First, one of the most important parts…

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3-3.7GHz Turbo Unlocked Multiplier – $220
Look I am NOT looking to start a fanboy flamewar but AMD processors are cheaper and therefore are the best option when on a budget… usually. In this case we have found a good, fair-priced Intel CPU. This processor is midranged and recommended thoroughly. If you can stretch your budget a little further, I recommend Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4-3.8GHz Turbo Unlocked Multiplier – $315

Next we need something to control all this stuff…

Motherboard: BIOSTAR TZ68A+ LGA1155 Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX – $100
This motherboard has some USB 2.0/3.0 ports and even an HDMI port built right in and it even supports Sata 6 gb/s!. Its prices competitively and even comes highly recommended on Newegg. If you have a larger budget then the ASUS P8P67 DELUXE B3 P67 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 CF/SLI ATX – $225 comes highly recommended.

It’s like your computer’s muscle and now a days you need a lot of it…

RAM : Patriot 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz – $60
I love Patriot RAM, it’s solid and if you do have a problem it is covered by a lifetime warrantee! What else could you ask for. Not much else to say here besides if you have money to buy 2 sets of these for 16GB RAM or better yet look at Kingston 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz – $125, which is made by another great manufacturer.

Next up is the heart of your new gaming PC…

GPU (Video Card) : EVGA Geforce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked – $240
This one is hard. You could spend more for more performance but in terms of solid “Bang for your Buck” this card will do solid work and costs under $250, which is near unbeatable. If you can afford 2 then buy all means do it but another good two card option is Two Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 in Crossfire – $350

Here comes storage and you are gonna need a couple to handle this job…

Storage: Crucial M4 2.5? 64GB SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD for OS) – $120 AND Samsung F3 1TB SATA II 3.0Gb/s(HDD for Storage) – $50
I know, some people don’t see the need for a solid state drive and I was in the same boat until I saw the incredible performance differences. The best part about having the a second 1TB drive is that you can store all your movies, music and pictures and have tons of future proofing space, to boot. I dont really have a bigger budget recommendation besides maybe a larger SSD drive.

On to a dying but not quite dead medium….
Optical Drive: ASUS Black 12X BD-ROM SATA Blu-ray – $69
If you feel like you don’t need a blu-ray by all means go with a simple DVD-RW but for under $70 bucks now is as good of time as ever to get a blu-ray rom. Not much else to say besides go with a burner if you feel you need it.

Always be over not under when it comes to…

Power Supply : Antec HCG 750W SLI/CF/80 PLUS BRONZE Certified – $90
When it comes to power supply more is often unnecessary. So go with this 750 watt PSU and forget about it.

When coming into the home strectch all you need is something to hold all this crap Stuff…..

Case: COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced 2x 140mm 1 x 120mm - $90
Not the most important thing, not the least, but you still need a case to hold everything and make sure airflow isnt at a premium. This case will do just fine.

Now that is it. The total running price is 1039 prices fluxuate and you are gonna want some thermal paste and these prices do not include shipping but for under 1100 bucks you can build one hell of a computer.

I said I would give a monitor suggestion and here it is:
ASUS VH242H Black 23.6″ 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 20000:1 (1000:1) W/Speakers. The speakers arent great but they get fairly loud. This is the monitor I use everyday and it works great.

Now on to a couple things we do not like, like the “customized” skin overlay of Android. Unless it is extremely intuitive, which most skins are not, it would do more bad than good. The web browser funnels traffic to increase speeds according to Amazon, through the Amazon Silk web browser. The Android market is likely to not be included in favor of the aforementioned “Amazon App Store”, which depending on your perspective is either a good thing or a bad thing. The non-expandable storage could be in issue for some. I think on price alone this thing could directly compete with the iPad, which is currently dominating the market. Amazon hopefully has some tricks up their sleeve… now we wait.

I use Ubuntu, so VirtualBox allows me to install WindowsXP in it’s own little window on my desktop (just like a browser), and you can install software, use your printer (or other USB devices), browser the web -as if it was another computer (inside your computer). You can install multiple snapshots and versions, like Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Vista, you could even install Mac OS X, other versions of Linux, etc. I use Windows XP for Photoshop and my multi-function printer.

I came accros a weird problem today, since I upgraded to Ubuntu 11.04 I had to install WindowsXP for the first time in Virtual Box. The install went just fine until I had to “click F8 to continue” on the EULA screen. No matter what I did – the F8 just didn’t work at all the virtual box window. I’m using a Microsoft wireless comfort keyboard 4000.

I had to google a few things to figure this out, and that’s when I found that because my keyboard is a multimedia keyboard (a lot of Microsoft and Logitech keyboards are like this), they F keys are mapped to do different things (help, undo, redo, new, open, close, reply, fwd, send, etc.).

There’s actually a button I’ve never used in 20 years called “F lock”, and if you click that it turns off all the “extended capabilities” of your keyboard (same as a num lock or caps lock).

