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ThinSkin writes "Today Logitech announced their newest addition to the MX brand of mice: the MX1100. The MX1100 is a bulky, right-handed mouse with ten buttons, eight of which are programmable, including two on-the-fly dpi switching buttons. The laser sensor clocks up to 1600dpi and connects via 2.4 GHz technology. ExtremeTech was able to review the MX1100 and didn't come away disappointed, nor were they particularly impressed either. Compared with Logitech's MX Revolution of two years ago, the MX1100 simply takes a step back and presents users something a little more 'down to Earth' and familiar."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2328305,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "Intel's Atom processor is a low power solution for small notebooks like the ASUS EeePC and the MSI Wind, but what if you built a desktop computer around one? Loyd Case over at ExtremeTech has a primer on building an Atom PC that costs less than $500 and draws between 30 to 45 watts depending on usage. In the end, an Atom PC makes for a decent non-gaming or Linux rig, but don't expect to play today's PC games as its performance is lacking."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2326659,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "Solid-state drives will likely someday replace their hard disk drive counterparts, but will that day be anytime soon? Loyd Case over at ExtremeTech has reviewed Samsung's newest-gen solid state 64GB SATA-2 drives to see just how far this technology is from average consumers. Boasting great performance and a cheaper cost per gigabyte, the Samsung drives are an improvement in this evolving technology, but still can't match the price/performance of their hard disk cousins."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2326348,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "Jason Cross over at ExtremeTech has a helpful primer on building a green PC that performs. The goal of this build is to achieve the highest possible performance with components that draw the least amount of wattage. This green PC weighs in for a cool $834 and racks up some pretty impressive numbers, such as a 5400 3DMark Vantage score and a Category C Energy Star rating. The price and low power draw are clues that this PC doesn't contain the latest, greatest gear found in today's high-end gaming rigs, but it's sufficient in handling today's graphics-intensive games and media applications."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2326291,00.asp

After an interesting article on solar power installation for the home, Loyd Case at ExtremeTech has written up a follow-up after a month (almost) completely off the grid. Posting an $11.34 electric bill (roughly 3% of the previous month), Loyd shares his experiences using solar power and how it can be fun for the geek — with computer monitoring services and power generation data. Of course, solar power isn't all fun and games given the amount of required maintenance — even unpredictable maintenance like wiping off accumulated ash from fires in Northern California.
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2326042,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "After a successful showing of the Radeon 4870 based on the new RV770 graphics chip, ATI is gearing up for their next big graphics gun, the dual-GPU Radeon 4870 X2. ExtremeTech has early benchmarks of the Radeon 4870 X2 to give users a sneak peak at its performance, but mixed results at this early stage just goes to show that there are plenty of quirks to iron out before release. Though no ship date has been set, the card should hit store shelves in the next month or so."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2325444,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "It's no surprise that Vista's vanilla operating system hasn't fared too well with some users. That said, why not customize it to make it better? ExtremeTech describes five useful and free Vista utilities designed to enhance Microsoft's latest operating system. One such application is TweakVI Basic, which allows users to customize Vista's user interface. Another is Launchy, which is a handy startup/launching application."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2325125,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "ExtremeTech examines four P45 motherboards built using Intel's latest mainstream chipset: one from ASUS, two from Gigabyte, and one from MSI. Each offers different price/performance marks but the winner goes to the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L motherboard, for its power, performance, and low price. Along with a review of each motherboard, the article goes into detail on what the P45 platform offers to consumers."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2325039,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "General-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GP-GPU) allows graphics cards to compute data that normally a CPU would handle. This will help bridge the GPU into more mainstream uses, which can quite possibly spell trouble for CPUs in the future. Jason Cross over at ExtremeTech examines the present and future of GP-GPU and how companies like AMD, Nvidia, and Intel are experimenting with this technique."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2324316,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "AMD and Nvidia's recent tug-of-war is good news for consumers with recent price drops, and now it looks like the weight has shifted towards AMD with the release of their Radeon HD 4870. The 4870 features 512MB of GDDR5 memory and has enough horsepower to outpace more expensive cards. ExtremeTech has a full set of Radeon 4870 benchmarks, and even has an in-depth analysis of the AMD RV770 GPU architecture, which the 4800-series cards are based on. The card retails at a cool $299."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2321634,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "What happens when consumer electronics are designed, tested, and maintained by volunteers from around the world? The Neuros OSD is what happens, of course. ExtremeTech features an in-depth looks into the rocky history of Neuros Technology, a Chicago-based company that uses open source methods to develop products. Backed by Joe Born and a community of developers, Neuros was able to attract the attention of Texas Instruments to develop their most promising product, the OSD (open source device), a network-connected set top box for media playback and recording. The article offers a detailed glimpse into the world of open source development and how a company like Neuros was able to keep the community strong."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2321105,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "The motherboard you purchase often times dictates which CPU or graphics card you can buy. Loyd Case over at ExtremeTech lays out the current landscape on today's motherboards and chipsets to help readers understand today's core logic and also make smart buying decisions in the future. Loyd explains popular chipsets from AMD, Nvidia, and Intel, while also discussing what the future holds from these companies."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2320306,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "Jim Lynch over at ExtremeTech goes against the current and lists his top ten reasons why you shouldn't buy the 3G iPhone. Among his reasons are lack of camera upgrade, small storage, and oh, it's white. Though some reasons of his may seem a bit comical, Jim's rant is a unique counterbalance to the hype surrounding Apple's announcement yesterday at WWDC. Of course, Jim's been known to dissuade users in the past simply so that he won't have to wait in line as long (see reason number 1)."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2319495,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "Loyd Case over at ExtremeTech describes the steps he took to move his family's home off the grid and switch to solar power. Loyd chronicles why he chose solar power, which bid he finally accepted, and how pre-installation snags like an overhanging Mulberry tree were challenging before the solar panels were ready to install. Though he must leave the actual installation of solar panels and electrical components to a team of professionals, Loyd follows them around and snaps quite a few pictures, describing in detail what goes on behind this green technology. It's an insightful read on how today's houses are being equipped with solar energy, and also on how far along this technology has evolved over the years. Here's a slideshow if you want a quick run-down."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2308674,00.asp

ThinSkin writes "We're all needing big bit buckets these days, to store digital photos, videos, downloaded content, and files. Windows Home Server? FreeNAS? Linux? Consumer NAS boxes? What you pick depends on what you need. Loyd Case over at ExtremeTech weighs several storage solutions to help readers find the perfect fit for their home or office."
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2307043,00.asp