Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

AMD RX Vega 64 Liquid Cooled
Cougar Attack X3 (2018) review: An RGB keyboard for under $100? Believe it
Crucial MX500 500GB Solid State Drive Review
Fractal Design Celsius S36 Pre-Filled CPU Water Cooling System Review
HomePod Review
I Quit Ubuntu Linux and I’m Happier Than Ever
Moss (PlayStation VR) Review
MSI Trident 3 Arctic Review
MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon Review
MYNT Bluetooth Tracker Review
Nest Thermostat and Protect Review
QNAP TS-431P2 4-Bay NAS Review
Razer Mamba and Firefly HyperFlux Review
SanDisk Extreme 510 Portable SSD 480GB Review
Stratos Mid-Tower Case Video Review
VLC 3.0 Vetinari Review

AMD RX Vega 64 Liquid Cooled

We might be late to the party, but we did finally get a Vega card into the office and I have been testing it and getting a feel for it. Like Ryzen, the Vega launch was hyped up over an extended period of time because AMD fans have been looking forward to being able to rejoin the high-end market. The RX580 is a good card but when you are looking to game at 1440 or 4k your options have just been the GTX 1070, GTX 1080, and recently the GTX 1080 Ti. Well AMD is back, they do have a few options up in the high-end range again. Of course, there has been a lot of drama as well, today I’m going to check out performance now that Vega has been out for a little while. Talk about the differences between the cards, and take a closer look at the RX Vega 64 Liquid Cooled model that AMD sent over.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Cougar Attack X3 (2018) review: An RGB keyboard for under $100? Believe it

Last time I looked at the Cougar Attack X3, I called it “an unpretentious keyboard.” Not exactly the most inspiring compliment, but about the best I could do at the time. The standout feature was that it contained honest-to-goodness Cherry MX switches in an era where that’s increasingly rare. Still, the Attack X3 was far from the only keyboard to feature Cherry switches in 2016, and in all other respects—shape, materials, lighting—it was just competent. Inoffensive. Boring, perhaps.But dropping the price can make an also-ran into a must-have item. Such is the case with the Attack X3’s 2018 revision, a full RGB-backlit keyboard that’s selling for under $100.

Read full article @ PC World

Crucial MX500 500GB Solid State Drive Review

Crucial is back: The MX500 is the budget to mainstream SSD to beat in 2018; continuing the company's excellent tradition of well-rounded balance of performance, features, and price.

Read full article @ APH Networks

Fractal Design Celsius S36 Pre-Filled CPU Water Cooling System Review

The second AIO liquid CPU cooler by Fractal Design listens to the name Celsius S36 and thanks to its expandable design, integrated fan hub, high-cooling efficiency and very tempting price tag it's a real bargain.

Read full article @ NikKTech

HomePod Review

We are now one month out since HomePod was released, and Ive been using Apples smart speaker every day since it launched. First on the road while traveling, then at home with a variety of other smart speakers.
My thoughts on HomePod have shifted over that period, but my key takeaway is this: HomePod is the best smart speaker for Apple Music subscribers in the Apple ecosystem, but the experience needs to evolve before its ready for the masses.

Read full article @ 9to5 Mac

I Quit Ubuntu Linux and I’m Happier Than Ever

My Linux journey began in the Ubuntu ecosystem. I installed Xubuntu on an old computer without an internet connection and played around with it. A year or two later, after suffering from a Windows crash that took all of my data with it, I transitioned entirely to Ubuntu 8.10. Back then I distro hopped quite a bit, but Ubuntu was my anchor. Over the next few years, that changed. The more I used Linux, the more I valued the free and open source ethos along with the culture of collaboration.

Read full article @ MakeUseOf

Moss (PlayStation VR) Review

Virtual reality is still an unexplored frontier when it comes to interactive storytelling. Most experiences that players sit through are modeled for the average height and even titles such as Robinson: The Journey that experiment with traversing around massively scaled dinosaurs. By shrinking down the adventure to something a bit more pocket-sized, the team at Polyarc Games has come up with a brand new form of virtual immersion. Moss, presumably the first part of a new PSVR-exclusive adventure series, starts a new chapter geared towards fans of Redwall and fantasy of all sorts.

Enter Quill: a plucky little field mouse that dreams of grand adventure after reading through adventurous tales with her uncle. Like so many storybook adventures, Quill’s only family is kidnapped and sends her off on a journey to rescue that who she holds so dear. Through the guiding hands of The Reader (that’s you), the adventure of Moss is going to require some teamwork if Quill stands any chance at playing the part of the heroine.

