Archive for 'Products'

The Optimus Maximus keyboard is one of its kind. At first glance it looks like a standard keyboard, nothing too flashy going on, just a nice simple design with pleasing lines. But upon closer inspection you will see that each and every button on the Optimus Maximus keyboard is actually a tiny display screen that uses OLED technology.

Each button consists of a moving cap, a microchip and a display which shows the current function assigned to the key.

To help extend the lifetime of the buttons and to cut down on vulnerable wires, the OLED display is fixed in the transparent cap, this means replacing a key is as easy as it would be on a standard keyboard, perhaps with one exception…the cost.

Optimus’s customizable layout enables the use of any language — Cyrillic, Ancient Greek, Georgian, Arabic, Quenya, hiragana, etc. — as well as any other characters: notes, numerals, special symbols, HTML codes, math functions etc.

The included configurator software enables the user to program each button and the image displayed and once everything is set up, you can switch between layouts with ease.

To run the Optimus Maximus you’ll need Windows XP, Vista or Mac OSX 10.4.8 or higher, at least 20 MB of hard disk space, at least 256MB of RAM and the $400+ it costs to buy one.

The OLED technology used in the keyboard is still an expensive alternative to a standard keyboard however; OLED screens are theoretically cheaper to produce in the long-run compared to regular LCD screens.

There are also other advantages over LCD. OLED screens can be as thin as a human hair, they can produce light without the need for a back-light, the can be bent and transferred to fabric, they have a greater range of color and the image quality is equally as good.

The main disadvantage is the lifetime of the OLED is very limited, almost 10 times shorter than LCD. But, according to experts it will only be a matter of time before the technology is improved and these types of displays will be found on many devices from laptops to revolutionary new ‘multi-use newspapers’ or video screens embedded in clothing.

Check out the video to see the OLED keys in action!!!

We just reviewed the latest installment in the Guitar Hero series – Guitar Hero 3, Legends Of Rock. Despite the realistic game play, even if you’re using the guitar-shaped controller gameplay is not quite the same as actually playing a guitar.

For those who don’t play the guitar, this is probably a good thing but for those who are seeking an even more realistic version of the game, you should check out fourth coming rival game, Guitar Rising.

Guitar Rising is basically the same as Guitar Hero with one major difference, you can use any electric guitar, yes a real electric guitar to control the player.

Check Out The Video Promo Of Guitar Rising.

The highly anticipated MacBook Air hit finally stores earlier this year and for most Mac fans, it really does live up to expectations.

With all the press the MacBook Air is getting, it wasn’t going to be long before we at 800HighTech managed to make these available on finance for all Military Service Members and Civilian DoD’s regardless of past debt or bad credit history.

MacBook Air Now Available On Finance From 800HighTech

So why all the hype? For starters the MacBook Air has managed to cram a powerful 1.6GHz (or optional 1.8GHz) Intel Core 2 Duo processor, an 80GB hard disk (or optional 64GB solid-state drive) and Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor into an extremely slim line casing measuring just 0.16 to 0.76 inches, whilst at the same time, still offering the comfort of a full sized backlit keyboard as well as a large 13.3 inch screen.

A couple of things you will immediately notice about the slim design is the absence of an optical disk drive and the reduction of video and audio in’s and out’s. As standard the MacBook Air only comes with a DVI output (which can also support VGA by the use of an included adaptor), one USB port and an audio out. This may seem like a drastic measure to save space but Apple have done their best to compensate for this by incorporating remote disk technology (keep reading for more information about MacBook Air’s remote disk technology works).

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Asus are all set to release the ‘big brother’ of the popular 7 inch Eee PC. The new larger model referred to as the Eee PC 900 (not confirmed) will boast a slightly higher spec as well as some great new features.

The Eee PC was a big hit for Asus, being voted the “The Most Wanted Christmas Gift” by American Amazon.com and Cnet, as well as winning a prestigious award at the International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards for 2008, it was inevitable that Asus would develop a bigger more powerful machine.Recently unveiled at CeBIT 2008 the new Eee PC 900 seems to have kept the same basic concept as its smaller counterpart, adding a slight specification upgrade and just enough new features to keep you happy.

ASUS promises the screen will display a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution and specs will be upgraded to 1G of memory, a larger storage of up to 12GB and wider 8.9-inch screen. There is also the addition of a “multi-finger gesture input” trackpad, which will provide the ability to zoom in and out as well as allowing for two-finger scrolling similar to the pad found on Macs.

