What personal computer accessories should put on your must - have list for 2011 ? The ones you should take over , beg for , and slip ( ok , maybe not steal ) from all of your technical school - savvy Quaker ? These ones .
For this mega - list of PC accouterment ( that you should acquire as presently as you ’re done reading said clause ) , we holler in a smattering of object across a wide range of categories in an crusade to translate the full scope of an “ awesome computing experience . ” We ’ve painstakingly narrowed this list to a simple ten item — range — which you ’ll come up right after the jump . And , of line , no tilt would be thoroughgoing without the bounteous unsuccessful person to follow the big success — you’ll notice the products that did n’t test quite as well at the end of the clause !
seize your credit entry card and/or sack of hard currency : Let ’s get start .
10) Razer Megasoma
Let ’s get this out of the way up - front : If you ’re the kind of somebody who honestly thinks that an expensive mouse mat is going to be the cure toward your last - plaza ills in the first - somebody - hit man of your choice , you ’re screwball .
Now , I ’m decease to say that I savour Razer ’s Megasoma play mousepad , but for the chief reason that it presents me a tranquil , easy - to - navigate Earth’s surface that I can literally roll up with me and take into unknown environments . Is that worth the gaming gym mat ’s $ 50 asking price ? Only you may really be the judge of that one - it sure vex slap your ocular computer mouse on the cut - off top of a composition board box , eh ?
In all seriousness , the kind of someone who would conceive grease one’s palms a gaming mat , period , is the kind of person who in all probability cares just as much about the flavour , feel , and status of his or her PC components as the factual performance therefrom . So , with that in mind , the Megasoma is certainly pretty to seem at . Shoot , even its promotional material is just as elaborated and eye - catch as the silicon mat itself . You ’ll be the belle of the LAN party ball once you ’ve slapped this overweening MBD - on next to your equally fob - out keyboard .
However , a word of cautiousness : Depending on how your visual mouse is construct , this Master of Arts in Teaching might do more to ruin your performance than help . My current mouse , which use a Philips Twin - Eye detector to detect where it ’s go , would not work with the gambling pad in any useful capacity . I tested the mat with another computer mouse , base on a BlueTrack sensor , to bump that it performed as well as a glove fits . No complaints whatsoever .
9) Corsair Flash Padlock 2
There are USB winder of all shape , sizes , change , andnovelties - so how about a USB key that ’s essentially a bank burial vault for your information ? Corsair ’s Flash Padlock 2 is just that : A USB stick that automatically secures your contents with 256 - bit AES encryption without requiring you to install any additional package or niggle with any shape screen .
But that ’s hardly the reason why this USB keystone is so coolheaded .
Not only do you get the encoding on the drive side of the equation ( in an eight- or sixteen - gigabyte mental ability , bear in mind you ) , but the USB key builds a lock mechanics right on the top of the gimmick itself . This come in the form of a four - to - ten digit PIN codification that you enter using five clit on top of the key - without a successful combination entry , the movement wo n’t even show up in Windows Explorer . And if an unsavoury mortal attempt to just button - mash to gain access , the Flash Padlock 2 will mesh said case-by-case out from the keying chemical mechanism for a period of two minutes .
And , if you recede the PIN … do n’t freak out out . Resetting the machine pass over it forevermore , assure that your trusted files will be seen by nobody ’s eyes but your own !
8) Razer Nostromo
When you play game , do you ever suppose one of the following question to yourself : “ Man , I sure wish I could rearrange my keyboard ? ” Or how about , “ I sure enough wish I had more buttons ? ”
Razer ’s Nostromo might seem like a small overkill at first glance - I , too , was a bit shady … and I play World of Warcraft for Thrall ’s saki - but this hand - shaped keyboard extension is far easy on one ’s fingerbreadth than a typical keyboard for encounter most titles you flip at it .
