Tag: USB

The heat that inevitably arises in a gaming laptop is due to the heavy utilization of the graphics card (or GPU) during gaming. In fact, the GPU tends to generate more heat than the central processor itself and has a higher threshold for heat by and large. It is not uncommon for a GPU to reach temperatures in the neighborhood of 80 to 90 degrees C, especially when you are overclocking it.

This, of course, puts the gaming machine in a whole other segment than your average mail-downloading machine without a dedicated graphics card. Constant overheating will not damage the computer right away, but it may have a negative impact on the life span of your PC and is also more than a little uncomfortable.

In addition to bringing down the temperature to manageable levels, an exterior laptop cooler can also provide some additional features to your overall gaming experience such as speakers or more USB ports. At any rate, having a decent laptop cooler is effectively just looking out for your most likely expensive gaming machine. The average cooling unit is a relatively small investment.

When you head out to locate a good cooler pad or stand, there are a number of aspects that ought to affect your decision, the most important one being efficient cooling of course, but also that it fits the dimensions of your laptop. You don’t want to order a cheap one online only to open the package to find a tiny netbook cooler. On the flip side of the coin you don’t want an unnecessarily bulky stand. There is a large amount of coolers available that are designed to suit essentially any unit, but it’s important to check the dimensions so that it suits your laptop.

As a rule of thumb, do not go with a random product based on price or even average rating–find one that is designed to work with your machine.

A couple of other things to consider are the number of fans, capacity and noise level. You can usually get the gist of these matters from the specifications and user reviews. What also needs to be taken into account is the positioning of the most heat-generating surfaces on the laptop. This is generally the space where the GPU and the CPU resides, respectively.

Additionally, you may also want to have a look at the possibility to add some new features to complement your computer. For instance, you have the option to enhance the gaming machine with a new set of speakers or a few more USB ports. A few more expensive models also come with built-in thermostats that adjusts the air flow according to how much heat is produced, which is good news for the average level of noise. The top cooling unit is one that retains the noise level to a bare minimum while also decreasing heat effectively.

To keep the noise to a minimum, there are also passive cooling pads that absorb heat though salts that are frozen at room temperature and will not be using fans at all, but these ones will only last for so long before they need to refreeze. Another option is to choose a cooler with a single huge fan that spins relatively slowly, thus reducing noise output.

As the latest wave of gaming consoles have offered more powerful hardware and more sophisticated online experiences, PC gaming has seemed on the defensive. The first-person shooter, once the exclusive denizen of the PC, is already firmly entrenched on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, while role-playing games and even real-time strategy titles are popping up on consoles as well. But Microsoft is hoping to breathe new life into PC gaming. The company”s Vista operating system and a new Games for Windows drive is a one-two punch aimed at making the free-for-all of PC gaming a more standardized plug-and-play experience””in other words, a lot more like playing games on a console. The Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows ($20 list) is the latest salvo in that campaign. It”s a tiny peripheral that lets you use your any of your wireless Xbox 360 accessories on your Windows XP or Vista PC.
The biggest thing about the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows is its mouthful of a name. The device itself is a sliver of white plastic that”s smaller than the tiniest of cell phones. It”s featureless except for a single green LED and a button, and connects to your PC with a 6-foot long USB cable (once again, going “wireless” always seems to require wires). As such, the Gaming Receiver is not much different from a dongle that might have come with your wireless mouse or keyboard, except that it”s designed to communicate with any and all Xbox 360 wireless peripherals. To date, that”s a pretty exclusive list: the standard 360 wireless gamepad, the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset, and a wireless racing wheel for racing games. If and when additional 360 wireless peripherals are released, however, they should also be compatible.

