Rev. 1.2 Of The Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide     2:35 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Here are some more tips for Windows 2000 users! I just added two new tips about how to improve IDE transfer rates and how to reduce the boot-up time. Check them out here!

Comments?

STMicroelectronics & Imagine Technologies     2:05 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Here's a press release from STMicroelectronics and Imagine Technologies about their latest releases at Western Show 2000. You will find details about ST 5512/ST40 set-top-box technology in this press release. Check it out!

Comments?

News From The Net

Savagezone reviewed the Ratpadz. Here are their comments - "The Ratpad Rocks! It's Sleek and sexy, and It is truly the best mousing surface ever made. From the enormous size, right down to the little feet on the bottom, this thing kicks the butts of all other mouse pads! I give it a hearty two thumbs up."

In celebration of their 3rd anniversary, Active-Hardware is giving away some goodies in a Give Away Contest. Check them out! Incidentally, they have also posted a review of the Chaintech Desperado RIA2 graphics card.

OCShoot posted Part 1 of their water cooling article. Here's their blurb - "Watercooling is very fun and we have decided to build our own system. When we publish OcShoot's watercooling system we will invite you all for brainstorming and to suggest improvements and we will try all reasonable ideas- thereafter we will try to get someone to produce it"

Apu's Hardware posted a review of Overclockerz.com's custom GeForce 2 Pro graphics card. Here's a clip - "Physically the card looks great. It's well made and features a Blue Orb from Thermaltake preinstalled. I took off the Blorb to find thermal paste between the GPU and the orb. This is definately a plus, since paste conducts heat a lot better than thermal tape. They obviously know what the end user wants"

Overclockers Online posted a review of the AMD Athlon 800 processor.

TweakTown has a preview of the new Card Cooler "Max Cool Case". Check this clip out - "This amazing case cooling system uses six fans to move an incredible 355 (no that's not a typo) cubic feet per minute of component cooling air not including the power supply."

Overclockers Australia reviewed

• the Lian-Li PC-10 aluminium case. This ultra-lightweight unit comes with impressive stock cooling, amazing looks, great usability and of course, a hefty pricetag.
  
• the Titan Majesty Twins twin fan cooler - "The unit is made from adonized aluminium, not copper as the colour suggests. The design is fairly simple, a solid body with a radial-type heatsink on each end. This is all connected to a thick plate at the bottom which is the thermal interface to the CPU core. The mounting clip has 3 holes at one end, which might be a welcome sight for people who have snapped a lug off their socket, but the other, longer, end attaches to a single lug."

AthlonMB posted an overclocking BIOS for the MSI K7T Pro2 motherboard. It allows the user to select core voltages up to 1.85V.

Jsi Hardware posted a review of the CH5-5K11 "Heat Pipe" cooler. Here's a snip - "Cooler master have taken a different approach to cooling with the heat pipe cooler, instead of using the traditional "Fin" design where the heatsink has a number of fins and a fan sitting on top to remove the hot air they have used pies to take the heat of the Cpu." 

Battery Extender Guide     03:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Yeah!!! Finally finished off the Battery Extender Guide! If you are using a portable device that uses an internal battery and want to extend its operational time, a battery extender is just what you need. It's a very simple device to build and best of all, the whole setup (including 4 NiCad batteries) cost me less than RM 13 or USD 4!

Note that although this guide was based on my Casio E-115 Pocket PC, you can use the battery extender with other devices. So, check this guide out for step-by-step instructions on how to build one!

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News From The Net

Overclockers Australia reviewed :-

• the Sennheiser HD570 headphones - The ear pieces are made of a very soft padded fake velvet type stuff, and are extremely comfortable to wear. They surround your ears entirely and there is little or no contact with them, the pads resting entirely on your head around your ears.
   
• the Mouse Bungee - When I come home and throw my boots under the desk as shown, they typically hit my mouse cable and pin it back against the lower desk shelf. The mouse cable always falls down into such a vulnerable position through normal use and I end up having to yank it out of the boot's stranglehold.

VIAHardware posted a driver comparison of various revisions of the VIA 4-in-1 drivers in Win2k.

AthlonOC posted an article on RAID. Incidentally, they are also hosting a contest where you can try to win an AMD Thunderbird 1GHz o/c to 1.4GHz.   

Rizenet is hosting a contest where you can win some coolers by just registering in their forums.

OC Online tested some copper shims. These small and cheap spacers are pretty essential for today's computers because all new cpu's like the coppermine processors from Intel and the Atlon "Tbird" and the Duron from AMD have small and very fragile cores.  Copper shims can prevent destruction of the cpu core, but it can also help you overclock better!

Overclocking.dk reviewed the BlueOrb. Here's a clip - "As new and more powerful video cards become available there's a bigger demand for cooling the chips. One of the solutions is here tested by our new news writer Dr. ProX...The Blueorb !"

Hardware News Net posted a beginner's guide for home networking. Here's a quote - "This guide will attempt to give someone who knows little or nothing about home networking a basic understanding of how to setup a home network."

