Driving a BMW isn’t your typical driver experience. These cars carry years of a tradition in excellence behind them, and once you discover this for yourself, you will see just how correct this reputation is. Visit your local Agoura BMW Dealers and take one of these cars for a test drive. You won’t be disappointed.

Those behind the designing of an Agoura BMW take their designs incredibly seriously. A whole squad of people are always on the lookout for new and innovative new ways to enhance the looks, technology, and safety features of their cars.

BMW’s are purposefully designed to have increased aerodynamics, as provable by the huge numbers of racing trophies BMW has under its belt. An example of this forward way of thinking is the front spoiler. This spoiler keeps air from rushing under the car, something which drastically slows you down. Simply the shape of one of these cars is made to reduce air drag. With air able to flow smoothly over and around the car, you don’t need to worry about anything holding you back. This features also makes it easier to conquer sharp turns and maneuvers.

BMW has many unique features that are exclusive to their vehicles. One of these features is the Hofmeister Kink. This feature is located on the side rear windows of a BMW where these windows are separated from the rear glass, and it is said to allude to the rear wheel drive used by these cars. Named after Willhem Hofmeister, a designer at BMW, it originally made its debut in 1961, and it is still seen on BMW’s today.

The kidney grille is one more recognizable feature of these cars. As another particular feature to recognize a BMW by, it has become a trademark for the company. They debuted in 1933 as a way to help increase the aerodynamics of the vehicles.

The quad headlights are yet another part of a BMW that makes them so recognizable. This feature has only been recognized relatively recently, coming out in the 1980′s. However, many new BMW’s still bear this traditional “four-eyed” visage.

The “Roundel” – the circular logo of a BMW – is probably one of the most famous symbol of a BMW. The story behind this symbol is still being disputed. However, many believe that it shows white airplane propellers slicing through the bright blue sky. This story does carry some credibility, as BMW was first a manufacturer of motors for airplanes. The years of tradition and excellence are also represented by this logo, as BMW is always the forerunner when it comes to new technologies for your vehicle. Looking for ways to enhance your driving experience is something that BMW does best.

The personality of every Agoura BMW Dealers makes driving them an experience unlike any other. Driving shouldn’t be something you dread doing. Instead, it should be a fun activity. Getting behind the wheel of the right car is the first step in transitioning your driver experience from boring to thrilling. Individuality is a quality that the manufacturers of BMW’s always cherish, and if you are looking for a way to stand out on the road, visit your local Orange County BMW Service and test drive one today.

***SPOILER WARNING*** Final Boss: Wizeman Game: NiGHTS Journey of Dreams System: Nintendo Wii Player: Coolmatt49 This is the final boss (Will’s Dream) to NiGHTS Journey of Dreams for the Nintendo Wii. Also in this video is the secret ending that you get when you get at least a “C” rank on all the missions. Enjoy!
Video Rating: 4 / 5

DirecTV will be among the first television providers to offer ESPN 3D. The channel launches this June, and DirecTV will place it alongside two other 3D channels, a 24/7 pay-per-view channel and a movies on-demand channel.

This is a markedly different approach from, say, Verizon’s FIOS, which said that it will only add 3D channels when it feels like it. If I can find an extra $2,000+ (spoiler: I can’t) then it’s good news for me, being a DirecTV subscriber. (I only get Internet service via Cablevision, which already broadcast the country’s first 3D sports event last week in the Islanders v. Rangers at the Garden.)

And as much as it sounds like a broken record, the defining 3D TV moment will be this year’s World Cup. I fully expect people who have zero interest in the sport to at least be curious to check out what it looks like. Hopefully Best Buy and so forth will have the 3D matches on display.

As an aside, I will say how hilarious it is that DirecTV has announced 3D channels before it decides to carry Fox Soccer Channel in HD. Sorta lame.

As a lover of cars I spend a more than average amount of time making sure that my car is in the correct shape and running condition. As winter closes in, the main focus for car drivers is to ensure that their vehicle is ready to manage with the changing weather conditions thrown up by the up coming months. As I am currently running a sports car the main concern for me is visibility so the main point of topic are headlights and Wiper Blades.

During the winter in England you will come across a wide mixtureof weather conditions including snow, fog and ice so the importance of visibility in these conditions is paramount to the safety of yourself and others on the road. The visibility in my sports car is not great as it is low to the ground, and the rear windscreen is partly blocked by the spoiler, so the front windscreen is of great importance.

