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If you're looking to upgrade your PC speakers, we have a sweet giveaway this week, a set of Altec Lansing Expressionist Ultra MX6021 PC speakers.
We recently reviewed this 2.1 rig and came away impressed, giving the Ultra a four-star "excellent" rating. These Altec speakers really deliver a lot of bass and good, detailed sound for the money.

Normally, the Expressionist Ultra PC speakers would cost around $200, but you have the chance to get them gratis.
So, how do you try to win the Expressionist Ultra speakers? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.
Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again.
Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated.
Leave only one comment. You may enter this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified.
The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive (1) Altec Lansing Expressionist Ultra PC speakers. Approximate retail value is $200.
If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
Entries can be submitted until Monday, March 15 at 12 PM EST.
And here's the disclaimer that our legal department said we had to include (sorry for the caps, but rules are rules):
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENT OF ONE OF THE 50 UNITED STATES OR D.C., 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, ALL U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sweepstakes ends at 12 PM EST on March 15, 2010.

Consumer Reports on Wednesday published results of its latest survey on the best and worst companies for computer tech support.In January, the survey asked 7,000 subscribers who owned a laptop or desktop computer to rate their computer manufacturer in several categories: problem solved; phone waits; phone staff; and online support.

For laptop computers, Apple scored 86 out of a possible 100. That's 23 points above its nearest competitor, Lenovo, which scored a 63. In fact, Apple scored the highest in each of the Consumer Reports categories.
Rounding out the list after Apple and Lenovo are Toshiba (60), Dell (56), HP/Compaq (53), and Acer/Gateway/eMachines (39).
Apple actually did better for desktops than it did for laptops, according to the data. The company scored an 87 out of a possible 100 for its desktop tech support, once again leading its competitors in every category.
Apple's nearest competitor, Dell, was 32 points behind with a score of 55 for desktop tech support. HP/Compaq was third with 53 and Acer/Gateway/eMachines finished last with 39 points. The full results of the survey are only available to subscribers of Consumer Reports.

Nowadays, many media recording and playback devices, such as camcorders, TVs, DVRs, and Blu-ray players, use external storage devices for storage. If you own one of those and wonder which storage device is most compatible with it, Western Digital might have what you're looking for.

The company announced Wednesday the new My Passport AV portable media drive that's designed to store digital content for digital media players and recorders. According to company representatives, the new drive "delivers the formatting and low-power consumption that assures out-of-the-box compatibility with many leading consumer electronics devices."
WD assures that the My Passport AV portable media drive has been tested to operate seamlessly with the Direct Copy feature offered in Sony's new Handycam video recorders. Direct Copy lets Handycam users archive HD video directly to a USB external storage device without a computer, creating room for more videos when the camcorder's internal storage becomes full.
The video stored on the My Passport AV can then be played back using either Sony's latest Blu-ray players or any other digital players, such as the WD TV or WD TV Live. WD says that not all models of the Handycam and Blu-ray players are supported by the My Passport AV, though most of them are. A list of supported devices can be found at WD's Web site.
Other than that, the new My Passport AV shares a similar design with other My Passport portable hard drives that WD has released before, such as the My Passport Studio. It comes with only one USB 2.0 port, which serves as both a data and a power connection.
The My Passport AV external hard drive is available now in a 320GB capacity and costs $110.

Owners of the TiVo digital video recorder and a Windows Home Server-based NAS server from HP, I have some good news.HP announced Wednesday the free HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo.

This is a software application that lets the TiVo DVR use the storage of HP MediaSmart servers, such as HP MediaSmart Server EX495, to storage and manage TV recordings.

The MediaSmart EX495 NAS server from HP.
(Credit: CNET)
More specifically, according to HP, the software allows TiVo owners to:
Transfer shows from a TiVo DVR to a HP MediaSmart Server and back to a TiVo DVR.
Manage TiVo recordings stored on a HP MediaSmart Server.
Watch TiVo DVR recordings that are stored on a HP MediaSmart Server on any PC within the local network.
This is especially good news for those who have been looking for ways to easily expand the storage capacity of their TiVo DVR.
CNET has reviewed most of MediaSmart NAS servers from HP and found them to be great servers when it comes to throughput performance, especially the EX495 models. This model can also support up to 8TB of internal storage and even more when external devices are used.
The free HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo application is available now and can be accessed through the Windows Home Server Console of the HP MediaSmart Server EX490/EX495 and HP Data Vault.

Though the shipping date for JooJoo, the underdog tablet, was recently pushed back to March 25, manufacturer Fusion Garage isn't letting that time go to waste. It's overhauled the JooJoo's interface, expanded local video playback, and given its backplate a makeover.

Engadget has shots of the tablet's new look, the most striking change being that of the home screen, which now sports a customizable wallpaper with nice, shiny icons. Here's what it looked like when we played with it in December:
(Credit: Gizmodo)
The updates aren't only aesthetic, though. Fusion Garage has streamlined and updated navigation gestures, added a moveable, one-hand on-screen keyboard, and ironed out the multitouch kinks on the full keyboard.

The revamped JooJoo also sports a new silver-ish backplate (as opposed to the old black one) and apparently runs Flash without a hitch.
With the product's somewhat sordid past, it's hard to get too excited about the JooJoo until Fusion Garage actually starts shipping the thing, but these tweaks make it an increasingly attractive alternative to that other tablet that's headed our way in a few weeks. Head to Engadget for more shots of the makeover.
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.

Back in November of last year, we wrote about an upcoming Apple-certified iPhone and iPod Touch solar charger from a company called Novothink. Well, four months later, the Solar Surge charging case, which Novothink is marketing toward "outdoor enthusiasts," is now available for purchase.

As anybody who's tried to charge an electronic device using a solar charger knows, it doesn't juice up the device nearly as quickly as your typical power adapter would. However, Novothink is touting the charging case's capability to provide up to 30 minutes of talk time on a 3G network or 60 minutes on 2G from a "mere" 30 minutes of direct sunlight. Novothink also includes a USB cable to power the Surge on cloudy or rainy days, though you'll obviously need to be near a power source--or a charged-up laptop--to recharge the unit.
In the company's marketing materials, it shows the Surge in an array of colors, but for now anyway, Novothink has released only black and white models that you slip your iPhone or iPod Touch into. The iPhone version retails for $79.95, and the Touch version goes for $69.95.