Just find that button on your keyboard as in the image above, and once you click it you should be able to return to the Virtual Box windows and click F8 to continue installing WinXP. Also, if you have problems with your F keys working on a Mac in OS X – like the tab key, scrolling, or other things – try the F lock for those as well.

Hope that helps!

Need external storage that’s extremely portable? I’ve wished for an external hard drive enclosure that’s wireless, and my wireless hard drive review guide will show you the in’s and out’s of what’s currently available!

This post of part of The Smorgasbord Tech Reviews series!

*Update* – this is a repost from the archives with new info, since wireless hard drives are more affordable and cheaper than ever nowadays…

I’ve blogged a lot off an on about making your home entertainment network more user friend, and the gadgets that can help you get it done. Yesterday we were talking at home about the value of maybe getting a big external hard drive and hooking it up (wired) to one PC so the entire household could store their media on it. We’d maybe start it off with one big USB 2.0 external 500GB disk. You can get one new for around $120 less than $50 now online. I’ve written about the wireless USB hub and how you could connect multiple external hard drives or enclosures that way, and I’ve also posted about the value of a good network storage drive. But now they’re coming out with wireless hard drives that may start to change all of that…

What is a Wireless Hard Drive?

You have to be very careful when you’re shopping for a wireless hard drive, because devices that may appear to do the same thing may not. There are many, many flavors that may do many many different things – pay attention to what your needs are, the price, and value for the money. I’m going to show you some different kinds of wireless hard drives and enclosures:

The Iomega 33349 StorCenter has 1 Terabyte (1,000 GB) 2 or 4 Terabyte (2-4,000 GB) of storage and is a “Network Storage Device” – meaning you can plug it into your router or switch on your home or business network for everyone to share (without having it hooked to one dedicated computer). The StorCenter is “wireless” as well as wired, so all laptops and mobile devices can access it. Imagine having one device that could be accessed by PC’s, laptops, cell phones, PDA, iPhone, iTouch, or even your PSP or other mobile devices. There’s a price to be paid for all this technology, and around $200 (as of this writing).

You can get the latest price by following these links.

Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 – 2 TB Network Attached Storage 34481 (Black)

Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 – 2 TB Network Attached Storage 34481 (Black)

Iomega StorCenter ix2 dual sata drive NAS with Raid 1000 Mbit
	USD 60.99 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 23:48:23
New Iomega 4TB StorCenter ix2-200 Network Storage, Cloud Edition 35430 LOOK
	USD 349.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 13:48:20
iomega 35430 4TB StorCenter ix2-200 Network Storage
	USD / 329.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 21:20:41
Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d 8TB 4 x 2TB Network Storage Cloud Edition 35439 LOOK
	USD 849.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 13:53:10
Iomega 35427 StorCenter ix2-200 Network Storage Server
	USD 331.93 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 04:02:32
iomega 35430 StorCenter ix2-200 -AS IS (No Hard Drives)
	USD / 3.25 (2 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 20:38:12
Iomega 35427 StorCenter ix2-200 Network Storage Server
	USD 331.93 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 04:11:31
Iomega 35436 StorCenter ix4-200d Network Storage Server
	USD 749.29 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 03:26:34
Iomega 35436 StorCenter ix4-200d Network Storage Server
	USD 749.29 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 03:21:22
Iomega 34678 StorCenter ix12-300r Drive Expansion Pack 8TB Serial ATA Hard Drive
	USD 1159.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 07:39:07

You have some products that proclaim to be a “Wireless Media Player” like the MG-M2TVD and MG-M2TVDW Media Players by Mediagate. This is just fancy hard drive enclosure – since the device comes sans hard drive. It does proclaim so pretty boasty features, like the ability to stream HD video via wireless up to 1920 x 1080p. It’s got all kinds of fancy connections, like L/R stereo out, and composite, component, and S-video out. This particular unit can stream video from an internal hard drive or a PC on the network and even has a remote control. So you can see that this unit (as a wireless hard drive) is very different in that it can be a set-top box OR a media gateway to access (from networked PC’s). *update* the features of these are a bit different now, but they are still “media player” devices where you plugin external drives…

Follow these links to find more out about this device:

Noah Company MediaGate MG-M2TVDW Network Wireless N HD Media Player HDMI Full 1080P with DTS 2.0 Digital Audio Out (Piano Black)

Noah Company MediaGate MG-M2TVD Digital Media Player HDMI Full 1080P with DTS 2.0 Digital Audio Out (Black)

MEDIAGATE MG-M2TVDW 1080P HD Digital Media Player - BRAND NEW IN BOX
	USD 60.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 05:13:38

You might be interested in an Asus Wireless Storage Router which has an internal 250GB hard drive. It has a USB connector so you can connect other (wired) storage devices to it for sharing, and it even has the ability to download files from the Internet when your PC is turned off. The specs say you can download up to 7 bitTorrent files or 10 FTP/HTTP files simultaneously. For what it does, this wireless hard drive is a pretty good at half the price (and storage) as the StorCenter. You can get the wireless storage router through these links:

