is good enough. Combined, these features might give cause to move up a price bracket, favoring a 36 over a 34.

Razer Mako 2.1 Speaker System

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 11:47:35 -0500

Razer's entrance into the gaming sound arena was impressive and simple, following the path they�d cut for input devices. Their audio lineup includes a superb sound card, a headset, and a 2.1 speaker system. Their sleek style stands out first, and, priced as they are--$400--quality is expected. Re-thinking the very shape of a speaker seems appropriate. Not only for Razer, but also for THX, their partner in this matte-finish affair. The center of the re-design is simple: point the drivers down, bounce the sound out in every direction. And now every spot is the sweet spot. But their combined forces multiply marketing, add to the technical BS, and I say there are faults to find.

Diamond Viper HD 3870 1GB

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 12:45:51 -0500

Under the heatsink is a whole lot of GDDR3, which in itself doesn't mean much--you can find a pile of budget cards with a gig of RAM, the extra memory incapable of boosting their meager performance--but the 3870 is plainly able to fill its frame buffer. If it were truly a budget card, it would come off as sheer marketing; with a high-end card like this, it really does make a difference. The last great ATI card was the HD 2900 XT, a spectacular misfire. But despite it's ridiculous power consumption, sub-par video processing, and tremendous heat with the blower to match, it still beat out the 512MB HD 3870. I hoped that this redesigned 3870 would have what it takes to finally put out the year-old performance despot. And it does, in almost every way.

Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 X2

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 12:21:55 -0500

So why not just get two 3870s and rub a little CrossFire into your box? There are two reasons, really. For most people, that's just not an option. Dual-PCI-Express can easily tag a Benjamin onto the price of a motherboard, and, in Micro-ATX land, it's a mythical beast that visits overclockers in their dreams. And there's another thing: regular 3870s get the lower-binned GPUs--the faster-clocking chips go into the X2s. But, lastly, the 3870 promises something else: tri- and quad-CrossFireX. But that begs the initial question: now that the release is behind us, how much awesome stuck to the HD 3870 X2, and how much washed away?

Cooler Master Centurion 590 Mid-Tower Case

Thu, 29 May 2008 10:31:50 -0500

The Centurion line of Cooler Master cases has always been a solid entry-level series, targeted at gamers who don't want bling. Even modders like the steel. For enthusiasts, there's the Stacker series, with 5.25" bays running top to bottom, ready for any possible kind of expansion. And now they've created a middle ground.

Updated Video Card Testing Methodology

Fri, 23 May 2008 13:36:21 -0500

As dry as this topic is, it's time to update and explain our benchmarking systems. If you're reading this, stop, get back to work, you lazy git! No but yeah, I'll do my best to make this painless. While benchmarking, in theory, is universal, many reviewers use different methods; this will explain why and what our reviews say without having to bog down each review with methodology details individually.

10+ Things I Learned With my First DSLR

Mon, 19 May 2008 14:40:30 -0500

It strikes me as pure poetry that the acronym for point-and-shoot is POS. Wait, no, it's not. That would have been apt. The first time I borrowed a friend's Canon 20D, I was hooked. Taking product shots went from a detestable any-excuse-to-put-it-off event to something... simple? Fun? Remarkably, taking pictures changed from something that I sucked at to something I could really get into. And, just like that, I started shopping around for DSLR bodies.

Audioengine A2 Computer Speakers

Fri, 16 May 2008 11:32:31 -0500

When I reviewed their luscious A5s, my own music, music that I leave playing all the time, music that I can play in my head sans stereo, I... it mesmerized me. There was so much I didn't know I was missing, so much that I didn't expect to be able to hear without some studio phones. I will test these smaller, "desktop" speakers against a high standard. I will test them on an Audioengine standard.