Tech News
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Happy Holidays From Ninjalane
Published: Thursday, December 24, 2009 | By: WillIt is that time of year again where all of geeks and normal people group together to celebrate a Merry Christmas and other holidays as well. So from Ninjalane we wish you a fun and safe holiday. Also remember that we geeks love our computer hardware(toys) install time after food. So let us get it in,
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NL: Video Card Roundup
Published: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 | By: WillWith the ATI new Radeon 5000 series and the new GeForce GT200 series out and about. Well we have a ton of video card reviews building up around the net. So let's take a look.
Graphic Cards
- Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 Vapor-X 1GB Video Card @ Tweaktown
- ASUS ENGT240 1GB DDR3 Video Card @ Bjorn3D
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 512MB Review @ 3DChip
- AXLE GeForce GT 240 Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
- XFX Radeon HD 5770 XXX 1GB / Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 Vapor-X 1GB review @ Elite Bastards
- XFX HD 5970 Black Edition Video Card Review @ Motherboard -
Antec Skeleton Case Review @ ThinkComputers
Published: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 | By: WillIf you have a benchmarker in mind for a holiday present you should check out this neat open case for them. It might be restrictive though for certain cooling setups, but it is worth a look anway.
"We have been reviewing Antec cases for quite some time here at ThinkComputers. While most Antec cases are revolutionary and have many features you just don't find on other cases they really are plain cases in the sense that they are not that flashy or stylish at all. Well Antec has a case that is anything but ordinary. This case looks nothing like any other case out there and it seems weird coming from a company like Antec, but remember most of their cases really are revolutionary and this one sure is. So without further ado I present the Skeleton Case from Antec!"
You can also just give them a box and say have fun to.
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Gskill PI Blue 2200MHz memory @ Bjorn3D
Published: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 | By: WillWe at Ninjalane love our memory to be very fast, but also somewhat wallet friendly. Looks like GSkill might have some RAM that will fit this bill if you can deal with some high timings on your RAM.
We all know memory is one of the most important components of our computers today. We also know that having too little of memory can raise complete and total havoc on our current OS's, especially when we are trying to load large applications like editing large movie files. DDR3 memory been around for a few years now, and since Intel went with an on board IMC (Integrated Memory Controller), last year on the socket 1366 CPUs, similar to AMDs CPU design, this has significantly boosted our memory bandwidth. Finding a set of memory that runs in the 2000+ MHz range with a limitation of 1.65 volts has been either a pain to locate or requires us users to mortgage our homes just to get a set of high speed memory.
GSkill, on the other hand has found a balance of high speed memory and pricing, that should not cause you to start mortgaging our homes. This memory has a base speed of 2200 MHz, with 7-10-10-28 2T timings only needing the required voltage limitation of 1.65 volts that Intel has placed on their CPU's integrated memory controller. In my experiences with GSkill memory, they may not be the absolute fastest memory on the planet, but their memory sticks are one of the most reliable on the planet.
This particular set of memory comes included with a memory fan cooler. This is especially great for those with water cooled rigs, because of the lack of an air cooler on our CPUs we don't get the necessary air flow on or even around the memory itself.For the price these looks pretty good.
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Sharkoon SATA QuickPort USB 3.0 "Toaster" 2.5 and 3.5-inch Docking Station
Published: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 | By: WillWith a name that has "Toaster" in it. Well how can Ninjalane ignor it. Then take in all of the incredible new technology wrapped into it as well makes this a very interesting read.
A company by the name of Sharkoon made the "hard drive toaster" famous several years ago when it launched its first QuickPort docking station product.
Sticking with the times, Sharkoon is back again and has just launched its SATA QuickPort USB 3.0 "Toaster" 2.5 and 3.5-inch Docking Station. It offers up to 5Gbit/s transfers, which is faster than SATA-II and only a little slower than SATA-III at 6Gbit/s."I also like the Sharkoon as well.
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EVGA P55 FTW @ Techgage
Published: Monday, December 21, 2009 | By: DennisOur friends over at Techgage have posted a review of the famed EVGA P55 FTW. We recently did a review of the very same EVGA P55 FTW and were very pleased with the results.
