The performance memory market has continued to push the performance envelope over the last few generations of hardware, each new development ushering in more speed and better performance.  But beyond speed, memory has not yielded much material to the marketing departments.  We all know that the marketing departments are tasked with getting products on the market and into your hands. But other than performance, the only marketable aspects in the segment are fancy heat spreaders, cooling fans and the occasional LED strip. So with this we had to ask, has innovation hit a roadblock?  I thought so, but then I’ve never been a huge fan of gimmicky marketing. If you read my last memory review about the Corsair Dominator GTX3 DIMMs, you’ll see why.

However, this review has left me wondering if I was wrong.  Crucial has been kind enough to supply one of their latest and greatest Ballistix memory kits for our review today.  Are they bucking the trends and actually packing some real innovation into their latest products, or is it just a bunch of fluff?  We’ll soon find out, read on!

Crucial Ballistix – The Hardware:

The kit we have here today is based on three BL25664FN2139 2GB DIMMs for a total of 6GB of memory.  These DIMMs are rated at DDR3-2133 (PC3-17000) with 9-10-9-24 timings running at 1.65V.  The kit shipped in an unassuming brown cardboard box with a generic Crucial label sealing it shut.

Ballistix box

The box contained the three 2GB DIMMs  as seen here.

Ballistx back

The rear of the DIMMs have a small sticker attached with a serial number displayed.

Ballistx front

The front of the DIMMs are quite unique.  The heat spreaders are black anodized aluminum and attached to the memory ICs with thermal tape. The PCB does not make contact with the heat spreaders.

Ballistix PCB

Upon removal of said heat spreader we get a clear look at the PCB, which is average height and matte black in color.  I’m not personally very concerned about “bling” in my computer builds, but I am becoming a little more picky about color coordination and I’m a big fan of the black PCB here, which is visually a nice upgrade over standard green.

Ballistix IC

If you are not aware, Crucial is the direct retail arm of Micron, so the best of Micron technology goes directly into Crucial’s premium products: Ballistix & Ballistix Tracer being premium.  As you can see here, the IC’s used in these DIMMs are marked with the Ballistix name, which clearly illustrates this relationship.  Embedded somewhere in this PCB is a piece of temperature monitoring hardware, the only obvious extra logic on the PCB is shown in the upper left corner of the last image, but I cannot say for sure if this houses said hardware.

Next: Crucial Ballistix – The Software

Test System:

• CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 4Ghz
• Motherboard: ASUS Rampage III Extreme
• RAM: Mushkin Blackline 3×2GB DDR3
• Video Card: ASUS GTX580 (Drivers: 266.58 WHQL, 263.09 WHQL, 262.99 WHQL)
• Power Supply: Antec TPQ 1200W
• Storage: Western Digital black 500GB
• OS: Windows 7 64bit

Release Notes for 266.58 WHQL Drivers:

Supports the newly released GeForce GTX 580 and GeForce GTX 570 GPUs.

Increases performance for GeForce 400 Series and 500 Series GPUs in several PC games vs. the latest Release 260 drivers. The following are examples of some of the most significant improvements measured on Windows 7. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:

GeForce GTX 580:

Up to 7% in Battlefield Bad Company 2 (1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF)
Up to 12% in Battleforge (SLI 1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF Very High)
Up to 11% in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (SLI 1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF)
Up to 7% in Dirt 2 (SLI 1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF)
Up to 7% in Far Cry 2 (1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF)
Up to 5% in Just Cause 2 (1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF Dark Tower)
Up to 5% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (SLI – 1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF)
Up to 9% in Stone Giant (SLI 1920×1200, DOF on)
Up to 8% in Unigine Heaven v2.1 (SLI 1920×1200 4xAA/16xAF)

Next: Synthetic Benchmarks

• Compatible with K-, J-, T- and E- thermocouples (others should work but these are the recommended types)
• User programmable offsets
• Internal memory stores 100 sets of temperature readings that can be transferred to PC software
• Data logging software for real time testing (good for working with fan and component placement and viewing their effects in real time)
• Ability to export data sets from software in .xls format to do comparative studies and graphing

The graph capabilities of the 72-7712 software are not phenomenal, it does however serve the purpose. Though dual software readout (T1 & T2) would be preferred; the logging capacity and decent feature set, as well as an Excel export feature make up for the software weaknesses.

