Gladget Magazine November 2010 by Gladget Magazine

w w w. g l a d ge t . c o. z a

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Bright Sound Evolving Notebook Audio

Inside 6 From the Editor

8 Sensory Stimulation The next evolution of notebook sound 14 Photography Primer Playing with focus and aperture 20 Reviews Some very nifty things to look out for 56 How To Setting up a US iTunes account 60 Safe Difference Which is the best way to be a virtual rock star? 64 Inner Workings Nuking stuff? Not really... 68 Dead End The HD disc war

THIS MONTH’S COVER Sound seems to have taken a back-seat in notebook design... until now. See the feature on page 8 Cover Art by Katia Taliadoros

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Reviews

MSI N480GTX M2D15 Graphics Card

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Handset

MSI P55-CD53 Motherboard

Epson Stylus Photo TX700W Printer

Transcend axeRam DDR3 Dual Channel Memory Kit

Gigabyte X58A-UD9 Motherboard

Garmin Edge 500

Writers: Brian Murdoch Dion Scotten Richard Bingham Alex Scanlon

Canon Selphy CP800 Compact Photo Printer

Letters: letters@gladget.co.za

GLADGET Volume1Issue 2 November 2010 Editor: Walt Pretorius walt@gladget.co.za Sub Editor: Jimmy Glue

Competition Entries: competitions@gladget.co.za

Apacer Giant II Dual Channel Memory Kit

ASUS VG236H 3D Monitor

Design & Photography: 1337 Media

Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks

Technical Support: Brian Murdoch

LG HS200 Ultra-Mobile LED Projector

Marketing Contact: Katia Taliadoros katia@gladget.co.za

Logic 3 i-Station Rotate Dock

WRC 2010

Newsletter Subscriptions: www.gladget.co.za

technology. simply. CREATED USING

Adobe CS5

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

FIFA 11

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All rights reserved. No content may be reproduced, copied or transmitted without the express permission of the publishers. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the editors and publishers. All Trademarks and Registered Trademarks are the sole property of the respective owners.

GAMECCA is published by 1337 MEDIA

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Bold Moves From the Editor

by Walt Pretorius

nd so the second issue of Gladget is done, and ready to read. We got a fantastic response from readers of the first issue, and we hope that those people (and more) will enjoy this second issue just as much. Naturally, within the first few months of publishing, there are numerous changes in store for any new magazine. You will see a few in this issue, too – most notably the introduction of our “How To” section. This new regular is aimed at helping folks perform some helpful, cool tasks that they might not have done before. Should you have any requests for the “How To” section, please let us know at letters@gladget.co.za. One of the things that many readers have mentioned is our approach to the design of the magazine. After a lot of deliberation, the Gladget Team came up with the idea of keeping things bold and bright. This extends to our covers, too. In fact, the covers that we put together for Gladget have been debated and discussed thoroughly. There were numerous routes we could have followed, like many other magazines that deal with similar

subject matter. The general trends are to either put a piece of hardware on the cover or, more commonly, a scantily clad, leggy model holding said piece of hardware (often with a look on her face that she is not quite sure why she should be there.) While the latter kind of cover certainly does speak to the traditionally accepted target market of technology magazines, and we really have nothing against the approach, it’s not quite the image we want to put across. And while the former does show what the subject matter of the magazine is, it doesn’t quite encompass what we want to present. So the decision to go with creative digital art covers was an obvious one. We believe that our covers do not only show interesting images, but they support ideals of technology and creativity that we hold in high esteem. And they relate to our content in a more surreal, thought provoking way. These striking images are also important to draw attention to our magazine, in the same way that the bold design does. The digital publishing market is growing by leaps and bounds, and publishers in this

sector of the industry are finding that the print-magazine competition for shelf presence is alive and well in the digital sphere… if not even more prominent. In this issue, we bring you reviews ranging from iPod docks and printers through to high-performance PC motherboards and graphic cards. We have a few less reviews in this issue that in the first, but we are working hard to ensure that our South African readers get a great view of all the products available on the market, from gadgets right through to high end tech. That’s enough from my side… from me and the rest and the Gladget Team, we hope you enjoy this second issue of South Africa’s newest online technology magazine. g

Oops! A gremlin in the works stated that the HP EliteBook 8450P was manufactured and distributed by someone other than HP. Naturally, we know our readers would know that this wouldn’t be the case, but we want to remind you that, if you want to find out more about this notebook, which is manufactured and distributed by HP, you can visit www.hp.co.za.

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Sensory Stimulation Sound is just as important….

Feature

By Walt Pretorius

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ome entertainment has, over the last few decades, transformed into something that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. From jittery 16mm projectors displaying pictures on a roll-up screen (if you were lucky) or an old bedsheet, through to portable devices displaying images and video in high definition… all in a very short space in time. From scratchy vinyl records through to solid state music storage, MP3 players and highly compressed music files all stored on a PC. The change is nothing short of phenomenal, and it has happened in a relatively short span of time – around 30 years or so. Considering that television broadcasting was only introduced here in South Africa in 1976, the change is extremely fast. People in their late thirties, or older, have seen all of this happen within their lifetime. The march of technology is unstoppable, and sometimes very fast indeed. And it’s hardly surprising that it has affected the entertainment industry so massively – after all, everyone loves entertainment, be it movies, music or video games. The three major elements of the entertainment industry, as mentioned above, have found a common ground in terms of home entertainment, in the form of the modern computer. A computer can deliver all of these forms of entertainment effortlessly, provided the right kind of hardware and software are in play. This has lead, unfortunately, to a proliferation of piracy that affects all three major branches of the entertainment tree. Pirate music and games have been around for the longest, with movies quickly catching up in loss of earnings, thanks to file-sharing websites and high speed internet. Downloading movies in full HD is not only possible, but it is a viable route for those who feel entitled to not have to pay for the hard work of others. Feelings of entitlement aside, the impact of modern technology – particularly computer technology – on the entertainment industry is undeniable. PCs now offer 7.1 surround sound, Blu-ray optical drives and high definition monitors. In fact, many households have an entertainment focussed PC as part of their network, acting as a hub for all entertainment needs – whether at a desk, or on the sofa in front of a massive TV. The computer has become an entertainment convergence device, in addition to everything else that it can do. Consequently, so has the notebook computer. But the notebook computer leaves some things to be desired. It can be used as part of a larger set-up,

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with external monitors or TVs and speakers. But as a standalone device, the laptop has one great failing as an entertainment device… sound. These days, notebooks have a wide variety of screen sizes, all of which use the latest technology to deliver crystal clear images. Many have Blu-ray disc drives. Some even have media centre controls that are easily accessible. But, unless the user is going to be employing external speakers or headphones, their sound just doesn’t do the trick. While it is simple enough to plug a set of headphones or external speakers into pretty much any notebook, the results aren’t always the best. In addition, there is the question of wires and cords… they’re not always bad, but sometimes one just doesn’t want them around. If the notebook is used in several different locations, the problem can become a bit more serious – the user would need to carry speakers or headphones with them. And, of course, there’s always the question of whether the headphones or speakers will deliver decent sound… All this is because the one area that the march of technology seems to have ignored are notebook speakers. Even the flashiest, fanciest notebook will more than likely have speakers that sound… well, nasty. The reason, quite simply, is a matter of space. See, notebooks need to be compact to remain effectively portable. Even in some of the larger, bulkier notebooks, there is still a space issue. The design needs to house every component that the notebook needs effectively, while still taking ideas like heat generation into account. It’s a tricky puzzle to put together and, when necessary, corners need to be trimmed just a little. And that corner invariably is the sound. Speakers need space in order to produce sound properly. There’s a lot of science behind this idea, but it breaks down to the fact that a speaker needs to have an effective resonance chamber. It is in these chambers that sound gets amplified. The chamber has several internal surfaces that reflect sound waves, bouncing it back and forth and effectively making it louder in volume. This means, in essence, that even smaller speakers – when armed with a large resonance chamber – can produce full and rich sound, without distortion, buzzing or sounding tinny. The problem with notebook speakers becomes clear when you take this into account. There simply isn’t enough space inside the notebook housing for a decent sized resonance chamber. But the march of technology, g l a d g e t fe at u r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

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inspired by a little innovative thinking and a strong collaboration, has come up with something to combat the problem. Enter the NX 90 notebooks from Asus. Teaming up with legendary speaker manufacturers Bang & Olufsen, Asus have produced a notebook that is powerful, effective and – surprisingly – is possessed of fantastic sound. The sound that the NX 90 delivers is fantastic – comparable to desktop performance, with clear, loud audio through a wide range – around an octave higher and lower than standard notebook speakers. The secret is a combination of software, hardware and a unique set of speakers. The speakers on the NX 90 are large, flanking the generous, crisp monitor. They make use of oversized 108cc resonance chambers, which allow the soundwaves to bounce around a good bit before they get delivered as great sounding audio, including much more powerful bass tones. In combination the NX 90 uses SonicMaster, a new system devised by Asus and Bang & Olufsen. In a standard notebook, sound is produced by way of a 2W amplifier, 20mm speakers and a 20cc resonation chamber. The SonicMaster system ups the game significantly, with an 11W amplifier, 32mm speakers and the above-mention 108cc resonating chamber. In terms of capability, that’s a lot more performance than the standard notebook. This system is combined with a top notch codec, meaning that sound is more accurately reproduced. SonicMaster also works at creating good virtual surround-sound, should the user wish to employ it. The end results are really surprising – it’s almost hard to believe that the sound pouring out of the large speakers is coming from a notebook. The end result is that the NX 90 becomes a fantastic machine for home entertainment, with no headphones or external speakers required. But Asus are taking things