Wireless Storage Router

If you a have a hard drive lying around, you might be able to stick in a wireless hard drive enclosure box and put it on your network (wirelessly) that way. You can get one pretty reasonably, but the two I found were only for 2.5″ drives. I hope we see more (and a 3.5″ version) on eBay soon:

Rocketfish Hard Drive Enclosure Kit 3.5" PATA RF-PHD35
	USD 15.97 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 14:36:11
USB 2.0 3.5 IDE HARD DRIVE ENCLOSURE EXTERNAL CASE NEW
	USD 9.03 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 20:01:20
USB 2.5 IDE ENCLOSURE EXTERNAL CASE FOR HARD DISK
	USD 5.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 20:05:16
3.5 SATA Serial ATA HDD Hard Drive Disk Case Enclosure
	USD 16.70 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 06:56:47
USB 2.0 Enclosure Case for Laptop 2.5" SATA Hard Drive
	USD 7.09 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 20:05:45
3.5" IDE Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure IDE USB 2.0 Black nice Supports Windows
	USD 13.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 02:28:42
USB 2.0 Enclosure Case for Laptop 2.5" SATA Hard Drive
	USD 7.09 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 20:08:32
NEW USB 2.0 2.5 HARD DRIVE SATA EXTERNAL CASE ENCLOSURE
	USD 7.09 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 20:11:51
Black External 3.5" IDE Hard Drive Enclosure HDD Case USB 2.0
	USD 13.79 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 18:42:02
3.5 IDE HDD HARD DRIVE ENCLOSURE CASE USB BLACK
	USD 8.03 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 20:25:12

You can actually make any external hard drive enclosure wireless by using the Linksys Storage Link for USB Disk Drives. Just like many other devices Linksys makes to connect computer hardware to your home or business network, they make a Storage Link that will connect any 2 USB storage devices to your wireless local network. The thing that’s always sucked about external hard drives is that they have to be attached to a physical computer via USB to work, and then you have to access them through that computer on the network. If that computer is turned off or locked up – you can’t access those drives. With a Linksys Storage Link, you can put up to 2 USB storage devices on your network independant of all your PC’s. Just plug it into your router or hub (or switch) to work. Oh – you can even stick a flash memory stick or drive into one of the USB slots to share it on the network as well. This is not only great for file sharing, but an easy way to connect with many mobile devices!

Linksys Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives NSLU2

Linksys NSLU2 Network Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives
	USD 27.00 (3 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 17:31:02
Linksys Cisco WRT350N 4 Port Gigabit Wireless N Router with Storage Link
	USD 114.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 23:27:13
Linksys WRT350N 270 Mbps 4-Port Gigabit Wireless N Router + STORAGE LINK
	USD 79.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 20:02:06
AC power adapter Linksys Network Storage Link NSLU2
	USD 9.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 03:06:38
LINKSYS WRT350N WIRELESS-N GIGABIT ROUTER WITH STORAGE LINK - MINT
	USD / 19.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-08 21:52:39
Linksys Wireless-N GB Router w/Storage Link
	USD 75.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 20:09:44
Cisco Linksys Network Storage Link - Model NSLU2 for USB 2.0 Disk Drives
	USD 24.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 22:20:43
AC Power Charger For Network Storage Linksys Link NSLU2
	USD 7.59 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 15:05:53
Linksys WRT350N 270 Mbps 4-Port Gigabit Wireless N Router + STORAGE LINK
	USD 0.99 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 04:39:45

Wireless Hard Drive Auctions

Products and listings change on eBay all the time, so here’s the lastest auctions for “wireless hard drive” on eBay right now!

Synology USB Station 3 in 1 wireless print server printer or hard drive hub
	USD 44.99 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 22:20:51
Toshiba Mini NB205 Hard drive /wireless COVER door pane
	USD 5.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 19:25:07
XBOX W/ RED RING HARD DRIVE WIRELESS WI FI BUNDLE FOR PARTS/ 4GAMES
	USD 45.00 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 22:36:51
ASUS K52F Hard Drive Wifi Wireless RAM Memory Cover Door 13GNXM1AP050-3
	USD 39.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 19:35:42
Apple Time Capsule 500 GB Hard Drive and 802.11 Wireless Router
	USD 81.00 (10 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 03:50:14
*BRAND NEW* Seagate GoFlex Satellite 500 GB ,External wireless Hard Drive
	USD 159.50 (16 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 01:50:55
HP G70 COMPAQ CQ70 Memory Wireless Hard Drive Cover Set 489112-001
	USD 11.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 14:22:01
KARAOKE SYSTEM PROFESSIONAL HARD DRIVE CAVS SCDG MP3 DJ PA WIRELESS MICROPHONES
	USD 1299.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 03:48:54
Toshiba A355D Memory RAM Wireless Wifi Hard Drive Cover Door
	USD 9.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 21:36:50
Windows 7 Media Center Computer Micro Size Wireless N 1 TB Hard Drive HTPC HDMI
	USD 150.00 (13 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 04:14:33

Background: I’ve been working repairing and upgrading computers for 15 years, and I work online about 12 or more hours per day from my home office. We have a 16 mbit connection to the web, and there are 3 computers, 3 laptops, one netbook, an entertainment PC, an Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and various portable devices connected to the Internet. The router is probably one of the most important pieces of equipment in the entire house, since the Internet is in constant use.

