Reviews

iPad Accessory Review: Just Mobile Horizon iPad Wall Mounting System

  We’ve taken a look at a number of different accessories from Just Mobile. Among them have been the AluPen, the XStand, the Gum Plus and the UpStand. All have impressed us and remain in use by one of us here at Gear Diary. Their newest product, the Just Mobile Horizon, is the Just Mobile take on the iPad wall mount. It looks great, does its job and, overall, impresses. Let’s take a closer look.   From JustMobile: The high-style wall mount for iPad: Just Mobile Horizon™ is the minimalist wall mount for iPad and iPad 2, designed by the award-winning…


The Sceptre 24″ E246BD-FHD LED HDTV / Monitor with DVD Player Review

When we built our house, for various reasons we decided not to put a TV in every room; we installed one 55″ LED VIZIO on the wall in the living room with all the home theater options, and we called it good. Well, sometimes the best laid plans don’t quite work out. Over time, we realized that it would be handy to have a second television as backup, so that the girls could pop in a DVD when we were watching something “boring” like the San Diego Chargers and Texas football games, or the Tour de France. Because this second…


Review: iFrogz Legion Earbuds and iFrogz Split

Sometimes all you need is a set of headphones.  No microphone integrated and no bells and whistles except great looks.  The Legion ear buds from iFrogz fit the bill really nicely.  By the way, the name Legion comes from the X-men character.  Will the earbuds fit the name?  Let’s find out. When I first saw these, the look of them reminded me of a turbine or something you might find on the death star.  I loved the look of these buds with the chrome and light blue coloring being eye-catching without being in your face.  They are also available in…


Music Sleep Timer for iPhone/Touch

The past month I have been revitalizing my love for music by using MOG music subscription service. In fact, I have spent more time listening to music in that time than I probably listened to more music than the prior year. While laying down for bed recently, I told my wife that I used to love to cue up my favorite mix tape cassette and fall asleep while listening. The cassette would always stop when it reached the end. My iPhone does not do that! When I broke that news to her she replied, “you don’t have an app that…


Review: iFrogz Vertex Headphones with Mic

The folks at iFrogz were kind enough to send me a set of their brand new Vertex line of headphones to check out.  Will they sounds as good as they look?  Follow along for a detailed look at all the features of the Vertex Headphones. It used to be that if you wanted a wired set of headphones with a mic, you were stuck using in ear or ear bud designs.  Several manufactures have started adding a microphone to headphones that are not ear buds now that it’s far more common to use your phone as a music device. The…


Music Diary Review: Jimi Hendrix – ‘Winterland 5 CD Box Set (Amazon.com Exclusive)’ (2011, Rock)

Jimi Hendrix – ‘Winterland 5 CD Box Set’ For anyone who has ever played or aspired to play the guitar in the last half century, Jimi Hendrix must surely place on the short list of influences and inspirations. Regardless of what you think about his lifestyle, drug use, or even the music of that era, there is really little debate about the raw talent and visionary approach Hendrix had as a guitarist. But guitar talent alone is not enough to carry a career – and self-destructive behavior certainly never helps! So Hendrix had a great run between 1967-1968 … and…


iPhone and iPad App Review: AmpKit 1.2

I became excited when IOS apps started utilizing guitar functions. We can tune our guitars, look up tabs, learn new licks and even play them through our devices. Basically, your iPhone or iPad can make you a mobile musician or studio with little equipment to carry. Peavey teamed up with Agile Partners and brought us AmpKit which basically turned an IOS device into an amp modeler, multi-effects processor and pocket recording studio. I reviewed the initial release here a little over a year ago. This Tuesday, Agile Partners kicked up the already awesome application with the 1.2 release. I was…


iPhone / iPad Game Review: Tesla Wars HD

Tower defense games come in a wide variety of sizes, styles and approaches, but in general they all involve keeping enemies at one end from getting to your base at the other end. Games like Fieldrunners and Plants vs. Zombies and Defense Grid: The Awakening are great games that exemplify the breadth of the genre – and the various apps stores, casual game sites and digital download houses are filled with generic clones of those games. Now we have a game that takes a different approach – and works surprisingly well! Let’s take a look. The Hype: Tesla Wars is…


Bluetooth Headset Review: Jabra Sport Bluetooth Headphones

I’m sitting on an old-fashioned rocking chair on the porch of an inn in Martha’s Vineyard with a cup of coffee. The air is a bit brisk but the sun is shining and there is a nice breeze. It is about as close to a perfect fall morning as you are going to get. My iPad has served me well as my Sunday New York Times for the past hour or so and now I am writing this post. And the scene is made close to perfect by a soundtrack provided by Pandora. (I’m listening to a custom station I…


Music Diary Review: Levin-Torn-White (2011, Rock)

Levin-Torn-White It seems like the last year has seem loads of new releases from classic artists in the so-called ‘prog rock’ arena – the dreary Asia recording ‘Omega’, the over-produced ‘Emotion and Commotion’ from Jeff Beck, and more recently the Yes recording ‘Fly From Here’. At the same time, writing about Bill Bruford’s autobiography and discovering King Crimson’s ‘Absent Lovers recording has brought the music of that Crimson era to the fore in my mind. So it was with marked enthusiasm – yet some reserve – that I checked out the new recording from three legends of rock: Tony Levin,…