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further than turning the device into a glorified movieplayer. They see bigger things for the NX 90. One example that was mentioned to us by Asus representatives is the use of the NX 90 by audio professionals, like sound engineers. A portable solution would be a great boon to these kinds of people, who are generally restricted by very large desktop rigs. To ensure that the NX 90 is viable for this kind of use, Asus have ensured that it is a powerful machine. At the core of the NX 90’s performance is an Intel i7 processor that runs at 1.73GHz, supported by Intel’s HM55 Express chipset. The notebook can also handle up to 12GB of DDR 3 RAM. Graphics are dealt with by a chunky GeForce GT335M GPU, coupled with 1GB of DDR 3 video RAM. The core system is rather powerful, as you can see. Storage is provided in one of three flavours of hard drive; 320GB, 500GB or 640GB. The optical drive comes in the form of a Blu-Ray DVD combo, and a 5-in-1 card reader allow for other storage media (SD, MMC, MS, MS-Pro and XD) to be used without the need of an external device. Visuals are delivered through an 18.4” full HD monitor, which has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and uses an LED backlight system for extra brightness and clarity. Various interface ports include 2 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0 ports, as well as an HDMI and S/PDIF port. The notebook features a stylish design, with the two speakers flanking the large screen. Everything is black plastic or brushed metal, which looks rather good in any environment, and added extras, like a touch pad on either side of the keyboard, add functionality as well as elegance. The NX 90 shows a definite move towards bigger and better ideas when it comes to compact, portable computing. That said, it is a large notebook, and a fairly heavy one, too. Still, it’s a great step towards realising the potential of notebooks and, more importantly, it is a device that underscores the importance of sound. g

In Depth

Basic focus and aperture trickery

Photography Primer

by Walt Pretorius

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PRESENTED BY

Adobe CS5

MASTER SUITE

hotography is one of the youngest and most accessible forms of visual art around. It took a while for it to gain the recognition it deserved as an art form, but these days people know all-too-well that a good photograph is a work of art. Often these are carefully crafted images – not just quick, easy snap shots. In this issue, we’ll be looking at the first two elements that a photographer can use to improve photographs, in an attempt to elevate them to the level of masterpiece: focus and aperture. Telling someone that a photograph needs to be in focus seems like an incredibly obvious statement. But what isn’t obvious is that focus can be used to great effect in telling a story with the picture, or even just in making up an interesting composition. Unfortunately, though, the need for focus also breeds a terrible lack of compositional creativity in the average photographer. This is because most cameras have their autofocus slap bang in the middle of the viewfinder, making working with interesting compositions a little more challenging than just snapping a picture. However, there are some things that can be done. The first option is for those that have higher-end cameras. Many models feature the ability to change the area that the camera uses to find focus. By changing the autofocus hotspot location, the user will be able to compose photographs in a different way, not pressured into putting the subject of the photograph in the middle of the picture. The second option is one for people whose cameras allow them to use manual focus. While the application of this is obvious, manually focussing can be tricky, and requires a good eye to make sure it’s dead right. The easiest way to make sure that manual focussing is effective is to use a system similar to that of the autofocus mechanic. Find an area of contrast on the focal point or subject, and use that as a guideline. If it appears crisp in the viewfinder, it more than likely is in focus. The focus ring on most DSLR lenses has a distance indicator, which can be used as a fairly effective guide as well. The third option is laughably simple, but one that many people do not think about until they’re told about it. When a photograph is taken, the autofocus is performed and ‘locked’ when the shutter button is depressed half-way. If the button is depressed further, the picture is taken… but keeping the button in that position will lock the focus, even if the camera is moved. The trick, then, is to focus the shot

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Photography Primer

with the subject in the centre of the viewfinder, and then recompose the picture with the shutter button held in the half depressed position. The focus will stay where it was ‘locked’, and fully depressing the button afterwards will snap the picture. Naturally, if the button is released at any time during this process, the autofocus will readjust itself, possibly meaning that the user will need to start the entire process again. Keep in mind that this only works as long as you maintain the same distance from your subject while readjusting the composition. Focus is, after all, based on distance. Focus can be used very creatively, to take pictures that are not only impressive, but even tongue in cheek. A particular example (that we are unfortunately not allowed to reproduce here for various rights reasons) springs to mind: the photographer took a picture of a political speech. At first glance, the whole picture is blurred, with all the potential foreground subjects not in focus. However, the photographer was focussing on a subject in the background – a gentleman who had fallen asleep during the presentation. The old saw about a picture telling a thousand words was very applicable to this amusing photograph, which was the result of a wicked sense of humour and the creative, expressive use of focus. Not every photograph needs to be like that, of course… just keep in mind that every picture needs a focussed subject in it. Keep this in mind, and remember that your composition doesn’t need to be ‘front and centre’! As light passes through the lens of a camera, it reaches the aperture. In layman’s terms, the aperture is an adjustable ‘hole’ that affects the amount of light that passes through the lens and into the camera body. If the aperture if wide open, more light is allowed through. If it is closed up, less light enters the camera’s body. The size of the aperture is expressed in terms of an F-Stop rating. The higher the number, the smaller the aperture. For example, the aperture will be open wider at a setting of F5.6 than it will be on a setting of F22. This is because the number expressed is actually a fraction, although it isn’t written in normal mathematical syntax. It is obvious, then, that in low light conditions, a wider aperture will be needed, while a smaller aperture would be required for bright light. The shutter speeds also affects the required aperture size. Faster shutter speeds, which allow less light to pass through, will need a wider aperture, and so on. It’s a careful balancing act to try and

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Photography Primer

The Digital Darkroom Tip Just snapping a picture is not enough – often, the image may need a little tweaking after the fact. It’s not cheating – photographers have been fixing images in darkrooms for as long as photography has existed. It’s just become a little easier and more versatile. All photographs should be checked on a PC before they are kept, or discarded. The LCD screen on the back of most cameras might be good, but it is often not good enough to determine picture quality effectively. To this end, a good photo-manipulation programme, like Photoshop CS5. Checking photographs in a programme like this will often require that some tweaking be done. Even minor tweaking can have a profound effect on the final outcome, so it’s always an idea to “save as” a new file name, rather than just overwrite the original by hitting plain old “save”. Even a bad photograph can teach you a lot about your photography, so a good back-up and archiving system is a great idea. You don’t need expensive software to manage your pictures, either – a little elbow-grease can result in a decent system of categorise folders for you to use.

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get the right conditions set up for the perfect photograph, and one that will likely require a manual setting or two to be adjusted by the photographer. But there is another element of the final picture that the aperture effects; depth of field. Depth of field refers to how far the focus extends into the picture. With a long depth of field, objects behind and in front of the subject may still appear in focus, and the focus will extend further into the distance. As the depth of field gets shorter, objects in the background get more blurred, and only objects very close to the subject remain focussed. As an example, a portrait that has the subject against a very blurred, indistinguishable background has a short depth of field, while a landscape picture that shows focus extending far into the distance has a long depth of field. This can be adjusted by the photographer very easily, and if depth of field is very important to the final image, the photographer can get the desired effect by using a manual aperture setting alone, should they wish. Leaving shutter speed and the like on an automatic setting may not be ideal for every photograph, but it should work more g l a d g e t r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

often than not. The formula is very simple; the smaller the aperture, the longer the depth of field. There are a bunch of scientific explanations for this that we aren’t going to go into – try it out, you will see that it works. So, if you want to take a portrait with a blurred, unobtrusive background, try opening up your aperture. Be careful, though, because depth of field can also be affected by your distance from your subject, and a depth of field that is too short might mean that, while the person’s eyes are in focus, the tip of their nose might be blurred! Experimentation is key. Toying with depth of field can often result in some of the most rewarding pictures, because it is a quick, easy adjustment that can have a massive impact on an image. In fact, playing with different effects (read that as experimentation) is a great way to learn about the capabilities of your camera (after reading the manual, of course) as well as the overall ‘rules’ of photography that we discuss here. With digital photography, there is no reason not to experiment… it’s not like you’re paying for processing and developing.g

Reviews Highlights 24 Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Handset Small and stylish 26 MSI P55-CD53 Motherboard Understated power 34 Garmin Edge 500 Cyclist’s best friend? 42 ASUS VG236H 3D Monitor More real than real? 46 Logic 3 i-Station Rotate Awesome sound dock

elcome to the review section of the second issue of Gladget Magazine. In this issue, we have a little something for everyone, whether hard-core PC enthusiasts, sportsmen, music lovers or video gamers. In keeping with our policy, the items that you will find here are currently available on the South African Market, from a variety of retailers. g

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MSI N480GTX M2D15 Graphics Card

Top Contender Quiet, heat efficient and effective…

by Walt Pretorius

he need for good graphics is something that we keep mentioning whenever we review a product like this, but any video gamer worth his salt will know that excellent graphic performance can make the difference between a win and a loss in a game, whether against the computer or other players. This is one of the reasons why PC gamers are near-obssessive about upgrading. And graphic processor upgrades are arguably the most common type of improvements to be made to gamers’ computers. And even then, the elite are going to want a card that they can tweak for even more power. But getting the right card can be tricky. They’re expensive as it is – finding the right product for your money is essential, to avoid disappointment and worse, bad performance. MSI’s range of cards are a trusted product line the world over, with good reason. These cards deliver whisper-quiet performance, generally without a hitch. The N480GTX M2D15 we tested, for example, performed

beautifully on all counts. It packs an NVidia 480 GTX chip, which is supported by 1.5GB of GDDR5 graphic RAM. It’s not the most RAM we’ve seen on a graphics card, but the powerful punch of the processor, combined with what is still a generous RAM, still makes for an excellent level of performance. Extra performances comes from the fact that the card supports PCI Express 2.0, and those that want even more power can make use of its SLI ready status to add a second graphics card to their system. Using the bundled MSI Afterburner Technology, the user can squeeze up to 15% extra performance out of the card, which is not bad at all. The card also incorporates PhysX technology, and is NVidia 3D Vision ready. The card is wonderfully stable, with tantalum core Hi-C capacitors and aluminium core solid capacitors, as well as a solid-state choke stabilising power usage, performance, temperature and even noise (because ring chokes can vibrate when under strain.) g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

With two DVI ports and a mini-HDMI port, the N480GTX can handle a dual monitor setup beautifully. The bundled software includes Live Update 4, an MSI package that automatically scans for BIOS, driver and utility updates, making the maintenance of the card’s related software a breeze. The addition of Afterburner also means that overclocking is simple and safe. If you’re looking for a card that is stable, effective and easy to use, this is a great option. The price isn’t too pocket-friendly, but no high end graphics cards are cheap these days. It’s good value for money, none the less – this silent, heat-efficient card strides along at a great pace, making for flawless, effortless gaming. The fact that it is 3D ready is also a big plus, as it can easily be updated with NVidia’s 3D system. Also, when compared to some of the other cards on offer, the price is really rather reasonable… MSI have yet to get ahead of themselves in terms of pricing. All in all, this offering from MSI is a solid product for NVidia 480 chipset fans. g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: A good performer for those who want excellent graphics.

