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Category Archives: Product Reviews

iPod case review: XtremeMac SportWrap

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Since early June my roommate and I have been pounding the pavement four or five days each week in our quest to train for Boston’s half marathon on October 9. Before long the sight of long stretches of asphalt, gravel and the same scenery became tiresome, and I needed something to help keep my mind off the drudgery of putting one sneakered foot in front of one another. People with walkmans (and gigantic portable stereos before them) long ago discovered portable music’s ability to make a multitude of tasks seem easier. Now that I’m a proud iPod owner, I’ve found that the secret to exercise success is partially linked to the right case.


After a snafu in which Apple mailed me the wrong case to go with my new ‘pod, I stopped by my neighborhood Apple store one night just as they were closing and quickly grabbed what looked like a good case – XtremeMac’s SportWrap for iPod.
Continue reading →

Laptop Case Review #4: Tom Bihn, Smart Alec and Monolith

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Tom Bihn is back for more. After reviewing the Buzz bag by Mr. Bihn (who does personally designs each TB bag), I had to try out another one. This time I traded in the one strap for two. We’re going to put that old saying to the test, “two heads are better than one” (but we’ll be substituting straps for heads).


I opened the box and to my surprise, it was 2x bigger than I had imagined. The bag appeared smaller on the website. It is by no means a huge honkin’ bag, I’d rate it at a regular size (2.5 cubic feet? Are backpacks rated in cubic feet?) Purple is the new black, and I keep it real. But I sure don’t have any shoes that will match. Other available colors are crimson, kiwi, sage, and black –I got grape.

Enough about the colors, how will Alec, Monolith, and Rebecca (pet name for the iBook I use) get along? The Monolith is Alec’s sidekick, a sleeve type case that protects and houses laptops. Without the Monolith, Smart Alec is simply a backpack.

It has two clips that fasten to the interior, keeping a secure handle on the inside of the backpack. There are ‘D’ clips for a shoulder strap, and two tote style handles. Notice the Monolith’s color is steel and not purple. It comes in the options of: deep blue, crimson, black, steel, and wasabi. With a stiff exterior and a plush interior Rebecca found the Monolith to be a very comfortable and stylish retreat. Continue reading →

Plextor's USB/LAN external drive reviewed

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The guys at BIOS Magazine just put up a nice review of Plextor’s new USB/LAN external hard drive, the PX-EH25L. Aimed primarly at the small business network, BIOS likes the form factor, built-in connectivity and print server functionality but mentions that setup requires a bit of networking know-how. Other gripes include lack of built-in DHCP, no FireWire port and no write protection switch. Specs are as follows:

    •250 GB
    •7200 RPM
    •8 MB buffer
    •Average seek time of 8.2 ms
    •Single 10/100 ethernet port
    •Two USB 2.0 ports (for connecting another drive or a printer)
    •Power switch and power/activity LEDs

The review does have a few factual discrepancies/typos, most notably a sentence saying the device is compatible with Windows and the Mac, immediately followed by one telling readers to forget about connecting it to a Mac or Linux. Right now the drive seems to be found only on Plextor’s European site, which lists Windows compatibility.

BIOS lists a retail price of £199, but a Froogle search reveals one seller willing to part with these drives for greenbacks — nearly 400 of them.

Creative WebCam Live! Ultra For Notebooks

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Introduction


The first webcam, developed in 1991, was born out of necessity. A computer graduate student was avoiding having to walk down several flights of stairs to find an empty coffee pot. So he and his fellow sleep deprived, coffee craving students pieced together the first webcam. Now, they could devote a corner of their desktop screen real estate to the important status of the caffeine-giving java pot. And with that, the webcam was born.

I had my first webcam about five years ago. I found the camera difficult to use. The camera had a low frame rate, and I was never centered in the frame. The software was clunky to use, and I couldn’t even easily capture a still picture with the camera. Quite honestly, I never was able to video conference with another user, and lost interest.

However, the allure was still great. I grew up watching “The Jetsons,” and the technology for easy videoconferencing has always been just “a few years away” (just like speech recognition). Has the webcam hardware caught up with today’s powerful computers? Can I harness the transmission power of broadband to finally make my video call? I am ready to give it another try.

Creative makes a variety of computer electronic products centered on audio sound cards, MP3 players, speakers, and webcams. Today, we’ll be looking at the Creative WebCam Live! Ultra for Notebooks. This is a complete solution that is designed for the mobile notebook user looking to video conference, as well as some other applications. Read on to see if video conferencing has arrived, and if this is the right hardware solution.

