Western Digital's VelociRaptor VR150 hard drive
The Tech Report posted a review on Western Digital's VelociRaptor VR150 hard drive

If PC enthusiasts had a hall of fame for hardware, Western Digital's Raptor hard drive would be a shoo-in. Storage-related products are usually a little short on sex appeal, but the Raptor has become an icon—a testament to what it means to be an enthusiast.

Like many enthusiast legends, the Raptor started with enterprise-class hardware designed for corporate server rooms. Western Digital, a plucky desktop drive maker with no background in SCSI hardware that dominated the enterprise scene at the time, came to bat with the world's first 10K-RPM Serial ATA hard drive. The original Raptor didn't usurp the enterprise crown from well-established SCSI players, but its performance blew away every other Serial ATA hard drive on the market. What's more, the Raptor plugged into standard desktop motherboards, delivering near-SCSI performance without the need for expensive expansion cards.

Enthusiasts were so hungry for the performance delivered by the Raptor's 10K-RPM spindle speeds that we were willing to live with the drive's anemic 36GB capacity. That capacity slowly grew over time, with Western Digital upping the Raptor to 74GB in 2004 and 150GB two years later. The Raptor's last refresh was a couple of years ago, though, and the drive has fallen behind a new wave of terabyte wonders whose crazy-high areal densities deliver phenomenal performance even at 7,200 RPM.

Western Digital wasn't about to let a performance icon get beaten by run-of-the-mill desktop drives, and certainly not by ones manufactured by companies that also make washing machines, so they've rolled out an all-new Raptor. Specifically targeted at enthusiasts, the VelociRaptor VR150 breaks bold new ground by bringing 10K-RPM spindle speeds to a 2.5" drive buried inside a heatsink that slides into a standard 3.5" drive bay. Read on to see why this is a brilliantly ambitious idea and whether it allows the VelociRaptor to reclaim the crown of fastest Serial ATA hard drive on the market.

Western Digital's VelociRaptor VR150 hard drive



Western Digital Velociraptor 10K RPM 300GB Hard Drive Review
HotHardware.com posted a review on the Western Digital Velociraptor 10K RPM 300GB Hard Drive

Western Digital is unveiling a brand new enthusiast-class hard drive today, the 10K RPM Velociraptor WD3000GLFS. Like the previous generation WD Raptors that came before it, the 300GB WD Velociraptor shares the aforementioned 10K RPM spindle speed, and they have the same 16MB buffer, reliability ratings, and acoustic and environmental characteristics as well. The WD Velociraptor sports a completely new design, however, that offers significantly increased performance, in terms of access times, IOPS, and data transfer rates. Come on by the site and check it out...

Western Digital Velociraptor 10K RPM 300GB Hard Drive Review

Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB WD3000GLFS Review - Evolution
PC Perspective published their review on the Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB WD3000GLFS

The incredibly popular Raptor series of drives gets an upgrade today with the introduction of the Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB hard drive. There is more to this update than just a capacity bump; performance gets a noticeable boost as well!

Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB WD3000GLFS Review - Evolution

ViewSonic VX1940w 19" widescreen monitor Review
bit-tech published a review of ViewSonic's VX1940w 19" widescreen monitor, which features a 1,680 x 1,050 native resolution

Clearly the ViewSonic VX1940w is not a mass market monitor that will convince the mainstream hordes to ditch their 22-inch panels. But it could be extremely attractive for a few niche markets and for those able to divert their attention away from simple screen acreage.

Obviously, it's a great solution when space is in short supply. No doubt LAN gamers will appreciate the combination of high detail, speedy pixel response and compact, travel-friendly dimensions. It also makes for a very nice low-profile secondary display with decent resolution, perhaps to compliment a large 30-inch primary panel.

Of course, the VX1940w will be fighting a largely losing battle against similarly-priced 20- and 22-inchers for the attention of buyers looking to maximise screen size within their budget. And frankly, for most users we wouldn't give it a blanket recommendation over such models. But we are glad ViewSonic has decided to add it to the mix and offer something a little different.

ViewSonic VX1940w 19" widescreen monitor Review

Holster Clip for AT&T Tilt/TyTn II/8925 Review
DragonSteelMods.com posted a review on the Holster Clip for AT&T Tilt/TyTn II/8925

First of the accessory reviews for the Tilt is a Holster Clip, it's basically a plastic enclosure that clips to your belt and allows easy access to your phone while still holding it secure. In my time with this product I found it to be outstanding in quality, durability and usability.

Holster Clip for AT&T Tilt/TyTn II/8925 Review

MSI P7N SLI Platinum Motherboard Review
NVNews posted a review on the MSI P7N SLI Platinum Motherboard

As with the P6N motherboard, the P7N Platinum features an elaborate copper heatsink/heatpipe chipset cooling solution on a jet-black circuit board. The heatpipe arrangement runs from the MOSFET's to the System Platform Processor (C55 SPP), the nForce 430i Media & Communications Processor (C51 MCP) and the nForce 200.

MSI P7N SLI Platinum Motherboard Review

A-DATA PD17, PD18, and PD19 Mini USB Flash Drives Review
Virtual-Hideout posted a review on the A-DATA PD17, PD18, and PD19 Mini USB Flash Drives

These mini flash drives come from A-DATA's "Nobility" and "Classic" lines, and are available in storage capacities up to 8GB. The three up for review today are the Nobility PD17, the Classic PD18, and the Nobility PD19, all of which are the 1 GB capacity sample versions. Let's take a look at what sets these drives apart from the crowd, as well as from each other. Virtual-Hideout.

