Computer Reviews

Most of the time I get to look at budget range cases, and as cool as they can be at times they are always just budget cases. They all follow a similar mold and most often just alter some of the looks for what people want to see.

But not with the Thermaltake Tai-Chi

Thermaltake have taken a massive leap in the right direction in producing a case of exceptional quality. It’s not just good, its excellent. There is something special about coming across a product that is truly solid and great. Just like I feel about a audiophile sound system, this case oozes coolness.

Features…

• All aluminum
• Really solid
• Spacious interior
• Easy to upgrade to liquid cooling

Well, enough of the praise. The case is an all aluminum deal with cooling fins running down both sides of the case. The front has a split door and there is a grill at the bottom of the case to bring new air in when warm air is expelled.

The massive case design (it really is massive) is a wonder to work on as there is always enough space to do things inside it. It is designed, with pre-cut holes, to take a water cooling system, most likely their own if you were to ask them. There is another model available that combines the Thermaltake Tai Chi with one of their water cooling solutions.

The case is solid and includes all the usual extras that we have come to expect from cases, like Firewire, USB and audio ports. There is a 120mm fan which is joined to a 3 hard drive rack that goes in the case. There are enough DVD drive size bays for anything you would want to install too.

The Thermaltake Tai-Chi is heavy, at around 17kg it really needs to handles that are included to carry it around.

I could not recommend this case to the average computer user. It’s price just makes no sense for someone who doesn’t really love their computer. But with that said the case really is a wonder. It has everything you could need, looks to match and solid build. It is futureproof enough that it could last a decade or more. It really is just gorgeous.

Pros

• Good looks
• Solid build
• Spacious interior
• Nearly tool-less design

Cons

• Expensive (but worth it)
• Cheapy PCI card retaining clips

Back in April I had a look at this model, just in blue. At that time I was concerned about the price of the DVD writer. I was also worried about the complexity of portability. After having a look again and having another look at the features on offer and the new, cheaper price I have some more thoughts about it.

The price of the Plextor px716uf is just over 200 dollars. This is still fairly expensive, but not too exhorbitant. At this price its still way over that of an internal unit, but puts it much more in the view of those who would like something portable.

Plextor are a very well known name in the optical drive business. They have been around for years and have had their share of top-performing drives. The Plextor DVD±RW dual-layer DVD writer adds to that by bringing internal speed writing to an external drive. It really can match the speed of internal drives, which makes it even more appealing as a portable.

Basic features include…

• 16x write speed for DVD±R media
• 8x for DVD+RW and 4x for DVD-RW
• 4x DVD+R Dual layer writing speed
• USB 2.0 and Firewire connection
• Portable, of course

With flash memory sticks making such a big impact in the portable media segment, its easy to try and compare them, but of course they are intended for different purposes. Although memory sticks can offer large space, they are limited to what they have onboard, they are very small and can be transported with ease. This drive is not so small, and would probably need a small bag, or space in your laptop bag to carry it and it’s power adapter.

It does offer the ability to change disks. You can just carry a few DVDs and have a nearly unlimited amount of space for data. That is the real plus of the drive.

Any drive from Plextor is worth a look at and there is a certain cool factor to having a super-fast portable DVD writer. I don’t know if that really does it for most people, but hey.

The drive excels if you want to transport a large amount of information. It does not beat a memory stick for day to day transport of a few files and data. But if you want a great drive that can be used in a few locations or you want to transport large data quantities, the Plextor PX716 dvd±rw dual-layer dvd writer is certainly worth a look.

The Iomega 750 drive sets a new size spec for their Zip drives. With the popularity of other portable devices like memory sticks and rewritable CDs and DVDs Zip drives have lost their place as the formidable movable mass storage device.

They have not completely lost their usefulness however. As with most other “new” products which are just more advanced reworks of older technology, Iomega have released a drive that can handle 750MB disks.

Main features include…

• Support for 750MB zip disks
• Backward compatibility with their older disks
• USB 2.0 connectivity
• Install guides and useful software applications

The drive is very slim, which gives a lot to it in the looks department, and with its metal gray color its good looking. The slim profile doesn’t do much for the fact that you actually need to carry a power supply for it. That’s not too bad seeing as its not small enough to fit in your pocket anyway.

It has plenty of instructions for easy install with all operating systems including Macs. You do need to install software and will probably not be supported with the standard driver package that comes with Windows. No hassles install though.

Seeing as Iomega have been around now in the mass storage arena the Iomega 750 drive comes with an impressive array of software. This is extremely useful as they have truly added everything that someone looking this kind of drive would need.

I’m always impressed when a manufacturer has obviously done its homework to backup its product. There is automatic backup software which allows you to specify what to backup and how frequently, you can also choose how many of the older copies to keep before starting to delete them. Sync software allows you to sync files between your Iomega 750 drive and your computer and other computers. You would have to install the software on each, but it would work well for example between work and home. A special utility lets you run applications from the disk without installing which is really cool.

Compatiblity with old disks is alright and will read most, but not all, if you’re upgrading, save the data to hard disk or elsewhere first and then transfer to your new disks.

Speed is similar to a CDR or slower, not impressive, but alright.

Overall this drive is a good buy for big backups, and its security features and software package make it very useful. It doesn’t do as well in terms of portability as a USB flash memory stick, but does have its place.

Pros

• Security features
• Fully-featured software package
• Good looks
• Decent speed

Cons

• Needs power supply
• Not complete backward compatibility