The alaTest Blog

Whether you prefer your media in a lossless FLAC format or as a compressed MP3, your listening experience is only as good as the pair of headphones you’re using. When finding the perfect set of headphones, there are a handful of criteria to base your choice on, such as lightweight hi-fidelity for the audiophile, the mobile convenience of wireless, or sturdy surround sound for the gamer/movie connoisseur.

Read more on Headphones

Everyone does a lot of traveling over the holidays, and likely realized that “Over the river and through the wood” aren’t the best directions to Grandmother’s house; however, with the advent of things like Google Maps, obscure directions are becoming less and less necessary. But even with Google Maps, you still have to write down or print out the directions. That is, unless you have a GPS. Read the rest of this entry »

The Nexus S is Google’s latest flagship Smartphone to run the search giant’s Android operating system. Released on December 16^th in the US and shortly after in Europe, it received many mixed reviews, some denouncing the phone for being less than expected and others praising it as the best Android device yet. All the commotion makes it tough to know if the Nexus S is actually any good. Read the rest of this entry »

Handheld have come a long way, seeing improvements year after year, and 2010 is no exception. Whether you have the Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, or both, there have been some great games released this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Many people purchase the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player that can double as a gaming console, but the PS3 is a gaming console that can double as a Blu-Ray player. This is backed by the huge list of great games available for the PS3. Here’s a look at some of the top PS3 games of the year.

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s no question, Wii titles are among the most popular holiday purchases. Everyone loves Nintendo and think of it as the last of the classic gaming platforms. Xbox is fairly new to the console scene, and PlayStation has since lost the majority of its legacy games. The Wii is the last place for nostalgic gamers to be reminded of the games they grew up with; games that are fun for newcomers as well.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve ever had one of Starbucks’ signature coffee drinks, odds are you’ve had espresso, but what exactly is it? The short answer: it’s just coffee, though made in a very particular manner. For starters, the coffee beans are ground especially fine, almost to the point of a powdered sugar-like consistency. It is then brewed by forcing pressurized hot water through the powdered grounds (as opposed to coffee which allows the hot water simply to flow over the grounds).

Read the rest of this entry »

Just like console games, PC games make great gifts for the holiday season, and even though PC hardware is a bit more expensive than say an Xbox 360, it remains the preferred platform for state of the art games, first person shooters, and strategy games.

PC games are also excellent last minute buys since many of them can be purchased online as a direct download. Read the rest of this entry »