The Wireless Gaming Receiver is a tiny USB dongle.
The idea is great: being able to use peripherals interchangeably between the PC and the 360 means you don”t have to buy PC-specific controllers. And as more PC games adopt the 360 control schemes (most games with the Games for Windows label on the box should work), developers and players get a standardized game environment. Ideally, that means you won”t have to spend the first 15 minutes after your game”s installation customizing a litany of mouse and keyboard commands. We loaded the software package from the included CD and then plugged the Wireless Gaming Receiver into our Windows XP machine. After installing the software from the included CD, just plug in the dongle. We tried syncing the two wireless controllers and a headset by pressing the Xbox 360 Guide button on the former and the power button on the latter. At first they didn”t connect””but then we heard our Xbox 360 power up in the next room over. Lesson learned””after unplugging the 360 (leaving the PC as the only compatible device in the area), we tried again, but the green lights just spun on and on. Thankfully, hitting the wireless sync button on the receiver and the devices””that little key with the three wavy lines””got them talking to one another. Once synced, tapping the Xbox 360 Guide button will show a small status icon on the computer screen, similar to the Xbox Live pop-ups on a 360. It reveals how many controllers are connected (up to four will work, but we only tried two), as well as the battery status and any other relevant info.
Not content with a single PC, we also tried the wireless receiver on a second XP machine and a brand-new Vista box as well. On the second XP PC, we were unable to get the wireless headset working. It was recognized, but Windows kept asking us for a compatible driver””which we could neither locate on the disc nor download. We did find an updated version of the software on Microsoft”s Web site (version 1.10.120.0, versus the version 1.00.81.0 that ships on the CD), but the problem persisted after installing that version as well. Truth be told, that particular XP machine has quite a few issues, so the fault is likely attributable to the PC more than the wireless receiver. Still, we did notice quite a few complaints on Microsoft”s own forums while investigating the issue.
When we went to install on a Vista machine, the new OS pre-emptively warned us that the newer software was available, so we were able to install that one straight off the bat””and it worked perfectly. But we did find it strange that the “check for updates” function that pre-installs with the CD version did not notify us that the newer version was available on the XP machine.

The Wireless Gaming Receiver lets you use your Xbox 360 wireless peripherals on your XP or Vista PC.
The good news is that once the controllers were set up and synchronized, everything worked smoothly. We used Lego Star Wars II to test things out. The game””where you play through the events of the original Star Wars trilogy as if it were set in a universe of Lego toys””isn”t the most typical PC title, but it”s difficult to control with a mouse and keyboard. With the 360 gamepad, on the other hand, playing was a breeze. And because the game is a certified Games for Windows title, the controller was preconfigured to work””no additional setup was required, though you can further customize the controls to your liking, if needed. On older games, however, your options will be limited. If the individual title supports gamepads, you won”t have a problem, but otherwise, you”ll be out of luck. We tried configuring Quake 4 to work with the 360 controller using the in-game control menus, and had mixed results. Some of the hard buttons were usable in F.E.A.R., for instance, but we weren”t able to map the analog control sticks for movement. Quake 4 was a total bust””we couldn”t map any of the controls to the pad. Yes, Microsoft wants to position the Xbox 360 compatibility as a forward-looking feature for new games, but it would”ve been nice if the company had provided some way to support legacy titles. One poster in the aforementioned Xbox forums suggested that the Pinnacle Game Profiler was a good workaround. The third-party software is free to try, but it”ll cost you $20 to buy the full version.
The wireless headset is a bit more flexible””it should work in pretty much any situation where headphones or headsets would. It worked fine for all PC applications and games, so it”s a worthwhile option for everything from Skype to Counter-Strike. Newer games such as Flight Simulator X will let you split the radio chatter on the headset while the environmental audio stays on the PC speakers.
The rated range on the Wireless Gaming Receiver is 30 feet, and it was still working for us when got far enough away that we could no longer see the screen. In other words, even if you have your PC connected to a projector or a big-screen TV, you should have no worries in terms of keeping a connection.
Is the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver worth getting? Considering the $20 price tag, it may well be hard to resist for gamers who ping-pong between Xbox 360 and PC titles on a regular basis. For now, it”s hardly a must-have PC gaming peripheral, but as more Games for Windows titles are released””titles like Shadowrun and Halo 2 are due later in 2007″”that may well change. In the meantime, we hope that Microsoft continues to tighten up some of the software and driver issues that seem to have affected some users.

