Wednesday News part 2

Wi-Fi has its own challenges. Just wrapping your head around the myriad abbreviations and specifications can be a dizzying affair: IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, RF, WEP, WPA, OFDM, DSSS, CFK. Say what? How does the average consumer reap the benefits of the wireless revolution without having to take night courses in networking? Compex suggests its SKW811 Wireless Internet Gateway Kit. The SKW811 is an 802.11b-based, 11 Mbps bundle geared toward the networking neophyte. It aims to provide you with all you need to get a LAN up and running in an easy and efficient manner. Laudable goals, but how does Compex deliver?

With a fall gaming season ahead that is proclaiming a major jump in technology, it's time for many of us to upgrade our hardware so that we don't have to experience the pain of choppy graphics when we sit down to play. ATI has already released their graphics solutions ready to meet the challenge and First International Computer jumped onboard. The FIC Radeon A98P is based on ATI's R350 GPU and packs a punch with 128MB of RAM. Step inside to see what this card can do; it might be what you're looking for to gear up for this fall's coming attractions, such as Half Life 2, Doom ]|[, Deus Ex 2, etc

Most of the products we take a look at are the fastest and priciest computer pieces on the market. This is great, but it also leaves the majority of computer users looking at reviews on products they can not afford or even need. Today we are taking a look at the PC3200 Premier Series from OCZ Technology Inc. This line of memory is considered "value", and therefore should offer good performance at a price that will not leave your wallet empty...

While installation on the 301KE is a fairly simple process, there are a few oversights. The lack of a removable motherboard and the non-removable opposite side panel namely. The real problem that the non-removable side panel causes is in wire management

The exterior of the case has a matte finish to it. The side panel has a very nice large window in the removable side panel. This window has holes for (2) 80mm fans. These fans are positioned so the will blow fresh air directly on the cpu and video card. Nice touch if you ask me! The holes are precision cut and everything about the side panel looks smooth and professional. The window is held in place by very attractive plastic rivets

The 865 chipset series are Intel's latest entry level chipsets, however unlike earlier low cost chipsets this one facilitates a full Dual Channel memory bus up to DDR400 RAM, meaning its performance should still be very high in comparison to even previous high end chipsets. The 865 comes in 3 flavours, the 865G, 865P and 865PE -- they are all basically the same except that the 856G is the only to feature Intel's Extreme Graphics 2 integrated graphics core, and the 865P chipset is limited to a maximum of DDR333 memory

So I had set up my Microsoft Xbox to test the mat up against DVD playback and in game sound. I first prepared myself to test the lounge factor. I wondered exactly how comfortable the mat was. After my initial sit I was amazed. This thing was not going to make my legs fall asleep or make me get uncomfortable at all, at first at least. I fired up the Xbox and tossed in Sega GT 2002 and started a race. I turned on the power using the super ergonomic power control. Pyramat did a great job with the volume control / power switch. It is attached to the far right of the I/O panel and has a 2 foot cord that can be neatly packed away in the pouch directly below it. I then adjusted the volume to its max output, underestimating the power of the PM300

The Lanboy has all of the features you would expect and demand for at-home computing. As you can see from the picture, the Lanboy is a "pre-mod" enclosure with a window mod already installed into the right-side panel. To further its visual appearance, Antec has installed the SmartBlue 350 watt power supply. The SmartBlue (as the name suggests) has LED lights to illuminate the innards of the enclosure. As an added bonus, the front fan mount is a green colored UV reactive bracket!