Score

Manufacturer: MSI Distributor: Pinnacle Africa Online: www.pinnacle.co.za RRP: R4995 Tech Specs: • NVidia 480 chipset • 1536 MB RAM • 342 bits memory bus • SLI ready • 3D ready • 2 DVI outputs • Mini HDMI output

Pros: • Good software bundle • Quiet • Heat efficient Cons: • Price

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Handset

Dynamite

Small packages and all that… by Walt Pretorius

he cellular telephone handset is more than just a communication device these days – it is a status symbol. And it is a pervasive one… even in disadvantaged communities, handsets proliferate, although they might not be the latest, top-of-the-linedevices. As South Africans, we are very cell-phone conscious, and numerous discussions about which device is better than which crop up all the time. For those that are looking for a top notch, stylish device that falls a little out of the norm, in terms of smart phones, Sony Ericsson offers the Xperia X10 Mini. It is set quite apart from the ‘Blackberry VS iPhone’ arguments (which, quite frankly are getting irritating… some people like Blackberry, some people like iPhone, deal with it.) In fact, the X10 Mini is so unique in its design that many people may do a double take if you were to haul one out of your pocket. And it wouldn’t have to be a particularly big pocket, either. The X10 Mini lives up to it’s name… it’s tiny. Really tiny. It’s not the smallest phone we’ve ever encountered, but it really is impressive in its diminutive

dimensions. It reminds one of how handset makers were trying to cram everything they could into the smallest possible handset a few years ago. Then they seemed to figure out that it was pointless, and went back to more sensible sizes. See, the problem with a small handset is that they get fiddly. The buttons are small, the screen is small, and you might just lose the damned thing if you’re not careful. The same can not be said for the X10 Mini. While it is small, it is still easy to use, and not too easy to misplace. This is thanks, in large part, to its Android OS. Yes, it’s an Android phone, which is something we’ll likely be seeing a lot more of in the near future. This system rivals the Apple and Blackberry systems in functionality, making the X10 Mini a great device to use… and not only as a telephone. Its 2.6 inch screen, which is very generous for its size, is touch sensitive. Everything is done via this screen, much like one would do with an iPhone. In fact, the X10 Mini has seven buttons that aren’t part of the touch g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

screen, and they have very specific functions, like volume, power and camera controls. Speaking of cameras, this phone packs a surprisingly powerful 5 megapixel photographic device, among its many other features. These include internet functionality and social network support, a great media player bundle, Google apps, built in aGPS, FM radio, Wi-Fi connectivity and a bunch more. A whole list of accessories is also available for this attractive, truly pocket-sized phone. As a phone, it’s also great, using high speed connectivity for both voice and internet communications. The Xperia X10 Mini is a wonderful phone to use, and adds elegance and style to your pocket. Our main complaint with the device is a minor one, but one that may have some users a little frustrated: getting to the Mini-SD card slot is a bit of a chore. It is housed near the battery, and the back of the phone needs to be removed to get to it. Still, that’s not really a train-smash… it’s certainly no reason to write off this great handset from Sony Ericsson.g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: A small but powerful touch screen phone. And it’s stylish, too…

Score

Manufacturer: Sony Ericsson Distributor: Sony Ericsson Online: www.sonyericsson.com RRP: R3100 Tech Specs: • 88 grams • 5MP camera • Bluetooth • Wi-Fi • aGPS • 2.6” screen

Pros: • Good camera • Stylish • Android OS Cons: • Hard to get to the card slot

MSI P55-CD53 Motherboard

Reliable Performer Not a gaming monster, but still very capable

by Walt Pretorius

verclocking isn’t something you think about much when it comes to a business computer, or a general purpose home PC. This is the province of hard-core gamers, who want to squeeze every ounce of performance out of every single bit of hardware they own. It’s generally easy to spot a device intended for overclocking. The box is normally dark, with some kind of explosion, cyber-knight, or scantily clad sci-fi girl as part of the artwork. This, really, is to appeal to the target market that are after these devices. Based on that, and the fact that this kind of packaging is so commonly used, it would be little surprise if gamers skip over MSI’s P55CD53 motherboard. Its packaging is fairly nondescript and down-toned, and those hunting for an overclocking board would probably not even notice it as they went for the box with the most impressive pair of latex-covered breasts emblazoned on it. But that would be quite a mistake to make. Because, hidden beneath the green and white exterior of the box, is a board that is more than capable of delivering exactly

what a gamer needs. It might not be the top of the line overclocking board, but it does offer decent overclocking capabilities, and a rock-steady performance that trumps many others. Appearances can be deceiving, and this is certainly one book that shouldn’t be judged by its cover. The P55-CD53 supports both Intel i5 and Intel i7 processors in a 1156 socket. That means that the board is versatile, in terms of processor, giving the user support for the best Intel chip on offer. Four RAM slots can take up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, arrayed in two dual channel banks. This board does not offer on-board video capabilities, which is another nod towards its gaming focus. That said, it only has one video PCI Express slot available. The implication, then, is that it is aimed at mid to high level gamers, who don’t necessarily want to use SLI or Crossfire configurations. It does offer three PCI express slots for other cards, though. Naturally, it supports on-board audio, with a standard 7.1 audio jack configuration as part of the rear port array. g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

Additionally, the board sports 8 USB 3.0 ports, which is a great bonus, with support for a further 12 USB 2.0 ports (10 external, 4 internal.) The board uses MSI’s DRMOS technology, delivering MOSFET speeds that are up to 400% faster than the norm. Active Phase Switching technology means that the board will also chew up less power than other boards, making it economical as well as quick. And for the overclockers? OC Genie technology means that the CPU and memory of the board can be intelligently overclocked with just the push of a single button, built onto the board itself. While this may not give hard-core overclockers the versatility they desire, it does ensure system stability, and is more than enough of an option for mid-range tweakers. With a number of bundled software utilities and applications, as well as the versatility to perform as a power-saving system board and a good gaming board, the P55-CD53 is a good option for those who want their PCs to be powerful, but not necessarily driven to the max. g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: It may not be the top overclocking board around, but it’s a great all-rounder.

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Manufacturer: MSI Distributor: Pinnacle Online: www.pinnacle.co.za RRP: R899 Tech Specs: • 1 x Video PCIe slot • 8-Channel audio • 8 x USB 3.0 slots • Socket 1156 • 10/100/1000 LAN • DrMOS • OC Genie

Pros: • Solid performance • USB 3.0 • Easy overclocking • Excellent price Cons: • No on-board VGA • One video card slot

Epson Stylus Photo TX700W Printer

Workhorse A good, if not perfect, solution

by Alex Scanlon

here are a great many printers available on the market. There are even a great many good brands. In fact, most people might defend a brand, saying that it’s the ‘best’, but more likely than not their statements arise from brand loyalty, rather than a massive amount of experience in handling lots of different printers. That’s where people like us come in, and believe us when we say that every brand has strengths and weaknesses. If a printer is set up correctly, is using the right kind of paper and the right kind of ink, it should be fine. But there’s the biggest problem – using the right kind of ink. “Pirate’ inks just don’t deliver as they should, for the most part, but buying the right, name brand ink generally costs more than buying the printer. It’s a massively silly state of affairs, but it is the situation, and it doesn’t look likely to change soon. It’s also Epson’s biggest downfall when it comes to printers. Their printers are fantastic, producing great quality prints… but their ink is ridiculously expensive. The TX700W is one of their heavier work-horses. It’s an

office machine, more than anything else, and provides the user with the convenience of being a scanner and copier as well. While they do manage to keep ink costs down a little by using individualised cartridges for each colour, it uses a six cartridge system: black, yellow, cyan, light cyan, magenta and light magenta. It still works out rather costly, particularly when more than one cartridge runs out at the same time. The print quality that the TX700W delivers is excellent, particularly in terms of photographs. Epson photo papers will yield the best results, and the printer can even be used to tweak images, thanks to a 6.3cm LCD screen on the front of it. Pictures can also be printed directly from cameras and other media. As said before, the print quality on this printer is fantastic, and it produces full-colour, high quality images very quickly. When using Epson papers, the results are particularly impressive. But with some papers, the TX700W seems to struggle. Paper is loaded into a tray in the base of the unit, which means it’s much neater than most problems, but the tray and paper loading g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

system seem to have issues with lighter papers. It’s fine for ‘standard’ office paper weights and heavier, but lighter papers, like vellum, won’t produce great results - the printer will likely pick up several sheets at once. Some pages may also be damaged in the process. On the whole, though, this is a great printer for small to medium prints runs. It can handle bigger jobs, but there is the ink cost to take into account. It works well as a network printer, too, and can be added to a network wirelessly, if one so desires. It can also print on CDs that have printable labels, which is an added benefit for most, and essential for a few. It’s operation if fairly quiet, too, which always helps, and bundled software makes it relatively easy to manage and maintain the printer and its operations. The scanner is effective, too, offering 2400 dpi performance. As a consolidated device, it would have been nice to see fax facilities as well, which many other models have. But the TX700W’s performance is good, and it will handle any task that it is capable of admirably. g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: Though there are a few things that could be improved, the TX700W is still a good device.

