Reviews

LifeProof Fre for the iPad mini Review- iPad Protection That Looks Great

If you are like me – or Judie – or Mike – your iPad mini is with you pretty much all the time. And while it is a rather solid device (Apple does happen to make some of the most refined and sturdy mobile devices on the market) the iPad mini is still a relatively delicate piece of electronics. Especially during the summer you are going to want to protect it and, until recently, your only way to get maximum protection was to put the tablet inside a big, heavy, bulky case. It’s no surprise that Lifeproof has fixed this…


Lowepro Transit Backpack 350 AW Review – Take Your Gear and GO!

Lowepro describes their Transit Backpack 350AW as “Designed to adapt to your carrying needs, this discreet camera backpack gives you fast access with no compromises.”. The backpack has an MSRP of just $119.99 and it packs in all of Lowepro’s best features. Let’s take a look at it on video, and I’ll then run down the specifics of this backpack to help you determine if this is the best camera backpack for your needs. Specifications: The bag is made from 600 D polyester, 300D honeycomb polyester and nylon webbing. It weighs just 2.4 pounds, and it has an interior camera…


Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Review on PlayStation 3

The Metal Gear game series/franchise expands with the fast and furious katana action mix with gunplay and special mechs in the speedy epic Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The Hype METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE takes the renowned METAL GEAR franchise into exciting new territory by focusing on delivering an all-new action experience unlike anything that has come before. Combining world-class development teams at Kojima Productions and PlatinumGames, METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE brings two of the world’s most respected teams together with a common goal of providing players with a fresh synergetic experience that combines the best elements of pure action and epic…


BlackBerry Q10 Review – The Return of the QWERTY King

The candy bar QWERTY has been one of my favourite form factors since I first laid my hands on the Nokia E71. It helped that the E71 was super slim, solid and had amazing battery life, but the tactile keyboard held me back from switching for quite some time. Since those days a glass slab has been my device of choice, be it iPhone or more recently Android. It’s easy to see why, considering the ratio of consumption over creation they are typically used for. Intelligent keyboards like the brilliant SwiftKey for Android further bolster the argument that the hardware…


The JOBY GripTight GorillaPod Stand Review

I’ve long been a fan of JOBY’s various products. They tend to be simple, effective and well made. In fact, the very first GorillaPod tripod I reviewed is still going strong! For the past year or so, I have keeps a JOBY GripTight Micro Stand on my keychain. Just last week a person I was with said, “I wish we had brought a tripod…” I reached in my pocket, pulled out the GripTight Micro Stand and said, “Here, try this…” It worked perfectly. That’s the beauty of JOBY’s products- they solve simple problems in a variety of ways. Now the…


Mr Reader Helps Ease Google Reader Withdrawal

I don’t require much in an RSS reader, I just want a list of new items, broken up into folders. No need for fancy animations, layouts that look like magazines, or silly flipping transitions. My favorite RSS reader pre-Google Reader shutdown was FeeddlerPro, and I was heartbroken to leave it behind. But the developer for FeeddlerPro isn’t supporting Feedly, and since that’s become the simplest platform to keep my computer, Windows Phone, and iPad in sync, I needed a new app — one that wasn’t the Feedly app, because I really hate the Feedly iPad app’s style over substance approach….


Timbuk2 Aviator Travel Backpack Review – Your New Travel Companion

The Timbuk2 Aviator Travel Backpack is a serious backpack for people on the go. It has an MSRP of $179, and it is made with the fit, finish and design Timbuk2 is known for. This isn’t a travel backpack for someone looking for a simple casual bag, but rather it’s for someone who is planning on doing some serious trekking around the world — someone who needs a great and flexible way to both carry and protect their gear. Let’s take a look. The Timbuk2 Aviator Travel Backpack takes two different forms — a backpack and a carryon — and…


V-MODA Faders Earplugs Review – Protect Your Hearing In Style

The other day I reviewed the ETY•Plugs HD earplugs. (Read the review.) What stands out to me, when thinking about this excellent approach to protecting one’s hearing, is the fact that the earplugs are based on the design Etymotic employs for their headphones. In other words, someone who finds Etymotic headphones comfortable will find the same to hold true with the ETY•Plugs HD earplugs. Turns out Etymotic isn’t the only company to leverage their headphones by offering a pair of earplugs that look and feel like something you might use to enjoy your audio; V-MODA had the same idea and…


ZAGG Origin 2-in-1 Bluetooth System Review- Cool Gear or Total Gimmick?

When I first saw the ZAGG Origin 2-in-1 Bluetooth speaker I was intrigued. The Origin looks like a large gray plastic desktop speaker with the ZAGG name proudly displayed on the front. It is, in fact, a large gray plastic desktop speaker with the ZAGG name proudly displayed on the front. But that is only part of the story. Grab the middle portion of the large gray plastic desktop speaker’s back and the ZAGG Origin breaks into two pieces. You see, the ZAGG Origin is both a large desktop speaker and a small portable speaker. When the two pieces are together they…


Tempour from Soiree Review – One Wine Tool to Rule Them All

As a food and drink writer, I get the opportunity to try out a lot of gadgets that purport to make my drinking life easier. Not that I don’t appreciate them, but the drawers of my liquor cabinet are full of things to cool my drinks, tools to aerate and decant wine, strainers, bottle stoppers, collars that fit around bottlenecks to prevent dripping and strainers to filter out the sediment in aged wines. It’s frankly getting to be a bit of a mess in there, and I usually just keep the drawer shut. So I was quite excited to hear…


