Computers, Laptops & Tablets

Alienware is a name synonymous with hardcore PC gaming. Whether you’re fighting off a Zerg swarm, adventuring your way to level 70 in Diablo 3 or freeing London of Nazi invaders in Wolfenstein: The New Order, the ultimate video game experience is on a PC and Alienware has long been a respected name among Windows gamers. And while gaming laptops offer a very good experience, to get the best, you need to go with a tower or desktop gaming PC. This is the form factor that has the space for the monster video card, the high performance CPU and all the other components that make a game look its best. Alienware has just released two new desktop gaming PCs that are available now at Best Buy: The Alienware X51-R2 and the awesome Alienware R4.

I see a lot of laptops come through my door and many of them try to impress with fancy sculpted cases and LED lighting effects. Granted, looking hot does get some points upfront, but after trying out my third Eurocom laptop in the past few years —this time the Shark 2— I’ve really come to appreciate this manufacturer’s approach. While the Shark 2 doesn’t look cheap, it is understated compared to many laptops aimed at the gaming and graphics professional crowd. It’s also a solid performer with a good display, high quality sound, a powerful Intel Haswell CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M graphics card for gaming.

I recently took the time to visit Microsoft’s first ever Surface Café on Toronto’s Queen Street West. You can read about the session I attended where DC comic book artist (and the guy who currently draws Batman) Francis Manapul showed how Microsoft’s new tablet has become an integral part of his digital workflow. But I wasn’t just at the Surface Café for demonstrations and to see how the Surface Pro 3 went over with an audience largely comprised of creative professionals. This was my chance to get my hands on a Surface Pro 3 to see if it lives up to Microsoft’s claims of being the tablet that can replace your laptop. Here’s what I thought of it.  

The Netgear Nighthawk X6 is the Wi-Fi router you stream gaming or video content, or you are competing with dozens of other devices for Wi-Fi bandwidth.

Last weekend I spent a few hours at the first-ever Microsoft Surface Café. Held at a hip pop-up venue on Toronto’s trendy Queen Street West, the tagline for the event was: “Where creativity comes together.” The workshop I attended on Saturday was headlined by Francis Manapul —the guy who’s currently drawing Batman. He was onstage drawing Batman … and the Joker … using nothing but a Surface Pro 3. If you happen to be in the Montreal area next weekend, Microsoft is opening a Surface Café in that city starting on June 26 and is currently taking applications to attend the creative seminars. If the Toronto version was any indication, there will be some fascinating sessions (along with free coffee and Surface cookies).    

Two of the factors driving the premium tablet market today are thinness and display quality. A thinner tablet not only looks sleeker, it’s lighter than others in its class making it easier to hold and to carry. Display quality is a no-brainer (who doesn’t want a better display?) but to this point, most of the competition has been in pixel count. Samsung has been a leader on both fronts but at a recent media event, the company introduced its thinnest tablet ever, the Galaxy Tab S. Besides its credentials as the sveltest tablet out there (yes, it’s even thinner than anything coming out of Cupertino), Samsung has seriously upped the visual ante by incorporating a Super AMOLED display. Pre-order yours today!  

EA Sports UFC releases for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 next week, marking their first major sports title this year.  This should be a huge year for next gen sports gamers.  NHL will make its next gen debut, NBA has been completely re-envisioned, and the PGA Tour is back, along with presentation enhancements for FIFA and a new playcalling experience with Madden.  Want to find out more about what EA is doing this year?  Read on to find out.

Oklahoma City Thunder (RIP Seattle Supersonics) superstar Kevin Durant factors heavily into NBA 2K15, and you can get some KD inspired wares, along with a nice headstart for your created superstar if you pre-order the game online now.  Want to know what they are?  Read on to find out.

Now that Microsoft is offering a version of its ubiquitous Office productivity suite for the iPad, Apple’s tablets are even closer to being a device that can be used for getting serious work done. Mouse support and multi-window functionality in a future iOS version would be nice, but with a decent Bluetooth wireless keyboard, an iPad does a pretty good job these days. I took one of the best-known iPad keyboard solutions for a test run and was impressed by just how good the experience can be. The ZAGGkeys Folio not only offers a compelling Bluetooth keyboard, but it mounts it in a clamshell enclosure that transforms the iPad into an ultra-portable laptop. How well does the ZAGGkeys Folio work? I wrote this post (over 1,000 words) using a ZAGGkeys Folio and my iPad Mini with Retina Display and it was virtually as fast as my usual PC-based writing setup.  

Mobile electronics like smartphones and tablets are great, but it doesn’t matter who makes them, they all share one weak spot: the display. That big, bright screen is prone to scratches and with touch operation, it’s a magnet for fingerprints. Annoying as they are, the smudges can at least be cleaned off, but once your display is scratched, it’s scratched. The only real option you have is to replace it —and that is an expensive proposition. The ZAGG Invisible Shield Glass is an ultrathin slab of tempered glass you apply on top of your display for complete protection against scratches and resistance to fingerprints. I tested out versions for the iPad Mini with Retina Display and iPad Air and ZAGG Invisible Shield Glass is now on my must-have list for future device purchases.