Thermocouple 1 reading

Thermocouple 2 reading

Thermocouple 1 - thermocouple 2 reading. Temperature difference. This screen is most effective when trying to move case temperatures closer to ambient room temperature.

Example of exported data to .xls format

Thermal conductivity of the heat sink material is an important factor in air cooling. Copper and aluminum are the most widely used materials in PC HSF (heat sink & fan) construction. The properties of these two materials are critical to proper cooling of the processor.

The Chart below shows the thermal conductivity of materials for comparison. The only three that matter for this testing are aluminum, copper and air (water and the other items may be of interest to those who like to get a little wet).

:More information about thermal conductivity and conductive heat transfer:

Some simple ideas for improving the PC enthusiast experience:

Checking the case for hot spots.

Keeping your entire case as close to ambient is probably the most important thing that can be done to keep the HSF operating at its maximum efficiency. A heat sink can not lower temperatures below case ambient and will usually level out 4-12 degrees centigrade above case ambient no matter how much money is spent on it.

By identifying hot spots, proper fan placement can be made. Though these areas may not seem relevant to CPU cooling; they are. Air circulating throughout the case creates eddies, (a current of air running contrary to the main current; especially: a circular current : whirlpool) which in turn, remain hot and by cross circulation make  air circulating around them heat up.

Working in a similar fashion to the eddy, dead zones (hot area where there is no mechanical air circulation) may seem harmless, it is critical to circulate or eliminate this air to alleviate convection (heat transfer in a gas by the circulation of currents from one region to another). For dead zones a fan may not be an option and directed air may be needed. If directed air is not possible then closing in/sectioning off this area may be the only option.

Knowing where the hot areas of the case are allows for fixes that otherwise would not be possible.

Testing for efficiency.

Methodology: Air can only dissipate a fixed amount of heat due to its low thermal conductivity. Having a material of higher thermal conductivity does not always mean better temperatures, but it does allow a potential for lower temperatures, depending on other contributing factors. Testing the two most common heat sink materials to see these differences helps gain an understanding of what the conductivity numbers really mean.

Copper and Aluminum heat sinks tested for conductivity.

Copper; 56.8 seconds to reach maximum efficiency with a variance of 3.9 degrees centigrade

Aluminum 59.8 seconds to reach maximum efficiency with a variance of 7.9 degrees centigrade

This is the point where temperatures stabilize and heat is dispersed through natural convection. This is not a scientific test as the blocks were not exactly the same and some variables were omitted. What it does show is that copper will transfer heat faster and more evenly.

A double boiler is used to allow for better temperature control

Test equipment and stop watch used (phone) for testing. A Tenma 72-8540 is used as a control.

The copper and aluminum heat sinks used for the test

A two minute test of both materials (copper and aluminum) showed a 3.7 degree centigrade variance, copper being hotter (this is good, it means it will draw that much more heat to be dissipated). It must be taken into consideration that these heat sinks did not have a fan and the variance would have been lower during operation.

The results of this test correlate directly to the previous test results.

Testing your Heat Sink and Fan assembly

Using an Arctic Cooling AF64 PRO

If the HSF is not equalizing temperatures within a reasonable variance or running 10+ degrees above ambient case temperature (check the temperature at the intake area of the HSF to eliminate the possibility of a hot spot causing the problem) then a re-seat of the HSF may be needed and possibly a replacement HSF of higher quality may be in order.

Using information gathered with a good temperature meter will help guide the process of lowering case temperatures and in turn allow for a cooler processor, memory and hard disk drive.

Shots of the 72-7712

All display elements

Temperature readout screen

Variance screen

Setup: Offset adjustment screen

Front view of meter showing controls

Conclusion

Using a dual probe temperature meter with capabilities comparable to the 72-7712 is a definite step up from the volt meter type single probe units that were used in the past. With the data logging capabilities and other features available with this unit it is much easier to maximize case cooling and potentially gain a few hundred MHz from a heat limited overclock.

With acceptable quality, useful software and features the 72-7712 makes an excellent addition to the tool box of the overclocker or small PC mod shop.

