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Category Archives: Gadgets

Belkin External Drive Enclosure: Reviewed

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Introduction
I am most definitely the “digital packrat” when it comes to computer hardware. I am never able to part with a piece of hardware, which still works, with the justification of “Hey, you never know.” A case in point: I keep an entire computer system around just to house one optical drive. The drive is Plextor’s famous 12 x 10 x 32 CD rewriter (the 1st one with buffer underrun technology). I am still attached to this drive (perhaps the $250 price tag has something to do with it), as more than once in the past, when other drives failed; the Plextor came through for me. Unfortunately, I do not have room for it in any of my more “modern” systems. So it sits installed in a 1997 Compaq Presario taking up precious space. Honestly, I haven’t had to power up the Compaq in at least two years (maybe more), but that is beside the point, hey you never know when you’ll need it ready to go. 

The Belkin External Drive Enclosure is designed for folks with just this type of need. With it, you can convert an internal optical drive, or a hard drive to work across a USB 2.0 or Firewire connection. This should enable me to put my older system curbside, while retaining the functionality of the Plextor CD rewritable drive. I have a collection of optical drives and hard drives that would be great to be able to access, yet currently have no room for them in my current systems. Let’s see if Belkin’s External Drive Enclosure can come to the rescue.

What’s In The Box Continue reading →

Kensington’s Universal Laptop Power Supply:

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Introduction

For many of us our notebook is our main computer, or even our only computer. We explored this a few months back. Notebook sales have exceeded desktop sales for the last year or so, and the trend is likely to continue. The main attraction of a notebook is portability in a reasonably sized form factor (although those 10 pound behemoths stretch the definition of “portable”). With the need (real or perceived) to be connected all the time to our email accounts, blogs, and the entire World Wide Web, it’s no wonder that we can’t seem to leave our notebooks at home anymore. Heck, even hotels on the beach in Hawaii offer WiFi access!

For the advanced notebook user on the go, more than just the notebook always travels. A bag stuffed full of accessories also comes along (incidentally, ever notice that the smaller the notebook, the more accessories the guy or gal seems to have with them? It makes me wonder if they should just buy the larger, better featured notebook to begin with). The other essential component, for anything further than the backyard, is the power supply and its cords. Sure, we’ve been promised an eight hour battery life with a miserly processor that sips electrons one at a time. The reality is that the computers we tote along have only a two to three hour battery life, with everything brand new. Using the wireless capability diminishes the untethered time even faster. To finish watching that DVD of “The Aviator” (2 hours and 50 minutes without the special features), you better not forget the power supply and cord. Continue reading →

A Tale of Two USB 2.0 Flash Drives

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Introduction


With today’s busy, digital lifestyle USB flash drives are a necessity. I find myself constantly shuttling information between home and work. At each location, my data is transferred from one computer to the next. To be sure, there are more elegant, sophisticated solutions: Bluetooth, Ethernet, and WiFi networks come readily to mind. But for quick and easy, with no setup involved, it’s hard to beat the good ol’ “sneakernet.” This term was originally used for moving files from one machine to another using floppy discs (and Nike’s). USB flash drives have pretty much replaced floppy discs as well as the larger Zip discs for almost all users, due to their larger capacity, diminutive size, and affordable cost. In fact, 7.6 million of these units were sold in 2004, and even more growth is expected over the next few years. See where USB flash drives fit into the world of flash memory here.

Verbatim Store ‘n’ Go 512 MB

With that background in mind, let’s first look at the Verbatim Store ‘n’ Go USB 2.0 flash drive – 512 MB. Included in the package was the following:
-the USB flash drive
-lanyard
-miniCD with drivers, and password program
-stickers for labeling the drive
-instructions
This package can be yours for a mere $59 retail! Look around, these drives are often sold for less after rebate. The Verbatim flash drive is typical of the standard USB 2.0 flash drives out there today.

