Playing PC games used to be tough. It was a pain to keep track of all of your CDs and your product keys. Once you found the CD and its key you would then need to track down the latest patch on a file site. That was before Steam was on the scene. Valve Software, developers of games such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2, developed Steam in 2003.

Steam is a digital distribution system that allows you to purchase and manage your games from any PC and now even on your Mac. You no longer need to worry about finding your CDs or keys. They are all now tied to your Steam account and you can download them to any system you own with the Steam software installed.  There is some limitation to this system however. The lists of games on Steam that you can use your retail CD keys for are limited. If you already own the game and your game is not on the list, you will have to purchase the game again through Steam to take advantage of Steam’s features.

Steam is much more than a digital game store. It also automatically updates your games as soon as content is posted.  Now you no longer need to wonder if you are currently playing the latest version or if you have all of the latest official maps.

Steam also integrates its own social network called Steam Community, a place for all gamers to come together. Users have their own profile page, enabling their friends to see what they are up to and what kind of progress they are making in their game. Outside of the profile, cross game, in-game chat is also available along with out of game chat.

Despite the limitation on adding your existing game library, I still highly suggest steam for any PC gamer. It doesn’t matter if you play once a week or every night of the week. Steam has something to offer for casual gamers to the most hardcore.

http://store.steampowered.com/

While they’ve been around for over five years, solid state drives are only beginning to start to get mainstream recognition as a viable alternative to traditional hard drives. Many techies tout the solid state drive, or the SSD, as being the future of hard drives. While the public has embraced the USB flash drive, it has yet to warm up to the SSD. Most don’t even know the differences between the two drive types, but as prices drop and size constraints increase, it’s worth the time to take a look at the pros and cons of these storage devices.

Basics

While a typical hard drive runs off of a magnetic, round disk much like a record, a solid state drive has no movable parts and runs off a solid one piece semiconductor. With the lack of moving parts, a solid state drive is less likely to break through normal wear and tear, which makes it a popular plug-in storage drive on laptops, notebooks, and netbooks. Hard drives, with their needle and record style of memory reading and writing, have a tendency to skip over normal wear and tear. The jostling that occurs in most mobile computing devices can also wear a hard drive down faster than that of a solid state drive, which does very well in more extreme environments, especially when it comes to heat.

Size
When it comes to hard drives, they can pack more storage space in a smaller package. A typical laptop sized hard drive can store up 160 GBs of information or more, while a comparable SSD can fit only 32-64 GBs. While this is a good size for those who compute on the go, anyone who is looking for some serious storage or using their laptop as their primary computing device will probably need much more space for their programs, files, and documents.

Speed

One way in which SSDs come out on top is speed. Since it doesn’t need to sit around and wait for the “needle” of the hard drive to be read, a solid state drive can recover and bring up information at blazing speeds. The persnickety nature of a hard drive’s magnetic disk, too, makes it harder for it to keep up with the SSD, as the grooves of the storage disk can wear down, making it slow even further. With the SSD’s information being all in one piece, nothing can physically wear down through normal use, meaning slow down over time just doesn’t happen.

Price

The biggest disadvantage the solid state drive has is price. Much like all new technology, the SSD is still evolving and advancing. While the hard drive has had decades to evolve technologically, allowing prices to come down on equipment, the SSD is still relatively new. Prices have gone down comparatively since the introduction of the solid state drive, but it still is more expensive per GB than a hard drive. The price difference has kept some manufacturers away from integrating them into their discount laptops, despite the longer life and speed of an SSD.

So, is it worth it?

If you’re looking exclusively for price, then a hard drive might have the upper hand. However, those looking for a faster, lighter, and more durable drive that’ll keep their information safe from a dreaded hardware failure should consider an EDGE SSD drive.

Here at EDGE we are really excited to see some good publicity for Dmailer Backup Software because we also think it’s great software and that more people need to be using!

So what is Dmailer?

Dmailer Backup is FREE backup software for your PC or Mac and includes a FREE 2GB Dmailer Online backup account for additional storage. Dmailer Backup is perfect for backing up photos, videos, music files and all of your other important documents.

Check out some of the recent publicity Dmailer has been getting!

“Dmailer is well worth a look. It offers 2GB of free online storage that you can access from any Internet connection. The pay plans are competitive as well, so if you need to upgrade, there’s little to complain about.”

More Press

In fact, we think it’s so great; Dmailer is included on all of our non push button hard drives and backup flash drives. Check them out!

DiskGo 2.5″ Ultra Portable Hard Drive

The DiskGO™ by EDGE® Portable Hard Drive is the perfect storage solution for users on the go. Boasting capacities of up to 500GB, there is easily enough storage for all of your photos, videos, MP3s, documents, and more.

Its rugged aluminum case is both stylish and functional, providing cooling and durability. A built-in USB cable supplies power eliminates the need to carry extra cables when on the go.

DiskGO Backup USB Flash Drive

Similar in size to a quarter, the DiskGO™ by EDGE® USB Flash Drive is an ideal storage solution for clutter-conscious users.

The unique sliding design conceals the USB connector when not in use, eliminating the risk of losing a cap like traditional USB flash drives. The thin, stackable design allows for easy insertion and removal into awkwardly placed USB ports.

A key ring is securely fastened to the flash drive, making it easy to attach to a set of keys for safe keeping.

If you would like to learn more about Dmailer Backup Software or download it, visit their website at http://www.dmailer.com

Our DiskGO 2.5” Portable Hard Drive is the perfect storage solution for anyone on the go. With capacities from 80GB to 500GB, there is easily enough storage for all of your photos, videos, MP3s, documents, and more.

It comes in a rugged aluminum case which is both stylish and functional, providing cooling and durability. A built-in USB cable supplies power eliminates the need to carry extra cables when on the go.

Dmailer Backup, powerful data backup software, comes standard on the drive. Users can create an encrypted profile and set redundant file backups to the portable hard drive; it is also possible to archive past versions of files as they become modified for access at a later time. Using Dmailer Backup, users can back up files to a personal online cloud*. Files stored in the cloud can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet using a simple, search-engine style interface. Dmailer Backup requires no installation and is both Mac and PC compatible.

Protect precious data from accidental loss and assist with disaster recovery with the DiskGO Portable Hard Drive.

* Store up to 3GB of data online free for 30 days. Unlimited amounts of online storage available for a yearly subscription.

Specs:

• Size:5.2″ (L) x 3.3″ (W) x 0.6″ (H) – easily fits in your pocket!
• Weight:0.4 lbs (product only); 0.8 lbs (boxed product)
• Power Source:USB powered
• Interface:USB 2.0 (backward compatible to USB 1.1)
• Disk Speed:5400 RPM
• Transfer Rate:Up to 480Mb/s (depending on connection)
• Compatibility:Windows 2000+; Mac OS X+
• Warranty:Three-year warranty
• Support:Toll-free technical support
• What’s In The Box:2.5″ Ultra Portable Hard Drive, USB extension cable, and installation guide

Buy Now!