Logitech MX518

As the successor of the MX510, USB gamer mouse will sport quick-shift controls above and beneath of the scroll wheel, allowing switching between 400, 800 and 1600-dpi without installing the driver. Reminiscent of the MX510's contoured shape, the new 'Gaming-Grade' mouse has a clear, smooth coat over a space-age metallic sliver finish with various shades to give an impression of a crater surface.

Pros: Speed holes; 1600 dpi; responsive; comfortable grip; can switch sensitivity on-the-fly; doesn't require drivers; glides easily.
Cons: Drivers for WinXP only; only one button set for all applications; for right-handed gamers only.
Verdict: Affordable yet powerful, the MX518 can seriously improve FPS gaming. Not for n00bs.

At first the Logitech MX518 just seems like a silver Logitech MX510 with several dents on the top, but upon toying with the sensitivity settings a true gamer will appreciate the twitch turns at ludicrous speed followed immediately by precision sniping without breaking a sweat.

Package Content
- Logitech MX518 Mouse
- SetPoint 2.3 installation CD
- USB to PS/2 adapter

MX518 - Proven Mouse Meets Swiss Cheese
Optical illusions are fascinating. What are really just a few dots of ink can effectively fool the mind's depth perception and color recognition, enough to make you look twice and try to feel what's actually there. The MX518 takes advantage of this art with its new faceplate. A dark metallic silver color appears to absorb light in different areas, giving off the appearance of very deep dents in the mouse itself. The Swiss-cheese-like 'holes' are very similar to the NASA photos of moon craters, or perhaps more like someone putting speed holes in a new car with a pickaxe. Whatever it looks like, it will definitely pull attention on store shelves with the see-through box it's packaged in.

Button placement remains the same as the previous models with two buttons positioned just above the thumb to prevent accidental clicks, while remaining in reach for fast access. What were once scrolling buttons have been replaced by sensitivity increase buttons, and right under them is the same inconveniently placed application switch button, which unfortunately didn't stay in between the thumb buttons as was introduced with Logitech MX1000 laser mouse. While not really used often, it requires taking your index finger off the trigger. All in all the design was well thought-out as the mouse remained comfortable during an entire 12-hour LanManiac LAN party session.

The Heart of It All
Upon launching the SetPoint Driver configuration pane (read: no more buggy MouseWare drivers), we were faced with the button configuration tab. Unlike previous mice, the thumb buttons and middle click were assigned to "generic" by default, thus able to be used for things like Button 4 in Quake while reverting to the forward/back/scroll within the Windows environment. On another tab are the movement options such as pointer speed, acceleration, scrolling speed, pointer trails, and "smart move" to automatically move your pointer to the OK button in dialog boxes.


The third tab in SetPoint is exclusive to the Logitech MX518, and that would be the game settings. In here you can select what games the drivers will recognize such as those that render with OpenGL and Direct3D, as well as add your own games to the list, including non-rendered 2D games like Tetris. Once a recognized game is started, the mouse can behave differently with options for keeping advanced button assignments such as double-click and keystrokes, as well as whether the mouse should use the Windows' or SetPoint's speed and acceleration settings. One thing that we would have liked to see (and have liked to see since the MX series first came out at that) is the ability to change button assignments completely for certain applications. Some games such as Call of Duty don't recognize more than three mouse buttons, thus requiring mapping of the extra buttons to keys such as delete, which then has to be changed back manually after exiting the game. Quite inconvenient.


The most touted feature of the MX518 by far however is the ability to change DPI sensitivity on-the-fly. Out of the box without drivers, the mouse already sports 3 resolutions of 400 dpi, 800dpi, and an insane 1600 dpi. This is good news for Mac and Linux gamers who like to get insane with a rocket launcher, then slow the pace for some railgun action. On Windows XP this gets even better with the SetPoint drivers. Within the advanced game settings, five custom dpi resolutions can be created in increments of 50 from 400 to 1600 dpi. Being able to make your own settings is very handy for easing the jumps in between resolutions like jumping to 1200 dpi before taking it all the way to 1600. There's also an option for audio notification when switching resolutions, although Logitech needs to be more clear that you must go into the Windows Sound events to assign a sound since none is set by default.


