Bits and bobs from Webland

IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG since I wrote up random bits of hardware that float into my inbox, so here goes another bunch.

First up is Antec with a new Titan 550 - a pedestal server case. It has 10 drive bays, 6x 3.5 and 4x 5.25, space for three large fans, and front outs for the usual compliment of ports. It also comes with a Truepower 2.0 550W power supply. I bought one of these a while back, and it has served me very well in my mad experiments, so I consider it a real plus for the case. The construction is steel, so it is on the heavy side, but for a server, that is just fine.

Next up, we have the Motorola Ojo (beware, trendy, flash-heavy site) video phone we told you about a while back. It is now officially shipping, and looks very interesting. If I can get my hands on one, or more likely two, I'll do a review, but until then, I can't say much more about the performance.

Moving on to something completely different, we have OCZ its their new PC2-6400 Platinum memory. For the math challenged, this is DDR2-800 low latency, supporting 4-3-3-8 timings. Not a bad match for overclockers interested in performance at speed, not just raw MHz numbers. As a bonus, it also comes with a shiny heatspreader at no extra cost.

Again shifting gears to an unrelated topic, we get to Lite-On and their new show-1693S DVD burner. Lite-On is known for inexpensive but solid burners with all the bells and whistles but not all that much pizazz. The new one has all the specs to be a winner, including DVD9 burning in both + and - formats. The predecessor to the 1693S, the 1673S can be found for just over $50 on a bunch of sites, so I think this one should be very affordable.

The last bit for the day goes back to RAM, but this time, instead of ultimate speed, it is ultimate reliability. Nothing sucks more than compatibility problems, especially if you are under a deadline, or worse yet, have no clue why something keeps crashing. I have been there and it was NOT fun.

Kingston came out with something that I think will go over real well with admins, Intel certified memory. Basically, it means that if you buy this SKU, it will be what was tested by Intel. No changes, no problems, it will just work. Server crashes are not much fun, and this will hopefully prevent a bunch of them, and make your life easier. With any luck, this practice will spread a bit throughout the industry, and admins can breathe a little easier. µ