Rev. 1.3 Of The Win2K Hints & Tips Guide Posted!     8:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Well, I added some notes about a quicker method for getting to the Task Manager as well as IDE and PCI bandwidth consideration when enabling digital CD audio. I also posted a new tip (by Chai) on an alternative method of reducing the volume of a US Robotics modem.

Check the updates here!

Comments?

VideoLogic HomeC@m Connect     7:25 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Here's a press release from VideoLogic about their latest product - a twin webcam pack for PCs or notebooks. Wanna know what makes this webcam package different from the others? Well, here are some specs for you to salivate over!

• high-resolution 350K pixel CCD sensor
• the latest highly-integrated single-chip PC video camera engine
• motion video and still images at up to 640 x 480 pixels (VGA) resolution
• full-motion video at up to 352 x 288 pixels (10-15 frames per second at 640 x 480)
• Video formats : 24 bit RGB
                       YUV4:1:1 (JPEG-Lite compression)
• Video resolutions : 640 x 480 (VGA)
                           352 x 288 (CIF, Common Interchange Format)
                           320 x 240; 176 x 144 (QCIF, Quarter CIF)
                           160 x 120
• Connectors: USB connector for video in/out and power
• 3.5mm phono jack for audio input to sound card/motherboard audio microphone in

For more information, check out the full press release!

Comments?

Back!     6:55 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Sorry for the lack of updates in the last few days! I've just finished my Block 6 exams. So, I'm pretty much free now to start writing again. In fact, I've been up since last night working on the updates you will see posted soon.

Well, gotta get back to work. See you soon! :D 

News From The Net

Technoyard posted part 1 of their Cooler Guide. Here's a quote from them - "Heat is an overclockers worst nightmare. The only way to combat this problem is to provide adequate cooling to your system. In this part one of our cooler guide, we'll be looking at Case coolers and a few Hard drive coolers."

VIAHardware posted a preview of the VIA KM chipset. Check this snip out - "Despite the lower cost of the Duron, many system builders did not like the idea of an add on graphics card for a lower end system, and still opt for the Celeron/i810/i815 combo. Enter the VIA KM Chipset."

HardwareZone posted a review of the Canon CanoScan N656U scanner. Here's a clip - "The CanoScan N656U shares the same specifications and speeds with the CanoScan N650U, which is priced cheaper at below S$200, and comes in a standard white casing. The N656U, on the other hand, has a sleek silver-coloured casing. It also comes with a translucent white plastic scanner-stand, so you can mount the scanner vertically to save desktop space (and still do your scans). It also comes with the proprietary 'Z-Lid' feature, which is basically a double-hinged lid (about 3 cm in height) that allows users to scan thick manuscripts, small objects or books with ease."

Active-Hardware is hosting a contest to celebrate their 3rd anniversary. Lots of prizes like two DDR266 motherboards. Check it out here!

Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer Review     03:40 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Buying a new mouse? Check this review of the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer mouse by Ken Ng! This 6-page guide has everything you need to know about the IntelliMouse Explorer and there's even a great ShockWave presentation on how Microsoft's IntelliEye technology works!

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News From The Net

CPUReview posted an article called "2000 Price War : AMD Wins With A Knock-Out". It shows how dramatically Athlon and P3 prices have dropped since the Athlon was introduced, and incorporates the latest price drops from both Intel and AMD. As you might notice from the title (not to mention on-line dealers) AMD has won the price war - at least for this year!

HardwareZone posted a review of the Imation Pockey. Here's an excerpt - "The Pockey scores high on it's weight, size and compatibility. The installation is also a breeze, typical of all USB based peripherals. The drive's speed is relatively quick compared to the Iomega Jaz 2GB. Storage-wise, you have 6GB at your disposal, that should be more than enough for a typical multimedia presentation, else you could opt for the 12GB version."

What's On The Horizon     4:50 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Expect to see another review posted tonight or early tomorrow morning. I'm editing it at the moment and it's not quite ready for posting yet. In addition, there are two more reviews waiting to be posted. Heheh... can't help it. I'm the only editor here. Check back for more updates! :)  

Press Releases!     4:20 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Wow! Many companies are certainly announcing their products before Christmas! I just received the following three press releases :-

• Hercules and Thrustmaster Launch Online Shops - "Special offers and easy payment plans make it the best way to shop"
   
• VideoLogic DigiTheatre and DigiTheatre DTS Press Release - "Award Winning Speakers Turn PowerStation 2 into Complete Home Cinema Solution"
   
• PowerColor PowerVR 3 EVIL KYRO Official Release - "64MB EVIL KYRO will challenge the mainstream high-end graphics card"

Check them out for more details!

Comments?

News From The Net

G3D reviewed the JMC Arctic Wind and Arctic Wind Plus coolers. Here's a snip - "Who is JMC Products? Well? JMC Products is a fan cooling company that's actually been around for awhile, they've just recently entered the overclocking scene. They have been making heatsinks for RDJD and are now they are selling their creations under their own name."