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Manufacturer: Epson Distributor: Epson Online: www.epson.com RRP: R1995 Tech Specs: • Wi-Fi • 6.3 cm LCD • 2400 dpi scanner • 40 ppm • 39 copies per minute

Pros: • Multi-purpose • Quick Cons: • No fax • Ink costs • Some paper issues

Transcend axeRam DDR3 Dual Channel Kit

Warrior RAM Tough and strong…

by Walt Pretorius

AM is often not considered properly in the whole ‘putting a PC together’ process. As long as there is enough of it, it should be fine, right? But high performance RAM is a great thing to have. Sure, having lots of RAM will help the system speed along, but the high performance stuff not only works better – it also opens up the opportunity of effective overclocking. Transcend has a decent reputation when it comes to memory, and their axeRam range shows the kind of thought they put into their products. Each module is encased by a heavy aluminium heat sink that doesn’t fold over, but increases the cooling surface by sporting a double ridge of ‘spines.’ This RAM performs admirably under strain, and works very well with multi-GPU gaming systems. It also carries a lifetime warranty, which is never a bad thing. The aluminium fins mean that heat is dissipated extremely effectively, making it a good option for overclockers. The solid construction hints at excellent performance, which is exactly what you will be getting from this great Transcend product, thanks in part to a careful selection process that makes the RAM ideal for dual channel uses. g

AT A GLANCE: Powerful and solidly put together, this is great performance RAM.

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Manufacturer: Transcend Distributor: Rectron Online: www.rectron.co.za RRP: R1999 (2400MHz 2x2GB DDR3) Tech Specs: • DDR 3 • 8-layer PCB • ISO 9001 / 14001 certified • 2400 MHz • 2 x 2GB modules

Pros: • Excellent cooling • Lifetime warranty • Good for multi-GPU Cons: • Pricey

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Gigabyte X58A-UD9 Motherboard

Gaming Monster A board with super-powers…

by Alex Scanlon

he word ‘monstrous’ doesn’t really have good connotations, but when it is applied to a motherboard, it can only mean good things. And Gigabyte’s X58A-UD9 is nothing if not monstrous. Even the packaging for the board is huge. But this board does raise some interesting questions, most importantly: “how much motherboard does one need?” The answer related to what you’re going to be using your PC for… and if you’re out to build a super-fast, mega-powered gaming rig, then this is a board you’ll want to consider. We’re not talking about playing around here. This is a serious piece of equipment that people who are going to put a lot of effort, time and – quite honestly – money into their rig. It’s not a board for an all-round desk-top, and it certainly doesn’t belong in an office, unless you need extreme power for your work. No, this is a gamer’s board, through and through. Sporting an Intel X58 chipset and supporting both i5 and i7 processors (socket 1366), the potential for gaming power is already implied. But things go further – much further – than that. One of the biggest deals is that this board works really

well with water-cooling systems. While you don’t have to use water-cooling with it, the board ships with some parts already built for that kind of high-performance temperature control. While water cooling has been proven to be safe time and again, it is still something that an enthusiast will be after, rather than someone who is just ‘a bit keen.’ Part of this includes the Hybrid Silent-Pipe 2 system, and additional heats dissipation device that is incorporated into a water cooling system. You’ll have to buy a water-cooling system yourself… it’s not included here. That’s not where the implied performance of this mobo stops. It supports up to four graphics cards in SLI or Crossfire setups, meaning that the user can get an awesome amount of graphic power out of this board too. This will take up all of the available expansion slots (thanks to graphics cards being as bulky as they are these days) but with onboard sounds and an intelligent, dual LAN input system, there shouldn’t be too much need for more cards slotted in. And there’s more… the architecture of the board supports numerous systems that speed things up. USB g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

3.0 is just the start… SATA 3.0 gets more speed out of hard drives, too. 24 Phase Power technology delivers smooth power to the CPU, and makes for even and reliable overclocking. In addition, the X58A-UD9 comes with numerous software and hardware options to improve performance and power consumption. It’s a fantastic board. There’s no denying it. But it is also a massive board, in terms of what it can do, and it may be a little more than the average user needs. Power-users will love it – particularly those that are planning on a watercooled system – because it is fast, stable and extremely powerful in terms of what it can deliver and what it can support. Quite honestly, the only downside to this extremely good hardware is the price. It will leave a rather big dent in your bank balance, particularly when there are several capable, cheaper models available on the market. But you get what you pay for, and if you are willing to pay for the X58A-UD9, you will be getting and extremely awesome motherboard. g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: It might be really expensive, but power-users would love this board to bits!

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Manufacturer: Gigabyte Distributor: Rectron Online: www.rectron.co.za RRP: R6999 Tech Specs: • i5 / i7 supported • X58 chipset • USB 3.0 • SATA 3.0 • 24 Phase power • 7 PCIe x16 slots • 6 RAM slots

Pros: • Water-cooling support • Up to 4 graphics cards • Very quick Cons: • Expensive

Garmin Edge 500

Cycle Monitor Keeping track of performance

by Walt Pretorius

ycling continues to be one of the most popular sports the world over. The equipment may be expensive in many cases, but access to it is relatively easy, and actually participating in the sport requires little more than a good stretch of road, in terms of venue. But jumping on your bike may not be enough. Every serious sports person (and health conscious person, for that matter) knows that regulating the effects of the activity on your body is key to determining performance and benefit. Garmin, who are obviously best known for their GPS products, have a great solution. The Edge 500 system is a good bet for any cyclist who is taking the activity more seriously than popping down to the shop for a pack of smokes – then again, that is probably an unlikely scenario. But you get what we’re saying here. The Garmin Edge 500 is a small device that is mounted on the cycle’s handle-bars. Once there, it can display a variety of useful information to the cyclist by way of a large, clear LCD display.

The Edge 500 system is actually made up of three main parts. The first is the EDGE 500 GPS-Enabled Cycling Computer. This is the device that will be fitted to the handle-bars, and it displays information regarding time spent cycling, heart rate, power, cadence, speed, distance travelled, calories burned, and so on. The device is rechargeable, with a fair battery life. Additionally, it can be connected to a computer and, using included software, can keep track of the cyclist’s performance. The second part is a wireless heart-rate monitor that the cyclist wears under their shirt. This device measures the cyclist’s heart-rate, and reports it to the Cycling Computer. The heart rate monitor is powered by a watch battery. The third main component is the GSC 10 Speed/ Cadence Sensor. This device is fitted to the cycle’s chain-stay, and measures the cyclist’s performance by registering a magnet placed on the corresponding pedal crank arm, as well as a magnet placed on one of the rear wheel spokes.

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The combination of these three devices, coupled with a limited GPS functionality to measure distance travelled and speed, enables the Edge 500 to calculate very accurate and useful information for the serious cyclist. The system is very easy to use, and the included software is easy to understand, making keeping track of performance a breeze. The Cycling Computer is solidly constructed, and should handle a spill or two. It is fitted to the handle-bars via a bracketing system. However, we would have preferred a more solid racket system – the one included makes use of rubber bands, which may perish over time. Additionally, the heart-rate monitor takes a little getting used to, and the cyclist will likely want to experiment a little to get the right fight going – one that combines comfort with the device being held securely in place. If you are a serious cyclist in any way, the Edge 500 system from Garmin is a good investment to consider. Rather than using guess work, the cyclist can rely on the Edge 500 to deliver accurate vital statistics, both while on the road, and for record keeping afterwards. g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: Garmin’s range of fitness products offers a great way to monitor workout progress.

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Manufacturer: Garmin Distributor: Garmin Online: www.garmin.com RRP: R4255 Tech Specs: • GPS Enabled • Heart Rate Monitor • Speed / Cadence Sensor • Rechargeable

Pros: • Accurate information • Easy to use Cons: • Flimsy bracket • Heart Rate monitor takes getting used to

Canon Selphy CP800 Compact Photo Printer

Print Anywhere Portable to the Nth degree

by Walt Pretorius

here is something nostalgic about a printed photograph. With all the web albums and digital photo-frames out there, seeing a picture actually printed on paper takes one back to shoe-boxes filled with fading pics that recorded all the good times from the past. There is a nostalgic attractiveness about printed pictures – about anything printed on paper, really – which makes these items special. But getting a good printer to do the job can be tricky. The choices of printers are many, and the capabilities of the various devices on the market are myriad. Picking the right printer can be an arduous task, what with tons of different (sometimes unneeded) functions, formats and types. For those that are looking for a printer that will be a great option in terms of printing photographs, the Canon Selphy CP800 is a good option. Although this printer won’t produce massive prints, it is a space (and pocket) friendly alternative that can easily be packed up and carried around, whether on holiday or wherever else fast, quality printing might be required.

In fact, the Selphy is made with portability and convenience in mind. The printer is tiny, and will easily fit into a ruck-sack or luggage. It’s integrated card readers, which handle SD, MMC+, MS, MS Duo, CF and Microdrive cards mean that a computer isn’t always a necessity when using the printer. Pictures can be printed directly from these media, as well as from USB flash drives. Pictures can be viewed via the Selphy’s small but clear LCD screen, and built in picture optimisation (including red-eye removal and ‘Smooth Skin’ adjustments) means that the printer can even be used to make basic adjustments to the desired prints. An optional rechargeable battery even means that a powersource isn’t always necessary either. For people on the go, it’s near-perfect. Because of its small size, the Selphy will print 4 x 6 inch photographs at the biggest. These ‘postcard’ size pictures are pretty much a standard, but those who want to print more impressive, larger photographs will need to look elsewhere. Still, the upside to smaller pics is the fact that clarity, which can be lost if pictures are enlarged too

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much, is almost guaranteed. When combined with the right kind of paper, the Selphy will produce great prints in around 47 seconds per page. It has a range of around 16 million colours, too, which means vivid, lifelike images are the norm. On the down-side (as with every printer out there) ink for the Selphy is not on the cheap side. That’s the biggest problem with virtually any printer on the market, though, and Canon’s options generally fall into the middle range of an expensive bunch. The printer packs up into a compact unit, with the screen folding flat against the unit’s body. It’s tougher than it looks, but should still be handled with some care. The removable paper tray will needed to be treated with care, too, and adds a little extra to carry. Still, even with that and the power converter included, the Selphy doesn’t take up much space at all. As a photo-printer, the Selphy is great. However, it is limited to this function – it’s hardly going to fill the role of an office printer. But if you’re in the market for a specialised, portable photo printer, you could do a lot worse than this offering from Canon. g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: A great portable printer, specialised in postcard-photo printing

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Manufacturer: Canon Distributor: Canon Online: www.canon.co.za RRP: R1440 Tech Specs: • Memory Card Slots • 47 sec per page • 16.8 million colours • 100 print years • PictBridge • Image optimisation

Pros: • Portable • No PC needed • Good print quality Cons: • Limited • Ink Price

Apacer Giant II Dual Channel Memory Kit

Quite a Pair!