I have used Linksys routers for years. It’s probably force of habit since I worked in corporate IT for 10 years, and that’s always what was used at work, and it’s what you see in all the big box stores. In addition – the company is owned by Cisco – a known industry networking leader.

Years ago I had a Linksys Wireless B router. It worked great, but was too slow. I bought a Microsoft wireless G router online in some clearance sale for $25, and we used that for almost 5 years with no issues. Microsoft no longer makes routers. About a year ago it got to the point where we were having to reset the MS router multiple times per day – so I broke down and bought the Linksys WRT54G wireless G router. It lasted about one year before it died. By “died”, I mean – all the lights won’t even come on anymore.

I usually exclusively buy all my electronics and gadgets online. I haven’t bought anything like that in a big box store like Wal-Mart, Staples, Best But, etc. – in years. My wife and I were out and about shopping when my son called and said the router died. He’s going to school for networking, so when he said it was “dead”, I knew it was. The way we use the Internet – I knew that I had to buy a new router while I was out, or there would be no web access when I returned home.

Grudgingly, I went to Staples because I live in a small town, and I knew they would have the most routers on hand. Since the Linksys WRT54G died after just one year, I knew I didn’t want another Linksys. I also knew that NetGear is usually the bottom of the barrel, so the thought was “let’s try Belkin!”. I bought the best router they have, the Play Max dual band Wireless N router – and as you read in my last review, it was the worst wireless N router money can buy. It was horrible, every page online took 3-5 seconds to load, some never loaded – the router had to be reset all the time, it was complete and utter garbage. My son actually read online at the Belkin web site in their FAQ’s that they recommend rebooting the router every 4 hours for “optimal usage” – WTF is that? When the company making the router says you have to reboot it 6 times a day for best use – you KNOW it’s crap!

How to Pick the best Wireless N Router

If you’re not very technical (or even if you are), I’m going to give you some things you should be looking for when buying a router.

DOES THE ROUTER HAVE…

- are the antennas internal or external? (external are of course better)
- how many antennas does the router have?
- what is the speed of the processor?
- how much memory does it have?
- how much flash memory does it have?
- does it have external connectivity for USB storage and printers?

You may not have thought about it this way – but a router is a miniature computer. It has a CPU, and it has memory. Now – think about this for a second – that means that the more CPU power it has, and the more memory it has, the faster it’s going to work. So you’re not only looking for the wireless N router with the best features, you’re looking for the one with the most POWER.

Comparing Wireless N Routers

Belkin Play Max
- antennas: internal
- CPU: info not found anywhere
- Memory: tech sites list as 64MB
- Flash Memory: tech sites list it as 8MB
- external support: print and USB storage

Linksys WRT320N
- antennas: internal
- CPU: BCM4717A 354MHz
- Memory: 32MB
- Flash Memory: 8MB
- external support: NO

*Note: regardless of pricepoint, antenna, and external support – nearly all Linksys wireless N routers seem to have 32MB memory, 8MB flash, and smaller CPI

NetGear RangeMax
- antennas: internal
- CPU: 680 MHz 32-bit processor
- Memory: 64MB
- Flash Memory: 8MB
- external support: print and USB storage

D-Link Xtreme
- antennas: 3 external
- CPU: 275 Mhz
- Memory: 16MB
- Flash Memory: 4MB
- external support: print and USB storage

Asus RT-N16
- antennas: 3 external
- CPU: Broadcom BCM4718 533MHZ
- Memory: 128MB
- Flash Memory: 32MB
- external support: print and USB storage

My Choice for Best Wireless N Router

If you go buy specs above from the list above, it’s very plain that as far as CPU and memory horsepower, the D-Link is the bottom of the barrel. The next worst would be Linksys. The NetGear has the most powerful processor, but only by a hare (533Mhz vs. 680 Mhz). The Asus has double the memory, and 4 times as much the flash memory. Also – the Asus has 3 external antennas

For those of you who have never heard of the ASUS company (AsusTek), they are primarily known for making motherboards for computers. Those of us that have been building computers for years know that name well, because ASUS has not only always meant quality – but they have long since been the “Cadillac” of motherboard makers. Most “tech guys” know the ASUS name from parts we buy online – again, not a name you would normally see in the “big box” stores.

