Although Akasa didn’t have an official display booth at CeBIT 2011 they did bring along two of their latest notebook cooler’s, the Helix and the Quasar. Both notebook coolers feature a 200mm fan, which we suspect are generally the same as well. The similarities don’t end there, however, as both coolers have a similar design featuring handle like grips on either side of the cooler and as they can both support notebooks up to 17".

The main difference comes from the build, the Helix an aluminum-based cooler in which the entire cooling surface is metal with a plastic underside while the Quasar features a full plastic built with a mesh cover over the fan. The materials used make the Helix heavier with 910grams while the Quasar weighs in at 710g.

Continue Reading

Well we’re sure that you have noticed that our article production has slowed down as of late but expect it to bounce right back up. We have been busy helping out future partner site GadgetSurge.com with preparations for its launch in time for CeBIT 2011 as well as preparing for our own trip to CeBIT this year. For those of whom do not know CeBIT is the CES or Computex of Europe, a large technological showcase and we already have part of the team in Germany ready to bring you the latest.

So expect our regular schedule to return shortly and thank you for your support.

It has been five years since the public release of Blu-ray technology and nearly three years since it became the primary high capacity optical disc platform. Only now are we beginning to see this technology being included into the average notebooks as standard instead of an option on high end notebooks.

Fortunately for those of us who opted out on the Blu-ray option in the past and who do not feel like buying a whole new notebook there are ways to update. Silverstone is one of a few companies to provide aftermarket slim Blu-ray drives such as the TOB01 which I will be looking at today.

Continue Reading

Patriot is best known for memory, SD Cards, RAM, SSDs, and USB sticks. USB sticks, thumb drives, flash memory, or whatever you may call them have become a staple product for any computer user, a quick and simple way to transport your data. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of designs out there but today we have something a little less mainstream: a snowman.

Continue Reading

It is time again for another round up of the latest on desktop cases, mobile processors and games from our partner site PCGamingCorner.com.

Continue Reading

Notebook coolers are not as widely known accessories as mice or keyboards. Therefore, knowledge about them is also relatively uncommon and has led to many misconceptions. In this article we have rounded up what we consider the top 10 most important notebook cooler myths.

Continue Reading

While the title says “bed”, we actually mean any soft surface, from bed to couch to your lap. Most of us enjoy using a notebook on either of these surfaces from time to time, though notebooks and coolers are generally just not made to deal with anything but flat, hard surfaces. Many cooler’s have intakes at the bottom, much like many notebooks that they are meant to cool. The problem with this is that these coolers cannot intake air on a soft surface (once again like your notebook) but rather simply create noise and possibly even heat.

However, there are some coolers which in turn avoid putting the intake on the bottom or allow intake from various locations (sides/back/front) as well as the bottom making it suitable for soft surfaces, and these coolers are the focus of this article.

Continue Reading

Even though notebooks are not designed for being used on soft surfaces many of us still cannot resist using them on our beds and/or couches. This, however, can lead to overheating and if used on your lap it can lead to the earlier introduced toasted skin syndrome. Fortunately, there are products such as the Choiix Comforter Lapdesk which allow us to use our laptops on soft surfaces safely and for a reasonable price.

Before we turn to the details of the product let us get into how this product represents Choiix as a brand. Choiix has been around for over two years now and over that time their product line has increased dramatically. Choiix describes itself as offering “a diversity of digital lifestyle products, with joyful, colorful, user-friendly and touching characteristics.” While there is no doubt about diversity in Choiix’s product line the other claims require justification. Therefore, as we go through the process of reviewing the Choiix Comforter Lapdesk we will be keeping an eye on how the Comforter from packaging to testing represent the other claims made by Choiix.

Continue Reading

Finally the age old question of whether it is safe to use a laptop on your lap has been partially answered. Last month scientists have uncovered, what they call, the “Toasted Skin Syndrome”. According to the journal Pediatrics the symptoms include pink, red, or brown discolorations in a net or sponge like pattern. There is no pain, no itch or any other similar symptoms involved simply a net pattern left on your legs.

Continue Reading

In recent years CoolerMaster has focused on expanding its product line to also include gaming specific and portable oriented products. Generally, they have been tight lipped about many of their latest releases but we have recently found out that they will be rejuvenating part of their notebook cooler line at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in a couple months.

For now we got a hold of their latest cooler, the Notepal E1 which was released back in August. With new materials and a fresh face we will be examining the E1 to see what else is new and how it may be the first shift in CoolerMaster lineup of notebook coolers.

Continue Reading