Carefully selected for peak performance by Walt Pretorius

AM is RAM, right? Wrong! People who really want to up the performance of their PC setup know that every element making up the computer is important, and RAM is a vital part of the balance that goes towards making up a great system. Still, surely just putting enough RAM in is good enough? To a degree that’s true, but if you’re after peak performance, you need more than just a lot of RAM. You need good RAM. When RAM is effectively paired, it works more quickly to ensure that your PC speeds along at a good pace. But effective pairing means a process of careful selection… That’s exactly what Apacer do when they put together their Giant II Dual Channel Memory kits. They are carefully selected from the word go, through the entire production process, to ensure high quality performance. Heat is taken care of by large copper heat sinks that enclose the modules. In terms of performance, this keeps each RAM module cooler, and performing better… and making overclocking of the RAM more effective. If you’re after top notch RAM, the Apacer Giant II Memory kit is a fantastic option. g

AT A GLANCE: A good option for those looking for RAM that performs above par.

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Manufacturer: Apacer Distributor: Pinnacle Africa Online: www.pinnacle.co.za RRP: R1495 Tech Specs: • DDR3-2200 • 2x 2GB • Heat sink • Dual Channel selected

Pros: • Paired • Heat efficient • Effective under strain Cons: • Must be fitted correctly • A little expensive

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Broken remote? Confusing remote? Too many remotes? Introducing the Logitech Harmony® 300i® The replacement remote that’s simple yet powerful. Quick and easy set up. Works with over 5,000 brands. And press just one button to start watching TV. Start simplifying at Logitech.com

ASUS VG236H 3D Monitor

Crystal Clear Working in three dimensions

by Jimmy Glue

CD monitors today come in many shapes and sizes, and while they might all seem to fulfil the same role rather effectively, ASUS has managed to go one step further with the VG236H, bringing something extra to the market. The 23” widescreen monitor features a maximum resolution of 1920x1080, making it full HD, and with a refresh rate of 120Hz and a 2ms response time, the images are guaranteed always to be crisp and clear. Since it’s an ASUS monitor, it has an excellent 100 000:1 Smart Contrast Ratio, displaying 16.7 million colours. This might not seem like relevant information for the average user, but it’s vitally important in order to achieve the desired level of display. The height of the monitor can also be adjusted at the base of the stand, but it’s advised to keep a hand on the monitor as it will shoot upwards rather quickly when the pin is released. One of the many great things about the VG236, is the

fact that it is Nvidia 3D Vision ready. In essence, with the right hardware, the monitor is able to display 3D-enabled content in vivid 3D. The monitor comes boxed with the necessary equipment, such as the Nvidia glasses, the infrared emitter and a bunch of USB cables for charging. The system is rather easy to set up, as all that is required are the drivers to be installed, the 3D Vision player to be loaded, and then the screen will drastically come to life. In terms of hardware in order to make this happen, a GeForce 9800 or greater will be needed, which can become a pricy affair it the system doesn’t already have that in. That is one flaw that we found with the monitor, as no system specifications were indicated on the box. The content also comes with a DVI cable, which supports the 3D, but there is no sight of a HDMI cable, which makes things just a bit better and faster, and HDMI cables aren’t exactly cheap. Most consumers will use the same monitor for their PC g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

and gaming, and although gaming is entirely possible with the HDMI cable, don’t expect to see your games in 3D. The monitor requires HDMI 1.4, and sadly the Xbox 360S only pushes out 1.3, and the old Xbox producing 1.2. Then you also have the issue of the I.R emitter that needs to be plugged into a USB port, and neither the PS3 nor the Xbox has the drivers for that. But the 3D will change any video experience. It might sound like a bit of a cliché, but the images do really leap out to you. It takes a bit of a while to wrap your head (and your eyes) around it, but once you have become accustomed to the view, it’s truly amazing. Although the 3D works incredibly well, and the glasses fit over most standard spectacles, the amount of 3D content on the market can be a little bit lacking, and a little searching will be required to get hold of some titles. With that said, the VG236 is an excellent monitor to have. The images are crisp and clear, the 3D works great and the monitor looks good as well. The only real downfall we found was the absence of a headphone jack. g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: Although it doesn’t have headphone support, the 3D works incredibly well.

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Manufacturer: ASUS Distributor: ASUS Online: www.asus.com RRP: R5999 Tech Specs: • 1920x1080 (Full HD) • 120Hz refresh rate • 2ms Response time • 100 000:1 Smart Contrast Ratio • Nvidia 3D Vision • 550x420x250mm

Pros: • Supports 3D Vision • Full HD • Looks good Cons: • No headphone jack • Only works with Nvidia

Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks

In the Picture A powerful little web-cam…

by Alex Scanlon

eb-cams have been around for years, and have allowed people a unique and very personal way to communicate. In a world that seems to be becoming increasingly isolated, there devices have allowed people around the globe to communicate virtually face to face. But their uses go beyond just that – they also allow users to create video blogs and similar content, to share thoughts online or in private. The web-cam is becoming an increasingly important tool for internet based communication. Logitech are a trusted name when it comes to things like this, largely because they strive to innovate while keeping a high level of quality in the mix. This camera, the QuickCam Pro for Notebooks, for example, is a compact unit perfect for notebooks (which fits well on desk-top PCs using thing monitors, like LCDs too). Despite its small size, though, it packs a rather big punch. The lens makes use of Carl Zeiss optics, with extremely accurate and crisp autofocus features. High definition video and 8 megapixel photos are the order of the day here. RightLight 2 software makes the best of any conditions, meaning that the person on the other end always gets a great image, regardless of source lighting conditions. Other software even allows for the use of filters, effects and avatars. If internet-based video communication is something you do, particularly with a notebook, then you need look no further than this awesome camera. g

AT A GLANCE: This powerful web-cam is tiny, easy to use and absolutely great.

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Manufacturer: Logitech Distributor: Logitech Online: www.logitech.co.za RRP: R933 Tech Specs: • Carl Zeiss optics • Autofocus • 1600x1200 video • 8 megapixel photos • Microphone • USB 2.0

Pros: • Excellent lens • Good in all light conditions • Small Cons: • USB 3.0 would have been better

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LG HS200 Ultra-Mobile LED Projector

Shed Some Light …and look good doing it

by Jimmy Glue

hen people think of projectors, they often have a vision of grainy images, low sound quality and not a lot a colour, but the projectors of today have come a very long way since making any film look like a home movie. LG recently introduced their HS200 LED projector on to the market, and with this tiny device the saying of “dynamite comes in small packages” couldn’t be more accurate. This Ultra-Mobile device weighs in at an impressive 800g, but don’t let that fool you. It’s incredibly portable, as the name suggests, and will fit into almost any bag, measuring in at only 183 x 122 x 60mm. But enough about the weight and the size – let’s get down to the business end of things. Having an LED-based digital light, it provides a wider colour range and deeper colour saturation than a traditional lamp, and being ultra-fast, the pulsing LEDlight eliminates motion blur and colour break-up. This provides the movies being shown with a crisp and clear

image, recreating the feel of being in a cinema. In order to get the movies, music videos or presentation on the white canvas, the HS200 has several input options available. The projector conveniently comes packed with the ability to accommodate HDMI for high-quality viewing like Blu-ray, a USB port that can be plugged in straight from a storage device, and a Video In slot for traditional hardware. So if you have a camera or a smart phone that uses USB, it can be connected to the device and have your images and movies projected for all to see in no time. The only little niggle, which really isn’t a problem, is that the projector outputs only 1W stereo sound, but to overcome this, the device has an audio out port, so that a surround sound system can be connected. This works rather well, and combined with the direct USB support, it eliminates the use of a third party device such as an Xbox or PS3 to stream images. A major problem with conventional lamp-based projector is the fact that their bulbs don’t last very long, g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

but with the HS200, that shouldn’t ever be a problem. LG guarantees that the bulb will last for 30 000 hours – that’s playing movies for 4 hours a day for the next 20 years! The projector also comes boxed with a remote control, so there will be no need to get up to manually change the volume. Although all the functionality buttons are present on top of the device, everything can be done with the remote, including screen adjustment, angle of image and colour settings. The LG HS200 is one of the most powerful projectors we have seen in a long time, and it just goes to show that one should never judge something by its size. In all honesty, the images are of a better quality than what one expect, which is always great. Although the little speakers are only good for private listening or checking a position on a movie, the added headphone support is a welcome sight. It’s also incredibly easy to set up, which will save time and cause less stress, as these device can become a bit complicated. Well designed and great value for money, one can’t go wrong with the super-cool projector. g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: The projector is really nifty, and with excellent visuals, it comes in real handy as a home cinema

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Manufacturer: LG Electronics Distributor: LG Electronics Online: www.lg.com RRP: R7499 Tech Specs: • LED-Digital Base Light Source • 220W Lamp power • 30 000 lamp hours • 800 x 600 Native resolution • Plug & Play

