Articles by Gear Diary Staff

Case-Mate Handle-it for MacBook REVIEW

Ever feel paranoid about dropping your MacBook? The smart guys at Case-mate have a simple, yet effective solution to keep a grip on your 13″ Apple bundle of joy. The Case-Mate Handle-it for MacBook is an easy to install handle accessory for your Apple notebook.


The Case-Mate Signature Suit for 13″ MacBook REVIEW

I’ve always been a big stickler for keeping my gadgets protected. I’m pretty proud of my iPods being fingerprint free for over a year now in its protective casings by DLO and OtterBox. With the investment in laptops, it’s a wonder why people don’t use a lapcase case, especially with all of the choices available these days. Case-Mate has come out with a very stylish and smart form-fit leather wrap designed for a 13-inch MacBook that protects the laptop when it is out of the laptop bag.



DLO Portable iPhone Speakers Review

I am continually surprised at the lack of external portable speaker gizmos for the iPhone. Plenty of them out there for the various iPods, of course, but the iPhone? There’s kind of a shortage. DLO thinks they have the answer with their new portable iPhone speakers.


Click Clack: The Kensington SlimBlade Media Notebook Set REVIEW

I’ve never given much thought to how important using a keyboard is. If one thinks about it, a proper keyboard should have a good tactile feel, minimize wrist and shoulder pain, and have some flexibility with the function keys. I admit I’m not a touch typist, but I have mastered the hunt and peck style of typing and fully utilize the cut, paste and spell check combinations for successful clickity-clack typing. I’ve been using the new Kensington SlimBlade™ Media Notebook Set along with the optional SlimBlade Media Remote. Let’s take a look inside the packaging.


Maximum Protection: The Otterbox Defender & Armor case REVIEW

I’m a big fan of keeping my items in mint condition. Since youth, I’ve always have kept my LP collection in near perfect condition with slipcases and dust jackets. While I can’t stuff 11,000 albums on my iPod – they barely fit in my garage – I should keep the 11,000 songs on my iPod protected with a heavy-duty case. Today, I’m going to take a look at two specialty iPod cases by Otterbox. They include the iPod Classic Defender™ Series and the iPod Classic Armor™ Series for the iPod and iPod touch.


Corsair Padlock Thumb Drive Review: Protecting Your Data Today, Tomorrow, and Every Day In Between

In today’s fast paced, spy vs. spy world, information is the most common currency. Protecting that information can mean the difference between wiping out an entire civilization and saving hundreds of millions of lives (not to mention getting the right kumquats at the grocery store). Until recently, information was stored on massive hard drives or servers, which took up entire rooms. Hardly portable. It was easy to store your important information in a locked room, secured behind heavy doors, and a phone booth elevator. Since then, however, storage spaces have grown both infinitely larger and infinitely smaller. What used to…


PDAMill Review: Will Have You Running in Circles with Wild Gears

Your car speeds around the track, slamming against the wall as a yellow behemoth speeds up from behind.  If you can just make it a few more feet, there is a power-up ahead.  Inching closer, you can feel his bumper against yours, and that is when it happens.  Paying attention to the car behind, you completely failed to the sharp curve ahead.  SMASH.  And that it is the end of the road for you. No, this is not a description of a war zone, or even the latest police techniques, it is the latest game from our friends at PDAMill,…


The Stereo Mini Portable Sound Box from USB Fever REVIEW

A couple of months back, I asked my LEGO friends Beetle and Maynard with their girlfriends Sunshine and Faith to check out the new Fingertip Mini Cube Speaker that Thomas at USB Fever sent from overseas. (see the review: Make Some Music) Sunshine: “We were looking for an upgrade to a dual speaker setup. It was then that Judie from GearDiary told us about the Stereo Mini Portable Sound Box from USB Fever. That Judie girl ROCKS, because it as exactly what we were looking for!” (L to R) Beetle, Maynard, Faith and Sunshine with the Stereo Mini Portable Sound…


The Wi-FX Boomchair Review

We are a gaming family in my house.  Whether it is the Leapster, the Gameboy, or the Nintendo Wii, we love to play video games.  Well, I suppose I should say that my five year old and I love to play video games.  My two year old just likes to chase us around with a spare controller, pushing inappropriate buttons at the wrong time  So, you can imagine how thrilled my whole family was when I had the opportunity to review the Wi-FX Boomchair from Lumisoft. [Image courtesy of Boomchair]


Hava Gold Review

With the Hava Gold, you can watch your TV, anywhere you can get an Internet connection.  Does the Hava Gold give you what you want, or does it provide a gilded experience?  Let’s take a quick look and see how it goes… Software Installation Installing the software went about as you thought it would. However, there were a couple of interesting steps that I’d like to take you through.  Before anything else happened, after inserting the software CD into the drive and clicking on the software installation link, the following graphic appeared: Hava Driver installation The start of the device…


The PDair Leather Case for the Sprint Mogul (PPC 6800) Review

Most of our frequent readers know that since I purchased the Sprint Mogul, I have been desperately seeking a good case for it.  I have tried out numerous different brands, which I have reviewed both here and at Just Another Mobile Monday.  Today, my quest lands me squarely in the hands of PDair, and their leather case.  The leather case comes in three varieties: Flip, Book, and Pouch.  We’ll call this part 1 of my PDair case review.  Part 2 will come sometime soon when I look at the PDair Aluminum Case.