Overclockers Online posted a review of the AOpen HQ08 full tower casing. Here's a clip - "Another great feature of the HQ08 is its 300W powersupply. It has become very common to own two or more hard drives, a cd-rom, a cd-writer, some additional case fans, 3-5 cards, ... All of these can use a good amount of power, and if you add a 74W peltier to the list to cool down that overclock cpu you have been using you will see that a 300W p/s isn't a luxury ;). The powersupply is fitted with a lot of molex connectors so you won't run out of these ones any time soon. You can also use an old AT motherboard with this case as the powersupply has a special connector for it."

Spode's Abode posted Part 1 of their guide to MP3. This time it's the basics on ripping and using Xing's AudioCatalyst.

PlanetHardware posted a review of the A7V / AMD Thunderbird 1.15GHz bundle from Overclockers UK. Here's a blurb from them - "Overclockers UK supplied us with one of their pre-packaged and certified 1.15GHz+ bundles, leaving us impressed by the packaged goods and performance - not to mention an affordable price. Athlon overclocking has kicked into high gear, and we're covering it like no other! "

RIVA Station reviewed the Leadtek WinFast GeForce 2 Pro graphics card! What does Borsti have to say? - "How does this GeForce 2 PRO card perform against MX, GTS, Ultra, V5 5500 and RADEON? I made 14 pages to show you the advantages and disadvantages of this card with benchmarks in Evolva, Mercedes Benz Truck Racing, MDK2, Quake3, Heavy Metal FAKK2 as well as the benchmark 3D Mark 2000. I included overclocking tests, FSAA results and a driver comparsion between W98 and Windows 2000."

HardwareZone posted a review of the Samsung Yepp YP-NDU digital audio (read : MP3) player. Here's a clip - "Overall, playback quality of the player is okay. You do not get any fizzles or strong muffling with the vocals and music. There are slight bass variations with the different EQ settings, but the 3D effect additions can only go so far in terms of making the music sound better. There's also the radio tuner, which is crisp and clear even on the bundled ear-phones. Pity that it stores only five presets, whereas other existing models allow for much much more."

Guru of 3D has reviewed the Linksys BEFSR41 EtherFast Cable/DSL Router. Here's a quote - "Hooking up more than one computer without a router does takes some serious geekatudinal efforts, though. Most large networks use a big, expensive Cisco router to share an Internet connection. What to do for us little guys with a couple of computers and only one connection? We need a router ..."

PC Hardware reviewed the Broadlogic Satellite Express PCI card. This is a DVB card that allows the connection of the PC to a satellite disk making possible the receiving of streaming content and Internet services.

Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical Review     04:50 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Want to buy the IntelliMouse Explorer but you are left-handed? Or have a small palm? Consider the Explorer's smaller brother, the Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical instead! Chai has written a 5-page review of the IntelliMouse Optical. Check it out and see if the IntelliMouse Optical is the mouse that fits your palm!

Comments?

News From The Net

FrostyTech posted a review of the AMD Athlon 800.

SavageZone reviewed the FrontX Multimedia Ports.

Extreme Overclocking posted a review of the Alpha PAL6035 cooler.

PCStats posted the following articles :-

• How to register a domain name
• Where to go to download free software
• More than just a banner : the basics of web advertising
• Annals of e-mail - pure commentary

Speed3D posted a review of Overclock Warehouse's GXT1212 ATX casing.

VIAHardware got hold of the EVIL KYRO that we posted a press release of yesterday and reviewed it. Here's a snip - "Early prerelease testing showed some interesting driver glitches with the Kyro where it would “misplace” tiles while rendering the frames. I expected that this problem would be corrected in short order and it was indeed, however I did notice some odd tile related rendering oddities, but nothing that would harmful or hampered gameplay at all."

OCWorkbench reviewed the Soltek SL75KAV-X motherboard. Here's a blurb - "Most of the overclocking functions are manipulated from the BIOS except for VI/O and multiplier. It would probably be better if it is incorporated within the BIOS. Auto-Overclocking feature in Revision 5 of the BIOS is impressive, it's much better than those software provided by the bigger players (you know who they are) which do not really work."

The Game Den posted a review of the game Star Trek DS9 - The Fallen. Here's a snip - "The enticing visuals come courtesy of the Unreal engine. Trekkies will be pleased to find the graphics remaining true to the TV series. From the walkways on the station to the grunt on Worf’s face, everything is faithfully replicated to mimic the dark theme DS9 represents. If there is one thing the Unreal Engine excels over the competitive Quake III engine, it’s the ability to produce mammoth levels. Players will find themselves mightily impressed with the vast worlds DS9 has to offer."

