Here today's reviews and articles:

Acer Aspire R13 hands-on review
ASRock D1800M Motherboard
Bolse 7-Port USB Charger Review
Cooltek W2 Review
G.Skill 16GB 2400MHz RipJaws 4 Quad Channel DDR4 Memory Kit Review
G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 16GB DDR4 3000 MHz Memory Kit Review
Intel 18-Core Haswell-EP Xeon E5 v3 Preview
Intel's Xeon E5-2687W v3 processor reviewed
Lenovo Thinkpad Helix hands-on review
LUXA2 GroovyR Micro Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Review
MaxxMEM DDR4 World Record
Microsoft Office Online - on Linux!
Plextor M6 Pro 256GB SSD Review
Plextor M6 Pro 256GB SSD Review
Samsung SMART Signage TV Review
Sapphire ITX Compact R9 285 OC Review
Scythe Mugen Max CPU Cooler Review
Steelseries Sensei Wireless Review
The new Moto G doesn’t change much, but still a steal at $179
Thermaltake Commander G41 Mid-Tower Case Review
You Can Upgrade MS-DOS 6.22 To Windows 8, If You Really Want To

Acer Aspire R13 hands-on review

We get some hands-on time with Acer’s latest Lenovo Yoga rival

Read full article @ The Inquirer

ASRock D1800M Motherboard

The ASRock D1800M is a microATX motherboard that comes with a Celeron J1800 "Bay Trail-D" dual-core CPU soldered. It has one USB 3.0 and two SATA-300 ports, but its highlights are actually its low TDP and low cost.

Read full article @ Hardware Secrets

Bolse 7-Port USB Charger Review

First world problem #183: too many devices, and not enough USB chargers. Theres just never enough in my family not the good, high powered chargers anyway (the bulky white Apple one thats basically a gold nugget). Some chargers just dont work at all with certain tablets, and even if I could find enough, Id need a huge extension cord just to plug them all in. What I need is a single charger that can power all of my devices at once the rest of the family could them fight it out for the remaining ones.

Read full article @ MakeUseOf

Cooltek W2 Review

With the W2, Cooltek shows a cube like tower case that offers plenty of space for ATX as well as XL-ATX motherboards. There is a simple and elegant design and the W2 is even suitable for high-end builds with multiple graphics cards inside. Apart from there is even plenty of flexibility when it comes to watercooling options.

Read full article @ ocaholic

G.Skill 16GB 2400MHz RipJaws 4 Quad Channel DDR4 Memory Kit Review

G.Skill always seem to be ahead of the competition when it comes to releasing high frequency memory products and with DDR4 nothing has changed. Just a few days before writing this review G.Skill announced their 3300MHz DDR4 memory kits were available to buy but we have something a lot more modest in the office for today’s review. We have G.Skill’s RipJaws 4 series memory, the 4 obviously denotes DDR4, and more specifically we have a DDR4-2400MHz kit that is 16GB in size with modest CL15 latencies. G.Skill have opted for a very neat and tidy heat-spreader design that comes in a variety of colours (blue/red/black) on a matte black PCB. G.Skill are also using the latest Hynix ICs that are famed for their overclocking potential: lets hope that holds true today.

Read full article @ eTeknix

G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 16GB DDR4 3000 MHz Memory Kit Review

When Intel moved the launch of the X99 platform forward it caught some companies off guard, but one company that was more than ready for the launch was G.Skill. G.Skill had no less than 23 different DDR4 memory kits ready to sell on launch day! That is an impressive number of kits and if you are looking for a 16GB, 32GB or 64GB kit of four DDR4 modules the folks over at G.Skill will be more than happy to sell you a Ripjaws 4 DDR4 memory kit that is clocked at 2133MHz, 2400MHz, 2666MHz, 2800MHz, 3000MHz, 3200MHz, 3300MHz or even the World’s fastest memory kit at 3333MHz. G.Skill has by far the most impressive lineup of DDR4 memory modules by any company and they are priced very aggressively. Today we’ll be taking a look at the G.Skill Ripjaws 4 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 kit of memory that is clocked at 3000MHz with CL15 timings and using 1.35 Volts.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Intel 18-Core Haswell-EP Xeon E5 v3 Preview

Earlier this year we detailed the launch of new 15-core Ivy Bridge-based server processors from Intel, as part of the Xeon E7 refresh cycle. Today, Intel is pushing the Xeon E5 family forward -- except in this case, the new Xeon E5 v3 chips are leaping to higher core counts, the more advanced Haswell-EP architecture, and DDR4. The result? The highest-performing Intel server we've seen to date.

