Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including Intel's Thin Mini-ITX platform: nine months later, ADATA DashDrive Elite UE700 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive, Kingston MobileLite Wireless Card Reader Review, Adobe lets you pay now and later and later again, and Edifier Predator 2.1 Speaker System Review



Intel's Thin Mini-ITX platform: nine months later @ The Tech Report

Nine months after our first brush with Thin Mini-ITX, we're taking another look at the platform, this time with a state-of-the-art all-in-one PC that features an IPS display and an Ivy Bridge processor.

Read more: Intel's Thin Mini-ITX platform: nine months later @ The Tech Report


ADATA DashDrive Elite UE700 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review @ ThinkComputers.org

With USB 3.0 becoming more of a standard these days many companies are coming out with new USB 3.0 flash drives. These new flash drives not only hold more data but they can transfer that data a hell of alot faster. No one wants to wait around for their files to transfer. ADATA has a new USB 3.0 flash drive that looks just as good as it performs. The DashDrive Elite UE700 has a brushed aluminum finish and features read and write speeds of up to 190 MB/s and 50 MB/s respectively. Let's see what this drive is all about!

Read more: ADATA DashDrive Elite UE700 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Sony HT-CT260 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

A sound bar and subwoofer system is always a good buy for owners of an HDTV looking to add to their home entertainment system. For around $300, the Sony HT-CT260 performs very well with good sound quality, a wireless subwoofer and Bluetooth connectivity.

Read more: Sony HT-CT260 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

Corsair CX600M Review @ HardwareHeaven

Now looking to mix the decent quality, low cost CX specification with the usually more expensive modular design Corsair have released the CX-m series of PSUs and today we look at one of the top models, the CX600M.

Read more: Corsair CX600M Review @ HardwareHeaven

Cooler Master NotePal A200 Dual Fan Laptop Cooling Pad Review @ Madshrimps

The new Notepal A200 Laptop Cooling Pad from Cooler Master comes with a 2-fan solution, one fan controller and two extra USB 2.0 ports. The pad can be also set at an angle, for more comfortable typing and the top brushed aluminum finish gives the product an overall professional look.

Read more: Cooler Master NotePal A200 Dual Fan Laptop Cooling Pad Review @ Madshrimps

Otterbox Commuter Series Case for HTC One Review @ TestFreaks

If you’re looking for the best protection for your phone then one name usually pops to mind and that’s Otterbox. I know when I spend a few hundred dollars on a phone or any other device I want it to be protected and I don’t want some inexpensive or cheap case doing it, I want the best as I want to protect my investment. Really if you think about it, if you buy a smartphone it’s an investment, not just some gadget, it’s something that you’re going to have with you all the time. These days our phones are our lives, they are our link to our personal and social lives, sometimes it’s a bit too much so, but I guess it’s not a bad thing. Today for review I have one of the latest cases from Otterbox, the Commuter Series, for one of the hottest smartphones on the market today, the HTC One. This is a case for those that want the best protection possible for their phones but yet still want to be able to access it with ease. The Commuter Series for the HTC One can fully protect your phone, the case is tough and sturdy and Otterbox was kind enough to even include a screen protector so your phone will be truly protected. Read on to learn more…

Read more: Otterbox Commuter Series Case for HTC One Review @ TestFreaks

Kingston MobileLite Wireless Card Reader Review @ Legit Reviews

Mobile media sharing is becoming very popular with today's vast growing mobile market. We take a look at this production Kingston MobileLite Wireless unit and look at the software interface that drives it. There is one big thing missing from this unit, from what you saw on the preview unit, so read on to find out what we thought!

The Kingston MobileLite Wireless is a very handy gadget, which allows you to share files and media easily via the wireless network that it creates. With virtually unlimited storage, you will have no problem running out of room. It also creates an extension to your storage, should you own a device that doesn't allow you to insert a MicroSD card, such as an iPhone, iPad, or the new HTC One...

Read more: Kingston MobileLite Wireless Card Reader Review @ Legit Reviews

Adobe lets you pay now and later and later again @ The Tech Report

On his blog today, TR contributor Jason Fox gripes about Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription scheme.

Read more: Adobe lets you pay now and later and later again @ The Tech Report

Shuttle Slim-PC DS61 @ techPowerUp

Shuttle is a key player in the mini-PC, slim-PC, and barebone system market. Today, we will check on their Slim-PC DS61 solution that was designed for digital signage purposes, although it can easily, depending on the CPU and other hardware you install, play the roles of an office PC, HTPC, etc.

Read more: Shuttle Slim-PC DS61 @ techPowerUp

Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Motherboard Review: The Editor's Choice @ Hardcoreware

’m happy to finally be able to post our full review, as Haswell is just around the corner, and we’ll have a whole batch of new motherboards to look at soon. It may be a spoiler to tell you that the Z77X-UD5H is so good, but please continue reading – you’ll find that our motherboard reviews are as in-depth as they come.

