Bits and pieces, some for you, some for your system, and the odd few for the chained-up vampire dodo in the basement.
Flexiglow bubble lightSupplier: FlexiglowWebsite: www.flexiglow.com Phone: (02) 9684 6796Price: $35
When the best thing neon manufacturers can come up with is a tube of plastic with lots of bubbles trapped for eternity within, it's obvious that the idea well is starting to run dry. This kit includes two plastic tubes, each with a 'Super Bright LED' mounted in one end, as well as a little transformer box and switch to change the mode. You can set them to both be lit up continuously, or to flash like a demented Christmas tree. These tubes aren't anywhere near as bright as your standard neon or cold cathode kit, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially for light sensitive albino gamers. At only $35, this is one of the cheapest light kits you can get for your PC.
SRC-3810 universal remoteSupplier: AltronicsWebsite: www.altronics.com.au Phone: 1300 780 999Price: $269
As an Atomican, you've probably lost your lounge room under a five-foot high stack of remote controls. Okay, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's not unusual to have five or six different remotes for your home theatre setup. While it's fun to gaffer tape all of these together to create the mother of all remotes, it's nowhere near as user friendly as having a single universal remote for all your control needs. The SRC-3810 allows you to program the functions of all of your remotes, thanks to a little IR receiver in the base of the unit. We tried to program five different remotes -- four worked perfectly while the fifth caused the unit to crash, necessitating a total reprogram of the unit. Other than this, the universal remote worked fine, looked great, and wasn't too badly priced compared to other units.
Steel padSupplier: InnovisionWebsite: www.innovision.com.au Phone: 1300 785 795Price: TBC
A decent mousing surface is almost as important as having a great mouse. While we'd all love to use the chest of a naked demigod or goddess as a mousing surface, it tends not to help your Counter-Strike scores in the slightest, due to the stretchy nature of human flesh. What better surface to use than metal? It's hard, straight and will last at least until the end of the Iraq conflict in the year 2017. The Steel pad isn't actually steel -- it's Aluminium instead. It's incredibly flat and smooth, and as a result is very accurate -- provided you use an optical mouse that likes this metallic surface. We tried three optical mice, and only one would work on it, while the other two chucked a hissy fit. This is another of those mouse pads that make a yicky scratchy noise, but the inclusion of Teflon strips helps to reduce this.
Thermaltake ducting modSupplier: Anyware Website: www.anyware.com.au Phone: (02) 9879 5788Price: $15
A noisy PC is a sucky PC. It appears that most PC builders have gotten over the urge to install 19 different case fans that sound like a fleet of Black Hawk's taking off. These days we want decent cooling that's no louder than a mosquito fart, which is why we have products like this ducting mod. This should fit on any heatsink that is capable of mounting an 80mm fan, and works by reducing the air pressure. It does work, to a small degree, but also drops cooling performance a little. But there's no denying how sexy this gadget looks.
Vantec Iceberg chipset coolerSupplier: PC Case GearWebsite: www.pccasegear.com Phone: (03) 9568 0932Price: $21.82
Dud Northbridge chipset cooling fans are a common complaint these days -- it's amazing how many we see in the Labs on brand new motherboards. Now, you can either replace your entire motherboard or just whack a new fan on it. And a custom chipset cooler is a nice way of separating your modded beastie from the million and one other wannabes. The Vantec Iceberq is a nice little kit that bares more than a striking resemblance to the old Crystal Orb. It's available in both Copper and Aluminium, and as well as the standard Northbridge cooler (which by the way won't fit on the newer Intel Canterwood and Springdale motherboards) you also score a couple of Aluminium heatsinks without fans. Where these might go we're not quite sure, but no doubt some intrepid Atomican will put them to good use. Modjitsu anyone?
Vantec Ez Swap HDD caseSupplier: PC Case GearWebsite: www.pccasegear.com Phone: (03) 9568 0932Price: $71.82
Mmmm. . . hot swappable hard drives are stonkingly hard core, extremely convenient and they also happen to look damn sweet. The Ez Swap from Vantec is one of the most well rounded hard drive cases currently available. It looks the biz, and is sturdy enough to cope with the occasional drop or two. It's one of the only cases that supports ATA133, and has a nice little 40mm fan in the back to help keep your high rpm drives at a bearable temperature. Any old 3.5in hard drive will fit inside, and the LCD display on the front helps you to keep an eye on the temperature, which is handy but not crucial. In all, a very tasty product.
Vantec Tornado fanSupplier: PC Case GearWebsite: www.pccasegear.com Phone: (03) 9568 0932Price: $21.82
This fan is appropriately named indeed. You thought the Delta fans were loud? Well, you haven't heard anything till your ears have been beaten to a bloody pulp by this thing. However, for those who demand the ultimate in cooling performance, you'll be hard pressed to find anything that chews through the cfm like the To
Issue: 133 | February, 2012