Netflix deauthorizes Windows Media Center Plugin?
Written by Sean Kalinich
In an odd turn of events Netflix, one of the largest internet streaming media companies, appears to have locked out the Windows 7 Media Center Plug-in. The issue began on June 29th in the early evening when reports of this issue popped up from different users around the net. We checked into the problem and found that while the rest of the service appeared to work flawlessly, you still could not view any movies. The error? Our apologies – we could not authenticate this request.
The Z68 has been touted as “cougar point done right” and many other things. I have been asked if the Z68 is going to replace the X58 and many other things beside that ever since it came onto the scene. We have taken a theoretical and design look at one Z68 and now we are going to take a look at another. This one is from Gigabyte; the Z68X-UD3H-B3 (we are getting back to the long names again). This board has a more than its share of selling points. It features the new TouchBIOS (also called Hybrid EFI), the usual compliment USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports and of course SLI and crossfire. But there is more to the Z68X-UD3H than just this. We also see that it comes complete with the new VirtuGPU technology from Lucid Driver MOSFETs, and much more. So let’s see what we can find digging into the design and features before we get to the performance numbers in part II.
Thermaltake V9 BlackX Edition in for a spin Featured
Written by Sean Kalinich
When people think about cases many different things come to mind. To some the best case is a simple black box (or beige) that they put their components into and that is that. Others want more style to the box that holds all of their expensive hardware. But that raises a question, what is style to one person might not be to another. We also have to consider that what I may think is a great feature is a useless add-on to someone else. It is with this in mind that we take a look at a rather unusual case. This is the V9 BlackX Edition. This mid tower enclosure has a very interesting feature in that it has dual SATA HDD docks on the top of the case. This is along with the usual features that you would expect to find in any PC case. So let’s see if the V9 BlackX is a great device, or is it just a giant drive dock.
MSI's Z68A-GD80 Design and Feature Preview Featured
Written by Sean Kalinich
At the request of some of our readers we are going to start splitting up the way we do our reviews. However, instead of the normal “unboxings” that we find out on the Internet we are going to break up our normal review into two distinct parts. There will be the first part that will cover design choices, board layout, and features. This will be followed up with our normal performance section. We feel that this will give everyone the pieces and parts they are looking for. You can still read both (they will be crosslinked) and also discuss them on our new forum, but this way we can cover things quicker and in a more complete fashion without making each review too long. For our first dive into this new style we have the MSI Z68A-GD80B3 up on the test bench and behind the camera lens. This board follows the same trend as most of MIS’s recent product, but now they are into their second generation; you get Military Class II and OC Genie II. So let’s dive into the more theoretical part of our review and take a look at the packaging, board layout and the features for the MSI Z68A-GD80B3.
OK I have been promising this for some time now and it is about time that I got moving on it. Decryptedtech is having another giveaway. After the response we got from the 6950 giveaway (where we made you work for it). We decided to add something to this one. In the next three reviews you will find words that are in bold. When you put these words together they will form a question; that is one question for each review. The questions should not be too hard but will vary in topic (Cake or Death?). Once you have all three answers just be the first to email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Oh yeah, I suppose you would like to know what I am giving away huh? Well I am giving away an Asus P6X58D Premium brand new still in the box. This contest is open North American residents only due to export taxes and restrictions. Keep checking here, our facebook page and also twitter for when these reviews hit the net. Good luck!
450Mbps in a little package; Meet the TRENDNet TEW-684UB Featured
Written by Sean Kalinich
The launch of the 450Mbps segment of the 802.11n specification was sort of backwards. We saw some of the first routers last year in the September – October time frame. Then at CES we got our first glimpse of one of the new 450Mbps wireless adapters. This was the TRENDNet TEW-687GA that we just finished testing. But we are not going to stop there as we have another 450Mbps adapter from TRENDNet in the lab. This one is more PC specific and connects over USB 2.0. You lose the universal appeal that the 687GA had but gain more on portability. So let’s introduce the TRENDNet TEW-684UB 450Mbps Dual Band USB wireless adapter.
The X58A-OC from Gigabyte hits our Lab for some OC time Featured
Written by Sean Kalinich
Overclocking is a big deal these days. I can remember when it was just a bunch of crazed guys with too much money and free time on their hands. We used to do things like solder new resistors onto CPUs (the Slot A Athlons), swap out caps and resistors on motherboards to get more voltage through the boards and to the CPU. I vividly remember building water cooling kits with pool pumps and tubing bought from Home Depot. Once I even pulled a radiator from a Coke vending machine (old and broken) for a rig I was building. Well thankfully those days are over (but it would still be fun to do some of this). Motherboard makers are now designing and building motherboards with top of the line components voltage regulation systems and tracing that is laid out for business. Many have world class overclockers that work for them to get the most performance out of each and every motherboard. Every now and then they get to build something special from the ground up. We are taking a look at one of these boards that has been built for speed. The one we have in-house was designed by HiCookie; the resident overclocker at Gigabyte. This is the X58A-OC (the OC is for Overclocking as if you could not guess).