The drive itself is a red translucent color, with a clear plastic loop Continue reading →

LiteOn 1693S: Does Their Latest Drive Have “The Right Stuff?”

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Introduction

LiteOn is known in the optical drive community for their lineup of outstanding CD-RW drives that are sold at ridiculously low prices (and I agree, as I own two 52x burners, bought in 2002, and 2003, and still going strong). When LiteOn started making DVD writers they were members of the DVD Alliance, more popularly known as “The Plus Camp,” as they were compatible with DVD+R and DVD+RW media. While they now make writers capable of both “plus” and “minus” writing, they have been generally stronger at the “plus” standard. The LiteOn 1693S is an upgrade to the LiteOn 1673S, and adds support for dual layer DVD-R discs, as well as featuring 16x reading and writing of DVD discs. These DVD-R dual layer discs are the latest discs available and feature two layers superimposed on top of each other; the laser adjusts its strength to write to the near or far layer. These discs are much more expensive to produce, and more difficult to write, but feature double the capacity of single layer discs. Most DVD Videos that you rent at Blockbuster are dual layer discs (although pressed, not created with a laser). The drive is also capable of handling CDs as well, so it can replace a CD writer in your system.

While LiteOn drives are popular worldwide, in the US they are often rebranded by Sony, for example, this LiteOn 1693S drive is also sold as the Sony DRU-800A. By purchasing the LiteOn, the astute shopper saves money, and owns the same hardware as the Sony version. Let’s take a close look at this drive’s many features. Continue reading →

Two 15 in 1 Flash Card Readers

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Introduction

When working around the house, you can’t beat the trusty adjustable wrench to loosen a wide variety of nuts and bolts. A good wrench replaces a whole toolbox of metric and standard wrenches, both open ended, and closed. There is an ever increasing myriad of devices using all sorts of flash cards. In fact, I wrote an article just on flash cards a few months back. With so many different cards used in MP3 players, digital cameras, PDA’s, and now even cell phones, clearly a better tool is needed to deal with the chaos and clutter of so many wires, adaptors, and single card readers. (Note to manufacturers: While it may be profitable, there is truly NO need for at least the next decade to introduce any more memory card formats!)

Enter the 15 in 1 flash card reader. Today, we’re looking at two versions of the device, one from Belkin, and the other from Kensington. They both promise to be the trusty combo wrench of flash cards- and with the piles of cards and wires around, I could definitely use it. Let’s see how each accomplishes its mission.

Belkin 15-in-1 Media Reader & Writer

Introduction

First we look at Belkin’s 15-in-1 Media Reader & Writer. I’ve heard of multiformat writers before, but this device is truly the combination wrench of flash cards. Belkin makes my single media card type (CF) reader rather obsolete in an oh so 90’s kind of way. The Belkin 15-in-1 can read and write just about every media card on the market today. It is also a USB 2.0 device, which is an advantage. While internal flash card readers are manufactured, in my opinion, it is a waste to use a precious drive bay for a peripheral that functions so well using USB. Also, we can use the Belkin 15-in-1 Writer across multiple computers with the plug and play ease that USB provides.

What’s In The Box Continue reading →

Evoluent Mouse Review

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Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) is a rapidly growing health care problem. True, no one is going to die from this condition, but there are plenty of folks out there developing hand and wrist problems. This should not be much of a surprise to anyone, as many of us now “live digitally.” We work at a computer eight plus hours a day, with infrequent (or no) breaks, to make a living. Then we go home for a few more hours of emailing, web surfing, blogging, shopping, gaming, and even planning our next vacation from all of this (which typically involves most of the above activities!). Unfortunately, this involves interfacing through the lowly mouse. Is there any wonder with all of this mousing around, that we have a growing problem? On top of all this, we have an aging population, with increasing amounts of arthritis in our senior citizens.