GPSRunningWatch for Android Review

Running is a pretty simple sport. All you need is a pair of shoes, a good pair of shorts, and a cheap watch. All the extra bells and whistles are optional (and really, even shoes and watch are optional — just don’t run naked, as police tend to frown on that.) But there are always ways for technology to creep in, and GPS watches such as Garmin’s Forerunner are near-staples in the running community. For those of us who don’t want a small computer on our wrists, or who carry a smartphone anyway on a run, there are apps that…


2011 Honda CR-Z Compact Sport Coupe Hybrid a Bit of a Surprise

The CR-Z from Honda was a bit of a surprise for me: A surprise it took Honda so long to come out with a modern version of its popular little car; a surprise it came out as a hybrid; and a surprise that I found myself a little disappointed by the whole thing. As a modern CR-X, it has gained a bit of size and heft and as a hybrid it comes up a bit short on gas mileage. The new CR-Z gets worse fuel economy (highway and averaged) than quite a few gasoline-only cars currently in the Honda fleet…


How I Chose the Tablet for Me

  Tablet computing is all the rage now.  Microsoft coined it, Apple popularized it and there are many others including Microsoft itself that are vying for a piece of the large pie that Apple already owns.  It isn’t the death of the PC, but I am convinced it’s a device almost everyone will eventually own.  Some may replace their computer entirely with a tablet device, while others will just use it to augment the laptop or desktop they use.  Either way, it’s the future and I’ve decided I need to look at getting one.  Follow me along the journey of selecting my…


Oberon Designs Women’s Wallet Review

I’m a simple leather wallet type of girl. In fact, I’ve had the same worn men’s wallet from Target for several years. But when I’m out at a business meeting, or at a formal event, it’s not the best image when I reach for my wallet and whip out my Target special. So when Oberon offered me the chance to review their women’s wallet, I jumped. When I opened the package with the wallet, my first thought was that it was almost too nice to take it out of the house. Also, it seemed huge compared to my everyday wallet….


The Beyza Cases iPhone 4 “Zero Series” Case Review

Here’s a simple stunner that may convince you to ditch your bulky iPhone 4 case. Beyzacases has come out with a new “Zero Series”, which has to be some of the thinnest — yet most sumptuous — leather I have everhandled. Why “Zero”? Zero Series are the thinnest genuine leather cases ever made in the market. Beyzacases quality meets with magnificent art of traditional leather craftsmanship and the engineering of Beyzacases artists. “Zero” term comes from the thinness of the craftsmanship of the Zero Series which does not add any bulk to your carrying experience in any terms. Zero Series for iPhone 4…


iPad Game Review: Stand O’Food 3

G5 Games is one of the big publishers of so-called casual games, and my favorite publisher of those games for iOS devices. They have found a sweet spot of hidden object, puzzle and time-management games that play well and present an excellent value on those platforms. Some of these games – such as Treasure Seekers and Supermarket Mania – have spawned full franchises that carry from one game to the next and bring the audience right with them! Now the next entry in another time-management favorite has arrived – Stand O’Food 3! Let’s take a look. The Hype: The most…



Review: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Instant PDF Document Scanner

As I have moved further and further away from using paper and pen and more and more into eEverything having a good, high-speed scanner has become increasingly important. My Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 is my workhorse. It handles up to 50 sheets of paper at a time and does duplex scanning. When I am “covering” a book to an eVersion (a laborious process that starts with me cutting the binding off of it) this is the tool for the job. The NeatDesk Desktop Scanner (reviewed here) is perfect when I have a few pages or receipts to scan. When I am…


iPad and Tablet Accessory Review: AluPen and AluCube

Last year Judie reviewed JustMobile’s AluPen. She liked it a lot. Then, last spring, Just Mobile introduced a stand for the AluPen. The AluCube was just that, an aluminum cube that serves as a perfect stand for the AluPen. To my mind it didn’t make all that much sense to buy a separate stand for a tablet stylus but when I heard they had created a deluxe package and were selling the AluPen and AluCube together I was interested. Just Mobile was kind enough to send a review sample so lets take a closer look. From Just Mobile: AluPen and…


Magellan RoadMate 9055-LM GPS Review

Smartphones and tablets are “category killers” that have decimated numerous standalone products. As I have written previously, from one perspective the iPhone and the iPad are like “Rorschach devices”. They are “blank slates” (pun totally intentional) that can take the form and function of a wide range of devices depending on whatever software they are currently running. That means that, with the right apps, they can double as a camera and do photo and video editing on the fly. The result has been the demise of the Flip camera and some serious “hurt” on the point-and-shoot camera market. (Once the…


iPad Accessory Video Review: The ZaggFolio and ZaggKeys Solo

ZAGG makes some great accessories and I was intrigued when they released a keyboard folio case for the iPad 2. I was even more intrigued when I heard that they would be releasing the ZAGGkeys Solo, the keyboard folio minus the folio since it meant you could buy a standalone iPad keyboard that has specialized shortcuts just for the iPad AND a built-in stand. When I reached out to Zagg I was told the ZAGGkeys solo would ship in a short while OR I could take a closer look at the ZAGGfolio and just focus more on the keyboard since…