We purchased the Asus RT-N16 Wireless N router based on the specs above, but also because of the 4-5 star reviews on nearly every site we could find a review on. We paid about $90US, and had it shipped overnight via Amazon Prime.

This is a pic of the router:

When I received the router – I took it out of the box and connected it to my cable modem, and my main computer via hardwire. I brought up the management interface at http://192.168.1.1/. The first thing you need to do is turn off your router while you plugin everything in (remove the battery if it has battery backup – like the comcast routers with VOIP phones). Then turn the cable modem on first, 30 seconds later turn on the router, and then bring up the management interface. I believe the only tweak we really made, was to turn the firewall off. We used WPA2-Personal with a network key, and seconds later – we were up and running!

The difference between our Linksys wireless G, the Belkin Playmax, and the Asus RT-N16 was astounding. With the extra memory and flash (and bigger processer) – web pages load like lightning! After you type a URL and hit enter, just say “BAM!” as fast as you can, and the web page is already loaded.

Now you may think that it’s just this fast from my hard wired computer, but loading YouTube videos and flash-laden pages from a 7 year old 1.0 Ghz Pentium III with 512MB Ram and 40GB hard drive, with a USB Wireless N adapter is just about as fast as the hard wired computer. It’s fast as hell!

This is the fastest router I’ve owned, setup was effortless, and it has the most external antennas and largest horsepower of any wireless N router I could find. I know that wireless N has a broader range, but when I had the Belkin Play Max installed (upstairs), my devices downstairs were connecting to the network with only 1 or 2 bars (out of 5, even though it was wireless N). My ASUS RT-N16 has had consistent 5 bar connections with EVERY device in my home since I installed it from day 1. That’s the best wifi connection hotspot I’ve ever had installed anywhere (and I’ve setup dozens of routers for family, friends, and clients). From now on – Asus is the only wireless router I will buy.

If you like the specs and want to try the ASUS RT-N16, you can buy it on Amazon here:

You can also find it new or used on eBay:

ASUS TeK RT-N16 300 Mbps Gigabit Wireless N Router WITH TOMATOUSB
	USD 53.00 (11 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 03:34:47
ASUS RT-N16 Wireless Router N /w Printer Server/P2P/BT
	USD 78.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 01:29:26
ASUS NETWORK DEVICE RT-N16 WIRELESS-N GIGABIT ROUTER RE
	USD / 114.75 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 01:05:35
Asus RT-N16 Wireless-N Gigabit Router
	USD 129.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 17:45:05
ASUS RT-N16 GIGABIT WIFI N HIGH POWER ROUTER REPEATER DD-WRT MEGA
	USD 159.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-08 04:23:07
RT-N16 WLAN SECURE HOME GATEWA Asus 90-IG0D002M01-01P0Z B997359
	USD 167.23 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 13:10:53
ASUS RT-N16 MULTI-FUNCTIONAL GIGABIT WIRELESS N ROUTER
	USD 112.53 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 20:40:01
★NEW★ ASUS RT-N16 802.11b/g/n Router Open Source
	USD 122.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 03:48:06

Originally submitted at Staples

Dual-Band N technology gives you the fastest, most reliable speeds for video, music and gaming Dual-plane antennas and MIMO technology provides the best coverage for demanding home usage MIMO technology provides maximum coverage for demanding home usage Security settings are preset to get you up an…

Belkin Play Max Wireless-N Router

Worst Router EVER MADE!!

Pros: none

Cons: GArbage, Unreliable, Slow

Best Uses: none

Describe Yourself: High bandwidth user

Primary use: Business

The Belkin Play Max router is the worst router ever made. I have been repairing and fixing computers for 15 years, so my experience level is advanced – and I’ve owned a half dozen routers and setup hundreds of networks. I purchased this router to try and get away from my linksys for once, since my last router died after only a year.

The setup is awful on this router, as it has an internal firewall that is “on” by default (slowing all traffic). You would think that this wireless N router is wireless b with that thing on (even through a wired connection it’s slow). When you unplug it for 15 seconds or more, it seems to forget it’s WPA password, and WPS is on by default also.

Even once I got this router setup the way that I wanted, it’s slower than all bejeezus. It’s constantly dropping packets, browsers connected directly via hardwire say “resolving host” and take 5 seconds to bring up things like google and eBay.

This router is the worst piece of garbage I’ve ever owned, and the 3 days I used it (before returning it) were the worst Internet usage days of my life since dialup. Goodbye Belkin router – I will never buy your products again…

(legalese)

This post of part of The Smorgasbord Tech Reviews series!

First, let’s talk about what a Solid State hard Drive is. You get the definitive answer from Wikipedia of course. Let me give you some details from that Wikipedia entry:

A Solid State Drive, or SSD, has no moving parts. Think of it as a huge flash drive. Because it has no moving parts, it eliminates the seek time and latency of a traditional spinning disk hard drive – and it’s faster. So because you’ve eliminated electro-mechanical delay, you’ve also eliminated electro-mechanical failures. It’s not to say an SSD wont go out, but at least you know it can’t go out due to moving part failure.

