Digital Home Thoughts.com

How to Destroy a Nikon D90 (and Paint it Magenta)

Jason Dunn — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:00:00 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwZ_RleZ9Bw

Haha...oh wow. There's nothing quite like seeing a perfectly good Nikon D90 get painted pink and essentially destroyed along the way. I have to hand it to Kai from Digital Rev - it takes guts to take apart a DSLR and think you can put it back together again. You've got to watch this video!

Pentax Unveils a 40-megapixel Medium-Format Camera

Jason Dunn — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:00:00 GMT

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1003/1...2pentax645d.asp

"PENTAX Imaging Systems Division is pleased to announce the launch of the PENTAX 645D lens-interchangeable, medium-format digital SLR camera. Thanks to the incorporation of a large image sensor, equal in performance to professional-standard digital camera backs, this high-performance model delivers super-high-resolution images with approximately 40 effective megapixels. It also offers outstanding dependability and superb operability and maneuverability to make outdoor shooting effortless and comfortable for demanding photographers."

Not my kind of camera, but Pentax has done something interesting here by releasing a medium-format camera at under $10,000. dpreview.com has all the specs and details.

HTML5 and Flash in a Video Cage Match

Hooch Tan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:30:00 GMT

http://www.streaminglearningcenter....t-depends-.html

"Since the comparative efficiency of Flash vs. HTML5 seemed easy enough to quantify, I endeavored to do so, using YouTube's new HTML5-based player as the test bed. Specifically, I played a YouTube video in the same browser twice, once via HTML5, once via Flash, and measured CPU utilization during playback."

The results of Streaming Learning Center's tests shuld not be considered exhaustive but it does indicate that HTML5 is an viable all around solution for streaming video to web browsers that support it. The results also show the huge difference between implementations for the Mac version of Flash compared to Windows. I imagine that Linux tests would more closely emulate the results seen on the Mac compared to Windows as well. It should signal to Adobe that it has a lot of work to do in terms of optimizing Flash for OS X and Linux if it wants to remain relevant in today's web. Unfortunately, while Flash also offers a lot of flexibility to allow designers to create more interactive websites more easily, or to develop games, probably the biggest strike against it is that advertisers currently really favor the format as well. Of course, as HTML5 matures and becomes more universally supported, advertisers will begin to design HTML5 based ads, which may end up becoming a horror story in itself.

Digital Copy Codes & Downloads Expire Too Soon

Jason Dunn — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Have you ever seen that screen before? If so, you'll share my frustration. In the instance above, it was the Speed Racer Blu-ray disc I got as part of a promotion when I purchased the piece-of-junk Samsung BDP-1500. It took me a couple of months to watch Speed Racer, but when I did I saw the Digital Copy coupon and went to download it - and was presented the above error. OK, sure, it was my own fault for not getting the download right away - but it was my first purchase of Blu-ray discs and I'd never used digital copy at that point. Last week I bought a regular DVD at Costco, and upon opening the package I saw a digital copy coupon. Cool! I used it the same day I purchased the DVD and guess what? It was already expired. What the heck?

I think digital copy is a great advancement - well, it will be once they get Zune support - but it's frustrating to see the movie companies dangle it out as a carrot then snatch it away after only a few months. Are the bandwidth expenses really so high that they can't offer it for, say, a year after the DVD or Blu-ray comes out?

HP Slate Shows Off Its Ability To Run Flash

Jon Childs — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:00:00 GMT

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/08/...ays-for-a-rock/

"It shouldn't be any surprise that the HP Slate supports Flash, since it runs Windows 7, but we've seen so little of the device since Steve Ballmer first waved it around at CES that we're still totally intrigued by this video from Adobe showing it in action. Yep, there it is, playing video, running casual Flash games, and using AIR applications."

HP just released another video of their forthcoming Slate device, demonstrating its ability to use Flash. This looks like a serious competitor to the iPad in the slate form factor market. HP says that the Flash support will use hardware acceleration so it should be able to handle streaming HD from Youtube and Hulu. It runs Windows 7 so it should support multitasking. It was demoed running the Kindle application so you will have access to the largest ebook marketplace. Only time will tell if it can be a serious competitor to the iPad, but it certainly has a lot of the features that the iPad will lack.

