I am no gamer.
Oh, I've played computer games over the years.
I wore out the joysticks on my brother's SEGA SC-3000 playing Star Jacker.
I remember doing pretty well on a hand-held version of Donkey Kong.
I've tried (and failed) to keep various incarnations of Lara Croft alive.
I got Crash Bandicoot all the way to the lab at Cortex Industries to battle his evil creator.
Then I had kids and the real games began.
Still, it wasn't long before I was installing games for them to play instead. I'd show them what to do and very quickly, they'd show me what I was doing wrong.
Then they were installing their own games and complaining our computer was too old, the internet connection was too slow and our family was super uncool and the laughing stock of all their friends.
Star Jacker suddenly seems to be a long time ago.
But if I was a gamer, I'd need a groovy keyboard, obviously...
The Masterkeys Lite L Combo from Cooler Master was an absolute revelation to me. I literally had no idea such a thing existed. Not once, in all my years of computer use had I thought to myself, "I wish my keyboard and mouse were flashing in rainbow colours right now."
In fact, at the risk of sounding like a complete fuddy duddy, I'm not a massive fan of flashing lights, full-stop. My two biggest bugbears are bluetooth devices and charging devices. I don't know why these things always have to flash coloured lights at you to let you know they're working. You can tell if the bluetooth is connected because noises come out of the right bits. You can tell if the charger is charging because it charges. Stop with your stupid lights already.
So you might think I'd be a hard sell when it comes to an RGB keyboard and mouse combo.
Except...
I do like things to match.
If you're a regular reader of these reviews, you'll know the glennzb household recently had to upgrade its PC due to the existing one melting. Somehow this meant a mid-level gaming rig appearing in the house and being installed in Monster Number Two's bedroom. I'm not entirely sure how she negotiated this turn of events, but I think it had something to do with cashing in early birthday and Christmas presents for the next 3 years.
The point is, the new computer glows red like a malevolent super-intelligence... which I suppose it basically is.
Again, while I don't really understand why it lights up, (I know it's running, otherwise I wouldn't be able to use it to type this review) at least it has the decency to light up in the best colour possible.
Of course, there's nothing like a new piece of kit to make the old bits that plug into it look decidedly shabby, especially when one of those bits is the keyboard from the Gateway computer I used to own in 1999.
Remember when PC's were that brownish-creamish-off-white-ish non colour? Yep, that's what I'm talking about. Obviously years (decades) of use meant that keyboard was more off-white than ever. Still worked though. And once or twice a year I'd tip it upside down and shake all the food out of it. Retro.
Needless to say, Monster Number Two didn't approve. She didn't want it attached to that shiny, new black-and-red box and she certainly didn't want it in her room.
Enter the Masterkeys Lite L Combo from Cooler Master. Black is still the new black, especially when you can highlight it in the colour of your choice. Of course, most normal people would go with red but there are few weirdos out there who insist on liking other colours. They'll come round.
There are several different ways to colour up the keyboard, you can pulse on and off, flash on your key press, have the whole palette flowing across the keys or even choose different colours for different sections (eg: number pad, media controls etc) All fun stuff but as I say, pretty sure everyone usually wants red on all the time.
The accompanying mouse also lights up in various modes and both it and the keyboard connect via USB. The leads were plenty long enough for easy installation.
The Lite L keyboard is not mechanical, but that didn't bother me as I have never used a mechanical keyboard so don't know what I'm missing. Instead it appears to be somewhere in between your stock-standard membrane setup and the fancy-pancy high-end (and much more expensive) mechanical options.
Cooler Master calls this a "mem-chanical" keyboard which results in a satisfying clackety-clack sound and feel and also means it's virtually spill-proof as each key is completely self contained. Whether any of this gives the hardened gamers out there much advantage I couldn't tell you. All I know is Monster Number Two gave it the thumbs-up and she puts in a lot more cyber-hours than I do.
The Masterkeys Lite L certainly seems durable, right down to the sturdy rubberised feet that pull out underneath. You know, the ones you always snap off accidentally on cheaper keyboards? No chance of that here, these babies are rock solid.
What I would have liked is some kind of helpful setup software. There's a brief manual in the box which explains how to plug things into computers, but absolutely no guidance on how to use the function keys to select the colours and patterns of your choice. This meant I had to do what I usually do; push all the buttons at random till I got what I wanted.
