Chris Hunter reviews a high-end mouse pad from XtracPads. The Fat Mat model is "Designed for Professional Gamers" and utilizes a patented Nanofiber technology. Is it worth it to spend 28 USD on a cloth mouse pad, or is it just gamer hype? BHFO sets out to answer this question in our review of PCXmods' XtracPads Fat Mat.
BHFO would like to welcome our newest
affiliate, PCSTATS to our Event Horizon. They start out of the gates with a
beginners guide to making older software compatible with the always-resistant
Windows Vista. Covering AMD's new processors is bit-tech with the errata free
versions of the Phenom quad-core line. Finally, Console enthusiasts need to
check out engadget for the PS3 laptop video, it is impressive to say the least.
Chris is still developing BHFO's testing
methodology for network products in order to review the WRT350N. In the mean
time, we received some XTracPads from PCXmods. They were generous enough to
send us the "Fat Mat" and the "Reaper XXL" variants. BHFO
will have the reviews published after this weekend.
Matt Bradford delves into the Daniel Kawakami story and his struggle against corporate might. Daniel is responsible for a series of homebrew drivers that enable Creative's line of sound cards to work correctly in Windows Vista. Creative Labs is allegedly disabling full audio functionality under Vista environments on purpose. Daniel's drivers also enabled proprietary audio technology, such as EAX, on non Creative Labs hardware, which made VP of Creative quite upset. The community's response was less than favorable. Read on for more on this corporate blunder.
OCZ's EliteXStream kilowatt power supplies are not short of
coverage. TweakTown has an interesting opinion about the state of video card
releases. Lastly, Eee PCs are a hot item today as well.
Matt Bradford, our news
editor, covers the price changes that went into effect today with the release
of the 9850BE Phenom X4 from AMD. Several other B3 processors were released
today as well, bringing an end to the TLB errata. Read on for more information.
**Update** Prices fluctuated April the 8th, producing some very similar prices between each model.
This is the testing methodology implemented for video card
reviews. BHFO relies heavily on real-world testing, synthetic benchmarking,
thermal tests, and desktop performance to paint an in-depth look at what market
a particular video card would benefit the most.
We are looking forward to this month with our Leadtek
PX8800GT review polished and complete. BHFO will have a 9800 series card coming
in for review, although we are not sure if it will be a GTX or an X2. We will
update when we know more information. Chris is working on a WRT350N+WUSB300N review for networking products and developing a testing process.
On the news front, Benchmark Reviews
published a 9800GTX 512MB review worth reading. Following the common trend of
being "green", engadget has an interesting article about Swiss data centers that are supplying
near by pools with free heat.
