ZOTAC Zone Handheld Gaming Device

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This handheld gaming system, the ZOTAC Zone, is a bit larger than some might want, but that’s the price to pay for great screen and powerful system.  If you look at FPS comparisons, this device is doing pretty good.  ZOTAC has certainly gained praise over the years for some of their products, especially in the video card sector, so let’s wish them success here.  Unfortunately for ZOTAC their software lags behind their peers but at least that is an area they can approve.

Key specifications:

  • AMD Ryzen 7 8840U
  • AMD Radeon 780M GPU
  • 16GB LPDDR5X RAM
  • 512B NVMe SSD
  • 7in, 1920×1080, 120Hz AMOLED
  • 2x USB-C ports, 1x 3.5mm, 1x microSD
  • 285x115x35mm
  • $799

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Lenovo Thinkbook Plus: What Is This???

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I normally don’t put three question marks in a title, but you have to admit this new screen is kind of funky.  Good for Lenovo for innovating.  Time will tell how useful this is, but we’re always happy to see companies actually doing something new or different.  Now the market will decide if this feature is useful.

About this crazy new feature, from Lenovo’s website:

By vertically expanding from a compact 14-inch display to a generous 16.7 inches by simple press of a dedicated key or through hand gestures to the camera, users gain nearly 50% additional screen space in a portable form factor, making it ideal for business users who need flexibility and efficiency on the go. This rollable feature allows professionals to adapt the screen size based on task demands, from document editing to data analysis and presentations, all while maintaining an ultra-slim 14-inch laptop footprint with a 19.9mm profile and weighing just 1.7kg.

Coming in June of 2025 and for $3500, this is not a cheap laptop.  Key specifications include:

  • 14-16.7 inch OLED display (120 Hz)
  • Up toIntel Core Ultra 7 processor (Series 2)
  • Intel Arc Xe2 GPU
  • Up to 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
  • Up to 32GB LPDDR5x-8533, dual channel
  • 66 WH battery
  • 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, 3.5 mm jack

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UGREEN NASync iDX6011 and iDX6011 Pro AI NAS

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We’re not sure what the advantage of having a LLM (AI) built into your NAS, since the hadware will limit that LLM’s capabilities.  But hey, why not, right?

UGREEN has become yet another company to throw their hat into the NAS ring.  And while these new companies may be able to undercut competitors on price the real question becomes how well does their software perform.  A NAS with bad software is a very big problem.  It’s worth paying for better software, or even using lesser hardware, if the software is stable and efficient.

We were suprised to see the processor used as per UGREEN’s website:

The NASync iDX6011 is powered by the Intel® Core™ Ultra 5 Processor 125H, featuring 14 cores, 18 threads, and a turbo frequency of 4.5GHz. It delivers exceptional AI performance with three major AI engines: CPU, GPU, and NPU, providing a combined computing power of up to 34 TOPS. This ensures high efficiency across a wide range of AI applications.

The 6011 Pro will be equipped with the “latest” Intel Core Ultra Processor, whatever that means exactly.

There will be six HDD bays and two M.2 NVMe slots.

We don’t have any prices yet.  An interesting offering though.

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Synology DP320 NAS

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Synology is well established as a NAS maker and they’re frequently recommended as a solution that while not the cheapest “just works”.  And sometimes “just works” is worth paying for.

This device caught our eye as it’s not using Synology’s standard DSM operating system but instead is using their ActiveProtect system.  What this really means is that your NAS is now limited to the purpose of backing-up your data.  That may sound like a strange statement to focus on, since that is a primary function of a NAS.  But do not underestimate the other purposes and functions a NAS gets used for.  A NAS is a computer, after all, and can be used for an infinite number of other purposes, even when the processor and other specs are relatively weak.

The Synology DP320 NAS features:

  • 2 HDD bays
  • AMD R1600 (2 cores)
  • 8GB of RAM
  • 1 x 1GbE RJ-45 Port (Management)
  • 1 x 1GbE RJ-45 Port (Data transfer)
  • 3-Year warranty

The benefits of limiting the functionality of the device is that it should be able to do the job it’s assigned better, and more simply.  This does seem to be what Synology accomplished, to at least some extent.  So we cannot totally disagree with this approach but we do prefer the flexibility that the DSM operating provides.