]]> http://www.techreaction.net/2010/06/01/tenma-72-7712-dual-chanel-temp-probe-what-happens-with-tempratures-inside-a-pc/feed/ 7 http://www.techreaction.net/2010/05/26/guide-converting-your-vhs-collection-to-digital-and-a-little-more/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=guide-converting-your-vhs-collection-to-digital-and-a-little-more http://www.techreaction.net/2010/05/26/guide-converting-your-vhs-collection-to-digital-and-a-little-more/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 17:14:39 +0000 Archer http://www.techreaction.net/?p=4123 A lot of people have an old VHS collection gathering dust, or content that was purchased on their gaming device that must be kept on that device. What does it really take to get this content on to a DVD? Not much.
Using a hardware video trans-coder, such as the ADS DVD-ExpressDX2 (does not work with Vista or later without software issues), a DVD+/-RW Drive and an external HDD for portability, converting a video collection as fast as you can play them (even direct to DivX) is pretty simple.

So what is really needed for minor work such as converting your video collection to digital format?

A computer meeting the minimum standards of your capture device, the capture device, DVD+/-RW and an external HDD (if you want to carry your movies with you).

The components used for this article were the ASUS N270 NetBook, ADS DVD-ExpressDX2, a Lite-On external DVD-RW and a WD 500GB External HDD. This setup is affordable, extremely portable and flexible.

Working with home videos may necessitate a higher end device and better than bundled software, this example is great for the basics only.

Capturing movies will take some time. The included software may not have a timer option and therefore it may be necessary to be present to stop the video and recording manually.

Below are pictures of the setup and the  process of simple video capture and DVD creation with the included Cap Wiz utility.

First, all hardware needs to be brought together and hooked up.

Decide what unit will be used for working with the capture and begin hooking everything up to it.

Hook up the capture device.

Probably most important, hook up the output device. Here a PSP UMD disk is being converted to DVD format. This is also great for putting downloaded digital content on to DVD.

This NetBook has no DVD drive, necessitating the use for an external unit. An external HDD is also a great addition for moving media to your HTPC or other media device.

Next, go with the flow. The process is fairly simple and all of the tasks are pretty straight forward as far as getting content on the disk.

The initial screen allows setting of the regional video standard.

Next indicate what type of input will be used.

Choosing the destination for the capture is next. You will need to name the file and, if not burning direct to disk, you will need to choose a location for the file.

Probably one of the better features of these types of devices is the ability to save to various formats.

After the initial setup, power up the device that will be outputting original content. You do not begin to play the content, though the directions for the unit say otherwise.

This is the capture screen for the software. From this screen, access to captured videos is available and burning them to disc is also an option. Here the preview is used to access the device output and then one can start to play and record content.

One of the tools of this software is a brightness control that can be very helpful with older videos.

With the direct to disk pop-up, first choose the format and then the location for the file to be burned.

On the final Direct to Disk screen, the name of the movie and chapter length are set, as well as an option for recording time if the exact length of the video is known.

That is about it. Though hardware and the bundled software vary, most stick to basics in line with what is above. If you want to get your movies off of the VHS and more… then this is the only way to do it without breaking the bank. Just remember, if you are a novice you should read plenty of reviews and tailor your purchase to your needs. Many retailers have user reviews of the products that can be very helpful. Just remember, even when a product gets some bad reviews, that does not necessarily indicate that there is something wrong with the product. It is usually a user error…like the user not reading the manual. I always read the manuals as a last resort.

The features of the DX2 capture device are:

Effortlessly Save & Share Memories on DVD or CD
Transfer video from VHS tapes, digital or analog camcorders directly
to DVD or CD*
Real-Time hardware conversion produces the best DVD quality results
Make Movies for your Sony PSP, Apple iPod or Zen Vision!

Features
Capture audio and video via the USB port to your computer hard drive or “Direct to Disc” (C6666D or DVD disc)
Capture video directly to popular video formats; DVD (MPEG-2), SVCD, VCD (MPEG-1), MPEG-4.
Capture directly to Sony PSP video and Apple iPod video formats
Use the Included CapWiz application for easy video capture direct to your desired video compression format
Record to your computer hard drive or “Direct to Disc”
Exclusive Hardware Encoding chip inside DVD Xpress creates the highest quality video without putting extra strain on your PC

The DX2 is available here.