I have four xenon headlamps fitted to the front spoiler and bumper and high performance Wiper Blades fitted to the windscreen. It took me a while to find the correct Windscreen Wipers to fit my car, although I paid a bit more than I thought I was going too, the high performance Wiper Blades that I got are excellent. If you’re your present Wiper Blades are worn, cracked or rigid with age, they will not adequately remove rain, grime and other debris that can obscure motorists’ vision through the winter months. If the Wiper Blades are sufficiently deteriorated, the metal Wiper Blades frame could contact and permanently damage the windscreen. Where mud or other debris is being thrown up on the windscreen, a good spray of the proper type of windscreen washer fluid will aid the Windscreen Wipers in removing containments.

The life of a rubber insert is typically six to twelve months depending on its exposure to heat, dirt, sunlight, acid rain and ozone. Streaking and chattering are common evidence that the rubber is breaking down and needs replacement. There is an alternative material instead of using rubber and that is silicone which has a much stronger texture and will last twice the time of ordinary rubber Wiper Blades. Check the washer fluid reservoir monthly and more often if the washers are used frequently. Top it up with a washer solution formulated to aid in the removal of insects and other debris. During the winter, be sure to use a product with appropriate antifreeze protection.

Update: The app no longer censors tweets. Good, because that was the most ridiculous thing ever.

Oh now this is exciting. Microsoft released a Twitter application for the Zune HD a few moments ago, and I’ve been tasked with testing it out for your edification. Spoiler: it works, it’s buggy, and I can’t see the sense in using it.

Installation was not easy. Oh, sure, loading up the Zune software and navigating to the appropriate section was simple enough, and syncing the application was as expected, but my Zune HD wouldn’t connect to the Internet for whatever reason. An error message popped up saying “Disconnect your Zune HD from the computer before trying to connect to a wireless network.” To that effect, at least. (Strike one.)

Well, Mr. Zune software, I’m holding the device in one hand and the USB cable in another. The Zune, in fact, is disconnected from my PC. This is not how to get on my good side, especially as I was interrupted watching Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk I to test you out.

Moving on.

Once the Zune HD stopped freaking out, I was greeted by a simple username and password screen. You log in there.

Up top there’s four icons: a little man which gives you your timeline; an @ symbol that threw up the error “Oops, something went wrong. We can’t load this data due to an external error. Please try again shortly.” (Strike two.) It loads all the tweets that mention your name; a heart icon that I don’t know what it does because it says “Unfortunately, there is nothing to display here.” (Strike three.); and then a mail icon for all your DMs.

Along the bottom there’s icons for writing a tweet, searching tweets, and for fiddling with the application’s settings.

Let’s see what happens when I try to send a tweet.

Well, the tweet went out, but once again I ran into the “external error” happened. (Strike four.) (External to what, by the way?)

On twitter.com, all my tweets read “from Zune HD,” which links to zune.net.

Usability: limited. I can’t type for beans using the Zune HD’s onscreen display, but that could well be a function of me exclusively using the device as a music player and I’m not used to it. T9 tries to help you out but it can only help so much.

I don’t understand the point of the app either, other than to say, “See, we have a Twitter app!” But since the Zune HD only connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, how is it any more useful to use the clearly glitch Zune app to tweet when you can, I don’t know, use a real computer or one of those iPhone or BlackBerry or Android apps? It doesn’t make any sense to me.

Oh, and it censors tweets. (The tweet in the main photo up there is supposed to read: Bret Hart is coming back to WWE according to dave meltzer fuck yes!) No bad words to be found on the app, and there’s no setting to uncensor tweets. Why? How many little kids use Twitter (on a Zune HD, no less) that Microsoft had to go out of its way to censor tweets? Dumb.

In conclusion: it’s buggy and there are far more practical ways of accessing Twitter.

PC Perspective’s reader Craig Mullaney scored the first review with the Thermaltake Level 10 computer case. And the site was kind enough to share it with us, in full, here. Spoiler: it’s as ridiculously awesome as we’d expect:

Exterior Evaluation

On December 9th, I received my long-awaited Level 10 computer case! This case was originally announced way back in March of 2009, with an anticipated street date in mid October. As the initial ship date of October passed, I grew skeptical that such a unique case would ever actually ship. I’m glad to say, I was wrong. This case rocks! Let me repeat that again, this case rocks!