What’s In The Box Continue reading →

Plextor 740A DVDRW Drive: Reviewed

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Introduction 

The Plextor name is synonymous with high quality, and innovative, optical drives. They have produced some excellent drives over the years including the first Burn-Proof (buffer underrun protection) drives, the first drive to use the serial ATA interface, and manufacturer sanctioned overspeeding (writing media faster than rated) drives.

The high price of Plextor’s 716A “flagship” DVD writer has been holding back sales. With the introduction of the 740A model, Plextor is attempting to offer a more affordable product for the consumer marketplace. The 740A is based on the Benq/Phillips chipset; previous Plextor models have been based on the Sanyo chipset. Another drive based on this chipset is the Benq 1640 which has fared well in its reviews, so this is an excellent starting point. Plextor engineers have written their own firmware for this drive making it part of the Plextor family. This drive is intended to augment the lineup, but not replace the 716A drive. The 716A is intended to be the more premium product, while the 740A is the more affordable. Even high priced BMW designs the affordable Mini, so let’s take a look at how affordability does in our testing.

What’s In The Box

The retail package includes the following:

-Plextor 740A drive
-quick installation guide
-4 mounting screws
-emergency eject tool (My paperclips are now safe!)
-extra jumper
-80 pin IDE cable
-Nero Burning ROM Suite version 6.6 (latest version)

Plextor’s 740A was shipped with firmware 1.00. It was updated to version 1.01 for all tests (available from the Plextor website). As it is a new drive, I would expect more firmware releases over the next several months. In general, you should use the manufacturer’s latest firmware on your drive, unless you have extensive expertise in this area, and you are willing to cancel your warranty, or risk destroying your drive. The media was all burned with bundled Nero Burning ROM, version 6.608. All discs were scanned using a LiteOn 852S drive and Nero’s CD Speed version 3.80. While this is a notebook drive, it served aptly in this task, and allowed me to complete the testing away from my desktop. Recorded DVD movie discs were further compatibility tested in 2 stand-alone DVD players: a Sharp DV-S1U (designed to play “minus” discs, but is quite tolerant), and a Sony DVP-NS315 (designed to work with “plus” discs, and tends to be picky). Continue reading →

Laptop Case Review #3: DC|incase, Skatepack

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“DC Shoes, the leader in performance skateboard footwear, has teamed up with incase, creators of premium carrying solutions, to develop the Skatebag, a multi-functional backpack designed to house and protect your PowerBook and iPod, as well as your board and other gear. The DC/incase collaborative represents the union of lifestyle, music and technology, available exclusively through Apple. Enjoy.”

If you were wondering where this dual company backpack came from, there’s your answer –written on the inside of the DC|incase Skatepack. DC is a well known Skateboard company with a focus on footwear. incase is a case manufacturer that caters to Apple products, also rather well known. Get these two together, and what do you have? The DC|incase Skatepack, a laptop/skateboard carrying case that fits you and your paraphernalia like a glove (or better yet, a shoe).

I hesitated to open the box that this backpack laptop case came in. Three cubic feet of white and grey camouflaged cardboard house the pack. Opening the cardboard door reveals a window to the actual bag with tech specs. I pulled the bag out.
The designers took pride in this joint DC|incase venture for sure. Attention to detail is apparent everywhere you look. The zippers are all rubber with a DC|incase impression, the padding on the shoulder straps is firm and extra thick, and the label was plastic and 3D instead of being cloth and too small to read. I’m also a fan of the DC|incase plasic emblem that sits on the back of the bag, they did a good job on this one I can tell. Continue reading →

The Lexar LDP-200: The No Frills Music Player

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Introduction

Apple’s iPod Shuffle is heavily criticized for its lack of a screen. While gadget junkies did not fall in love with its very basic feature set, it did have sales for one simple reason- cost. In this era of ever faster product cycles, and the planned obsolescence of our disposable society, who can argue with a $100 player with half a gig of storage. After all, there are many folks out there with less than 100 MP3’s, and this capacity player will more than serve their needs.

Lexar has taken the old adage, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” to heart. They have built a very basic MP3 player, but at least it has a screen to display the name of the song playing unlike iPod’s Shuffle. Sure, some folks will want a more full featured player. And Lexar will be happy to sell them their more featured players including the LDP-400, LDP-600, or the upcoming LDP-800 player. For their LDP-200 player they cut the feature set to the bone, and left off the FM radio, and a microphone. There is no included software. The unit is powered by a standard AAA battery to save the cost of a rechargeable cell. You can even buy the unit with no memory card included. The LDP-200 stores it songs on an SD card. This is another example how SD cards are dominating in this market segment. The unit can be purchased with no card included, or with included card capacities of 256 MB, 512 MB, or 1 GB. If you already have SD cards in your collection, the no card version becomes an affordable alternative at $49!

