New Technology Reviews!.: bundle

Telus to bundle free Xbox 360 with every WP7 activation or renewal for a limited time, says leak

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuknwM418u9GIoU-n0OWPd4II8qPYzqPIRl2Om35zEYJpEVnfl_iZnyTst5KnjoRiIRg1zYjT9G-9IOp4eyxF4iT3EVsFBZW05Pwq-px3sXlpZEov3soU9DBokkUQAjz4P9oqyRiesEw/s1600/10x1215bu23telus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuknwM418u9GIoU-n0OWPd4II8qPYzqPIRl2Om35zEYJpEVnfl_iZnyTst5KnjoRiIRg1zYjT9G-9IOp4eyxF4iT3EVsFBZW05Pwq-px3sXlpZEov3soU9DBokkUQAjz4P9oqyRiesEw/s320/10x1215bu23telus.jpg" width="320"></a></div> 
<iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=latesttecompu-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B003C1VPEY&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Buy this phone, won't you please buy this phone? We've no idea why Telus has to try so hard to convince Canadian buyers to grab themselves a Windows Phone 7 handset, but the carrier's expected to sweeten the deal dramatically over the next few days by bundling a freebie Xbox 360 with every WP7 device activation or renewal.

Telus to bundle free Xbox 360 with every WP7 activation or renewal for a limited time, says leak

Buy this phone, won't you please buy this phone? We've no idea why Telus has to try so hard to convince Canadian buyers to grab the...

Review: Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB Upgrade Bundle

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/TechRadar/Computing/Components/SSDnow_Vplus_Bundle_256GB-200-200.jpg"> <IFRAME style="PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; WIDTH: 131px; PADDING-TOP: 5px; HEIGHT: 245px" align=right marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=latesttecompu-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B004APRLV2&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" frameBorder=0 scrolling=no></IFRAME>There's no such thing as a cheap solid state drive. But you do at least have the choice between merely pricey and downright punitive. The new Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB falls into the former camp. At around £375 for 256GB of capacity, it's funny money compared to a conventional magnetic drive of similar or even much greater capacity. But it's still over £100 cheaper than the priciest 256GB SATA SSDs, such as the new Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB. So, what do you get? The all important controller chip is a tweaked version of Toshiba's T6UG1XBG. Perhaps not the best on the market, but it does have one thing going for it: an aggressive garbage cleaning utility. In theory, this means the Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB should maintain performance over time without the help of the drive-cleaning Windows 7 TRIM command. That's just one reason why Apple, for example, uses the T6UG1XBG in its MacBook laptops. Mac OS X, you see, doesn't support TRIM. Box fresh SSDs are all very well, but they don't stay that way for long. Before testing, we give every SSD a going over by first installing a full copy of Windows 7 and then filling it to the brim with data. With early SSDs, this often exposed long-term performance problems. Happily, the latest SSDs take this sort of abuse in their stride. Size Formatted capacity – GB, bigger is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 223GB Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 238GB Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB: 238GB Synthetic drive performance ATTO Sequential read – MB/s, bigger is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 834MB/s Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 267MB/s Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB: 207MB/s Synthetic drive performance ATTO Sequential write – MB/s, bigger is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 700MB/s Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 261MB/s Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB: 189MB/s Synthetic drive performance HDTach Burst rate – MB/s, bigger is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 184MB/s Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 216MB/s Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB: 193MB/s Synthetic drive performance AS SSD 4k random reads – MB/s, bigger is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 24.75MB/s Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 11.89MB/s Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB: 12.76MB/s Synthetic drive performance AS SSD 4k random writes – MB/s, bigger is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 53.05MB/s Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 34.14MB/s Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB: 34.82MB/s Synthetic drive performance AS SSD 4k 64-thread random reads – MBs/second, bigger is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 417.94MB/s Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 117.56MB/s Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB – 16.30MB/s Synthetic drive performance AS SSD 4k 64-thread random writes – MB/s, bigger is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 289.38MB/s Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 42.35MB/s Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB: 35.39MB/s Application performance File decompression – Time taken, lower is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 29 seconds Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 32 seconds Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB: 32 seconds File transfer performance Copy 4.5GB file – Time taken, lower is better OCZ IBIS HSDL 240GB: 25 seconds Samsung SSD 470 Series 256GB: 43 seconds Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB: 62 seconds Inspect the Kingston SSDNow V+100 series carefully and you might conclude it's not entirely new. After all, it uses the same Toshiba T6UG1XBG controller chip as the old SSDNow V+ range. However, Kingston says it's given the firmware a good going over. Kingston has also thrown in 128MB of DDR buffer memory for good measure. The result is a claimed 25 per cent improvement in performance over the old V+ models. One of the upsides to this new drive's similar feature set is the comprehensive bundle that comes with the Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB Upgrade Bundle. Given the horrific cost of SSDs, it's surprising how many are sold as bare drives with no supporting kit. At least Kingston gives you a box complete with SATA cables, a 3.5-inch adapter and even a USB 2.0 enclosure and cable. It's a shame it's not USB 3.0 compliant, but we still think all SSDs should come with this clobber as a minimum. That said, if you really must save a few pennies, Kingston also does a stand-alone drive. But what about performance? Kingston quotes sequential reads and writes of 230MB/s and 180MB/s. Our benchmarks returned 207MB/s and 189MB/s, putting the V+100 within range of the official claims despite our standard procedure of stuffing the drive with data before the tests begin. Performance in the AS SSD 4K random read and write tests isn't too shabby either, with figures of 12.76MB/s and 34.82MB/s. Granted, drives powered by the SandForce SF-1200 SSD controller such as the Corsair Force F240 240GB give the V+100 a bit of a spanking in random access benchmarks. But then the Force F240 is slightly smaller and costs around £50 more. As for real-world performance, the V+100 just as adept at jobs like file decompression as any SATA-based SSD. What it doesn't do, however, is shift really big files quite as quickly. Samsung's new SSD 470 Series 256GB, for instance, is around 25 per cent quicker. We liked If you're looking for an SSD that combines performance, capacity and relatively good value, you could do a lot worse than the Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB. It's pretty quick, it comes with both TRIM support and garbage cleaning, and the Upgrade Bundle gives you plenty of usage options, including USB. We disliked Like any SSD, the V+100 is awful value compared to a conventional magnetic drive in terms of capacity. Likewise, it's beaten squarely for sheer performance by SandForce-powered drives. We'd also prefer to see Kingston upgrade the bundled enclosure from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 spec. SATA 6Gbps would be nice, too.

