Content and news by Rob Williams

“First off we must say in this review that the Thermaltake Big Typhoon has a very quiet fan. At the lower fan speeds of 7.5 & 9 volts we could hardly hear it running. Also the fan we used with this Thermalright is a very basic low powered computer case fan. But that all said the cooling performance from this Big Typhoon heatsink is very good indeed as the graph shows.”

Check out the full review over at A1 Electronics.

“Raidmax makes a few changes to their original Samurai case and comes up with an Alienware lookalike. While it still focuses on looks, there are still some good features included, like dual 120mm fans.”

Head over to InsaneTek for the full review.

“Last year, RealNetworks released a technology called Harmony that for the first time let copy-protected songs from a music store other than Apple’s iTunes play directly on the iPod. RealNetworks had independently mimicked the antipiracy tools used by Apple and hadn’t gotten Apple’s permission first.”

Since RealNetworks relaunched, they made their downloads work on ALL iPOD’s, including the iPOD Photo. We will see how long this will last.. Check it out at News.com.

“WASHINGTON Apr 26, 2005 — Computer storage technology is getting so cheap a person could record every conversation of a lifetime and decades of photographs, but experts must improve search systems so users can make sense of such mind-boggling amounts of information, Microsoft’s top research executive said Tuesday.

The company’s billionaire chairman, Bill Gates, visits Washington this week to demonstrate for lawmakers and others some cutting-edge gadgets for predicting traffic jams, for example, or turning countertops into full-blown computers.”

Now that’s what I call a vision! Check it out at ABC News.

Shacknews has posted some great Half-Life 2: Lost Cost screenshots! You can check them out here.

By these screenshots, it’s going to definitely be worth the wait!

“NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 26, 2005–Disney Online, part of the Walt Disney Internet Group (NYSE:DIS – News), is developing a new massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the popular theme park attraction and franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The game is slated to debut in summer 2006, coinciding with the theatrical Comment (0) -->

“AMD has been trying for the past five years to compete in the mobile computing markets against Intel, and unfortunately, only has had moderate luck to date. Their first attempts at a mobile processor were based on their K6-2 processor architecture, which proved quite unpopular in the mobile space due to performance issues. A few years later, AMD’s Mobile AthlonXP architecture hit center stage, but also proved unpopular due to the chip’s heat and power consumption attributes. In the past two years, AMD has gained their greatest amount of success with their latest mobile offering, the Mobile Athlon64 processor.”

This is a very detailed article, definitely worth a read. Check it out at GamePC.

“April 25, 2005 – When you think of RTSs, Dungeons & Dragons isn’t the first thing that pops into most peoples’ heads. Warcraft, StarCraft and the Westwood games take the bulk of the mindshare, with a side of Dawn of War and whatever current WWII RTS manages to capture your attention. Well, Comment (0) -->

“ABIT has taken VIA’s K8T890 core-logic and engineered a stable, fast, and inexpensive motherboard that carries a reasonable feature-set. Presentation, as usual, is excellent, and enthusiast-orientated options are up to ABIT’s usual standards. £79 buys you a decent introduction to S939, and performance, coupled with any compatible CPU, is always going to be impressive, especially so in gaming.”

Read the full review at Hexus.

“”Hard disk space continues to expand affordably. As the average computer can use up to three hard disks in addition to a CD drive, it’s easy enough to go out and buy a new drive to add extra storage space to your system. In this Beginners Guide, we’ll cover all the necessary steps for installing and preparing a second hard disk drive on both Win9x/ME and Win2K/XP systems, as well as setting up the hard drive for installation on a brand new computer with no operating system. As both IDE and Serial ATA hard drives are used in modern PCs, we’ll also investigate the differences between these two types of hard disk.”

Good stuff to know, especially if you are a noobie! Check it out at PC Stats.

“With digital SLR cameras so affordable now, it’s inevitable for techies and budding photographers alike to snap them up like hot cakes. But while the cameras are cheap, the lenses are not.