Pros: • Super Long Lasting LED Lamp • Photo & Movie Player • HDMI Input Cons: • 1W + 1W Stereo Speaker

Logic 3 i-Station Rotate

Turn on the Music Great for any get-together

by Alex Scanlon

was told, many years ago, that a PC is only as good as its motherboard. And while we are easily distracted by all the bells and whistles that processors, graphics cards and other components have on offer, this statement rings true today. Without a good motherboard, even the best components are going to suffer from lack-lustre performance. An iPod is one of those ‘must-have’ devices. Actually, these days it seems that anything with an ‘i’ in front of its name is a necessity, for both functionality and fashion. Apple have done a great job in getting their devices spread through the world-wide market. And, thanks to this high presence, several third party companies have managed to take advantage of the popularity of Apple’s tech toys with peripherals and support devices of their own. One of the fields that has seen a large amount of interest is the external speaker dock arena. See, while having an iPod is great, sometimes listening to your music by yourself isn’t exactly where you want to be. It’s great in the gym, for example, but it won’t make you the life of the party. And everyone loves a party. So there is definitely a gap for third-party products, particularly when some of the ones made by the original

manufacturer are rather heavy on the pocket. With so many options out there, picking the right one can be extremely tricky. Finding a balance between quality and price can be quite difficult, and giving the unit a good test before buying it isn’t always an option. We managed to do just that with the i-Station Rotate, manufactured by Logic 3. This particular company have been around for some time, and have developed a solid reputation for quality third-party items in a number of different fields. The i-Station Rotate will do nothing to tarnish that. The user can dock any iPhone with the device (which seems to be the option it was designed for, in most part) as well as iPod Nano, Touch and Classic units. The dock itself is the real beauty of this device because, once the devices have been coupled, it can be rotated 90 degrees, fitting an iPhone or iPod Touch perfectly. This makes for smoother lines and a better presentation, overall, and allows the user to make use of their preferred display method. Armed with a remote control, the dock can be operated either from the attached device, or with its own controls. The sound quality from the i-Station Rotate is excellent. Even at full volume, heavy bass notes are delivered g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

clearly, with no distortion. It doesn’t get extremely loud, though… loud enough to provide a good level of sound at a party, but not loud enough for ear-damage. In addition to sound performance from a docked device, it can also be used as a speaker solution for other things (like laptops and so forth) thanks to a line-in jack and provided audio cable. The unit also has a video out jack, making playing movies from the attached device simple… provided you have a screen and video cable to use with it. The Rotate is solidly constructed, with a fair weight. It is extremely portable, despite not being the smallest dock around, and can either be operated via an included power adapter, or four AA batteries. The battery life is fairly good, too. If you’re in the market for a dock to liven up your audio (and video) entertainment via an Apple manufactured portable device, the Logic 3 i-Station Rotate is a great option. And it comes at a fairly good price. The performance, reliability and solid construction make it a very worthwhile purchase. g g l a d g e t h a r d wa r e • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

AT A GLANCE: A well-built and very capable dock for Apple-made devices.

Score

Manufacturer: Logic 3 Distributor: Apex Interactive Online: www.apexint.co.za RRP: R1399.95 Tech Specs: • 10 Watts RMS • Video output • Stereo Line-In • Remote control • AC power • 4 x AA batteries • Class D amplifier

Pros: • Great sound • Video capability • Rotating dock Cons: • Could have been a bit louder!

WRC 2010

Devil’s Dirt Roads Black Bean Games takes on the World Rally Championship.

he WRC series goes back some time. If we rewind the clock and revisit PS2 days, Evolution Studios released the first officially licensed WRC title. That had a sequel. Which had another sequel. A third and fourth sequel were also made. They were really, really good games. Believable – I use this term instead of realistic, for reasons I’ll explain – driving physics, superb graphics and the full selection of WRC cars and venues. Then they stopped making sequels and the world’s rally fans wept. The Colin McRae games were getting worse by the minute and the late Scottish rally champ would cringe if he saw what they’d tacked his name onto. Another late rally champ, Richard Burns, had a rally game with his name: Richard Burns Rally. To this day it’s the most gruelling motor racing simulation ever – the reason I choose to say other games feel believable when played, while RBR remains the most realistic.

by Richard Bingham With that in mind, we have to evaluate the newest WRC game, based on the 2010 season and a now very different rallying landscape. The actual sport hasn’t changed much. It’s still about a bunch of real men with very hairy chests bombing down dirt back-roads at license-losing speeds. The line-up of teams and cars has changed a lot, with the FIA’s new rules determining who and what can run in each of the four represented classes: WRC, P-WRC, S-WRC and J-WRC. No longer will the WRC class be a selection of Subarus, Mitsubishis and the like. Instead, bank on the two remaining works cars, the Ford Focus and Citroen C4. Ironically, the lesser classes are where more fun and challenges lie, especially in the baby Junior WRC class where they use a variety of shopping trolley 1.6-litre hatchbacks (in full rally trim, of course). There’s also a Group B class, with some historic rally cars that petrolheads will be familiar with – this is available as a downloadable pack on the PS3 and Xbox versions, for

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sub-par. Most of the cars sound like hopped-up sewing machines. For all its official-ness, WRC 2010 just doesn’t deliver the knockout punch I was hoping for. It feels good to play and linking together some corners on a dirt course is satisfying. Tar driving is very technical (and tricky), while muddy courses will cause you to bog down if you’re in an underpowered car. The biggest problem was when I fired up Colin McRae DiRT 2, to see how WRC compares. The Codemasters game just looks, feels and sounds way more polished. It has far fewer things wrong with it – truthfully, the steering sensitivity in that game is the only big criticism – and Black Bean’s effort just pales in comparison. There is good news, though. The WRC license is with Black Bean for three years – and this is a solid base to build on. The fundamentals have been put in place, but now it’s time to spit, polish, shine, and make them stand out from the crowd. g

AT A GLANCE: Adequate is the best word to describe Black Bean’s first go at the WRC game. It’s really not bad, but it’s also not very noteworthy. Developer: Milestone Srl Publisher: Black Bean Games Distributor: Ster Kinekor

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

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Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

around US$5 or 400 MS Points. It’s included in the PC version. The campaign mode is fairly straightforward: pick a car and team, and enter each of the 13 WRC events. There’s a “Road to the WRC” mode where you can start from scratch in the rallying scene, building yourself (and your team) up to an internationally competitive level – a twist on the “relive the season” modes we’ve seen in some sports games, but the first time I’ve noticed it in a racing title. Newcomers can get into the swing of things quite soon. There are a number of assists to help keep the car on the black, brown and white stuff, depending on the country you’re racing in. It won’t take away from the semi-realistic feel of having an all-wheel drive rally car slithering across the snow, but definitely makes it easier to adjust. Your Forza and Gran Turismo skills won’t translate well here. Graphics are good, but not brilliant. Ditto for driving physics and crash damage modelling. Sound is really

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

77 49

Guitar Hero :Warriors of Rock

Fantasy Metal Guitar Hero gets a little stranger

e have, over the past few years, seen the Guitar Hero franchise grow from strength to strength. The originality of the original concept, coupled with excellent marketing and good products, makes for a very entertaining history for these titles. And while Guitar Hero does have some stiff competition in the form of Rock Band, the fact that it was the originator of a whole new idea still gives it a very strong presence in the market. In fact, the success of the Guitar Hero franchise is undeniable, with it having raked in enormous piles of money through both physical sales and downloadable content. When a franchise is this successful, it’s no wonder that sequels keep coming out to drive the brand forward. Guitar Hero has enjoyed many of these, each adding a little something to the whole idea of the game. But the new ideas have been a little slower of late – until the release of Warriors of Rock, that is. The premise behind the game is what enables it to bring some very new ideas into the franchise. See, this one actually has a story, more so than any other Guitar

by Walt Pretorius

Hero title. It’s not just about becoming a great musician or beating the Devil at his own game – this title is about saving Rock itself. The demi-god in charge of this powerful music is imprisoned by an aged-old enemy, and it is up to the player, in the guise of eight different rockers, to unleash their true potential and save the demi-god from destruction. A friend commented to me that if Brutal Legend was a Guitar Hero game, this would be it – and he was right. The eight rockers that the player must ‘train-up’ in the single player game (which, incidentally, can be played co-operatively with up to four players) feature six series stalwarts, including Johnny Napalm, Judy Nails, Pandora and Lars Umlaut, as well as two new characters. Each has a unique ability that will affect the way the player’s performance is scored. One might have a minimum modifier of x2, while another might have a more powerful Star Power effect. When the character’s true potential is unleashed, their appearance changes (to some really camp rock-style monster) and their ability is amplified. When the player has completed the single player quest, they can

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overall, the collection has more weak moments than other iterations in the franchise. Still, with such a wide variety, it is worth going through what is on offer… there should at least be a little something for virtually everyone. While nothing much has changes in terms of dynamics and play style, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock does offer enough new for the player to get to grips with. The single player quest is a little short, but it gets pretty challenging (it seems that the overall difficulty level has increased just a bit here). The multiplayer, of course, provides the game with a hell of a lot of replayability, which is another aspect that makes this franchise so popular. On the whole, it’s one of the better titles in the latter Guitar Hero crop, and one that is well worth trying out. Naturally it supports all the instruments that fans are used to, and provides the same kind of enjoyment that one would expect from a Guitar Hero title. g

AT A GLANCE: A good addition to the franchise, with some very original ideas Developer: Neversoft Publisher: Activision Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

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Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

enjoy the game with all eight abilities in play at the same time. It’s great fun, of course, and the modified scoring system (which now only rates player performance in terms of stars) makes for a less cluttered visual presentation. Additionally, a new progress bar will allow the player to get a rough idea how far they are in each song. In addition, the Domination that unlocking all the powers provides a player with grants even more replayability, as they work their way through all the songs again, getting tons of extra stars for their super-performances. Speaking of songs, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock features an impressive number of tunes, with more than 90 included with the title, as well as import options for previous versions, and (of course) all that delicious downloadable content. Keep in mind that this importing is limited, to a degree, and is dependent on having the console you’re using hooked up to the ‘net. And you may well want to do that… because, although the set list is long, it’s not the most impressive one we have seen from the franchise. Sure, there are some awesome tracks but,

