Ultracheap Core Duo Laptop tested

OVER AT Thinkcomputers.org the lads put the Vantec SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 adaptor to the test. The adapter supports up to 500GB and is hot swappable, that is you can plug it without rebooting. Guess that it applies only to non system disks. Interestingly, Vantec provides with a long cable and is also compatible with 2.5in IDE disks. The power adapter is an external model, which means that it will need a power socket. Other than that it is a very useful device if you transfer a lot of files around.

ITReviews reports on the Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pi 1505 laptop, which is UK's cheapest Core Duo Laptop. It comes with a Core Duo T2050 processor, 512MB memory, a 60GB HDD, a 15.4in screen and a few more things. However, what sets it apart from the rest of Core Duo on the market, is its cheap price. You can get it for less than £500 in UK. Battery life is not that good and there's no bluetooth or PC Card slot. But instead there's a card reader, a DVD writer and overall, the laptop delivers a very good performance.

Scythe launched the Infinity, which is a bigger and better heatsink from Scythe. The SCINF-1000 is the successor of the Ninja and is probably larger than all other heatsinks on the market. At nearly 1Kg, it is manufactured in Japan and its 120mm fan spins leisurely at 1200rpm. SilentPCreview used one P4 processor for the test and its cooling performance is surpassed only by a couple of coolers. Excellent airflow but some of you will have compatibility issues due to the size of the device.

A news rather than a test. The X1950Pro and the X1650XT cards will be released in one month one day on the 17th of October, according to a roadmap seen by HKEPC. two cards will replace X1600Pro, XT and a few variants of X1800xx series that are available on the market. A significant addition is the fact that the GPU will come with a built-in compositing CrossFire engine, no more master/slave card needed now. Expect, Nvidia's 7900GS and the 7950GT to be very tough competitors to those new ATI cards.

Bit-tech has a roundup of ten game controllers. They are all errr... special on their own merits and will definitely not suit everyone. The DK Bongos will hurt the palm of your hands if you are a too enthusiastic drummer. The Eye Toy camera marked the first time when your body became the interface and Sega's Maracas could well be teamed with the Bongos so that you could play and sing at the same time.

Bjorn3D checks the XFX Geforce 7950 GT XT video card. It is one of the rare passively cooled high end cards. You get dual DVI ports, a heatpipe cooling system and a slightly overclocked core/mem speed. Performance is very good, much better than the 7900GS and the 7800GT to which it was compared. Die hard overclocker will probably try to get a more effective cooler but others will just bite the bullet and get that card. µ