Let’s take a look at the LDP-200 and decide if it’s “no frills” feature set gets the job done. I am curious to see if the device performs more on the side of frugal, or if it slips towards just plain cheap.

What’s In the Box

• Lexar Digital Music Player LDP-200
Red for no included SD card and 256 MB sizes
Blue for 512 MB and 1 GB sizes
• User Guide
• Quick Start Manual
• Earbud headphones
• Lanyard
• USB extension cable
• Energizer AAA battery

Features Continue reading →

Laptop Case Review #2: Timbuk2, Commute

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Timbuk2, born and raised in San Francisco, has built a solid reputation for producing bags that don’t bow down to a challenge. Timbuk2 was started in 1989, and isn’t going anywhere but up here in 2005.

I got my greasy little hands on the Timbuk2 Commute Laptop Messenger Bag. My precious little iBook 12” needs a comfy safe stylish traveling pack, and Timbuk2’s Commute was up to the challenge. I was going to enjoy putting this laptop carrying case through the *patent pending* LIVEdigitally Laptop Carrying Case Obstacle Course


The obstacle course consists of 5 tests:
1.) Capacity Test: Can the case hold everything needed for a trip with my laptop?
2.) One Hour Endurance Test: I will load the case with all my necessary items, and wear it for one hour. How do I feel after that hour?
3.) Water Test: Loaded with dry cardboard, I will douse the bag with water to simulate a rainy environment. Is the cardboard wet afterwards?
4.) Function vs. Style Test: Does this case suit both needs of looking cool while getting the job done.
5.) The Female Test: I will ask three separate girls what they think of the bag, does it make me look good? –if they answer yes, I may get some phone numbers! (bonus) Continue reading →

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 →

Laptop Case Review #1: Tom Bihn, Buzz

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Laptops are going everywhere that our laps are going. Many people have scrapped the idea of a desktop computer to rely 100% on their laptop computer. All of their pictures, music, emails, as well as their gateway to the virtual world lies in those 6lbs of battery operated, LCD screen goodness. This is why it’s important to carry around your $2000.00 investment not only in safety, but also in style.

I have decided to test multiple laptop carrying devices in order to find the perfect fit for the perfect moment. This is the first of many laptop case reviews. Each item tested will be subject to a laptop case obstacle course (The LIVEdigitally Laptop Case Obstacle Course). This test will push laptop case manufacturers to their full potential forcing their positives to shine through, and allowing their faults to be exposed.

The LIVEdigitally Laptop Case Obstacle Course consists of 5 tests:
1.) Capacity Test: Can the case hold everything needed for a trip with my laptop?
2.) One Hour Endurance Test: I will load the case with all my necessary items, and wear it for one hour. How do I feel after that hour?
3.) Water Test: Loaded with dry cardboard, I will douse the bag with water to simulate a rainy environment. Is the cardboard wet afterwards?
4.) Function vs. Style Test: Does this case suit both needs of looking cool while getting the job done.
5.) The Female Test: I will ask three separate girls what they think of the bag, does it make me look good? –if they answer yes, I may get some phone numbers! (bonus) 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 →

Sling Media Slingbox -Debut Review

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I love TiVo, and depend on it like most depend on running water, electricity, and high speed internet. I come home from a long day of work, and watch my favorite programs with the trigger finger on fast forward. With all the shows that I record, managing my time in order to watch everything that I’ve recorded is a task in itself.. I’ve almost made a new martial art out of fast forwarding and playing shows in order to view the most vital of content.

Today is a different day. Times change and so does technology. People may or may not change, if I knew about those issues I’d be writing a column entitled “Dear ____”. This here is the tech world baby, and we break for nobody.

Today I picked up the much anticipated Slingbox, from Sling Media.

Thanks to a missed Giants game back in 2002, a man by the name of Krikorian decided to write video streaming code that would allow him to watch his TV wherever he was at. His famous quote goes something like: “I’m already paying for my cable at home, why can’t I watch it somewhere else?” This is where the term “place shifting” was born. VCR’s allowed for “time shifting” –record now, watch later. Sling Media invented “place shifting”.

Before we go any further, let me answer the $64 Million dollar question: What is the Slingbox? Sling Media has created a device that sends a stream from your house to your computer over the internet. This isn’t your normal stream. Most streams are a one way open loop system that dumps content to you with very minimal control as a user. The Slingbox is a controlled stream. You have the ability to change your television channel or program your DVR remotely. Sling Media’s new toy is just getting started so buckle up and enjoy the ride. Continue reading →