I was also slightly confused by the lack of an apostrophe. Oh, the physical key is where it's supposed to be (complete with the usual upper-case quotation marks) but there's no actual apostrophe printed on it. I spent ages looking for it and felt really stupid when I just pushed the normal button and my apostrophe appeared on screen.
I mean, what's that about?
Is the Masterkeys Lite L combo something you need? Of course not. But if you want your computing experience to look as cool as it feels, this a fun PC accessory that won't break the bank.
Click here for information and pricing details on the Cooler Master Lite L Keyboard and Mouse
Times have changed.
Unless you live alone, the router your Internet Service Provider provided you with is not up to the job.
In fact, even if you live alone, do the math...
Your phone. Your laptop/iPad/tablet. Your TV. Maybe your heatpump. Your security system. Possibly even your fridge and your washing machine.
(Yes, of course there are WiFi washing machines. Don't pretend you haven't always wanted one)
Now extrapolate that over a household with four or more occupants.
Then, if any of those occupants are teenagers, multiply internet usage by a factor of 10.
Like I say, that entry-level router just ain't gonna cut it no more.
So why not choose something absolutely enormous?...
The Taipan AC3200 from D-Link is much bigger than this photo may lead you to believe.
In fact, however big you think it is right now, you're underestimating it by at least 25%. I can only assume the designers (if there were any) were inspired by the alien mother ships in Independence Day and decided to come up with something slightly bigger again.
It's not just that the Taipan is large, it's also the most impractical shape. It reminds me of when you're trying to cut pumpkin into equal sized pieces and you end up with a bit that isn't square, isn't triangular and has 17 corners. Except way bigger. And blue.
Oh, did I mention the SIX ANTENNAE? Admittedly, these are about the same length as any other WiFi antenna, but they're twice as wide. At least they sit subtly, flush with the rest of the device, right?
Nope.
Not in any way whatsoever. The antennae stick out a mile in every direction ensuring the Taipan takes up about twice as much space as it was already taking up. Which was all of it. And then some.
That being said...
Does it... you know... work?
You better believe it.
I'd done a little homework on the Taipan before I got my hands on it and was really looking forward to the prospect of 2 seperate 5Ghz SSIDs to play with, as well as the more conventional (but crowded) 2.4Ghz range. In theory, that means you essentially have the option of connecting to 3 different routers in one modem.
Once I had the Taipan all connected and powered on, I got a bit confused with the setup... until I stopped trying to interfere with the wizard and just let the modem do the work for me. That's right, it turns out D-Link knows more about setting up VDSL connections than I do. All I really had to input was my ISP username and password which was easily found on their website and the Taipan figured out the rest.
Trouble is, hardly anything I own recognised the 5Ghz SSID options. I tried to force the phones and tablets that could see the 5Ghz profiles to use them, but they promptly forgot them in preference to the standard 2Ghz option. Turned out, it didn't matter at all because once again, the more I let my devices connect automatically, the better everything worked.
The Taipan's range was noticeably better than that of my previous, boring, ISP-supplied router, easily covering my entire 3-storey house.
But what impressed me straight away (and has continued to do so) is the sheer reliability. Nothing stops to buffer anymore, not on the PC, the phones, the iPads, the laptops or the Chromecast. The Taipan decides how much bandwidth is required for which task and seems to do an amazing job of keeping everybody happy.
I can only imagine how my user experience will be enhanced if they ever get round to putting fibre down my street. (Seriously, 2018? What are you waiting for? Kanye to be president?)
The question is; is the Taipan AC3200 $500 better than your existing router? (which I'm assuming was probably free when you signed your life away to your ISP for a discount off your Sky subscription or free access to Lightbox)
Well, if the movie you're streaming ever ground to a halt just when it got to the good bit, causing you to reload it, then fast forward through it to get to where you were up to, only to overshoot the mark by 5 minutes thereby completely giving away the plot twist... then I think you'll agree, $500 is a small price to pay.
Make no mistake, the Taipan is the wackiest looking piece of tech you'll ever see. It's too wide to fit on a shelf. It's too high to fit under anything. And if you decide to hang it on the wall like a piece of modern art, good luck getting the power, modem and ethernet cables to it without creating the impression of a giant, blue robot spider sitting in the middle of an unsightly techno-web.
But man, this thing works. So just give it it's own bedroom. The guest room maybe. How often do you have visitors to stay anyway?
Click here for more information on the Taipan AC3200 from D-Link
I've been dabbling in the area of mini or "small-form-factor" PC's for a little while now (and not just since my old desktop melted on me a few weeks back)
We seem to be getting closer and closer to a time when, due mostly to the increasing acceptance of cloud storage, the box we use to access our cyber lives is becoming less of a focus and maybe even less important.
As long as we can upload, download and stream at a timely pace, considerations like storage space and graphics capability have become slightly niche.
So when Intel offers us their NUC (Next Unit of Computing) in a box claiming it to be a "complete mini PC," it's probably worth a test drive.
The NUCFPGYH is not a very catchy name but it is tiny - about the size of a can of spam and significantly lighter.
There's nothing flashy about this at all. In fact, it's probably the most inconspicuous computer I've ever seen; it even includes a bracket that allows you to screw it to the back of your TV or monitor so you can't even see it.
In spite of that, I was surprised to discover how many ports and slots there are available to plug things into this thing. Unlike some other similar devices, there is still a VGA plug if your monitor is not HDMI capable. You can choose to connect via ethernet or wifi. There are audio options too; headphone jacks, Toslink jack or of course you can go HDMI for full 7.1 effect. There are even 4 (count 'em FOUR) USB 3.0 ports.
So many options. This seems to be what Intel is trying to achieve with this NUC line, something you can use the way you want. Of course, a lot of that depends on what's under the hood.
It's all about the processor really and Intel's quad-core Pentium N3700 is pretty grunty given what my performance expectations were. Multi-tasking doesn't seem to be an issue and I was actually really impressed with what Intel has squeezed out of an integrated graphics module. Video playback is flawless and I was even able to participate in a first-person shooter melee with no noticeable lag (other than my own useless reaction time, obviously) Admittedly I kept the display settings for the game on low and it took a while to load, but I still had fun.
The real limitation with the NUCFPGYH is storage. Now I know at the start of this review I claimed that storage is becoming less of an issue, but there's a happy medium Intel has missed here. There's only 32GB of on-board memory pre-installed. These days that's low even for a smart phone, let alone something that claims to be a "mini PC."
Because the NUCFPGYH runs the full 64bit version of Windows 10, almost half that storage space is eaten up in system files alone. This meant updating Win10 to it's latest version was virtually impossible, as the update preserves the original files in case you decide to revert back.
Of course, a lack of physical memory also leads to other performance issues as there's less space to cache running operations and services.
The solution?
Review Number 2: The newest SSD from Crucial, the MX300.
Thanks to this latest innovation from Crucial, I suddenly had 750GB of extra storage to play with, more than enough to help with my updates and to give me somewhere to store first-person shooter games to.
You see, the NUCFPGYH comes with a mount and a connector so you can install a 2.5inch drive like the MX300. Not what you want to hear if you are too scared to unscrew the cover from a computer, but music to the ears of an upgrade addict like me.
The bad news is, a drive as cutting edge, as quiet and as fast as the Crucial MX300 isn't cheap. In fact, by adding it to the NUCFPGYH I turned a sub-$500 PC into over $800 worth of kit. But man does it fly now. (I was going to say it purrs, but the SSD runs pretty much silently so there's almost no noise at all.)
Of course, you can always save some coin by going old school and there are perfectly adequate 2.5inch hard drives out there for under $100 that will do the job. Let's not forget the SDXC slot too, although obviously the transfer speeds to a memory card won't stack up to the impressive rates offered by the Crucial SSD. The MX300's spec sheet boasts a life-span of 1.5 million hours, so that should give me plenty of time to upskill on my first-person shooter techniques.
In the end, Intel's NUCFPGYH really does live up to it's claims of being a genuine home PC. It's fast, it's powerful and the graphics are better than expected. You will definitely need to add in some extra storage though and Crucial's MX300 SSD will turn Intel's useful little box into a rocket ship.
Click here for more information on the Intel NUCFPGYH mini PC
Click here for more information on the Crucial MX300 SSD
