Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

32GB OTG USB Flash Drive Roundup
50 Open Source Replacements for Windows XP
BitFenix Flo Headset
Crucial M550 512GB SATA SSD Review
Deck Hassium Pro & Francium Pro Mechanical Keyboard Review
Feenix Nascita Gaming Mouse 2014 Model Review
Gigabyte Brix Pro GB-BXi7-4770R Ultra Compact Barebones System Review
Here’s what playing Evolve is like
In Win 901
KingFast Encrypted USB Key Review
MSI A88X-G45 Gaming Motherboard Review
Nokia Icon Review
Roku Streaming Stick Review
Thermaltake Bigwater 760 Pro Water Cooling System Review
Thermaltake POSEIDON Mechanical Keyboard Review
Toshiba Tecra Z50-A1503 Review
X2 SATURN 5.1 HD Gaming Audio Headset Review

32GB OTG USB Flash Drive Roundup

There was a time just recently when there were no USB On-The-Go (OTG) flash drives on the market, but now there are hundreds of different models from dozens of brands. OTG USB flash drives are often referred to as dual-drives due to the fact they feature Micro-USB and Type A USB 2.0 connectors. Legit Reviews took a look at the Corsair Flash Voyager Go back in January 2014, but we have since received OTG Flash drives from Kingston and Transcend. Rather than doing individual reviews on each product we figured that we would compare all three drives to one another since they are all 32GB OTG USB drives aimed at the same consumer...

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

50 Open Source Replacements for Windows XP

Why would people continue using a twelve-year-old operating system that would put them at risk?

No doubt, many are home users who simply aren't very technology savvy and/or may not have the desire or the money to upgrade to a newer version of Windows. Some probably have older, underpowered PCs that can't run Windows 7 or 8. And others have specific software—often custom business applications—that only runs on Windows XP.

Fortunately, the open source community has free operating systems that meet the needs of users in all of these situations. This month we've put together a list of 50 different applications that can replace Windows XP. It's organized into several different categories. Those that are easiest for beginners to use come first, followed by lightweight operating systems that can run on old hardware, then operating systems that are particularly tailored for business users and open source operating systems that aren't based on Linux. The list ends with a few applications that aren't complete operating systems but do allow users to run their existing XP software from Linux.

Read full article @ Datamation

BitFenix Flo Headset

BitFenix's first headset is a feature-packed, lightweight construction made for gaming. It features 40mm dynamic drivers, a detachable microphone, and a highly ergonomic design. We put it to the test to see how it fares against headsets from more established brands!

Read full article @ techPowerUp

Crucial M550 512GB SATA SSD Review

When Crucial first launched the M500 last year, it was a pretty big deal. It was the first time Crucial (Micron) had begun shipping their latest high density 128Gb 20nm synchronous MLC NAND, and with that included the ability to not only ship higher capacity SSDs, but also the possibility of more competitive pricing.

While Crucial was ultimately able to deliver both higher capacity drives and competitive pricing with the M500, by using higher density NAND on lower capacity drives, they weren’t able to take full advantage of the high performance eight channel SSD controller, which meant slower write performance on lower capacity drives.

Despite this however, the Crucial M500 is still one of the most feature filled, most inexpensive, and most reliable SSDs on the market today although admittedly, it’s a difficult sell considering most of the latest SSDs, especially those in the more popular 128GB/256GB capacities, are rated for higher performance.

Read full article @ Custom PC Review

Deck Hassium Pro & Francium Pro Mechanical Keyboard Review

Our enhanced keyboard review coverage continues with another brand you probably haven’t heard of, despite them being part of a massive American corporation. Today we’re looking at the Deck Hassium Pro and Deck Francium Pro.

The Deck Hassium Pro and Deck Francium Pro are nearly identical models, the only significant difference being that one is a tenkeyless model. If you’re a science nerd, you probably already know which is which. Each are named after the atomic weight elements that match their key count; the 87 key Francium and the 108 key Hassium.