A Solid State Drive is comprised of either Flash RAM or SDRAM. SDRAM SSD’s are “fast access”, and data access is less than 0.01ms (250 times faster than the fastest hard drive in 2004). SDRAM SSD’s have an internal battery, and if the power goes out, whatever is in memory (RAM) can be copied to disk. There’s a distinct advantage over a spinning disk. Flash memory is slower than SDRAM, but because it’s more durable and rugged – it’s more widely used in SSD’s. Flash based SSD’s do not have a battery and use non-volatile memory.

SSD Pro’s:

• Faster startup and boot time
• Faster I/O (data access, see time)
• Longer lifetime (10 years of normal use)
• No moving parts
• Easy to ‘wipe’ clean
• Lower weight and size

SSD Con’s:

• Price ($8/GB compared to 0.25 cents/GB for spinning disk)
• Data possibly harder to recover with drive failuer vs. spinning disk
• Possibly affected by magnetic fields / static charges
• Slower random write speeds

Now, let’s give you a better perspective by sampling some information about SSD’s from across the net. Popular Mechanics calls the Solid State Drive the 3rd most Brilliant Gadget of 2007. They also mention the use of the term “solid state disk” as an oxymoronic term.

Tom’s Hardware reviewed the Solid State Drive 4 years ago, and one of the things that I noted was the fact that they said their test unit literally didn’t get hot at all and was virtually silent. In addition to being smaller than a traditional hard drive, it’s power consumption was way less than a spinning disk, and nearly nothing at all when not in use. These are definite distinct advantages that didn’t seem to come up in the Wikipedia article. I’ve had many computers in the past that had 3-4 hard drives installed, and they not only sounded like an airplane hangar – some of the drives would get very, very hot. SSD drives would definitely completely change that picture. They also mentioned that the drive could be used in nearly any environment, which I didn’t think about. Spinning disk would not work as well (or at all) in extreme heat or cold, but an SSD should. In this article you can view the performance graphs taken during testing showing how much faster and better performing the SSD was compared to 20-odd spinning disk hard drives.

So let’s recap what we’ve learned here…

• SSD Solid State Hard Drives boot faster than spinning disk drives
• SSD’s weigh less, don’t get hot, and use less energy than traditional HDD
• The SSD cost much more, but prices are coming down
• You see how well an SSD can function in a mobile situation – like a laptop or portable
• Solid State Drive’s are worse than traditional HDD is sustained data transfer – which means it’s not well suited for saving, moving, copying lots of large files or functioning in a constantly data intensive situation, like a database server
• SSD’s should last longer and be way less succeptible to failure than traditional HDD

If you’re considering getting a Solid State Drive:

• Can you justify the price vs. the benefit
• Are you better off waiting for prices to come down?
• Do you do data intensive work that is better suited to a traditional HDD?

Last – I’m going to provide you with some links so you can get current pricing on SDD Solid State Drive’s.

There are several Solid State Drive’s listed on Amazon:

Here are the most recent eBay auctions for solid state drives:

Intel Solid State SSD 320 Series 300GB 2.5in SATA 3Gb/s MLC Server Hard Drive
	USD 420.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 14:52:37
Imation M-Class 128 GB,Internal,2.5" (27511) (SSD) Solid State Drive NEW!
	USD 88.99 (6 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 20:54:27
Intel 320 Series 80GB SSDSA2CW080G3 Solid State SATA Drive NEW / Laptop SSD
	USD 109.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 10:24:51
** NEW ** CRUCIAL M4 512GB 2.5" SSD CT512M4SSD2 SOLID STATE DRIVE
	USD 669.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 18:57:15
Imation Solid State Drive PRO 7000 16 GB,Internal 27042
	USD 19.95 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 20:54:27
BRAND NEW OCZ VERTEX 3 240GB SSD 2.5" SOLID STATE DRIVE
	USD 369.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 02:14:29
Samsung 16GB SSD 2.5" Disk Hard Drive MMBRE16G5MSP-0V​​AD1 OVAD NEW NOS
	USD 23.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 04:23:48
Imation 64 GB,External (27515) (SSD) Solid State Drive - NEW!
	USD 45.00 (3 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-04 20:54:27
Intel 320 Series 160 GB Internal 2.5" (SSDSA2BW160G3H) (SSD) Hard Drive
	USD 159.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 04:28:43
NEW Kingston SSDNow Desktop Bundle SSD 128GB SATA Hard Drive Kit *FREE SHIPPING*
	USD 129.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 00:43:46

Do you own an SSD? Have an opinion about Solid State Drives?