Some of the features of the bundled software (Ulead VideoStudio™ 9 SE DVD) are:
Features and Benefits
• Movie Wizard is ideal for users new to video editing. Select from 30+ theme styles to get started then let auto-editing make the first edits. Have complete movies with only three steps. Use the new auto pan & zoom to help create entertaining photo slideshows.
• VideoStudio Editor is complete with all the powerful tools needed to produce great-looking home movies while using an intuitive, step-by-step workflow. Spend time being creative rather than learning the program.

Full product description: http://www.ulead.com/events/ati/UVS9_FB_SE_DVD_062405.pdf

This is an older version and newer versions usually have more features. I wont complain as it was a bundle.

Do realize that this is a low end model and it is all that I needed. The prices and features are varied as is the bundled software. I would advise reading reviews and comparing features so that you get the device that best meets your needs.

Just as a little side note: Why do I use a NetBook? Portability! I have kids and when we travel, movies keep them happy. With a 160GB HDD, that is a lot of content to keep them happy. Sure you can buy one of those All-in-one 10 inch portable DVD players for $179, but compared to $249 for the netbook (that will allow you to watch streaming content in the hotel, check your e-mail, update your social networking site and the like, in addition to watching stored movies); I just see the DVD player as a waste of money.

]]> http://www.techreaction.net/2010/05/26/guide-converting-your-vhs-collection-to-digital-and-a-little-more/feed/ 0 http://www.techreaction.net/2010/05/24/blog-mac-steam-really-still-a-beta/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=blog-mac-steam-really-still-a-beta http://www.techreaction.net/2010/05/24/blog-mac-steam-really-still-a-beta/#comments Mon, 24 May 2010 17:27:04 +0000 _vi http://www.techreaction.net/?p=6587 Steam; it was always the one thing that made me stick to my Windows computer. The online service effectively tied me down to the Windows platform. Before you had to either attempt to run Steam via WINE if Linux or use a virtual machine or proprietary WINE-based Macintosh Windows library programs in order to get your dose of Steam, even then the operation of it was often flawed. Earlier this month we all saw the release of Steam for the Macintosh earlier last week coinciding with the conclusion of my school tests. I rushed home and downloaded the program for my Macintosh. To my dismay, Steam for Mac seemed to really underwhelm my expectations.

It’s not ready yet

Well, in opening Steam for the first time, I noticed how experimental it felt. There was only one skin to choose from and the options for Mac users seemed very limited, like as if the entirety of the software was in beta. I was constantly disconnected for no discernible reason and Steam Mac. Even if an internet connection is present, Steam Mac seems to have some difficulty in connecting to Steam, particularly at start-up, where Steam simply refuses to detect my internet connection until several retries.

It’s been about a week since it’s release and I’ve been bombarded by nothing but constant updates before launch. It’s not a bad thing for software to require updates, but the sheer frequency of update is infuriating at the best of times. It’s annoying to have to sit there staring at a program that updates so frequently. Although this problem will be lessened in the foreseeable future, it remains as one of my most hated issues about Steam.

Cross-Compatibility

Contrary to popular belief, Macs actually have a fair amount of games released to them. Earlier last year EA announced plans to release Macintosh games in tandem with their Windows counterparts instead of encountering the usual delay for a Macintosh version of popular Windows games ports. Looking to the Steam store on launch I was expecting a huge range of titles for the Macintosh, after all, there a significant amount of games for the Macintosh. Instead, I was greeted with a very barren looking games page in the Macintosh games store consisting of only a few indie games and Portal.

I don’t know if Valve has had licensing issues with developers or not. What really concerns me is the possibility of Mac gamers being forced into buying dual copies of identical games for them both to work on Windows and Macintosh platforms. Most Macintosh games are not ported to the Macintosh by the original developer, but rather by a 3rd party such as Aspyr. Games already purchased in Steam for Windows have had their royalties paid to the developer already, but since the Mac version likely has a 3rd party developer, the 3rd party will most likely like their own share of pie. Given the currently high markup on Macintosh compatible games, I wouldn’t been surprised if 3rd party developers refuse to allow Mac users the ability to play their games they have previously paid for in the Windows format. Users of Macs and Windows boxes on Mac Steam may be forced to either buy a ‘universal’ copy of the game, available on both Macintosh’s and Windows boxes as a separate purchase or be forced to buy discretely Macintosh versions of the game if a deal cannot be reached between the developer and the 3rd party.