As for the Deck brand, it’s a subsidiary of TG3 Electronics, a Wisconsin based OEM hardware manufacturer specializing in components like industrial keyboards, keypads, control panels, etc. You’ll often find their products in hospitals, police cars, and so on. Some time ago, they decided to take their expertise in manufacturing keyboards where reliability is a major factor, and apply it to the retail market. The result is a combination of impressive features combined with some mind boggling choices in design.

Read full article @ HCW

Feenix Nascita Gaming Mouse 2014 Model Review

I have myself a new favorite mouse. Over my numerous years of reviewing products I’ve of course had the chance to review many mice of all shapes and sizes but the one I have today is the best so far I think. The mouse is the Nascita from Feenix and it’s what I would call a no frills gaming mouse. What I mean by that is you won’t find any special software, or weight kit or interchangeable sides or really anything but the mouse itself and that’s not a bad thing at all. The Nascita is designed for gaming with the focus being on gaming plain and simple, it just works and looks great. Like all gaming mice these days the Nascita does allow you to change DPI from 800 all the way up to 8200 and there’s even an LCD display to let you know what you’re set on at a glance. Inside of the mouse you’ll find an Avago 9800 laser chipset and Omron switches that are rated for ten million clicks. The mouse is weighted and balanced and features an anti-sweat and anti-slip surface to make sure you have a good grip all the time. Read on to learn more…

Read full article @ TestFreaks

Gigabyte Brix Pro GB-BXi7-4770R Ultra Compact Barebones System Review

In the early stages of last year, Intel released one of the biggest products of 2013 into the market place and no – it was not Haswell. What I am referring to here is the Next Unit of Computing, or NUC as it is more commonly known. Part of what makes this product so special is its ultra compact design, but on top of that, the system that’s tucked inside has a little more to offer over what one would expect from a system of its size. When we took a look at the first generation NUC and also Gigabyte’s own first generation Brix, the results that we got back showed the performance to be somewhat average, leaving them at the entry-level end of the scale. Consequently, these systems are ideal for basic home office use, but if you want a little more grunt from your system then sadly these early units just won’t cut the mustard.

Since those reviews went live, we have seen a number of Brix branded systems come out of the Gigabyte factories and towards the end of last year we caught wind that there was something special on the way which could potentially remodel the entry-level image that the first generation systems have given us. The question is though, can we really get desktop performance out of a unit this small? Granted this new creation is twice as tall as the first generation Brix, but are we getting substantially more performance as well? Bring forward the Brix Pro GB-BXi7-4770R.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Here’s what playing Evolve is like

If you’ve been keeping a track of game trailers and teases for the past few months, chances are you’ve stumbled across Evolve, an upcoming game from Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock, featuring rampaging alien monsters, treacherous local wildlife and hardened, veteran hunters with an impressive arsenal of varied weaponry. Unfortunately it won’t be released until Autumn this year, but if you visited Multiplay’s i51 LAN festival this weekend, you’ll have had a chance to play a pre-alpha build. I was one of those lucky ones, managing to get three rounds of play in, once as the monster and twice as the hunters. Here’s what I thought of the experience.

Read full article @ KitGuru

In Win 901

Over the last few years In Win has really stepped up their game. They have been introducing limited edition case designs that are extremely unique and nothing like anything else on the market. After the first few designs I assumed they would run out of ideas but they have continued to innovate by incorporating tempered glass into some of the case designs. As most of you know I am a big fan of Mini-ITX builds so when In Win asked me if I wanted to check out their 901, a Mini-ITX case that incorporates some of the unique features of their concept chassis.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

KingFast Encrypted USB Key Review

I've been watching this great show called The Americans. The show is set during the Cold War time period when the Soviet Empire was at odds with their American counterparts. Essentially this spy drama has two KGB intelligence agents posing as a married couple in America and are tasked with spying on the American government. Their neighbor just happens to be an FBI counterintelligence agent so you have this FBI, CIA, KGB thing going against each other, its riveting stuff. You also get to see the "high tech" gadgets and spy equipment being used.

Well that got me thinking about today's review and thinking of it possibly being used as one of those devices in a The Americans type of show. Imagine a scenario, similar to the one seen on the House of Cards season 2, where a malware-infected USB drive was to be used to hack the AT&T servers. Maybe you had to pull some dark information and keep it secure, or maybe you had to keep ultra secretive information protected from prying eyes, you'd need something that couldn't be seen.

