| Goodbye OCZ, and Thanks for the Drives Posted: 27 Nov 2013 03:26 PM PST  Enthusiast PC brand bites the dust
It's the end of an era, folks. If you've been around the PC building block awhile, you'll recall how OCZ Technology started off as an enthusiast memory maker over a decade ago. OCZ ducked out of the struggling DRAM business in January 2011 to focus on the more profitable solid state drive (SSD) market, but even that proved difficult to navigate. With no other recourse in sight, OCZ is filing for bankruptcy. According to Reuters, OCZ said it "substantially completed" negotiations with Toshiba to sell the company's assets. Once the paperwork with Toshiba (and Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc., one of its lenders) is completed, OCZ will file a petition for bankruptcy. It's been a rough road for OCZ since the DRAM's glory days when a stick a high performance RAM commanded a king's ransom. OCZ made a series of moves to keep itself in the game, such as acquiring former boutique system builder Hypersonic PC only to shut down the venture three years later. The company also purchased PC Power and Cooling, a maker of super reliable power supplies (a number of which we picked to power various Dream Machine configurations throughout the years), and continued to sell power supplies under that brand up until the end. Also on the list of acquisitions is Indlinix, which builds controller chipsets for SSDs. Despite all the moves OCZ made, the company hasn't posted an annual profit in five years. Stripped of cash, OCZ would have had to file for bankruptcy immediately and liquidate its assets had Toshiba not stepped in with an offer. 
The writing was the wall for a long time now. Back in August, OCZ retained Deutsche Bank AG to help it evaluate strategic options, serving as an indication that things had gone from bad to worse. And in November of last year, OCZ had slashed 28 percent of its staff and dropped 150 of its product lines after having hired a new CEO to address a growing credibility problem. While we're not particulary stunned by the news, we're bummed that it had to end this way for OCZ, especially right before the holidays. Our best wishes go out to OCZ's staff, some of which will hopefully find employment at Toshiba. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Planning to Discount Thousands of Items for Black Friday, Opens Public Showroom Posted: 27 Nov 2013 12:20 PM PST  Sit, click, and save
Newegg today revealed its plans for Black Friday, part of which will include big discounts of up to 85 percent on more than 3,000 products throughout its virtual store. Newegg's Black Friday discounts will take place over the course of the next two days, some highlights of which include a Polk Audio subwoofer discounted 64 percent, Samsung TVs at up to 45 percent off, and plenty more. We'll be cherry picking some of the best deals on core PC products for inclusion in our Black Friday roundup, so be sure to bookmark that page and check it often. Newegg's discounted prices will take effect today at 1PM Pacific / 4PM Eastern, and will also be visible on Newegg's mobile app for iOS, Android, and Windows. Discounts aren't the only thing keeping Newegg busy these days. The e-tailer is opening a Hybrid Center this Friday. Customers will be able to use the facility to pick up orders, as well as play Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games on a 4K TV. Other products will be available for hands-on testing too. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Steam Autumn Sales Kicks Off Today, Runs Until December 3 Posted: 27 Nov 2013 11:09 AM PST  Bad news for your wallet
There's a reason your wallet is cowering in the corner in the fetal position, it knows it's about to be gutted. That's the inevitable fate that befalls the funds of gamers each and every time Valve decide to hold a major sale on Steam, and today marks the beginning of Steam's autumn sale. Big discounts ensure you'll lighten your load of cash while you beef up your games collection with titles you may have missed out on. For example, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is marked down 75 percent to just $7.49, an absolute steal for the amount of hours you'll log playing it. If you somehow missed out on Left 4 Dead 2 all this time, five bucks puts it in your games library. Other notable sale items include The Walking Dead ($6.24), Crysis 2 Maximum Edition ($7.49), and Sleeping Dogs ($4.99). Steam will be marking down games as part of its autumn sale up through December 3. These will include daily deals, flash sales, and general discounts on thousands of titles. If you haven't down so in awhile, now would be a good time to update your Wishlist so you can be notified when a game you're jonesing for goes on sale. Happy shopping! Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Hewlett-Packard's 4Q Revenue Tops $29.1 Billion, Beats Expectations Posted: 27 Nov 2013 09:15 AM PST  Investors react positively to HP's revenue results
Hewlett-Packard's fourth quarter net revenue slipped 3 percent year-over-year (or 1 percent when adjusted for the effects of currency) to $29.1 billion, though analysts were expecting a bigger decline. Part of the reason why HP exceeded expectations is because it was propped up by growth in its Enterprise Group (servers, software, storage, and networking products), which was up 2 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. "Through improved execution, strong cost management, and with the support of our customers and partners, HP ended fiscal 2013 on a high note," said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. "Our Q4 results demonstrate that HP's turnaround remains on track heading into fiscal 2014. While we still have much more work to do, our business units and their core assets are delivering on HP's strategy to help customers thrive by providing solutions for the New Style of IT." Investors certainly seem sold on HP's claim that its turnaround efforts are working. HP's share price is up over 7 percent following news of its Q4 results. HP, now the world's second largest PC company in terms of shipments, said that revenue from its Personal Systems division was down 2 percent year-over-year. Interestingly, total units were up 2 percent thanks in large part to growing notebook sales, which jumped 3 percent. Desktop sales fell 5 percent. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Zotac Introduces First Zbox Nano to Wield a Quad Core Processor Posted: 27 Nov 2013 08:29 AM PST  Tiny box packs four processing cores
Looking for a small PC? It doesn't get too much smaller that Zotac's Zbox Nano line of mini PCs, which you can tuck neatly out of sight behind your monitor for a home brewed all-in-one experience. These aren't typically powerhouse systems, though for the first time, you can get quad-core processing from a Zbox Nano machine. The new Zbox Nano AQ01 features an AMD A4-5000 APU clocked at 1.5GHz with Radeon HD 8330 graphics. "Our Zbox Nano form factor is well-regarded for its compact size and energy-efficiency. With the latest AMD A4-5000 APU, we're able to boost performance all around while reducing maximum energy consumption compared to our previous generation with the Zotac Zbox Nano AQ01 series," said Carsten Berger, senior director, Zotac International. It's a fairly robust system considering its diminuitive footprint. In addition to the quad-core AMD chip, it also features a single DDR3 SO-DIMM slot (supports up to 8GB of RAM), 2.5-inch drive bay, HDMI and DisplayPort output, 7-in-1 media card reader, GbE LAN, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, five USB 2.0 ports (two up front and three on back), two USB 3.0 ports (both on back), mini-Optical S/PDIF and analog combo port, and a bundled VESA mount. 
All you have to do is populate the RAM slot and drive bay, and you're good to go. Alternately, you can opt for the Plus model, which comes with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB (5400 RPM) HDD pre-installed. Either way, be advised that you'll need to add an operating system, which you can install via a USB thumb drive or from an external optical drive. No word yet on price or availability. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 240GB SSD, Asus Z87-A Mobo, and More! Posted: 27 Nov 2013 06:37 AM PST |
