Yet another browser roundup arrives

BEYOND3D has a 2005 update on AVIVO. Behind this acronym is ATI's latest challenge to get high definition video on our desktops. And the least we can say is that AVIVO does easily surpass everything that has existed until now. TMPGEnc for example cannot even compete with it. AVIVO is up to five time faster on DiVX conversion. There's also a few words on H.264 video acceleration. Lower performance CPU utilisers will be more than content with what AVIVO has to offer. Playback performance of video is absolutely first class, which is the least you can expect from ATI.

Internetweek has dedicated 18 pages to a browser round up including all our favourites. IE7 Beta2, Firefox 1.5, Opera 8.5 - not 9.0 and Maxthon 1.5 - which is an add-on rather than a browser on its own. There's a full comparison of all the browsers and the winner is Maxthon as simple as it can be. Now I'm using Maxthon - having reverted back to it after going briefly to Opera and Firefox and I haven't look back since. I'm glad that for the first time, that little browser gets some recognition. Plus of course, it has its own sets of plugins if ever you want to get it.

Trustedreviews tested the Canon i9950 A3 Printer which is one of the rare A3 color printer available there. It is aimed at semi professional designers who want larger than life A3 colour prints without the high street costs. The i9950 can print up to A3+, has USB 2.0 and Firewire ports and has eight print cartridges, which should save you a bundle when you have to change them. It prints quickly and does an excellent job speedwise. It is also very cheap to run although the initial price might get some to think twice before.

Les numeriques.com website compares nine portable MP3 speaker sets. Four from Altec Lansing, Three from Creative and two from lesser known manufacturers. A definite trend out there is the assumption that - almost everyone - has an iPod. I'd advise you to listen to them if possible before you decide buy any of them. Altec Lansing could not prove to be much better than the other even if they were slightly more expensive. We'd probably go for the Gweilo Monobass which gets top kudos for its remarkable sound restitution.

The DFI Infinity NF4 Ultra is reviewed by Phoronix. The motherboard is based on the nForce4 Ultra with four DIMM sockets. The Infinity is a notch below the Lan Party from the same company. It comes with Firewire, no SLI, and a couple of x1 PCI Express slots. Phoronix also tested it on Linux and found some issues. One of the finer budget boards out there with overclocking being its stronger point. The fan though was very loud and there are some nagging problems. But then, the board shouldn't be perfect as there wouldn't be any place for the Lanparty then.

French website TT Hardware has a look at three heat sink fans. Actually these are very special ones - The Tuniq Tower 120, Noctua NH-U12 and Noctua NH-U9. TT-hardware was looking for a mix of performance, value for money and silence. The Tuniq Tower and the Noctua do fill the bill it seems. Shop around if you want lower temperatures as both three keep sound low and temperature relatively constant, even on a Pentium EE 955. µ