Here ’s why : Just how many keys do you practice in a given plot ? How many of you are run around a digital surroundings via a stock WASD setup ? The Nostromo tamp down 14 different keys in a configuration that ’s reminiscent of a chela - it ’s a circle quicker and easier to move your finger up and down to enter the parallel rows of key versus a stock keyboard ’s design . Also , all in - game movements are now map to a directing pad that you operate with your pollex . It ’s a unusual sensation at first , but I already see myself bask it far more than WASD .
A immediate - dispatch button within thumb ’s compass toggles the eight dissimilar keymaps you’re able to set up for the gimmick , making for a aggregate of 112 different command that you’re able to dial up with one hand - sized gadget . More , if you count the fact that the directing pad itself can be map based on the direction you ’re pushing .
It resist system of logic that so much can be organise with , literally , a hired man - sized machine . But that ’s the Nostromo - a deft keyboard replacement for on-key mightiness gamers .
7) Microsoft Lifecam Studio
A stocking stuffer ? Really ? Are n’t webcam usually these large , goliath twist that attach to the top of your monitor consanguineous to how a barnacle goose latch on to a Cancer ? Well , yes . But you ’ll be amazed by just how much power Microsoft has pack into its super - bantam ( and super - light-headed ) Lifecam Studio . For starters , this is one of the few webcams on the market that actually run a 1080p resolution . That ’s right-hand . you’re able to now capture images in full 1920 - by-1080 glory using a gimmick that ’s slightly larger than a tube of lipstick ( not television , though ! Microsoft ’s software package limits you to a mere 720p resolution . Sigh ) .
If that , in itself , is n’t enough to whet your pennywhistle , try this on for size : the Cam River ’s build up - in mike in reality does a reasonably great line of capturing audio from a typical monitoring equipment space ’s deserving away . I ’d be more than glad to the built - in recorder for things like Skype calls , or Youtube videos , or any other such understanding that would cause me to want to bust out in full 1080p/720p resplendence .
The tv camera also comes with a work up - in , silent autofocus . No head - trailing , however , as the Lifecam Studio sits wherever you happen to attach it - which , to Microsoft ’s course credit , could also be a tripod . Yes , the company has even built living for a tripod saddle horse directly on the cam itself - you hear that , budding filmmakers ? Your course toward HD cinema has make it .
6) Antec Digital PSU Power Tester
Your system wo n’t turn on . You blaspheme up and down that you have n’t actually done anything to offend the god and/or deserve this handling , but the fact of the subject is that you ’re staring at a large brick that used to otherwise be a fully functioning background PC . Nuts .
Antec ’s Digital PSU Power Tester is the perfect such gadget to eliminate ( or nail ) a potential problem within your system build . Or , for the more hardcore Maximum PC readers , it ’s a great tool for mark the various power supplies that litter your workspace / basement / service department . The last affair you require to have to sell with is undoing a perfect wiring business as the result of your measured efforts to binge a numb PSU into your newly minted system .
Antec ’s tester requires but two thing from you : a joining to the PSU ’s 24 - pin connector and its 4/6/8 - pin connector ( both , obviously the two connections that go into the motherboard itself ) . can up the power supply - sham its working - will cause the tester to display the various voltages present on the +3.3V , +5V , and +12V rail . If your PSU is boil correctly , you’re able to also use Antec ’s quizzer to agree its various molex and SATA connections as well . If there are any problems during your experiments , the tester itself will emit a trashy bleep to alarm you that all is not well in office provision dry land .
5) Zalman ZM-MH200 Hub
For the build - it - yourself geek , there ’s little more amazing than being able to draw up the contents of a gruelling effort on - the - fly . Now , the normal process for doing so is a laborious task : You have to pop remove the side of your character , you have to slap the drive in place and make out it to the side of some form of retention chemical mechanism or bay , you have to connect the crusade to your arrangement and world power supply , you have to reboot into Windows and assign the parkway a letter , et cetera .
