Medusa NX 5.1 gaming headset

HEADSETS HAVE gone from beeping ear muffs to real pro stuff like the Speedlink Medusa NX, at least if you read XS Reviews' article. Did we mention 5.1 surround?

Small Net Builder is combining a Logitech Squeezebox and an Ipeng Ipod/Iphone controller. It's a useful combo for streaming stuff around whilst having it plugged in your mp3 player.

Tom's Hardware Store is challenging the SSD holiness by boldly stating that power-saving features on PCs kill SSD performance. Apparently, advanced power modes reduce throughput by as much as 22 per cent...

Pocketables is testing the Samsung P3, the third generation of the company's touchscreen media players. Cheaper than an Ipoop Touch, it has some extra-nifty features like BT and a higher-res screen. Sadly it lacks Wi-fi.

The OCIA is reviewing Cooler Master's Elite 360 PC case. This is supposed to be an HTPC case of sorts. It's a bit on the chunky side, but the price more than makes up for that.

Xbit Labs and Think Computers are testing the Asrock X58 Supercomputer mobo. In true frankenboard tradition, Asrock stuck four full-length PCIe slots which (2 x16 or 4 x8 config) and an SLI chip on it. CPU coolers might be a problem, though.

Photorealism is just 'round the corner if you take a look at the Far Cry 2 handiwork of a certain artiste, on display at PC Games Hardware. Some modding involved.

PC World (gosh!) has written up a guide to setting up a wireless network, which has stuff for n00bs and savants alike.

In the UK us oldie computer geeks are broken down into Spectrums and Commodores. This C64 Floppy USB adapter will appeal to the latter.

It's always interesting to analyse a PC concept come to be. OCAU is doing just that with an AMD Live!-certified HTPC.  Amplifier included, even.

Tablet PC Review is playing around with a Getac V100. This is a rugged, blocky thing that you can run over with a tank and still play solitaire on it afterwards.

TechARP has updated its mobile CPU guide with all the latest goodies from AMD and Intel. Good as a quick reference table.

Laptop Mag has Samsung's latest slate PC, the Q1EX-71G. This is one of those classic cases of being good for all the wrong reasons.

Driver Heaven has done a small SSD round-up with some of the big names: Intel, Patriot and Super Talent. Overall impression is that these drives perform well beyond the call of duty.

Extremetech also got a go at the Rampage II Gene micro-ATX motherboard from Asus. It's quite capable of overclocking Core i7 CPUs and still driving a dual graphics card setup.

Jarred at Anandtick is giving the Toshiba X305-Q725 quad-core gaming notebook a serious going over. For all its raw CPU power, the Geforce GTX 280M graphics fail miserably. µ