HardwareZone posted :-

• a review of the Creative Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1 sound card - "Overall, the Creative Sound Blaster Platinum 5.1 is worth the investment, especially if you are an audio enthusiast or PC musician. It performs as expected, giving you a variety of features such as EAX, a Live! Drive with additional ports and remote controller, Dolby Digital encoding and superb software titles"
• a review of the ASUS AGP-V7100/Pure 32MB SDRAM graphics card - "ASUS followers will definitely love the V7100 which was well designed and performed like a higher-end video card, but with a price of a mid-range video-card. Ease of installation, neat hardcopy manuals, a bonus full game of Soldier of Fortune, cool-performing and good overclocking facilities are some of the perks that you can receive with the ASUS V7100. If you don't mind paying for a premium brand, you'll also be receiving a premium quality Geforce2-MX from ASUS."

Minor Updates     2:50 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

I just went through all the major pages and effected some changes that I should have done a long time ago. More updates coming up later. :)

News From The Net

TweakTown posted a review of the SpeedyCool System Blower. Here's a clip - "The SpeedyCool System Blower uses two "Lafan" DC brushless sleeve or ball bearing fans. Today, TweakTown are testing the sleeve bearing version which produces a low noise volume of 30dba at 2800rpm, with 34 CFM air output."

Overclocking @ GQL has a small contest running in which you can win an ABIT Slotket.

Planet GeForce just posted a review of the MSI StarForce 815 graphics card which is powered by the GeForce2 GTS.

Rev. 1.4 Of The Win2K Hints & Tips Guide Posted!     03:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Just posted a new revision of the Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide. Check out the new tips on how to gain quick access to properties pages and processes like the Task Manager and the Device Manager.

Also, Chai has updated his tip on how to control the volume of the USR modem in Windows 2000 with additional initialization commands. Check out the updates! :) 

Comments?

News From The Net

Processor Emporium has just posted a review of AOpen's AX34 Pro II motherboard. Here's a snip - "Unlike the AX3S Pro, the AX34 Pro II not is trying to offer something to everybody, but is designed to extract the best performance from the VIA Apollo Pro133A chipset. To judge the VIA Apollo Pro133A directly against the Intel i815e chipset will always give the performance crown to Intel as this is where they are the clear leaders. Where AOpen have chosen to exploit the key strength of the Apollo Pro133A is by providing 4 DIMM slots enabling users to fit anything up to a huge 2GB of main memory. This is an important factor for users such as those who may wish to use this board in low-end server and workstation roles." 

Technoyard posted a Christmas Shopping Guide. Check this blurb out - "Well folks it's only a few more days till Christmas. Roughly 170 Hours, so for all you last minute shoppers we have compiled this shopping guide to help you in your last minute decisions. Enjoy!!"

Overclockers Australia reviewed the Creative Labs GeForce2 Ultra graphics card. Here's a blurb - "The GeForce SDR and TNT2U unsurprisingly get left for dead pretty much right from the start, but it's only at about 1024x768 that the Ultra starts to really pull ahead of the GTS - at default clocks, only 1.5% difference at 640x480x16 (which is basically zero, allowing experimental error). This stretches to over 20% by 1024x768x32. In the higher resolutions the scores for all cards level out as the system is maxed out and the difference between the GTS and the GF2U stays fairly static, at 1600x1200x16 the Ultra is 17% faster, in 32bit at that resolution it is an impressive 34% faster in this benchmark."

Hardware OC just posted an article on digital cameras.

VIAHardware posted a review of Overclockerz Store's GeForce2 MX graphics card. Here's a clip - "The OCZ MX is certainly like no other Nvidia MX card. OCZ was smart enough to target this card to the people they named their store after, Overclockerz. The 5.5ns memory and Blue Orb on the OCZ MX resulted in one of the nicest overclocks I have ever seen on a video card. Shipping versions of the OCZ MX will also include ram-sinks which may or may not help even more in overclocking. The card performed on par with the Hercules MX and overclocked amazingly well."

HardwareZone has a review of Leadtek's WinFast GeForce2 MX Dual Head Pro graphics card. Here's a snip - "The large heatsink and fan certainly gave the WinFast GeForce2 MX an added advantage in its overclockability. The hidden thermal probe gives this card the intelligence to monitor its status while providing the user with useful information about the card's temperature and fan speed. Bundled together with good softwares and utilities, Leadtek has certainly gained my respect as one of the more innovative graphic card manufacturers around." 

Apu's Hardware has an article on Counter-Strike cheats. Check it out!

Overclockers Online posted a review of the Matrox Millennium G450 graphics card. Here's a clip - "Like I said, the Millennium G450 is not a card for hardcore gamers, but a videocard for professional users who would use it to work on spreadsheets, do some typing, and watch a DVD from time to time. Games are not entirely out of the picture however, but if you plan on fragging very often in Q3A or UT, this card doesn't look up to the challenge from the specs. Occassional gamers who enjoy Starcraft, Red Alert 2, etc, won't be dissapointed with the G450 since it delivers them the best image quality available."

G3D just posted a round-up of 10 Socket A coolers.