A-DATA PD17, PD18, and PD19 Mini USB Flash Drives Review

Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station Review
3D Game Man posted a review on the Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station

The Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station is by far the coolest HDD docking system around. There are all kinds of HDD enclosures for 2.5" and 3.5" HDDs but mounting the HDD into the enclosure with screws is needed. This means a separate HDD enclosure for each HDD is required. This is not the case with the Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station because any SATA 2.5" or 3.5" HDD slides right in. No screwdriver is required so it's a tooless operation.

Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station Review

Foxconn MARS Motherboard on Intel P35 Chipset
Digit-Life posted a review on the Foxconn MARS Motherboard based on the Intel P35 Chipset

The MARS motherboard is currently the only product in the Quantum Force series, which Foxconn announced for gamers and overclockers. And we are nearly 100% sure that it is an overhauled Foxconn P35A-S.

Foxconn MARS Motherboard on Intel P35 Chipset

Sony BDU-X10S Internal Blu-ray Drive Review
Hardware Zone posted a review on the Sony BDU-X10S Internal Blu-ray Drive

Following its recent triumph as the HD format of choice, Sony's Blu-ray is going places. As it happens, it's coming to the PC in the form of a more affordable sub US$200 Blu-ray drive - the Sony BDU-X10S. Check it out as we test its Blu-ray capabilities.

Sony BDU-X10S Internal Blu-ray Drive Review

Logitech MX5500 Revolution Review
Overclockers Online has posted a new review on the Logitech MX5500 Revolution

Choosing a good keyboard and mouse is one of the most difficult choices I ever make and in so being I rarely switch my input devices. Using the MX5500 Revolution has made me quickly forget my old trusty mouse and keyboard. The keyboard is comfortable, responsive and customizable. The MX Revolution mouse is comfortable and precise and like the keyboard very customizable. The added bonus of Bluetooth wireless connectivity eliminates cables and has not showed flaky connectivity of Bluetooth units in the past.

Logitech MX5500 Revolution Review

Logitech MX Air Cordless Mouse Review
TweakTown posted a review on the Logitech MX Air Cordless Mouse

The more I play with this thing, the more I’m reminded of the Phasers that they used in Star Trek; it’s uncanny. I can almost pretend I’m Patrick Stewart dashing about in a well fitted uniform, barking out orders to my number one in a fine English accent.

It feels very natural to hold in the hand, and obviously Logitech have spent a good chunk of money on the ergonomics of this thing alone. It’s not often one has to pick up a mouse and wave it around, and they have certainly made sure that it feels pretty natural to do it.

Logitech MX Air Cordless Mouse Review

ASUS M3N-HT 780a SLi Review
OCC has published a new review of the ASUS M3N-HT 780a SLi

So what do we say about the ASUS M3N-HT? It performs as well as, or sometimes better than, AMD's flagship chipset, the 790FX. The scores were marginally better for the newer 780a chipset. The option for AMD processor users to finally have a great choice of motherboard chipsets and designs is a plus. No longer are you stuck with certain options, like only being able to use Crossfire. Now you can run that NVIDIA SLi rig with your Phenom X4 and kick some serious butt. The ASUS M3N-HT has many upgradable options such as the ability to run triple SLi if you have the cards available, or Dual SLi if you do not want to spend that much on GPUs.

ASUS M3N-HT 780a SLi Review

Tuniq Ensemble 1200W Power Supply Review
ThinkComputers.org posted a review on the Tuniq Ensemble 1200W Power Supply

Tuniq is a performance chassis and power supply purveyor subsidiary of cooling, lighting, and chassis maker Sunbeamtech. Tuniq is in the "fashion business" of the computer industry, making cases, power supplies, and other products with style and durability in mind in addition to performance. ThinkComputers received its Ensemble 1200W power supply, a sleek powerhouse which operates at a minimum efficiency of 82.3%, and an average efficiency of 86%. Read on for the review...

Tuniq Ensemble 1200W Power Supply Review

Saitek Cyborg 5.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset Review
Futurelooks posted a review on the Saitek Cyborg 5.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset

Saitek is an established leader in the area of PC gaming accessories and their latest line of products — the Cyborg line — is absolutely top-notch. In addition to things like gaming keyboards and mice, they’ve also got the Saitek Cyborg 5.1 headset. This certainly isn’t the first set of headphones to offer the 5.1 experience, but I must say, these are some of the best headphones I’ve used in quite some time.

Saitek Cyborg 5.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset Review

Hiper Media Center HTPC Slimline barebone Review
The Guru of 3D posted Hiper Media Center HTPC HMC-2K53A-A3 review

Hiper recently released a new model of their slim-line HTPC barebone chassis, with VFD (display) fully integrated mainboard and PSU. Pretty much you drop a HD, a slice of memory and a processor in this system and you are good to go since the mainboard even has support for multi-channel audio, VGA & HDMI output as it's based on the reputable AMD 690G chipset (mainboard with integrated graphics card).

Hiper Media Center HTPC Slimline barebone Review

ASUS Radeon HD 3850X2 1 GB Review
InsideHW.com has posted an article about ASUS Radeon HD 3850X2 1 GB graphics card.

At first, ATI popularized MultiGPU solution with Radeon HD 3870X2. As this model turned out as great solution it was natural that ATI create similar model which should be accepted by most users. HD 2600X2 was the first model with graphics chip R6XX but unfortunately users didn't embrace it, which only means that low-budget MultiGPU solution has not appear yet."...

ASUS Radeon HD 3850X2 1 GB Review