Computer mice were never designed with this many hours of use in mind. The first mouse was patented in 1964, and has not changed shape over the last 40-odd years. Very few things in computers can claim that sort of longevity with so few changes. Through the years, variations have been tried with mild success, such as trackballs, but nothing ever really gained mainstream acceptance. True, there have been evolutionary improvements along the way (both scroll wheels, and cordless technology to enhance the experience come to mind), but nothing truly revolutionary.

Evoluent built a different sort of mouse. In fact, this is the company’s sole product. Attempting to provide the user with a more comfortable mouse was the goal with their original Vertical Mouse (released in 2002). In the different forums I researched, I found that some folks swear by it for making their computing more comfortable. With Evoluent’s release of the Vertical Mouse 2, they have updated their mouse to make it more competitive with current offerings. The Vertical Mouse improved from using a mechanical to an optical engine, and the styling was updated. Before I get to the specifics, let me point something out: I have no doubt that Evoluent has its work cut out for it as it battles “the establishment.” As any salmon will tell you, it takes a lot of work to swim upstream.

The idea here is that the wrist problems develop from the angulations of the wrist during long periods. Using a gel wrist rest helps to reduce this, but not eliminate it (I personally use the excellent Belkin mouse pad with the gel wrist rest). I find that it helps a lot, but during long periods of computer use, there is still some stiffness. The Vertical Mouse 2 attempts to solve the problem differently. Instead of having the hand in a horizontal position, the hand is in a vertical position. This is a neutral position for the hand and forearm as it approximates a hand shake. With the vertical configuration, the pressure stays naturally off the wrist.

Enough of the biomechanics, let’s look at the product itself.

The Evoluent Vertical Mouse 2 is available in both left- and right-hand configurations. I evaluated the right handed model. The product is corded, and comes ready for USB, with a PS/2 adaptor included. This allows it to work with any computer, even notebooks. The mouse’s color scheme sports a matte black body with glossy purple buttons. This gives it a youthful, up-to-date look, but ensures it will match only the Abbey (the lab tech) on NCIS’s Gothic décor. It will look more in place on The Apprentice’s desk than in Donald Trump’s office. I personally would have preferred it without the purple, and either all glossy or matte, but this is just my opinion.

The optical sensor uses a high (1200) dpi configuration. This mouse tracks on every surface I threw it on including clear Plexiglas. The mouse covers more distance on the screen for a given movement on the mouse pad than some others I have tested. This does make the mouse a little jumpy when trying to execute a small movement, but I acclimated to it fairly easily.

The Vertical Mouse 2 is larger than most regular mice, especially in the height department. The size is 11.7 cm by 7.6 cm by 7.6 cm, and the cable is a generous 2 meters. For some perspective, the Logitech V500 Notebook Mouse was only 1.125″ high, and is quite hobbitlike next to the Evoluent unit.

The Vertical Mouse has three buttons along the right side, with the scroll wheel in between the 1st and 2nd buttons. There is an additional button along the left side which the thumb can press. There is a cutout on the left side that the thumb fits naturally into. When the mouse is first plugged in, without any driver or software installation, the 1st finger depresses the left mouse click button, and the 3rd finger depresses the right click mouse button. The scroll wheel also functions with no ‘clicks’ so it feels smoother, but I missed the feedback that the clicks provide. The middle button and left side thumb button are not enabled without the software installed.

The software installed smoothly, and enables additional functionality. Now each of the buttons can be custom configured to your needs and tastes. I chose to make the middle 2nd finger button a “double click” button. This automatically double clicks the selected icon, with a single press of the button. The left sided thumb button I selected to be a backspace button. As my 5th finger never seems to be able to reach the backspace key easily on the keyboard, this worked well for me. Additional available options included adjusting the double click speed, and setting how many rows the scroll wheel go at a time. The mouse is reported to be compatible in Windows 98SE, ME, NT, 2000 and XP, as well as Mac OS 9 and 10 (extra driver and cost needed for all buttons), UNIX, and Linux.

