Best computer news

• Now that the format war is over with, EngadgetHD reports that Universal and Paramount have now dumped HD DVD and jumped on the Blu-ray bandwagon. Many of you may remember that Paramount dropped Blu-ray in August of last year.
• Although the war is over, I4U is saying that LG is still going to back HD DVD. LG issued a statement says, “LG believes that at this present moment in time, it is necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore create simplicity and convenience for the existing HD DVD consumer.”
• Intel’s Classmate PC has shaped up to be a good alternative to the OLPC XO-1. According to PC Magazine, Intel is working with international partners and governments to see that the device gets put into the hands of students as well as providing training and tech support.
• If you’ve been itching to get your hands on an Eee PC, you may just want to wait. EEEUser says that the black 8GB version is almost here, giving you an option for color preference and a slightly larger drive.
• DAP Review reports that Creative has dropped the price on the 32GB Creative Zen PMP, now down to $299. This is $200 less than the iPod Touch 32GB and with the SDHC slot you can add even more storage quite cheaply.
• Digital Trends has a review of the Cowon A3 60GB PMP that you might want to give the once over. Although it lacks DRM and wireless support, they still fell that it is a quality device.

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Working as a PC tech for several years taught me one thing about your average computer user: they don’t make backups of their data. Recovering data from hard drive disasters was a regular and almost daily task. It isn’t that they don’t want to but simply that they just don’t know how and therefore can’t. A new drive on the market promises to remove the user from the backup process, the ClickFree HD700.

The drive works by simply plugging it in a letting it do its work, even easier than we experienced with the Buffalo Turbo USB 320GB drive. The drive currently comes in a 120GB version with plans for a 250GB drive by the end of the summer and works with Windows XP and Vista. The drive will set you back about $170. Enthusiasts will probably look elsewhere as it seems to just back up anything and everything it can find but those less tech savvy will probably be pleased to have an easy to use solution for a change.
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These days just about every accessory and peripheral you buy connects to your computer via USB. From printers and cameras to I/O devices and external storage devices, you can almost bet that you will need another USB port available to use it. Unfortunately, many power users whose laptops have few available have to resort to utilizing a USB hub to provide additional ports. Belkin’s latest solution to this problem is the stylish and sleek In-Desk USB hub that slips into a grommet hole in your desk. These hubs are available for 2″ or 3″ holes, available in black or silver, and they even have a model that is a dock for your iPod. Our model features 4 front angled ports, is silver, and fits a 3″ hole.
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Makers of gaming mice need to work hard to stand above the crowd of competitors and worm their way into the hearts of PC gamers, for whom competitive edge and equipment have an inextricable relationship, and a bad mouse can mean the difference between glory and second place. Manufacturer Razer understands these rules of the game very well; they’ve built their considerable reputation on building products that will help gamers win. Today, in the third installment of our series of gaming mice reviews (check out parts one and two in our reviews of the Microsoft SideWinder and the Logitech G9), we’ll be seeing how well the Lachesis, Razer’s newest gaming mouse offering, stacks up to the competition.
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Windows Vista has been out for a little over a year now and there has been a lot of controversy as to whether or not it is a “good” operating system. I use to term good loosely as many people have differing opinions on what good actually is. Some have dubbed it as the next Windows ME, while others have praised it over and over again for advancements and changes.

No matter how you can look at it, the overall performance on Vista has been relatively subpar even when considering the higher system requirements to run the OS. Service Pack 1 is soon to be released and along with it is supposedly coming a number of noticeable performance increases. Unfortunately it looks like there is some performance decreases to come with it. Crave did some testing in their labs and noticed a 44% to 54% decrease in write speeds to USB drives.

This is bad news for Vista, as we have already seen some horrid performance on it with the Buffalo Turbo USB drive that performed flawlessly on Windows XP. It looks like we are just going to have to keep our fingers crossed and wait for the final RTM and public releases to find out the real truth.
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Most of the time we love to see the convergence of two different technologies but this is one that we just aren’t too sure about. In fact, I’m really just as confused with this mouse as we were with the Body Mouse as it just doesn’t seem practical in any way. The USB Vacuum mouse from Thanko promises to suck… literally.

The Vacuum mouse connects via USB 1.1 and has an 800dpi sensor and looks just like any other three button mouse on the market. The little switch on the side turns on the vacuum cleaner. We suppose that this could be useful if you are a messy eater and your desk all of the time. Unfortunately most of us usually have desks cluttered with items that would just be too big for a vacuum this small to take care of and those of use that have desks tidy enough to use this mouse are already neat freaks and wouldn’t have to worry about cleaning up.
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Buffalo is getting ready to roll out a new external Blu-ray burner with a 4x recording speed, which in perspective can write 50GB (BD-R dual layer) in 45 minutes. The read speed is also doubled to 4x as well, supposedly meaning less time waiting for Blu-ray movies to load. As for Blu-ray re-writeable (BD-RE), speed tops at 2x, and the write time for a single layer disc will be 47 minutes at this speed.

Buffalo bundles Power2Go 5 which provides 128-bit AES encryption for your Blu-ray disc data archive, and PowerDVD 7 BD for movie playback. Last but not least is the integration of the AC adapter into the chassis – something Chinese OEMs should learn from Buffalo.
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Dell has reportedly been providing a new wireless connectivity option for laptops since late last year, and it is none other than Certified Wireless USB. There are no other sightings of this offered as an option on laptops, let alone desktops. So, Dell’s move is the first step to jump-starting mass Wireless USB adoption. The word ‘jumpstart’ however maybe pushing it when Dell is asking for $150 for the PCI-E WUSB module and the Belkin 4-port wireless hub. Even though it’s not known how taking out the hub might affect the pricing, the Belkin hub alone costs $199.99 with the dongle. Our best guess is that the module alone could be $50 or lower.

The integration of a built-in WUSB module on the PCI Express or the southbridge of a chipset is necessary as it translates to a lot better performance than a HMA USB dongle that acting as bottleneck itself. For older laptops, CardBus is the ideal way to move forward to WUSB, and for newer notebooks, ExpressCard adapter and internal module connected to PCI Express are the logical choices.
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One of the most interesting things about the growth of Skype is the development of Skype-specific devices, which are (presumably) meant to ease the shock of talking on the “phone” using a microphone and some computer speakers instead of a headset, but take away the free aspect of Skype and impose a more organized, made-for-business feeling on the VoIP network. Of course, appearances can be deceiving, so today’s task: find out whether or not one particular Skype phone – the IPEVO Trio – makes the tradeoff of more features worth paying extra for your Skype hardware.
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Some people prefer to buy from a manufacturer; some people prefer to roll their own. In this case, the DIY job is the construction of a USB guitar, where the output of the guitar’s pickups goes through a circuit board that digitizes it and sends it out through a USB port built into the guitar’s exterior for processing on the computer of your choice. USB guitars are a big step forward in digital recording in general – they can eliminate the need for expensive personal sound cards – and if you’re an electrically savvy musician, this project is a good introduction to what you’ll need to do to digitize your favorite axe.

Be warned, though: this project isn’t for the inexperienced. PC Magazine’s description assumes a lot of prior knowledge – not to mention access to some pretty hefty power tools – and sums what has to be a day’s worth of work into ten steps. If that doesn’t cool your ardor though, we say go for it, and make sure you use a guitar that’s enjoyable to play.
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