We bring 450Mbps wireless into the Lab with the TRENDNet TEW-687GA Featured
Written by Sean Kalinich
Home networking is something that everyone knows a little about. Often times what they know is not accurate (to put it nicely). I have heard some of the most bizarre “facts” about home networks, wireless networking and pretty much everything under the sun. We here at DecryptedTech are officially kicking off our networking section with a review of the TRENDNet TEW-687GA; this is a 450Mbps wireless adapter (sort of). We first saw this back at CES when we had our meeting with Zak from TRENDNet. It is a rather large adapter that boasts the full Duplex speed of 450Mbps at a price of $94.99. Let’s take a look at this product and talk a little about wireless networking in general.
As motherboards get smaller and CPUs run cooler the demand for smaller cases grows. The idea of the small form factor case is nothing new but these days awe find the number of these is growing as well. The idea is simple; stuff a motherboard (complete with CPU, GPU etc), optical drive and some type of storage into a small area while keeping things cool, pretty easy right? We take a look at one entry from ThermalTake; The Element Q. This is a small form factor case that has a few nice things to offer (like a 200 Watt Power Supply). So let’s take a look that the Element Q and see how it handles a system built around the Intel Core i5 661 CPU.
Anyone that owns a smart phone these days knows that there never seems to be enough battery life. This is even more true for those of us with the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. The phone is excellent (once it is configured properly). But has the worst battery life in a phone I have ever seen. In a normal day just in typical usage (for me) I get about 7-8 hours of life. If I am in an area with poor reception it is even worse (sometimes as little as 3 hours). There are multiple ways to try and extend this life; everything from killing tasks to running around with an extra battery pack to externally charge your phone. None of these really work though and all are time consuming. Trust me there is nothing like trying to talk with a giant tumbdrive dangling from your EVO. Fortunately there are battery packs and cases that do not require you to leave them hanging from the phone. We are taking a look at one of these today; it is the PowerSkin Silicone case with Bulit-in Battery for the HTC EVO 4G.
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The net is full of articles talking about how this or that technology company is controlling their software, hardware, IP (Intellectual Property) or some other item that they want to complain about. You also cannot run a search on net-neutrality, DCMA, MPAA, RIAA, Pirate Bay or, of course Apple without hearing about how medieval and out dated their concepts of fair usage is. I have talked about this kind of corporate control for years as well. It I oppressive, stifles the market and Hurst consumers. However, there is one type of control that is good for the consumer. This is the type of control that Kingston is holding over their ValueRAM Server Premier memory. What Kingston has done is take their already great server memory and add an extra level of quality control to ensure maximum performance and stability. They have done this by controlling every part that goes into this product right down to the revision of chip die. Let’s take a quick look at how this works and what it means to the consumer and enterprise.
Logitech's new Solar Keyboard K750 puts some green in the lab Featured
Written by Sean Kalinich
You know there is nothing like a good keyboard; whether it is for work or for play you really cannot beat having a good keyboard under your fingers if you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer screen (or two). So when my favorite Bluetooth keyboard died on me a couple of days ago I was not looking forward to finding a replacement. It is not an enjoyable task at all. I stopped by multiple stores including Target, Best Buy and finally Staples. It was while ruminating about the money I would have to spend to get something decent that I walked around the end of the Keyboard isle and saw something that really piqued my interest. It was a keyboard that boasted of being green. It was a wireless keyboard that maintained it charge by the power of light. It was the Logitech Solar Wireless Keyboard K750. The best part about all of this, it was on sale. Normally this ultra-thin “Chiclet” style keyboard would set you back $80, but it was on sale for $60 ($59.99) was it worth the money? Read on to find out.
Gigabyte's X58-USB3 stops by during the Computex Chaos Featured
Written by Sean Kalinich
With all the news about the Z68 and P6x chipsets these days is seems that many people feel the X58 is done. Well that is not the case; many manufacturers still see this as a viable top end platform for Intel and are making some great boards for this market space. The nice thing about this is that they are not just making the high-performance/dollar products but are still working on quality boards for every price level. One of these is the Gigabyte X58-USB3. It is a mid-range board that leaves out SATA 3.0 but still keeps many of the other features you would expect from an X58 board (SLI, Crossfire, etc). Gigabyte has made sure they add in USB 3.0 for you while keeping everything around $180. Let’s take a look and see if it is worth that price.
Kingstons' Data Traveler Ultimate G2 hits 100+MB/s Featured
Written by Sean Kalinich
One thing that you can never seem to have enough of is storage. As more and more people store large image files, movies, music (I know a few that have over 3 TB of music!) it is even more critical. Now when you are back at home and have access to your desktop, a network attached Storage product etc there is no problem. The question is how do you move this data around with you when you are on the road and space on your laptop/slate is at a premium? The simple answer is some sort of small external storage. Fortunately there is no shortage of companies that make these. We have taken a look at our fair share of them; from external HDDs, to mini USB flash drives. Today we have a new product on the test bench. This is the 32GB DataTravler Ultimate G2 from Kingston. Nothing to get excites about right? Well this one might change your mind. The DT Ultimate is a USB 3.0 drive that boasts of read speeds over 100MB/s. So let’s see if the DT Ultimate can really do that the Marketing guys at Kingston say it can