PC Hardware

Relief for RSI Sufferers
We generally don't review mice as they are about as utilitarian as a USB stick. But when you suffer from RSI or carpal tunnel syndrome your interest in these rodents is elevated to a much higher level.

The Zero Tension Mouse piqued my interest for promising to relieve the rather painful sensation of nervous tenseness in my right hand. The ZTM is not the prettiest of its species and it certainly was one of the hardest to get used to.  As they say “no pain, no gain” so I struggled with the ZTM for a number of weeks.  Was it all worth it?

Since the release of the ATI's next generation X1000 series, ATI's graphics cards have brought higher and higher performance...more pipelines, higher clock speeds, etc.  The enthusiasm for ATI's latest cards doesn't necessarily mean that the older X100 series cards are left in the dust.  In fact, it means more affordable lower prices for the older generation.

Let's face it, not everyone can keep up with technology always.  I've had my custom computer built less than 3 years ago and the switch from the AGP interface to PCI-Express passed so quickly that it makes my system seem old already.  The good news is that there are still AGP versions of graphics cards available.

Today, I will be reviewing the Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 GTO.  This product emphasizes overclocking on a budget.  If you are still stuck with the older AGP interface and love to overclock, this card may be for you.

If there has ever been a time when protection is necessary whenever you log on the Internet, it’s now. We need to be shielded from viruses, hacks, worms, identity theft and all the other net nasties. But why don’t we do it?  Is it complexity, cost, the constant updating or the feeling that there is no all-in-one solution? AlphaShield has come up with a hardware firewall solution that promises perfect protection with easy setup and at a very reasonable cost.

Is it a mirage or does it really work?

To give you an idea of where this product stands relative to ATI's current line of next generation graphics chips, it begins at the entry-level with the X1300.  At the midrange, is the X1600 series.  The X1800 and X1900 series is where we progress to the higher to highest end graphics chips on the market.  The X1300 is an entry-level graphics card which incorporates the latest Shader Model 3.0 technology to allow you to play the latest games.  At this level, it is a matter of the kind of performance and features is offered at the budget price.