Well , your favorite god of choice has done much to ease your spirit by create the concept of international drive inclosure to speed up this project , but even these can be complicated look on the specific trade name you ’ve picked up . Not every drive inclosure is as smoothly operate as , say , a hot - swop bay .
That ’s where Zalman ’s ZM - MH200 Hub come into the movie , because there is no enclosing to deal with on this product . Just alternate your 3.5 - column inch or 2.5 - inch crusade vertically and glide it gently onto the associated connectors within the gimmick . It ’s as easy as that , provide you do n’t mind have a bare drive just reaching to the heavens , as it were .
Not only can you bestride two drive at once , but you may also connect two other USB devices to the ZM - MH200 at any given clip . The equipment also occur with a built - in lecturer for SD , SDHC , and microSD notice . Overall , the ZM - MH200 join to your system via a unsubdivided USB or eSATA cable television .
Although Zalman does make a USB 3.0 - well-disposed gadget , I prefer for the “ lesser ” ZM - MH200 simply because it supports more connection at once . With the possible power of eSATA fueling its connections , I ’m far more apprehensive about what I can flummox into the ZM - MH200 than what its transfer speeds will be like .
4) Bluelounge Refresh
I ’ve been jumping back and off on this one , because I actually have two similar products on - hand , both designed to somehow facilitate your process of recharge the 10 various handheld equipment you own . Each has its own bent of strengths and weaknesses but , in the end , I had to rule in favour of Bluelounge ’s Refresh over Idapt ’s I4 - here ’s why .
Idapt ’s I4 is a laborious - shell design that use a solid base station for the source of its recharging . You plug this into the rampart , and then you slap three of six different plugs into three modular connections on top of said charging station . The equipment supports a variety of , er , equipment , let in those found on mini - USB or micro - USB connections , iPhones , Nokia telephone set , et cetera . Turning the intact chopine on and off is as comfortable as hit a button on its top .
I ’m a lover , but there ’s something a little less elegant about Idapt ’s setup ( plus , I hate that I have to turn my telephone set on its side in rescript to get it to recharge overnight ) . Bluelounge ’s Refresh , on the other hand , is a flake more of a piano innovation than Idapt ’s agitate station . A removable covering conceal a vacuous arena underneath which , itself , is home to 5 different cord - USB , micro - USB , mini - USB , and iPhone / iPod connection . When you need to use one , you just slip it through a gap between the Refresh ’s top and foot , and then you gently place your now - recharging twist on the rubberize cover . well-off as pie .
but put , the Refresh just does a better job in a prettier mode . you may file more twist ( though avowedly , less of a variety of equipment ) and you do n’t have to orientate them in strange ways just to get them to power up . There is n’t anything to snap in and out per se , although you ’re welcome to take out cords you are n’t using to garnish down the clutter within the Refresh itself - even though you wo n’t see it one bit !
3) MadCatz Cyborg R.A.T.9
I ’m not going to neutralise your time , nor mine , in trying to recapitulate Alex Castle’sglowing reviewof the RAT 7 gambling computer mouse from MadCatz . If his everlasting , ten - out - of - ten , couldn’t - be - better give up Ass score present to the gimmick does n’t speak for itself , I do n’t know what will . In short , the RAT 7 is the ending - all , be - all of gaming mice .
So what the heck is the RAT 9 ? In short , it ’s the wireless version .
That ’s right . Nothing ’s switch in design or data formatting between the RAT 7 and RAT 9 mouse , save that the former has a cord and the latter does not . The latter also come with a wireless adapter that double as a charging place for the two batteries that MadCatz includes with the mouse . Although I would unremarkably gripe that the barrage fire aliveness on say twist is n’t very strong - you’ll get about a twenty-four hour period and a one-half with the machine under decent , evening use - the fact that you may in a flash swap out the tiny , life - giving package for a fresh Modern pack is a feature that ’s absurdly wise of MadCatz to implement .