I’ve waited for this day for a looong time. I literally just found this deal. What you’re looking at above in the pic is what I just bought on Buy.com, it’s a small computer in a box – a network storage server (NAS server). Literally, this is a mini computer with 512MB ram, a 1.6Ghz Celeron processor, and 250watt power supply. That’s not why I bought it though. This has 4 USB ports, a 100mbit Lan jack, and slots for both older ATA style drives, and newer Sata and eSata drives. Do you have any idea what this means?

I can plug this into my Wireless Linksys router in one of the 4 ports, and instantly every computer in my house can access this thing, my Ubuntu machines, Mac, PSP, Wii, PS3, our Xbox 360, even our Window XP, Vista, and Windows 7 machines (yes we have this much crap in our house). So, in this new Intel NAS Server I’m going to install my old 120GB ATA drive (from a machine that burned up), my new 750GB Hitatchi drive I just bought off woot.com, and then I’m going to plugin via USB my new 1.5 TB Seagate drive and 320GB myBook. Once I do this, every computer in the house will be able to access all these drives via the network!!!

Oh I forgot to mention the best part, this Intel NAS server only cost me $135 (and had FREE shipping)! Best find of the holiday season! Click here if you want one too.

Can you get Dual Band Wireless N, both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz at the same time from one router? Is a dual band router twice as fast? Let’s find out!

Just about everyone who has multiple computers in their home have a wireless router. Most of those people bought theirs on a recommendation from [insert big box store here]. For most people these routers do their job and don’t give there “operator” any problems until it clunks out and you buy a new one. Well why not get educated on the new guy in the router game, IEEE 802.11n-2009, also known by its common name, “Wireless N”. The best way to take advantage of this technology are dual band routers as two is always better than one, right?

First off, if you go by CNET reviews (and I always do), no dual band wireless N router currently has above a 3 out of 5 rating, which if you’re not familiar with their system is only ‘good’. Okay, now that is out of the way, I rarely go with new technology or recommend it to others until it is completely fool-proof. I think that it just may be getting there now. Here are my recommendations of the best Dual-Band Wireless N routers.

Airport Extreme Review

Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station 802.11n ($175, although you could get it cheaper) – Don’t call me crazy until you have read all the features this little Apple that could offers. It has all the features of comparable features of routers of this type, but offer the ease that apple offers with all their products. If you run a mixed mac and pc network this router is perfect, if you however run all windows machines then you can find something a little cheaper with all the same features (it just may not be as fast). Believe it or not, you can use this Apple product as a router – even if you have no Apple computers in your house (it works just fine with Windows). This is a “true dual band” wireless N router, meaning it won’t make you choose between 2.5 and 5 GHz – you can actually use both. It will support printers and network storage, but it’s pick about USB external hard drives. It only supports 50 clients, which is more than enough for most households, just be forewarned there is a limit. Bottom line, I think most Windows users (advanced ones) will want more features).

Apple Airport Extreme Base Station A1143 Wireless Router
	USD 66.00 (11 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 00:30:37
Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station 10/100 USB Wireless G Router A1034 & Modem
	USD 29.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 06:00:43
Apple A1143 AirPort Extreme WI-Fi Wireless base station pc router
	USD 70.00 (10 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 01:00:54
Apple AirPort Extreme Base 4-Port 10/100 Wireless N Router (MA073LL/A)
	USD 49.99 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 01:34:05
Apple Airport Extreme Wi-Fi 802.11N 3-Port Router A1408 For Parts Not Working A
	USD 39.99 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 04:06:03
Apple AirPort Extreme 3-Port Gigabit Wireless N Router MC340LL/A
	USD 75.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 04:06:59
Apple Airport Base Station Extreme WIFI Router A1034 w/ AC adapters (Lot of 2)
	USD / 20.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 20:23:29
New Apple Airport Extreme.802.11n Wi-Fi MD031LL - 3-Port Wireless N Router
	USD 108.50 (16 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 06:49:32
Apple Airport Extreme N Router A1301 SIM Dualband
	USD 15.50 (2 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 18:15:50
Apple AirPort Extreme 3-Port Gigabit Wireless N Router (A1143)
	USD 7.38 (4 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 20:34:06

Linksys WRT400N Review

Linksys WRT400N ($120-149.99 just look around) – In our home we have almost exclusively used Linksys routers since we got our first high speed internet connection many years ago. They have always been easy to use and maintain and have that weird little purple-blue look to them. Well the WRT400N sports a new design but works as well as you would a expect a Linksys should. This router has true dual band support, but no Gigabit or USB support. The 5 GHz speed is a bit lacking.