It's been a while since I last took a look at a motherboard that I knew I wanted in my own machine, but EVGA's P55 FTW ended that drought. The board lacks S-ATA and USB 3.0, but it has everything else, from great aesthetics and design to impressive overclocking, along with a handful of useful features not often found on the competition's boards.
Being that the EVGA designs were for the hardware enthusiast sometimes you have to compromise on features to get a great performance tweaking result.
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Airline Passengers Are Now Allowed Off Stuck Planes
Published: Monday, December 21, 2009 | By: DennisSo far I have been lucky enough to skirt by having to sit on a plane for extended periods, and it is really rather unfortunate that customer complaints had to prompt a rule like this to go into effect. But I am glad to see there is now something in place to allow people to get off a plane if there is a delay over 3.5 hours.
As many of us know 3.5 hours is longer that most domestic flights (depending on destination) but when you're delay could be up to 10 hours it is nice to get off a cramped plane to get some real food and something to drink.Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. airlines would have to let passengers off planes stuck on airport tarmacs after three hours, under a new federal rule prompted by consumer complaints.
The rule, which takes effect in April, exempts airlines from the limit for safety or security, or if air-traffic controllers say returning to the gate would disrupt airport operations, the Transportation Department said today in a statement. The rule applies to domestic flights; airlines flying International routes would set separate limits.
"Airline passengers have rights, and these new rules will require airlines to live up to their obligation," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today in a written statement.
The airline industry has been struggling for the past few years and while most travelers would like to blame the airline industry we can only blame ourselves. Travelers are always looking for the lowest fare and airlines need passengers to operate. Then travelers complain about the cut rate service because they are unwilling to pay what it costs to actually travel, as a result service and accommodations suffer.
Gone are the times of a full can of soda and in-flight meals, gone are the times when you could check up to 2 bags per person for free, and gone are the times when airlines will actually take care of their passengers. They still know you have choices in air travel and they know you picked them not for the service or clean planes but because of destination and cost. -
NL: PC Game Reviews Roundup
Published: Monday, December 21, 2009 | By: WillThe shopping for the Holiday Season is almost over so here is a few more PC games to look at for the PC gamer in your home.
LOTRO: Siege Of Mirkwood (PC) Review @ Gamingheaven
Siege of Mirkwood is the latest addon for Lord Of The Rings Online and it places the player into a gloomy, dark and dingy world. Thats not to say it isn't compelling however because there is still plenty that fans of the series will take from this game.
The Saboteur (PC) Review @ TweakPC
This is the last titel coming from Pandemic Studios. Is "The Saboteur" a good game? We took a look and show you the shooter.
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Silverstone Raven 2 Enclosure review in Metku
Published: Monday, December 21, 2009 | By: WillWe at Ninjalane have taken a huge liken to this case since our very own review that you can read right here. Once your done reading that one take a look at this review here. Compare the two and see is the Reven 2 is the case for you.
"Early this year Silverstone came up with Raven chassis that got some rather unique features, including positive pressure cooling and motherboard in weird 90-degree angle. After the initial launch the guys at Silverstone haven't been resting on their laurels, but been busy working with the new version, and now the Raven 2 is out and also arrived to our tests."
That is one slick case.
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Popcorn Hour C-200 HD Media Player Video Review - HD audio finally done right!
Published: Monday, December 21, 2009 | By: WillNinjalane loves playing with new software all the time and we are looking forward to playing with this Popcorn software for our HTPC. Until then though let's get a good read on what all this software is about. Let's take a gander together.
"When we were contacted by the PR agency for Popcorn Hour a week or two ago and we heard they wanted to send us their C-200 HD Media Player, I didn't get overly excited. I've been testing a range of media players all year (many Realtek based units that while good, are far from impressive) and truthfully haven't really had too much to get excited about. I didn't bother checking the specifications of the C-200 until I started testing the unit to see what it could do and didn't really have much experience with Popcorn's products.
On paper I could see that the Popcorn Hour product was different. For starters, I could see that it wasn't built around the same Realtek solution that many companies have been using. The Realtek solution is fine - there are loads of files and formats supported and video and audio playback is good, but these sorts of devices get boring after a while, since they can all only vary in difference by a small amount."
Very neat.
