Google Home Vs Amazon Echo: Which Smart Speaker Is Best For You?

Amazon and Google are massive tech giants, for vastly different reasons. Google is the leading search engine provider, a smartphone platform juggernaut, and huge advertising machine, while Amazon is the largest e-tailer in the world and a cloud services powerhouse, though Google is coming up strong. Though they are different animals, these two companies find themselves locked in heated battle with their respective Google Home and Amazon Echo devices; a battle for AI dominance that could determine who will ultimately control a good chunk of the Smart Home market. The Smart Home market has massive...

EVGA Z10 Mechanical Keyboard Review: A Unique, Full-Featured Gaming Deck

by Chris Ledenican - Thu, Apr 05, 2018

EVGA is best known for its graphics cards, and for good reason. EVGA is the number one NVIDIA authorized board partner in the U.S. and they have been for a long time. Like many brands in the PC enthusiast space, however, EVGA has started to branch out beyond just graphics cards and today they have a wide range of items in their product stack, ranging from motherboards and notebooks to peripherals and power supplies. Despite being in the peripherals game for a relatively short while, however, EVGA already has five gaming mice in the market, and it just introduced its first mechanical keyboard, the...

How To Build A Commodore 64 With Raspberry Pi Zero For Under $50

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Mar 20, 2018

The Commodore 64 holds a Guinness World record as the highest-selling single computer model of all time. After its initial release in August 1982, the C64 went on to sell millions of units – outselling all other popular 8-bit machines at the time, including the Apple II. For many long-time technology geeks, including me, the Commodore 64 was the first personal computer they ever owned. So, it’s no surprise that all these years later, the machine still hold a special place in our hearts. It is with that in mind, along with knowing how popular our Building An Amiga Emulator article was,...

5-Way Mechanical Keyboard Roundup: Top Decks For Gamers And Enthusiasts

by Chris Ledenican - Tue, Feb 20, 2018

Today's system builders have more choices than ever before, beyond just internal hardware component selection. To see just how far things have come, you need look no further than the PC chassis market. There are so many options to chose from that, as a consumer, you can be selective about virtually any aspect of the design, from the type of RGB fans it comes with, to the implementation of tempered glass panels. This wasn't always the case in other segments, like the peripherals market for example, but over the last few years many popular brands have been leading the way and now peripherals, such...

Corsair AIO Liquid Cooler Round-Up: Ryzen Overclocking Explored

by Chris Goetting - Wed, Feb 07, 2018

We have been experimenting with AMD’s Ryzen 5 processors here at HotHardware and while they have already proven to be a great value, we wanted to explore some different mainstream cooling options to see what kind of additional goodness we could extract from the processors. All-in-one liquid coolers are not quite as nice looking or as potentially high-performance as a custom built system that can employ hard line tubing and multi-waterblock arrangements, but they are still a step up from many air coolers and don’t require the same hefty investment. This makes all-in-one liquid coolers...

Logitech MX Ergo Wireless Trackball Review: Untethered, Precision Mousing

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Oct 31, 2017

Trackballs were all the rage a couple of decades back, when mice weren’t nearly as accurate, maintenance-free, or ergonomic as today’s offerings. Logitech was a leader in the space back then, and had a handful of popular trackball designs in its line-up, including – my favorite -- the Trackman Marble, but over time their popularity waned and mice got infinitely better. Although trackballs never really went away completely, Logitech made some noise recently with the introduction of the MX Ergo. The new Logitech MX Ergo is a modern trackball with increased accuracy, a comfortable design, and lag-free...

Classic Amiga Gets Modernized With Custom Amy-ITX Motherboard Project

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Oct 17, 2017

For long-time enthusiasts that were around during the ascent of personal computers, the Commodore Amiga remains one of the most beloved systems of all time. When it was originally released back in the mid-80’s, the Amiga could do things that no other consumer-class computer could – its graphics, sound, and multi-tasking capabilities were simply unmatched at the time. That initial sense of amazement at the Amiga’s unique capabilities is one of the reasons why the platform continues to have rabid fans some 30+ years later and why a small group of skilled enthusiasts have designed and manufactured...

Autonomous Smart Desk 2 Review: A Premium, Programmable Sit-Stand Wonder

by Dave Altavilla - Fri, Aug 04, 2017

Adjustable sit-stand desks are all the rage these days, after some smart person in the healthcare field put two and two together to figure out that planting your backside in an office chair all day long is really not good for you, and in more ways than one. Adjustable height desks come generally in two variants, stand-alone models like the Autonomous Smart Desk 2 you see above and desktop risers that essentially convert a standard desk to sit-stand positioning capability. Pricing for the various model types out there range from the cheesy $149 versions, to north of $500 or so for premium, motorized...