Collectively, this is a huge leap forward for the entire Xeon E5 series. The Xeon E5 V2 chips, which were based on Ivy Bridge, topped out at 12 cores per socket. The new Xeon E5 v3 cores, in contrast, are going to push as high as 18 cores per socket -- a 50% improvement...

Read full article @ HotHardware.com

Intel's Xeon E5-2687W v3 processor reviewed

If you thought Haswell-E was something, wait til you get a load of the EP variant. This server-grade monster has up to 18 cores and 45MB of L3 cache, plus quad DDR4 memory channels and loads of high-speed I/O. We've taken a closer look at the new Xeon family and tested a dual-socket workstation loaded with the 10-core E5-2687W v3 derivative.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Lenovo Thinkpad Helix hands-on review

Featuring an Intel Core M chip, Lenovo's updated Thinkpad promises better performance

Read full article @ The Inquirer

LUXA2 GroovyR Micro Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Review

In 2009 Thermaltake formed a new division called LUXA2 that was to focus on the rapidly growing "luxury consumer market". Their devices not only offer the functionality that users need, but also feature a strong aesthetic appeal. With mobile device accessories, portable audio products, power bank solutions, and more; LUXA2 takes Thermaltake's innovation in the DIY PC accessory market, and brings it to the consumer electronics accessory market.

This review is going to take a look at one of their newer mobile audio products, the GroovyR micro wireless Bluetooth speaker, which is shown in the promotional image above. This portable speaker measures just 120mm in diameter and 32mm tall, and is touted by LUXA2 as providing a "truly immersive sound experience". Before we take a look at the sample provided for review to see how well it matches that claim, let's take a look at the features and specifications that can be found on the official product page on the Luxa2 website.

Read full article @ Bigbruin.com

MaxxMEM DDR4 World Record

The AIDA memory bandwidth world record we just posted has not been it, just yet. Ocaholic’s Hiwa also managed to crank out an incredible DDR4 score running MaxxMEM and therefore he’s been able to put up a new benchmark value for DDR4 and MaxxMEM.

For this score Hiwa has been using the same liquid nitrogen cooled setup like for cracking the AIDA world record. The basis is the ASUS ROG Rampage V Extreme motherboard and on top of that there come G.Skill DDR4-3000 memory (F4-3000C15-16GRR), an Intel Core i7-5960X CPU and the whole story gets its power from a Seasonic Platinum Series 1050W power supply. Having a closer look at the the different clock speeds we find the CPU running at 5’078.66 MHz and the memory was at 3047.7 MHz with CL 11-14-16-15, tRFC 270 and Command Rate 1T. Also again not the NB (uncore) frequency, which was at 5’078.7 MHz. Values above 5.0 GHz for the uncore are just crazy these days on an i7-5960X CPU. From the screenshot below you can also see that the MaxxMEM score was 2172.8 points and memory copy speed was at 37’897 MB/s.

As we already mentioned Hiwa will continue benching and we’re looking forward to see some more insane scores.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Microsoft Office Online - on Linux!

Linuxy and Windowsy, come together in per-fect harmony. This be a short, enthusiastic review introducing Microsoft Office Online, a simple, cloud-backed, free, cross-platform, cross-browser full office suite offering by Microsoft, which allows Linux users to create 100% compatible Office documents on their native platform. One hundred operating system migration obstacles on the wall, if one should fall, there will be one fewer wossname obstacles on the wall. Enjoy.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo

Plextor M6 Pro 256GB SSD Review

Today we have the Plextor M6 Pro SSD on our test-bench. Plextor recently released this new addition to their SSD lineup. The series is to compete with Samsung and Micron mostly. This SSD series is tagged PRO, and as such you may expect an extra thing or two in performance. Plextor also includes PlexTurbo, a rather fun second-generation RAM caching software. The end result is a very fast SSD that can keep up with the big players in the channel, yet still remains priced attractively.