Review: Kingston SSDNow V+100 256GB Upgrade Bundle

There's no such thing as a cheap solid state drive. But you do at least have the choice between merely pricey and downright punitive. T...

Competition: WIN! A Sony 3D bundle worth £2,000

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/TechRadar/Home%20Entertainment/Sony%20Bravia%20KDL-52HX503/Sony52HX903rightangle%5B1%5D-200-200.jpg"/>3D has been the buzz word for 2010. 3D enabled products and content are now available in people's homes for the first time. And with 3.2 million 3D TVs expected to be shipped worldwide this year, you'll be able to enjoy movies, games and sport in 3D from the comfort of your sofa. While some of you might remember 3D from the 1980s with ill-fitting paper glasses and poor picture quality, the experience today has come a long way. For example did you know that Sony's 3D glasses block external light making viewing content even better? Other models tend to let light in which can make it difficult to see the picture clearly, especially in a bright rooms. There can also be other issues with 3D, such as ghost images known as crosstalk, which Sony has worked hard to eliminate.Critically acclaimedThis is why Sony is proud of its TVs. Its 3D range is consistently ranked highly by critics. TechRadar recently recognised Sony's expertise when it ranked BRAVIA in the top three places for 3D LCD TVs in its '<a href="http://3dradar.techradar.com/3d-tech/depth-10-best-3d-tvs-world-today-17-09-2010">10 Best 3D TVs in the World today</a>'.Sony is also making it easier to get into 3D by offering a complete range of 3D capable products. Its full 3D bundle includes a 3D Blu-ray player, PlayStation 3 (3D enabled), a Cybershot TX9 as well as one of its BRAVIA 3D TVs.For more information on Sony 3D home entertainment see <a href="http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/tv-home-entertainment/3" title="http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/tv-home-entertainment/3">http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/tv-home-entertainment/3</a> We're offering one lucky winner the chance to win one of Sony's 3D bundles worth £2,000! <a href="http://www.futurecomps.co.uk/sony3d">Enter the competition</a>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please note that this competition is only open to UK residents over 18 years of age.There is no cash alternative to the prize and unless agreed otherwise in writing the prize is non-refundable and non transferable.<img border="0" height="1" src="http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/9809/s/f3b56e1/mf.gif" width="1"/><div class='mf-related'>

Competition: WIN! A Sony 3D bundle worth £2,000

3D has been the buzz word for 2010. 3D enabled products and content are now available in people's homes for the first time. And with 3....