The Logitech Squeezebox Duet: A Powerful But Quirky Network Audio Player

Jason Dunn — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Product Category: Wireless streaming audio player

Manufacturer: Logitech

Where to Buy: Amazon.com [Affiliate]

Price: $333.99 USD

System Requirements: 802.11b/g network or hard-wired Ethernet, and a computer (Windows or Mac OS X) to host the Squeebox software.

Specifications: Available at the Logitech Web site.

Pros:

Powerful audio streaming system capable of many tasks;
Attractive design, small shelf footprint with multiple audio outputs;
Excellent audio quality.

Cons:

Expensive;
Total reliance on WiFi makes for a bumpy experience;
Incompatible with some (most?) 802.11n routers;
Complex setup and overall operation make it for experienced users only.

Summary: The Logitech Squeezebox Duet is a potent combo that makes for a powerful home audio solution for music, podcasts, streaming radio, and more. Unfortunately, because it's such a complex product, it's not overly user friendly. In the many months I've been using it, I've felt like I've had to fix problems with it every other week. It's more like a computer and less like an appliance, with all the dubious reliability implications that statement implies. Still, it has great potential and when it works, it works really well.

I Had It Easy Before

My first experience with a streaming home audio solution was a Roku Soundbridge M2000. I used that product for years, and it was amazingly fast and easy to set up and start using. It detected the music on my network without requiring any extra software. The remote control was a simple tool that used infrared, so changing the volume or pausing the music was immediate - even if it was only line of sight. The remote would run on two AA batteries for six months at a time. The M2000 was as reliable as the clock radio in my bedroom, and I would have kept using it if the shelves I had built for my digital wall project could accommodate it. Unfortunately, it was a very wide piece of hardware and I needed to replace it. I looked at a few different options, and thought that the Logitech Squeebox Duet looked like a compelling alternative. Little did I know I was in for quite the adventure with this product!

Figure 1: My first network music player, the Roku M2000.

When trying to find a solution to some of the troubles I'd have with this product, I came across a quote that summed up my experiences with it perfectly: "...this is not an appliance, it's a science project, albeit a really good one." This couldn't be more true. The Squeezebox is like a buying a chemistry set - you have all the tools to create some really interesting things, but you have to put in some serious work to get what you want...and things might just blow up in your face if you're not careful.

Aiptek Lets You Share Moments On The Big Screen

Hooch Tan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:30:00 GMT

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/08/...720p-camcorder/

"Watch out, Flip, because here's one tough guy that you don't wanna mess with. Joining Aiptek's family of pocket camcorders is the PocketCinema Z20 -- a fine mix of 720p camera (courtesy of a 5 megapixel sensor) and pico projector of an unknown resolution, powered by a two-hour battery (which we'll believe when we see it)."

I like the idea, but I see most of the features provided by the PocketCinema X20 eventually being integrated into phones. Even putting that aside, while I love LED projectors, their lumen output still is really low, and I have doubts about just how bright this little wonder is. Full integrated devices do have to start somewhere, and I imagine Flip and other companies will start offering similar features with better features when the second generation stuff is developed.

Windows Home Server Has It's Own YouTube Channel

Andy Dixon — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:00 GMT

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/wi...be-channel.aspx

"Whenever I'm confused on how to do something and am looking for some help, YouTube is one of the first places I go. Without fail, I can always find some form of video that gives me the answer I need. The Windows Home Server team has also seen the benefits of YouTube, and we thought it would be helpful and fun for our customers if we started making our own videos!"

The Windows Home Server team have announced on their blog that they have created a new channel on YouTube for their videos and tutorials. There are interviews with the WHS team members, overviews of what WHS is, and informational how-to videos. So if you don't have WHS yet and wonder what the fuss it about, or you are looking for a tutorial on how to use and get the most out of WHS, then check out the link.