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

79 51

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Birth of a Cult Classic Nothing’s the same but nothing’s changed

ou just know a game is going to be something special when actors and writers like Andy Serkis and Alex Garland are part of game directing. Famous for their involvement in movies like Lord of the Rings, King Kong and 28 Days Later they bring that little bit extra to the story telling of this epic adventure. The game starts hard and fast with the breakout from a slave ship on a crash with the old New York City. As a player you can’t help but be immersed into this futuristic world and I literally couldn’t put the game down until it was finished. The main character of the story is a lone warrior named Monkey, who comes across as a mix of the Monkey King and Hellboy in both fight style and bad attitude. Monkey is the only character the player can control throughout the game although some colourful characters form part of his journey west. During the breakout from the slave ship, Monkey is

by Dion Scotten

thrust into an alliance with a girl named Trip, who forces him to help her in her journey to her home by placing a slaver band onto his forehead. He either obeys her or he suffers serious pain and if she dies, so does he. Although he is a formidable fighter, Monkey’s main skill is really his ability to climb and scamper his way up buildings, bridges and across anything else that stands in his way. Trip, on the other hand, is a techie and can manipulate almost every type of technology the party stumble across. Even though she did enslave Monkey, her true nature isn’t malicious and before long she wins him over without the slaver band. The story is set far in the future and the cities as we know it are ruins filled with dormant droids and mechs. This the perfect place for traps and ambushes and towering blockades with spectacular battles. With a view. The mechs are split between ranged and close quarter fighters in general but there are a couple of nasty ones

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Monkey carries an expandable staff that he uses in combat. Besides blocking, striking and takedowns, he can also charge up the staff and perform a stun attack to stop a mech in its tracks for a short period. The staff can be used as a ranged weapon too, with the choice of plasma blasts or energy stuns to drop shields of particularly dangerous mechs. My favourite is Monkey’s cloud gadget that expands out into a frisbee shaped hover board. It’s quick, can move over any surface, looks cool and is used in some fast

paced chase scenes scattered throughout the story. Yes, I want one. Trip proves her worth in the party by opening doors, deactivating defences, distracting enemies and upgrading Monkey’s equipment. Energy orbs are found all over the maps and are dropped by mechs defeated in combat; players should explore and collect as many as possible if they wish to upgrade more than just half of the available options. The game starts with an epic escape from the plummeting slave ship and ends with as much of an epic final battle from the back of a mech monstrosity. Each time the player feels like he was lucky to make it out alive. Enslaved turned out to be one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played this year. It is a must play for all those adventure lovers out there and quite possible could be the first of a cult classic to be. g

AT A GLANCE: A well written and acted future fantasy adventure. Developer: Ninja Theory Publisher: Namco Bandai Games Distributor: Megarom

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

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Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

lurking around corners every now and then. The boss fights are awesome but aren’t too challenging. Finding their weak spots is what it’s all about and once you have them, it’s quite easy to shut them down. The dialogue is extremely well written and the voice acting superb making the character’s interaction believable, absorbing and hilarious in some places.

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

84 53

FIFA 11

Be Nice

Football gets personality

he FIFA franchise has come a very long way to get where it is today, and while there are other games on the market, it seems as though gamers just can’t get enough of the hugely popular franchise – which added a little bit extra for FIFA 11. The game features the newly-developed Personality+ system, and in essence what that means is that all players will react and behave in different ways. The most obvious trait of the systems is that, in example, defenders will have slightly elevated levels of ball control, while strikers will have a powerful shot, compared to mid-fielder. It’s a great addition for the hard-core football fans, as they will notice the slight differences in handling and stamina from the top players, but for the average gamer, Personality+ might as well not have been there at all. The controls have stayed the same as FIFA 10, which is a smart move on EA’s side, and gamers will still have the option to change the scheme to whichever one suits them the best. As far as graphics go, the serious upgrade adds a bit more reality to player’s faces. From when the first ball is kicked around in the Arena,

by Jimmy Glue where it is very possible to completely forget that a game is being loaded, it is evident that FIFA 11 promises to be one of the best football games on the market. But Electronic Arts have managed to actually break the game. A problem that has never appeared in any of the previous games started showing it ugly head on many occasions. While celebrating a goal, the AI seemed at a loss at what to do. Most of their movements appear to be scripted, and while players are celebrating in their own way, team mates will try to initiate a scripted team celebration. This doesn’t work out too well, as the game’s engine can’t decide what to do next, resulting in some team members running up and down the penalty pitch over and over for no apparent reason. Another aspect where a bit of better planning will come in handy, is with the new ability to play a multiplayer match, stocked to the brim with only online players – no AI here. In theory, it’s a great addition, as 11 real players per team will duke it out for victory. The problem comes in when playing with strangers in

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– let alone actually jumping at the ball. It’s also very easy for the striker to dummy around you… it almost becomes laughable. So FIFA 11 begs the question if EA actually upgraded the franchise, or just managed to keep it stagnant, preventing it from slipping into obscurity. It’s their third football game in about a year, so one has to wonder if it hasn’t started to take its toll? The new additions and graphic upgrade are all nice and dandy, but with a couple of severe bugs and a multiplayer that is in dire need of a serious patch, can the franchise lift itself off the ground and restore itself to its former glory? The game is great, don’t get us wrong, but for gamers who own the entire franchise, this will be a slight disappointment. It’s almost like baking a glorious cake, layer for layer, stacking on all the beautiful decorations and colourful icing, just to have to bottom fall out at the end. g

AT A GLANCE: The franchise has been hugely successful, but FIFA 11 doesn’t bring a lot to the pitch. Developer: EA Sports Publisher: Electronic Arts Distributor: EA South Africa

Parental Advisory Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice

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Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual

X360 Platforms

your team, and while we tried out a number of online matches, the results were the same. Every man is trying to score by himself – disregarding any other player who happens to be in a better scoring position. The result looks like a rugby match, only that you are not allowed to pick up the ball. In one of our online matches, we even had the goalie constantly coming out onto the field in order to score a goal – leaving our goals wide open. Restricting the players to only 5 players per team (and then manually swapping between the AI players), seemed to help a bit, but you still get the one lone Rambo. Which brings us to the new addition of playing the Be A Pro mode as a goalkeeper. Although EA had the best intentions for this mode, it simply doesn’t work. It’s not that it’s broken, the mechanics just don’t sit too well. It has to be one of the most boring modes ever created for a football game, and that is a major problem. If you play with a good team, the defence will be at such a standard that you’ll hardly ever see any action. Playing with a slightly retarted team, and you’ll need super-fast reactions just to get the goalie facing the right direction

PC X360 Kinect

PS3 Move

Wii PSP DS PS2

Score

78 55

Teach Yourself! How to create an American iTunes account

How To

by Richard Bingham

hile Apple was kind enough to give South African consumers access to the iTunes App Store, to use with the iPod touch and the iPhone, we are still deprived of many cool things. Music, movies, TV shows and iPhone games are only

available for those in the “real” countries. So if you want to explore the content available to first world paying subscribers, here’s a quick workaround for how to register an American-based iTunes account. g

Step 1 Open up iTunes. Click on the “iTunes Store” link in the left hand pane. Once the browser window loads, scroll to the bottom and click on the circle with the picture of a country flag in it. This opens up a page where you can select “your” country. Obviously, we want to click on the USA icon, here.

Step 2 Once in the US iTunes Store, click on the little arrow next to “App Store” and select “Great Free Apps”. This loads a page where you can see some of the (many) free applications in the store. When you see an app that strikes your fancy, click on “Free” – this is where the price is usually displayed for paid apps. Clicking free initiates a purchase, and this is how the accountcreation process starts.

Step 3 A dialogue box will pop up asking you to create a new account or log in with an existing one. Click on “Create New Account.”

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Step 4 A welcome page loads, explaining things about the iTunes Store. Click “Continue.”

Step 5 Sticklers for details can read the terms and conditions. Click the checkbox and then on “Next.”

Step 6 Here you will enter your account details. If you have an existing Apple account, be sure to use a different address here! Also choose a long password, the restrictions are tight.

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Step 7 This is the most important step! For payment method, select “None”. Do not attempt to register your South African credit card with iTunes – the credit card number gives away which country you are in, and will stop the registration process. For the address, choose a believable street name, and then use Google to find a real state and town, with corresponding ZIP code. Handy tip: search Google for American states that have no sales tax. This will prevent your iTunes purchases from being taxed (99c purchases usually become $1.08 purchases).

Step 8 The final step. You just have to verify your e-mail address, and then you can sign in with your American account. Happy downloading!

Getting Credit Once you have your American iTunes account set up you will want to buy some stuff. The TV shows, the movie rentals (if you have uncapped ADSL), full albums and tons of iPhone/iPad/iPod applications. Now, you can’t use your South African credit card – they check the billing info, for those! To work around this, you can purchase an iTunes Gift Card code. This is the code that comes on the back of an iTunes gift card, and when redeemed it will credit your account with the value of that card: $10, $15, $25 or $50 are the typical denominations. There are two popular online shops that will sell you a card (for a slight markup) and e-mail you the code. The wonders of modern technology – you don’t even have to wait for shipping. Check out: http://itunes-express.web.officelive.com/default.aspx http://maximuscards.com/itempage.php?cat=6

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We Wanna Rock! Getting to grips with the music giants...

