Special USA hardware buys

SOFTWARE STUFF is selling a special dual apparatus made up of silicon(e) which models a pair of ovum-like structures that appeal most to an overwhelming number of geekers and lads in general - not the latest dual Pentium Xeon or the Dual Core Opteron. Think laterally guys.. Software and Stuff is surplus computers, so I was quite surprised to see that they sell a pair of strapless and backless Bra. The Natural Bra adds a full cup size instantly. If you are looking for a gift for your girlfriend, why not get one of these, she will probably be pleased and you as well?

A free motherboard? Newegg is literally giving away the Soyo SY-P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 v1.0 which costs $75 but has a mail in rebate of $75, giving you an effective price of $0. You also get either a free Silver Ink retail or an Alarm clock with a calculator. The board is no slouch since it is based on the i865PE chipset and supports Hyperthreading. With four DIMM slots, it can accommodate up to 4GB. It has one AGP, five PCI and 1 CNR slots.

Six USB ports plus the usual PS2's and COM's ports are present. Both PATA and SATA controllers are present giving you the option to connect up to six drives. The P4I865PE also has integrated LAN and Audio courtesy if Realtek and Cmedia respectively. Bear in mind though that you will have to wait for fourteen weeks to be sent the money back. Also the maximum voltage supportyed by the AGP slot is 1.5V. Other than that the motherboard will suffice to casual users and only the overclockers might find it unsuitable for their needs.

But at $0, there is no turning back

At Office Max, the Dominator 6-in-1dual format DVD Writer from Mad Dog is on sale for $29.98 after $100 rebate. The drive reminds me of a Nec 2500A - which is probably the original design - which is a Dual Format 8X DVD writer. The Dominator writes a CD at 32x and reads it at 40x making the need for a second CD writer superfluous.

On top of that, it comes with two year warranty. It is provided with a whole slew of software - Nero Express 6, Roxio Easy CD Creator, WinDVD and Power DVD software. They said that a 19" LCD monitor's price would soon drop, but I did not personally thought it would come that quick. Ecost is selling a 19" LCD monitor for $398, around £190+VAT, less than the price of an average 17" LCD monitor. The ELM-1900BA, manufactured by Korean Erae Electronics and OEMed by Kreisen is a most interesting product.

Its elegant and modern design will appeal to all while its large viewable size - equivalent to a 20" CRT means that more information will be easily displayed. It apparently has a TV tuner - from the manufacturers website - and offers video inputs - S-video, Composite etc. It has a very good contrast ratio of 500:1 and a slightly less good response time of 25ms. The default resolution is 1024x1280 and power consumption a cool 37w. On the same website, you'll find a slightly better monitor for the same price. The GEM GL-1920B has dual DVI and VGA inputs and built in speakers. Want something even better, then try the Princeton LCD19D for the same price which offers everything the two previous monitors offers plus a 700:1 contrast ratio and a three year warranty. Exactly the same monitor is on sale at Newegg for $100 more. 'Nuff said.

For the desk-bound gamer, the A-Top Z-Alien may prove to be the ultimate gaming rig. It features a unique Alien face that lights up with a blue LED. The front panel has a digital temperature display while the lockable side pane window has custom eye-mesh guards. With 11 bays and seven expansion slots, you will have enough space for all your needs. Four USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire and audio jacks are scattered all over the casings outside.

Two 80mm fans and one large 120mm fans are installed. Last but not least, it comes with a gigantic 500W PSU which will keep up even with the most demanding power consumers. The price of this baby? A cool $89.98 at Computer Geeks.