Note: This review is of the original revision 1.0 version of the Z77X-UD5H. The one you’d buy in stores today is revision 1.1. A few minor changes have been made, mainly a few of the onboard peripherals that have been updated. We’ll explain as we get to that portion of the review.

Read more: Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Motherboard Review: The Editor's Choice @ Hardcoreware

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Review @ HotHardware.com

Samsung introduced the original Galaxy Tab in late 2010 and Samsung's line-up of Galaxy-branded products has simply exploded since then. Even for those who avidly follow consumer technology, it's getting tough to track. There's the Galaxy Tab line of tablets, the Galaxy S line of smartphones, and then there's the Galaxy Note line which is comprised of an array of devices. It's the Galaxy Note line in particular that's perhaps the most complex. The smaller Note devices are traditionally phones, while the Note 10.1, which as its name suggests is a 10.1 tablet, was added in order to offer S Pen stylus functionality in a tablet. As Samsung has evolved the Galaxy line-up, it has also attempted to introduce all sorts of form factors, including some that others have ignored.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Review @ HotHardware.com

Seagate Thin SSHD 500GB Full Review - Third Generation Hybrid @ PC Perspective

Seagate recently announced and released their third generation of laptop Solid State Hybrid Drives. Originally thier hybrids carried the Momentus (laptop HDD) name forward, tacking on 'XT' to denote the on-board caching ability. The Momentus XT was intriduced in a 500GB (1st gen) and 750GB (2nd gen) model. The new line gets a new and simple title - Laptop SSHD.

In addition to the new name, we now have two capacity points available. The 'Laptop SSHD' retains the old 9.5mm form factor and now pushes a full 1TB of capacity, while the 'Laptop Thin SSHD' drops a platter and reduces availabile capacity to 500GB. The bonus with the 500GB model is that it maintains similar performance yet shaves off some thickness, making it Seagate's first 7mm Hybrid.

Read more: Seagate Thin SSHD 500GB Full Review - Third Generation Hybrid @ PC Perspective

CM Storm Recon Gaming Mouse @ PureOverclock

Anyone who games knows how crucial it is to have great peripherals to give you the edge over your competitors. The gaming accessory market has exploded the last few years with tons of mice, mouse pads (or gaming surfaces as the’re now known) and more, showing up everywhere you look. Sure, your shiny new 6-core CPU and top-level graphics card will handle the output end of things. But what about the input side of it? All that hardware does you no good when gaming with a $10 wally-world mouse and a dollar-store mouse pad. Enter CM Storm and their wide range of gaming peripherals. They were kind enough to send me over a Recon mouse, Skorpion mouse bungee and a Control-RX gaming surface to play with, and for this first review we’ll be looking at the Recon Gaming mouse. Let’s get to it!

Read more: CM Storm Recon Gaming Mouse @ PureOverclock

ROCCAT Hiro Gaming Mouse Pad Review @ Neoseeker

Without doubt, quality mouse pads are one of the more underappreciated pieces of hardware that accompanies any gaming or computing setup. For some, a cheap off-brand $5 mouse pad does the job. But for those who want the most of their new gaming mouse, a quality mouse pad can mean the difference between a silky-smooth glide and a bumpy jitter.

Today on our Neoseeker testbeds is the ROCCAT Hiro. Touted as a "3D Supremacy Surface Gaming Mouse Pad", the Hiro sets some high expectations for it wants to bring to the table. Unlike the cloth-based ROCCAT Sense Mouse Pad, the ROCCAT Hiro features a "3D Vulcanized Silicone Surface", alongside what ROCCAT calls "Covert-Tech Silent-Glide treatment" and a smooth rubber base.

Do these features bring a substantial performance gain versus other gaming (or even standard) mouse pads? Let's take a look as we review the ROCCAT Hiro 3D Supremacy Surface Gaming Mouse Pad.

Read more: ROCCAT Hiro Gaming Mouse Pad Review @ Neoseeker

ECS GeForce GT 640 Review @ OCC

To overclock the ECS GT 640 we will be using the EVGA Precision overclocking tool. The GT 640 proved to be a decent overclocker, being able to be pushed from an already non-reference frequency of 930MHz to 1101MHz. We will see, however, in the upcoming tests that the effect of this overclock is somewhat hampered by the cut down shader count, the use of slower DDR3, and a 128-bit bus. This proved to be all the frequency that the GT 640 had in it with additional voltage having no effect in the pursuit of a higher overclock.

Read more: ECS GeForce GT 640 Review @ OCC

Tt eSPORTS THERON Battle Ready Gaming Mouse @ NikKTech

It's extremely rare for me to review the same product twice but when a manufacturer improves on a product via several firmware/software updates and component revisions then i think that it's quite reasonable and even expected to give it another spin. This of course applies for pretty much everything but it is even more valid when we are talking about peripheral devices such as speakers, keyboards and mice mainly because we can't really record their performance numbers in a chart (unlike for example drive performance). So today we will be taking a closer look at the latest revision of the already excellent Theron battle ready gaming mouse by our friends over at Tt eSPORTS.