Same Difference

by Brian Murdoch

have always wanted to write the comparison between Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and some of my friends will be surprised to read this articles and the objective way in which I’m going to go about this. This article is written without Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock and Rock Band 3 in mind and excludes the LEGO games. Together Rock Band and Guitar Hero form a monopoly in the market. There have been attempts from others to make a guitar based rhythm game, but these did not continue because of the weight that these two giants have in the market. What does seem to survive and continue with the brands is the 3rd party hardware. Most of the hardware can be used on both games. This is a critical point because, besides the majority of people buying one brand and sticking to it, there are a lot of people that just want to pick up a stand-alone unit and play the other side without incurring the major cost of more hardware. How many other games competitors produce their hardware to

be compatible with their competitor? There are more versions of Guitar Hero than Rock Band. Guitar Hero seems to bring out a game rather frequently, almost like a band bringing out a CD with their latest songs. Rock Band seems to bring out bundle packs of 3 or 4 CD lists of songs at a time. This is lighter on the consumer’s pocket, and we all love bargains. Another thing that Rock Band is famous for and Guitar Hero only started doing later on is that players can have all their Rock Band songs in a list, with only the latest game in their console. For example the Rock Band 1 songs can be brought over to Rock Band 2 and played together. Guitar Hero says that, due to the improvements to the songs and instruments, some songs are not compatible with the new versions. Is this because Rock Band 1 was perfect the first time, or is it not improving? Or have the Guitar Hero developers not taken backward compatibility into account? g l a d g e t r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

Rock Bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collection of songs, per version, does seem to cover more genres and has a better selection of music to satisfy more tastes, while Guitar Hero seems to be aiming for more money with each version, as well as constantly improving on their product. The in-game displays are hard to compare as they both play similarly, but the Rock Band style comes through in thinner lines and more streamed animation that the player needs to follow. Guitar Hero has fatter gems and a bulky look. This does all fall into the taste of the player and most will not even notice because their preference is based on what they have played more and grown used to. All the user friendly features in the games are improving with each version, with a little more focus on the beginner player. Each franchise has products focused on specific bands, bringing out versions that heavily feature the bands they are themed around. This seems to pull a lot of the fans of those bands to the products. g l a d g e t r eg u l a r â&#x20AC;˘ i s s u e 2 â&#x20AC;˘ N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

In total, to-date, Guitar Hero has sold more units than Rock Band but this does not included DLC, and we will never be able to give a statistic on which one is played more. It does, however, let you know that Activision is getting more money to throw into the Activision / Blizzard pot of gold. Which one makes you look cooler? Well, only the mirror can tell you that, because both games do a good job of making you feel like a rock star. The initial impressions from the music industry is that this was a mockery of the talent required for real music, but they have now seen the ever-important increased sales, thanks to both franchises breaking new bands, as well as the very popular DLC component of both ranges. If you still have a choice to make, make it on which instrument you prefer and buy the software for both games, as the songs appeal. g

Guitar Hero

Rock Band

Drums: 3 pads, 2 cymbals and a kick pedal. Compatible but it feels weird leaving the one pad out. Guitars: 5 buttons and a strummer with a different style coming through with almost every version of the game. Compatible with Rock Band since GH3 No of versions: 22

Drums: 4 Pads with extra cymbals add-on. Only compatible with the extra cymbals. Guitars: 5 buttons and a strummer with a few different options and improvements from one version to the next. Most of the later guitars are compatible with both franchises. No of versions: 9

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Sparking Idea Heating up more than just food

Inner Workings

by Jimmy Glue

ow often have we put something in the microwave, turned the dial and walked away, just to return a couple of minutes later, expecting our food to be hot and cooked? It all seems to be a given, but staring at the spinning table you’ll notice that there actually is nothing there. Besides for the food going around and around, it isn’t actually the spinning motion that cooks the food. It almost seems hard to believe, but to the naked eye, absolutely nothing is going on within the confines of the metal box. As one would expect, the inner workings of a microwave are more complex than just placing food on a tray, as it’s actually pure science, on an atomic level, at work. See, microwave ovens, unlike the name suggests, actually work on radio waves. They commonly use radio waves at a frequency of roughly 2,500 megahertz (2.5 gigahertz), and at such a high frequency, they develop a rather interesting property, in the sense that they are absorbed by water, fat, and various sugars.

When exposed to these elements, it’s like a massive party to them, and their particles vibrate against each other, creating atomic motion – heat, in other words. At that high frequency, they also don’t penetrate plastics, glass or ceramics, which is why most dishes are microwave-friendly. Because they react with the particles in food, they only heat the food – and nothing else. But on the other side of the excitement scale, metal reflects microwaves, which is why pans or pots don’t work so well. Besides that, metal objects will create an arc (electric spark), with forks being the most famous object to be left in a microwave by accident. Now that we know how a microwave oven generates heat, how does the food actually get cooked evenly? Well, when something is placed in the oven and the atomic motion starts taking effect, the radio waves penetrate the food and excite water and fat molecules pretty much evenly throughout the food. Unlike conventional cooking, no heat needs to migrate through g l a d g e t r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

Percy Spencer g l a d g e t r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

the food to the centre. It’s like a laser shooting through anything in its way, and heating it up as it goes along. But although the heat is everywhere all at once, it does have its flaws. It can’t always penetrate the food at the same speed when it needs to pass through thick pieces of fat or meat, which is why sometimes it will be undercooked in certain parts. It’s exciting atoms, and not conducting heat, so some atoms don’t always gets as excited as the others. Remember the party we were referring to earlier – well, these atoms can’t hear the music clearly. Since the microwaves heat the food and nothing else, it will also explain why no crust will form on anything. See, the air around the food is at room temperature, while a conventional oven will dry out the air, causing a crust. That is why some microwave meals have a thin plastic film over them - the film reacts to microwave energy by

becoming very hot, and this exterior heat lets the crust become crispy, as it would in a conventional oven. On a side note, if you ever suspect that your microwave might be leaking dangerous radio waves, there is a simple test to find out for sure. Get a fluorescent tube and hold it against the edges of the oven’s door when the oven is on. If there are any leakages, the bulb will glow. As a matter of interest, one might wonder how the microwave oven actually came into being. Well, it started out in 1945 while Percy Spencer, an American self-taught engineer, was working on magnetrons for radar sets. He was working on the active radar set when he noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket started to melt - the radar had melted his chocolate bar with microwaves. The first food to be actively microwaved? None other than the trusty film-treat, popcorn, with the second food being an egg. Which probably exploded. g g l a d g e t r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

The Right Horse Blu-ray VS HD DVD

Dead End

by Alex Scanlon

bought a new contract at my local video store the other day, for two reasons. First of all, I needed a new contract. But, as an added incentive, they gave me my second reason: a chance to win a Blu-ray player. Bluray has become the new standard for high quality video, and its popularity is increasing daily. Once upon a time, a PlayStation 3 was the cheapest Blu-ray player around. Now, with the proliferation of Blu-ray discs and hardware, the prices are coming down, and the high definition format is spreading to more and more homes. The high quality visuals are supported by great sound, making Blu-ray the perfect way to enjoy movies at home. Back in the early 2000s, though, this wasn’t necessarily going to be the case. See, back in the first few years of this century, there was a race for HD formats, an inadvertent high definition war between two types of disc. The first one, obviously, was Blu-ray, and was backed principally by Sony and Pioneer. The other was HD DVD, a project initiated and strongly supported by Toshiba. Although both sides wanted to avoid a costly format war, events reminiscent of the Betamax vs VHS conflict were about to unfold.

Many critics offered wry commentary during the early days of the war, what with Sony being involved. Sony had backed the wrong horse before, and numerous people took a “here we go again” attitude to the whole affair. But they could not have been more wrong… Sony’s pick proved to be the one that would win the battle, despite using a naming convention that was quite different to the rather recognisable HD DVD moniker. Blu-ray, as a concept, became viable after Shuji Nakamura invented the blue laser diode, which featured a shorter wavelength that would allow for higher density optical media. Sony started two projects to work with the new diodes; Ultra Density Optical and, in partnership with Pioneer, DVR Blue (which would be renamed Blu-Ray two years later, in 2002.) Not everyone was excited about the prospect. The DVD Forum, chaired by Toshiba, disliked the application of the blue laser diode, because early media required a protective casing, which made the media more expensive, and moved away from the simplicity offered by the DVD disc. In 2002, the Forum passed a vote suggested by Warner Bros and a number of other film studios, and began g l a d g e t r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

working on compressing high definition on dual layered DVD-9 discs… HD DVD. To avoid a format war, the DVD Forum and Blu-Ray Association began talks in early 2005, to try and reach a compromise between the two standards. But no agreement could be reached, and on the 22nd of August, 2005, both parties announced that the talks had broken down. The war, more or less, was on. Like many wars, people picked sides. Companies like Hitachi, LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung and Sharp added their support to Blu-Ray, and numerous movie studios announced their intention to support the blue laser diode format as well. On the other side, companies included NEC, Sanyo, Microsoft, Intel and RCA added their voices, along with a number of other movie studios. Still other film producers sat on the fence, lending support to both formats. HD DVD players went on sale in the USA on the 18th of April, 2006. Blu-ray followed two months later. The deciding factors in the war between HD DVD and Blu-Ray were two-fold. The first was that many movie production houses started jumping ship. This was g l a d g e t r eg u l a r • i s s u e 2 • N ove m b e r 2 0 1 0

something that HD DVD could conceivably have survived, because potential deals might have been struck. The coup de grace, though, was the fact that Sony opted to build a Blu-ray player into one of the most highly anticipated devices of the last few years – the PlayStation 3. As PlayStation3 sales increased, demand for the Blu-ray format did too. It was the death knell for HD DVD – the rival Xbox 360 console could only play the HD DVD format if an external drive was added… it wasn’t a standard feature. By the time Toshiba threw in the towel, the PlayStation 3 had sold over 10 million units worldwide, while Toshiba’s HD DVD player had sold approximately 1 million. On the 19th of February, 2008, Toshiba brought the format war to an end by announcing that they would no longer be manufacturing HD DVD products. The short war had come to an end, with Blu-ray victorious. Sony had backed the right horse and, through inclusion of their format in a video game console, had indirectly proved the strength of the video game market. g