We've been working so hard over at TechRadar US that we decided we need a laugh. So, we'll be taking a break from phones and computers to review our commenters' sense of humor, with our "Make TechRadar US laugh and win stuff" photo caption contest.
We'll post the photo on TechRadar.com, and you provide the pithy response. The funniest comment, as judged by the U.S. editorial team, will win an amazing prize package. We'll give away state of the art computing software and hardware from our friends at iolo and Crucial.
Take a look at the rules and legal speak, prizes and entry dates below. U.S. residents only (sorry English and Australian friends, the lawyers made us do it).
- Need somewhere to store your prints? Check out our best photo book guide
How to play
- Contestants must be registered members of TechRadar.com to participate.
- TechRadar U.S. will post a picture on our site (it can be of hardware, the staff, or a tech event).
- Contestants can submit their caption for the photo in the comments section of the post.
- The funniest comment will win the item.
- Only one entry per household
Entry period
The giveaway begins at 12:00 a.m. PST on May 10, 2013 and ends at 12:00 a.m. on June 10, 2013. Online entries must posted by 11:59 p.m. PST by June 9, 2013
Prizes
System Mechanic (3 years license - value $149.95)
System Mechanic is an award-winning PC tune-up suite designed to fix, speed up and maintain PCs so they run like new forever. Currently the No.1 best selling PC performance and tune-up product in the U.S., Canada, U.K., France and the Benelux region according to NPD and similar sources, System Mechanic is used by more than 45 million consumers worldwide . As the only tune-up software to include Iolo's industry-first Tune-up Definitions, as well as its patent-pending Active Care automatic maintenance technology, System Mechanic represents a new, smarter approach to PC performance.
120 GB Crucial M500 (value $129.99)
Transform your system's performance
Dramatically faster than a hard drive, the Crucial M500 SSD isn't just a storage upgrade - it's a complete system transformation. Designed to keep your system up to speed with today's multitasking demands that often require instant and simultaneous use of apps, websites, downloads, work files and more, the Crucial M500 delivers nearly instant boot times, powerful data transfer speeds, increased multitasking capability, and rock-solid reliability - all at an affordable price. The Crucial M500 also includes top-level encryption technology to keep your data safe and is available in capacities up to terabyte-class. Built on proven quality, the Crucial M500 SSD has passed hundreds of SSD quality tests and more than a thousand hours of prerelease validation testing. Don't settle for anything less.
Product Highlights
- Ample storage: available in capacities of 120GB, 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB†
- Includes top-level hardware encryption technology
- Advanced controller technology and Micron custom firmware
- Extensive quality and reliability testing built into every drive
- Compatible with PC and Mac® systems
†1 GB = 1 billion bytes. Actual usable capacity may vary.
Micron® Quality - As a brand of Micron, one of the largest NAND manufacturers in the world, Crucial SSDs are designed and developed in-house with the latest technology. This means four things: hundreds of SSD qualification tests, over a thousand hours of prerelease validation testing, 1.5 billion dollars invested in R&D, and more than 30 years of industry expertise.
Adaptive Thermal Protection - Greater thermal management enables the Crucial M500 to work with the host computer to dynamically adjust power consumption based on usage demands, which helps address the cooling challenges of ultra-small, thermally constrained systems.
Hardware Data Encryption - The Crucial M500 SSD offers top-level hardware-based encryption, enabling enhanced data security. Our AES 256-bit hardware encryption engine and TCG Opal 2.0 compliant firmware allow the drive to operate at full speed without the performance loss that's typically found in drives that use software-based encryption technology.
Three Year Limited Warranty - From prerelease validation testing to ensure that our SSDs work with the broadest range of chipsets, motherboards, and operating systems to more than a thousand hours of endurance testing, our drives are tested for reliability from start to finish. We proudly offer a three-year limited warranty and award-winning tech support.
Capacity (Unformatted): 120GB
Interface: SATA 6Gb/s (SATA 3GB/s compatible)
Sustained Sequential Read up to (128k transfer): 500MB/s
Sustained Sequential Write up to (128k transfer): 130MB/s
Random Read up to (4k transfer): 62,000 IOPS
Random Write up to (4k transfer): 35,000 IOPS
Form Factor: 2.5-inch, m-SATA, and M.2
NAND: 20nm Micron MLC NND
Life Expectancy: 1.2 million hours mean time to failure (MTTF)
Endurance: 72TB total bytes written (TBW), equal to 40GB per day for 5 years
Operating Temperature: 0°C to 70°C
Compliance: RoHS, CE, FCC, UL, BSMI, C-TICK, KCC RRL, W.E.E.E., TUV VCCI, IC
Firmware: Field upgradable firmware
Product Health Monitoring: Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) commands
The rules (the short version)
NO PURCHASE REQUIRED TO ENTER OR WIN. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia, and to legal residents of Canada excluding Quebec, who have reached the age of majority (usually 18+) in the state or province of their residence at the time of entry. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Contest has one entry period: begins 12:00 a.m. PST on May 10, 2013, and ends at 12:00 a.m. PST on June 10, 2013. See Official Rules for additional eligibility restrictions, prize descriptions/restrictions/values, odds, and complete details.