The Eee PC will be compatible with both Linux and Windows although the Windows version is set to retail at nearly twice the price. Here we really notice the cost benefits of open source software.The Eee Pc is set to release in the summer, will retail for around 399 (Linux OS), making it reasonably priced depending on the choice of hard drive space.

The newest version of the Guitar Hero series hit the stores late last year and has been causing a storm ever since. Developed by Neversoft and Aspyr Media, and published by Activision and RedOctane, Legends of Rock is the third full installment in the Guitar Hero series and the fourth title overall.

The game is available for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac platforms. Xbox 360, Wii, and Playstation 3 users can also connect online to rock out with others anywhere in the world.As with the previous Guitar Hero games, the player can use standard controllers or a new wireless guitar-shaped controller specially designed for the game.

The gameplay in Guitar Hero 3 remains essentially the same, with the player guiding the guitarist through the varying genres of rock music by hitting the notes in time as they scroll across the screen.One notable addition to the game is the new cooperative career mode. The co-op mode is arranged similarly to the single player career, with one player on lead guitar and the other on bass or rhythm guitar. In this mode you’ll find just 6 tiers of songs - each encore song is unique to the co-op mode but the boss battles have been removed.

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As Blu-Ray seems to be leading the high definition format war over rival HD DVD, Sony and Nichia have teamed up to develop a new Blu-Ray player that is smaller and more cost efficient.

The new laser unit is just 3mm think and is compatible with normal DVD’s. Standard Blu-Ray players can not read DVD’s that contain organic dyes in the recording layers - Sony and Nichia’s new player can, this means the company will be able to save money churning out compatible disks from existing DVD lines and hopefully these savings will be passed on to the consumer.

The smaller dimension of the new Blu-ray laser makes the drive very efficient on space. This should also reduce cost of laptops and handheld devices that require time and money spent to map out how all the components will fit into case size deemed “portable.”

There is little news as to which products will be incorporating the new Blu-Ray player however Sony did announce that the new disc drive should make an appearance in their Vaio laptop range later this year, there are also rumors of the PS3 possibly getting this upgrade.

There was never really any doubt the X-Box’s favorite master chief would return in another episode of the Halo series, especially with the cliff hanger we were all left with at the end of Halo 2. Well, avid fans (who haven’t already completed the game) will be please to hear the final chapter in the Halo trilogy continues the story and concludes it brilliantly.

For those who didn’t get caught up in “one of the most popular games in history,” the Halo story centers on the interstellar war between 26th century humanity, led by the United Nations Space Command, and a collection of alien races known as the Covenant.The player assumes the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier, as he wages war in defense of humanity, assisted by human Marines as well as allied alien Elites.Following the events of Halo 2 - The Covenant is on its way to Earth, continuing its universal ethnic cleansing and attempting to activate the floating space weapons known as Halos, which could destroy civilization as we know it. The Master Chief and the other Earth forces of the UNSC are in hot pursuit to stop them, with newfound alien allies such as the Arbiter coming along for the ride.

The third and final part of the Halo trilogy was released in September, 2007. During the opening day, over one million people connected to X-Box live to play Halo 3 and by the end of the day, Halo 3 had broken the record for the highest grossing opening day in entertainment history, bringing in $170 million within the first 24 hours. The game then went on the sell over 8.1 million copies by January 2008.

So now this is officially the most popular game to date, let’s take a look at the new features Bungie Studios have added.

Continue reading this article for a review on the game, lots of screenshots and a video review.

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We would like to introduce our new military and government financing partner High Tech Credit, a partner of 800HighTech. Who is High Tech Credit? Well, High Tech Credit was formed by the 800HighTech joining up with the guys who kept CompUSA alive for as long as it did. They left CompUSA after its doors closed and got right to work building up the partner base and delivering the goods under 3rd Coast Marketing LLC. With 800HighTech’s customer base growing, we needed to offer a larger product range and pre-configured computers and laptops at the best possible price for our Armed Forces and Civilian DoD customers. It was also imperative that we continue to provide fast shipping that included overseas military address and combat zones.

Military Armed Forces High Tech Credit Financing

High Tech Credit is offering new best buy computer electronics media with financing for Armed Forces and Civilian DoD government contracted employees. Regardless of adverse credit history, receive bad credit history secured loans for high performance consumer electronics at military discount rates. Low monthly payments and zero money down with allotments through mypay DFAS Mil. All orders are guaranteed approval loans and include free shipping overseas. Shipments to troops stationed CONUS also include express overnight shipping.

