I was really hoping to be blown away by the Xbox One’s “next-gen ness”, and although it has its flaws, the Xbox One is a fantastic gaming console. While the Xbox One may not amaze you right away, Microsoft’s new gaming and home entertainment console will prove that it’s an impressive step forward from the Xbox 360.
The Sony PlayStation 4 is here. At $399, the PlayStation 500 GB console, a DUALSHOCK®4 wireless controller, a micro-USB cable for charging the DUALSHOCK®4 controller, a Mono-headset for voice chat, a power cable, HDMI cable and vouchers for the PlayStation Plus services
Set your calendar for November 15! Sony announces the North American release date for their newest console just in time for the holidays. Let the pre-order frenzy begin!
I love Baldur’s Gate and feel that Overhaul Games did a great job with the ‘Enhanced Edition’, but sadly today we have learned that what feels like an eternal struggle around the publishing rights around Baldur’s Gate and Dungeon & Dragons has erupted again and has resulted in the game being removed from the App Store and other places that had it for sale. Here is the official word from company president Trent Oster: Dear Friends of Baldur’s Gate, We recently removed Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition from sale on Beamdog and the Apple App Store. We’ve taken this step at…
After getting a good look at the PlayStation 4 plus more information and a better view of the Xbox One at E3, consumers can make more informed decisions leading up to the upcoming holiday release of both next-gen consoles. The biggest element, as usual, is price with the PS4 coming in at $399 – $100 less than Xbox One. Sony has learned from the past when the PlayStation 3 was originally priced at $599— $100 higher than Xbox 360. Microsoft has usually hit the price points well avoiding these issues that Sony (PS3) and Nintendo (3DS) endured. Now, our favorite here…
The PlayStation 4 specifications have been released after the initial February 20 announcement from Sony. Still no backwards compatibility…for any PlayStation 3 game, but services will be available to stream PS1, PS2 and PS3 games. One of my biggest questions was answered – the disc drive. Game format will be downloadable and optical disc. The “cloud”-like downloading trend made me wonder if the PS4 would even have a disc drive. Another big one – No DualShock 3 controller support. The new DualShock 4 controller will have a special lightbar so the new PlayStation 4 camera can track the controller’s 3D…
Dell keeps working hard to add value to the lines of desktop and laptop computers for home and business use, and as part of that initiative today Dell has announced new entries into the XPS and Vostro lines. These new desktop and laptop computers offer options targeted towards pretty much everyone – families, multimedia users and businesses. The new systems start as low as $549 and are available through Dell.com now. Here are the details from Dell: The XPS 8500 Desktop: Advanced Performance for CreativesThe XPS 8500 desktop delivers a superb user experience for creatives who demand uncompromising performance, whether…
In my review of the Toshiba Satellite S4250, I highlighted the almost maniacal devotion to delivering serious audio performance. With the Satellite L755-S5258 (hereafter called the S5258), Toshiba is offering a larger (15.6″!) screen, full-featured numeric keypad, same processor, and a stylish design – for $100 less! So let’s take a look and see how the S5258 performs! The Hype: Generous High-Def Viewing Don’t compromise when it comes to watching movies, juggling tasks or building complex spreadsheets. The Satellite® L750 laptop comes with a broad and truly brilliant 15.6” diagonal TruBrite® HD display that brings out color and clarity you…
Normally in laptop reviews I try to apply some generic context about where the laptop falls in the market in terms of segmentation and price, then invite the reader into the main body of the review to find out how it fits in that segment and the value offered. For the Toshiba Satellite P745-S4250 (S4250 from now on), I will just come out and call the segment the HOLY-CRAP-DID-YOU-HEAR-THE-SOUND-ON-THIS-THING-IT-IS-UNBELIEVABLE-FOR-A-LAPTOP … and the price is just under $800 nicely equipped. With my hand fully tipped, come on along for a look at this wonderful 14″ laptop! The Hype: No-Nonsense Multimedia Performance…
Last year I looked at the HP Mini 5103, which was a traditional netbook in many ways, but also came packing the nVidia ION chipset … and a $750 price tag. In many ways that system represented the death of the traditional netbook, which was followed by what many call ‘notbooks’ – computers that offer sub-12″ screens and easy portability with great battery life, but also with reasonably low-end notebook performance and a palatable price tag. The HP Pavilion dm1z laptop falls into that category, and I was thrilled with the opportunity to see what I could get from a…
It has been a while since I have used a desktop computer, and even longer since I used a desktop computer running Windows. Truth be told, the last time I had the opportunity to use a Windows desktop computer it was not the most pleasing experience. Yes, it was in the days of Vista, and despite decent hardware I felt like the computer was more trouble than it was worth. With that in mind, when I had the opportunity to review the ThinkCentre M75e Small Form Factor computer from Lenovo, I was initially a bit conflicted. On the one hand,…
I love corporate thrillers. One of my favorite books of all time is “Paranoia” by Joseph Finder, an awesome espionage/thriller with cool twists. However, despite being big geek words like “silicon” and “graphics chip” don’t really pique my interest. However, AMD has put together an AWESOME trailer for their newest chips, and if this doesn’t make you at least a little curious about their CES announcements, well, you’re clearly not an action fan!