Dell Offers "Fighting" Optical Drives

Jason Dunn — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:30:00 GMT

http://configure.dell.com/dellstore...studio-xps-8100

I was checking Dell Canada's Web site today (they have a great deal on an XPS system), and got a chuckle out of the fact that they used the wrong word for the secondary optical drive. It should be "dual" not "duel" - unless of course this is some sort of Blu-ray drive that fights on your behalf! Dell, you might want to have someone who can pay attention to detail check things over when you update your Web site. ;-)

Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD Media Player Reviewed

Ron Hostetter — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Product Category: HD Digital Media Player

Manufacturer: Seagate

Where to Buy: Amazon (affiliate link)

Price: $149 USD

In the Box: FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player, Remote Control, 2 AAA Batteries, Component video cable, Composite A/V cable, Ethernet Cable, Power supply, FreeAgent Theater software CD, Quick start guide.

Specifications: Video codecs: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (VOB/ISO), MPEG-4 (DivX/Xvid), DivX HD, Xvid HD, AVI, MOV, MKV, RMVB, AVC HD, H.264, WMV9, VC-1, M2TS, TS/TP/M2T. Video resolutions: TNSC 480i/480p, PAL 576i/576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p. Audio: AAC, MP3, Dolby Digital, DTS, ASF, FLAC, WMA, LPCM, ADPCM, WAV, OGG. Playlists: M3U, PLS. Photo: jPDG files up to 20 megapixels, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF. Output: Composite, Component, HDMI 1.3, Stereo Audio, Optical S/PDIF audio, HDMI 1.3 audio. Ethernet 10/100 mbps, 2 USB 2.0 ports.

Pros:

Easily connects to your TV using a variety of connection types;
Vast codec support;
Internet connected with a variety of content available, and more on the way.

Cons:

Optional wireless adapter difficult to configure;
Primitive user interface;
FreeAgent Go portable hard drive connection seems cumbersome.

Summary: Many companies are rushing to provide a means to make digital content easily accessible in your living room. The FreeAgent Theater+ easily connects to your TV using HDMI (although an HDMI cable is not included) or a variety of other connections, and allows access to your digital media. The Theater+ also provides Internet connectivity to access a limited selection of online content. While the interface leaves a little to be desired, the device performs as advertised, and opens up another avenue for living room entertainment.

Figure 1: The simplistic home screen of the FreeAgent Theater+.

The Death of Physical Media

I’ll admit it – I’m late to the party. I’ve only just recently started ripping my DVD’s for purposes other than loading onto my Zune. Up until now, I’ve been ripping my DVD movies into low-res WMV files so that I can toss them on my Zune and take on the road.

I have an extensive library of DVD’s that I’ve collected over the years for my home theatre. One by one, my DVD players have died, leaving me with no way to enjoy my movie collection. I started ripping my DVD’s using a higher resolution, which allowed me to stream them over my wireless network using my Xbox 360. The Xbox provides an elegant interface that allows me to stream my media from my PC either using Windows Media Center, or simply through browsing my public folder.

Of course, by just ripping the movie to WMV, I lose the extra content that comes with the DVD disc. I’ve been searching for a different and/or better way to access my movie collection, as well as other media on my computer and on the Internet. Enter the Seagate FreeAgent Theater+.

The FreeAgent Theater+ not only allows network connectivity, it is also a dock for a Seagate FreeAgent Go portable hard drive. The Theater+ includes software that performs a sync of your media files to the hard drive. Simply connect the drive to your PC, and the software automatically syncs your content to the drive (you configure what folders to sync). You then plug the drive into the Theater+ and that content is available to view on your TV.

By ripping my DVD’s to an ISO file, the full DVD content is now available using the Theater+. Simply select the ISO file from the Theater+ menu, and it loads instantly (much faster than when using a physical DVD), and all content is available. Now this is the media solution I’ve been looking for!

In addition to video, the Theater+ can also display photos and play music.

While the sync software works adequately, I find this process a bit cumbersome. Why would I want to carry my drive back and forth, when I can simply connect the Theater+ to my network and access all of my content that way?

Networking the Theater+

When I built my house 10 years ago, I had the foresight to wire many of the rooms with CAT5 cable for networking. However, I did not have the foresight to run the cable to where my television is. Because of my built in TV cabinet, it is nearly impossible to run a cable to my television. I decided to try to connect the Theater+ to my wireless network using the optional USB wireless adapter.

