| Newegg Daily Deals: Asus ROG Poseidon GTX 780 Graphics Card, WD Black 1TB HDD, and More! Posted: 16 Oct 2014 10:07 AM PDT |
| HP to Stick a Fork in webOS, Preps Complete Shutdown of Services on January 15, 2015 Posted: 16 Oct 2014 09:55 AM PDT  Somebody start playing Taps
Palm had a potential winner in webOS, the mobile operating system that truly could have been awesome. Unfortunately, a series of missteps led to webOS falling out of relevance as Android and iOS raced to the front of the pack, so now all we can do is look back at what might have been. Oh, and make no mistake, webOS is pretty much history at this point -- so much so that HP announced plans to shut down its App Catalog and cloud services support for remaining webOS devices effective January 15, 2015. For the three or four of you who this affects, mark your calendars. "We appreciate your loyalty to the webOS platform," HP said in a succinct statement accompanying the announcement. There's also an FAQ that sheds more light on HP's decision to call it a night. HP explains that it's part of an ordelry end of life program, noting that it announced the end of webOS devices (phones and tablets) over three years ago. The company kept its services running as a courtesy to its customers, but now that the "user count has dwindled," HP says it's no longer viable to keep doing so. For those of you who still own a webOS device, it will continue to work beyond January 15, 2015, though you won't be able to download new apps or updates, backup or restore from the cloud, setup new devices, or recover lost passwords. If you purchased an app but have yet to download it, now is a good time to snag it -- the HP App Catalog will be unavailable after the shutdown. Image Credit: Flickr (Lisa Brewster) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Linksys Rolls Out a Pair of High End Wireless AC Routers Posted: 16 Oct 2014 09:34 AM PDT  Dual-band or tri-band, take your pick
It's getting a bit difficult to keep up with the fast evolving wireless router market, as newer and faster models built around the Wireless-AC standard keep coming out a furious pace. One of the most active players in the high-end router game is Linksys, which just announced two new models -- the Linksys AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router (EA9200) and the Linksys AC2400 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Router (E8350). "Linksys is all about quality and performance. Our goal with these new routers is to provide a solution that will help families who have a lot of devices connected to the internet wirelessly achieve better performance on each device or for single users that demand high performance on a single device such as gaming or streaming video," said Mike Chen, vice president product development, Linksys. ""We have been working closely with our vendors to design and engineer these routers so they have advantages to outperform and provide the value consumers are looking for in high end routers." The EA9200 Tri-Band model features six active antennas -- three on the outside and three more on the inside -- to provide six data streams. It also has a dual-core 1GHz CPU with three integrated co-processors for a total of 2.96GHz of penta-core processing power, which is used in part to drive the device's Smart functions. There are three radios in all, including a single 2.4GHz radio with data transfer rates of up to 600Mbps (three spatial streams) and two 5GHz radios, each of which supports data transfer rates of up to 1300Mbps (three spatial streams). Though you can't combine all three channels into a single connection, Linksys adds the maximum data transfer speeds together to arrive at its AC3200 designation (600 + 1300 + 1300). It's a bit of a dubious practice, though one that all router makers participate in. As for the E8350, it sports two radios with data transfer rates of up to 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band (three spatial streams with 256QAM) and up to 1733Mbps on the 5GHz band (four spatial streams). There are four removable and adjustable antennas. According to Linksys, the E8350 provides the best overall performance to single devices that require high bandwidth, such as video streaming or online gaming. The AC2400 (E8350) will be available today for $250 MSRP; the AC3200 (EA9200) will be released to retail this weekend for $300 MSRP. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| FSP Brings the Juice with 80 Plus Platinum Aurum PT Power Supply Line Posted: 16 Oct 2014 09:02 AM PDT  Keeping things tidy with modular cables
