Last week we took a look at the Sony Vaio VGN-N38E/W laptop. This week we are taking a look at its older brother, the Sony Vaio VGN-N31M/W. This core 2 duo T5300 based system with 1GB of ram and 120GB of hard drive space has upon initial looks great specs for a really good price (£549.99). It comes with all the standards, 802.11gb wifi, Vista Home Premium, a 15.4″ TFT display etc. But how does the Sony Vaio VGN N31M/W do in a review? We find out!

We got this laptop thanks to Play.com, where it already has a customer rating of 4 out of 5 stars so we’re expecting good things from this laptop!

Today, thanks to X Trac Pads, we’re reviewing the MouseGrips v2. We have all been in that situation where you’re playing a game (or even just browsing the web!) and you get sweaty palms, or you’re eating greasy food at the same time and holding onto your mouse can be a bit of a pain. Well that is where these Mouse Grips can help you out. They’re 10 small super grippy bits of rubber that you can stik your your mouse (or joystick, track ball etc) to help with grip. Today here at Techneek we are going to take a look at them and see if they’re worth the money.

Over at tweaknews they have a review of the Steel Series SX Pro Gaming Mousepad Review.

“In the end it comes down to one question: Are you prepared to pay for the best. At a hefty 49.95 Euro (US$70) this is not a product a casual user will be interested in. I personally would never spend that much on a mouse pad but I don’t claim to be an avid gamer either. If you are looking for the best gaming pad money can buy, you’ve found it. If you are looking for good performance at an affordable price, keep looking.”

Techpowerup have a nice write up containing some rather nice photos of the girls at the games convention

After running wild search patterns through the halls of Games Convention Germany we are proud to present you the finest collection of booth babes from Europe’s biggest gaming show. You will find 300 high-res photos to get an impression of what you missed.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/GamesConvention07/Girls

Today we’re taking a look at the Samsung SM226BW 22 inch widescreen monitor.

Mushkin HP-580AP 580W Enhanced Power Supply

Finding a modular power supply that can handle a multi-GPU system can be a little tough, but the Mushkin HP-580AP 580W Enhanced Power Supply seems capable of handling just about any of the latest video cards. And with RailFusion, the system can combine the multiple 12V rails into one if it happens to need more than the 20 Amps provided on a single 12V rail.

Read it @ BigBruin

The AOpen XC Cube Mini MZ915-M is one of the latest small form factor “barebones” systems to be released. If you are after a new computer, and are after something small, this is the ideal choice. The cheapest place online to buy the MZ915-M is from Play.com, which is currently selling it for £249.99 inc vat and delivery.

 All retro gamers will love this Commodore gaming PC. At just £999 (about $2000) from Play.com, for a gaming PC with these great specs it is actually a fantastically cheap price.

Corsair have announced that they are going to be releasing a handy new secure USB 2.0 flash drive.

The “Flash Padlock” Family of secure USB drives went on sale today, from Corsair. Costing $29.99 (about £15) for a 1GB version and $39.99 (£20) for a 2GB version they are more expensive than your typical flash drive, but they have a touch pad security pin system built into it. The pen auto locks whenever removed from a computer, so you never need to remember to lock it.

Source: TechPowerUp!

Laptop prices have come down in price so much in the last few years that slowly more and more households are buying one. One brand that we all (normally) trust is Sony, and their Vaio range of laptops are very respected in the professional world, and some people see them as a status symbol. However Sony are venturing into the budget side of laptops, with their Sony Vaio VGN-N38E/W laptop, which costs just £479.

It has got some very sleek looks - somewhat similar to the Macbooks sexy white outer - and some very reasonable specifications for the price. But how does it actually come up in a review? We find out!