The adapter is WiFi N capable, which should provide enough bandwidth to stream my media. However, I was never able to successfully connect to my wireless network. This became especially frustrating. I have two different wireless networks in my house, both of which have rather lengthy passcodes. The process to configure the wireless adapter includes pecking out the passcode using a virtual on-screen keyboard.

Figure 2: While there's not much else that can be done with the on screen keyboard, having to retype my passcode on it after several failed attempts to connect to the wireless network became very frustrating.

After entering the passcode, the Theater+ shows “testing connection” for about 2 minutes and then simply returns to the “Configure Network” screen. No error message, no success message. I attempted to connect to both of my networks on only once was I able to successfully connect. However, the connection was not reliable, and it disconnected after a few minutes.

I gave up on the wireless connection and ran a long cable from my router to the device. After finally getting a successful network connection, I was ready to check out the Internet capabilities of the Theater+.

A little research on the Seagate message boards shows that the wireless issue seems to be related to a firmware update. Some suggest downgrading the firmware on the Theater+ to an older version. The message boards also suggest that a new firmware update is due in the next month or so, so hopefully the wireless issue will be rectified then.

Vivienne Tam Digital Clutch is Refreshed

Chris Gohlke — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:00:00 GMT

http://www.notebooks.com/2010/03/04...ch-hp-mini-210/

"The new HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam Edition, also known as the “Butterfly Lovers” Digital Clutch, will be available for sale on March 19th starting at $599 and if you can’t wait you can call and reserve yours today. In addition to looking good the new HP Mini 210 include s2GB of Ram, an Instant On OS, HP Quicksync to keep important files synced up between your netbook and main computer as well as HP MediaStream for streaming files on the go. Oh yes, and the ability to use the webcam as a “compact mirror” that’s just one click away."

Another pretty stylish laptop for the ladies. When these came out, I had no idea who Vivienne Tam was, but I asked my wife and she did, which I guess is the point. I'd like to see them develop something similar for the male aesthetic.

Watch Out Amazon! The iPad Might Just be a Kindle Killer

Hooch Tan — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:00:00 GMT

http://www.tgdaily.com/mobility-fea...e-reader-market

"“We took a close-up look at the budding e-Reader market and found the iPad is all but certain to have a transformational impact on it going forward. While a handful of e-Reader manufacturers - most prominently Amazon - clearly have a major head start, the survey findings show the iPad is poised to profoundly shake up this market,” explained Paul Carton, Director of Research at ChangeWave."

I for one hope that the iPad is able to put a good dent in Kindle's market. While I am not personally thrilled about the walled garden nature that the iPad offers, the Kindle really is no different. What is more important to me is that there are more large competitors in the ebook market. The problem I see with a single large distributor of ebooks, as convenient as it may be, is that that distributor would have a significant amount of say in what gets published. I recall hearing rumors of how Walmart, what was one of the largest CD distributors in the United States, could have lyrics or the content of CDs changed. Under the guise of being "family friendly" I can understand their rationale, but it means there's a controlling interest in what we are able to access. Sure, we have the Internet to access most anything we want, but when a publisher will only publish a certain version of an ebook because Amazon, or Apple, or whomever says so, I shudder.

Panasonic G2 and G10 Specs Are Leaked

Jason Dunn — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:00:00 GMT

http://photorumors.com/2010/03/04/p...-specs-are-out/

I'm a big fan of my Panasonic GF1 (which reminds me, I really need to shoot that review video), but I know very little about the other DILC cameras in Panasonic's line-up, namely the G1, GH1, and L10. Panasonic is updating the G1 to a G2, and introducing a G10...which is maybe an upgrade to the L10? I frankly find Panasonic's model numbering system baffling, and feel like they're trying to juggling too many models at once. At any rate, Photorumors has the specs on the G2 and G10, so take a peek and see what you think. Without doing a line by line comparison of specs, I'm not sure how they differ from each other actually...

