Crucial 256GB m4 mSATA CT256M4SSD3 - Review

Overview
The advent of Solid State Drives is a revolution in data storage technology. The revolutionary mSATA (mini-SATA) design was first introduced by Samsung and was later accepted as a standard that served as a new category of SATA storage devices. Measuring merely 1.2" X 2" in size, the 256GB Crucial m4 mSATA CT256M4SSD3 comes both with capacity and performance packed together. Currently, the mSATA SSDs are available in the market mainly for the Ultrabooks and other high-end gaming laptops. The Crucial m4 256GB mSATA SSD helps speed up the booting process dramatically, besides being added up as an additional storage capacity.

Performance
The Crucial m4 mSATA CT256M4SSD3 comes with the Marvell 9174 controller, 4 NAND Flash chips and a Cache which deliver indisputable performance. The performance of Crucial m4 mSATA is superior than it's competitors at a much lower price. The results emphasized the speed and efficiency of reading and writing data, copying the data from one location to another on the SSD. It can deliver a sequential read up to 500 Mb/s and sequential write up to 260 Mb/s. Installing the mSATA SSD has significantly improved the long-term performance of the Ultrabook.

Flexibility
Unlike the traditional IDE or SATA drives, the Crucial M4 SSDs tiny form factor with the 7 pin connector helps you mount the drive quickly into the mini-SATA socket provided on the motherboard additionally helping in saving considerable amount space. The Crucial's 256GB mSATA SSD is an excellent choice for people who wish to add extra storage while choosing value and fair price. The Crucial m4 SSDs have always been trusted for their sturdy design and for the performance, and have constantly lived up to their name in the digital market.

Reliability
The Crucial m4, being a division of the famed Micron, a chip manufacturing company promises reliability even at a higher and faster transfer rates. The Crucial M4 mSATA CT256M4SSD3 comes with a mini-PCIe Edge connector and complies with the JEDEC MO-300A standards. Most SSD manufacturers use the Marvell host controller due to its cost effective solutions for connecting Serial ATA (SATA) peripherals to a PCI Express interface. This SSD does not differentiate between compressed and uncompressed files, due to which the transfer rates are much higher. It is specially designed to work with the Intel® Smart Response Technology and NVELO Dataplex™ caching software to work both as a cache and an additional storage chip.

Our opinion
Micron's proprietary firmware and fast synchronous MLC NAND have made the Crucial m4 SSD stay on top of the market consistently. The Crucial m4 mSATA CT256M4SSD3 is a mix of good performance, high capacity 6gb/s interface, speedy, relatively low price compared to its competitors and a 3 year warranty. Its minuscule form factors along with the faster read and write speeds, robust performance make it a  truly unique component.  If you are looking for boosting the capacity of your Ultrabook, then the CT256M4SSD3 is the best option. It is available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities. 

Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2013 - Review

Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2013
When it comes to accounting software, QuickBooks is the name. The Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2013 can easily organize your books and free up your time to do other things. The latest version of QuickBooks Pro boasts a new interface and functionality such as Lead Center and other trivia. No enormous change has been made to improve the functionality of the software, but a lot has been changed regarding the interface. The aim was to simplify the interface, making it accessible in as simpler way as possible. The Quickbook Pro version manages upto 14,500 items and 3 concurrent users, which suffices small businesses.

The New UI Interface
When one looks at the QuickBooks interface, one could clearly see that not much has changed except for a few changes here and there over the years. Apart from the screen layout in the 2013 version, one can clearly see that the dominating colors are Greys and blues, with an extra color added in here and there. For the inquisitive, a What's New option has been added in the Help Menu

In the 2013 release, however, a catchy modern white background with starkly contrasting dark panels on the left have been organized. This new layout and color scheme emphasizes more on the items, the processes and how they are tied up together. The use of color contrast will certainly help users focus on the task they need to do. Darker colors create a strong hierarchy of zones to aid with workflow. The new interface is more spacious, and the entire accounting package shares the same look and feel. QuickBooks Pro 2013 let the core workflows remain the same, while giving a new look to the interface, which does not leave the existing users confused and delving for the tools they need.

New Functionality
From the functional point of view, no major change has been done except for a few which includes the Lead Center. The Lead Center has been newly added in the new QuickBooks Pro 2013 version. You can use the Lead Center to track data about your sales prospects in one place within QuickBooks. The Lead Center itself has a bulk of intricate functionality, such as, adding a lead, importing leads, sorting and search leads, to improve the business strategies. The functionality of the Lead Center extends further by adding a to-do task for individual leads, edit lead contacts and converting a lead to a customer.