The 62nd issue of ZZZ Online has just been posted with the following articles :-

• 117.5 gigabyte pennies
• snake robots
• making closed envelopes transparent
• personal robotic assistant

Christmas Stuff     4:15 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

I'll be leaving for a cold (but not white) Christmas in Bangalore on Friday night. But before I leave, I will make sure that there will be several reviews and articles for you to browse through during the holiday. Sort of a Christmas present to all of you for your support these past two years. So, keep your eyes opened for lots of updates this week! :D

Hercules & Thrustmaster Contests!     3:25 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hercules and Thrustmaster are jointly organizing online contests in which you can win Hercules and Thrustmaster products. For more info, check out the press release! :)

Comments?

Bad Links     3:05 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Just corrected a bunch of bad links in the Win2K Hints & Tips Guide's sidebars. If you find any bad links, please let me know. I'll correct them ASAP.

News From The Net

G3D posted a review of the Logitech WingMan Force 3D flightstick. Check this snip out - "One of the main features of the WingMan is the price. You can obtain this joystick for only about $60 which includes a free game (Castrol Honda Superbike)! This is a great price compared to the other force feedback controllers out there that can cost up to $150." 

LittleWhiteDog.com posted an editorial titled 'MP3s - An Open Letter'. Here's a clip - "Sony put the Offspring in a position where they had a choice of doing what the record label wanted, or never having their album released. They did this not because they thought that releasing the album for download would cause slow sales when the CD's hit shelves, but because they FEARED that the promotion would actually be successful. If The Offspring's plan had been successful, it could have been demonstrated as a "non-infringing use" by attorneys for Napster...." 

Spode's Abode posted Part 2 of their Guide To MP3.

Tech-Planet has created a new monthly updated article called "Da Beast" - "It will feature the best PC hardware that the fortunate gamer can buy. "Da Beast" will have beasty hardware, either newly released or just plain fast! In this first edition of "Da Beast" we include the AMD Athlon 1.2GHz Processor along with other fast stuff."

VIAHardware posted a review of the AOpen AX73 Pro motherboard, which is based on the VIA KT133 chipset.

TweakTown has an article on 3dfx's new Motion Blur effect - "According to 3DFX, together the Voodoo5 5000's support of the FXT1(tm) and DXTC(TM) texture compression and textures as large as 2048 texels x 2048 texels, the T-Buffer(TM) can render 3d landscapes with unparalleled realism and with an impressive cinematic style which is Motion Blur."

Speedy 3D posted a review of Overclock Warehouse's GXT1212 ATX case - "A good case can either make or break a great computer. Size, style, usability, and airflow are all things one must look for when choosing their newest case. Overclockers need every last fan and blowhole they can get to ensure proper airflow through their case, and bring their CPU to even higher levels in hopes of reaching pure MHz nirvana."

Speedcorp released a utility that boosts the network adapter's performance called the Win2k Performance Enhancer.

HardwareZone reviewed the IBM ThinkPad X20 notebook. 

Definitive Review Of ASUS' E162 DVD-ROM Posted!     08:35 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Looking to buy a DVD-ROM drive? Take a minute to read our latest definitive review! This review takes an in-depth look at 12X ASUS E162 DVD-ROM drive. Check out this clip of the review! -

"The reason I'm mentioning this is because the E612 is RPC II. :( You are only allowed to change the drive's region settings 5 times before it becomes permanently locked. Installing the drive in another computer will not remove the region-locked setting. However, the manufacturer also has 5 times to change the region setting and that all amounts to 10 times. Once the count is up, your drive will be hardware-locked and that's permanent."

Comments?

Rev. 1.5 Of The Win2K Hints & Tips Guide Posted!     02:00 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Okay, let's start off the Christmas season with a new revision of the Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide! Check out the new tip on how to gain access to a whole lot more Windows 2000 components than is allowed by default in the Windows Component Wizard.

As you know, the Windows Components Wizard allows you to add or remove components of Windows 2000. However, by default, Windows 2000 only allows a few components to be listed. Therefore, if you want to add or remove components that you know exist but aren't listed, well, you just can't do it.

Thanks to a tip from an ARP visitor, we now have a solution to the problem. Check out the latest addition to the Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide for step-by-step instructions on how to gain access to those hidden components!

Comments?

News From The Net

TweakTown is playing Santa! They are giving away lots of goodies. Hop here to try your luck! :)

VIA Hardware posted a review of VIA's Samuel II (Cyrix III) processor. The Samuel II boasts 64k of L2 Cache, improved 3D performance, the first ever .15 manufacturing process, fanless operation, and a 1.5 voltage operation.

Apu's Hardware tested the Chenming ATX-901A case.

PC Hardware reviewed the Keyghost II Professional - "Well, this is a cool device able to intercept keystokes. OS Independent, high capacity, 128-bit encryption to list just a few of its features. To say even more it is hard to detect by users, making it suitable for James Bond movies."

