Branded desktops are still the choice of many due to the service options they provide and one does not have to worry about buying separate components and assembling them to form their rig. One does loose out on flexibility but that is compensated by the service offered by the company. Velocity Micro Edge Z15 is a mid-range gaming desktop with performance to match its price.

Velocity Micro Edge Z15 specifications :

• Form factor : Tower
• Dimensions : 8.3″ x 19.3″ x 17.8″
• Color : Black
• Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66 GHz
• Motherboard : nVidia nForce 650 SLI
• RAM : 2GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz
• Storage : 500GB SATA-300 7200 rpm
• Optical drive : DVD-Writer
• Graphics card : Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB
• Sound cad : 7.1 channel integrated
• Power supply : 500W
• OS : Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
• Approx. price : $1499

Continue reading ‘Velocity Micro Edge Z15 Review’

The Zen Mozaic is the latest member of the award winning Creative Zen PMP family. It has been priced and positioned to compete with the likes of the iPod Shuffle and the Sandisk Sansa Clip which we reviewed recently. It bridges the gap between the Creative Zen Stone / Stone Plus / Zen V Plus and the Creative Zen / Zen Vision M. With the launch of the Zen Mozaic, Creative’s Zen line of PMP’s is now almost complete spanning all budget ranges, specifications and features. Creative’s Zen music players are known to deliver astounding sound quality at a reasonable price, which is why they are the favorites of many a audiophile. Let’s check out if the Zen Mozaic lives up to it’s family name and manages to deliver.

Creative Zen Mozaic Specifications:

• Capacity: 2 GB / 4 GB / 8 GB Flash memory
• Dimensions: 3.1″ x 1.6″ x 0.5″
• Weight: 43 gms
• Colors: Silver, Black and Pink
• Screen: 1.8″ 64K Color OLED, 128 x 160 pixels
• Battery: 32 hours Audio playback
• Transfer Type: USB - MTP
• Audio Formats: WMA, MP3, WAV, Audible 4
• Video Formats: Motion JPEG
• Equaliser: 8 presets and 5 band custom EQ, Bass boost
• Accessories: USB Cable, Earbuds, Creative Software

Other Features : FM Radio, Voice Recorder, Built-in Speaker, Organiser, Photo Viewer, Date & Time, Alarm Continue reading ‘Creative Zen Mozaic review’

Gaming laptops are slowly becoming a rage and with high-end configurations coming at an affordable price, gamers are ready to spend a few extra bucks to gain the portability advantage. Gateway, Dell, Asus and HP are the leading manufacturers of laptops and their laptops have undergone a big revolution. With graphics cards rapidly making their presence felt in this category, gaming laptops had to take off sooner than later. So lets look at the laptops which are worth of making it to the list of Top 7 Gaming Laptops :

1. Alienware Area-51 m15x (read review)

The Alienware Area-51 mm15x is one hell of a laptop which offers extreme high-end configuration options. The performance is not an issue and being a 15 inch laptop, it can be carried around also. Build quality isn’t the greatest around along with an awkward keypad are its two major disadvantages. Customisation makes it the king of gaming laptops but everything good comes with a price tag!

Alienware Area-51 m15x specifications :

• Dimensions : 14.6″ x 10.7″ x 1.3″
• Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1 GHz
• Chipset : Mobile Intel GM965 Express
• Display : 15.4″ TFT with 1440 x 900 resolution
• RAM : 2GB DDR II SDRAM 667 MHz
• Hard Disk : 250GB SATA-150 7200 rpm
• Optical drive : DVD±RW 8x Dual Layer
• Graphics : 512MB Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX
• OS : Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
• Battery : 6-cell Lithium-ion

Approx. price : $2175

Rating : 4.5/5

2. Gateway P-7811FX (read review)

The Gateway P-7811FX is an excellent laptop and probably the best one to invest your money in right now. It has everything perfect about it and the price makes it a killer deal. You can hardly go wrong with this one.