The OpenGL question

As we saw with Anandtech’s Windows/Macintosh Portal performance analysis, Macintosh computers tend to have a lower performance value than identical machines. Macs are simply  less effective than their Windows counterparts at gaming whether that be because of the lacking of Apple’s drivers, the inefficiently of the port or simply issues with OpenGL, whatever it is, it turns potential customers away from gaming on the Macintosh platform.

Now, you see, Red Alert 3 runs on my Macbook, not in Macintosh mode, but rather Windows mode. Could they be one of the limitations of OpenGL and Mac OS X gaming like in Portal? I have not a clue, but from the general consensus online, it seems Mac OS X is unable to address more than 64mb of shared ram to the IGP. In Windows my GMA 950 is able to address a full 244mb of shared video ram. Although this might not just be the reason that Macintosh systems are out performed by identical systems, it will still cause confusion between more mainstream consumers who have not our technical knowledge.

Given these three factors, the lower performance of Macintosh’s against Windows boxes, the inability to address comparable amounts of video memory and the use of OpenGL, Mac games may either be diluted in visual quality further to combat the performance disparity between the platforms with the Intel integrated or in the case of Red Alert 3, might simply abandon the prospect of even using Macs with Intel integrated graphics.

Given the fact Macintosh computers have all traditionally been mediocre at gaming graphics (mostly non-upgradeable) thanks to their integrated Intel graphics chipsets being the mainstay of their older mainstream product range, many Macintosh users will not be able to game very well on their computers. If the ported OpenGL versions of popular games all perform worse than their Direct X counterparts, we might have quite a big problem from the mainstream gamers. Many older Macintosh’s are built around such a graphics chipset, so either including them or excluding them would have dive consequences on the success of games on the Macintosh.  Facing the truth and reality. almost all Mac users belong to the group using integrated graphics. Games will either have to drop in quality or raise requirements (in comparison to Windows versions) in order to have a decent flowing game or wait indefinitely for Apple or Khronos Group to improve their OpenGL drivers.

Conclusion

Well, it’s not all bad. At least another developer is taking interest in the Macintosh platform. This might be good for Valve should they ever decide to port Steam to Linux. The code-base between Mac OS X and Linux is close enough so that converting applications should be far more simple than Well it sure beats trying to run Steam with dodgy WINE fonts and paying for Cedgar or losing a huge hunk of battery life to running a VM. Cross-platform calling is no longer limited to Skype and you can still use Steam chat, which is nice ~ I sort of use Steam a as an instant messenger too, having a Mac, back in the day was not very inconvenient.

With the advent of Steam Mac, publishers have just gotten renewed incentive to create games for the Macintosh. That in itself is excellent for any Mac gamer. It’s not a perfect start to making the Mac a premier gaming platform, but it certainly is a start to the arduous journey ahead.

When I say rhythm games, what do you first think of? Rock Band? Guitar Hero? DDR? Most likely, games that weren’t created specifically the PC. Let me first talk about the state of PC rhythm gaming. Plainly, it’s at a state of zero existence outside of freeware developments. Some of the most popular PC rhythm games are Frets on Fire, Stepmania (and other mania varieties), and now, Osu!. And guess what? They’re all freeware.

So what is Osu! exactly? If you’ve ever played a game of Elite Beat Agents on the Nintendo DS, imagine that but without the cost of buying the game, and on your computer. For those who haven’t a clue, take a look at this video (which doesn’t seem to be embedding properly. Hm…)

Whether you watched the video or not, allow me to briefly explain. You move the cursor over circles with rings approaching it, and you must click on the circle when the ring is exactly on the circle’s outer edge. There are sliders in which you must hold the button until it ends. And lastly, there are spinners in which you must spin your mouse in a circle in a predetermined amount of time.

