Standalone NAS boxes are easily found
nowadays, but they will usually end up running hard drives designed for desktop
PCs, which place very different stresses on hard drives than NAS devices do.
With this in mind Western Digital launched
its new lineup of Red drives, which are specifically designed for use in NAS
boxes from companies like Synology, Qnap and Thecus. They bring onboard
features from enterprise drives, playing better in RAID arrays and offering a
much greater MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) than consumer drives do. In
practice means they ran smoother and quieter in our test NAS, and thanks to
self-balancing features will last longer than the consumer drives we usually
use. They occupy a specific niche, but if you are looking for a drive for a NAS
there is no better option.
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Details
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Price: $205 (3TB)
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Ratings: 5/6
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Website: www.wdc.com
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Razer Naga (2012)
There are now a few different manufacturers
making mice with ludicrous numbers of thumb buttons, but Razer’s Naga stands as
the first mouse to try and incorporate the myriad buttons used by your average
MMO player.
The 2012 refresh of the Naga design doesn’t
mess with the thumb buttons, which are still arranged in a grid on the left
side of the mouse. What it does do is introduce interchangeable panels for the
right side of the mouse, each of which is designed for a different type of
grip. Surprisingly this is a noticeable addition to the design, with the choice
of side grip leading directly to a better mousing experience. You still need to
spend some time learning to manipulate the number buttons but being able to
tailor your grip makes it an infinitely more comfortable experience. If you
need a mouse laden with buttons, then this is a serious contender.
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Details
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Price: $110
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Website: www.au.razerzone.com
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Ratings: 5/6
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The somewhat striking looks of
Thermaltake’s new headsets have become somewhat of a talking point around the
PC&TA labs. Subtle they aren’t, with shiny gold plastic highlights meaning
you’ll stick out from all but the most colourful of crowds.
They deliver the sort of sound you’d
expect, heavy on the bass. But the overall quality is belied by the somewhat
garish design - as long as you like your noise skewed towards the bombastic
you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what these cans are capable of. They really
do deliver sound well above their price point. Not only that but they appear
nigh on indestructible. We bent, beat and sat on them and they just kept
bouncing back - considering some headphones break at the merest twist, this is
a welcome feature. A great set of stereo headphones, if you can deal with the
somewhat dubious aesthetics.
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Details
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Price: $125
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Ratings: 5/6
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Website: www.ttesports.com
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Fractal Design Define R4
The latest case from Fractal Design is an
evolutionary upgrade of its remarkably silent Define series. The Define R4 is
not only an elegant PC case on the outside, but it boasts striking looks on the
inside, too.
What really sets this case apart, however,
is the bitumen-based sound-proofing material built into the case panels. While
does increase the case’s weight quite a lot (so if you like your PC a touch
mobiel, this may not be the ideal case for you), it reduces the noise of fans
and other moving parts so much that you can barely hear even a high- powered
gaming machine.
If silent computing is your thing, there
are few better cases on the market. And with an excellent internal design, this
will please any system builder.
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Details
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Price: $160
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Ratings: 6/6
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Website: www.fractal-design.com
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Gyration Air Mouse
Mobile
We’ve looked at Gyration’s gyroscopic mice
before, and found the combination of standard operation and midair wrist
twisting to be a flexible combination. The Air Mouse Mobile takes that idea and
shrinks it down to a package small enough to sling in your briefcase. Placed on
a desk it’s a comfortable, wireless mini-mouse; pick it up, hold down the
trigger underneath, and its gyroscopes kick into action, allowing you to rotate
your wrist in mid-air to control the mouse pointer. It’s remarkably accurate,
and installing the accompanying software opens up all sorts of powerful
options, from highlighting an onscreen pointer to motion gestures for opening
up applications. There’s also a cluster of three customisable buttons on top of
the mouse. It’s an ideal companion for travelling professionals giving frequent
presentations, and also serves well as a controller for media-centre PCs. The
only problem is price - $90 is steep for a laptop mouse, no matter how good it
is.
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Details
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Price: $90
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Ratings: 4/6
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Website: www.gyration.com
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Libratone Live
Apple’s Airplay technology is a great way
to get your ¡tunes collection streaming around your home, as long as you have
the right speakers.
Libratone’s Live speakers are such a set,
designed to work hand in hand with airplay.
To this end they have few controls or
ports, there is power and a sole 3.5mm input jack on the back and a large
button on the front that is used to connect to Libratone’s App, which handles
most of the heavy lifting with audio playback.
Audio quality itself is decent, coping
admirably with medium sized rooms. Bass is a little overpowering but mid and
high ranges come across crisp and clear. Our big concern is that this is a
product where you pay a premium for style, from the hefty construction to the
carpet like fabric surrounds. We just aren’t convinced that the sound quality
is worth the $899 price tag that the unit commands, there are plenty of other
ways to access your audio without paying such a premium. One for those who
value style and substance in equal amounts.
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Details
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Price: $899
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Ratings: 4/6
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Website: www.libratone.com
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WD MyNet N900 Central
Western Digital has been doing networked
storage for some time now but it has only recently expanded its reach into
router hardware.The MyNet Central N900 combines several functions. It is a dual
band 802.lln router, capable of simultaneous 2.4GNz and 5GHz operation. It has
four Gigabit Ethernet ports and comes with a sole USB port that can be used for
printers or to add external storage. This single port is largely compensated
for by building a hard drive into the unit itself. This comes in either 1TB or
2TB options, and means that the router is a great solution for those who don’t
need massive amounts of internal storage. The drive in the router acts like a
NAS, making it a great solution for those who don’t want a full size NAS in
their lives, but still want an easy solution for network backup and storage. It
is just a shame that it comes with a huge pricetag, and we worry that building
the drive into the router means too many points of failure in a single device.
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Details
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Price: $499 (2TB)
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Ratings: 4/6
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Website: www.wdc.com
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Gigabyte Aivia M9 Ice
Many wireless mice designed for mobile use
are small in form factor, which, for some people, just makes for very
uncomfortable computing.
GIGABYTE’S latest Aivia mouse, the M9 ICE
is a full- sizem ergonomically designed mouse, with on the fly DPI control,
comfortable right-handed contours, and rubberised surfaces.
It’s big claim, however, is that it can
work on almost any surface, from rough textures like cloth, to ultra-smooth
surfaces, such as glass... or even ice! While we did not test the latter, this
is certainly a comfortable wireless mouse, though it would be even better if it
didn’t rely on old-fashioned batteries.
Still, it’s an elegant design and
particularly great for people who like to game on the go.
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Details
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Price: $59
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Ratings: 4/6
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Website: www.gigabyte.com
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