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After our Email fiasco by Jerry Hart Creative Marketing Email Scam, we sent out our first internal newsletter. We focused it on delivering helpful and entertaining articles that made it big on our blog or on other websites that our Military customers may appreciate. Most of our customers do not realize we have a blog and was a double plus.

I will include a link on the home page to our newsletter archives that will catalog our Newsletter, not including Jerry Hart terrible Email. This will allow you to keep track of our Emails, submit your thoughts, and refer to links or articles later on. I think this will also be helpful for users who may accidentally delete or may not receive the newsletter due to spam filters.

Email boxes are constantly attacked and quickly filled from spam, so if you decide that you do not want one more newsletter added to your Email inbox, you can access it via the website. You can unsubscribe at anytime via a newsletter or from your 800HighTech customer account or when you register. We will announce all new Emails Newsletters here on the blog and post a link to it (See Below for this month’s newsletter link).

I have titled our new newsletter “HighTech Edge”. I was considering keeping it a consistent layout, so it would be easier to find the information you want but in the end decided against it. I will not feature ads, promotions, or products in the Email unless we are running a really hot deal. It is not our intent to use the newsletter to push our sales, but to increase our communication with our customers and give them the edge over other geeks on IT information that is actually useful!

We have a high ratio customers return and we have spent years improving our customer image. We depend on you all to help us improve, and keep us above the competition.

Click to View the HighTech Edge Newsletter Catalog

Click to View the HighTech Edge January 2008 Issue: 1-1

Projectors are becoming more popular and reasonably affordable, however, it is still a significant investment and nobody wants to waste their hard earned cash on the wrong buy. We have rounded up 5 important points to consider when buying a projector that can help you decide what projector is best for you.
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San Francisco Intel and other companies including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NEC and NXP Semiconductors, have formed a group to help produce, test and promote the new USB 3.0.

The third-generation Universal Serial Bus interconnect will transfer data at speeds up to 4.8Gbit/s, ten times faster than the previous USB 2.0’s which transfers at just 480MBit/s.

Jeff Ravencraft, Intel’s technology strategist, said,

“The digital era requires high-speed performance and reliable connectivity to move the enormous amounts of digital content now present in everyday life. USB 3.0 will meet this challenge while maintaining (USB 2.0’s) ease-of-use experience.”

USB 3.0 will be optimized for low power and improved protocol efficiency. It will also be backwards-compatible with USB 2.0, which is backwards-compatible with the first USB 1.1.

The USB 3.0 ports and cabling will be designed with both copper and optical cable capabilities; this means even higher speeds will be possible in the future.

Intel also revealed a Wireless USB (WUSB) transfer format that operates at 480Mbits/s, the same speed as USB 2.0. In addition they also said they are working on the 1.1 version of the WUSB which operates at a speed of up to 1Gbits/s.

A working prototype of the USB 3.0 has already been presented, however there is typically a one- to two-year lag between the release of the specification and the availability of the technology, so USB 3.0 might not be available in stores until 2009 or 2010

Buying a camcorder can be a tough decision when you take into consideration all the options; price, quality, design, features and specifications, recording format and optional extras are all key factors to compare when deciding which video camera suits your needs best.

First up is the price. This is greatly affected by the specification of the camera and generally, is relative to the video quality captured by the camera. Video cameras can range from a few hundred dollars up to 2000+; the more you pay the better quality you are likely to get.

Specifications that greatly affect video quality are the size of the image sensor (the bigger the CCD or CMOS imager, the better) and the effective video resolution. Other spec’s to note are the optical zoom range and whether or not the camera has image stabilization.

Many video cameras also produce decent digital stills. If you’re planning to use your camcorder for both filming and photography you should probably look for something with a 3-megapixel sensor (with no interpolation) and you’ll also want control over manual settings.

Many camcorders support accessories like an external flash and interchangeable lenses, if you want to be geared for professional filming, these options are a must.

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A complete XBox 360 Package. Xbox 360 sets a new pace for digital entertainment and is regarded as a cutting-edge game system. With integrated high-definition video, DVD movie playback, digital music, photos, and online connectivity into one sleek, small tower it got only better with the release of Halo 3. Halo 3 is included, and featured on this Special Edition XBox 360.

