Non-PC Geeks

Ok, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Microsoft released Vista for non-business users at the end of January (about damn time!) Great, right? WRONG! Unless you’re a fan boy, a Microsoft exec, or some complete newbie, there’s ZERO reason to run out and upgrade.

“But, what about all the great new features?” you say… Let’s see…

Increased security model - Hmm… Ok, except part of that increased security means I have to get the heck bugged out of me every time I do something the OS doesn’t think is safe. I have a clue, I don’t need to be hand held 100% of the time. The first thing most people are going to do is turn that crap off, so what good is it then?

And to go along with that, MS has been VERY closed lipped to the security tool makers, not giving them the information they need to make upgraded versions of McAfee or Norton, etc. for Vista. MS claims “It won’t be needed…” Yeah, and I have ocean front property in Kansas I’d like to sell you! I’m stating right now, I’ll be surprised as heck if there isn’t a major Vista virus out and running in the wild by April 1st. Oh, but we don’t need Virus Protection Software, right Bill?
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Are you one of those gamers that wants total immersion in your gaming experience? Do you find yourself cranking the volume up on your sound system so you can not only hear, but feel every explosion, gunshot, punch, and engine rev? Do you frequently get yelled at by your roommate, parents, neighbors (or police!) because of the reverberation of your subwoofer penetrating the walls? Then the Buttkicker gamer is your salvation! The Geeks got our hands on one of these babies and have been very impressed to say the least.

Initially, like you probably are right now, we were skeptical. “How is this any different than using my subwoofer?” In principle, it’s not – The Buttkicker is driven off the subwoofer output on your computer’s sound card, or the audio out jack on your console game system, and it picks up those signals and translates them into movement. The difference is in how it does that translation. Where a subwoofer uses the energy to move a speaker cone to push air in an undirected way, the buttkicker drives a transducer that is attached directly to your chair. So, rather than pushing air all around the room and blasting the walls with sonic energy, all of the power is sent directly through your seat (and thus your body.) How much energy? How about 100 Watts blasted right at you! In addition, because the Buttkicker doesn’t produce any sound (aside from the movement of the transducer itself in it’s housing, and the humming of your chair) you won’t be bothering people in the next room (or if you’re like me, in the next house!) You can even use the Buttkicker in conjunction with headphones so you can still hear AND feel your game quietly.
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In case you’re thinking this is just another hardware blog, think again. The main authors are opinionated, have an inordinate amount of experience with more hardware than us mere mortals can even imagine, and are not afraid to tell it like it is, no matter who the vendor is. No matter what other reviewers may so. Get the title of the blog now? Good.

No 7 page reviews here. We get down to the bottom line quickly. Want to know what we think of product X, company Y or hardware combo Z? Drop us a line.