I Hate Spam and So Do You!

I Hate Spam! I hate it.  I  hate it.  I HATE IT!  And thus, concludes my review of Spam. Oh wait, no come back.  Just to clarify, I was not talking about the “delicious” faux lunchmeat in a can from Hormel.  Yeah, I love those guys too.  No, I meant the stuff on your computer.  I mean, well…look, I’ll tell you what I mean: I Hate Spam. Get Out of Debt Today. Avoid Bankruptcy. Save Thousands…The Professional Way! I Hate Spam! Prestigious gifts for only the dearest people! I Hate Spam! Low Cost Meds Viagra,Cialis.  No Perscription Needed.  You will…


The Toshiba Qosmio Review: Better, Stronger, Faster Than Anything You Have Seen Before

[Note: This is the second part of my look at the Toshiba Qosmio.  For my unboxing and initial impressions, take a look at Part 1] When I first started looking at the Qosmio laptop, I thought I was going to have a panic attack.  There were just so many different features here.  How was I possibly going to discuss them all?  Was I in over my head?  In fact, I came close to wondering whether I should have asked for it at all.  Yikes!  Talk about a crisis of confidence.  Luckily, I had a chance to discuss this with Judie,…


A Perfect Match: The Aliph Jawbone Review

I admit I love wearing Bluetooth headsets for phone conversations (in the privacy of my car). However to wear them publicly, you have to get past the cyborg ribbing and the crazy look that people give you from looking at you like you’re talking crazy. Truth be told, most Bluetooth headsets are not worth the humiliation, let alone the intended quality. After using several Bluetooth headsets (or ear roaches), there are three that I like that perform double duty previously reviewed here, here and here; the rest are a waste of good money. I think a majority of people would…


The SanDisk Sansa Clip Review: The Smallest Big Music Player Around

Not long ago, I brought you a review of Sansa’s latest and greatest portable media player, the Sansa View.  Today, I will be looking at the View’s younger brother, the Clip.  This is a small, 1, 2, or 4 GB media player, which clips onto your clothing for easy transportation.  Perfect for the user who does not require all of the sound and fury of the feature rich View, but still wants quick and easy access to their tunes. What’s In The Box:  Before we talk about what is inside the box, let’s talk about the box itself.  The Sansa…


Money Honey – The ALL-ETT Women’s Pocket Wallet Review

A while back, I shared about a line of wallets made by ALL-ETT Billfolds. To this day, I’ve have really enjoyed the European Leather version and the various compliments received. Mrs. WonderDawg continues to use the Original “World’s Thinnest Wallet” for its bulk reducing features and quality of the Spinmaker cloth material. Adam Muscat from ALL-ETT recently provided samples of their new Women’s Pocket Wallet and the International Wallet.


LOST: no more – The Navigon 2100 GPS REVIEW

The first time that I ever used a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit was back in 1996-97 while in Denver, Colorado. For $10.00 extra, I upgraded to the optional GPS feature in my Hertz rental car, which turned out to be a fun experience that got me from point A to B in a new city even if I missed the turns. Before GPS, I can recall exhibiting high frustration levels of being unable to find my way to a destination, especially at night. With bad eyesight, unmarked streets, winding roads and no sense of direction along with male pride,…


Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 Review: Creating The Pictures You Wish You Had Taken Yourself

About six years ago, when we were preparing for the birth of my first son, I went out and treated myself to a fancy new camcorder. This thing, a Sony, had the works. All of the latest and greatest…including a one megapixel camera (yeah, did I mention this was in late 2001?) I had big plans for that camera. I was going to document everything my son did from his first midnight poop, all the way through college. I would edit those photos and videos into short movies, slideshows, and albums, which I could share with friends and family. It…


The Vaja UMPC Case Review

I have a weakness for small leather goods. I love bags and pouches and cases more than your average bear. (Wow! It feels good to get that off my chest.) As a leather lover, I have long been aware of Vaja and the magnificent cases they make. My problem has always been that I never seem to have a phone that is popular enough with other people to make it worth Vaja’s while to create a custom case. (Check out their i-volution cases…they are to die for!)


The TasteBook CookBook Review

If you know nothing about me, then you don’t know the story of my book (Get Some Hairapy) and my adventure getting it published. I looked at so many options it would make your head spin. What I settled on was using a micro publisher (Infinity Publishers) who allowed me to create and design the book while using their quality press and network to print it. The result? A professional finished piece without the expense and hassle of having to print 1000 copies. TasteBook has taken that idea and made creating your own cookbook a possibility for anyone with basic…