I could go and ramble on about scoring, details, and all that, but it’s much more interesting if you figure that stuff out yourself. Really. But adding on to grajasekar’s casual gamer post, Osu! is meant for both casual and competitive play.  You can easily play for a few minutes a day without getting addicted. And you can easily play for a few hours a day and be addicted. It’s casual in the sense that you don’t need to be necessarily playing against anyone, though indirectly you are. Confused? Intrigued? Not caring? Just try the game.

In the title, you might have noticed I mentioned that this is stress testing the abilities of your mouse. Well, allow me to elaborate. When playing Osu! You have three methods of control: Mouse, Mouse/Keyboard combo, and Tablet. If you have a tablet, you can use that to play, but how many of us have one? The Mouse/Keyboard combo is great for reducing the stress on the mouse hand. This only uses the mouse for cursor movement.

The mouse by itself is where it’s at. When playing Osu! You have to be extremely adept at being able to move your mouse with finesse and precision. Beat circles can be placed at locations all across the screen, and you have to be able to reach them within several milliseconds (well, not usually that fast). Thankfully, you have the option of using both right and left mouse buttons to hit notes. Do note that although both achieve the same effect, you’ll be requiring both. Songs that last up to (but are not limited to) four minutes normally have 500 or so hit circles; that’s about 2 clicks a second (500/240 seconds. Maaaaath!). There are 1/4 and 1/6 beats that physically cannot be perfectly hit with a single clicks; you must be alternating with the other key, e.g left-right-left. This excessive clicking is only matched by expert RTS players. Also, with some songs, you must be so precise that you must be able to keep your hand steady at all times.

So with this, you’re really testing out how well your mouse can perform under stressful circumstances. Using the mouse cursor as an indicator, you can see if you can properly move to locations at your demand. If it drifts, you’ll easily know. If there’s a problem with your clicking, (such as sporadic lag responses), you’ll see it visually. While you can use almost any kind of mouse for Osu! There are a few exceptions. Some mice are known to break easily under massive rampages of clicking. I speak especially for stock laser/optical mice that comes with generic purchases. These are the kind of mice that do not fare well under Osu! gameplay, and for a few reasons. Personally, I find that these mice do not track as well, they aren’t as comfortable (something that should never be ignored) and the clicking randomly stops working for a few seconds.

Make sure you play Osu! with a mouse under warranty; If Osu! manages to break your mouse during game play, don’t look at me.

And of course, most importantly, have fun!

OSU!

Two or three years ago, a cousin handed me an orange box on my birthday. Yes, the box was orange but that’s what the big letters on it said too- Orange Box. And I’ve been hooked to one particular title – Team Fortress 2 – ever since. Having been used to Counter Strike’s fast paced and serious shooting action, TF2 was a refreshing (and much needed, in my opinion) change. The strength of the game obviously lies in its classes. And thus a closer look at what makes TF2 something that you’ll want to keep coming back to.

The Spy’s knife, ability to disguise and cloak are all typical characteristics you’d associate with the “spy” moniker and TF2 does not give any huge advantage to its use either since the spy’s disguise fails when he’s shot a bit by an enemy and he’s revealed to the opposition once he uses the knife to back stab. Making him British was a touch of class. The Soldier has that perfect “American Sarge” look to him and the Minigun-wielding Heavy being Russian (not to mention a bit of a dunce) adds to the character. Every class has a perfect foil, a complete enemy. For instance, the Engineer might appear all powerful – what with his Sentry Guns and teleporters. But, the Spy is the answer to dominating the Engineers. No class can thus claim to be superior. The Scout’s speed balances out his relative lack of firepower. I liked it a lot that Valve spent the time hyping each class, making them correspond to different regions of the World (eg. The Aussie Sniper, the German Medic, Scottish Demoman), giving them intro videos (and they still keep it coming).

Even though the Pyro was a bit less powerful initially, the addition of the Backburner by Valve fixed it. It’s great that Valve keeps supporting the game all through the last 2 years with new updates that give the game new life and players the zeal to give new additions a go. Every advantage they give to one class is countered by another update to the other classes (the Razorback served as a defense for the sniper for instance). The Medic’s role is highly important in the battle too, with his few seconds of invulnerability for him and a comrade being able to break the deadlock in the face of an almost perfect defense. I’ve enjoyed that ability countless times while playing as a Heavy. Recently, the Soldier vs Demoman duel (along with the recent comics by Valve) on TF2 made me WANT to play the game for more than just stats. Adding an unlock to whichever class won the duel made it even sweeter.

