The Incredible Hulk of laptops

Think a laptop is supposed to be a light and portable PC? Think again. iBuyPower’s CZ-17 is neither of those things. With a carry weight of almost 11 pounds and dimensions measuring 16.9x11.3x2.2-inches, this thing is huge and friggin’ heavy. Imagine lugging around a dumbbell in your pack all day and you’ll catch our drift.

Note: This review first appeared in the January 2013 issue of the magazine.

Digital Bolt Storm confirms the PC is going small

One is an outlier. Two a coincidence. But three, as we know from News Media Statistics 101, is a crystal-clear trend.

And that’s just what we have with the Digital Storm Bolt, which follows on the heels of Alienware’s X51 and Falcon Northwest’s Tiki: proof that the PC is making an assault on the living room. Of course, the “assault on the living room” is our own private fantasy about the PC pushing the traditional game console overboard—Digital Storm just presents the box as a small PC (although we will note that the machine came with a wireless keyboard and game controller).

Note: This review first appeared in the January 2013 issue of the magazine.

Mostly evolutionary

The concept of the desktop PC that folds flat like a tabletop is catching on. HP was first, with its Z1 workstation, but Lenovo brought the technology to consumer all-in-ones with its very sexy IdeaCentre A720. Now Asus has adopted the idea for its new ET2300 series (we reviewed the model ET2300INTI-B022K).

Note: This review was taken from the January issue of the magazine.

The LL Cool J of water coolers: cool, but loud

Water cooling is the way to go if you're serious about keeping your CPU thermals in check, and the easiest way to dip your toe in the water-cooling pool is an all-in-one unit that bolts onto your case. You don’t have to mess with pumps, tubing, or fans, and the kits will work with any modern CPU and most chassis, so their appeal is maximum cooling with minimum effort. Thermaltake is on board with this concept, and offers three tasty all-in-one entrées in its Water2.0 series: a low-end “Performance” model, a double-rad “Extreme” model, and the mid-range “Pro” version we examined this month.

Note: This review was taken from the January 2013 issue of the magazine.