| The Latest from Big Bruin |
Airthings Wave Smart Radon Detector :: Posted On April 23, 2019
 | There are significant health risks from radon and much of the country lives in areas that are predicted to have high indoor levels. But what can you do? Well you could pay around $25 bucks and get a single test done or you could go out and spend $150 on an Airthings Wave Smart Radon Detector which promises to track your radon exposure over the long run. So does this device justify the extra $125? |
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ZOOZ Zen26 Z-Wave Plus S2 Simple 3-Way and 4-Way Switch :: Posted On March 28, 2019
 | ZOOZ is a brand of smart home devices that all use the Z-Wave protocol to communicate with your home automation hub, in my case Samsung SmartThings. We have covered a handful of their items in recent reviews at Bigbruin.com, including their ZSE01 indoor siren and their ZSE18 motion sensor. This time around I am checking out their Zen26 Z-Wave Plus S2 smart switch which is promoted as offering a simple solution to making 3-way and 4-way circuits smart. |
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Verizon GizmoWatch Kids Smart Watch Phone :: Posted On March 14, 2019
 | Parents are always trying to figure out a good balance between watching over their kids and giving them space to grow. Many opt to get their kids a cell phone, but there are those like myself that are trying to resist that temptation. We have looked at a few options recently, like the TickTalk 3 and the Republic Wireless Relay, and now we are going to take a closer look at Verizon's option; the GizmoWatch. |
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TickTalk 3 Kids Smart Watch Phone :: Posted On March 13, 2019
 | TickTalk was founded in California back in 2014 with engineers from Samsung and Apple that decided to get together to use their experience in creating wearables to make a smart watch for kids. The base watch sells for $170 and additional bands are $15 each. Besides being able to make calls on the watch, you can also send and receive text messages, it has a built in calculator, it can take pictures, has GPS for tracking, and is waterproof to IP67 standards. |
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Republic Wireless Relay Screen Free Kid's Phone :: Posted On March 12, 2019
 | The team that built Relay is the team behind Republic Wireless - a wireless company launched in 2011 that now competes with the nation's largest carriers and is recognized as a top carrier by Consumer Reports. The Relay is a very simple device that is about 2.75" square and a little more than a half inch thick. It runs on 4G networks, has built-in WiFi (b/g/n), GPS location tracking, NFC for contact sharing, a headphone jack, a front facing speaker, and dual mics. |
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Difference Between Zigbee and Z-Wave :: Posted On February 03, 2019
 | With wireless home security systems, you'll be able to come across the technologies or home automation standards known as Z-Wave and Zigbee. Just what are Z-Wave and Zigbee and how are they similar and different from one another? Both Z-Wave and Zibgee are known as mesh networks which mean that every node integrated in that system will act as a wireless source of data and as a repeater as well. |
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| From Around The Web |
SteelSeries Stratus Duo Gamepad
Thanks to the dual-interface and internal rechargeable battery, you can go ahead and game in no time! We have tried quite a bit of games with it, including Dead or Alive 6 and Mortal Kombat XL. The controller is very responsive and feels comfortable thanks to its ergonomic shape; while we are not fans of playing games on such small screens like smartphones do have, we have paired the controller on our Android-based 4K Sony TV and ran games via Steam Link. Despite the Bluetooth connection, the extra lag this type of connection does introduce was barely noticeable and we were happy to game on a larger screen instead of staying in front of our desk. madshrimps.be
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Acer Predator XB273K 144Hz 4K IPS Monitor
The arrival of the all-singing, all-dancing Acer X27 came with lots of fanfare thanks to its inclusion of both a 144Hz 4K panel and a clever backlighting system that allowed it to produce truly stunning HDR pictures. The problem? Its astronomical price, around £1800. Enter the XB273K, which retains the high-resolution gaming delights of 4K at 144Hz but thanks to its use of a standard fixed backlight it demands a much more sensible price, relatively speaking. At £1200, it's still a very expensive monitor so will need to seriously impress to justify a recommendation. kitguru.net
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SilverStone LSB02 Multifunction Addressable RGB Control Box