Read more: Tt eSPORTS THERON Battle Ready Gaming Mouse @ NikKTech

Mionix Ensis 320 Luna Mousepad @ Rbmods

I have seen alot of mousepads in the past, especially between 2000-2002 when companies experimented with various materials such as glass, cloth, plastic, rubber etc. Mionix has released an aluminum alloy based mousepad named Ensis 320 Luna I’m curious how well this will perform, especially since most manufacturers use a rubber/plastic mix these days. Can they compete with high quality mousepads from companies like Qpad or Steelseries?

Read more: Mionix Ensis 320 Luna Mousepad @ Rbmods

Toshiba 256GB THNSNH256GCST Review @ Vortez

The price of the sold state drive (SSD) has dropped significantly over the past 12 months and enthusiasts are now seizing the opportunity to enjoy SATA-III goodness. With this onslaught and demand certainly being there, manufacturers are keen to bring their products to market and furnish their product lines with what they consider to be the best solution. Today we are looking to a brand that isn’t necessarily associated with hard disk drive storage; Toshiba.

The SSD we are looking at today doesn’t hold such a memorable name as other offerings we have considered in the past. The THNSNH256GCST is a 256GB SATA-III SSD which boasts read transfer speeds of up to 534MB/s and write transfer speeds of up to 482MB/s and promises to deliver reliability for avid system builders.

Read more: Toshiba 256GB THNSNH256GCST Review @ Vortez

MSI GX70 3BE: Richland A10 APU and Neptune 8970M Gaming Notebook @ Anandtech

This is one of the more interesting pieces of hardware to keep an eye on if you're looking at a reasonably priced gaming notebook. I've toyed around with MSI's GX60 notebook a bit, and while I won't have a full review (it's too late to be useful), I will be posting benchmarks in the near future. Well, GX60 is about to become the old news, as the MSI GX70 3BE specs are now posted at MSI's website.

Read more: MSI GX70 3BE: Richland A10 APU and Neptune 8970M Gaming Notebook @ Anandtech

Noctua NH-U12S and NH-U14S CPU cooler review @ Guru3D

You know, I was just thinking anno the year 2013 there really aren't bad performing coolers produced anymore. For every segment and budget you can find something you need. The market stabilized and within the entire range and scope of heatpipe based coolers there's a certain comfort zone with a corresponding product available. As a result, most of these coolers available on the market are all adequate at the very least. There are always exceptions to this, there's a handful of manufacturers out there that offer the really interesting stuff, the kit and gear that really stand out from the cooling crowd, the hardware you and me crave and need so badly... that is in the enthusiast domain of gaming hardware. And that's where we need to make a stop at Noctua as they tick all those boxes.

In the long line of CPU coolers, Noctua recently introduced two new models, the Noctua NH-U12S and NH-U14S CPU coolers. Both coolers have recently been introduced into the channel to offer nice performance created with the help of some really nice airflow PWM controlled fans that are drop-dead silent. So these products are bound to keep any CPU released to date nicely cooled and chilled, even the most high-end Ivy bridge and soon Haswell based SKUs. The coolers features roughly the same heatpipe arrangement used by its predecessors, five for the NH-U12S and six heatpipes for the NH-U14S. The mounting kit is sheer excellence as the CPU coolers are just really easy to install as well.

Armed with a 6-year warranty the NH-U12S and NH-U14S SKUs are selling right now, the NH-U12S and NH-U14S will be available at a suggested retail prices of EUR 59.90 / USD 64.90 (NH-U12S) and EUR 69.90 / USD 74.90 (NH-U14S). Well let's find out and head onwards into a full review of the product where we'll test its baseline.

Read more: Noctua NH-U12S and NH-U14S CPU cooler review @ Guru3D

Cooler Master N200 Case Review @ Ninjalane

In a world where you can get some of the most advanced computer cases it is nice to see that companies are still making a simple chassis with support for the latest modern conveniences. For this review we will be breaking our enthusiast mold and getting back to our modding roots with a case that can be excellent off the shelf and, even better in the hands of a skilled modder. The Cooler Master N200 is a simple mainstream case designed to be compact yet very flexible.

Now before you cringe at the sight of a mainstream chassis you should know that this tiny gem sports some really cool features like allowances for watercooling, MicroATX motherboards, seven storage drives and long video cards like the AMD Radeon HD 7990.

Read more: Cooler Master N200 Case Review @ Ninjalane

Edifier Predator 2.1 Speaker System Review @ KitGuru

Today we are going to take a look at the Edifier Predator 2.1 Speaker System which promises to combine a unique design with excellent sound quality characteristics. It uses a simple configuration which consists of a large subwoofer unit with a pair of front facing drives. This makes it ideal for those users who are looking to enjoy good sound quality but who aret concerned with having a surround sound system.

Read more: Edifier Predator 2.1 Speaker System Review @ KitGuru