PCStats posted the following articles :-

• Biometrics Explained - "Biometrics is the methodology for recognizing or identifying persons based on physiological or behavioral characteristics. Essentially all security features are based on a combination of three key concepts. Security can be based on something you have, something you know or something you are. While tokens or passwords can copied or stolen, biometric identifiers are much more difficult to reproduce."
• Microsoft Tablet PC Overview - "Traditionally computers have been tied down to one location, residing at home or in the office. However, with continuing advances in wireless connectivity the traditional computer market has become fractured and segmented into many new classes. This sits in parallel to the automotive industry where classes for cars, trucks, and their sport utility variants have existed for some time now."

Active-Hardware posted a review of the Virtual PC Buddy. Here's a blurb - "Several people would like to set up a minicomputer-network at home or at their office whereas others reached already this stage and set up such a network. The latter, quickly realize that the cost is very expensive to carry out such a small network . However, thanks to the BUDDY B-210, these amazing costs are from now on, thing of the past. Indeed, it is as of now, possible to build a network for hardly the cost of a monitor."

TweakTown added 10 more case mods to their case mod gallery!

HardwareOC posted a performance comparison between the 1GHz Athlon and the 1GHz Pentium III.

OCWorkbench posted a review of the DFI AK75 KT133A motherboard.

HardwareZone reviewed the Thrustmaster Force Feedback Racing Wheel.

Rizenet posted a review of the Unreal Tournament version of the Everglide Giganta mouse pad. Here's a clip - "Since I was looking to test out a real gaming pad, my thoughts drifted to the Everglide Giganta.  This came to mind for two reasons, First, they offer the Pad with the Ass Kickin' Unreal Tournament logo emblazoned on the pad.  Secondly, they were the first gaming mouse pad I ever came in contact with.  So, throwing caution to the wind, I ordered my UT Giganta pad."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!     10:25 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Merry Christmas, everyone! I came back in time to celebrate Christmas in Manipal. :)

Unfortunately, Christmas Eve in Bangalore was only cool... It wasn't even close to cold during the two days I spent there. Still, I had a great time over there. Well... back to work and study now.

Let's continue the roll of Christmas articles with a review of the Microsoft Sidewinder Strategic Commander by our contributing writer, Marauder. Check it out for a quick look at Microsoft's hard-to-define game controller! Here's a clip of the review :-

"Microsoft calls it the first game controller designed for strategy games. The SC, as I'll call it from now on, represents another bold foray by Microsoft. If I was asked to rank the SC on a weirdness scale, I'd put it together with the SideWinder Dual Strike - a controller designed for FPS games, but that's another story. So what exactly do we have here? Well, at first look..."

Look for more updates later. The Net connection right now is just impossible!

Comments?

News From The Net

SavageZone posted a Christmas review of Enermax Whisper 330W PSU. Here's a snip - "A power supply unit with gold-coated terminals, two wisper quiet fans, gold colored fan grills, and the ability to keep your high perfomance rig juiced up. We're talking the "Enermax Whisper 330W" folks."

Small Update     12:10 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Okay... a quick update. Just posted a revised review of the Microsoft Sidewinder Strategic Commander.

Comments?

Selamat Hari Raya!     11:50 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Ahh... Christmas is over. Time passes really fast when you are having fun. Now, it's back to work and study again. Thank God it's a holiday today! Yeah, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to all you Muslims out there! :D

Just like during Christmas, expect me to be up and working as usual. Heads up for more updates today.

News From The Net

None yet... :)

Rev. 1.6 Of The Win2K Hints & Tips Guide Posted!     02:05 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Whoops! Fell asleep at the keyboard!

Anyway, here's the latest update of the Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide. Now at revision 1.6, the guide now consists of 14 different tips to let you get the most out of your Windows 2000 system. If you know of any tips not posted in this guide, do let us know and we will add them to the guide!

In the meantime, check out the latest revision which includes a new tip on speeding up boot time for systems that don't use DHCP and another tip on how to access the Task Manager quickly!

Comments?

News From The Net

Is the Voodoo3 better than the GeForce? Rizenet checks that out! Here's a clip - "Once I bought my GeForce, a lot of my games just didn't work. Hidden and Dangerous comes into mind. I had to wait for 4 driver releases, which took about 3 months before the problem was fixed. Also, I lost the ability to play a few of my Glide only games that I still enjoyed. Independence War, a great Space sim, way better then Freespace 2 in my opinion, is Glide only, with no patches to add Direct3D. The game looks sweet as hell at 800x600, which is the max resolution, and it ran at least 60fps for me on the Voodoo3 in Glide. Now, I tried playing it in software mode. Whenever more then 2 ships got on the screen, I was watching a slide show. On top of that, it looked like ass." 

AthlonOC posted their Project Water Cooling Part 2.

Review Of A USB Clik! Drive & The Iomega HipZip     03:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Tired of using your parallel port Clik! drive? Check out this innovative USB Clik! drive! Also, the review takes a look at Iomega's latest product - the HipZip MP3/WMA player! And as a bonus, there will be a tip at the end of the review on how to use the HipZip without installing Iomegaware. Great for users who need to use their HipZips with other people's systems.