My only other criticism with the twist - a small one , at that - is that its Philips Twin - Eye detector does n’t work with the Razer gaming pad mention earlier in this article . So , to extrapolate that , you might want to test out the RAT 9 before you go purchase $ 50 hunks of Si to stick under it . A small quibble , but it had to be said ! Other than that , it ’s toilsome to think of a good , more feature - packed , or more comfortable shiner .
2) Logitech G19
Amongst all the keyboards that one could buy - particularly those with a play slant to them ( extra buttons / macro support / blinky lights / etc)-there are none more impressive than Logitech ’s G19 . Why ’s that ? Because while plentitude of keyboards ramp up some form of monochrome LCD exhibit directly front - and - center on the gadget , none arrive with a freakin ’ full - color screen , a super - mini - monitoring gadget , as it were , for displaying all kind of interesting thing as you typecast .
The layout of the G19 is similar to Logitech ’s other G - series purpose , so I ’ll touch on it but briefly : Twelve function keys can be assigned across three different categories , giving you 36 total button of customizability that you may program on a per game setting . you could change the backlighting of the keyboard to any color your heart desire , and built - in book controls , medium playback controls , and a starting time - key - blocking switch do much to trick out one ’s general gambling experience .
Now , onto the show . To call it refined or eye - catching would n’t really do it justice . This 320 - by-240 resolution screen pivots up and down to assist you in find the perfect view angle . And that ’s just the wind of the crisphead lettuce for its options - loaded operations : a directional pad and button give you easy access to any of the built - in profiles that customize the video display to whatever game you ’re playing .
you could also employ the video display to watch picture ( yes , full - fledged video ) or jump between characterisation in any folder on your system . Heck , you’re able to watch YouTube videos on your keyboard . you could also instantly connect your Webcam ’s input up to the showing to , well , look out yourself . Or , if you ’re a bit unsure , you’re able to determine up the keyboard to just give you a read - out of your system ’s CPU and memory execution .
Does this keyboard rock ? Can you typecast D - U - H ? Simply put , I would never go back to any other keyboard after using the G19 after just one twenty-four hour period .
1) Logitech G930 Wireless Gaming Headest
This was a elusive one , as I establish a compelling case for both the Logitech G930 and Creative ’s World of Warcraft headset - specifically choose for its initial “ coolheaded ” factor above all other model .
The swap - off goes something like this : Both headsets are wireless , which is awesome if for nothing else than the ability to cram to tunes ( or listen to yourself being shot at / stabbed / etc ) while make dinner in another room . Or , perhaps more practically , sit on your layer or couch from a enough distance aside . There ’s nothing more important to a swell microcomputer that the sound it emits , which is on the dot why a killer wireless headset rest at the top of our must - have inclination .
I choose the sound of the Logitech G930s slimly more than Creative ’s headset - I felt the abject - frequency godsend and universal crispness of noise in both game and medicine to be a bit stronger on Logitech ’s gadget . As well , I did n’t really like the emulated three - dimensional positioning see in Creative ’s headset . It just never feel like very strong surroundings sound for me as compared to the more enveloping tactile property of Logitech ’s headset .
Feature - Stephen Samuel Wise , the ear - enveloping G930 comes with four button right on the headset - one to dull your attached microphone , and three that can be customise to whatever you ’d like ( I have mine set to control music in my media player of pick ) . And do n’t forget the intensity control . Running your finger up and down your ear to elevate and bring down your system auditory sensation is even easier than doing it on your keyboard .
I did n’t quite care for the G930 ’s attached microphone , in the sense that it kept on falling from a vertical position ( mechanically muted ) to a standard , metre - to - chat locating ( muted no longer ) . originative ’s detachable headset solve this on the World of Warcraft headset , but its only other accompanying feature besides volume control are the LED that illuminate your ears with whatever colors you ’d like . An eye - catching feature , no doubt , but I ’m a sucker for feature over form .
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