Intuit has released 3 desktop versions of the new QuickBooks Pro 2013. Functionality in the Premier Accountants Edition and the Enterprise Editions are more compared to the starter edition. The functionality in the Accountant and the Enterprise edition focus on the statement writing, file managing and writing off invoices. Inventory Centre, Automatic POs and Default Classes have been added in the Enterprise Edition. The QuickBooks Pro, single user is priced at $249.99. The QuickBooks Accountant is priced at $499.95 and the Enterprise Edition is available for $2950.00 for a 5 user license.

Samsung NP700Z5C-S04CA i7-3630QM - Review

Overview
The Samsung NP700Z5C-S04CA armed with the 2.2GHz quad-core i7-3630QM processor, is a thin, compact, yet sturdy laptop loaded with plenty of features. It's sleek 23.9mm (0.94”) body, weighing merely 2.4kg (5.29lbs) make it an portable, yet sturdy laptop in its class. The brushed aluminium looks adds to its style and elegance. A well designed backlit keyboard and the clickable trackpad is what makes the experience even more comfortable. It comes with a suitable data storage combo of a 1TB SATA HDD and a 8GB NAND flash SSD. The idea behind the SATA and SSD combo was to increase the speed by which the applications can be accessed, while adding up as an extra storage.

Tech specs
The Samsung NP700Z5C-S04CA is equipped with the ExpressCache® technology which helps speed up the laptop, boot up quickly, and improve application performance. The Intel® Core™ i7 processor flawlessly meets the multitasking demands. The NVIDIA® GeForce® graphics card renders stunning visuals. Viewing experience at 1600 x 900 resolution is certainly impressive with the vivid SuperBright LED AR(Anti-Reflective) screen. Its Anti-Reflective feature lets you work in brighter lights with less  The slot-loading drive on the right ensures smooth disc insertion totally cutting the clatter and noise of the push-button tray loads.

Graphics and display
The Samsung NP700Z5C-S04CAN impresses not only the working professionals, but also the gaming enthusiasts. Armed with the NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M Graphics with 1GB GDDR5 Graphic Memory (Optimus™) it's performance in rendering fine graphics is doubtless. A range of display options can be accessed via the Easy Settings, including picture profiles. The auto-mode feature changes the display profile to the most suitable one, depending on the video playback. However, the viewing angles are a downer and the color display a little low.

Connectivity
Connectivity is neatly arranged in a row of DC-In, a HDMI port, the Ethernet LAN port, 2 USB 3.0 ports, a micro VGA port and a Headphone/Mic-In combo. On the right sits the slot-load Optical Drive and a USB 2.0 port. Worth nothing is that the designers introduced a drop-down Ethernet port, which goes along with the sleek design. The MMC card slot has been embedded near the front left edge. The Samsung NP700Z5C-S04CA has an impressive battery life. The BatteryLife Plus feature ensures that the battery runs 5 times longer than the conventional batteries. It can run upto a maximum of 8 hours at a stretch streaming videos while intermittent multitasking.

Sound
Audio fidelity has not been neglected on the 7 series. It is equipped with 2 Stereo Speakers and a Sub-woofer of 5W. SoundAlive™ boosts the audio experience by automatically adjusting the sound quality. The 1.3 megapixel HD Webcam embedded in the bezel delivers acceptably good video quality.

Opinion
The Samsung NP700Z5C-S04CA is an impressive laptop with combination of aesthetics and powerful innovative technology. With a notable 1600 x 900 display, a pro-gaming graphics card accelerator, the ExpressCache® and the assembly of connectivity, it is fairly priced at $1279.00. It is certainly a deal worth making.

Western Digital WD TV Play

The Digital era has moved on from playing audio and video CDs in a player to streaming music and videos online. The mantra of the new digital age is Streaming. While the market was quickly catching up with the idea of streaming, Western Digital made it's foray into launching the Digital Streaming 'entertainment box.' The WD TV Play is a variant of the WD TV Live and the WD TV Live Hub. Although the WD TV PLay comes with a plethora of entertainment services, it slightly differs in the features from it's other variants.

From the perspective of design, the WD TV PLay is a tiny and simple device. It has a  single USB port on the right. At the rear end is the power, audio/video composite, HDMI output, Ethernet LAN connectivity port, Optical Audio Output and built-in WiFi. This device has the capability of handling local as well as the network storage with fidelity. Video files which are larger in size, such as a 20GB MKV are accessed faster over the network with great efficacy and was loaded in less than 3 seconds.

