| The Latest from Big Bruin |
Novostella BLink BT Mesh Smart LED Flood Light 4-Pack :: Posted on 12.22.21
 | Novostella recently asked me to check out their BLink series, and yes, the B and the L are both capitalized on purpose. These lights are connected via Bluetooth, and while you could connect direct to your phone or other Bluetooth enabled device, the 4-pack of bulbs included a Bluetooth hub which puts them all on your network via WiFi, and then makes the bulbs all available to your Smart Life app, Google Home, or Amazon Alexa. |
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EwinRacing E-WIN 2.0 Edition RGB Gaming Desk :: Posted on 10.28.21
 | The EwinRacing E-WIN 2.0 Edition RGB Gaming Desk looks awesome with the LEDs in full effect, and would make for a great gaming desk. My teenage son loves it, and it does look great with his gaming rig installed on it. It can still function as a more than adequate work space for homework, and with a 24" monitor in place for his gaming rig, there is still space for his Chromebook, with room to spare for other work. |
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Novostella 20W RGBCW Smart LED Flood Light :: Posted on 02.25.21
 | The Novostella 20W RGBCW smart LED flood lights are a big hit at my house, as I like being able to program (white) lights to come on at night, and the kids like turning it into a rainbow swirled party simply by speaking to Google. The lights are vibrant and very bright and having the Smart Life app sync their controls is working very well. It has been a very cold and snowy winter so far, and these lights add for an extra touch of fun in the snow as we snow tube into the night. |
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ZOOZ ZSE29 Z-Wave Plus S2 Outdoor Motion Sensor :: Posted on 02.24.21
 | The ZOOZ ZSE29 is an interesting product. As a motion sensor and a SmartThings device it definitely works very well, but determining how appropriate it is to use this outdoors will have to be seen after some time installed exposed to the elements. My gut tells me that the physical design and the stipulations that this outdoor rated device has to avoid heat, sunlight, humidity, and wetness may lead to a fairly short usable life. |
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Novostella A19 13W RGBCW Smart Light Bulb :: Posted on 02.01.21
 | We are going to look at a pair of Novostella A19 13W RGBCW smart light bulbs, that currently sell at Amazon.com for $25.99 (US) each. Those that have shopped around for smart bulbs before may be thinking that is pricey for a smart bulb, but one thing that immediately distinguishes these from other smart bulbs is that these are not your typical 60W equivalent bulbs, but 120W equivalents, that are rated to put out an impressive 1300 Lumens. |
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D-Link EXO AC2600 Router with EXO AC2000 Extender :: Posted on 02.10.20
 | D-Link's DIR-2660 and DAP-1820 offer a great way to start your mesh network. As with many mesh networks, this setup can be configured with a wired backhaul which would help some of the bottle neck issues I mentioned, but most people are resistant to running wires. So where this unit shines is in its scalability. You can start with just one extender or add several to cover even more area. Also a big benefit of this mesh system is having a few Ethernet ports on the router. |
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| From Around The Web |
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2 GHz Socket AM3 Processor :: Posted on 05.01.09
The 3.2GHz AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition is the companies' latest quad-core processor, and it's being released in tandem with a new memory tuning tool called 'Black Edition Memory Profiles', or B.E.M.P. for short. The Phenom II's 128-bit wide memory controller still operates at 2GHz, although it has had an important fix: DDR3 memory modules can now run at 1333MHz speeds in dual-channel mode. The Phenom II 940 could only manage 1333MHz speed in single-channel mode, as soon as both memory channels were filled the memory controller would drop down to DDR3-1066MHz memory speeds.
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Cooler Master Storm Scout Case :: Posted on 05.01.09
The CM Storm Scout is not as small as it might sound but it is much smaller than the CM Storm Sniper. The bold hard lines of the case accented with a flat black finish is just plain awesome. The Scout features a full mesh front for full air flow, and a black textured finish that is almost stealth like in appearance.
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CSX Diablo 6GB DDR3-2000 Triple Channel Memory :: Posted on 05.01.09
You may have heard of Compustocx by their more recognizable shortform name, CSX. Although CSX is a bit newer on the scene, their Diablo lineup of memory modules are well known to overclocking enthusiasts around the world. So sit back and enjoy the ride while we juice up the voltages and push these sticks to the limit.
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Thermolab Baram Heatpipe CPU Cooler :: Posted on 05.01.09
ThermoLab's Baram CPU cooler represents the company's first foray into the performance cooling arena, and they've done a good job. The fit and finish is excellent and the design is fundamentally sound. Cooling performance is also very good, until the voltage is raised anyway. Even then, it's much better than the OEM cooler but falls a bit behind most of the other coolers in the comparison.
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InWin B2 Stealth Bomber Case :: Posted on 04.30.09
Cases are a largely underrated component when it comes to building a case; after all they're only a box to fit everything inside right? Definitely not, in fact PC enclosures have a huge role to play in not only keeping the internal components safe and well-protected but also in cooling and aesthetics. Especially with a world where everything has to look perfect; today we have a case with a unique design and style based on a stealth bomber.
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AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition :: Posted on 04.30.09
Only few months after presentation of Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition and Dragon platform, AMD made its next move: transition to a new memory standard – DDR3. New standard, as it is in most cases, demands new socket. In this case pin configuration isn't too much different from the one present on AM2+ socket, but there are differences because of which it is not possible to insert old AM2 CPU into new AM3 motherboard. As you probably know, AM3 CPUs, among which is new X4 955, are AM2/AM2+ compatible so you can use them on alder motherboards that are compatible with older DDR2 memory standard. AMD this time made a smoother transition to new memory standard without danger of losing market share.
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Titan Fenrir CPU Cooler :: Posted on 04.30.09
If you're sitting on a monster CPU you know the importance of keeping it nice and cool. Most overclockers and high end users know about aftermarket CPU coolers. Unfortunately, a large percentage of end users never give it a second thought. We've seen systems come directly from major websites with the wrong CPU cooler, too small a CPU cooler and pieces of plastic stuck between the CPU and the Cooler. CPU cooling bares a little thought and scrutiny. If you're still sitting a stock CPU cooler on your CPU, perhaps you should look up the term pre-planned obsolesce.
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Super Talent Luxio 64GB Flash Drive :: Posted on 04.30.09
Super Talent has been in the computer storage industry for quite a while now, and seems to have a very good idea of what they are doing. Today, Super Talent has bestowed upon me a 64GB Luxio flash drive to review for you guys today, and I must say that I'm pretty excited to see how well this puppy performs.
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SilverStone Nitrogon NT07-775 Low Profile CPU Cooler :: Posted on 04.30.09
The low profile cooler in question I will review today is the SilverStone NT07-775. The NT is for the Nirogon series of coolers and the 775 at the end is of course for the socket it applies to. The AMD counterpart is labeled as NT07-AM2 and sports a different design entirely; this makes selection of the right version of CPU cooler very simple.
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ASUS M4A79T Deluxe Motherboard :: Posted on 04.30.09
ASUS has it tough. No question about it, everyone loves to hate the front runner. It's hard to remember when they weren't one of the top dogs, and in this business, it's as hard to stay on top as it is to get there. For the last several years, like everyone else, they've been paying the bills by selling Intel-based systems. They kept faith with the AMD crowd however, and have consistently offered a full range of products to support the underdog in the CPU race. All that is paying off, now that the new Phenom II AM3 chips have hit the street, and enthusiasts are once again buying AMD CPUs in earnest.
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