Griffin Survivor + Catalyst Waterproof Case for iPhone 5 Review

Let me start off this review by admitting that I am somewhat biased when it comes to iPhone cases.  I carry my phone in my pocket at all times, I rarely drop my phone, and I rarely bring it near water.  With that in mind, I’ve always leaned towards bumper-style cases that are small enough to protect my phone and do not to add too much bulk to my pocket. Still, I think I’ve found a great option for those who carry their phone in their pocket and also want great drop and water protection.  The Griffin Survivor + Catalyst…


Spigen SGP Aluminum Home Buttons for Samsung GALAXY S4 Review

Do you need Spigen SGP’s Aluminum Home Buttons for Samsung GALAXY S4? No. Are they worth the $9.99 price of admission to get three of Spigen SGP’s Aluminum Home Buttons for Samsung GALAXY S4? That depends. If you want to bring a bit of customization to your Samsung super-phone or prefer a Home Button with a bit more tactile feel the SGP Home Buttons might be a good choice for you. If, on the other hand, you don’t need to add bling to your S4-thing you may want to save the ten bucks. Here’s a look at what they offer….


Scosche RH1060 Bluetooth Headphones Review – Cut Cords Not Corners

We recently reviewed the Scosche RH1056md Headphones. I was impressed with the wired, over-the-ear headphones and thought them to be a decent value at under $150. Scosche was good enough to also send a pair of their RH1060 Wireless Bluetooth headphones for review. The RH1060 headphones look quite similar to the RH1056md sample we have been using; in fact, then you use them in wired mode they are pretty much the same. Comparing the specifications of the two headphones reveals that both have 40mm drivers and an impedance of 32?. The frequency response of the RH1056md headphones is slightly better,…


Accell Powramid Power Center and USB Charging Station Review

Surge protectors are not the most interesting of accessories. At the same time they are an important part of getting your gear up, running and protected. Most of the time power strips with surge protection come in a straight line of outlets, but that is not the case with the Powramid Power Center and USB Charging Station from Accell. It has a most unusual shape, and it is designed for today’s multi-device setups. Let’s take a look. First and foremost, the Powramid Power Center and USB Charging Station has room for six different plugs to connect at the same time….


Lumia 928 Windows Phone Review – Slight Learning Curve Leads to High Rewards

About a month ago, I made the radical decision to move from my iPhone to Windows Phone. I’ve always liked Nokia products, and when the Lumia 928 came to Verizon the temptation was overwhelming, so I took the plunge. You can check out my first impressions here. Since this was such a radical change, and since Windows Phone has so many proponents and detractors all by itself, I’ve broken this review down into two sections: Windows Phone itself, and the Lumia Hardware. Windows Phone: Before I get into the phone itself, I think it’s worth spending some time initially on…


Satechi LED Desk Lamp Review – See What You Are Working On

It has been some time since I felt the need for a task light while working at my desk or at our kitchen island. The reason for that is quite simple, my house was renovated by my father-in-law, and he has a thing about putting tons of lights in any room has designs and rebuilds. Still, there are times when I really could use some easily directed light. That was the reason I took an interest in the Satechi LED Desk Lamp. This didn’t look like any desk light I had ever used, and it is not. No, the Satechi…


GRID 2 Review on PlayStation 3

  GRID 2 is a motorsport masterpiece game sequel was worth the wait featuring two main modes for one player and online plus a two player split screen racing option.  New features include a reverse action button and gameplay video uploading/editing/posting to YouTube. The Hype An extensive and separate online campaign redefines multiplayer racing games plus full RaceNet integration Powered by Codemasters’ EGO Game Technology Platform for jaw-dropping damage and stunning visuals, GRID 2 sets the standard for technical excellent in racing. Race a handpicked selection of iconic cars that represent the best in automotive engineering from the last 40…


Synology DiskStation DS213j NAS Review

Lets talk about NAS, dear readers.  “What the heck is that?” you may be asking yourself, but don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for!  It stands for Network Attached Storage.  NAS is the term generally used for an enclosure that contains one or more hard drives which is connected to a network and can be accessed by multiple computers on that network.  Compared to a traditional file server, NAS devices typically provide faster read/write speed and a more simple setup and configuration.  The nice thing about an NAS is that you can set the hard drives up in a RAID…


NuGuard GripStand Review – Simple yet Effective

When Dan assigned me another iPad stand to review, my first thought was, “Oh great, another stand.  How can this one be any better than all the others?”  The stand seemed overly simplistic, and I wondered how effective and useful it could truly be.  When I got home and tested out the case, I was pleasantly surprised.  In fact, the simplicity of Newer Technology’s NuGuard GripStand is one of its major strengths.  Unlike some other cases on the market, the GripStand focuses less on appearances and more on its functionality, which I’ve come to appreciate. In order to remove the…


Serenity Plex Media Server Client for Android and GoogleTV Review

Since getting the Roku box, one thing I have loved about it was that I could use the Plex Media Server to stream my personal content at home to my TV.  Plex Media Server is a media streaming server available for Linux, Windows, and Mac; it is also supported on select Network Attached Storage(NAS) boxes like those available from Qnap, Synology, ReadyNAS, ASUSTOR and unRAID. Plex is an awesome piece of software that works wonderfully in conjunction with the Roku, however I am not always in front of my TV.  While Plex does have a web server built in that you…


Cobra iRadar ATOM Radar Detector Review- A Small Package With Big Protection

Last October I reviewed the Cobra iRadar iOS 200 radar detector. This system is a combination of an iRadar application and accompanying hardware. It is an interesting solution in that the radar detector itself works quite well on its own but becomes far more powerful when paired with and connected to a mobile device. It obviously impressed me since I continue to use it on a daily basis. (You can read the full review here.) Now the company has come out with the next generation of the hardware/app combination. The iRadar ATOM radar detector is smaller and more powerful. Let’s…