The WD TV Play delivers an indubitable performance outsmarting some of it's competitors and guarantees a quality playback. The WD TV Play offers a new improved user interface and a greater selection of content than it's earlier versions. Besides the popular YouTube and SlingPlayer. It is loaded with streaming apps, including Netflix, Vudu, Hulu Plus, and Spotify. Enjoy your media library, favorite videos, photos, and favorite songs on the HDTV and sound system. Relax and enjoy the superfine picture quality of Full-HD 1080p. Stream popular movies, view the most popular videos on the internet, watch favorite TV shows, stay connected via the Facebook app.

One Touch Access compact Remote accompanies the WD TV Play with dedicated buttons for NetFlix and Hulu PLus. As an alternative, if you do not wish to use the remote, you can access the applications via your Smartphone's mobile interface or even an iPAD. While the device's remote provides only a few input options, the task of typing in a search box in the TV can be done via your Smartphone. The Touch response of the WD TV PLay interface is excellent.

Although it is an elegant device packed with features, the WD TV PLay lacks few features. There is no Amazon Video On Demand and no support of the DTS decoding. Also, it does not support the DivX, MPEG2 file formats and does not recognize and playback from DVD's Video_Ts folders. Adding to the downside is that the new applications can only be installed by Firmware updates.

Even though the WD TV PLay comes with a few negligible downsides, it leaves its competitors far behind, when it comes to price. It is available in the market with a price tag of $69.99. We personally recommend the combination of a HDTV and the WD TV PLay to watch your favorite music videos and movies, which definitely takes entertainment to the next level.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WINDFORCE 3X GV-N770OC-4GD

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WINDFORCE 3X GV-N770OC-4GD: Under the hood

The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WINDFORCE 3X GV-N770OC-4GD graphics accelerator card is a perfect blend of the latest

hardware and software technology available for an extreme gamer. The NVIDIA Kepler GPU at the core and the GPU Boost 2.0

technology in the GV-N770OC-4GD enhances the graphics rendering by increasing the frame rates, taking the performance to

its maximum. The GPU Base Clocking Rate is 1137MHz and the Boost Clocking Rate is 1189 MHz, which significantly improves

the performance. Equipped with NVIDIA PhysX, images and videos are rendered with extreme levels of real-world life-like

details.

The Gigabyte OC GURU II, a monitoring software, is a promising enhancement offering a simpler user interface. The software

helps in managing the GPU and the memory clock, the fan speed, GPU voltage, Memory voltage, On Screen Display and update

the necessary driver and the BIOS if needed.

Thermal Cooling Enhancements
Greater clock speeds and fan speeds means greater heat generation. The specially designed WINDFORCE 3X 2-SLOT 450W Cooling

System is an assembly of 3 patented WINDFORCE silent cool fans fitted in a metal cover. Its unique 'Triangle Cool'

technology and the intricate design helps suppress heat, thus increasing performance. The heat dissipation system uses

three ultra quiet PWM fans and only 2-slot height heatsink. Two 8mm and four 6mm copper heat pipes and a high-performance

RAM heatsink make the integral part of the unique cooling system. The innovative thermal design guarantees heat

dissipation capability to over 450watt.

Memory Management
Higher clock speeds and increased frame rates/sec place demand higher memory consumption. The higher the memory, the

greater the performance. The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WINDFORCE 3X GV-N770OC-4GD handles this by its robust and reliable

memory management system. Embedded with the GDDR5 4B high-performance dynamic RAM, the GDDR5 offers data transfer rate

upto 4 times faster than it's predecessor GDDR4.

Connectivity and Display
The GV-N770OC-4GD features the DVI-I and the DVI-D connector ports, 1 HDMI port to connect to the TV and a DisplayPort.

The DVI-I supports both the analog and digital display, while the DVI-D supports only the digital display. The GV-N770OC-

4GD supports 3-way SLI allowing a user to use 4 graphics cards in parallel, primarily for the graphics rendering. The 3-

way SLI follows a distributed rendering task among the cards alternately, thus delivering superfine image quality. A point

worth noting while scaling the GeForce GTX 770 SLI is that the configuration of the GPUs have to match. For example, if

you already have a GV-N770OC-4GD plugged in and you wish to add another graphics card, then it has to be a GV-N770OC-4GD

Conclusion
To summarize, the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WINDFORCE 3X GV-N770OC-4GD with the blend of NVIDIA Kepler GPU, GPU Boost 2.0,

the SLI and the PhysX enabled, makes it a stand out in the gaming industry and is a recommended piece of hardware for all

the die-hard gamers. It is priced at $459.99 plus shipping. The accessories shipped with the GV-N770OC-4GD are two power

cables, one 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe and a dual power 4-pin Molex power cable. The setup guide and the driver CD are also

provided. Happy gaming!