XBox 360 Halo 3 Package Includes:

• XBox 360 Console / Halo 3 Special Edition
• Wireless Remote Controller (Halo 3 Special Edition)
• Wireless Remote Controller (White)
• Halo 3

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Scorpion Notebooks Available On Finance For Military Armed Forces And Civilian DoD’s>>>

The Scorpion range is based on two different brands previous laptops, the Sager NP2090 and the Compal IFL90. The Sager and the Compal is essentially the same machine just assembled by different companies. Sager managed to box up the finished product without the super clear WSXGA+ screen for a little cheaper but offered a shorter warranty. The Scorpion has also opted for the same basic components including the WSXGA+ screen, and offers 1-3 warranties depending on the specific part.

The Scorpions are no doubt geared for gaming. They come with powerful processors, high performance graphics cards, ample RAM and super clear screens, the perfect combination for any avid game or graphics buff.

All five Scorpions come with a 15.4 inch WSXGA+ LCD screens with a resolution of 1280 x 800, the picture is glossy and clear and makes for a good gaming or movie experience. There are also a few other components that remain the same throughout the range. An 8X DVD ± R/RW/ 4X +DL Super-Multi Drive can be found on all five models as well as a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 512MB graphics card.

The NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Card is a powerful graphics card that has support for both Microsoft DirectX 10 and DirectX 9 for, unparalleled levels of graphics realism and performance. The GeForce 8600 also runs Windows Vista 32-Bit with ease and the PureVideo HD2 technology provides excellent Blu-ray and HD DVD picture quality.

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Whether you’re buying a new monitor or replacing the display on your existing machine, there are a few points to consider. Technology has progressed quite a lot in the recent years giving users a lot more options when it comes to monitors. First it’s important to know if you require a CRT monitor, an LCD or a new HDTV.

CRT - Cathode Ray Tube Monitors

CRT or Cathode Ray Tube Monitors are big and bulky and have been used in conjunction with PCs for many years. They are relatively cheap compared to newer LCD and HDTV monitors, and are compatible with all PCs. Resolution is high quality and can be changed to suit screen size or the users preferences, but as the signal is analog, CRT monitor will not have a DVI port and therefore will not directly support High Definition. If you have an up-to-date graphics card graphics card you may be able to connect your HD cable, satellite box top or HD-DVD to your computer however you will loose quality as the HD signal is converted into analog to be displayed on the CRT.

LCD - Liquid Crystal Displays

LCD or Liquid Crystal Displays were first produced in the US back in 1972; however it took quite a few years before LCD monitors were available on the consumer market. Over the last 10 years Flat Screen LCD monitors have become increasing popular as they save space and have better options for newer digital connections like HDTV, plus they usually have more audio option for home theater style set-ups. LCD monitors can produce crisper images than CRT monitors but they can only do so in their native resolution. Attempting to run LCD panels at non-native resolutions can result blurriness and multiple kinds of HDTV Blur. In general LCD monitors can not truly display as many colors as a CRT. LCD’s can also cause migraines and eyestrain problems due to flicker from fluorescent backlights fed at 50 or 60 Hz however this quite rare.

Plasma Screen Monitors

Plasma Screen Monitors are commonly used for large TV displays. Plasma Displays were introduced around the same time as LCD monitor but due to the nature of the components; they are the most expensive type of display monitors. They produce a much crisper image at a higher resolution than LCD monitors. They also support a wide array of video and audio connections for digital or analog use. The superior brightness, faster response time, greater color spectrum, and wider viewing angle of a plasma monitor makes them one of the most popular forms of display for HDTV, however recent improvements in LCD technology have narrowed the technological gap.

We have started adding some pretty amazing big LCD and Plasma screens to our stock. To View 800Hightech’s Range of Monitors Available on Finance For Military Service Members, Please Click Here>>>

Specifications to consider when choosing between the different types of monitors:

Resolution: This is the amount of pixels that can be displayed horizontally x vertically. A higher resolution means bigger and better quality graphics. Standard and most easily viewed CRT resolutions are usually:

• 15″-800 x 600 / 1,024 x 76817″
• 17″-1,280 x 1,024
• 19″-1,280 x 1024
• 21″-1,600 x 1,200

Plasma technology enables bigger screens and higher resolutions in excess of 1920 x 1080. LCD screens also come in large sizes but will have a native resolution for optimal viewing.

Refresh rate: The refresh rate is the measurement of the number of times per second the screen is redrawn. This measurement is measured in hertz, the faster the refresh rate the better quality the picture.

Dot Pitch: This measurement is found on most monitors. It defines the amount of space (in millimeters) that separates two adjacent pixels that are the same color, the smaller the Dot Pitch, the sharper the image.

HDTV Compatible: If you’re looking for a monitor to incorporate your full home theater then HDTV compatibility is certainly something you should look for.