BCCHardware

Small Systems & Big Systems

As we wrap up the news for this fine Wednesday, we've got a few system reviews to check out.  Take a look at the Acer Aspire S7-191 Touchscreen Ultrabook Lapotp over at TweakTown for starters.  This is a pretty decent entry level system that cores 84% and is worth checking out.  They also have the big-brother to the first one as they look at the Aspire S7-391 Touchscreen Ultrabook as well.

The ASUS VivoBook X202E Laptop makes its mark at HardwareSecrets and after giving this unit a run through their benchmarking gauntlet, the deem that this unit is basically a touchscreen netbook.  That may be exactly what you're looking for and then again it may be exactly not.

On the tablet side of things, the ASUS VivoTab Smart ME400C tablet reviewed at TechReport is pretty much ASUS' version of the Microsoft Surface.  This is a full-on Windows 8 tablet (not RT) and when you look at the selling price of $429.99 - it's not a bad choice and will ruffle some iPad and Nexus 10 feathers.

Maybe you are looking for something abit more portable and fun - that's where the Raspberry Pi comes in.  TechReviews has some fun with this little device and shares their thoughts.  If you want a larger open-source device, check out TechPowerUp's review of the Giada Q11 Android OS Mini PC.  If you love Android, but want a little smaller package that is more portable, check out the Samsung Galaxy Note II Phablet review at TweakTown and find out if this slab is good for you.

Lastly, we'll get some real game on with the iBUYPOWER Revolt SFF Desktop Gaming PC also at TweakTown and see what iBUYPOWER throws into this box for the gamer. 

SteelSeries @ CES 2013

Day one of CES 2013 in Las Vegas Nevada was madness and we kicked it off with a busy start! This morning BCCHardware was able to meet up with Steel Series to see what they had to show and what they’re working on for the future of tech and gaming enthusiasts. They had a couple of products to show and talk about at their suite such as the Apex and Apex [Raw] keyboards, as well as two new audio products. Steel Series is typically a gaming company that appeals to the gamers. The Apex and Apex [Raw] are gaming keyboards that can be customized to what you want and or how you want to play your game.

SteelSeries Apex
SteelSeries Apex

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Just like the Sensei Mouse that is customizable in many ways, the keyboards are customizable to what you want.  The Apex can produce 16.7 Million different colors and the Apex [Raw] is simply white. All in all, you can tweak a mere 504 keys (thanks to four layers) that can be re-assigned and mapped. One of the keyboards has five zone lighting and the other has two zones for lighting keys. SteelSeries also talked a bit about two pairs of earphones they are working on. Both are tangle free design and are great sounding headphones that won’t feel cheap to your ears!

Google's CEO still uses a BlackBerry

You would think that the CEO of Google (the maker of Android) would be using an Android phone, right? Well, apparently that is not the case as Google's CEO Eric Schmidt is still rocking his BlackBerry. When asked he said that it was because he loves the keyboard that BlackBerry offers, and as a former BlackBerry user, I will give him a pass on this one. You can head on over to Geek.com to check out more on this story (which isn't really a story but still pretty funny).

You’d probably expect those in the upper echelon of Google’s management to be staunch advocates of its own products like Chromebooks and Android phones. Turns out that’s not always the case. Executive chairman Eric Schmidt, for example, uses a BlackBerry instead. Despite its struggles to maintain market share around the globe, it’s got to make the men and women in Waterloo smile from ear to ear to know that Eric Schmidt of all people, hasn’t replaced his BlackBerry with an Android device.

3DMark Android Edition Now Available

FutureMark has had their finger in the benchmark pie for many years on the PC and now they are moving toward a unified platform to show how devices compare.  Their benchmark spans iOS, Android, Windows and Windows RT (iOS and RT pending) and will give consumers a good idea about how well each of these devices is for gaming.  It's quite surprising and alitle disappointing to see how low the Nexus 7 ranks.

3DMark Android

As always, don't let a benchmark determine your happiness.  Easier said than done sometimes.

Source: FutureMark, Google Play

Game Releases and Reviews

ShackNews has the latest video game releases of the week and this week there is quite a few new titles to check out.  Star Trek makes it's way on the PC, Xbox and PS3.  Take a look and see if you can find anything you like - if not, check out the reviews below.

PC

  • Dead Island Riptide
  • Don't Starve (download - $15)
  • Dyad (download - $15)
  • Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine (download - $15)
  • Telltale Games' Poker Night 2 (download - $5)
  • Star Trek
  • StarDrive (download - $30)
 
360
  • Dead Island Riptide
  • Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
  • Star Trek
 
PS3
  • Dead Island Riptide
  • Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
  • Fire Pro Wrestling (PS2 Classic)
  • God Mode (PSN - $10)
  • Star Trek
  • Thomas Was Alone (PSN)
 
PSV
  • Draw Slasher (PSN)
  • Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R (PSN)
  • Thomas Was Alone (PSN)
 
3DS
  • Mega Man 4 (Virtual Console)
  • Puzzler World 2013
 
PSP
  • Black Rock Shooter: The Game
 
NDS
  • Puzzler World 2013 (DSiWare)

 

A couple of reviews worth checking out are the God of War Ascension (PS3) review over at HardwareHeaven - as well as the Gears of War: Judgement review at TweakTown.  Those should give you some food for thought if you haven't picked up these titles yet.

 

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