Cisco-Linksys WRT400N 300 Mbps 4-Port 10/100 Wireless N Router WRT-400
	USD 14.99 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 00:20:41
LINKSYS WRT400N DUAL BAND WIFI N 300Mbps ROUTER & REPEATER W/ DD-WRT
	USD 69.98 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 01:16:38
Cisco-Linksys Simultaneous Dual-band Wireless-N Router
	USD 20.51 (9 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 17:22:09
Linksys WRT400N 4-Port 10/100 Wireless N Router
	USD 39.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-08 13:58:22
LINKSYS WRT400N SIMULTANEOUS DUALBAND WIRELESS-N ROUTER
	USD / 4.14 (4 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 01:21:18
Cisco-Linksys WRT400N Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless Router w/ DD-WRT installed
	USD 69.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 02:57:08
Linksys WRT400N Dual-Band Wireless N (g,b,a) Router
	USD 56.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 17:28:14
Linksys WRT400N 300 Mbps 4-Port 10/100 Wireless N Router - Used, all accessories
	USD 1.25 (2 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-08 01:17:52
Used Linksys Dual-Band Wireless-N Router WRT400N
	USD 59.98 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 02:00:10
Linksys WRT400N 300 Mbps 4-Port 10/100 Wireless N Router
	USD 1.50 (2 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 17:21:39

Linksys WRT610N Review

Linksys WRT610N ($160.99-199.99 again look around) – This one is the next model up from the previous Linksys. The routers only major complaint is that the warranty is too short. Sounds like a good problem to have, meaning at least the complaints were performance related. The router offers a single mode, mix mode and simultaneous mode for sending the signal out. It support both 2.5 GHz and 5.0 GHz at the same time. You can attach storage devices to it, and on this one the mixed-mode throughput could be better. Other than that, it may be the best of the bunch, especially if you have external storage you want to make wireless.

Linksys WRT610N gigabit router - needs to be unbricked
	USD 30.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 01:34:31
NEW Linksys Cisco WRT610N Wireless N Router with DD-WRT - Version 2
	USD 98.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 08:58:38
Linksys WRT610N 270 Mbps 4-Port Gigabit Wireless N Router
	USD 48.88 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 03:36:57
*New* Linksys - WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Router
	USD 99.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 00:01:24
Linksys WRT610N V2 4-Port Gigabit Wireless N Router (WRT610N)
	USD 10.50 (4 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-05 17:06:05
Linksys WRT610N 270 Mbps 4-Port Gigabit Wireless N Router
	USD / 18.89 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-06 21:05:35
Cisco-Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router
	USD 49.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 17:56:33
WRT610N Ver.2 Linksys Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless N 4-Port Gigabit Router
	USD 5.00 (3 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 01:30:42
LINKSYS WRT610N DUAL BAND WIFI N ROUTER & REPEATER W/ DD-WRT MEGA WRT600N
	USD 78.97 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 01:41:41
Linksys WRT610N 270 Mbps 4-Port Gigabit Wireless N Router
	USD 40.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 19:48:06

I know most of these routers are more expensive than most routers you will find at Wal-Mart but as they say, you gotta pay for quality. One final note if your computer, laptop or wireless capable device is only wireless G compliant you have a few choices. First you could just stick with what you have as your new wireless N router does accept all incoming signals. Next you could buy wireless n adapters which are usb enabled, work as they should and are relatively expensive. The final choice is yours, the consumer.

Obviously a student needs a light, super portable, and a power house for extensive apps! With that being said most manufacturers laptops are loaded with ad-ware, and junk files when its bought. So make sure when you do get your little electronic piece of gadget lore home you clear it of all the garbage. Now on to the guide.

Budget Laptop Review

Gateway TC7804u Price: 599.99 to 699.99

Generally speaking I wouldn’t normally recommend a gateway anything, but for the price this is one of the best ultra-portable laptops. At 5.3 pounds it a little beefy but with a large 320 gb hard drive, 2 ghz intel core 2 duo processor and 14 inch screen it makes the extra weight very bearable. It also boasts a Wireless N networking so it has great speeds from long range. It also looks very slick and sexy with a glossy black finish, beveled lid, metal trim and glowing orange media controls.

Gaming

Alienware Area-51 m15x Price: 3,249.99(Depends on configuration)
For those you want some stress free gaming time ‘between classes’ or whatever you tell your parents. In all seriousness this is the very best gaming laptop on the market. If you are serious about your gaming hobby and have the cash to shell out, you wont be disappointed with this purchase. It is pretty light for a gaming laptop at a manageable 7.1 pounds. You also get to pick the LED backlight color and even the case design. Aside from aesthetics this bad boy is a beast under the hood, packing a 15.4 inch display with a max 1080p resolution, Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 CPU running at 2.8 GHZ, Nvidia GeForce 9800M GT GPU, and even a Blu-ray burner.

[nms:Alienware Area-51 m15x,3,0,0,smorgas.alienware.m15x]

Mainstream

Dell Studio XPS 16
Its got a large 16 inch LED-Back light display, and ways in at a 6.4 pounds which is light for comparable models. 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 CPU, 3GB of RAM, and you get a 250GB hard drive and slick slot-loading DVD burner. It battery life leaves something to be desired but it makes up for it with great performance and a great price. It displays at 720p so watching HD is also great. For the money its a great price and performace make this a great buy.

Got your own favorite? Then tell us about it in the comments!