Build A Killer Amiga Emulator For Under $100 With The Raspberry Pi 3

by Marco Chiappetta - Fri, Jul 14, 2017

Dave Haynie, one of the chief engineers that worked on the Amiga back in its heyday, put it best when he said, “Amiga users make Macintosh users look like PC users”, in the Viva Amiga documentary that was released early this year. Those of us that were around when the Amiga initially debuted knew Commodore had something special on its hands. At the time of its launch, the Amiga was the most advanced personal computer money could buy – bar none. It offered multimedia features that were unmatched for many years, it was affordably priced (relatively speaking), and was the first personal computer with...

Hykso Punch Trackers Review: Boxing Meets Wearable Technology

by Marco Chiappetta - Thu, Apr 06, 2017

Last year, we took a look at an early version of Hykso’s Punch Trackers. Just in case you missed our initial coverage, Hykso’s wearable devices are meant to be worn under the wraps or wrist tape of boxers, martial artists, or anyone else that trains in combat sports – whether professionally or for fitness – and are designed to track a variety of punch types. On some levels, you can think of Hykso’s Punch Trackers like a "FitBit for combat sports," but the data provided by the devices and their associated mobile app is laser-focused and specialized. The early version of the trackers we looked at...

Netgear Nighthawk X10 Wireless AD7200 Router Review [Updated]

by Josh Norem - Fri, Feb 10, 2017

Updated: 2/10/2017 -  Since we initially launched this article, Netgear assisted with resolving a technical issue we were experiencing with 802.11ad connectivity and performance with the Nighthawk X10 router we had in for testing. As such, we have updated this review with both fresh 60GHz 802.11ad performance data, and we've upgraded our rating to HotHardware Recommended in the conclusion as well. We’ve reviewed all kinds of 802.11 routers here at Hothardware, including audacious tri-band routers that look like spaceships, and more pedestrian dual-band routers too. The recently released Netgear...

The Best Of CES 2017

by Dave Altavilla, Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Jan 10, 2017

The annual Consumer Electronics Show – CES – is typically chock full of bleeding-edge technology. Numerous companies take advantage of CES as the backdrop to launch or announce new products, and this year's CES 2017 was no exception. But for every killer piece of technology shown off at CES, there are a dozens of chintzy unmentionables that fill the millions of square feet that comprise the show's multiple venues. The Las Vegas Convention center and virtually all of the surrounding upscale hotels and resorts are packed to gills with CES-related tech products every year. It can be tough...

Streacom BC1 Open Benchtable Review: Open-Source Open-Air PC Building Done Right

by Chris Goetting - Thu, Dec 08, 2016

Overclockers and frequent PC builders alike can appreciate the advantages of having an open air bench or rack for testing. These make component swapping a breeze for comparisons and provide a flexible platform for checking a build before installing it inside a tight case. Few things are more frustrating than learning your motherboard is dead on arrival after you finished meticulously routing every last cable.As nice as open air cases and test benches are, however, they have largely come with their own share of hassles. Many test benches walk a spectrum between structural rigidity and layout flexibility....

Das Keyboard Prime 13 Review: A Minimalistic Mechanical Plank

by Paul Lilly - Wed, Sep 07, 2016

Does the name Daniel Guermeur mean anything to you? It should. He's the founder and CEO of Das Keyboard, previously known as Metadot, and he's part of the reason why the peripheral market is now flush with mechanical keyboards. It started in 2005 when, on a mission to become a faster and more accurate typist, he created a completely blank keyboard. His idea worked, and it gave rise to the Das Keyboard, the first mass produced keyboard for the "uber geek." A year later, Metadot came out with its second model, the Das Keyboard II (DK2), with mechanical key switches. It's hard to believe now, but...

Intel Unveils Project Alloy Merged Reality Headset And Partnership With Microsoft For Windows Holographic Shell

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Aug 16, 2016

After a brief musical number featuring virtual instruments powered by Intel Curie and RealSense technologies, Intel CEO Bryan Krzanich took to the stage at the Moscone Center in San Francisco to kick off this year’s Intel Developers Forum. His opening keynote revolved around four themes: Redefining The Computing Experience, Building A World Of Virtual Intelligence, A Cloud Designed For Innovation, and Empowering The Next-Generation Of Innovators. To solidify those themes and demonstrate Intel’s commitment to advancing the technologies necessary to enable them, Kyrzanich unveiled a number of new...

