Info Laptop

Motherboards & Processors
• DFI Lanparty UT X58-T3eH8 and JR X58-T3H6 – TechSpot
• GIGABYTE MA785GPM-UD2H 785G – TweakTown

Displays & Video Cards
• Inno3D GeForce GTS 250 iChiLL FreezerX 1GB – TweakTown
• Interview with Khronos – The Tech Report
• XFX GeForce GTX 275 XXX 896MB – Elite Bastards

Memory & Storage
• Corsair P64 SSD – Bjorn3D
• OCZ Low Latency Blade DDR3 1600MHz – Pro-Clockers

Peripherals & Gadgets
• Eagle Arion 2.1 iDock Speakers with Subwoofer – Think Computers
• Plantronics Voyager PRO Bluetooth Headset – Legit Reviews

Cooling
• CoolIt Domino ALC CPU Cooler – JonnyGURU
• Scythe Mugen 2 CPU Cooler – Verdia Reviews
• Thermaltake Massive23 CS Notebook Cooler – Tweaknews
• Xigmatek Thor’s Hammer CPU Cooler – Tech-Lobby

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Chieftec Dragon Mid-Tower Chassis – ThinkComputers
• Cooler Master Elite 310 Chassis – Bjorn3D
• Corsair HX750W Power Supply – Overclockers Club
• Thermaltake Element G Chassis – PureOverclock

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• Alienware M17x Dual-GPU Gaming Notebook – HotHardware
• How-To: Install Windows 7 from a USB Flash Drive – Legit Reviews
• HTC Touch Pro 2 Windows Smartphone – Verdis Reviews
• Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 – TechReviewSource

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The Internet has been around for about 14 years now, which many would consider to be a while. But, despite all that time, the legal system still hasn’t had time (or so it seems) to catch up, as there are still many uncertainties about what’s legal, and not, online. Even things that are blatantly illegal, or should be, are not, and as you could imagine, that can cause a headache for some people.

Once such crime is theft of a domain name. That is, to physically log (or break) into the rightful owners domain account, change the information, and simply call it your own. That’s just what Daniel Goncalves did with web URL P2P.com. Except, he didn’t just steal it, he actually sold it from right under the real owner’s noses. As you’d expect, such a domain would sell for a pretty penny, and it did… $110,000 to NBA player Mark Madsen.

It’s hard to tell if the owners received the domain name back yet, or not, but it’s proven to be a complicated process in having the case dealt with, since, as mentioned before, it seems that no one knows just how to handle legal cases like this. It’s a legal gray area, but with the Internet what it is today, I don’t think it’s safe to keep on going without hardened laws. After all, the owners of P2P.com had the money to fight their case… many people do not.

The main problems affecting victims of domain name theft are lack of experience of law enforcement, lack of clear legal precedents, and the money necessary to launch an investigation. DomainNameNews, which first reported the arrest, relates the Angels’ experience in reporting the crime. When the Angels called Florida police to report the theft, a uniformed officer in a squad car was sent to their home. “What’s a domain?” the officer asked them, according to DomainNameNews.

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Motherboards & Processors
• ASUS Maximus II GENE – Overclock3D
• ASUS P5Q Pro Turbo – Hardware Logic
• MSI AMD 785GM-E65 – PC Perspective

Displays & Video Cards
• Sapphire Vapor-X HD 4890 2GB – Motherboards.org
• Zotac GTX295 Single PCB – Hardwareoverclock

Memory & Storage
• Kingston Series V 128GB SSD – Motherboards.org
• PhotoFasts G-Monster V5 256GB SSD – TweakTown
• Transcend Ultra 120GB SSD – PureOverclock

Peripherals & Gadgets
• Beats by Dre Tour Headphones – Digital Trends
• D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme N Gaming Router – ThinkComputers

Cooling
• Corsair Hydro Series H50 CPU Water Cooling Kit – Legit Reviews
• GELID Solutions GC-2 Thermal Compound – techPowerUp