L0git3ch MX518 - 0wnage
In order to properly test the Logitech MX518, we used the three most common mousing environments - the bare imitation oak finish of a computer desk, a generic CompUSA mousepad, and a professional gaming mousepad, namely the fUnc sUrface 1030. The mouse glided well over each surface with its slick feet, with less friction than a brand new Logitech MX510. Over the fUnc surface, it literally felt like a puck on an air hockey table.

About the only thing that could interfere with the gliding other than spilt Bawls is the mouse cord, so some sort of cable management like a Mouse Bungee or cable clip can be extremely useful. As for tracking, both of the mousepads were generally on target - when using the CompUSA pad, twitching the mouse would land within the enemy's hitbox, while the fUnc surface was dead on the center of the hitbox landing several headshots. The desk didn't do as well, often missing the target slightly.

We tested the mouse in a variety of shooter games, including Battlefield 1942: Desert Combat, Call of Duty: United Offensive, Quake III Arena, and Unreal Tournament 2004. In Desert Combat, we generally left the mouse at 800 dpi since aiming isn't as much of an issue as being able to quickly turn around and fire at whoever is shooting you. While in the M-109 Howitzer, cranking up the resolution to 1600 did wonders in quickly turning the main cannon, something that takes ages otherwise.

Call of Duty was on cue with every twitch to check corridors and blast people with the MP40, and switching to 400 dpi for sniping with the Springfield. The thumb button made for a good melee attack after running out of bullets. In the gore-fests of UT2004 and Quake III we cranked up the DPI all the way to 1600 and went crazy with the flak cannon / shotgun, then dropped it to 600 dpi for sniping. Being able to switch sensitivity in these games is a godsend since there's less time to line up a shot accurately with as powerful scope as the games have, especially with Quake since there's only one level of zoom.

Throughout each game played no deaths could be attributed to lag, the MX518 keeping up to every twitch and click thanks to the corded design and powerful 5.8 megapixel/second image processing with a 16-bit data format that reports 125 times per second. And no, this isn't our minds playing tricks on us as the MX518 was more responsive than the Logitech MX510 while set at 800 dpi. Finally, we didn't have to worry about not moving the mouse when sniping from a nest, as there's no sleep mode to wake from that could take crucial milliseconds away in the event of an ambush.

Time for an Upgrade?
If you play FPS games every now and then, but aren't known for staying up into the late nights on nothing but cold pizza and caffeine, or bellowing taunts through the microphone, the Logitech MX518 isn't for you, and you would probably just be better off with any regular 800 dpi mouse. For the more avid gamer however, it blends a perfect combination of a comfortable design and performance that can seriously improve your game play in first person shooters. At $50, the MX518 is an affordable weapon for your arsenal, and is highly recommended.

LG Electronics 50PC5D 50" Plasma TV

(Widescreen, 1366x768, HDTV - MPN: 50PC5D)
Price Range: $1,169.88 - $1,299.99 from 5 Sellers
Rebates & Special Offers: $20.00 Bonus available
Description: LG 50PC5D 50" High Definition Plasma TV, it has LG's XD Engine which takes the low resolution of analog signals to near HD levels by improving brightness, contrast, detail and color as well as reducing signal noise. This total solution resu.... Read More
Description: LG 50PC5D 50" High Definition Plasma TV, it has LG's XD Engine which takes the low resolution of analog signals to near HD levels by improving brightness, contrast, detail and color as well as reducing signal noise. This total solution results in cinema-like high resolution images. It has six distinct processes for producing good pictures. It minimizes color contour noise for natural color transitions. It has Clear filter professional for improved brightness and contrast, reduced reflection and truer color reproduction.



***

It has been close to a year since LG's Time Machine TV series first debuted. Interestingly, there aren't many competing products of similar caliber out in the Asia markets. What sets these panels apart from the crowd is the onboard video-recording capability. On the whole, it functions pretty much like a standalone DVR with the exception of one major caveat. Without the provision of a DVD burner, all the recordings are permanently locked within its modest 80GB hard drive. This has thankfully been addressed in its latest incarnations. Almost, that is.