The NAND flash storage solutions market is tough. Basically all manufacturers have placed products on the market that are SATA3 compatible. And with that interface reaching its limits, many of these manufacturers run into that very same limitation making all these guys perform really close to each other. For the consumer that is great as your main focus does not have to be the SSD performance that much anymore. No your focus should be reliability, endurance and obviously price. So, with the arrival of 19 and 20nm NAND Flash based M6 Pro SSDs, this series is aimed at high-end class consumers. The new M6 PRo SSDs debut in storage capacities of 128, 256 and 512 GB. The series will be based on a Marvell 88SS9187 controller tied to a DRAM cache and A19 nm Toshiba toggle flash memory. That last one is a nice change.

Now, we've been testing NAND Flash based storage ever since the very beginning. And I've stated it a couple of times already, it really is surprising to see where we have gotten in such a rapid time-frame. The SSD market is fierce and crowded though. While stability and safety of your data have become a number one priority for the manufacturers, the technology keeps advancing at a fast pace as it does, the performance numbers a good SSD offers these days are simply breathtaking. 450 to 550 MB/sec on SATA3 is the norm for a single controller based SSD. Next to that, over the past year NAND flash memory (the storage memory used inside an SSD) has become much cheaper as well. Prices now roughly settle well under 1 USD per GB. That was two to threefold two years ago. As such SSD technology and NAND storage has gone mainstream. The market is huge, fierce and competitive, but it brought us to where we are today... nice volume SSDs at acceptable prices with very fast performance. Not one test system in my lab has an HDD, everything runs on SSD, while I receive and retrieve my bigger chunks of data from a NAS server here in the office. The benefits are performance, speed, low power consumption and no noise. You can say that I evangelize SSDs, yes Sir... I am a fan, an SSD addict if you will.

Read full article @ Guru3D

Plextor M6 Pro 256GB SSD Review

Today we look at the new Plextor M6 Pro 256GB Solid State Drive. This drive is their new flagship product shipping in a stunning looking rose gold aluminum chassis. Inside Plextor are using Toshiba A19nm MLC flash NAND and the excellent Marvell 88SS9187 controller.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Samsung SMART Signage TV Review

Samsung's Smart Signage TV (SSTV) is billed as an all-in-one digital signage solution for small business owners. Available in 40 and 48-inch models, priced at $749 and $999, respectively, (about £450, AU$790 or £610, AU$1,065) these screens come loaded with content management software. Known as MagicInfo Express, the interface lets each business owner showcase daily specials, promote new products, play videos, and broadcast live TV – or any combination of these in a split screen display. Unlike costlier digital signage solutions aimed at the B-to-B market, Samsung is betting this nimble model, with its lower price point, out of the box set-up, and availability at big box stores, will be a hit with small business owners. I took a close look at the new Samsung Smart Signage TV to tell you what you can expect.OverviewSmart TV systems are nothing new. LG's Smart TV with WebOS has a comparably-sized 42-inch model going for $849 (about £520, AU$905), while Panasonic just announced its new smart 4K TV line – including the new flagship AX902. But while these televisions are aimed at a more general consumer and allow users to do everything from browse the web to use apps, SSTV is more of a niche product designed to do one thing well – display signage. In fact, the SSTV could be considered a pared-down version of some of Samsung's existing digital signage solutions for enterprise use.

Read full article @ Techradar

Sapphire ITX Compact R9 285 OC Review

Over the past week, we have seen a bunch of R9 285 cards cropping up from just about every manufacturer. Each of them proved to be non-reference designs featuring dual-fan, heat pipe-based cooling solutions running a variety of core clock speeds from the reference maximum of 918MHz and upwards. Nothing earth shattering in terms of looks or originality until you get to this little 171mm long card that promises to do everything the larger cards do, but in a much smaller footprint. As you can probably guess, to do that would require a custom built card starting with the PCB. This particular one uses Sapphire's own Black Diamond chokes as part of the VRM circuit used to manage the flow of current to the card. Additionally, Sapphire would have to use its expertise in creating unique cooling solutions to make sure the thermals do not get out of check.