Gateway P-7811FX specifications :

• Dimensions : 15.7″ x 11.7″ x 1.7″
• Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 / 2.26 GHz
• Chipset : Mobile Intel PM45 Express
• Display : 17″ TFT active matrix 1920×200
• RAM : 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066 MHz
• Graphics card : Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTS
• Hard Disk : 200GB SATA-300 7200 rpm
• Optical drive : DVD Burner
• Webcam : 1.3 megapixel
• Battery : 9-cell lithium ion
• OS : Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Approx. price : $1500

Rating : 4.5/5

Continue reading ‘Top 7 Gaming Laptops’

The Dell Inspiron 13 is the latest notebook from the Inspiron Family and the first 13 incher Inspiron. It is a budget notebook and starts at around $699 while offering good specifications. It is good for basic office and home usage. It can play most multimedia content easily as well as some light games. It seems to be a good option for students and office professionals alike, who just want a simple and portable laptop which can get their work done without being much of a burden on their pockets. To add to it’s appeal, it is a very stylish laptop with superb build quality with a slot loading optical drive. In this review, we dissect the Inspiron 13 and try to check out what exactly makes it click.

Dell Inspiron 13 Specifications:

• Display: 13.3″ WXGA Glossy (1280 x 800 pixels)
• Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz, 533FSB, 1MB Cache)
• Memory: 2 GB DDR 2 RAM 667 MHZ
• Storage: 160 GB HDD (5400rpm)
• Optical Drive: DVD +/- RW (Slot loading)
• Wireless: 802.11 b/g
• Graphics: Intel GMA X3100 Integrated Graphics
• Camera: Integrated 2.0 MP webcam
• Battery: 56 Wh (6 cell)
• Ports: 2 USB 2.0, FireWire, VGA, Expresscard, card reader, headphone, mic.
• Dimensions: 12.52″ x 9.37″ x 1.5″
• Weight: 4.8 lbs (2.2 kgs)
• Starting Price: $699 (Approx)

Design:

The new Dell Inspiron 13 sports a very stylish design which is inspired from both the Dell Studio range as well as the Dell XPS range, more precisely the Dell XPS M1330. The design is very attractive and much better than the older Inspiron notebook designs. It has a sloping design with a glossy exterior. The screen hinges and chassis design is very similar to the XPS M1330. Inside, the Inspiron 13 has a simplistic design mostly made of high quality plastic. The interiors are almost fully black and look quite sober compared to the exterior part. The keyboard, touchpad, palmrest and the touch sensitive controls situated above the keyboard all blend in with the design quite easily. Continue reading ‘Dell Inspiron 13 Review’

The HP Elitebook 6930P is the latest business notebook from HP’s stables. It competes directly with Dell’s new Latitude series. It is equipped with the power of Intel’s new Centrino 2 platform. the 14.1″ Elitebook 6930P offers you a mix of stylish and elegant design, sturdy build quality and superb performance in a slim form factor. It is one of the best business notebooks currently available in the market.

HP Elitebook 6930P Specifications :

• Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.40 GHz with 3 MB L2 cache
• RAM : 2 GB DDR2 800 MHZ (Upgradable to 4 GB)
• Hard Drive : 160GB SATA 5,400 rpm
• Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW DL
• Display : 14.1″ at 1280 x 800 px
• Graphics : ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 256 MB (Default: Intel GMA X4500)
• Wi-Fi : 802.11 a/b/g/draft -n
• Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• Operating System : Microsoft Windows Vista
• Ports : 3 USB 2.0, Ethernet, Firewire, Headphone, Microphone, Modem, VGA, 2 in 1 Card reader, Expresscard
• Dimensions : 13.0 x 9.6 x 1.2 inches
• Weight : 5.2 pounds
• Price: $1399 (Approx) Continue reading ‘HP Elitebook 6930P Review’

A Query by our reader, RJ

I like to know which Nokia mobile has better sound quality,is it Nokia N73 music edition or 5310 music express?

Hey RJ,

The Nokia N73 ME wins hands down in this comparision. It has both - better sound quality and much louder speakers. To add to it, it also has a much better 3.2 MP cam and is a Symbian s60 v3 OS 9.1 phone which means better application and game support. It also has a much bigger screen and excels at video playback as well. Thus, the N73 ME would be a much better buy than the 5310. Even the 6233 has better speakers and sound quality than the 5310, and is cheaper as well. The Nokia N81 has great sound quality too. If you aren’t interested in Symbian phones, you may even consider the Sony Ericsson W890i.