Hykso Boxing Sensors Review: Wearable Technology And Fitness Collide

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Mar 22, 2016

Update: We have reviewed the final, shipping version of Hykso's Punch Trackers.  You can see the newer, shipping version here.We promise, this is going to be a review of some upcoming wearable technology from Hykso, designed specifically for punch tracking, but before we dig into the product a bit of backstory is in order. There are reasons why this particular product is so interesting to us, and we want to lay some groundwork to help you all better understand where we're coming from... Hykso Punch Tracking Sensors   The fact that I’ve been working at HotHardware for close to two decades...

Das Division Zero X40 Pro Gaming Mechanical Keyboard Review

by Paul Lilly - Tue, Mar 15, 2016

Mechanical keyboards are commonplace now, but that wasn't always the case. For many years, squishy membrane and dome-switch keyboards dominated the landscape in part because they're cheap to produce, and also because typists who've never used anything else didn't really know what they were missing. Imagine trying to describe the taste of ice cream to someone who's only eaten salad. It's no easy task, and before mechanical keyboards rose in prominence, it was similarly difficult to sell typists on a superior plank with a premium price tag.An open-source software company located in Austin, Texas...

Keys To Success: Mechanical Keyboard Round-Up With ASUS, G.Skill, Aorus, Logitech

by Paul Lilly - Wed, Jan 27, 2016

In a broad sense, there are two types of keyboards in this world—those that use mechanical key switches and those that don't. If that sounds like something a keyboard snob would say, so be it, this editor stands guilty as charged, and happily so. We can accept that not everyone will find just cause to spend a premium on a mechanical plank, but one thing we'll never concede is that even the best membrane keyboards are on equal footing as those with mechanical key switches. Stick bamboo under our fingernails (not really) or subject us to a marathon of Matthew McConaughey movies (dear God no!), such...

EVGA 2800 SuperSC DDR4 Memory Review: Exploring Speeds Up To 2800MHz

by Shawn Sanders - Thu, Dec 31, 2015

EVGA decided to branch out this year. No, not with AMD graphics; the company's GPU offerings are still very much based on reference cards from Team Green. Yet, in an effort to expand their product lines, the largest North American vendor of NVIDIA graphics cards now offers their own branded memory modules in both DDR3 and DDR4 flavors, spanning 10 different SKUs. Today, we’re checking out the burliest DRAM module set on offer—the High Performance 2800 SuperSC DDR4 Series 16GB kit (4x4GB). Many DIY builders still using older platforms and DDR3 are wondering if they'll see concrete benefits from...

Hot Staff Picks For Great Tech Gifts

by Marco Chiappetta - Tue, Nov 24, 2015

The entire team here at HotHardware has been plugged into the tech scene for ages. In fact, we’ve been doing our thing here on-line for close to two decades. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned about our readers in all that time, it’s that their affinity for technology and gadgets goes way beyond just PC hardware and mobile devices. Well, we here on staff feel the same way, so we thought it’d be fun to give you all a little insight into our lives and talk about some of the latest gear we’d all like to get our hands on this holiday season.First up, let’s see what El Capitan – Dave Altavilla --...

802.11ac Wi-Fi Router Round-Up: ASUS, Netgear, D-Link, and TRENDnet

by Josh Norem - Tue, Oct 13, 2015

Wireless routers are going through somewhat of a renaissance right now, thanks to the arrival of the 802.11ac standard that is "three times as fast as wireless-N" and the proliferation of Internet-connected devices in our homes and pockets. Whereas before we merely had a handful of laptops and PCs connected to the internet at various times, we now have homes with many devices connected all the time, including our phones, tablets, computers, smart televisions, game consoles, and smart home devices. Though wireless N wasn't bad at the time, it's simply not ideal when dozens of devices are connected...

Logitech MX Master Wireless Mouse Review: Masterful Precision Control

by Dave Altavilla - Tue, Sep 15, 2015

Logitech's Performance MX Mouse series has long since been a favorite with enthusiasts and workstation professionals alike. Introduced to the market several years ago, it was high time Logitech revisited and refreshed their flagship general purpose mouse with the latest technologies and creature comforts. And boy what revamp this is. Whether you consider its expanded connectivity options, super-sinister sounding "Darkfield Laser" tracking technology, slick "infiniscroll" capable speed-adaptive scroll wheel, or it's super geek cool polygonal textured finish in its thumbrest area, just about everything...