Reviews
There was a time, not too terribly long ago, when a machine was immediately glossed over by average consumers as soon as the "business" label was placed on it. If you've worked in the corporate world within the past 10 to 15 years, you know exactly what we mean. Those dreaded "work laptops" were never ones to be proud of, and while they somehow...
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It's that time again. The time of year when students and parents frantically hit e-tailers with fast shipping in order to get that all-important back-to-school technology into a dorm room or backpack before classes begins. It's back-to-school season, and whether you've started classes recently or are awaiting (dreading?)...
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Ultrabooks continue to be the hot trend in the Windows notebook arena. With the recent introduction of Intel's new, low power 3rd generation Ivy Bridge Core series processors, designs are becoming thinner with every iteration, while paradoxically it seems, performance continues to scale higher. We've seen Ultrabook machines from virtually...
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NVIDIA continues to flesh out their desktop GPU line-up today, with yet another high-performance graphics card based on the Kepler microarchitecture. To date, we’ve seen the GeForce GTX 670, GTX 680, and monstrous GTX 690 come to market, all sporting GK104 GPUs in one form or another. The new GeForce GTX 660 Ti we’ll be showing...
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Nvidia's Kepler packs a number of efficiency and performance improvements, but one of the GPU's major features has been locked away until now. When the company launched their new GPU core earlier this year, Nvidia debuted a new type of anti-aliasing it dubbed TXAA. Unlike other types of AA, which can often be forced on in the driver and applied...
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When Eurocom sent us their latest gaming notebook for evaluation, we expected the usual huge, heavy machine with obscenely powerful components inside. It’s even called the “Monster”, which seems to indicate a particularly beastly rig. But when the box arrived on our doorstep, it seemed far too small to encase anything resembling...
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Google claims Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean, is the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet. When we took a look at the first Jelly Bean-equipped tablet a couple of weeks back, the Nexus 7, we felt Jelly Bean had a lot to offer users, both in terms of performance enhancements as well as new functionality. Here, we'll take a closer look...
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Notebook makers aren't the only ones trying to cram big performance parts into little form factors. Desktop system builders are attempting the same thing, and if you require proof, all the evidence you need is packed inside Maingear's Potenza Super Stock (SS) gaming PC. Built around the mini-ITX form factor, the Potenza SS is a small form...
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As of today, AMD has a new set of high-end professional GPUs available -- and a new shot at the professional GPU crown. It's a move the company hopes will allow it to take a greater share of the professional 3D business. AMD's battle against Nvidia in the professional graphics market is similar to the company's struggles against Intel ten...
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Corsair is one of the few companies in the PC enthusiast space that has been able to expand their product offerings, while also maintaining or even bolstering their solid reputation in the community. All too often, a company will attempt to build upon some initial success by entering a new market with a “me too” or re-badged product...
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Apple's Mountain Lion operating system has been a long time coming. Apple first teased the "200 new features" represented in OS X 10.8 back in June, and here we are in August with well over three million copies already downloaded. According to Apple, the launch of Mountain Lion is its most successful OS X launch ever. It's also interesting...
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When we first took a look at the ASRock Vision 3D 137B with NVIDIA 3DTV Play last year, we were quite impressed with the machine. It offered excellent all-around performance for a system in its class and had an extensive feature set that included Blu-Ray and 3D video playback capabilities, all wrapped up in what we considered to be an...
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A couple of years ago, Google introduced its Nexus line of smartphones. Nexus branded phones feature a pure Android experience without the customizations and tweaks we generally get from smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers. Nexus-branded products also come with an unlockable bootloader which provides for further development...
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As the resident open source zealot, I thought it might be nice to have a quick rundown of some of the best apps that are free, open source, and cross-platform available to our readers. Experienced users may find fault with me for leaving out their favorite app, but hopefully they will agree that the ones I’ve picked here are deserving...
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Quick! What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Western Digital? If you're like most people, you immediately thought of hard drives and other storage products, which have been WD's bread and butter for several decades now. But the times, they are a changin', and in case you haven't noticed, Western Digital is no longer...
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Trusted sources we've spoken to in the semiconductor industry have implied that TSMC is considering a partnership with Apple that would realign the manufacturer's technology roadmap and fundamentally alter the balance of power between the foundry and its other customers. Morris Chang, TSMC's CEO, spoke about the possibility of closer...
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Samsung and AT&T are hoping to attract customers who want a sleek Windows Phone at an affordable price with the Samsung Focus 2. The Focus 2 is Samsung's first 4G LTE Windows Phone. It's also the third Windows Phone from AT&T that connects to the carrier's 4G LTE network. AT&T's 4G LTE network is currently available in 47...
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When Asus asked us if we'd be interested in a reviewing their new, high-end USB 3 implementation that offered better performance than anything available elsewhere, we were skeptical. Historically, USB performance has been a function of which controller (Intel, AMD, NEC, Texas Instruments, VIA, etc.) was used. Similarly, other types of...
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Over the last few months, we have looked at plenty of Z77 based motherboards here at HH, covering a wide range of price points. But today we dive deep into one of the higher-end models available, the Gigabyte G1.Sniper3. We slapped an Ivy Bridge chip in this one instead of the Sandy Bridge Core i7-2600K and 2700K's we've tested in the...
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A little over three months has passed since NVIDIA unleashed its first Kepler-based GPU on PC gamers, known as the GeForce GTX 680. At the time of its arrival, the GeForce GTX 680 was the clear leader in high-end graphics cards. The card offered better overall performance than AMD’s competing Radeon HD 7970 and the GeForce GTX 680 was...
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It's no secret that HTC has had a rough time competing with other big name smartphone manufacturers in the last couple of years. It looked like the company might be turning things around with its One series and the EVO 4G LTE for Sprint, but then the company got hit with another delay thanks to a U.S. Customs review. The EVO 4G LTE is...
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Give credit to Intel for recognizing the notebook market needed a swift kick in the pants, and for putting a noose around the necks of netbooks, which have all but been eliminated from the market place. Sure, a few straggling netbooks remain, but by and large, Intel is now heavily invested (both literally and figuratively) in the Ultrabook...
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