For behind the scenes pictures, stories and special contests, follow us on Facebook!
Subscribe:

Tag Archives: computer

Acer Recalls Predator Gaming Rigs Due To Melting Cases

By Chris Scott Barr on 03/20/09 • 3 Comments

predator

By Chris Scott Barr

It seems like PC gamers are always looking for that next hot piece of hardware (I’d know, I’m one of them), be it a new graphics card, CPU or even a whole new PC. Of course you don’t actually want something that is physically hot, since that generally leads to some major issues. Sometimes it makes a chip fail, other times it makes your freaking case melt. Never heard of a computer that got so hot that it actually started to melt the case? Let me introduce you to the Acer Predator.

Yesterday Acer issued a voluntary recall of around 215 Predator gaming PCs. Apparently some of the internal wiring insulation can become stripped and cause the wires to overheat. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website it can result in melted internal components and external casing. So far there have only been two reports of this occurring and no injuries.

[ CPSC ] VIA [ Crave ]

Psystar Further Taunts Apple By Releasing Yet Another OSX Desktop

By Chris Scott Barr on 03/19/09 • 4 Comments

open3

By Chris Scott Barr

I’ve been an avid Mac user since my dad purchased our first one back in the early 90′s. There was a period of a few years where my house was strictly PC-based. This wasn’t because I had a change of heart, but rather due to the fact that I’m a gamer, and Macs are very pricey. If you want to pick up a Mac for under a grand, you’ll have to either go with a Mac Mini, or the low-end Macbook. Either way you choose, you’re still not going to get the same amount of power as you would with a comparably priced PC.

Another option, of course is to make your own Hackintosh, which (and I speak from experience) can be a bit of a pain to initially setup. The result is a machine that runs OSX (just as well as any machine from Apple), and is more cost-effective than a real Mac. One other choice is to order a computer from Psystar. Yes, I’m talking about the company that still has an ongoing lawsuit with Apple. They’re back in the news with their third OSX-enabled offering dubbed the Open(3).

… Continue Reading

Averatec’s AIO Is Just A Notebook With A Large Monitor

By Chris Scott Barr on 03/17/09 • 5 Comments

averatec-d1133

By Chris Scott Barr

Ever since Apple popularized the all-in-one computer other companies have attempted to recreate its success. So far none have managed to create such a stir, though a few models have done well. Every now and then I see one that just looks like the company half-assed it. In that spirit, I give you the Averatec D1133.


Am I the only one that thinks they simply took a laptop, removed the screen and set a slightly larger one on top? Heck, it even looks like a rather bulky laptop base. Now you’ve got a computer that looks like a laptop, feels like a laptop, but isn’t portable like a laptop. Great. Well if you don’t mind the odd appearance, here are the specs for the D1133:

  • AMD Athlon X2 1.5Ghz
  • 18.4″ display (1680×945, 16:9) with 1.3 Megapixel webcam
  • 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, DVD drive
  • USB 2 (4), eSATA (1), Audio in/out, 10/100 Ethernet, DVI, 4:1 flash reader, WIFI-G
  • ATI Radeon HD 3200 GPU
  • Vista Home Basic

No word yet on pricing or availability.

[ Averatec ] VIA [ Ubergizmo ]

Zypad WR1100 Rugged Wrist Wearable Wireless Computer

By Andrew Liszewski on 03/13/09 • 8 Comments

Zypad WR1100 Rugged Wrist Wearable Wireless Computer (Images courtesy Parvus & Matt Groening)
By Andrew Liszewski

The first time we brought you one of Parvus’ wearable wrist computers was waaaaay back in 2006 with their Zypad WL1000 model. While that version was targeted torwards the consumer market, their latest model, the WR1100, seems more suited for those in the military or law enforcement fields. Powered by a custom Linux OS, the WR1100 features a 3.5-inch 640×480 touchscreen with an automatic contrast mode allowing it to be used even in direct sunlight. The fiberglass-reinforced nylon/magnesium alloy case is designed to be extremely durable yet lightweight, and the unit is rugged enough to withstand water, dust, extreme temperatures and other harsh operating conditions.

Functionality-wise, the Zypad features everything from GPS to Wi-Fi to even Bluetooth and Zigbee support allowing the device to communicate with other users and other electronics while you’re ‘in the field’, wherever that may be. At 23 ounces it’s probably not the lightest thing you’ll ever strap to your wrist, but if you don’t want the hassle of digging a PDA out of your pocket while hanging off the side of a cliff, this is probably your best option. And on a side note, it’s also suitable for Leela cosplay.

[ Parvus Zypad WR1100 ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

MSI Releases The Wind Nettop CS120

By Chris Scott Barr on 03/13/09 • Leave a comment!

msi-wind-nettop

By Luke Anderson

Not long ago I decided to switch out the hardware on my personal NAS. I had an old Athlon system that was of little other use running FreeNAS, which served my needs. Honestly, the thing was a bit loud, and probably used a bit more power than was really necessary (okay, I was just looking for an excuse to upgrade). So I bought a cheap Atom-based CPU/Motherboard combo and switched things out. I was able to switch to a better-looking case thanks to the smaller board, and now I can’t even hear it running. I’ve been tempted to use similar hardware to make a new HTPC, but I haven’t found a case that I quite like. Of course I may just hold out for one of the new MSI Wind Nettop CS120′s.