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Cooler Master 922 HAF Chassis – Overclocker Cafe
• Cooler Master Sileo 500 Mid-Tower Chassis – TweakTown
• Maxcube Amoris 6010 Gaming Chassis – Pro-Clockers
• Thermaltake Element G Chassis – Pro-Clockers

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• Boost Your PC’s Performance for Free – Digital Trends
• Canon PowerShot SX1 IS – Digital Trends
• GIGABYTE Booktop M1022 Netbook – TweakTown
• Phoronix Test Suite 2.0, PTS Desktop Live 2009.3 Released – Phoronix

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In any industry, it’s common to see people come and go, but I’d be willing to bet that in the tech industry, as thriving as it is, it happens a bit more often than you’d expect. Some people jump around from position to position at various companies like there’s no tomorrow, so it’s notable when someone decides to change things up and leave a position that they’ve held for over a decade.

A week ago today, though, Derek Perez, NVIDIA’s Director of Public Relations, posted on his Facebook account that he made the decision to leave NVIDIA after 11 years to set out to tackle a new adventure. He waited a week to fill us in on just what that adventure was, though, and believe it or not, it has not much to do with the tech industry. Rather, Derek is off to become the head of marketing for the Nashville Predators, an NHL team.

Anyone who knows Derek knows what kind of sports nut he is, with an incredible love for hockey (and he’s not even Canadian!). So while this new job puts him in a completely different environment, his expertise with management and marketing, along with his love of hockey, makes the move a no-brainer. In his words: “I think I got a dream job“.

On behalf of our site, I’d like to give Derek wholehearted congratulations and also a big thanks for all the help and support he’s given us for as long as we’ve been doing business with NVIDIA, and we wish him the best of luck. Keep your eyes on the ice, DP!

Credit: Igor Stanek

Here are some quick fun facts. When Derek joined NVIDIA in 1998, it was around the same time that the company moved their offices to Santa Clara, California, where they still remain today. The hot new product of the year? It was none other than the RIVA TNT, the successor to the RIVA 128, and direct competition to 3Dfx’s newly-launched Voodoo2 (NVIDIA acquired 3Dfx’s assets in 2000).

In addition to offering improved texture filtering techniques and trilinear filtering, it also introduced 32-bit color and a 24-bit Z-buffer for gaming. Then of course, the TNT2 followed the next year. Also that year, NVIDIA released their first Vanta graphics card, and also the GeForce 256. Boy, how time flies!

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At one time, netbooks used to be known as small notebooks that offered just enough power to accomplish rather modest tasks throughout the day, such as e-mail, web surfing, listening to music, et cetera. Things have changed a lot since then, though, as recently, even ASUS has been releasing Eee PC models that in no way represent what we originally thought a netbook would be, primarily in size.

The cool thing about netbooks, though, is that because the prices for such machines are affordable, many people are now purchasing mobile PCs who might not have ever done so in the past. Also because of this, competition is fierce, especially to get into retail channels where regular Joe’s will actually stumble on them.

About a month ago, both Acer and Gateway (Acer owns Gateway) released ~$400 netbooks, one that would see its life in Wal-Mart, the other in Best Buy. Both offer a varied combination of features and perks, and whichever is the better buy is really dependant on your needs. Our friends at The Tech Report took both new notebooks for a spin though, to see which was more worthy of your $400.

In the end, it was difficult for Scott to reach an ultimate winner, as both had their pros and cons, but overall, the Gateway machine looked to pull ahead, thanks to its nice blend of components and style. One hit is against the overall battery-life, but as is mentioned in the conclusion, if it had a second battery (or perhaps an even larger battery), it’d be almost perfect. Now that’s a statement.

Credit: The Tech Report

The Gateway LT3103 is the most successfully executed of the two systems, because its Athlon 64 processor and Radeon graphics give it the performance to match its larger screen and keyboard. The grown-up looks and finish of the Gateway set it apart from the Aspire One 751, as well. If you like to fret over the semantics of “netbook” versus “notebook,” the LT3103 will positively put you into a tizzy of hair splitting and confusion—endless hours of fun.

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