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Lincstation S1 and N2 NAS

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Don’t confuse the Lincstation’s with the Buffalo LinkStation.  That is a bit of unfortunate naming.  This is from a newer company who crowdfunded initially and successfully which has led to this second generation of devices.  The hardware appears decent for its purpose and the price reasonable, so we actually hope that companies like this success with their offerings.

Key specifications:

Model LINPLUS S1 LINCPLUS N2
CPU Intel Alder Lake-N N97 Intel Alder Lake-N 100
OS UnRAID UnRAID
Memory DDR5 SODIMM, 8G On-board LP DDR5, 16G
Storage (0S) 128G eMMC 128G eMMC
Storage (SATA) 4-bay, SATA3.0 port, supports 3.5-inch HDD and 2.5-inch HDDs/SSDs 2-bay, SATA3.0 port, supports 2.5-inch HDDs within a 9.5mm thickness
Storage (m.2 NVMe) 2-bay, M.2 port, supports M.2 2280 SSD, NVMe protocol 4-bay, M.2 port, supports M.2 2280 SSD, NVMe protocol
USB Ports 2x USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2x USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0 Type-A 1x USB Type-C, 2x USB 2.0 (Full function, 10G), 1x USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
HDMI 1x HDMI 2.0, Type A 1x HDMI 2.0, Type A
RJ45 2x RJ45 (2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Controller) 1x RJ45 (10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller)

 

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Minisforum N5 Pro NAS

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The Minisforum N5 Pro NAS has specifications far more advanced than we’re used to see in a NAS.  It will feature AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 370 Strix Point processor, it can be equipped with up to 96GB of ECC RAM, a 10 GbE LAN port, and it has PCIe 4.0 x4 connections (internal and OCuLink port for external connections).  This could be not only your NAS but your home server as well.  It’s nice to have companies challenging QNAP and Synology as their products sometimes feel a bit overpriced.

However, competing with the likes of Synology on the software side is a whole other matter and no easy task.  Many of the less established NAS companies fall far short when trying to provide a total NAS experience because they don’t have the years of experience nor funding that the larger companies have.  And this truly matters in the NAS experience because if the software isn’t flawless it can create major problems including data loss.

We’re very happy to see the competition heating up.

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Lenovo Legion Go 2

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Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 is looking pretty damn good as a handheld gaming device.  Let’s start with the screen: 8.8-inch, 1600p, 144hz, OLED, and VRR.  What more could you want?

It uses the new and excellent AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme mobile CPU, features 32gb of of 7500MHz LPDDR5X RAM, various storage size options, and a larger battery.  Unless you want something smaller and more portable, we expect this device to be a hit.

Unfortunately it seems like this device will come later in the year than the Lenovo Legion Go S which will likely ship in May.

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Legion Go S

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Lenovo has shown us their Legion Go S featuring an 8-inch display, Ryzen Z2 Go processor, and 512GB storage.  Priced at $499 for the Steam OS version and $599 for the Windows 11 version, this appears to be a promising handheld as long as its somewhat less powerful (but efficient) processor meets all of your gaming needs.

It is true that the Legion Go has better specifications but that makes sense as the S version is the lite version.

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AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 Video Cards

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AMD announced the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 video cards featuring their new RDNA 4 architecture.  These cards are aimed at the market of the 4070 Ti Super and the 4070 Ti/4070.  These could be the best value gaming cards depending on how AMD prices them. Anything that puts price pressure on Nvidia’s cards is a good thing so we’re hoping that AMD does the right thing here.

But even if AMD doesn’t offer a very competitive price, early indications suggests that their 9070 XT beats NVIDIA’s RTX 4080 SUPER In TimeSpy Extreme.  That is impressive if true.

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Nintendo Switch 2

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The Nintendo Switch was released on March 3, 2017.  That’s 7 years and 10 months ago.  That’s a long time to wait.  An announcement from Nintendo about the new Switch is expected within the first quarter of this year and the actual shipping of the console will be in May or June.  Some leaks have even suggested there will be some kind of teaser coming out tomorrow, January 16th.

The officially confirmed facts are that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be backwards compatible with original Nintendo Switch games and it will have Nintendo Switch Online.

We have seen $399 thrown around as the price but that appears to be speculation.

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