I had the mouse installed on my main desktop computer for over a week and used it for all my mousing needs. The buttons on the mouse, though plentiful, took almost no time to get used to. There is definitely a very “natural” feeling to this mouse. It did feel a little chunky in the grasp, but it glided on the pad with minimal effort. I used it on my Belkin mouse pad with a wrist rest, and it was comfortable. The mouse proved an able partner in all computing tasks, including Web surfing, word processing, spreadsheets, and games. More than once it had me thinking “Why didn’t I think of this?” There was definitely a contemporary simplicity in its design and layout.

What were the downsides? Of course, there were a few. First, I felt a little tied down with the cord. I’ve gotten used to (spoiled perhaps?) the freedom of a cordless mouse, and with the Vertical Mouse, I was restrained to the mouse pad. No picking it up and using it on my thigh or another surface. Secondly, the height did not work well with my keyboard drawer. The Vertical Mouse 2 is about 3 times taller than most mice. With the mouse on the wrist pad, the drawer would not close. This in turn made it very difficult to reach the surge strip under the desk mounted on the wall. So I had to pick the mouse up on the desk, but the cord now was pulling with the drawer closed. I definitely was missing a wireless mouse with no cords in the way at this point. This is the type of uphill battle I was talking about: the world is set up for a certain type of mouse, and it is difficult to do anything differently. Finally, the size of the mouse precludes it from being portable, unless you think Dell’s USS Inspiron with the 17” widescreen and 10+ pounds of heft is perfect for toting on your next Hawaiian holiday.

This product is designed for the desktop computer user who suffers from RSI, or is at risk for developing it. While a retail price of $74.95 is expensive for a corded optical mouse, niche products always carry a premium price. Just like “fat free,” “no salt,” or lately “no carbs” are more money than the “regular” variety at the supermarket. As a mouse, the product is solid, comfortable, and the included software fine tunes the controls to your needs.

    Strengths   

  • very comfortable to use
  • programmable buttons
  • adequate cord length
  • excellent 1200 dpi optical engine
  • can be used both PS/2 and USB

    Weaknesses   

  • color scheme (this product is different enough without being purple as well)
  • corded, not cordless
  • too high to fit under desks with keyboard drawers
  • no clicks on scroll wheel
  • price
  • size precludes portability

Who should buy this mouse?
RSI sufferers who can give up life with a cord to be pain free.

Buy the Evoluent VerticalMouse 2 – Right Hand edition from Amazon

Special thanks to Evoluent for supporting this review.

Notebook Mouse Roundup

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With each passing year, notebook computers constitute a greater percentage of overall computer sales. Soon, for many folks, their only computer will be their notebook computer. One of the disadvantages of a notebook compared to a desktop is their inferior interface. Keyboards are cramped and have limited key travel. They never have a mouse. To control the cursor, they have either a pointing stick or a touchpad interface (or in a few cases, both). Personally, I greatly prefer the touchpad, but both options have their proponents.

Notebook miceMany newer touchpads have a scrolling function built in. Homebodies and road warriors alike use their notebooks ever increasingly and they seek both comfort and ergonomics, not to mention trying to avoid RSI (repetitive stress injury). This is why users need a portable mouse. These tend to be smaller than a standard mouse in order to make them convenient to carry around. I chose to focus on wireless mice because they are the newer products with the latest technology. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first attempt to compare these products against each other in such a fashion. As usual, here at LIVEdigitally.com we set the bar just a little higher.