Is the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver worth getting? Only $15.76 from http://www.zeromartz.com/xbox-360-wireless-gaming-receiver-for-windows-p-781.html , it may well be hard to resist for gamers who ping-pong between Xbox 360 and PC titles on a regular basis. For now, it”s hardly a must-have PC gaming peripheral, but as more Games for Windows titles are released””titles like Shadowrun and Halo 2 are due later in 2007″”that may well change. In the meantime, we hope that Microsoft continues to tighten up some of the software and driver issues that seem to have affected some users.

Logitech G110 Overview
Here we look at the Logitech G110 gaming Keyboard, one of the cheapest models in the Logitech range.

This product is aimed at specialist gamers lacking the funds to be able to purchase any of the more expensive keyboards such as the G19, available but still giving you most of the abilities required of a dedicated gaming device. The most obvious feature missing from the G110 keyboard is the LCD gameplay screen that is installed on the flagship models, but that aside it has very similar although slightly less features.

The keys themselves are backlit and the colors of them can be altered by the user, they can also be mixed to make even more custom colors.

The G110 features twelve keys that are programmable and it also allows you three macro settings per key making the total custom functions per game thirty six, this includes single and complex keystrokes, it will also allow you to create macros on-the-fly.

There is the ever present game or desktop mode switching which permits extraneous key functions to be turned off thus preventing undesirable events during the game.
On this version there is just the one USB 2.0 input on the keyboard, allowing for the use of many external devices that connect in this fashion, this could be hard or flash drives, a mouse, or Mp3 etcetera.
The unit also has integrated USB audio, together with individual inputs for microphone and headphones, these input sockets use standard 3.5mm plugs, they also have a mute function.The controls for the volume and media playback are single touch making life a little simpler.
The bottom of the keyboard base utilizes a channel that enables connecting cables to be kept tidy and out of the way, in summary then for the gamer on a tight budget the Logitech G110 Keyboard is well worth a look.

Logitech G110 Features Summary
12 Programmable keys
Custom backlighting
Key Macro functions (3)
Single-touch volume/media playback
USB 2.0 input
Twin audio/speech jacks
Built-in cable tidy
Pc/Desktop user switch
Removable palm rest

Summary
Not quite so many features as other considerably costlier models, but gamers love their Logitech G110s, and with good reason. The soft keys are excellent, almost silent in operation and respond smoothly to the lightest touch. It can take a little bit of time to get to grips with the left hand extra key placement, but it will not take long to master and the Macro keys are also excellent. If you are a dedicated gamer looking to upgrade or renew your old keyboard and do not have tons of cash to spend you will have to go a long way to beat the available features and better the slick operation of the Logitech G110 Gaming Keyboard, it scores well aboce average in all departments.

Having said that in this price range there are a few other models you might want to consider, for a few dollars more the Cyborg V7 is available, then for around the same price as the G110 is the much-improved Razer Lycosa, and for around ten dollars less there is the Microsoft Sidewinder X6 which is still going strong, also in this price range is the Thermaltake Tt eSports Challenger

PC hasn’t been one of the best platforms as far as co-op games are concerned, since home consoles have always been a step ahead in that department. Although recent game releases have tried to bring the co-op experience to PC gamers, it would be suffice to say that many believe co-op gaming is best experienced on home consoles.

There is nothing more fun than playing a sports game with your buddies on local co-op or even playing a single player campaign with one of your friends. With the recent release of Kinect, Microsoft has been trying to bring your family into games and make video games a co-op experience for the whole family. With no extra controller required for every person it becomes a cheap and exciting prospect for families to spend more time together having fun. With Kinect also expected to add Windows PC support, we can now see PC gaming or some PC games being advertised for the whole family, although hardcore PC gamers might even hate the thought of it becoming a reality.

So could it be that bringing motion gaming to PCs is the only way to push co-op gaming or split screen co-op popular on the PC? Well, well see about that very soon, when the Kinect officially hits the PC gaming scene with ludicrous hacks coming left and right, which has already become a popular trend.

Local Co-op

Anyone who has played local multiplayer in fps games knows about screen peaking i.e looking into your opponents screen to find his location, health or even tactics. Screen peaking which became popular with one of the best fps games of all time, Golden Eye on N64 has since served as a hindrance to local multiplayer. Being a problem in multiplayer, screen peaking actually helps playing local co-op in campaign mode or even multiplayer as your partner and team locations are pretty much visible at a glance. This leads to better team work and less deaths during a co-op experience.

