Super Mini Mouse - Rechargeable

BLUETAKE BT500+ BLUETOOTH SUPER MINI MOUSE



Bluetake Technology Co., one of the leading manufacturers of Bluetooth products, recently developed a rechargeable Bluetooth mouse. After reviewing Bluetake's BT510 Bluetooth Mini Mouse we were ecstatic to receive one of their newer Bluetooth peripherals, the BT500+ Bluetooth Rechargeable Super Mini Mouse. Based on their design of the original Bluetake BT500 Mouse, the BT500+ comes equipped with some enhanced features, including a 10 meter radio coverage, 800 dpi optical resolution and "super" mini size.

The one feature that we felt was missing from the BT510 was recharging capabilities. By adding this key feature, the BT500+ is definitely a Bluetooth mouse to consider.

Compared to the previously reviewed BT510 Bluetooth Mouse, the BT500+ is much smaller. When they say super mini mouse, they mean it's super mini. I happen to have large hands, which make this mouse very awkward to use, especially after using a normal size mouse all my life. For someone who travels a lot, this mouse hardly takes up any room in a laptop bag and the included carrying case is very convenient. The mouse and a Bluetooth adapter fit nicely in the bag.

Bluetooth Device

Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000




When you think of Microsoft, the first thing that comes to mind is Windows, Explorer and Office. But a leader in the computer peripheral industry? Not quite. However, with the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000, Microsoft has a made a strong effort to join in on the expanding Bluetooth peripheral market.

The Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 is a high-end performance keyboard and mouse combination that comes equipped with many innovative features. As with the Logitech diNovo Edge Bluetooth keyboard, the Wireless Entertainment Keyboard is remarkably thin and attractively designed. Not only do you get a fully functional Bluetooth keyboard, you also receive the Wireless Laser Mouse 8000, one of Microsoft’s top Bluetooth hardware products.

The Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 has a sleek design, unique features, impressive range, unheralded battery life and most importantly a competitive price (the product includes both the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse for less $ than the diNovo Edge). Overall, the Desktop 7000 is a high-quality keyboard and mouse combination that is a great accessory for your entertainment desktop or notebook computer.


For more details visit:
www.bluetomorrow.com

Note Book

Dell - XPS M1330



Dell claims that the XPS M1330 is the world's thinnest 13.3-inch notebook and, while we wouldn't dispute that for the front of the chassis (23mm), it's far off the mark when it comes to the rear of the chassis, which measures some 34mm thick. But the wedge design of the XPS M1330 somehow adds to its appeal, and weighing in at 2kg with the standard 6-cell battery, it's eminently portable too.

The XPS M1330 comes with 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 memory as standard but can support a maximum of 4GB (additional £199.99), but even with the standard amount the laptop provides plenty of performance, producing a PCMark05 score of 4,530, enough to keep the installed Windows Vista Home Premium happy.

Driving the graphics in the XPS M1330 is an Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS card with 128MB of dedicated memory, and while the 3DMark06 score of 1,400 is quite impressive for this style of notebook, you still wouldn't class it as a gaming machine.

The keyboard is a delight to use and stretches across the full length of the chassis, while in front of it sit the small trackpad and mouse buttons. The trackpad is a little on the small side, but it does have vertical and horizontal scrolling functions. A fingerprint reader is installed in front of the keyboard on the far right-hand side of the chassis for added security.

For storage our review sample came with a 5,400rpm, 160GB hard drive, but once again there are more options available, up to 320GB with a 5,400rpm spin speed or up to 200GB with a faster 7,200rpm drive. The tray-loading 8x optical drive of the M1210 has been replaced by a neater 8x DVD+/- slot-loading drive.

There's also a 54mm Express Card slot which doubles as the home for the mini remote control unit. On the left-hand side of the chassis sit most of the ports; power in, VGA, Ethernet (10/100Mbps), HDMI, 4-pin FireWire and one of only two USB ports. Joining the optical drive on the right-hand side is the Express Card slot, the remaining USB port and the on/off switch for the WiFi and Bluetooth modules. The front of the chassis holds two audio ports along with a card reader.

Hard Drive

Buffalo Technology - MiniStation PS120U2



These small black- or silver-cased devices contain 3.5-inch, 5,400rpm drives, mounted in shock-resistant chassis, so they should resist a bit of wear and tear, although no specific claims are made for the results of drop tests. Sockets at the back cater for a mini-USB and a 5V power jack. In most cases you won't need this separate power lead, as all the power needed is drawn through the USB cable.

The USB cable exits from the side of the mini plug and a groove round the MiniStation case enables you to wrap the cable round it and press it into a clip, moulded into the USB plug. It's not the tidiest of solutions, but is more convenient than carrying a cable separately.

Plug the drive into any Windows XP or Vista-based PC and it will be seen as an extra drive automatically, without any driver installation. However, to get the most out of the MiniStation you need to install the TurboUSB driver and enable the technology, which we're guessing is a form of on-the-fly data compression.

We tested transfer speeds for a 1GB mixed basket of files and saw a 65 percent increase in write speed when TurboUSB was turned on. The difference in read speed was much less, at around 8 percent, but both improvements are definitely worth having.

Graphic Card

ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2:
2 GPUs 1 Card, A Return to the High End



AMD is the first out of the gates with the Radeon HD 3870 X2, based on what AMD is calling its R680 GPU. Despite the codename, the product name tells the entire story: the Radeon HD 3870 X2 is made up of two 3870s on a single card.



The card is long, measuring 10.5" it's the same length as a GeForce 8800 GTX or Ultra. AMD is particularly proud of its PCB design which is admittedly quite compact despite featuring more than twice the silicon of a single Radeon HD 3870.

On the board we've got two 3870 GPUs, separated by a 48-lane PCIe 1.1 bridge (no 2.0 support here guys). Each GPU has 16 lanes going to it, and then the final 16 lanes head directly to the PCIe connector and out to the motherboard's chipset.

Thanks to the point-to-point nature of the PCI Express interface, that's all you need for this elegant design to work.

Each GPU has its own 512MB frame buffer, but the power delivery on the board has been reworked to deal with supplying two 3870 GPUs.

Monitor

Samsung's SyncMaster 245T





Samsung has launched the latest line-up of SyncMaster LCD monitors. The first LCD is dubbed SyncMaster 245T and offers support to Motion Picture Acceleration (MPA) and offers a sharp picture while viewing fast movies through MPA.

In addition, these monitors also feature a 24-inch screen with maximum resolution of 1,920×1,200px, brightness of 300cd/m2, 1,500:1 contrast ratio and a 6ms response time. SyncMaster 245T also supports HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection).

Available right away in Korea, the 245T comes with a swivel stand and a USB hub too.

USB Flash Drive

Liquidmetal Flash Drive with your own logo engraved.




Liquidmetal is Sandisk partner which makes the best custom USB drives.

On Liquidmetal site there are four choices of template for the flash drives and it is offered the possibility to engrave the USB flash drives with your own logo.

Game Pad

Cyborg Rumble Gamepad




An interesting new gaming gadget the Cyborg Rumble gamepad.

Cyborg Rumble gamepad allows you to change the location of the left analog stick and D-pad.

Also very cool is the Precision Control mode that allows you to choose the buttons on the gamepad to desensitize when the mode is activated, making sniping and precision tasks easier.

Pricing and availability for the Cyborg Rumble gamepad are currently unknown.