FSP's new 80 Plus Platinum certified Aurum PT power supply family leaves few, if any stones unturned. Available in 850W, 1000W, and even 1200W models, the high-end Aurum PT line boasts super high efficiency (over 92 percent), enough wattage to run the most demanding gaming systems, flat-ribbon modular cables to help keep the inside of your case nice and clutter free (as possible), and a neat looking design, in case the opportunity to show off your PSU ever presents itself. According to FSP, the Aurum PT uses full industrial grade Japanese capacitors and solid capacitors on the secondary side to ensure that the single +12V rail design delivers consistent, ripple-free power. The new PSU family also features FSP's proprietary "E-Sync Remote-Sensing" technology to provide synchronized 3.3V/5V/12V with a stable signal. Cooling chores are handled by a 135mm fluid dynamic bearing fan that supposedly stays cool and silent even during gaming sessions, and arrow-shaped ventilation holes that were aerodynamically designed to improve air extraction (FSP's claim, not ours). These PSUs ship with eight PCI-E 6+2 pin connectors to support up to four graphics cards, along with enough cables and connectors to hook up 13 SATA devices. The Aurum PT series is available now for $220 (850W), $240 (1000W), and $280 (1200W) MSRP, all backed by 7-year warranties. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| MSI Injects Gaming All-in-One Systems with Nvidia's Latest Mobile GPUs Posted: 16 Oct 2014 08:41 AM PDT  High power gaming on an all-in-one
MSI has gone and upgraded its 27-inch all-in-one gaming PCs with Nvidia's recently announced Maxwell-based mobile GPUs, the GeForce GTX 970M and 980M. These are supposedly the first AIO systems to feature Maxwell in mobile form, though the story doesn't end there -- they also feature a 4th generation Intel Core i7 4860HQ quad-core processor clocked at 2.4GHz (up to 3.6GHz via Turbo) and up to 16GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM. The 27-inch display on both the AG270 2QC (GTX 970M) and AG270 2QE (GTX 980M) models features a Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) resolution with multi-touch support, anti-flicker technology, and "Less Blue Light" technology applied to its anti-glare implementation -- according to MSI, the end result is less eyestrain during extended gaming sessions. "To provide gamers with an even better gaming experience, the AG270 uses an anti-glare matte display featuring Anti-Flicker technology, which stabilizes the electrical current to prevent serious flickering seen in standard displays. Together with Less Blue Light technology, this helps to reduce eye fatigue after extended use while also enhancing the quality of the gaming environment," MSI explains. Other features include Killer E2200 LAN, up to three mSATA SSDs in RAID 0, 3.5-inch HDD (various options), Blu-ray writer, dual Yamaha 5W speakers, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, four USB 3.0 ports (one with Super Charger technology), two USB 2.0 ports, a 3-in-1 card reader, 2MP webcam, HDMI input, HDMI output, VGA output, microphone and headphone jacks, and Windows 8.1. Depending on the exact configuration, these systems are pretty pricey. We've only spotted a few so far online, which ranged from around $2,100 to $2,700. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Lian Li's PC-T80 Open Air Test Bench Supports Liquid Cooling Posted: 16 Oct 2014 08:17 AM PDT  Keep those cups of coffee far, far away
Open air test benches aren't for everyone. Your mom and pop? They're probably not candidates. In fact, we'd venture to guess that the vast majority would prefer a traditional closed case. That's not to say there isn't a market for test benches -- reviewers, frequent upgraders, and those who are always tinkering will see the value in such a design. There aren't a ton to choose from, though the market for open air test benches did just grow by one with the introduction of Lian Li's PC-T80. Or it grew it two, if you want to consider the black (PC-T80X) and silver (PC-T80A) color options as two totally different beasts. Color differences aside, the PC-T80 follows in the footsteps of Lian Li's PC-T60 but adds native radiator support and a more modular design. It measures 17.3 (W) x 17.1 (H) x 13.1 (D) inches (440mm x 435mm x 335mm) and is separated into three zones. Up top is a dual-functioning bracket to install radiators up to 360mm or three 3.5-inch/2.5-inch HDDs. According to Lian Li, the HDD cage and power supply location in the lower zone can be exchanged without much effort, and if you need it, an additional HDD cage can be installed in the lower zone. The PC-T80 supports motherboards up to XL-ATX. It uses a tool-less mounting system for HDDs and features a pre-cut motherboard tray for the optional installation of USB and multimedia port connector cables. Both the silver and black PC-T80 models will be available soon for $169 (MSRP). Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