This is just a heads up! Lenovo and AMD have joined together to create the new M75e ThinkCentre, and the specs are pretty impressive … The ThinkCentre M75e is an enterprise-class mainstream desktop designed for cost-conscious large enterprises and public segments. This is the first M-series ThinkCentre desktop featuring the powerful AMDTM processor AMDTM VISION Pro Technology. The ThinkCentre M75e offers high performance, multi-monitor capability, manageability and energy-efficiency. Built on the AMDTM VISION Pro technology that is known for reliability and performance, the ThinkCentre M75e supports processors up to AMD PhenomTM II Quad CoreTM Bx series – delivering the exceptional computing…
I could sum up this entire review in one word (Whoosh!), but I think Lenovo would not be happy. Nor would you, since you clicked through to a review intending to find out more about a product, and not just that’s it’s very fast. So let’s get started in on the Lenovo A63 desktop and what makes it so impressive that it left me with “whoosh” as my description! First of all, a bit of a disclaimer: I am geeky, but not great with hardware. I know how it works, I know how to troubleshoot the basics, but I’m…
photos by Kevin As many of you know, two different MacBook Airs in a row have performed as my main computer for over a year. I can get away with using what others have called an “oversized netbook” because I don’t do a lot of processor-intensive computing beyond basic video and photo editing, and much of what I do can be done “in the cloud.” I would be lying if I didn’t say that part of the Mac’s attraction for me has always been hardware based. From the first time I laid eyes on Mitchell’s MacBook Pro, I knew it…
HP and Microsoft sent me an HP Pavilion dv2-1199us Entertainment PC to try out. Once I got past the fact that the model number is a mouthful, I couldn’t help but notice how lovely this moonlight white computer is – both in appearance and specifications. The exterior is described as a “magnesium-aluminum-alloy case in a white imprint finish,” but that barely describes it; the look is stunning. The touch pad is a mirrored surface, and it runs Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit). The dv2 has a bunch of bells and whistles…both in the hardware and in…
Is the LifeCam the webcam to end all webcams? I went into this review wondering what Microsoft would try to do to set its webcam apart from the countless others on the market.
Now, Open Source software has been running on routers for quite sometime, however most routers like the Linksys WRT54GL have limited resources. They have limited ram, limited CPU and limited on board storage. This limits greatly what can be done with the router software wise. So, eventually, you run up against a wall with what you can do with the router. Even if you can get the software setup on the router, sometimes it seems like it’s just slow or you wish it was just faster than it is now. David Samms and New World Data Systems based here in…
Everyone knows the phrase, “Bigger is better,” and that phrase applies to almost everything except cell phones, so logically it should apply to as well…right? Well, that’s what I was aiming to find out in this review. Trust me, CPU coolers don’t get much bigger than this little behemoth…at least, I hope they don’t. If so the gravitational pull from it could cause the wires in your case to get tangled in its fans. Generally, I consider that bad, but luckily this model doesn’t suffer that complication.