Reviews
Utlrabook designs just keep getting thinner, more powerful and more capable with each iteration of the various platforms on the market. Dell's XPS line of ultrabooks has always done relatively well in the arena, with some notable break-out features, like composite carbon fiber construction, that helped them stand out in a sea of offerings...
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We recently set out to design a mini desktop computer with the wildly popular Raspberry Pi single board computer. The Raspberry Pi is a Linux-driven, ARM processor-based micro computer that is known for its low cost and small size. People use the device for a variety of projects, from micro-servers to low cost media players. Basically, our...
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The wait is over. The time is nigh for sci-fi super-spy gadgets, cigar-smoking, and rampant exclamation points. Oh yes, the one-eyed one has returned. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has landed on the PC and it’s a doozy. Using the same Fox Engine game engine, this latest effort nicely follows-up last year’s...
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Competing with Apple in the mobile space isn't rocket science, it's just a matter of sticking to a proven formula for success -- build a premium device with superior specs than the one Apple is selling, inject it with Android, and then undercut the iWhatever in price. That's not to say Apple is the only premium slate...
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Logitech's Performance MX Mouse series has long since been a favorite with enthusiasts and workstation professionals alike. Introduced to the market several years ago, it was high time Logitech revisited and refreshed their flagship general purpose mouse with the latest technologies and creature comforts. And boy what...
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Information about the AMD Radeon R9 Nano has been trickling out for months. Even before it was officially shown off at a swank event adjacent to E3 earlier this summer, some pictures and preliminary details regarding the R9 Nano leaked to the web. Since its official unveiling, we’ve also revealed a plethora of information about the latest...
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Laptops are mostly static devices. What we mean by that is, for the vast majority of laptops, what you get at the time of purchase is what you get, and that's that. Unlike a desktop system, in which each individual component is upgradeable without too much fuss, only certain parts of a laptop are user replaceable, at least without some serious...
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The last time we looked at Dell's Alienware X51 series of console-sized gaming PCs was back in mid-2013. Back then we were working with Intel's 4th generation Haswell Core Series processors and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 600 series GPUs based on their Kepler graphics core. Our man Paul, frankly, was spouting off a bit...
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We already know a lot about the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960. In our launch coverage of the GPU we noted, “The GeForce GTX 960’s low-power characteristics, beefed up video engine, and overclocking headroom, in addition to support for technologies like NVIDIA’s Voxel Global Illumination (VXGI), Multi-Frame sampled AA (MFAA), Dynamic Super Resolution...
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Samsung has done very well with a couple of key design elements in their previous smartphone offerings, curved displays and the larger format Galaxy Note line. The Galaxy Note series has done especially well for the brand, with a user base that doesn't mind a bit more heft in exchange for more screen real estate, as...
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Love it or hate it, Apple's MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines have remained a watermark for which the majority of notebook manufacturers aspire to, whether it's enthusiast gaming companies like Razer with their Blade, or mainstream vendors like Dell via their outstanding XPS 13. Enter Asus. They've utilized their ZenBook line to...
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Prices for solid state drives have fallen precipitously over the past year. This is especially true when shopping 2.5-inch form factor SATA SSDs, which is where some of the best values in solid state storage are currently found. That's certainly true of Micron's Crucial brand MX200 line, two of which we have in for...
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NVIDIA is launching a new mainstream graphics cards today, the GeForce GTX 950, based on the company’s GM206 GPU. If you remember, the GM206 debuted on the GeForce GTX 960, which launched a few months back. As the new card’s name suggests though, the GM206 used on the GeForce GTX 950 isn’t quite as powerful as the one...
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Intel is still keeping a number of details regarding its complete Skylake microarchitecture and product line-up under wraps for a few more weeks, but at a public session at IDF, some of the key technologies and design updates introduced with Skylake were discussed.During the session, Julius Mandelblat, Senior Principal Engineer at Intel, talked...
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Windows 10 is finally here. The new OS has been spit-shined and primed for an official release. As advertised, Windows 8/8.1 users can upgrade to the new operating system, provided that current Win8 installs have been properly activated. Make sure you check our comprehensive Migration Guide for details on...
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If your kiddos are griping about how soon they start back to school (or, if you are heading that way yourself, begrudgingly), it's probably high time you took inventory. Is that aging netbook really going to get you through another semester? Is that Gingerbread handset up to the task of piloting you through yet another straight-A year? Take...
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We just left Samsung’s Unpacked 2015 event in New York City, at which the company unveiled its latest flagship, big-screen smartphones, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Note5. Immediately following the on-stage presentations and big reveals, Samsung opened up a demo area featuring the new devices and we got to spend some...
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Many of us have gazed in awe at some of the gorgeous, high-definition videos captured with ultra-expensive drones, and wished we could produce the same kind of imagery on our own. But for most of us, budgets would not allow it. With that in mind, Parrot sought to integrate a quality, full HD video camera into a...
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In November, Amazon announced the latest addition to its hardware line-up, the Amazon Echo. The Echo smart speaker doubles as a digital assistant and home entertainment device. It’s an always-connected, always-available Siri or Cortana-like device designed for your home that can provide answers to common questions...
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The upgrade cycle begins, with Microsoft’s latest operating system--the highly anticipated Windows 10--rolling out over Windows Update for free, for users of Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. For those that are ready to take the plunge over the weekend, there are some things to note. While this guide is by no means exhaustive, there are some useful...
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We are back with another high-end X99-based motherboard on the test bed. This time around we've got the latest from ASUS, the Sabertooth X99 TUF motherboard, which supports USB 3.1 and sports ASUS' "OC Socket". The first wave of motherboards based on Intel’s X99 chipset launched with attractive features and eye-catching designs. But as time...
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"This is something many people thought was impossible," exclaimed Intel Senior Vice President Rob Crooke. During an invite-only press conference, Crooke along with Micron CEO Mark Durcan revealed a radically new class of storage and memory architecture called 3D XPoint (pronounced "Cross Point"). To say this is a...
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