Check this clip of the review out :-

"Above is the Iomega media formerly known as the Clik! disk. When I first heard about them a few years back, I was ecstatic. Iomega was promoting the Clik! as a way to expand digital camera capacity by allowing field downloads from CompactFlash media or Smart Media cards to a Clik! disk. The original media can then be erased and reused in your digital camera. The images copied to the Clik! disk can be downloaded to your PC at a later time."

Comments?

News From The Net

Speedcorp.net posted a guide on how to make a RAM drive. Here's a snip - "If you have a lot of ram, then this guide is for you. Ramdrives are just like hard drives, but are much faster- so there is no more waiting for the info to come from your Hard drive... Ram Drives also speed up downloads and help browser caching- in all areas you will notice major speed enhancements."

Apu's Hardware posted a review of the Cooler Master ATC-201 case. Check this clip out - "They improved on the USB port design on the ATC-100. On the 201 they decided to put the headers vertically and to the left of the intake fans, instead of horizontally and below them. This makes it much easier to access. They also put a little "door" over the USB headers as opposed to the piece of metal on the 100. This is cool because it not only looks good, but makes it very easy to open and close the USB headers, and you don't end up throwing away any part of the case to get at the headers"

Technoyard reviewed the Guillemot Maxi Sound MUSE sound card. Here's a quote - "Even though not a top notch contender in the audio industry, Guillemot has been in the scene for quite a long time. They managed to prenetrate the High-end gaming arena with their Maxi Studio ISIS XL card a few years back. Today we bring you their latest offering; the Maxi Sound Muse." 

HardOCP has posted the following articles :-

• a guide on overclocking the video card. Here's what Kyle says - "I get asked, "How do I OC my Vid Card every day.  Here is a quick how-to on what some of you guys will need to get started. It is all really simple and NOT for you advanced guys out there.  NVIDIA and 3dfx support OC, just not "officially"."
• a review of the MSI KT133 motherboard - "We showed you the first MSI KT133 mainboard here some time ago.  At that time the board SHINED with one exception.  MSI has since released a couple revisions of their premier Socket A board but it still seems as if some things have been looked over."

Speedy 3D is giving away some goodies to the ones with the best case mods. More details here.

Overclockers Australia posted the following reader-submitted articles :-

• 3-way Socket A cooler comparison - "This compares the Coolermaster DP5-5G11, GlobalWin FOP32-1 and Thermaltake Super Orb."
• Cable rounding guide - "A second and more elegant option is to use some 'spiral loom' - this is available at most electrical shops and is typically used to keep electrical cables neat and tidy. After the cable has been folded or cut, simply wrap the 'spiral loom' around the cable, to give a neat and compact result. The 'spiralled cables' are still quite flexible, but also tend to hold their shape when put into place. The left-over spiral loom can then be put to good use tidying up the rest of the electrical cables inside your machine."

TweakTown added 10 more case mods to their Case Mod Gallery.

HardwareOC posted a review of OCZ Quad/Dual Delta coolers - "We will stick to the normal, everyday heatsinks.  But even normal coolers have a dark side to them.  There is an extreme to cooling with heatsinks and HardwareOC takes a look at some offered by the OCZ Store."

HardwareZone posted an article on DVD-RW called - "DVD-RW : A Brief Insight". Here's a snip - "What's interesting though is just how the major proponents of specific DVD standards has changed like legions changing sides in the middle of a war on the battlefield. In late 1999, many thought that DVD-RAM would win the DVD war(due to its one-year development lead over DVD+RW and new consumer electronic products), but Pioneer went ahead by rolling out its very own DVD-RW player in Japan."

Savagezone posted a review of Leadtek's WinFast GeForce 2 MX graphics card. Here's a clip - "The value PC, fast yet inexpensive. Many people including gamers have decided to take this route, frankly, it doesn't surprise me. These days a Duron based system with a GeForce MX can cost well under $1000..."

See You Guys Later!     10:40 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Okay! That's it for now. I've been up for over 28 hours now. Gotta catch some sleep. Be back later to upload the rest of the review. See you later! :D

Forums     09:00 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

In the meantime, I'll be checking out the forums as usual and clearing up as many questions and comments as I can.

Again, I would like to implore all of you to please send your comments and questions regarding any of the ARP reviews and articles to the appropriate section in the forums. Because ARP has expanded from only one person running the whole show to several team members right now, sending me your comments and questions about the various articles would not be advantageous to you.

Take advantage of the forums to reach out to the entire ARP team in addition to many other experts online. By posting your questions and comments in the forums, you will receive attention from everyone visiting the forums. So, you can be assured of a faster and better solution for your problems through the forums.

If you only send your questions and comments to me, well, I'm afraid it will take some time for me to get to them. The number of unread e-mails in my mailbox never seem to drop below 30. So, forgive me if I can't get back to you ASAP. :(

If you would like to contact us personally, we would still love to hear from you. We just want to make sure that you get the fastest response to your problems. That's why we are encouraging you to use the forums that we have created for you. Thanks! :D

Comments?