Another query by our reader, Sujith John

Hi ,
My PC shows a different color(Very Bright) display. I tried using the monitor for another CPU ,it worked fine there.I am not able to view pics/Video due to this.
I tried changing the display settings in windows and in the monitor too, but that dint help.Could it be the virus causing this?I was told by a Techie that my PC is affected by virus.
Will a fresh windows installation help?

Thanks in advance,
Sujith John

Hello Sujith,

It would help if you supplied us more details, like which operating system, graphics card and which monitor you are using currently? Also, from what you stated, the problem seems to be with your computer, not the monitoer as it is working properly with another computer. To confirm this, try plugging in another monitor to this same computer and check if it works. Does the monitor work properly when you are in safe mode? Try using a good antivirus like AVG or AVAST and scan your computer for viruses. If that doesn’t work, your last resort should be to format your computer and reinstall your operating system. If you are good at computers, you can try using some Live Linux CD to check if the problem is really with the OS only or somewhere else.

Feel free to ask us more questions. Thanks.

Following our article on how to connect two or more computers to a single monitor, we now take you through a tutorial to connect two or more monitors to a single computer. Now the kind of configuration mentioned above can be realized in two ways. One, by connecting two monitors in such a way, that they have exactly the same display or two, by connecting them in such a way that the whole display gets split between the two monitors, giving you a larger workspace to work on.

To get the same output on both computers, you need a video port adapter to split the video signal into two and have the same display outputs. To extend your display workspace onto two monitors, you will need to follow the following procedure. You will need a Graphic (Video) card with two ports, either VGA or DVI, plugged into the computer. Continue reading ‘How To Connect Two Monitors To A Single Computer’

Bluetooth headsets are slowly becoming a necessity especially for those who can not afford to miss call.  The Plantronics Voyager 855 headset combines functionality with ease of use by separating the mono and stereo outputs. Although the price is on the steeper side but its worth it it if you are looking for performance of stereo headsets but want ease of mono headsets.

Plantronics Voyager 855 specifications :

• Dimensions : 2.25″ x 0.5″ x 0.6″
• Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
• Weight : 0.5 oz
• Headphone type : Binaural
• Form factor : Convertible
• Microphone : Built-in boom
• Range : 33 feet
• Power adapter : External
• Run up time : 7 hours
• Standby time : 160 hours
• Approx. price : $80

Continue reading ‘Plantronics Voyager 855 Review’

The LG KT610 is the latest entrant in the communicator range of mobiles with QWERTY keypads. However, it is very different than the normal communicators you would think of, the main differentiating factors being its price and feature list. It has a very unconventional design and plain looks. It competes head on with the Nokia’s E series phones and communicators and Sony Ericsson’s P series. It is some what of a letdown when it comes to features, with no Wi-Fi, just a 2 MP cam, a practically unusable outer display, and mediocre battery life but the price is very enticing, especially to heavy text users who need to type a lot of messages and email on their phones, to atleast give it a go. It features the Symbian v9.2, S60 rel 3.1 OS, which is quite the best in the smartphone department. Let’s have a look at the LG KT610 and check out if it is worth a buy.

LG KT610 Specifications

• Dimensions : 108.9 x 53.9 x 17.2 mm
• Weight : 125.5 gms
• Display : 2.4″ TFT, 256K Colors, QVGA 240 x 320 px, Secondary 4 line 1.45″ display, 256K colors
• Memory: 64 MB Internal memory expandable to 8 GB via Micro SD
• Camera : 2 MP (1600 x 1200) cam secondary videocall cam
• Connectivity : GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, USB 2.0
• Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• OS : Symbian v9.2, S60 rel 3.1 OS

Continue reading ‘LG KT610 Review’

SanDisk music players are a hit among consumers due to their low price and awesome music quality. SanDisk has off-late come out with excellent players that have challenged even the iPods. SanDisk Sansa Clip is one such music player from SanDisk that gives serious competition to iPod Shuffle.

SanDisk Sansa Clip specifications :

• Dimensions : 2.2″ x 1.4″ x 0.5″
• Interface : Hi-Speed USB
• Flash Memory : 2GB installed
• Radio : Digital Radio Tuner
• Display : OLED display
• Audio formats : WMA, Protected WMA, Audible, MP3
• Battery : Internal Rechargeable
• Approx. price : $60

Continue reading ‘SanDisk Sansa Clip Review’