Video Reviews, How-Tos, Events And Our Two And A Half Geeks Webcast
In-depth video reviews, news and Tech event coverage of computers, smartphones, tablets, notebooks, PC components, and tech gadgets. Here you'll find supplemental content that you can also find on our YouTube channel, right here.!
Dell took the wraps off a fresh, new revamp of their popular XPS 13 ultrabook line, out at CES in Las Vegas last week. The new machine was widely considered best-of-show for core computing products and racked-up awards left and right from major publications, including accolades from us here. Dell seemingly hit all the high notes with this machine, from its new 14nm Intel Core i5-5200U Broadwell-U processor power plant, to its absolutely stunning 13.3-inch 3200X1800 IPS display that's strapped with Corning Gorilla Glass NBT and nearly completely devoid of bezel on its side and top edges. Then of course there's Dell's copious use of carbon fiber composite material...
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Most are in agreement that Apple's iPad Air 2 is one of the finest tablets ever produced, if not the best out there, period. Certainly, it's not difficult to make that case -- after all, the latest 9.7-inch iPad is thinner than its predecessor at just 6.1mm thick, wicked fast with its custom A8X System-on-Chip (SoC), and incredibly light at just under a pound. Toss in a gorgeous display and a set of ancillary features that have been upgraded for this latest release, and even the most stringent critics can't help but pile on the praise. That's the easy part. What's a bit more difficult to address is whether or not you should upgrade to the iPad Air 2. Obviously the answer depends in part...
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The PC laptop market is a funny place. Good laptops are fairly easy to find, but great laptops are staggeringly rare. This is true even at the boutique end of the market, where manufacturers have a tendency to choose powerful components, but cram them into a chassis that can't handle the heat without sounding like a jet turbine, or pick great, quiet hardware but opt for a sub-par 1080p screen whose quality leaves something to be desired. The Asus G751 is not a good laptop. The G751 is a great laptop. It is, in fact, the single best gaming laptop I have ever reviewed. If you're in the market for a system of this type, we hope you read on. This machine is powered by the excellent,...
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In late August, Dell Alienware took the wraps off of a radically new Area 51-branded desktop system featuring an angular case designed for maximum thermal efficiency and ergonomics. We first gave you a glimpse of that system right here, and have a full review of Haswell-E and Tri-SLI powered version of the Area 51 in the works as we speak--that article should be posted very soon. Alienware is officially launching the Area 51 tonight at a swanky event in New York City, but the company has another couple of surprises coming down the pipeline as well, also being unveiled tonight, namely the Alienware 13 and its companion Alienware Graphics Amplifier. We had the chance to spend some time with the...
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When introducing the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple described it as the “biggest advancement in iPhone history.” Naturally, the use of “biggest” was quite intentional, a pun almost. Prior to 2014, Apple’s entire iPhone line had only ever had two screen sizes: 3.5-inch and 4-inch. Those sizes were perfectly acceptable in their day, but of late, the market has asked for more. More screen real estate, more pixels, more horsepower and more battery life. While Samsung, LG, HTC, Nokia, Sony, and just about every other smartphone maker on the planet introduced larger and larger smartphones, Apple held steady. Samsung pushed the very limits of what we’d label...
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Bold. That’s the word that comes to mind when we consider Amazon’s Fire Phone. In a world where precious little has happened in the smartphone space over the past few years, at least in terms of groundbreaking innovation, Amazon’s entrance provides all the spark you need to sit up and pay attention. These days, a major OEM doesn’t just enter the smartphone space. Apple and Samsung have dominated market share and profits for years, squeezing BlackBerry out almost entirely and putting HTC on life support. Nokia, meanwhile, is stutter-stepping as Microsoft begins a massive series of layoffs that’ll no doubt impact the future of Lumia going forward. So what’s Amazon,...
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The ability to stream movies and other content to your TV is relatively commonplace thanks to set top boxes such as the Roku 3, Apple TV, gaming consoles that support streaming, and built-in functionality that comes with many of today’s Blu-ray players and TVs. Even so, there’s always room for additional competition, right? Amazon believes there is, and recently launched its Fire TV to prove it. Amazon Fire TV provides access to a number of popular services including Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, Showtime Anytime, Pandora, tunein, YouTube, Vimeo, Crackle, and much more. You can also rent videos, view photos, stream music, and play games using the Fire TV. Recognizing...
