VIA VE-900 Mini-ITX Mainboard Review

Ten years have passed since Via announced the Mini-ITX form factor, and I've been a fan of the compact motherboard platform since. To mark the 10 year anniversary, Via announced their latest product based on the Mini-ITX standard, the VE-900. Sold for only an affordable $89 USD, it promises to deliver a high-performance multimedia experience in a small package.
CEntrance MicPort Pro

Face it, PCI- and PCI-Express-based soundcards don't always cut it for professional-quality recording. Despite offering digital, optical, line-ins, and microphrone inputs, soundcards simply can't accommodate every piece of high-end audio equipment. Many companies have solved this issue by building external break-out boxes with a variety of additional inputs and outputs, but these boxes lack mobility. Where are the break-out boxes for laptop recording studios?
Lenovo Multimedia Remote N5901

There have been hundreds of different wireless input devices released over the last several years as home theater PCs have become more popular. The size, shape, and overall functionality of these devices has varied greatly. Lenovo, the successor to IBM's PC division, released the N5901 to set a new standard in wireless input, putting a mouse and keyboard in a form factor that can easily be manipulated with a single hand.
We're Back: The Status of BIOSLEVEL.com
It's been a long time since we've published new content, or had a fully functioning site here at BIOSLEVEL.com. Much of our past issues are to blame on a hardware failure near the end of 2009. It's been a long time coming, but we're just about back. We're once again ready to bring the Free and Open Source community new articles and reviews on the latest hardware and software. We want to you to come to our site to learn about the compatibility of the latest components and how to get the most out of your Free or Open Source software.
nMedia HTPC 1000-Series Case

nMedia's HTPC 1000-series cases is a shining example of this design philosophy. The folks at nMedia were kind enough to send us an evaluation unit to try out. The 1000-series comes in either black or silver, and features a hidden optical bay, card readers, optional LCD output, and much more.
Sapphire Radeon HD4550 Videocard

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Sean Potter | Videocards
The folks at Sapphire were kind enough to send their Radeon HD4550 card at the same time, which will be on the table today. The Radeon HD4550 features 512MB of DDR3 memory, a 600MHz core clock, and 80 stream processors. It's not quite as beefy as the Radeon HD4650, but it can be found for an average of $30 less.
Sapphire Radeon HD4650 Videocard

Posted on November 9, 2008 by Sean Potter | Videocards
The folks at Sapphire were recently kind enough to send us an overclocked sample of one of these mid-range cards,
the Radeon HD4650. Sapphire's overclocked Radeon HD4650 features 512MB of GDDR3, 320 Stream processors, and a 700MHz
memory clock. BIOSLEVEL.com will look at how this card fairs against its older brothers, as well as nVidia's mainstream
offerings from the 9x00 family of GeForce cards.
NorthQ NQ-3709BL/NQ-3710RL Silent Tornado Fans

Posted on October 30, 2008 by Sean Potter | Cooling
NorthQ, who's BlacKMagic 850W PSU we previously looked at, has taken the game to a new level. They have a series of case fans built from aluminum frames. The Silent Tornado fans, as they're called, promise extreme performance with a good bit of silence.
QNAP TS-509 Pro Turbo NAS

Shortly after QNAP released the TS-409U Turbo NAS, the TS-509 was announced. The TS-509 Pro picks up where QNAP's TS-409 Pro left off. The TS-509 Pro adds a fifth drive bay, as the name may entail. Also included with the TS-509 Pro are: dual gigabit ethernet ports, five USB 2.0 ports, two serial connections, and a single eSATA port. While the form factor is different from the TS-409U, both units promise relatively similar features, with a few subtle differences.
Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Compound

Posted on September 15, 2008 by Sean Potter | Cooling
Noctua, whose NF-P12 120mm case fan BIOSLEVEL.com previously reviewed, brings a pro-grade thermal compound to the table, NT-H1. The NT-H1 compound aims to minimize thermal resistance and provide long-term stability. BIOSLEVEL.com will put the compound to the test.
Open Source News
- Linux Mint Swap Banshee Affiliate Code, Take 100% of Profits
- Wayland Has Working Screensaver Support
- FreeBSD 9.0 May Just Be One Week Away
- Google Inc. Renews Firefox Search Deal
- Red Hat releases Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2
- KDE Widgets: Why They Matter
- Opera 11.60 Arrives
- Racing To Finish X.Org Multi-Touch Support
- Android 4.0 For x86 Is Now Available
- Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Alpha 1 Released
- Dungeons of Dredmor and Introversion source code added to Bundle!
- Open-source skills best hope for landing a good job
- Xen Virtualization Comes To ARM Cortex A15
- Linux Mint 12 Released
- Ubuntu On TVs
Affiliate News
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- Patriot Pyro SE Solid State Drive
- EVGA Z68 FTW Motherboard
- Antec Eleven Hundred Mid Tower Gaming Case
- Raidmax Seiran Mid-Tower
- MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III 1G/OC Video Card
- Roccat Kova[+] Optical USB Gaming Mouse
- ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe Z68 LGA 1155 Motherboard
- Crucial Ballistix 6GB DDR3 2133 MHz RAM Triple Channel Kit
- OCZ Octane 512GB Indilinx SSD
- SteelSeries Desmo Digital Eyewear
- Cooler Master Storm Trooper Full Tower Case
- IOCELL NetDISK 351UNE Network Storage Device
- Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 Low Voltage 1600MHz
- SilverStone SST-EC03 USB 3.0 PCI-E Card