But fret not, because you can actually buy used lenses instead! Used lenses are a real bargain but there are some things you should be aware before you buy them. And that’s what this guide is all about!

We have released the third and final part of the guide with the following updates:

– Scratched lens elements
– Chipped lens elements
– Loose elements
– Worn or damaged focusing helicoid
– Lens fungus
– Buying lens online
– Avoiding fraud “

Check out the full article at Rojaks Pot.

“On removing the top you are greeted with exceptional build quality. It is intricately packed with high quality parts. Examples of the quality are plain to see. The RF shielding in place for the power cable is of extreme quality – you won’t see this sort of shielding on any other power supply. The size of the blue capacitor is simply oozing quality. It’s almost a piece of art inside and the attention to detail in terms of quality and design are top notch. This is the PSU equivalent of Audiophile HIFI.”

Great review, and great PSU. Read the full thing at Pure Overclock.

“We have seen the introduction of VOIP, this is a technology that basically enables you to make IP to IP phone calls or if you are signed up to a service, cheap phone calls as well. This technology is already available to the masses through skype, which has grown in user’s rapidly since its launch. Today we will be looking at the e-phone 1000s from OvisLink, this is a phone that looks like your normal house phone but with a difference. It connects to your router via LAN cable and once setup should allow you to make IP to IP calls without powering on a pc as everything is done through the handset.”

Check out the full article at XtremeComputing.

“FOR YEARS, ENTHUSIASTS have drooled over Lian Li’s high-end PC cases. Carefully designed and immaculately manufactured, the all-aluminum towers have undeniable sex appeal and enough practical features to back up the their visual flair. You see, while aluminum can be brushed or polished for an attractive finish, the metal’s physical properties also allow manufacturers to create lightweight enclosures that radiate heat much better than steel or plastic designs.”

GREAT looking case for sure! Check out the full review at Tech Report.

“Jetart enters the GPU cooling competition and gives Arctic Cooling a good fight. Equipped with blue LED’s and universal installation, it becomes a great choice for enthusiasts.”

For comparisons sake, you can check out our review of the insanely similar Logisys Copper Cooler. Check out the full review over at InsaneTek.

Jolt has posted a new interview for Matrix Online! “Hi Paul. Tell us about your role in The Matrix Online. Paul Chadwick : I’m responsible for the overall story, as it unfolds week by week. My first big task was to write a detailed outline for the first year for approval by Comment (0) -->

“The HIS adaptation of the X850XT is more than well done, it borders on ingenious. Simple, yet extremely effective silent cooling, give you stable overclocks to the levels of the Platinum Edition without even a 2nd glance. Add to that a range of adapters that could make your day and a Dual DVI output launch this card to the top of the pile, especially when you consider the price differential for that Platinum Edition card next to it.”

Check out the full review at Viper Lair.

“The device in question is of course the Samsung Yepp YH-925GS hard disk MP3 player/photo viewer. This device is the high-end model in Samsung’s lineup of hard disk-based players. The Yepp YH-925GS contains a 20GB hard drive and sports a nice bright 1.8 inch, 260K colour LCD screen with a resolution of 160×128 pixels. The Yepp YH-925GS features SRS WOW audio processing abilities, picture storage & playback, and approximately 10 hours of audio playback care of a 3.7V Lithium-ion rechargeable battery. As you’d expect, the YH-925GS can automatically function as a USB-based HDD storage device with any Windows 2000/XP computer as well.”

Check out the full review at PC Stats.

“Like the previous Vantec ION series power supplies, this one offers tremendous value. It has no trouble powering the latest computer systems with an ample 460 watts, and it’s quiet because of the 120mm fan. Also, it comes with plenty of sleeved leads which look great, cut down on cable mess and increase air flow inside the case. It even has easy grip connectors which make connecting and disconnecting simple. Watch the Video to find out more…”

Check out the full review over at 3D Gameman!

You think just because you have a Notebook PC, that you have to have poor sound? Altec Lansing disagrees, and they prove it with their XT1 Notebook Speaker set. Read on to see how they perform.