MSI just announced the availability of their new Wint Nettop, which offers a lot in a tiny package. Obviously the small size will make it great for sitting in the living room, but that’s not the best feature. Between having a slot-loading DVD burner, 7.1 channel audio support, built-in WiFi and nearly-silent operation, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better solution (at least in this price bracket). Other specs include a 1.6GHz Atom 230 CPU, 1GB of DDR2 (expanable to 2GB), a 160GB hard drive, a CompactFlash slot and a copy of Windows XP Home. All of this will set you back only $299. Just download Boxee and get yourself a Netflix subscription and you’ve got a kick-ass little HTPC.

[ MSI ]

MSI Unveils Their Winki Instant-On OS

By Chris Scott Barr on 03/06/09 • 2 Comments

small_msi_winki

By Luke Anderson

Despite my love for tech, rarely do I dabble into the world of Linux. I stick to my PC for gaming and my Mac for most other tasks. Don’t get me wrong, I do know it has it’s uses, it’s just not my thing. One thing that I’ve always liked is how quickly you can get some distros to load up, since I hate waiting around for Windows or even my Mac to start up. The dream is of course an instant-on OS, which MSI has developed specifically for several of their boards, dubbed Winki.

Naturally, the OS is Linux-based and is contained on a small flash drive which plugs directly into the USB headers on the board itself. Granted, this isn’t the first such instant-on OS to be created, but MSI claims that it is much more elaborate than the ones we have seen in the past. It will be interesting to see which boards this will be compatible with, and whether they will eventually make it available on all boards.

VIA [ Engadget ]

Asus Shows Off Eee Keyboard

By Chris Scott Barr on 03/03/09 • Leave a comment!

eee-keyboard

By Luke Anderson

I’ve always been a big fan of Asus products. I’ve only built a few computers of my own that didn’t use a board made by them. They gained even more of my respect when they released the Eee PC and took the market by storm. Of course they’ve released several updates to the line and are now working on the Eee Keyboard. As you can imagine, it’s a computer built entirely into a keyboard. We saw it briefly at CES, but now we’ve got some specs to chew on.

This isn’t the first computer to be crammed inside of a keyboard, however, it’s most certainly the best-looking one I’ve seen. Packing a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of DDR2 RAM and either a 16GB or 32GB SSD drive, this will be comparable to some of the other Eee line. Other awesome features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, Wireless HDMI and a 5-inch touchscreen. It also has a regular HDMI port, VGA, 3 USB ports and audio in/out jacks. We’re still not sure what the price tag is going to be, but if they can keep the pricing close to what we’ve seen in some of the other Eee products, this could be very promising.

VIA [ SlashGear ]

Buy A New PC After July 1st, Get Free Upgrade To Windows 7

By Chris Scott Barr on 02/13/09 • Leave a comment!

windows_7_upgrade

By Luke Anderson

I’ve been checking out Windows 7 since the beta opened up a little while ago, and have thus far been fairly pleased with it. I’m not a huge Vista hater (I can’t say that I’m in love with it either) but I’m looking forward to the new OS so that I can go ahead and upgrade. I always hate this period of time between operating systems because end-users are sort of in limbo. Everyone is hearing how great the new version is going to be, but they want to upgrade their system now. So what does one do? Well my suggestion this time around would be to wait until July 1st of this year to get a new computer.

Seems like a pretty specific date to be buying a computer, but it’ll definitely be worth the wait. You see, if you purchase a computer after this date, you’ll be able to upgrade to Windows 7 for free (once it is released, of course). The only snag here is that some OEMs may not opt to participate in this promotion, so you’ll need to read the fine print. For those that do take advantage of it, you’ll be in a win-win situation. You’ll have your new hardware now, and you’ll get the new software when it hits without paying extra. Even better, if for some reason Windows 7 ends up worse than Vista (at this point it would take a lot to make it that bad), you can keep Vista.

[ TechARP ] VIA [ BoingBoing ]

Recompute Goes Green With A Cardboard Case

By Chris Scott Barr on 02/10/09 • Leave a comment!

recompute

By Luke Anderson

There’s all sorts of talk about “going green” with technology these days. So you’ve upgraded to the most energy-efficient chipset and your power consumption is almost negligent, but how “green” is your computer’s case? Well if having the most eco-friendly computer is your goal, I doubt that anything can top this recycled cardboard case concept.

This design seems pretty interesting, if you don’t mind staring at a cardboard box. The creators were concerned with making a computer that used low-impact manufacturing processes. You don’t get much more low-impact than corrugated cardboard. It is only a basic computer, certainly nothing a gamer would want to use, but it gets the job done, and is actually more heat resistant than a plastic case.

… Continue Reading

Copyright © 2013 OhGizmo!