Inside CNET Labs Podcast

Just how much will Microsoft Surface cost?

Recently the Internet at large and tech sites in particular (including CNET) jumped on the "news" that a Swedish retail site had the skinny on the supposed retail price of the Microsoft Surface tablets.

Thankfully, and after only a few hundred forums and comment spaces exploded, calling for the head of Steve Ballmer, the Swedish site in question responded, clarifying that it came up with the price on its own, with no inside knowledge from Microsoft.

Typical weekday Internet confusion birthed from a lack of facts and no desire to actually seek any out. If nothing else, the ordeal left me with one primary thought: "Wow, I'm glad I'm off today and don't have to cover that story." However, my secondary thought was closer to, "With less than three months before the purported release of the RT version of the tablet, we still don't have an actual price from Microsoft."… Read more

Home networking explained, Part 1: Here's the URL for you

Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series and was updated on February 13, 2013, to add information about hubs, switches, and the new 802.11ad Wi-Fi standard. For the other parts, check out the related stories.

As the guy who reviews networking products, I generally receive a couple of e-mails from readers a day, and most of them, in one way or another, are asking about the basics of networking (as in computer to computer, I am not talking about social networks here.)

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate e-mails because, at the very least, it gives me the impression that there are real people out there amid the sea of spam. But I'd rather not keep repeating myself. So instead of saying the same thing over and over again in individual e-mails, I'll talk all about home networking basics, in layman's terms, in this post.… Read more

Tablets with the best screens

The importance of a tablet's screen quality cannot be understated. The vast majority of your interactions with a given tablet takes place on its screen.

This year we've continued to see tablet screen quality jump by leaps and bounds, especially from the perspective of clarity. Expect tablet screens to at least maintain the current level of quality for the next year.… Read more

Top monitor values under $300

Unless you have a strict, $200 maximum budget when purchasing your next monitor, there's a good chance you'll be at least a bit excited about the following list.

Sure, $300 is no amount of money to sneeze at, but in the grand scheme of devices that allows your computer to visually communicate with you, it could be a lot higher.… Read more

CNET tablet battery life results

Editor's note:This list was originally posted on July 25 and is updated regularly.

Battery life testing is one of the last evaluations we subject tablets to at CNET Labs, but by no means is it the least valued. How long you can use your tablet is nearly as important as what it is you do while using it.

Our CNET labs testing standards ensure that all tablets, regardless of size, color, or operating system, are tested as close to equally as possible. Details on how we test tablets are included below the testing results chart. We've also … Read more

OWC announces SSD uprades for MacBook Air

It's generally easy to upgrade your computer to a standard solid-state drive (SSD) as long as your computer supports the standard 2.5-inch hard-drive design. The MacBook Air, however, doesn't, so most people are stuck with the machine's relatively limited stock storage.

OWC announced today the OWC Mercury Aura Pro SSD, which is designed specifically for 2012 MacBook Airs. Instead of the standard design, the new SSD comes in the same design as those used inside the supported Air; it's shaped more like a stick of system memory than a hard drive.

OWC says the Mercury … Read more

Top 5 NAS servers: Serious storage for advanced home networks

In a nutshell, a network-attached storage server is an external storage device, like an external hard drive, but instead of plugging it directly into a computer, via a USB or a Thunderbolt port, you plug it into a switch or a router, via a network cable. The main benefit of a NAS server is that its storage is available to the entire network, meaning all computers on the network can access the same storage space at the same time.

In reality, an advanced NAS server can do much more than that, such as streaming its contents to network media players, hosting Internet-based services such as personal clouds, acting as a centralized server for a business, and even being a video recorder for your TV programs or surveillance cameras, and all at the same time. Think of it as a real server, minus a mouse, keyboard, and a monitor. Instead, you control it via a Web interface.

Advanced NAS servers are generally not for novices, but they don't require years of training, either. In fact, if you are comfortable with computers and the Internet, and have an interest, you can easily figure one out after having invested some time, of course. And you really want to figure it out since the return is huge.

Following is a list of the five best NAS servers that I have reviewed in recent years. This list is sorted based on the amount of drive bays and review dates and updated on a regular basis as more servers are reviewed.… Read more

Top five portable drives: Mobile storage redefined

When you think of a portable storage device, you think of something that can be plugged into a computer's port to provide extra storage space. Well, that's true for the most part, but some can offer more, such as really fast speeds, a lot of storage, a convenient backup solution, or a built-in mobile media server that works even when not plugged in.

Here are the best portable drives currently on the market and they collectively offer all the goodies mentioned above, as well as something I personally find important: sexiness. They are sorted in the order in … Read more

Synology's DiskStation Manager 4.1 OS goes beta

Synology announced today that version 4.1 of its DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system (firmware) for DiskStation NAS servers, such as the DS1511+ or the DS712+, is now in beta state. This means the final update will be available in a month or so.

DSM has been one of the main reasons why Synology NAS servers are the best among network-attached storage devices, thanks to its vast amount of features and robust and easy-to-use interface.

The new version offers some major additional features to the already feature-rich OS, including a Video Station and mobile apps for Windows Phone 7. The … Read more