/ reviewshardware

Sometimes size isn’t everything, but when it is, having a terabyte of high-speed

solid-state storage is a great way to keep your beast of a gaming pc running well.

PLUS / Excellent speeds / Tons of storage space

MINUS / Prices are still too high for mainstream use

9

Crucial M550 1TB

The SSD industry has come far to reduce the price of these highly desirable components. While a

240GB drive is now pretty aff ordable for most gamers, pushing to 500GB and further is a great way to get nasty calls from your credit card company. Thankfully, prices are ever-descending, so you can now pick up this 1TB drive for what could be considered something close to reasonable. In our testing the M550 managed to shift sequential data chunks at read/write speeds of 517.2/499.3MB/s respectively, which is blazingly quick. Random 4K tests prove that the M550’s capabilities are suitable for the demands made by today’s games, with speeds of 32.99/132.2MB/s in that department.

There’s no doubt that when it comes to SSDs, you should get the best you can aff ord. This drive is so incredibly fast, and doesn’t have that common issue if being too small to be useful, that it should be a simple choice: if you’ve got the cash, this is an excellent primary drive for any PC.

- Geoff Burrows

Website / www.syntech.co.za

ERP / R7,749

Supplier / Syntech

As with other Sades headsets we’ve tested, the SA-922 provides powerful audio at an attractive price.

PLUS / Low price / Great sound quality

MINUS / Not the best build quality or comfort

8

Sades SA-922 gaming headset

FREQUENCY RESPONSE

SPE

CS

DRIVER UNITS 40mm

IMPEDANCE 16 ohms

20Hz – 20kHz

The SA-922 is a multiplatform headset, usable with your PC, 360 or PS3 via the bundled connectors.

Its build quality isn’t brilliant, with lots of fl imsy plastic everywhere. There’s padding on the cups and headband, and a foldaway microphone tucked in there as well. The in-line controller lets you independently adjust game and chat volume. Aside from build quality that can’t hold its own against more expensive sets, the only niggle I have with the SA-922 is that it’s only comfortable in short bursts. The on-ear cups are great at blocking out noise, but they press down on your ears and inevitably become uncomfortable after extended use. The quality of the audio produced is excellent, with very little distortion even at the impressive maximum volume level. Meaty bass and clear highs and lows make movie, gaming and music audio equally pleasing.

- Dane Remendes

Website / Gamers Gadgets

ERP / R545

Supplier / bit.ly/GamersGadgets

This coating can be applied to clear lenses (prescription free) and not just prescription lenses,

so it’s a great all round solution.

PLUS / Sharper image / Reduced eye strain / Dust, scratch and smudge resistant

MINUS / Nothing

9

Nikon Seecoat Blue anti-refl ective lens coating

B lue light is also known as High-Energy Visible light (HEV) and is emitted by LED devices like all

those computer screens, smartphones and televisions and even energy-saving light bulbs. Blue light occurs in natural light but is magnifi ed by our device crazed lifestyles. Human eyes naturally block UV light but not blue light, which is where Nikon’s SeeCoat Blue anti-refl ective lens coatings come into play. We were sent a pair of prescription glasses with this coating applied. There was a lot of swapping between the new glasses and old ones just to see the diff erence and after using them for three weeks they’re easy to recommend and have greatly improved clarity, sharpness and feel much more comfortable. The lenses also proved to be dust resistant and relatively fi ngerprint free (one of the properties of the coating is reduced smudging) but we didn’t test for scratches because we want to keep them. If you want the Nikon SeeCoat Blue for your prescription, speak to your optometrist.

– Michael James

Website / visionoptics.co.za

ERP / Prescription dependant

Supplier / Vision Optics

Dane Remendes

www.nag.co.za August 2014 65