The SilverStone LSB02 seems like a swiss army knife when it comes to a multifunction control box and covers all of the major features you would want. What is really great is that you can use the LSB02 in systems with and without existing RGB and can expect to find a lighting mode that compliments the system or completely replaces it. hardwareasylum.com
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WD Black SN750 1TB Solid State Drive
Western Digital recently has announced a new high performance NVMe drive in their WD Black SN750. This will be their third generation NVMe drive. The first two were just called "WD Black", which was confusing to some, especially when both products were available at retailers at different prices. So WD has added the "SN750" to this generation. What else is new? Well not all that much, WD is still using the same in-house controller and 64L 3D NAND, but they have refined the firmware. thinkcomputers.org
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HyperX Alloy Elite RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Over the last few years, HyperX has really stepped up their accessory game. Their first keyboard, the Alloy FPS, was pretty impressive although it did have a couple of shortcomings that while didn't really affect the performance of the keyboard, did seem a little short sighted. modders-inc.com
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ASUS TUF Gaming H5 Wired 7.1 Headset
In this review we take a look at one of the peripherals from ASUS' TUF lineup. The TUF name originally appeared on a range of motherboards, and now with the start of the TUF Gaming Alliance there has been a shift to create an entire range of more affordable TUF components. The H5 is a multi-platform wired headset with 7.1 virtual surround sound, a dual microphone setup and a stainless steel headband design. kitguru.net
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Razer Kraken Competitive Gaming Headset
For testing the product, we have used our Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 internal soundcard; we have run multiple games such as Wolfenstein: The New Order, Guild Wars 2, Tera and GRIP Combat Racing. Thanks to the large, custom 50mm drivers we could hear explosions, gun shots and other effects in very much detail, while the character voices did remain clear at all times. The headset is also good for listening to your favorite music tracks while commuting to work and you will surely attract a lot of attention thanks to the catchy color choices. madshrimps.be
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Raijintek Ophion Evo Case
A majority of the builds that I have at this point are SFF (Small Form Factor) builds but typically going SFF requires compromises. If you want something extremely fast, you are going to deal with heat. The other option is to go with one of the community made cases which are more compact and have better cooling without having to go with an ITX length video card. But they are expensive. So I was excited to see that Raijintek had a new design with a Dan Case like design with a full-length GPU on one side and the motherboard on the other. Their Ophion is also much cheaper as well and available in two size options. I was most excited for the Ophion Evo which is a little taller and adds support for a 240mm radiator. I've been using the Ophion Evo for a while now, you might have even seen it in our Asus Ryuo review, and today I am finally going to give the rundown on my experience with the case. lanoc.org
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ApexGaming Elite ZT Motorized Desk Riser
Gaming desks may be the number one choice for casual users and gamers all over the world but motorized "standing" desks (and desk risers) are clearly far more popular among professionals basically because they allow for different working positions (thus keeping your body active at all times). Granted motorized height adjustable desks are still very new in the market (not to mention that there aren't that many models available to begin with) so there's quite a bit of room for improvement but for people who want the extra "workout" while at home or work these can actually help (according to several studies standing desks can help people burn far more calories than they would normally and can also boost productivity). nikktech.com
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CORSAIR Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock
Thanks to the huge bandwidth offered by the Thunderbolt 3 interface, the Elgato Pro Dock from CORSAIR does allow using multiple devices at once, while having it connected to your Macbook Pro or an ultrabook that supports this type of bus. Latest generation ports are offered in order to provide great transfer speeds and if our computer needs up to 85W of power, the dock can charge it as well. A great feature is the inclusion of UHS-II card readers, supporting the high-performance microSDXC offerings, for transferring 4K content to your drives for processing in no time! madshrimps.be
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