The graphics are great even two years on, and it doesn’t take a very high-end rig to run it. The cartooney effect is not at all overdone, and it helps that every class is visually distinct from every other one even from a distance. I’ve also noticed how the Heavy smiling more as he racks up more kills. Everything is pretty easy to see and you don’t need to memorize the maps to know where the control points are or Intel is. The sound is simply awesome too, with automatic cries from each character like “Fire, Fire, Fire”, “Here I come”, “God save the Queen”, “Hey Look at me ma!”, “We must stop little baby” and “KABOOM” adding to the hilarity. The sound of silly stuff happening like the Scout’s ball going Bonk on someone’s head and hitting people with the baseball bat are all so well done. Body part labeling after your character dies, using piss to put out a fire, the good looking critical hit and “Bonk” animations all add to the laughs. The way they marketed the game with the “Meet the Team” videos was wonderful too!

While in CS and other Multiplayer-oriented FPS’s I usually felt frustration at dying repeatedly sometimes, here things like getting points for Revenge made it all the more fun, getting stabbed in the back is more hilarious than annoying. The addition of bases into which you can go to get away from the fast paced action and resupply quickly is also quite nice. The ability to send quick tips like “Spy” or “Thanks” to a teammate using just 2 keys from the keyboard without having a headset to communicate with has also helped me greatly. This was one game that got me off of my usual habit of looking for bots, and now I’m ever ready to go online and kick some a** (or get mine kicked).

I love games like Halo and Modern Warfare, but the thing is this game has always had me going back to it no matter how many times I decide “Alright I’ll go try something else for a while”. It’s a game that one can play both competitively as well as just pick up and play for the fun of it. Every time I play, there’s some new and funny event I experience that I can’t wait to tell my fellow gamers. After the endless hours spent sniping from the balcony on 2Fort, frantic overtime runs and the many days of standing next to the cart with a medic in support, I can confidently say this is the most I’ve enjoyed any game and the longest that joy has lasted.

The new firmware update brings a whole list of changes:

• Browser 7.2
• Lifecasting (with Maps 3.0T SR3.0)
• Flash Video Phase-3 – Flashlite 3.1.7.x
• Gimlet Touch 2.2
• Kinetic scrolling in Appshell (Menu grid)
• OVI Sync 2.0
• Hurriganes Music Player
• Enable Side lock Key functionality during Swipe UI (Calendar/Clock alarm)
• Windows 7 Device Stage Support
• OVI store 1.5.6
• Quick Office v4.2
• OVI Music
• Cherry v2.1
• Rihanna service launcher
• OVI contacts 1.50.8
• Workaround for Niagara (SMD) display module for DFS52.50 based products

Practically, you’re only going to notice two main parts: the music player upgrade, and the kinetic scrolling. The kinetic scrolling used to apply only in certain areas (e.g not in the main application, which made it rather redundant), but now it’s kinetically everywhere that has a scroll bar. It’s a great feature to have atheistically, which is a very nice touch. It’s one step to modernizing this phone’s rapid descent into the past.  The music player has been revamped for easier and smoother song access, which is nice.

Despite these useful additions, if you’re on at least firmware v30, the update isn’t going to change much, so it’s not necessary for your Nokia. The browser is still finnicky (use something else if you want to access the net), it’s still somewhat slow, and no multi-touch (a huge flaw, if you ask me, but updates aren’t going to change that). If you’re unfortunately stuck on a firmware with v20, I would highly recommend you find a way to hack the Nokia to a newer version past v30.

