Maximum PC

Please double-check to make sure Maximum PC hasn't already reviewed what you want them to review, and that no one else has requested a review of the same thing. Please limit your requests to three items.

I'll start off the thread.


1) Headphone category:
Sony MDR-EX700LP Earbud Headphones

2) Storage:
Addonics Compact Flash RAID controller (this was already reviewed by a competitor magazine back in their Feb '08 issue, but I'd like to see MPC's spin)
Apacer Serial Raid Flash Drive

3) Cooling:
It's high-time for a comparative 120-140mm fan, air-cooled HS/F shootout using a Quad-core processor as a test bed!

-Six

OMG... that's awesome! I love Addonics SATA CF reader. I'd love to see MaximumPC put that CF RAID controller through it's paces with some SanDisk ExtremeIV or Extreme Ducati Edition CF cards... among others. Heck I might just get one for myself to play around with!

EDIT: okay, so I ordered one... but the CF cards I want to use are out of stock

Depending on how well this performs with 4 cards in RAID 0, I may use this in my new gaming build as the OS drive!

To coincide with the Maximum PC Photo Contest... I'd like to see a showdown review of Photo printers, especially Epson & Canon printers (and any others that might be worth a darn), including 13" wide format printers. Maybe even a three-tier showdown with low end, mid-range, & wide format printers.

I.E.
Epson R280 or R380 Vs. Canon PIXMA iP3500 or iP4500 (low end)
Epson R800 Vs Canon PIXMA iP90v (mid-range)
Epson R1900 Vs Canon PIXMA Pro9000 (wide-format)

I thought this thread would be far more active. Here's another item I think needs to be Verdicticized:

Kicker iK500 Speaker Dock, with 6" square subwoofer

It appears Sennheiser has decided to build a serious headset for gaming. I'm curious to see if they are worth the money.

Sennheiser PC 350



I love their PC 151 gaming headset, maybe a head-to-head article would be a better choice than a review?

Saitek's next generation of gaming gear, particularly the keyboard, looks sweet. Its called the cyborg keyboard btw.



A review in the next coming months would be very nice.

That looks like it belongs in someone's Civic.

If the terminator had a super computer, this would be the keyboard he'd use for it. lol

1) Software gaming program (in a Head2Head with Xbox Live or something like that).
Xfire

I prefer my keyboards to be simple, yet elegant...

or at least made of aluminum I already own one Zippy Keyboard(pictured above), the WK-722 which I currently use on my gaming PC. The only drawback is that it's tiny i.e. laptop keyboard tiny... but that's also why I like it


I'd like to see a review of some of the new Zippy brand keyboards, especially their new gaming keyboard

EDIT: hey... that's a similar layout to the Saitek with the side keys & what not... do I smell a head-to-head

Okay, I ordered the Addonics PCI CF RAID controller Six linked in the very first post, along with two 4GB 233x RiData Lightning Series CF cards to tide me over till I can get four of the 8GB cards, or even better, four 16GB cards!

In order to test the Addonics RAID Controller, I want a base-line performance index for a single card, which leads me to a request for a showdown...

Flash Media Reader roundup/showdown: at least 10 different brands, at least 20 different models and to include:
> Internal Readers
> External Readers
> Multi-Card readers
> Dedicated Card readers (i.e. CF only, SD only, Memory Stick only, etc...)
> USB 2.0 Readers
> FireWire Readers
> IDE Readers
> SATA Readers
> Laptop hard drive form-factor CF reader

The last 3 make for a "dirt cheap" SSD replacement, $50 reader, $140 32GB CF Card Vs $500+ for a 32GB SSD...

Of course 20 different readers will just barely scratch the surface of available readers (Newegg currently has 159 different readers & don't carry Addonics, SanDisk, EDGE Tech, PNY, among others... So I would limit to some of the top brands, as well as readers that make it sound like they can read/write faster than 20MB/sec...

Brands I would like to see included: SanDisk, Lexar, Addonics, Atech Flash, SIIG, Koutech, Silverstone, Vantec, EDGE Tech, PNY, among others...

I'd like to find out: 1> what is the fastest regardless of price, 2> what is the best value for your read/write speeds, 3> how does a CF card stack up to an SSD (of course that's probably a seperate review)... I mean is it really worth it to pay $80+ for a FireWire reader... I have one & until today, had been completely underwelmed with it's performance... The 233x CF card has however redemed it, hitting HD-Tach numbers of:
Random Access: 0.9ms
CPU Utilization 0%
Burst Rate: 40.9MB/sec
Average Read: 37.9MB/sec

Now I'm off to do some more benchmarks on these cards...

EDIT: No wonder these Lightning Series cards are so cheap... Lightning fast READ at up to 39MB/sec... but transfer on one 2.2GB Video file to card took 4 minutes 32 seconds or just over 8MB/sec WRITE speeds just under half the speed of my 2 year old RiData Pro 150x 8GB CF write speeds I'll try 2GB of MP3's next... Hopefully, with 4 cards in RAID 0 they'll perform admirably... If not, I guess I have to shell out for some SanDisk Extreme III cards.

EDIT #2: I've noticed a disturbing trend... sites like Newegg, ZZF, Provantage, list cards by the manufacturers speed rating, i.e. RiData Lightning series = 233x... the problem is that for a lot of these cards, that speed is only the Read speed and there is no indication, even in the manufacturers listed specs of theoretical maximum write speeds. A-Data & RiTek are two that come immediately to mind (among many) who only list write speeds with no mention of read speeds So far, Kingston, Lexar, & SanDisk are bucking that trend, but for how long?

well, i was going through the 'egg, and found something interesting...
<<link...

apparently it is a product that claims to reduce video SNR by up to 10%, so say you have a bit of a fuzzy video signal, or are recording HD signals, w/e...it would be nice for anyone that needs it, but i think it is in the same boat with PhysX cards...still, would be interesting to see if it actually works...

only thing is, i cant for the life of me figure out who makes the darn thing!!!

I would love to see you guys put different tablets head to head.

I love my Intuos, works great with Sins of a Solar empire.

yes, please do...i love my bamboo, but still dont know the EXACT differences between it and the much more costly intuos' and if the difference is worth it?

VOIP providers / devices.

I just saw this infomericial about the Magic Jack. Sounds to good to be true.

My boss has this at home and absolutely LOVES it!

I really like this idea. I've played with several software solutions but not the hardware ... why bother buying a phone to plug into my PC when I already own a headset and mic? Still ... it is an interesting idea for an article .. I'm sure I'm not the only one using VoIP to stay in touch with loved ones overseas.

I know it's not exactly an MPC subject, but I wouldn't mind seeing a review of portable printers.

I've been traveling frequently this past year or so, and it would be nice to have a printer with me.

Of course, if there is only one, then I guess that limits my choices.

n0b0dykn0ws

I would like to see a review of the technical support offered by major motherboard and video card manufacturers. It is one thing to get a "kick ass" for your product's design and performance, what about when there are problems? I MANY TIMES have purchased more expensive gear because I know the vendor will back it up if I have any problems.

Just a thought

I know the quote is old but w/e..

I know, someone asked me to review my own tablet and I had nothing to compare it against so I just said "It's Great"

These things are so useful in gaming you ppl have no idea how much you are missing out until you game with a tablet lol.