As you can guess by the name of the card, the ITX Compact R9 285 OC is targeted at the LAN gaming crowd for use in small form factor PCs, where you traditionally don't see a lot of graphics card punch due to the limited space and power supplies that can be used in the confines of a smallish mini ITX form factor case. It may be that Sapphire starts a trend with this card. Built around AMD's new Tonga core, the ITX Compact comes in both stock and overclocked versions. Priced competitively at $259, you get all the benefits of Sapphire's custom build strategies. As an engineering exercise, this should prove interesting to say the least.

Sapphire's packaging and artwork have changed dramatically over the past year or so with a more up-to-date look. The bright red scheme looks good and packs a lot of information about the feature set of this card. On the front panel, you can see that this is a factory-overclocked card that has a six-foot HDMI cable included as part of the bundle. The card is equipped with 2GB of GDDR5 memory, is UEFI compatible, and supports 4K resolutions and AMD TrueAudio. The back panel illustrates some of the same features seen on the front panel with a more in-depth description. Along the bottom are the list of supported tech, including the latest GCN architecture, Mantle API, TrueAudio, and Eyefinity 2.0. Inside the appealing outer sleeve is a cardboard box made of recyclable materials that holds the ITX Compact R9 285 OC and the included accessory bundle.

Read full article @ OCC

Scythe Mugen Max CPU Cooler Review

Refined lines, smooth edges, smooth surface. Hours of work to accomplish a final end design. Production costs, labor costs, and then the testing phase, to decide if what you have designed will be accepted by the potential market. Look down at your desk in front of you and ask yourself why did I purchase this desk over the thousands and thousands of other products on the market? The design was appealing to you, it offered the features that interested you, maybe the color, or surface you desired. Now think about the hours that went into its design, just the thought in someone's mind as the idea began to grow. Planning, preparation, and a beginning to make their vision come to life. This is when the desk in front of you begins to take shape.

All the different options that the designer had to choose from, but yet through a very precise thought process, eliminations were made to create something that someone would want to purchase. With the increase in computer desks being designed to house not just your keyboard, mouse, speakers, and monitor, but all of your computer components, desks are becoming another option when purchasing computer components and, just like those computer components, the initial design will set the mark for the overall product produced. I find the name of a product can make an impact on potential buyers, even before they have viewed the product. This brings us to the Scythe Mugen MAX CPU Cooler. Using a name like Mugen Max surely is catchy and gives us the notion that this product will perform to the Max! To think of the design time put into one single cooling solution gives us a greater respect for the product at hand.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

Steelseries Sensei Wireless Review

As you might be assuming by its name, the Sensei Wireless is SteelSeries wireless gaming mouse. It features a PixArt ADNS 9800 laser sensor and eight programmable buttons. Apart from that there is an ambidextrous design and the build quality is simply excellent.

Read full article @ ocaholic

The new Moto G doesn’t change much, but still a steal at $179

It's just the same specs with a bigger screen, but others still can't compete.

Read full article @ Arstechnica

Thermaltake Commander G41 Mid-Tower Case Review

Its hard to call the Commander G41 a Mid Tower Case. There is plenty of room for eight expansion slots and a dual-slot graphics card on the very bottom slot with the ATX motherboards and the video cards we have available to us now the fit is nice and right. There is official room for a 120 X 240 mm radiator on the top and even some modified room to mod a 240 mm radiator in the front of the case but not a recommended option so if you didn’t mind removing both the drive bays in order to do it there are really two places to put a 120 X 240 mm radiator but its just for modders that know how to make it work. The budget gaming case has some real curb appeal as well. It’s a pretty case with a fine window that is extra large window and lots of room for whatever you’re building inside, so come with us as we take you through the Thermaltake Commander G41 (Windowed) Edition case Model (CA-1B4-00M1WN-00).

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

You Can Upgrade MS-DOS 6.22 To Windows 8, If You Really Want To

There are some videos on the Internet so crazy that you just have to see them to believe them. Things like prisoners performing Thriller, Chocolate Rain and this – a single MS-DOS installation being upgraded to Windows 8 in one sitting. YouTube user Voltage^ condensed twenty six years of desktop computing into a short burst of nostalgia, with some notable highlights. And luckily, you dont need a full hour to watch the whole thing – theres a condensed version. Why? How? Lets not pretend this is useful, because its not.

Read full article @ MakeUseOf