How I Learned to Stop Blocking and Love Ads

Hooch Tan — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:00:00 GMT

http://arstechnica.com/business/new...es-you-love.ars

"My argument is simple: blocking ads can be devastating to the sites you love. I am not making an argument that blocking ads is a form of stealing, or is immoral, or unethical, or makes someone the son of the devil. It can result in people losing their jobs, it can result in less content on any given site, and it definitely can affect the quality of content."

Well, maybe not love ads, but come to accept them as the price to pay for viewing websites I enjoy. A long time ago, I too used ad blockers, but these days, I do not bother. I get the whole idea about ads being annoying and intrusive. They can distract from content, slow down your computer and in some strange way, some would make me feel violated. All I want to do is view a web page, and there is this banner that whenever I accidentally mouse over, it says "Hello!!!!!" When it comes down to it, I see it like a website saying, "Here's some content we think you might find interesting. All we ask is that you see a few ads in return." I think that is a pretty reasonable request. Sites that serve obnoxious ads consistently, I do not visit them for a few months, checking back every so often to see if they have changed their ways. Those sites that keep their ads respectful, I regularly visit. If the content of a site is so good that I want to read it, I figure it is worth the price of a few ads. That is my rationale. What is yours?

Engadget Has the Scoop on Microsoft Courier

Jason Dunn — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:36:00 GMT

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/05/...ictures-and-de/

"We've been dying to know more about Microsoft's Courier tablet / e-book device ever since we first caught wind of it last September, and while our entreaties to Mr. Ballmer went unanswered, we just learned some very interesting information from an extremely trusted source. We're told Courier will function as a "digital journal," and it's designed to be seriously portable: it's under an inch thick, weighs a little over a pound, and isn't much bigger than a 5x7 photo when closed."

Courier is shaping up to be a really interesting product - I was initially pretty hesitant about how real it was when I saw the first leaks, but this is looking pretty legitimate. Engadget says that it will run on Tegra 2, and use the same OS as the Zune HD and Windows phone 7...meaning Windows CE 6 at the base, and a custom UI on top. I think that's fantastic, because Windows 7, as much as I like it, simply isn't made for a great tablet-type experience. Courier on the other hand, seems built to function radically different than any other computing device we've seen - the dual screens and the ability to flick items between the screens is like geek sci-fi. If Courier turns out to be real, it will blow the iPad away in terms of sheer functionality in my opinion. There's so much we don't know yet, but I'm fascinated by what we're seeing - and to lend an air of credibility to this whole thing, one of the videos says it was created at Pioneer Studios...that's the same group at Microsoft that created the Zune HD and Windows phone 7. Interesting, no?

Get Ready for Patch Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and ...

Hooch Tan — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:00:00 GMT

http://www.krebsonsecurity.com/2010...patch-for-that/

"The average Microsoft Windows user has software from 22 vendors on her PC, and needs to install a new security update roughly every five days in order to use these programs safely, according to an insightful new study released this week. The figures come from security research firm Secunia, which looked at data gathered from more than two million users of its free Personal Software Inspector tool."

Having half a dozen computers with a cornucopia of software installed on them makes the result of Secunia's study really hit home. There is rarely a day, let alone five, that I do not have to update this program or that. After much thought and cursing and clicking "next" five thousand times, I have come to the resolution that it is not so much that updates are not unified, but the frequency of them. Yes, a unified update manager (like what Linux distributions like Ubuntu do for most programs) is really handy and useful, but it is the frequency of these updates that bother me. In using my computers for work, each update breaks my workflow, and it makes me understand why Microsoft was pushed to do their updates once a month with certain exceptions. Unfortunately, I do not see a way around this. It is the nature of the beast. Even with a centralized update manager, I would still be facing updates every other day from one program or another. Anyone have a solution that minimizes the disruption updates cause?

Gizmodo Looks At The History Of Sony's Founders

Andy Dixon — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:00 GMT

http://gizmodo.com/5475940/sonys-en...kyline=true&s=i

"To understand Sony, understand its founders, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. Even though both are now gone, their executive dynasty and its haphazard, emotional governance established the model for the Sony of today-even as it holds Sony back. Sony's early years are thick with stories of near disaster tempered by last-ditch recovery. After the Second World War, Japan was rebuilding its infrastructure. Electricity, no longer needed for military factories, was in surplus, and Ibuka and Morita wasted no time in putting together an electric rice cooker and an electric blanket for sale to the Japanese market."