Just a note of caution: None of these wireless mice (or any other wireless anything) should be used on an airplane. You probably don’t have enough room for a mouse anyway with those cramped tray tables. If you did, than you would need a wired mouse to comply with airline regulations. In other words, don’t blame me when the Flight Attendant is reporting you the Sky Marshall for mousing at 40,000 feet.
Continue reading →

Flash Card Memory Roundup 2005: Introduction

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Which Card Will Quietly Dominate and Why

The humble flash memory card quietly provides the storage for today’s electronic devices. Handheld computers, iPods and other portable music players, digital cameras, and even some cellphones and camcorders utilize flash cards. These cards are available in more varieties than Baskin Robbins ice cream flavors, and there’s always some new smaller card that just came out with some reported advantage. Thankfully, selecting a memory card format to invest in is not as random as selecting a roulette number at Vegas, and the key is putting the house advantage in your favor. This article reviews the current cards on the market with their potential advantages and uses, and highlights some future directions. No one likes choosing a dying standard, and I’ll point out the likely winners of this high wager business. After all, no one needs a drawer full of expensive, but outdated and useless memory cards.
Continue reading →

Review of Shure E2C Headphones

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(featuring the fit and sporty Emily)


Everyone has their own inner rock star. Whether you singalong while driving (we see you), or yodel in the shower, its your inner self trying to get out. Thankfully, most of our inner children stay where they belong, inside (I can’t explain Ashlee Simpson, so please don’t ask). The few who have the gift are (we hope) out there sharing it. And when they do, they need gear. Good gear. One key thing they need is headphones, the kind that can block out enough of the outside world and let in what they want to hear during their performance. Believe it or not, for as little as $99, you can play in their world.

Shure, an American company whose roots are in the radio parts business, makes what they call “sound-isolating” headphones. In a nutshell, Shure combines exceptional quality headphones with earplugs. We were sent a pair of the E2c model, the lowest end that Shure makes, to try out. The units come in a great, compact carrying case, and were easy to carry along in our laptop bag.


We went out for a combination headphone test and workout, and tried to find an environment that would put the unit in a real-world environment. Somewhere where there’s a bit of background noise, and a jogging trail. We went to a small little built-up strip on the edge of the San Francisco airport. By the way, jets are loud.


Continue reading →

Review of Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 2.0 Powered Speakers

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a LIVEdigitally original
Here at the Ld, we try not to gush about something no matter how much we like it. Within about 15 seconds from when we first connected the Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 2.0 Powered Speakers, we knew we were going to have trouble sounding neutral. These things, for lack of a better word, rock. In fact, they sound so good we can’t refer to them as PC Speakers, because it would almost be insulting.

I hooked up the speakers to my laptop, a Dell Latitude D800 which generally does a good job with its audio outputs. Over the course of several hours, I listened to:


  • 128Kbps (lousy) MP3s.
  • 384Kbps MP3s
  • Uncompressed CD audio
  • A DVD movie
  • Rhapsody streaming radio

Continue reading →

Slappa CD/DVD Case Review

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Yes, we are reviewing a CD and a DVD case. Yes, there are plenty of reviews of these exact same cases out there already. So what can we possibly do different? One word. Fire. 

Our review team here at LIVEdigitally decided if we were going to review a “hard-body” case with “DURO-SHOCK” protection and a “heavy gauge zipper”, we wanted to make sure it lived up to its promise. Total Impact Industrial is the manufacturer of the Slappa brand of CD and DVD cases (iPod case coming soon), which promise to “Protect Your Digital Gear.”

Our tests involved a series of semi-typical day-to-day events that a CD case might go through, including: spilling coffee on it, dropping food on it, sitting on it, and a whole lot more. Oh yeah, and fire. Our good friend Ron joined us to put the case through the ringer.

Continue reading →

Eyetop DVD review

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I’m sure many of our readers remembers the IBM commercial from a few years back where a man is walking around a piazza in Italy, issuing buy and sell orders and browsing his Excel spreadsheet all through a screen embedded into his glasses. Well, it looks like the team at Eyetop got inspired enough to try to make part of that vision a reality with their new Eyetop DVD product.  

We define it as a miniature, portable, rugged monocular eyewear display which allows to watch videos, images and others visual information in your field of view while going about your business.

The $599 package includes a set of special glasses, headphones, and a portable DVD player, all nicely bundled into a convenient carrying case.

