Hasta La Gadget!

For a motherboard, the G1 Assassin from Gigabyte sure is gaudy and actually rather interesting. First off, that Killer E2100 networking solution from Bigfoot has been integrated into the board, as has Creative’s X-Fi audio. The three-year-old X58 chipset at its heart is starting to look a little long in the tooth but, with support for three-way SLI or four-way CrossFireX, 24GB of RAM, and Intel’s Extreme Edition processors, you probably won’t miss Sandy Bridge too much. Starting at around $450 the Assassin isn’t for everyone, but hardcore gamers determined to squeeze every ounce of performance from of their setup will not be disappointed. The one unfortunate fault of the G1 is timing — the next-gen of high-end performance parts from Chipzilla are right around the corner. Though, that banana clip-shaped heat sink has to count for something. We know you like benchmarks, so check out the reviews below.

Read – HotHardware
Read – Legit Reviews
Read – Overclock 3D
Read – TechRadar

Gigabyte G1 Assassin motherboard is a last-gen gamer’s dream come true originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What do you do the day after an arsenal of new Apple products are announced? Why, take them apart as soon as you can get your hands on them, of course! Wouldn’t ya know it, iFixit is at it again — this time, tearing down the new Mac mini. At first glance, the only noticeable difference is the inclusion of the powerful Thunderbolt port. Once under the hood, though, a second hard drive port was spotted, along with just enough space for a second storage device. Perhaps the only thing standing the way of a dual HDD welding compact desktop is your ability to secure another SATA cable. If you want to give it a shot, the updated mini scored a solid eight out of ten in the repairability category as the machine had no proprietary screws or glue. Moreover, easy access makes a DIY RAM upgrade a piece of cake, especially when you’re already in there adding that extra disk. So if you’re looking to get your teardown feet wet, swan dive right in.

Update: Sure, you can get dual HDDs straight from the Apple store, but you’ll pay dearly for it. As in, the base Mac mini will run you $1550 — and that’s for the only option: a 750 GB ATA and a 256 GB SSD. The other option is to splurge for the Lion Server model, where dual 500 GB or dual 750 GB options are available. Still, going this route will set you back at least $1000. Since these bad boys are so easy to work on, you’d put far less strain on your wallet by going the DIY route.

New Mac mini gets iFixit teardown treatment, leaves space for 2nd hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Need a miniature desktop to match that petite MacBook Air that Apple just refreshed? Well, there’s a Mac for that. The new Mac mini packs an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, Thunderbolt, AMD Radeon HD graphics, and Mac OS X Lion. Notably absent, however, is that familiar front-facing SuperDrive slot. Starting at $599 with a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5, the new models include Turbo Boost 2.0, letting you crank up the speed to 3.4GHz when using processor-intensive applications. Apple also announced a $999 server version that ships with a Core i7 processor and OS X Lion Server. As with the previous generation, the mini doesn’t sacrifice on connectivity, including gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, HDMI, SDXC, audio in and out, Thunderbolt (with support for up to six devices), and four USB 2.0 ports on the rear. There’s also 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. The Mac mini is available for purchase online today, and in Apple retail stores tomorrow.

Continue reading Apple updates Mac mini: Core i5 and i7, Thunderbolt, AMD Radeon HD, no SuperDrive

Apple updates Mac mini: Core i5 and i7, Thunderbolt, AMD Radeon HD, no SuperDrive originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on December 10, 2010 by CyberNet.

Windows only
One of the features in Windows 7/Vista that I use quite regularly is the ability to click on the time in the System Tray to reveal a month-to-month calendar. The only problem is that some of the systems I use on a regular basis are stilling running Windows XP, but in situations like that I fallback to a solution I’ve been using for years… a customized wallpaper for the desktop.

Lately I’ve been using a free app called SE-DesktopContructor that works really well. You can have it put both a clock and calendar on your desktop, and it works with custom images if you have an existing background that you’re particularly fond of already. Personally I opt for the solid black background for simplicity sake.

Here’s a rundown of my favorite things in SE-DesktopConstructor:

• Customizable colors along with preset themes.
• Adjust the positioning of clock/calendar using a drag-and-drop interface – remember, these are not widgets so any changes to the position will need to be made from within the settings interface.
• Turn on/off the display of the clock and calendar depending on your own needs.
• Automatically updates background as time/date changes.
• Portable version is available.

The only thing I don’t like is that I can’t set the clock to a 12-hour format, but they do have some analog styles available if you’d rather go that route.

SE-DesktopConstructor is available in both installable and portable formats. It will always need to be running if you want the wallpaper to automatically update, otherwise killing the app leaves the modified wallpaper in place. In my tests it only used up about 11MB of memory, and didn’t use any CPU except for the split-second that it makes the wallpaper change at the turn of each minute.

SE-DesktopConstructor Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Dynamic Time-Based Earth WallpaperAutomatically Rotate Desktop WallpapersOfficial Google Calendar Gadget For Personalized HomepageGoogle Calendar Gets Some New FeaturesA New Computer Wallpaper For Firefox Fans

Is it just us or do all-in-ones seem to be having a moment? Over the past two months, we’ve seen Toshiba make a belated jump into the market, while Lenovo went and added one to its family of Think-branded laptops and desktops. And that’s not even counting models by old-timers like Apple, Dell, and MSI. And then there’s HP, which has been making touchscreen all-in-ones for three years — long before they were a thing. The company’s had plenty of time to fine-tune its finger-friendly TouchSmart software, and now, its newest model, the TouchSmart 610 ($899 and up), ushers in a fresh design, highlighted by a hinge that allows the display to slide down and lie nearly flat. Although it’s been shipping since this spring, it’s only been available with Sandy Bridge for about a month now. We took one of these tricked-out beasts into our living room and got reacquainted with the comforts of not-so-mobile computing. At the risk of spoiling everything, we think this should be on your shortlist if you’re considering an all-in-one, especially one with a big ‘ol touchscreen. Read on to find out why.

Continue reading HP TouchSmart 610 review

HP TouchSmart 610 review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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