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So much has changed in the tablet market since Apple starting shipping its first iPad around three and a half years ago. Prior to the original iPad, the tablet category didn't really exist, not like it does today. Apple wasn't the first to market with a tablet -- not by a long shot -- but Steve Jobs and the gang were the first to release a tablet that people actually wanted, and bought. And bought, and bought, and bought. There was no competing with the iPad in the early days, not when Google's hardware partners insisted on charging the same premium for Android tablets as Apple was for its iPad. It took some time, but Android tablet makers eventually figured out that in order to compete...
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The Asus Transformer Book T100 packs an impressive list of features into a diminutive chassis and companion keyboard dock. After working with system, it's clear that Asus is hoping to capture lightning in a bottle, for the second time in a row. It's been six years since Asus launched the first Eee PC and kicked off a miniature revolution in mobile computing. Eee PC models weren't fast, they weren't particularly well-featured, and they didn't have the best displays. Even so, these lightweight boxes were the harbingers of the netbook bonanza that kicked off in earnest with the launch of Intel's Atom processor (codename: Silverthorne). The Transformer Book T100 isn't a netbook but it's...
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If not for Apple's impending launch of the next-generation iPhone, the Moto X would be one of the year's most notable smartphone launches. And honestly, that's saying something. 2013 has also been a year where the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 came to light, but no Android phone has captured as many eyes as Motorola's simply-titled "X." The reality is that Motorola has not been a force in the mobile arena since the days of the original RAZR. Believe it or not, that iconic flip-phone was released nearly a decade ago, and it goes without saying that a whole lot has changed in the years since -- not just in the smartphone arena, but in terms of Motorola itself. Now owned by Google, Motorola Mobility...
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Dell has updated its Alienware series of gaming notebooks with the refreshed Alienware 18, and what an update it is. In addition to a new generation of hardware, with both Intel's Haswell and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 780M rumbling under the hood, Alienware has completely redesigned the look of the chassis, keyboard, and touchpad, all of which we’ll examine more closely in just a moment. One thing that has definitely not changed from the previous generation Alienware notebooks is the size and weight of these monsters, but of course, all that weight belies components built for serious gaming firepower. We'll dig in a little deeper on the pages ahead, but for now here’s a quick...
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If you've been waiting for the other shoe to drop in the tablet market, today is the day. We're a few days ahead of Microsoft's Surface and Windows 8 launch on October 26th but the folks at ASUS (and other OEM partners) have been given the green light to let fly with their Windows RT tablet offering today. Microsoft is allowing the wraps to slip off of their Windows RT operating system, a branding otherwise known as Window 8 for ARM-driven devices. And interestingly enough, it looks as if NVIDIA has a solid lock on Windows RT tablet market share, as not only Microsoft's Surface but the majority of Windows RT tablets to hit the market today are driven by NVIDIA's Tegra 3 quad-core...
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Apple upped the ante in the tablet market with its Retina display found in the third-generation iPad, which offers a resolution of 2048x1536. Since then, some Android tablet manufacturers have followed suit by increasing screen resolution and providing a better display overall. Acer's latest Iconia Tab A700 is one such tablet that aims to deliver a more vibrant display than the majority of Android-based tablets on the market today. The Iconia Tab A700 features a 1080p Full HD Display with 1920 x 1200 resolution. Although the resolution isn't quite as high as the latest iPad's display, it's very vibrant and colorful, and the resolution is plenty high for such a small screen. In addition...
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So here it is, the mid-2012 refresh of Apple's trend setting MacBook Air line. It's been four long years since Apple first introduced the MacBook Air to the world, which at the time was almost considered a luxury item, with a comparatively steep price tag versus other ultralight machines. That changed a couple of years later, and in the process of making the MacBook Air more affordable, Apple helped shift the mobile market away from chunky desktop replacements, to a trend where competent computing power exists within thin and light profiles. In all likelihood, the MacBook Air inspired Intel's Ultrabook specification, created so that Windows users would have access to the same overall experience...
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