If you’ve ever lusted over one of Wacom’s LCD/tablet Cintiqs, but could never justify the $1,000+ price tag, perhaps $220-240 plus a little bit of elbow grease might seem like an affordable compromise. TabletMod.com is currently selling a DIY kit that turns a small collection of Wacom tablets, like the Intuos2 9×12, the Intuos3 A4 or the Intuos4 Large into fully functional Cintiq-like devices, minus all the polish and anti-fingerprint magic of the real thing.

The whole conversion process looks a little intense, and I’ll be honest, when you factor in the price of a large Wacom tablet, the kit itself, and the extra hardware you’ll need to buy like a laptop LCD display which isn’t included, you’re probably better off to just spring for one of the lower-end Cintiqs, instead of voiding a whole whack of warranties.

[ TabletMod.com ] VIA [ Hack a Day ]

By Evan Ackerman

Less than $100 probably means $99.99, but that doesn’t change the fact that the 2.5″ Onyx SSD from OCZ is actually in the realm of casually affordable, a first for SSDs. We’re used to seeing SSD drives that offer incredible performance, but at a price point that makes most of us just sigh sadly. The OCZ Onyx, while offering only modest speeds (125 MB/s read and 70 MB/s write) relative to other SSDs, is still fast enough that you’d notice a significant difference in load times if you stick your operating system on it. Unsurprisingly, the drive only has a capacity of 32 gigs, so your operating system may be the only thing you can stick on it, but that’s okay.

Even if the speed and size aren’t that impressive, don’t forget about the other benefits of SSDs: they’re light, shockproof, durable, and use up a heck of a lot less power than conventional drives since they don’t have anything inside them that needs to be kept spinning at several thousand RPM all the time.

$100 is not going to get you some kind of incredibly awesome SSD drive. But it will get you this SSD drive, which, for the cost, is way better than no SSD drive at all.

[ Press Release ] VIA [ HotHardware ]

Automotive repair is as much a mystery to me as brain surgery, rocket science and basic dinner etiquette (nap-kin?) but thanks to a childhood spent watching cartoons I know that improperly tightening a bolt here and there on a car can lead to hilarious consequences. So if you do endeavor to fix your ride on your own, a torque wrench is a handy tool to have in your kit, but we prefer this digital adapter instead.

Besides a handful of buttons (for changing units, remembering a measurement etc.) and a tiny LCD which is enough to get us to buy any old device, the Powerbuilt Digital Torque Adapter can be used with any standard ratchet, giving you accurate feedback on how tight a bolt really is. It’s available from Amazon for just $49.99, and if you think you don’t need one because you already have an analog torque wrench, you’d be wrong. The adapter can also be used to calibrate a regular torque wrench, which in the long run could probably save you money if you were used to paying a professional to do it.

[ Mavromatic - Powerbuilt Digital Torque Adaptor – My Favorite Tools – March 2010 ]

Last year we had a brief hands-on with Unisen’s wireless compact keyboard & touchpad device, and while it’s served its purpose well, we’ve already got the hankering to upgrade to this little beauty from Brando. The Rii mini wireless keyboard looks like a display-less cellphone, but it’s designed to control a Windows or Linux based PC via a wireless 2.4GHz RF connection with a decent range of about 30 meters.

All of the keys are backlit, making it particularly useful in a darkened home theater, and the rechargeable lithium-ion battery has a standby time of around 500 to 700 hours, though there’s no mention of how long it will last with regular use. The square shaped touchpad allows it to be used in either a horizontal or vertical orientation, but there’s also a miniature 4-way directional pad that most likely doubles as your standard arrow keys. And if you’re using it in a business or office environment to control a slideshow, there’s even a built-in laser pointer which is a plus for any gadget. Now the $92.00 price tag from Brando is a bit steep, so I imagine a lot of people who might be interested in the keyboard will be holding off until someone posts a review confirming it works as claimed.

[ Rii Mini Wireless Keyboard ] VIA [ The Gadgeteer ]

Today Wacom unveiled a “newly-redesigned” Cintiq 21UX, and while it doesn’t look considerably different than its predecessors, there are a few interesting updates to note. First off, the 21.3-inch LCD tablet can now detect 2048 levels of pressure, and that in conjunction with the stylus’s new Tip Sensor means you’ll have more control over pressure-sensitive tools, and you won’t have to press as hard, which is nice if you go through stylus tips as often as I do.

But the biggest addition is a pair of rear-mounted Touch Strips on either side of the display which work with a set of Toggle Buttons on the front, allowing you to quickly switch between up to 4 different application-specific functions, theoretically making your productivity skyrocket. $1,999 available from Wacom sometime in April.

[ Wacom Cintiq 21UX ]

Microsoft has managed to cram a lot of extra functionality into this Bluetooth mouse, including the ability to control a PowerPoint presentation or a home theater PC, a laser pointer for being ‘that guy’ in the meeting and a usable wireless range of about 30 feet. But I can’t help but feel that after just a few weeks of regular mousing the labels on those buttons on the underside of the mouse are going to get rubbed off, making it a crapshoot when it comes to figuring out which one does what. I mean for $79.95 the least they could have done is etched them into the plastic or something, but maybe I’m putting too much thought into this…

[ Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000 ] VIA [ GadgetGrid ]

Technically any keyboard can be used for video editing if you’re handy with shortcuts, but the Greditor GR100 from CodeAct makes it slightly easier with a built-in jog/shuttle wheel and dedicated editing buttons to the right of the numeric keypad. The additional controls are compatible with popular video editing software like Adobe’s Premiere, and in theory since it can be configured via software, you should be able to use them with any app you choose. Just keep in mind that since it’s from a Korean manufacturer there could be a language barrier with the configuration software. ~$270 from Geek Stuff 4 U.

[ CodeAct GR100 Video Editing Keyboard ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

Wacom has finally joined the fight in the battle against cable clutter with their new Intuos 4 Wireless edition. The new medium-sized tablet connects to your PC via Bluetooth allowing you to wander up to 33 feet away while still using it. Now I’m not sure how productive you’d be 33 feet away from your monitor, but for artists who like to sit their tablets in their laps, this will be a welcome upgrade.

It still comes with a USB connection and cable which is used for charging the tablet or using it when the battery is dead, and it’s available now for $399.

[ Wacom Intuos 4 Wireless ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

By Evan Ackerman

We’ve all got an old fish tank lying around in the garage from our childhood, and Puget Systems has a pretty good idea of what can be with it. They’re selling a complete DIY kit to submerge your entire computer (except for the drives, of course) in a fish tank full of mineral oil. Since mineral oil is non-conductive to electricity but a good conductor of heat, it makes for a much better cooling solution than air, allowing you to overlock your hardware to the maxxx… A backpack of sorts pumps the oil past a bunch of fans to transfer heat out of the tank.

You can get other liquid cooling systems that are a little bit more integrated into a case, but then you have to worry about leakage and stuff, and anyway, it’s far less dramatic. The tank with the external cooling system will run you about $290; you provide your own fish tank, aquarium rocks, and bubbler. You can also get the system with a tank for about $500.

[ Puget Systems ] VIA [ Tom's Hardware ]

And on the other end of the USB accessories spectrum comes this 4-port hub from Loas which as far as I can tell is as small as a 4-port USB hub is ever going to get. Feature-wise it’s pretty basic, which is what I expect from a hub, with support for the important flavors of Windows and OS X as well as 4 different colors to choose from including black, pink, silver and white.

[ Compact Loas 4-Port USB Hub ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]