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[Review] ARCTIC SOUND S111 0 Comments By The Duke on September 3, 2010 Today we will be putting the ARCTIC Sound S111 through the paces. These dice-shaped portable speakers are USB powered and can easily be powered with a laptop. All you need is a 3.5mm jack on your device and these speakers with work for you whether you have an MP3 player, DVD, computer, or even a cell-phone for that matter. The S111 can supposedly amplify the volume at a greater extent, while not sacrificing the balance of the bass or vocals. We will have to see how this claim stands up as we ru...
[Blog] Mini Sound Level Meter (dB) 0 Comments By The Duke on August 19, 2010 I recently picked up a new decibel meter to play with and help during testing. The mini digital sound level meter measures from 40 dB to 130 dB. It has MIN/MAX measurement ability with hold and auto power-off function to ensure long battery life. It includes 9V battery and removable wind screen with a frequency range: 31.5 Hz to 8 kHz. Let’s see how it actually performs … shall we? Packaging: The Mini Sound Level Meter: Specifications and Features: Features: Newly design housi...
[Review] Choiix BOOM BOOM Travel Speaker 1 Comment By The Duke on August 13, 2010 Continuing our dive into on-the-go mobile devices, today we have the Choiix Boom Boom slim travel speaker. If you are like us and hate using ear buds or clunky headphones to listen to your music, then sit back and relax, because this product may be for you. It is capable of being powered through a USB connection which makes it very convenient to take along with you. There is no need for power outlets or batteries! Let’s check out the Boom Boom and see how it stands up for a travel spe...
[Blog] Sony MDR-410LP Headphones 0 Comments By Krab on May 27, 2010 Normally, a pair of cheap, dollar-store headphones might last you at best a few months. And that’s true. I’ve gone through at least five pairs of cheap, low quality brands of headphones that were less than five dollars a piece. They break, they’re uncomfortable, their sound quality is horrible, and most importantly, they break! You might find that a wire breaks off, or some padding falls off after a few days of use. Or if that doesn’t occur, the sound quality degrades int...
Piece Meal Upgrades pt 3 0 Comments By Neuromancer on October 4, 2009 Piece Meal Upgrades pt 3 As already discussed, a piece meal upgrade is performed when a jump to an entirely new platform is not financially possible. A ground up all new part design is best and will give the best price performance ratio if properly setup. For those that cannot afford a complete rebuild though, designing a system with affordable parts that also support upgrading over an extended period of time is the only option. While more money will be spent over the life of the upgrade, re...
Piecemeal Upgrades Pt 2.2 – Components 0 Comments By Neuromancer on September 21, 2009 Components The longevity of your computer components varies wildly, with the most expensive pieces often being a top performer for the shortest period of time. In order from longest lasting to shortest Hard Disk Drive/ Optical Disk Drive, Power Supply Unit, Video card, Memory, Motherboard, CPU. This breakdown is purely subjective, and while easily could instigate discussion on what pieces do have the longest longevity citing specific models of components, for brevity’s sake we will continu...
Piecemeal upgrades pt2.1 – Peripherals 0 Comments By Neuromancer on September 21, 2009 The Peripherals Monitors, come in 2 distinct flavors, CRT (not manufactured anymore) and LCD. The difference between CRT and LCD is dramatic, with vivid colors and crisp geometries on LCD, higher resolution and better contrast on CRT. LCD’s can be upgraded very cheaply now, CRT has no upgrade path, it is only mentioned if the upgrade inventory currently has a high resolution or widescreen CRT monitor, it may be reused rather effectively until the size and power requirements effect the end ...
Piecemeal upgrades pt2 0 Comments By Neuromancer on September 21, 2009 Identifying your needs, wants and haves. The first step of upgrading a PC is identifying the specific functions that a PC is going to need to handle at the final build. This may change depending on your build upgrade timeline, as newer architecture is being released, and unanticipated price drops occur. Spending a few minutes a day reading about upcoming hardware releases helps to predict price drops on components as well as identifying features that you may want to add. OEM PCs make their...
Piecemeal upgrades pt1 2 Comments By Neuromancer on September 19, 2009 The Piecemeal Upgrade part 1 One cannot help be impressed with the gaming power of a new socket AM3 system from AMD, or the sheer computational power of an Intel i7 and even i5 system. Comparing them to an OEM system build from just a couple of years ago can be embarrassing. Running software designed today, may not even be possible on an older system, and if it does run, could experience all sorts of performance problems: Stuttering video on HD playback, freezing, crashing or overheating o...

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