Mega-Review Coming Up!     08:25 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

I have just pull an all-nighter writing a review of a piece of software I just got hold of. It's really a very simple piece of software but I think it's really fantastic. In fact, I took over 120 screenshots of it in action! Yup! It's gonna be one giant review!

However, uploading it is going to take quite a while. It's not so much the size of the files - I've taken great pains to keep the size of the screenshots down to the absolute minimum. Rather, it's the sheer number of files to be uploaded. With the daytime connection being what it is over here, it's going to take several hours to upload all of them.

If I can make it, the review will be posted in the afternoon. If not, expect it to be posted in full around midnight tonight.

Comments?

News From The Net

Overclocker Cafe posted an article on the overclocking of a P!!! 700 to 927MHz and a Celeron 633 to 952MHz.

Combustión reviewed the Transcend TS-AKT4 Socket A motherboard. But note that it's in Spanish only! 

OC Online posted a review of the GlobalWin CAF12 and CBF32 coolers - "The GlobalWIN CAF12 uses only one 120mm Innovative fan which pushes around 65CFM @ 2500RPM. 65CFM!! Impressive, huh! The CAF12 has fan guards on both sides of the cooler which is very useful; unless you want to eat sliced fingers for dinner this evening :) Mounting the CAF12 is really a piece of cake thanks to the mounting rail which allows you to slide the cooler up or down a little to adjust its position."

Rizenet takes a look at PowerColor's GeForce2 MX-based PowerGene graphics card. Here's a clip - "The Power Color tweak utility limits your overclocking to 186 Mhz memory clock and 195 Mhz core settings. I used PowerStrip to ramp the card all the way up to 220/210 with a Blue Orb and some RAMSinks applied to the card."

PC Hardware posted a press release from MSI regarding their new PRO 266 Master-R motherboard.

The Ctrl-Alt-Del rigged up a demo of the GeForce 2 GTS in action with motion blur enabled!

Jimmy Software's Landscape Utility     12:50 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Here it is at last! The mega-review of Jimmy Software's Landscape Utility is finally up! This is probably the most comprehensive review ever done for their landscape utility. Why all the fuss about it? Well, I would consider it one of the most awaited utility for Pocket PCs!

If you are frustrated by the small display of the Pocket PC which makes reading ebooks not as enjoyable as it should be, well, this landscape utility just solved your problem! It also allows for easier use of applications like Pocket Word and Internet Explorer. However, just like every piece of software ever posted, it has its quirks and problems. This review examines every facet of this simple but must-get utility. Now, check out this snip from the review :-

"As you can see, it's easier to read in landscape mode than in portrait mode. That's because the human eye scans horizontally better than it does vertically. But if it looks better in landscape mode, why do they make Pocket PCs in the portrait form?

Well, for one thing, it's easier to hold a Pocket PC and to store it when it's vertical. Also, I guess they figured that people would be more used to something that looks and feels like a small notepad (which is vertical) instead of something different. So, until the day arrives when they can make a expandable Pocket PC like the really neat PDAs you see in Earth : Final Conflict, I doubt we will see a Pocket PC in the landscape form factor."

Comments?

Mega-Review Coming Up!     11:30 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

So sorry, everyone! I was supposed to post the mega-review at least 12 hours earlier. Unfortunately, the telephone exchange for the whole of Manipal broke down about 8 pm last night! Typical infrastructural problems here in India. Like I have always asked myself, why can't they build a couple less nukes and spend more on the people?

Anyway, give me an hour or so to finish uploading the rest of the review.

Comments?

News From The Net

Savagezone updated their Power Supply Case Mod article.

Flipchip posted the Mother Of All FC-PGA Compatible Motherboard List.

TweakTown posted a review of ABIT's Siluro GF2 GTS graphics card. It has 64MB of DDR ram utilising a core clock speed of 200MHz and memory clock of 333MHz DDR, with support for AGP4x with Fast Writes this graphics card fly's and is highly overclockable with an Orb style active stock HSF which makes for a pleasant overclocking experience.

Yet another Blue Orb review. This time, it's from Overclockers Online.

ExtremeOC posted a streaming video on PC cooling and an article on Durons vs. Celerons.

ExamPC reviewed the Opera 5.01 web browser.

Apu's Hardware posted a review on an OCZ modified KT7 motherboard. Here's a clip from the review - "The soldering job is very professional. I was surprised with how they actually did the mod. They first soldered the wire and resistor to their proper spot, then put hot glue over the two soldering points. This keeps the wire from breaking lose, effectively undoing the voltage mod. They also wrapped the wire around a few capacitors. They actually glued the wire to the capacitors to keep it out of the way."

HardwareOC posted a guide on a mid-budget computer.

The Ctrl-Alt-Del posted benchmarks of the GeForce2 GTS with motion blur enabled.