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Regardless of its efforts, when discussing desktops, laptops, and even rumored smartphones, there are few brands in the business capable of inspiring a deep, consumer yawn as quickly as Dell. That can’t be said about Dell’s display business however, which has consistently provided sleek monitors offering some of the best bang for the buck in the business. Dell’s newest 20-incher is already out in Hong Kong where we expect it will soon begin its journey west. This entry-level monitor speaks the new design language of Dell’s XPS and Studio rigs and comes packing HDMI and VGA inputs with specs that include a 1600 x 900 (that’s a 16:9 aspect) pixel resolution, 5 millisecond response, 1000:1 contrast and 250 nits of brightness with a 160-degree viewing angle. Not great, but decent specs for the HK$1,098 (tax inclusive) price which we expect to be about $120 – 130 by the time model ST2010 lands Stateside.

Popularity: 60% [?]

Those involved with Windows 7 will remember a while back the beta received test updates, to check if how well the update system worked within Microsoft’s new operating system. Well, a similar thing is happening, this time in the Windows 7 RC variety.

This has come straight from the company itself, via the Windows Team blog, as well as being reported on TechNet. Keeping it the same as the previous updates, they will deliver no fixes or anything of the sort, and there should be around about 10 of them. According to the TechNet post, most of these will install automatically, but some of them won’t, as this will, “test a new update notification feature that provides detailed information about available updates that need to be installed manually.” They’ll be clearly identified as test updates, also, to prevent any confusion.

So folks, keep an eye out on May 12th and be sure to let us (and Microsoft) know how it goes.

Popularity: 61% [?]

The GTS 250 is the latest addition to the Performance class of Nvidia GPUs. It is no secret that this particular GPU is a direct descendant of the 9800GTX series of cards. The core is a G92b. The G92 has gone through a die-shrink to 55nm as opposed to the older 65nm, and thereby reduced the energy consumption and cut back on the heat a little.

Nvidia was hammered the last time they offered a rebranded card with a different name, and this time they have avoided that by being completely up-front with their customers. This card was named the GTS 250 in order to help eliminate confusion at the consumer’s end by simply having a higher numbered card perform better.

In addition to making things easier for the consumer, Nvidia offers two versions of the card, a 512MB version which is a rebranded 9800GTX+, and a 1GB version, the one we are testing today. Nvidia has stated that the 512MB version will SLI with a 9800GTX, while the 1GB version will not.

As for price, Nvidia has set the MSRP for the 512MB at $129.99, and the 1GB at $149.99. What this means to you, is that you can get the 512MB for less than a new 9800GTX+ would cost you, and a 1GB version for about the same price.

Popularity: 76% [?]

Today, we have a look at the Asus AM2+ motherboard, the M3A78-T, which is one of the higher-end motherboards from their AM2+ series. It comes with HD3300 onboard GPU which we overclocked to the limit… and beyond, running Crysis at 1280×1024 at 30fps!

Popularity: 96% [?]

Put yourself in the shoes of Logan, aka Wolverine. This game picks up where the “Origins” movie left off, with Stryker attempting to get some of Logan’s memories back using massive amounts of electricity. Seems to me that would basically turn his skeleton into a huge heating coil, but who am I to correct Stan Lee? He’s rich from making this crap up. I’m still a notch above homelessness and 5 for $1 Mac and Cheese. Don’t knock it. It’s good stuff.

Okay, back to the story here. As Logan is getting the shock of his life, he is having flashbacks to times before. It’s during these times that you take over as the clawed hero and go on a killing spree (aka recon mission) in Japan. Obviously, the story moves along from here, and things only get more and more violent with each passing memory.

Popularity: 70% [?]

There are very few products that grab enthusiast attention like SSDs have. OCZ has created a well-deserved buzz around the industry since they launched their Core II, Apex, and Vertex multi-layer cell SSD products for retail consumers. Now they’ve gone one step further, and designed a SLC SSD for the demanding enterprise server segment. Benchmark Reviews welcomes the OCZ Vertex EX SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G into the ranks, and our bandwidth performance tests compare the Vertex EX to several other SSDs occupying the high-end market.

Popularity: 76% [?]

Looking for an edge when it comes to PC gaming? Well, Xoxide, provider of a wide range of computer accessories, sent us one of the latest gaming keyboard, the Razer Arctosa. Razer is a well-known gaming product manufacturer that has produced many well-known gaming products such as the Razer Diamondback and Viper mice. Will this new keyboard bring similar performance to both gaming and everyday applications? That is what we’re here to find out.

Popularity: 84% [?]

Like it or not, the iPhone dominates the Smartphone market. It looks really sleek and delicate, and is just begging to be ruined by just about anything. I mean, the iPhone gets unsightly scratches and fingerprints just by just thinking about it. All of its processing might and it still can’t win a battle against an enraged Dust Bunny.

The iPhone is begging for protection. The AT&T store rep even told me how one customer dropped their shiny new iPhone on the pavement right after walking out of the door. If you don’t have some sort of impact or scratch protection in place, then you’re begging to buy another one before your two-year contract is up. That either means purchasing one at full price, or resetting your contract to get a “cheap” phone.

Popularity: 75% [?]

Gaming mice tend to be expensive if you go with high-end products. The problem with high-end gaming mice is that they are almost exclusively right hand only designs meaning that left-handed gamers are left out. With the current economy many gamers simply don’t have the money to spend on a mouse that costs nearly $100 like the Microsoft X8 or the Logitech G9. Today we are going to look at the latest gaming mouse from Microsoft called the Sidewinder X3. The mouse carries a budget price tag but still promises to deliver gaming performance. Read on for all of the Microsoft SideWinder X3 gaming mouse details.

Popularity: 73% [?]

The vast majority of notebooks and netbooks on the market make do with Intel integrated graphics. Intel holds the vast majority of the GPU market with its integrated graphics chipsets, including the GMA 954GM and GSE940 among others.

Basic games are playable on notebooks of the type you find online, but if you throw a game on a netbook that needs 3D acceleration, you swiftly realize your hardware is lacking. Today we are going to look at a software offering called GMABooster that promises to improve the gaming prowess of most Intel GPUs. Does it work? Read on to find out.

Popularity: 76% [?]