Not much changed on the home screen. Although you can see the 2.1 update included a new, clean looking News and Weather widget which I have at the top:

To those of you who were expecting the addition of more home screens, sadly the 2.1 update won’t help you but I do recommend you check out an app called Helix Launcher. It is by far the best launcher on the market, is very fast, and gives you up to 7 home screens. It also lets you stick 4 apps at the bottom of the screen that stay there no matter what screen you are on. Here is what it looks like (The widget at the top for those wondering is called Beautiful Widgets):

The next major change included with the 2.1 update was the new Gallery. It now supports multi-touch (pinch and zoom) and the visuals are much better. Example:

Next up is a mild change to the Music player. Not a huge change but it makes searching for songs/artists/playists much easier. There are now 4 tabs at the top of the screen, which divide into Artists, Albums, Songs, and Playlists.

Another new feature that is a nice addition is the option of Live Wallpapers. While I’m not a huge fan of these, I can see how they can appeal to some people and am glad it was included in the update. Here is a still shot of the Neural Network live wallpaper (the red dots move, and if you click your finger in an open space more dots appear).

Last but not least is Speech to Text. Again not a huge fan of this, but can see it being useful for a lot of people. The speech to text button has been added on the stock keyboard, as shown here (the little microphone):

In the end, for those of you Droid users who haven’t gotten this update, I would strongly recommend updating manually (see here: http://www.droid-life.com/2010/03/31/manual-android-2-1-update-for-motorola-droid/) as the updates included are small but very noticeable.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it!

NOTE: This is just Anti-Virus software. If you are looking for Anti-Spyware and Anti-Malware, two free solutions I recommend are SUPERAntiSpyware and MalwareBytes. Check them out!

Today I will be looking at ways to help protect your computer without spending money for all different types of software. Currently, there are many free alternative software choices that do almost as good (in some cases as good) as ones that are subscription based. I’d like to provide a run down of anti-virus choices that are known to be worthy.

Before I do so, I’d just like to mention that I will have some information about paid solutions as well. Though I will not include these products in my blog as a whole, it is definitely worth looking at some of the paid programs if you don’t mind spending the money.

To start off, here is a chart provided by AV-Comparatives that gives you a run down on the pros and cons of the leading Anti-Virus software.

Currently, AV-Comparatives has Symantec, Kaspersky, and ESET NOD32 ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively. I suggest checking these out if you are not just looking at free solutions.

avast!

avast! has just recently updated to v5. This new update has provided many new upgrades from their previous version. Here are some of the major improvements:

• Better detection rates
• Lower number of false alarms
• Faster scanning speeds
• New GUI interface for easier use

avast! has high malware detection rates, fast scanning speeds, and best of all, avast! is free for Home use.

For more information, please visit www.avast.com

AVG

AVG has just recently been updated to v9.0. This update has brought some improved features, but unfortunately has not kept up with comparable solutions. AV-Comparatives says, “AVG did not score as well as we expected this year, although it was still good.” Like avast!, AVG is free for Home use. AVG is very easy to manage. Some of AVG’s main features:

• Easy to use and navigate
• LinkScanner – prevents you from visiting risky websites
• Many more features through an upgrade

For more information, please visit free.avg.com

AVIRA

Avira earned AV-Comaparatives’ Product of the Year award in 2008. Avira’s main features:

• High detection rates
• WebShield
• Low system performance impact
• New version due sometime in 2010

Unfortunately, Avira does have a high rate of false-positives (found something that is actually safe), but with the award it has received, do not leave Avira out of the question!

For more information, please visit www.free-av.com

Microsoft Security Essentials

MSE is the newest solution from Microsoft. In the past, Microsoft has released Defender and OneCare. Both of these have been replaced by a free alternative known as Microsoft Security Essentials. Unlike Defender, MSE does both Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware. Some of MSE’s features include:

• Extremely easy to use
• Easy install
• Uploads programs you download to improve definitions

MSE is a large improvement over it’s predecessors and is a worthwhile choice.

For more information, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

Summary

These are the four leading anti-virus solutions that you can obtain for free. They provide the basic needs to keep your computer secure. Purchasing a paid solution will provide even more security if you feel that you need it. The best way to fight off infection is to keep yourself knowledgeable and understanding. The most beneficial security is yourself. I hope this will help you when trying to answer the question, “Which Anti-Virus software is the best?”

For more Anti-Virus software choices, please visit the Five Best Anti-Virus Applications.

I highly recommend that you read the AV-Comparatives website for further information on anti-virus software testing.

-cralor

Images: av-comparatives.org, tricks-collections.com, softpedia.com