Review of Cables Unlimited wireless speakers - 4 out of 5

Recently I received a pair of SPK-VELO-001 wireless speakers by Cables Unlimited SPK-VELO-001 for my birthday.

The sound quality is excellent for the price range, and the volume goes higher than I would ever care to listen to. Mounting them on a wall is simple, and I have found that a picture hanger per speaker is strong enough to hold them up, assuming that your walls are sturdy - even through last night's earthquake.

I only have a couple of minor complaints about them. First, they require six C batteries per speaker, or to plug them in - which, depending on where you decide to hang them, may not be an option. My only other complaint is that their power LED is insanely bright; we put black electrical tape over the lights and are still almost blinded by them when we turn the lamp off for movie watching.

Overall though, for the value in this price range, I am extremely happy with the SPK-VELO-001 and rate them a 4 out of 5.

Xclio WindTunnel Review -- 5 out of 5

As promised, I am reviewing the WindTunnel case by Xclio. I am really amazed by this case, and it is a much better design that I had hoped for.

For starters, the only thing that screws appear to be necessary for are mounting the motherboard and power supply. The case has tool-less "thumb screws" for easy access. The drives slide in on rails - which, from my experience normally require screws - that are mounted onto the drives with posts. All of the brackets, zip ties (yes it comes with those), and other parts are stored in a latching box that is attached to the inside of the case. This means no more hunting for hardware. If you need more room for drives, the storage box can be removed and the space can be used for more hard drives.

The case itself is very light compared to most full-towers that I have encountered. Also, I did not find any sharp edges; I am prone to accidents, and I didn't get cut once. For those who have never built their own computer before, the instructions that come with the case are fairly detailed.

Overall, I would give this case a 5 out of 5 and is the best design I have yet to purchase.

Building new computers.

I am building a matched pair of new computers for my wife and I and will review them when they are finished. Normally we stagger building our computers (replacing the older of the two each time). This works well for keeping them up-to-date, but not so well for gaming. One of us always is running slower than the other, or envious of the level of graphics detail on the other computer. This methodology should eliminate that problem.

So far we have purchased Sony Optiarc AD-7191s DVD drives and have them sitting in a box and have ordered two XCLIO WTSL cases last Friday. These are expected to arrive on Wednesday or Thursday.

The cases should have more than enough cooling with the pair of 25cm fans and - being full towers - are large enough that are can circulate. The main reason for the particular model of DVD drives that we purchased was the price. From my experience, optical drives wear out about every three years no matter what brand you buy. Since, I have this expectation going in, I don't want to spend a lot of money on them.

Over the weekend, I should have some time to install the drives in the cases and can report on how easy or difficult the cases are to open, close, and work in.