Here are a couple of pictures of the system (click on the image for a full-screen view):

The setup consists of two main components, the glasses and the portable DVD gear. The portable DVD player itself is stored in the backpack (it’s more of a “side-pack” than a backpack, but you’ll see that in the upcoming pictures), along with the video power and processing unit. This unit requires 4 AA batteries (not included), and provides power to the glasses. Despite the fact that the video power unit only has one button, I spent at least 10 minutes trying to figure out how to turn it on, but this was primarily my fault, as I had taken all the pieces out of the backpack to use at first. Had I left well enough alone, I would have clearly noticed the single button. Good thing I didn’t pull out the screwdriver!

Aside from the comfort and practicality of the backpack, it is also quite useful in that the Eyetop team clearly spent a lot of time designing a system where the wires were elegantly hidden. I especially began to appreciate this after I took all the pieces out and saw how good a job they had done tidying it all up.

The backpack also provided sufficient access to the DVD player for me to control playback. If there was a front-loading portable DVD player on the market, you’d never have to remove the DVD unit from the backpack. My biggest critique of the system was the supplied Shinco DVD player (it was quite janky!). Fortunately, the Eyetop carrying case comes with a special attachment for the battery pack, just to make it a bit more convenient.

Here are a couple of pictures of the equipment (click on the image for a full-screen view):

A good friend of LIVEdigitally, Ron, was available to be our fit model while testing the Eyetop DVD player. At just over 6’2″, the straps on the backpack had to be adjusted to fit his frame, but once this was done, the setup worked quite well.

All the cables were long enough to make the unit work without causing Ron to crane his neck or stand uncomfortably. All-in-all, we were satisfied with the comfort of the backpack.

The glasses headset took a bit more work to get right. The key issue was getting the adjustable nose-piece to fit well while showing the video display at the proper angle (we’ll talk more about the viewing experience in a moment). At first, the nose piece wouldn’t budge, and we were concerned about breaking it. Luckily, after a minor struggle, everything seemed to click into place, and Ron got the headset on properly.

Also built into the headset is a pair of stereo headphones. The in-bud earpieces were just fine, although I would personally substitute my noise-canceling headphones in place of the provided ones.

Here are a couple of pictures of Ron in full gear (click on the image for a full-screen view):
Ron putting on the backpack.

Ron sitting and watching.

Ron on the move.

Eyetop DVD provides what they call a “virtual 14-inch screen”. The system is designed to let you watch through one eye, while still being able to see what’s happening in the real world beyond. I found the experience quite surreal. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Salvador Dali surreal, but more David Lynch surreal (yes, yes, I liked Twin Peaks too, but he’s batting about .150 these days).

The viewing area really does appear to be the 14″ screen the company promises, but I found it creates two unpleasant effects:

  • A sense of ‘floating’ inside my vision
  • A minor amount of, what’s the kind way to put it… nausea.I really don’t want to come down too hard on the product, because I like what they are trying to do. However, for those of us who tested out the system, we all felt a bit queasy after watching for a while. I don’t think I could make it through a whole movie, especially not while in a car or on a plane. Then again, maybe your system starts to adjust to it after longer exposure – as a frequent migraine sufferer, I was unwilling to take the risk.Here are a couple of pictures of the virtual screen (click on the image for a full-screen view):


    Overall, I felt the Eyetop DVD was a well-made product, with a lot of attention to putting together a complete package. As far as the viewing experience goes, I found the system to be hard to watch, and have a feeling many adults would feel the same way. Which leads me to think the product might be better suited for teenagers or young adults.

    I also believe the company is pricing Eyetop DVD well – $599 for all the included gear is not a bad deal.

    I guess we’re not living in IBM’s world yet, but as long as companies continue to innovate and deliver products like the Eyetop DVD, I look forward to seeing that vision come true. I just hope it can be accomplished in a way with a few less side effects.


    LINKS:

  • Eyetop home
  • Product page
  • Our review of the Shinco portable DVD player