Noki spent months assembling a dream from the past in the softly lit glow of a workshop clutterd with desk lamps and CRT monitors. His creation, a fully portable Commodore 64, is not disguised as some sophisticated modern gadget, but rather a dead-set accurate clone. The computer folds open like an old briefcase from the 1980s, with a beige plastic outer casing full of sharp lines and curves that evoke recollections of ancient office equipment.
Water cooling for desktop computers has been around for a long time, serving as a savior for high-end workstations prone to overheating during marathon gaming sessions or intensive use. Graphics cards, on the other hand, have always relied on air-based solutions, with fans and metal fins providing all of the cooling they require. That all changed when one tinkerer had the brilliant notion to remove a normal CPU cooler from a shelf and repurpose it for his GPU instead. Running frozen water directly through the heatpipes allowed him to not only cool the GPU but also significantly increase frame rates.
Photo credit: GnarDead
A few days before Thanksgiving, GnarDead took a big risk by placing an order that was expected to significantly improve their gaming setup. The ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 5080 was lying in their Best Buy shopping basket for a reasonable $1,200; its specifications were impressive, capable of handling even the most demanding games. It arrived on November 28, but things quickly took a turn for the worse.
Micron is pulling the plug on Crucial, a stable and dependable name in memory and stays with SSDs that has kept a lot of PCs running smoothly for over 20 years. In their most recent press release, Micron said categorically that they want to close the consumer side of the business by the end of their second quarter next year. Existing stock will continue to ship until then, and everyone who purchases their products before the deadline will still be covered by their guarantee.
Archivists and technologists have been looking for a way to keep data forever, but their efforts have proven ineffective. That all changes now with Atlas Data Storage’s Eon 100, a technology that converts regular files into DNA strands. This all comes at a time when everyone is battling to keep up with the enormous volume of data we’re producing – and the Eon 100 appears to be a serious competitor in this fight.
Zac Builds acquired a tattered old iMac G3 from the 1990s, one of those legendary all-in-one PCs that dominated every desk. The device resembled a brick, thanks to its clunky old CRT screen, and inside was a jumble of yellowed plastic that crumbled to the touch and antique components that had been collecting dust for years. Instead of throwing it away, Zac recognized an opportunity to give this old girl new life. He gathered his equipment, which included a 3D scanner and printer, a soldering iron, and a custom-built fume extractor dubbed the Zacuum, and set to work, stripping it down to its bare elements.
Smartphones get more powerful every year but storage is the silent killer of daily routines. A new iPhone tempts with sleek design and great cameras but the jump from 256GB to 2TB is at least an $800 whammy. Enter the Lexar 2TB Professional Go Portable SSD, priced at $169.49 (was $269.99) ahead of Cyber Monday, a tiny drive that fits in your pocket and handles the overflow.
ASUS introduced a device 15 years ago that blurred the line between an input tool and a standalone machine. The Eee Keyboard PC housed a full Windows computer within the body of what appeared to be a standard keyboard. After a long wait, it was released in mid-2010, just as netbooks were reigning supreme in portable computing and businesses were pursuing ever-smaller footprints. For $600 ($893 today), you got a silver wedge weighing more than 2 pounds, ready to connect to a TV or monitor for web browsing, movie playback, or light work. ASUS referred to it as a living room companion, something to use for quick chores without having to pull out a whole laptop.
Huawei has unveiled a Wi-Fi router that shatters all preconceptions about what these devices are supposed to look like. The X3 Pro is a sleek, mountain-inspired objet d’art that boasts a clear cone and a textured peak inside. The main unit is long and thin at the top, flares out at the bottom, and has a translucent top piece that let some light in. A metal band wraps around the center, with a gold-etched mountain design and the Huawei emblem beneath it. Off the back of the main unit is a compact satellite router, perfect for expanding your network without making a big impact.