I’ve spent the last 48 hours pouring over this case; top to bottom, inside and out. Clearly, this case was very well thought-out and bears the markings of a serious industrial design firm. Rather than a standard aluminum and plastic case, the Thermaltake Level 10 utilizes a central pillar, with individual compartments hanging from it for the power supply, motherboard, optical drives, and hard drives.

Included in the package is a nicely built ‘parts box’ that contains the Level 10 manual, 2 keys to the case locks, a Thermaltake carabiner keychain, 5 re-usable zip-ties, motherboard riser screws, HDD screws, ODD screws, PSU screws and motherboard screws. Additionally included is a cloth for keeping your case in tip top, ‘show-me-off’ shape.

Something that might not be obvious from the pictures: the Level 10 is LARGE. It is 12.6 inches wide, 24.5 inches deep, 26.3 inches high, and weighs nearly 50 pounds empty! The handles on the top and the base definitely come in handy. While I had no trouble transporting the case from the office into my photo studio by myself (the case is well balanced,) the additional handle in the base was nice to have. If two people are used to carry the case, this extra handle makes it a breeze.

The Level 10 case is constructed entirely of heavy-duty aluminum. And I mean heavy-duty. There is no flex in any of the panels, they are rock solid. Aside from the LED lighting surrounding the trim of the edge, there is not a single plastic component anywhere. From the hinges to the latches, the attention to detail for long life performance is obvious. The paint is a matte black (not the glossy black as seen in some of the very early press shots.) The paint has a powdered texture to it, and while it does show some fingerprints, they are easily removed with the supplied cloth.

The wide base supports the large vertical structure carrying the other components. The vertical section is hollow and includes significant channels for cabling as well as a lockable rear access panel on the back.

Interior Evaluation

Six independent HDD caddies make up the front of the Level 10, with completely hidden cabling and LEDs. The top 2 HDD drive bays are cooled by 2 separate fans . Each HDD bay has a physical button in the bay to detect the presence of the drive that controls an external LED to signify that the drive is inside. These HDD fans draw air from the bottom of each drive and out across the top. These fans do draw air from all the HDDs, even though they’re only located at the top of the #1 and #2 HDDs.

Three 5.25″ bays are at the very top, in their own box. The top ODD Bay includs a flip-up cover with an adjustable eject tab to work with most CD drives. The power supply is behind the 5.25″ bays inside its own box, and the motherboard occupies the final (largest) compartment just below the PSU.

The front-panel connectors include your standard USB 2.0 ports (x4), eSATA port (x1), and standard audio jacks (mic & headphone). The case fits standard ATX, extended ATX and micro-ATX boards. The motherboard tray is removable.

The back panel contains two locking mechanisms; one for the HDD/ODD caddies and one for the PSU/MB/Back Panel. While the back panel can be difficult to put on; you sometimes have to fiddle with the hard drive locking mechanism before it will go back, I found that having the HDD in the Locked position solved 99% of that issue…

Removing the back panel reveals a sizable channel of hidden cable management channels. This area provides access to the underside of the motherboard, access to the CPU for easy removal of the cooling bracket / water-block bracket and access to the HDD connectors.

Installation

MB installation:

The Level 10 provides a removable motherboard tray that makes installation of the motherboard very easy. 4 screws attach the MB tray to the main column of the Level 10, and are easily removed. The MB Tray is well constructed and houses the 2 supplied Thermaltake fans.

H50 Water Cooler installation:

My H50 is now installed, but I needed to use a few Zip Ties, as the H50 is a 120mm fan, and the Level 10 uses a 140mm fan for in-flow and a 120mm fan for outflow. The Level 10 In-flow case fan (where I mounted the H50) is not easily exchanged. There is only a single mounting option here for a 140mm Fan, and while the supplied Thermaltake fan is very quiet, I had to zip-tie the H50 in 3 of the 4 corners, but I was able to use 1 screw in one of the mounting slots. The end result is still a solid solution, and the H50 performs as well as in any case I’ve used prior. I could have mounted the H50 toward the rear of the case, utilizing the out-flow fan, but the H50 performs better with cooler, in-flowing air. Had I chosen the rear mounting position, the H50 would have fit nicely, and with out the need of zip-ties.

