Loongson2-based netbook debuts

EMTEC ISN'T known for its netbooks - at all - but they've launched a MIPS-based netbook, the Gdium Liberty 1000. This uses a Chinese-designed Loongson2F processor from STM and Mandriva Linux running off a pendrive - which sounds quite unique. It's a bit odd, we know, but Emtec prolly has tons of pendrives hanging around anyway...

Legit Reviews has a NZXT Khaos welded aluminium full tower PC case. It is one of the strangest looking cases we've seen, despite being a bit featureless on the outside. The side panels are pretty sucky, says Shane, and the *cough* $450 *cough* price tag is enough to steer you to a cheaper box with higher-performing components to colour its entrails.

The Transcend StoreJet 25 Mobile Portable 500GB external hard-drive is reviewed at Think Computers. It packs some serious software, but otherwise it's just another USB 2.0 drive.

A year ago you wouldn't hear of a gaming PC with an AMD processor at its core. Call it recession, call it whatever, but Driver Heaven has a Phenom II X3 720-powered rig in their lab, the CyberPower Gamer Ultra Perseus.

Motherboards.org has a review of the new budget Phenom II X3 710 processor chez AMD. It seems it delivers quite the bang for the buck, but quite honestly for $20 more you can get the 720 and overclock it to heck...

IT Reviewed has tested the Linksys Media Hub NMH410. Good video playback but low transfer rates make it a bit of a sweet'n'sour mix.

Tom's Hardware Store has a look at a few 2.5-inch disc backplane solutions. These provide the highest density storage available to 5.25-inch bays. You can stick SSDs or HDDs on them, so if you've got money to spend...

The 3D Professor has a new review on the Supermicro X8Dai workstation motherboard. This squeezes two Nehalem-EP Xeons on a Tylersburg mobo, delivering somewhat of a wallop. Lots of Quadro and FirePro testing going on...

XS Reviews is looking at the petite In Win Matrix mATX case. It's a compact white plastic affair which already includes a 300W power supply. Unfortunately it won't let you fit a mini-ITX mobo as the standoffs are fixed...

MSI has always churned out good budget laptops, like this EX300 Entertainment Series notebook. Entertainment it may be, but it is a smallish 13.3 inches in diagonal, which means you'll be plugging the HD 3450 graphics to your LCD TV via HDMI...

Hexus has a couple of new gaming rigs on test, the Wired2Fire Velocity and the Hellspawn XFire. These are based on the Phenom II X4 940 (@3.6GHz) and an Intel Core i7 920 respectively. Both systems provide overclocking headroom, but Intel has the lead on this one...

Thrusted Reviews has an Asus M4A78T-E motherboard review. Don't be fooled by the name, this is not a 780G motherboard, but a 790GX. Leo thinks it's quality stuff for your future Phenom II rig.

Small Net Builder is testing a SMB NAS from Buffalo, the TeraStation III, an updated, a re-jigged RAID 5 NAS system that can hold up to 6TB of data. Write performance seems to be in the high 50MB/s which beats all its competitors save the ReadyNAS Pro.

Overclocker's Club wrote up a guide to building HTPCs. You'll find everything you need in this 18-pager. HTPC cases are still a point of contention, but the authors argue you should go with full-size expansion cards.

Notebook Review has a go at the Solidata X2-256 SATA and PATA SSDs. PATA doesn't really make sense as it is a major bottleneck, but the SATA version keeps well ahead of the competition...

Hardware Logic has a professional SSD in the house, an Mtron MOBI 3500 SSD. Its wear-levelling technology should guarantee a long existence, and the price - says Aron - isn't too bad. µ