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Category Archives: Hardware

Hardware Review: Asus Wireless Headset

The Asus Travelite HS-1000W Wireless Headset (which interestingly enough is categorized as a sound-card on the ASUS website) is a great, wireless headset. Many reviewers complain that the charging cable is too short, and they are correct. A 3 ft cable is not enough for the average user. I am lucky because I have a powered USB Hub sitting roughly 2.5 ft away from where my head is during normal computer use, but any USB to mini-USB cable will charge the headset. Battery life is consistently around 8 hours of use although load does not seem to affect it either direction. The wireless range is ~50 ft, ~30 ft through walls, and up to 75 ft in a mostly-metal building (the signal bounces off the walls resulting in a better signal).

The only downside I’ve found to these headsets is that my first one broke after 14 months of very careful use. The plastic just separated for some reason. I have yet to talk to the warranty department at ASUS (they keep telling me they will call me back and then I never hear from them again), I’m hoping I’ll still get it replaced because ASUS sound-cards have a three year warranty. But still, for $50, and the freedom a wireless headset provides, it’s not too bad to replace every two years or so.

Update: After getting in contact with ASUS support they will not replace my headset (classified as a “sound card”) except for manufacturing defects. I used superglue to put it back together and, while it was hard to prop it up while the glue dried, it is now fully functional again. If my new headset breaks in the same way I will demand they take it back as a manufacturing defect and hopefully they’ll have it fixed for the next generation of the device.

Hardware: Upgrade

Thanks to a friend, I now have an Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5Ghz Slgur Malay processor. As soon as I can figure out how this new heatsink, I’ll install it. Until then, see my hardware page to see the rest of my specs.

Hardware Review: Sapphire HD5870 2GB DDR5

HD5870 Graphics Card

HD5870 Graphics Card

I’ve had my eye on the HD5870 Series for quite some time. Ever since it came out, the possibility of running six screens off of one card fascinated me (after all, what geek wouldn’t love to have THAT?). So when one of my friends told me it was on a killer sale, I couldn’t let it pass me by. It took me a while to get it up and running, but that was no fault of the card. I didn’t have a power supply capable of pushing the wattage this card needs, after all it uses both a 6pin and 8pin power connector!

Once I got it running with my dual 24 inch Acer H243H monitors I had a slight resolution problem. Turns out that, by default, when using an HDMI cable, this card’s driver compresses the image 15%. It took a little digging, but I eventually was able to override that setting and was back to full resolution.

The biggest pain with this card is the fact that in order to run more than two monitors, you have to buy extra mini Display Port adapters. Oh, it came with enough of them alright, but they are mini Display Port to normal Display Port… There is only one HDMI and one DVI… What sort of world does ATI think we are living in?? One dominated by Apple monitors or even Display Port capable monitors? No, of course not. So why couldn’t they have included two HDMI and two DVI and then just two Display Port instead of four of the useless things?

Okay, rant over. Back to running three or more displays. In order to do it, you have to buy more adapters. That doesn’t sound too bad, until you find out that they have to be special active adapters. It has to do with the way the threading of the ports is setup, but we won’t go into the details on that here. The point is, you’ll need to get four more HDMI or DVI adapters at ~$25 appice, or five if you want to use all the same types for each of your monitors.

Outside of those two complaints, this card has been worth every penny. Obviously I haven’t had a chance to test performance running six monitors, but hopefully I’ll get to try that soon. I can run Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood at 1080p using the highest graphics settings and the card only runs at about 20-30% and the temp only raises by no more than 3-5 degrees C. That’s pretty darn good performance! Although the marketing will try to tell you otherwise, there are not very many games that support custom resolutions, which is required in order to run a game on more than one monitor. However, I trust that more and more games will start supporting this feature as these cards become more readily available to gamers.

Hardware Review: iRocks Backlit PC Gaming Keyboard

iRocks Backlit PC Gaming Keyboard

Typically keyboards are the kind of item you need to try before you buy, so it was with some reluctance that I bought an iRocks Backlit PC Gaming Keyboard this past January. For the price, it’s a great item. It’s not one of those fancy ergonomic or silent keyboards, but it fills it’s duty very well. The backlight is surprisingly bright and there is absolutely zero light leakage around the keys. The etching of the letters is very precise and the only irregularities are caused by the angle of viewing and is only noticeable if you are really looking for it.

While this keyboard is very compact, my medium sized hands fit very comfortably and, as advertized, works great for gaming. :) The biggest downside I’ve discovered is that the Page Up and Page Down buttons are positioned to the left of the arrow keys and those are nestled very tightly between the Ctrl, Shift, Enter, and number pad. The only other feature I would have liked to have seen would be a set of media buttons (for controlling music while in-game), but for the price, they had to leave something out!

It uses a standard 6′ USB cable which means you won’t be running through batteries and has your standard kickstands which are slightly smaller than most, but that’s not a big deal breaker for me. There is a hardware button/switch to turn the backlight on or off.

Summary: If you are looking for a backlit keyboard, or just a keyboard in general, this is a great buy for the price. Highly recommended.