Read full article @ Wccftech

MSI Trident 3 Arctic Review

The MSI Trident 3 Arctic is a compact gaming PC that is roughly the size of the Xbox One and packs an Intel i7 and GTX 1070. But are there sacrifices when going this small in day-to-day usage?

Read full article @ Neowin

MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon Review

With the wide range of new Coffee Lake based 8th gen CPUs from Intel, there needs to be just as much of a selection when it comes to motherboards. Not every board will fit each build or theme and depending on the CPU you may need more or less features. MSI has done a great job with a whole list of different models on Z370. For the launch, they sent over the Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon, one of their higher end boards and I’ve been testing with it. Today I want to check out what they have going on for features and see how it compares to the rest of the
market. Is the Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon the board to get for your new build? Let’s find out.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

MYNT Bluetooth Tracker Review

Misplacing your keys, phone, or any important possession is not a fun thing, especially if you left it somewhere and you can’t remember where. Over the years I’ve left my phone in cabs, forgot my wallet as restaurants and more! Luckily we have Bluetooth trackers that can help us track down our important possessions or just help us find those keys before we leave the house. Today we are checking out the MYNT tracker. This Bluetooth tracker has a thin and light design so you can attach it to pretty much anything, alerts you if it gets separated from your phone, and can act as a remote shutter, music remote, and much more for your phone. Read on so see if MYNT is the Bluetooth tracker that you need!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Nest Thermostat and Protect Review

As you guys have most likely noticed, things have been slow around here for a few months now. In addition to being sick a few times and hurting my back. We also bought a new house and had been working on the move and later doing work around the house. One of the best parts about moving and getting a new place is that I finally have an excuse to take a closer look at more of the home automation and smart home products that have been coming out. Even before the move I had a few things already planned and upgrading to a smart thermostat was one of them. Well, I reached out to Nest and they sent over a new Gen 3 Thermostat as well as one of their Nest Protect smoke and CO detectors. I finally have some time with both and wanted to run through what they do and how they have performed for me so far.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

QNAP TS-431P2 4-Bay NAS Review

The QNAP TS-431P2 is a home NAS for demanding users, offering good performance along with increased storage capabilities. Its external looks are appealing as well due to its modern design with a white finish, so it won't look strange in a modern office or your living room.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Razer Mamba and Firefly HyperFlux Review

Wireless a novel way. Manufacturers who cater for the enthusiast crowd have often dallied with wireless peripherals - keyboard and mice, mainly - albeit with limited success. 2018, however, appears to be the year that the bigger names become serious about expanding this market.

There are two broad methods of enabling the humble mouse with freedom. The first, which is most common, sees manufacturers take an existing mouse, arm it with a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, and then use wireless, Bluetooth (or both) for the connection between it and the host PC. This established technology works well enough, and it's fair to say the premium end of the market offers cable-like performance, though the extra weight of the battery can discourage gamers used to a certain heft.

Another, newer method is to use the wonders of electromagnetic resonance technology (ERT) and charge the wireless mouse through a special pad. The beauty here is that there's no need for batteries in the rodent, thus keeping weight and overall feel like cabled mice that enthusiasts are used to. Naturally with pad and mouse bundled together, Logitech's PowerPlay technology is a good example of this approach.

Read full article @ Hexus

SanDisk Extreme 510 Portable SSD 480GB Review

Back in August I took a look at the new WD My Passport SSD and was impressed with its performance and form factor. While it does have an SSD inside it wasn’t really designed to take a beating, something that might happen when you use a drive a lot and it gets tossed around. Well, Western Digital owns SanDisk as well and along with the My Passport SSD they had also sent over the SanDisk Extreme 510 Portable SSD. It is a completely different design and it is designed to handle a little more rough handling. Today I’m going to check it out and see what they are doing differently with this model and take a look at its overall performance.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Stratos Mid-Tower Case Video Review

The Stratos from Computer Upgrade King sports a unique look, with a seemingly floating 4mm tempered glass front panel, matching side panel, and seven included Halo-ring RGB LED fans. Quite a feature set for $109, but should you make it the centerpiece of your next build?

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

VLC 3.0 Vetinari Review

Let there be entertainment: a review of VLC 3.0 Vetinari, a free, cross-platform media player, covering installation setup on Windows and Linux, basic usage and playback, many new, state-of-art features like 360-degree video, 3D audio, 4K and 8K UHD, network streaming, other options and settings, and more. Enjoy.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo