Computers, Laptops & Tablets

This used to be a no brainer:  You have a few hundred or a couple grand to spend on your next gaming PC, and you go get one, whether it’s off the shelf, or you buy pieces and build yourself.  With Steam Machines on the way, however, and the growth of that gaming medium, your choice might be a bit tougher now that you can basically stick that all in your living room while still having access to Operating Systems and the like.  Which would you go with?  Which am I going with?  I take a look at some of the consideration points after the jump.

Identify theft is a growing problem in Canada.  All thieves needs to steal your identity is one or two pieces of personal information — information that is easily taken from your garbage from old bills, receipts, invoices and other mail.   Protect your identity and make your home and office secure by shredding all your important documents,   Here’s the 911 on documents shredders.

What makes a business laptop? What a business (or a professional user) needs in a laptop is going to vary depending on who you ask and the nature of the industry they’re in, but there are some characteristics most business laptops have in common. Generally speaking, a business laptop is powerful enough to take the place of a desktop PC with a display that’s good enough to take the place of an external monitor for hours at a time. It’s able to run software such as Microsoft Office, has the storage capacity for plenty of documents, it’s durable and it has a high quality keyboard. Other factors such as a full complement of ports and connectivity options, battery life and pre-installed software like Microsoft Windows 8 Pro may also come into play. Here’s what else you need to know before deciding on a business laptop.

Summer may be around the corner, but you can’t always say the same thing about your Wi-Fi. And with the warm weather on its way, it’s time to think about getting a strong Wi-Fi signal into your backyard.

One of the cool aspects of this job is being able to try out a hotly anticipated new device before it’s officially available. What’s even cooler is when a manufacturer sends you a whole box of new gadgets to review. That was the case when I cracked open the shipment from Samsung to find the new Galaxy NotePRO 12.2, Galaxy TabPRO 8.4 and Galaxy TabPRO 10.1 tablets. You can buy all three now at Best Buy, but I had the opportunity to get to know them before they hit the shelves. While I was especially impressed by the Galaxy NotePRO 12.2 (with its massive 12.2-inch, four million pixel display), all three PRO models are likely to please Android tablet fans, and offer a solid choice for prosumers and those looking for a business-friendly option.

As good as your PC or laptop might be, you can make it even better with accessories. A wireless keyboard, a touch-enabled mouse or a set of powerful external speakers will improve your experience without having to upgrade the computer itself. And few companies can match Logitech when it comes to computer accessories —in quality, design or sheer selection of products. I recently had the opportunity to try out a trio of Logitech’s latest: the Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse, TK 820 Wireless Keyboard and Z600 Bluetooth speakers. Here’s what I thought of them.

Why would you buy a gaming laptop? If your idea of playing games on your PC is Candy Crush, then you wouldn’t. But if your idea of fun is piloting a 24-foot tall Titan or taking on a Zerg swarm and you want to do it on the go (or in the smallest space possible), then you want a gaming laptop. These mobile PCs are small enough to serve as a compact all-in-one PC gaming rig, but also offer the advantage of portability. They will dramatically outperform a typical laptop or Ultrabook when it comes to video games because they are designed with one thing in mind: speed.

Famed WWE Hall of Famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper once said “Just when you think you know the answers, I change the questions.”  Blizzard must be fans of the Hot Rod because right when Diablo III gamers were comfortable in their game, they change much of the core mechanics in the game leading up to the release of the Reaper of Souls Expansion on March 25th, and all are arguably for the better.  Click below to read about some of the many changes from Patch 2.0.1

There’s a lot to like about portable computers, but Google and its hardware partners like Samsung, Acer and HP found a way to offer a light weight, lower cost alternative to the traditional Windows laptop. Chromebooks are a hot category of portable computers that run Google’s Chrome OS instead of Windows or OSX. With Chrome’s lower hardware requirements and the ability to leverage Google’s cloud services, a Chromebook can offer a full-featured PC experience in a device that’s lighter and less expensive than traditional PCs, without the limitations of netbooks. They may not be ideal for everyone, but Chromebooks are designed to cover many scenarios and are particularly useful for students, road warriors, small business and those looking for light duty home PC.  

It’s been a very long time since there was a South Park console game.  In fact, the newest system when the last console was game was out was Sega Dreamcast, a previous object of Cartman’s affection.  Some 15 years after South Park Rally, it’s time for the cast and crew to come back a few gaming generations and 200 episodes later.  The Stick of Truth is the first game back, courtesy of Ubisoft, and is a Role Playing Game of all things.  Featuring more fart gags and more inside jokes than perhaps any other video game I’ve ever played in my life, please come check out the review for this rather unique title.