You can always use gamepads to play local co-op games on PC . But again, PC gamers are very proud of the use of mouse and keyboard, controllers arent encouraged and as a PC gamer I second that thought. The accuracy that comes with a mouse and a keyboard just isnt there on the controller. On the other hand, playing sports games in co-op mode is a possibility, but youll have to buy an extra pair of USB controllers to play with your buddies.

Also, computers are mostly not part of the home entertainment experience, so theres a chair instead of a couch whereas consoles generally sit in front of the couch making it much easier to enjoy local co-op.

Online Co-op

When one thinks of videogaming on the PC, the mind automatically goes to single player experiences like Half-Life and Dragon Age. But make no mistake, the PC is a veritable paradise for online games, especially ones played cooperatively. From StarCraft II and Left 4 Dead to MMORPGs like Guild Wars and World of Warcraft, the PC is the only platform thats more or less dedicated to cooperative online games. Some games require subscription fees while others are completely free to play, and theyll even run on 10-year-old computers. Nothing beats the PC when it comes to cooperative online gaming due to the sheer accessibility of the PC as a gaming platform.

Online gaming generally involves competitive multiplayer, but things are about to change with the upcoming release of Portal 2 which has co-op as its core mechanic, online and local co-op gaming will be coming to PCs in a big way and hopefully inspire other game developers to follow the footsteps of Valve by giving us some exciting co-op games for PC.

Knowing how to pick the very best gaming earphones will give you the finest gaming experience seem smart. You will find lots of earphones on the market today. They vary from simple earphones, DJ earphones, and wireless earphones, that get their specific jobs. For the gaming activities selecting the very best earphones will even mean you need to look thorough in to the features which makes them the very best.

The significance of A Great Gaming Earphones

Video games are designed to ensure that the participant may change the game’s audio and video output. For video results, you’ll have to select a good and reliable television or computer monitors to do to your requirements. Nowadays most video output products already provides great high-definition videos, meaning you may expect good animations and graphics constantly.

Loudspeakers and normal earphones however, don’t have this capacity. To have the ability to benefit from the best seem performance the very best factor that can be done would be to select a high end earphones. Gaming earphones will often have a 3.5mm jack for output, or go for different earphones that have a USB output so technology-not only on more products.

Benefits of Getting Gaming Earphones

Earphones aren’t for gaming alone, technology-not only for various products that creates audio. This way you won’t need to disturb others when you’re hearing your personal selection of music or movie.

Tips about Purchasing Gaming Earphones

Gaming earphones typically has a headphones along with a microphone. The microphone enables you to definitely talk to other customers or rivals in a game title. You will find lots of games which let you communicate with players from around the globe. With a decent group of earphones you are able to talk to them in game through audio.

You are able to choose with a number of earphones on the market. Some are wired although some uses Bluetooth technology to ensure that you’re given more freedom inside your actions or you produce other things you can do. You may also get earphones that may support three dimensional game titles. Which means you get hd sounds making the knowledge just as real as always.

When purchasing gaming earphones you need to make certain that the earphones are comfy. It is because games can embark upon for many hrs. It needs to be comfy so you’ll enjoy the overall game whenever possible without pushing your mind.

It’s also wise to check up on the seem quality. This take into account fact is among the most significant since sounds can do or die a game title. Good seem created with a reliable earphone guarantees that you may have an excellent game. Furthermore, sounds result in the games more realistic and fun. You’re able to hear the seem from the each character as well as the music activity! Sounds from games also assist you in creating methods for selected games both on LAN or online.

Nowadays, lots of earphones already are offering plug and play solutions meaning you does not need to integrate the unit for your PC or perhaps your audio system. Simply plug and you may start your gaming fun immediately.

The final factor that you ought to consider when purchasing a gaming earphones may be the warranty. As your earphones will likely be utilized constantly, understanding that the maker provides service and parts warranty can help you save greatly just in case of defects.

You will find a number of other points to consider when purchasing gaming earphones. You may also check up on the colours and style which ones is best.