Heck, the Canadian Government should have had one of these a few years back when they lost an UNENCYRPTED portable hard drive that stored hundreds of thousands of people's important contact information along with their Social Insurance Numbers, birth dates, account balances, you name it. It's beyond laughable at how anyone in the Canadian Government can be using a cheap unencrypted storage medium. What did they do? Did they think grabbing a portable hard drive at Costco was good enough to secure incredibly sensitive information?

Read full article @ ModSynergy.com

MSI A88X-G45 Gaming Motherboard Review

In MSIs gaming series, the current top of the line Kaveri board is the MSI A88X-G45 Gaming Motherboard. The MSI A88X-G45 Gaming Motherboard sports a decent set of features, a free game and promises good performance.

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

Nokia Icon Review

Honestly, this is it. Available now on Verizon Wireless—and coming soon internationally as the Lumia 930—the Nokia Lumia Icon is a perfect combination of size, screen, camera and capabilities, and the single best smart phone on the market today. If you were on the fence about this device or perhaps disappointed with its plastic-feel Lumia 928 predecessor, you're good to go. The Lumia Icon is the real deal.

Read full article @ WinSupersite

Roku Streaming Stick Review

The new Roku Streaming Stick has been granted the power of HDMI compatibility, making it the more app-inclusive alternative to the Google Chromecast, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. It combines over 1,000 apps with an HDMI dongle design that's the size of a thumb drive, and this time it fits into the back of any modern TV.

That's important because Roku has been down this road before with a similar streaming stick that only worked with MLH-compatible TVs. It's an idea that pre-dated Chromecast as an affordable way to instantly project apps onto a big-screen television by nine months. But Roku's MHL requirement meant consumers had to buy or already own a Roku Ready TV with this special HDMI slot.Now, the company is taking cues from Google with the Roku Streaming Stick 2014 that delivers apps to any TV when it's plugged into an HDMI port.

Read full article @ Techradar

Thermaltake Bigwater 760 Pro Water Cooling System Review

Nothing gets me more excited than new tech design! It can be anything from Google’s groundbreaking new contact lenses to Oculus Rift’s virtual reality headset to 4K monitors. I’m a nerd and I love it all! So needless to say when I saw Thermaltake’s newest water cooling solution, the Bigwater 760 Pro I was indeed intrigued and excited to get my hands on it. This kit was shown to us at CES 2014 and finally it’s here for review!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Thermaltake POSEIDON Mechanical Keyboard Review

Thermaltake has made some very high quality products in the past and continues to do so even today with their new Poseidon Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. This mechanical gaming keyboard is available in Cherry MX Blue and Brown switches. Unlike many other expensive LED mechanical keyboards, the Poseidon comes in at a very aggressive price and offers a few similar features and specifications that are only included in the more expensive alternatives. In this review, we will be looking specifically at the Thermaltake Poseidon Mechanical Gaming Keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Toshiba Tecra Z50-A1503 Review

The Toshiba Tecra Z50-A1503 has design flair with a slim chassis and an attractive metal exterior. It's a powerful business laptop at a premium price.

Read full article @ TechReviewSource.com

X2 SATURN 5.1 HD Gaming Audio Headset Review

If you happen to live alone the best and ideal scenario for you to enjoy all the latest movies and game titles is to use a powerful surround sound speaker system since nothing can really beat the positional audio offered by such a setup. Unfortunately the "harsh" reality is that not everyone lives alone thus making it extremely hard not to own such a system but rather to use it at will especially if you like to crank the volume all the way up. Manufacturers are well aware of that issue and so their answer are the well-known 5.1/7.1 virtual and "real" surround sound headsets which not only offer sufficient positioning audio for most people but they also save you from the trouble of using a separate microphone with which you can communicate with your friends when participating in online games. Till today however one could only find 5.1/7.2 virtual surround sound headsets in the market at a bargain price. Well X2 seems dedicated to change that and so today we will be taking a closer look at their brand new SATURN 5.1 HD Gaming Audio Headset.

Read full article @ NikKTech