Power Supply installation:

The installation of the PSU was very simple. There are 2 screws located at the top of the uppermost housing. Once these are removed, the bottom of the PSU housing hangs in slots located in the main column. The detachable PSU bracket is very sturdy. It also includes a sliding rear stop to allow you to secure any length PSU into the Level 10.

Aside from the video power cable lengths, I had no problems routing the PSU cables to their appropriate locations. The rear channel of the main column easily accommodates many cables and has many openings to allow for well hidden routing of the cables.

Video Card installation:

I have 2 EVGA 295 CO-Op video cards. These cards fit perfectly with lots of room to spare. Even with the H50 occupying the space at the end of the 295s it was a comfortable fit. These 295s are 10.5″ long, so longer video cards would fit in the standard cooling configuration, but may not allow for the H50 to be added where I have installed it.

There was, however, one big problem. Cable Lengths. The bottom 295 was simply too far away from the Power Supply to allow the normal cables to reach. This is a challenge that we will see again when I install the DVD drive (more on that later.)

I got lucky with my setup though, I was able to join 2 splitters together to make the cable long enough. If you’re not so lucky, and have to get power to a 2nd video card, you may have to resort to soldering in a splice. It’s a shame, as the standard cable was only short by 2″. I know this was a primary concern of many people, and it looks like some folks should be sure to think through how they would address this, should their power supply cables be short. My PSU is a ThermalTake 1200w modular supply.

DVD installation:

The Optical drive bay houses up to 3 drives. The external cover is easily removed, and is held into place by secure metal hinges.

The top Drive Bay has a special spring loaded door that allows the drive to eject the DVD tray and move out of the way, but return closed when the tray retracts. Additionally, this cover houses an adjustable sliding knob that allows for various DVD drives to have their eject button pressed by the cover’s button.

There was, however, one problem with the DVD installation. The SATA connection on my MB was just out of reach of the standard 18″ SATA cable. While I was able to eventually ‘make it work’ I have ordered a 24″ SATA cable to permanently resolve this issue. If your MB has SATA connections only near the bottom (as mine does) then you may want to invest in a longer SATA cable.

HDD installation:

The Level 10 supports 6 HDDs. Each HDD is mounted in its own drive bay. These HDD bays have a physical switch located at the back, which control the LED on the front of the drive bay to indicate the presence of a HDD. (Note: these do not indicate drive usage, only that a drive is in that bay)

The top 2 drive bays have SATA plugs mounted for easy slide in operation. The remaining Drive bays require you to manually install the appropriate data cables / power cables from the rear access panel.

My primary drive is a 2.5″ SSD. These drive bays have mounting screws for both a 2.5″ and 3.5″ drive. My SSD mounted without any trouble or adapters.

Modding

While there are not many opportunities to mod this case (why would you?) there are a few things you could potentially do. First, you could remove the metal air cover from the front left of the case to expose the pre-installed grill underneath. Perhaps Thermaltake anticipated some setups needing more airflow? While I did not remove this cover myself, only 4 screws hold it on, so removal would be easy.

Secondly, you could enhance the look by adding additional lighting around the 2 air ducts on the front. Internally there is plenty of room for additional lighting. With both supplied case fans lit with red LEDs, there’s no immediate need to add lighting. Externally the case is lit with red LEDs across the top, and the front edge. The front panel buttons and connections (USB, eSATA, power and reset) all have red back lighting also.

Summary

The Level 10 is a great case. It’s huge, it’s heavy, it’s roomy and it’s quiet.

Aside form two cable length issues; the Level 10 case is outstanding. It is like no other case I have ever seen. Everything about this case says quality and design. From the edges that wires cross being beveled and shrouded with a plastic gasket, to the hinge and latch points covered by a plastic guard to prevent scraping and squeaking, this case rocks!

Needless to say, I am very happy with my Level 10 case.

(PC Perspective Editor’s Note: I haven’t had the chance to spend any long periods of time with the Level 10 case so I thank Craig for sharing his experiences with us. It seems obvious to me that Thermaltake should have foreseen issues in cable length and included longer SATA cables and any extenders a user might need to install standard components. For the price, this should be demanded! Otherwise, the Level 10 appears to be an incredibly unique and well built piece of enthusiast hardware!)

If you are interested in the case, be sure to check it out on Newegg.com where it sells for a cool $849!

PC Perspective offers full coverage of the PC industry at varying levels of depth and complexity. Check ‘em out for more PC component reviews.