Pros

Besides the customary video recording and time-shift functions, the new models are now upgraded with USB archival and multimedia playback. Dubbed USB Backup, it allows recordings to be transferred onto external hard drives (40GB and above), providing users an avenue for archiving important footages. The port also doubles as an input for playing back various multimedia files. It's compatible with portable thumbdrives and memory card readers, covering just about all major audio-visual formats ranging from MP3 to JPEG and DivX.

LG has not forgotten to beef up the visual performance, too. Like the rest of its 2007 models, the 42LB5RT is using a Super-In Plane Switching LCD panel renowned for its extended viewing angle and strong color reproduction. And for a converged device, its paper specifications are pretty impressive and even better than the recently launched LC7-series. For the record, that's 10,000:1 for dynamic contrast and 500cd/m2 for brightness. Summing it all up, we have a fast 5ms response time which guarantees ghosting-free pictures and a wide 178-degree viewing angle.

We can go on and on reciting its long list of credentials but let's narrow this down to some of those that really matter. As with its predecessor, LG is pairing its proprietary XD Engine video processor with a videophile-grade Faroudja DCDi chip. This performs, among others, deinterlacing duties and has a reputation for suppressing jaggies onscreen. To go with the latest HD players, 1080p signal handling is supported via HDMI and component-video sockets. We are not just talking about the standard 50 and 60Hz flavors, but also the film-centric 24Hz mode.

Cons

So far so good, but here's the catch. Though you can copy your recordings onto an external hard drive, these cannot be accessed by a computer. This eliminates any chance of sharing the videos with your family. Not as if there is a possibility to burn the clips onto inexpensive DVD recordables through the former. It's a real pity since it's this close to being a full-fledged DVR and better. Hopefully, LG will consider enabling this capability in gen three.

Other little nitpicks we would like to highlight include a fixed pedestal stand and its rather standard connectivity options. A swivel equivalent would definitely make impromptu adjustment easier, while three HDMIs will be a hard-to-resist icing for those with a collection of compatible A/V boxes. That's provided its price is not inflated for this nice-to-have extra, of course.

Bottomline

LG would have stuck bull's eye if it could have taken just one step further in its USB Backup implementation. Putting that aside, this is quite a competent TV that should stack up well against its regular peers. The S$4,299 (US$2,828.96) pricing may be a bit on the high side if you consider a separate 42-incher and 80GB DVR combination. That said, it's just a couple of hundred dollars more for considerable savings on shelf space.

***

Review
Strengths: Picture Quality Black level Menus/Setup
Weaknesses: Not 1080p Channel Scan (see below) Absolutely nothing else
Summary: Just purchased this TV today to replace a generic 40" LCD. Obviously an upgrade, but this TV is much more than I expected for the price. Plasmas above 50" are still generally quite a bit cheaper than LCDs, but the picture on this model blew away both LCDs and Plasmas from many competitors costing far more. I have not even yet calibrated and it is already an amazing picture right out of the box. HD-DVDs also look amazing via HDMI, but I haven't had much time to play around with it yet. Looking forward to watching a movie with the lights way down to truly appreciate the deep dark blacks and vibrant colors.

The screen itself looks like it might suffer from heavy fingerprints if you have children and tends to reflect a fair amount of ambient light. This last issue could be a problem in a very well-lit room or near a large window.

The menus are easy to navigate and intuitive, placing all necessary controls within easy reach. The remote may be slightly larger than necessary, but is easy to use and has great range. The built in speakers sound pretty good for on-board speakers. They are rated at 2 X 10W but sound better than most and not so tinny. They are also very thin and not at all obtrusive at along the bottom edge.

The only problem I have experienced thus far is that the auto channel scan would not detect all available channels on standard cable. I was able to manually add all channels, but it was quite a waste of time. I shouldn't have to rescan any time soon, so it's not that big of a con, but still worth noting.

Overall an excellent choice if you don't need 1080. No major complaints after one day of ownership, I will update in the future after using the product for awhile. I would recommend this to just about anyone looking for a great TV for a great value.