Microsoft 3500

The Microsoft wireless mobile mouse 3500 isn't just for laptops. Recently, when my desktop mouse conked out, I nabbed the optical, wireless mouse from my laptop bag, plugged it in and voila. I used the microsoft wireless mobile mouse for about 2 weeks, all the while wondering why anyone needs a genuine 'desktop' mouse, anyway. I've taken the Microsoft 3500 for granted all these years, but I really like the way it looks and feels.Why does anyone need something bigger than the Microsoft wirless mobile mouse 3500? Your guess is as good as mine. Read the rest of this entry

Yoobao

If the Yoobao is not the Best iPad2 Case money can buy,  it certainly may be the best iPad 2 Case for the least amount of money. How does one end up doing an iPad 2 case review? Well, for one thing, the Apple iPad 2 is practically unusable without a case/stand for displaying, surfing and typing content. The best iPad 2 case not only needed for protection of your technological investment, but to make it more conveniently useable. If you were like me, you were very disheartened when you spend $500 - $900 on your new iPad and learned that your discount store wanted another $50-$99 just for a case.  Little did I know how important it was to have the best iPad 2 case. I learned my lesson the hard way by purchasing the cheapest Case I could get my hands on rather than the best ipad 2 case for the money - and no, I hadn't even heard of Yoobao. I made this same mistake before with other leather cases, bags and screen protectors for the iPhone 4, thinking I was getting a wholesale deal. So, I bought a $49.00 iPad 2 case by CaseLogic made of silicone. The only good thing I could say about this case is that it was sleek, slim and didn't add much weight or size to the iPad. Other than that, it was practically unusable as I could never get the fold-out stand to stay together when using the iPad 2 on a desktop. Obviously, I knew that $49.00 wasn't going to get me the best iPad 2 case, but I could certainly do better than this for the price. Enter, Yoobao products. Read the rest of this entry

Intel

The DP67DEB3 is a genuine Intel Core i7 Motherboard. If the CPU is the brain, the motherboard is the heart and soul inside the Antec 300 ATX Chassis of my son's high performance computer.  I decided to go with an Intel brand motherboard on his high-end Core i7 system for a couple of reasons: One, I've built and installed thousands of computer systems and by and large, the Intel brand motherboards were the most reliable. Two (and this goes hand-in-hand with reason #1), Intel designed the technology. The DP67DEB3 is based on the latest Intel Core i7 technology. While there are plenty of great motherboard manufacturers like Supermicro, MSI and ASUS, Intel is the one that designed the 2nd Generation i7 and they aren't nearly so quick to launch new products before thoroughly testing them. Read the rest of this entry

GTS-450

Maybe the hardest of the hard-core gamers want a faster graphics card, but for the majority of computer users, the EVGA GTS 450 is overkill by a long-shot. In this series of reviews on my son's home-built computer, we went fairly high-end on performance without becoming too extreme. Last week we reviewed the Asus 24" Monitor.  The EVGA GTS 450 fits beautifully with a system that is mostly used for game programming, not actual gaming. Don't get me wrong, the EVGA GTS 450 is plenty capable of performing impressive frame-rates with the latest games, but it is by no stretch of the imagination, the gamer's spare-no-expense, state-of-the-art graphics card. It would be tough to find a more suitable, reasonably priced graphics card, particularly for the needs of the game-programmer, occasional gamer who needs performance, but not the very fastest, most expensive graphics card on the planet. Besides, no matter which graphics card you buy today, there will always be a faster, more expensive one on the horizon. The EVGA GTS 450 represents the sweet-spot in computing graphics power were value and performance meet. I looked at a few comparable Radeon graphics cards and was unable to get the quite the same performance per dollar. So, now you know why I chose the GTS 450, why did I go with the EVGA brand? Read the rest of this entry

Why use the Antec 300 Chassis for your Next PC?

The Antec 300, might not be the most exciting component of the super, Core i7 System my son and I built last week, but it is the most noticeable and works well with the OCZ Power Supply. The Antec 300 Case stands 18" tall, weighs 16lbs and is made from quality, black steal. To be more specific:

Antec 300 Chassis Details

The Antec 300 is 18.30" deep x 8.10" wide x 18.00" high and weighs 15.9lbs. It comes with 2 huge fans: 1ea 120MM in the rear and 1ea 140MM for the top. The top fan includes a speed setting switch: Low, Medium and High. At the medium setting, the Antec chassis, combined with the OCZ Modular Power Supply, runs fairly quietly. The Antec 300 doesn't come with any cool glass on the sides or flourescent lights and cabling inside. If that's important to you, you can buy those separately. As it comes out of the box, the Antec 300, is a rugged looking business class machine that probably won't be mistaken for some high school kid's gaming computer. Read the rest of this entry

Modular Power Supply

If an OCZ Modxstream Pro 600W power supply doesn't get you excited, then you probably haven't upgraded your computer system in a while. Last weekend, I assembled a fairly high-end,  gaming computer system with my son's graduation money. Don't worry, it was his choice. I decided to do a component-by-component review of the entire system, beginning with the Asus VE247H reviewed and posted yesterday. The OCZ Modxstream Pro 600W is a fairly significant part of what makes my son's Core i7 performance system special.

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