This is quite a nice article from Gizmodo, giving a brief insight in to how Sony was formed, and how the people, their ideas and the technology they developed brought Sony on to the world stage. There is a particular sentence in the article which strikes a chord with me: "The first and primary motive for setting up this company was to create a stable work environment where engineers who had a deep and profound appreciation for technology could realize their societal mission and work to their heart's content.". I have seen this ideal in many of Sony's products over the years, technology that is fantastic and ground breaking, lovingly created by their engineers, and yet perhaps not ready for the real world or even what the public wants. One product which I bought in to which fits this scenario for me is the Sony Aibo. It was the first real home entertainment robot and I absolutely loved it, and still do. The Sony engineers created something which really was amazing at the time and must have cost millions in R&D, yet where is it now? Perhaps Sony is still run in the same way as it was founded after all, what do you think?

DXO Labs Camera Comparison System

Jason Dunn — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:00:00 GMT

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/en.../(brand3)/Nikon

DXO Labs is known for some of the most scientific camera tests in the world; their software is used by many top magazines and Web sites for analyzing camera and lens performance. I stumbled across their comparison page last week and plugged in my three main camera bodies: a Panasonic GF1, Nikon D5000, and Nikon D300. The results were pretty interesting - I wasn't expecting the D5000 to rate higher than the much more expensive D300 in the areas of low-light performance and the overall sensor score. I don't know enough about the data points they're using to generate these scores...what I do know is that I find my D300 infinitely nicer to shoot with than my D5000. Not that there's anything wrong with the D5000 of course, but the D300 is a much more satisfying overall camera experience. Plug in your DSLR (or Micro Four-Thirds) camera and see what DXO Labs has to say about it!

Contest Time, Win a Gomadic Charger !

Jeff Campbell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

http://www.gomadic.com/

The Gomadic chargers are very slick, and we recently did a Quick Look on the 2-in-1 Charger pictured above. If you aren't familiar, the system uses what they call "Tip Exchange" so all you need is one cable and a tip for each device, instead of having to carry around separate charging cables. They pretty much cover every device know to man, or at least it seems that way (the brand list is here).

Now the folks at Gomadic are being generous enough to give away four (4) of their 2-in-1 Charging cables as well as two tips to be chosen by each winner. Since Gomadic has such wide coverage on devices, this is a network-wide contest. To win, all you have to do is go to the Tip Exchange page and pick two of the charging tips you want to go with your 2-in-1 Charger. Post the two numbers along with a reply to this post and you are entered. You MUST post the two tip numbers in your reply or your entry won't be counted.

One post per person, and the contest closes on Friday the 19th of March at 12pm Pacific time, GMT -7. This contest is world-wide with Gomadic providing the shipping. Remember that all first posts in our system are held in moderation, so if this contest entry is your first post, please wait up to 48 hours before getting concerned if your post hasn't shown up yet - it will. Winners will be contacted via private forum message, so have email notifications turned on. Winners will have 72 hours to claim their prize.

AMD Announces 890GX Chipset, New Integrated Graphics

Jon Childs — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

http://www.extremetech.com/article2...,2360822,00.asp

"AMD isn't showing all the cards in its hand yet, but it's now giving us a better idea of the plays it's intending to make. The company officially announced today its new top-of-the-line 890GX chipset and Radeon HD 4290 integrated graphics, which together offer a broad range of support for speed- and visuals-enhancing technologies that may make properly equipped motherboards prime foundations for either home theater or high-end systems."

With its built in Radeon HD 4290, Unified Video Decoder 2, and support for the latest AMD CPUs, these motherboards could be the basis for a nice home theater PC. SATA 3.0 is supported and USB 3.0 is an option for the motherboard manufacturers. If you need serious video performance 2 16 PCIe slots are included so you can pop in two higher end graphics cards. All in all, a nice option from anyone considering an AMD based system.