Reviews

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Reviews

I got the gear! and myPowerALL: Review

Here at GearDiary, Judie and the team simply love using and conversing with you as our participants, about the technology that we are blessed to come in contact with. We enjoy listening to our music to go, GPS that help us navigate over the roads and through the woods when we’re geo-caching, cameras and camcorders that capture our “WOW” moments that we can share on Flickr and You Tube, cell phones and smart phones that pull down our emails and allow us to tap into WiFi hotspots, laptops that are light and portable and don’t forget the DVD players and…

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Reviews

Cold Hands No More: Warmmi USB Heating Gloves Review

Spring is here and if you’re lucky to have a cubicle space that has a window view with authentic sunlight streaming in, it may still be frigid inside with the air conditioner running full blast. On such a nice day! Then again, I once worked at a start-up tech company where there was no heat during my winter of discontent. There were many nights of wearing my layered clothing under a down jacket. Although the old computer that was assigned to me was a wood-burning model, it emitted no heat to warm my freezing fingers. And we all know productivity…

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Reviews

The I-mu Magic Audio Frequency Singer Review

It’s been almost five years since I reviewed the Soundbug, a suction cup-based “speaker” which would utilize whatever surface it was attached to in order to produce sound while hooked to an audio source. Today I am going to look at the i-mu Magic Audio Frequency Singer, a device that similarly uses whatever surface it is resting upon to produce sound. The suction cup is gone as is the slightly cheap and cheesy silver plastic body, but the parallels are still there. This is not a traditional speaker, the sound produced will depend upon the surface upon which the i-mu…

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Reviews

The Proporta Gadget Bag Review

If you carry anything more than a pocket camera, PDA and mobile phone, then you might have decided that adding one more thing to your bat-belt will be all it takes to drag your pants down to your ankles. Well, there’s no need to scare little children while toting your gear, Proporta has come to the rescue with their new Gadget Bag. Smaller than a laptop bag, but larger than an accessory pouch, the Gadget Bag offers options for days when your gear load is heavier than usual, but you don’t want to be weighed down by a full size…

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Reviews

The Power Docking Station Review – De-Clutter Your Desktop

We all love our gear – MP3 players, cell phones, portable gaming consoles, PDA’s, cameras, laptops, which all demand the use of electricity accompanied by the associated wires, cords and chargers that supply the lifeline needed to power our gear. When I go to a concert and see miles of cable strung across the stage, it’s a wonder musicians don’t trip over them. Unfortunately, seeing a miniature version of cluttered wires strung out across my work surfaces and hanging over the backside of my desk like some ugly artsy waterfall of wires mentally trips me out. Digital Innovations has come…

The Kohjinsha SA1-1 Ultra Portable Laptop Review

Reviews

The Kohjinsha SA1-1 Ultra Portable Laptop Review

Back in 1991, when the HP 95LX was my daily driver, I used to anticipate the day when handhelds would have color displays and be even closer to the laptop computers which they seemed to emulate. When color displays became available, I looked forward to the time when these handhelds would have more memory, better battery life, better connectivity, and a faster processor. As each item on my wish list was ticked off, I finally decided that what I might have wanted all along was a more robust operating system; a true mini PC. Now it’s 2007, and UMPCs are…

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Reviews

The Axion 632 GPS Receiver Review

If you’ve been following my GPS reviews at pocketnow.com, you’ll remember that I can’t find my way out a wet paper bag with a fork and a flashlight.? I have a really horrible sense of direction.? Its shameful… it truly is.? But whaddya gonna do? It is what it is. A little while ago, I got a press release for a brand new GPS receiver, from a company called Axion.? The receiver, the AxionGeo 632, is a stand alone GPS receiver. Its not a PDA, which is new for me.? I’m used to reviewing devices that have a GPS receiver…

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Reviews

The Digital Innovations cleanDR Refresh Wipes for Electronics Review

Fingerprints and face grease are a fact of life when using a mobile phone; and unless you are a fan of cloudy screens, you probably spend quite a bit of time wiping yours with a shirt tail or microfiber cloth. As well as that may usually work, nothing can really take the place of a good cleaning. But what’s the best way to clean an electronic device that has an inherent dislike for water?? Well according to Digital Innovations, it’s with a cleanDR Refresh Wipes for Electronics. I guess it was only a matter of time before an electronics cleaner…

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Reviews

Express thyself! The Kiwali iPod Skins Review

With the proliferation of iPods, we enjoy carrying our music, videos and photos that express our tastes. What?s lacking from the run of the mill white and black Apple iPod casings are designs that say, ?this is me!? Kiwali – pronounced Kee-Wah-Lee (the forgotten Hawaiian goddess of creativity and good design) is a company producing a line of unique skins for the iPod line.

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Reviews

The Archos 604 WiFi Review

Rounding off my list of the three personal media players (PMPs) that I plan to review–I’ve already done the Cowon A2 and the Creative Zen Vision W–it’s time for the Archos 604 WiFi. (I didn’t do an unboxing on this one, kids; sorry, I’ve just been too durn busy with “real” work.) The Archos has specs very similar to that of the Zen Vision and the Cowon A2: 10.23 oz (290g) 4.3″, 480×272 screen 133mm (wide) x 78mm (high) x 18mm (thick) 30 GB hard disk space 5 hours rated of battery time built-in mic built-in external speaker A/V port…

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Reviews

The Energizer – Energi To Go Review

The Energizer “Energi To Go” emergency charger for mobile devices and cellular phones is a gadget falls into the “When I need it, I really need it!” category. The premise is simple: Load the device with two AA batteries (Energizer recommends their Lithium batteries, but it works with any type of AA), plug in their cable, then attach to your mobile phone or PDA, and voila! The LED lights up, and you’re charging. (The speed and quantity of power charging will depend on the type of AA battery used.)

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eBooks, Reviews

The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Microsoft Windows Vista Book Review

Dear Frustrated Windows User, Want to make my blood boil? Just tell me that someday, in the not-too-distant future, my refrigerator will include a computer that alerts me when I’m low on milk. Just tell me that someday my microwave oven will feature a computer that “senses” what’s inside and cooks it accordingly. Just tell me that someday my car will include a computer that lets it repair itself by “downloading” some kind of software off the Internet. The crazy thing is that there are scientists and engineers actually working on these kinds of pie-in-the-sky ideas. Don’t these eggheads know…

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Reviews

The Tornado File Transfer Tool Review

In my day job as a computer technician… one of the things I work with is computer data, moving files from one place to another. Depending on the situation, there is more than one way to move said data.? It could involve using, USB flash drives, making DVD-R’s, USB external hard drives, taking apart the computer and removing the hard drive to connect to another computer as a secondary hard drive. All these methods vary in length of time needed to complete the transfer. And as always, a direct A to B is the quickest way to get it done….

The i-mate JAQ3 WM5 Pocket PC Phone Edition Review

Reviews

The i-mate JAQ3 WM5 Pocket PC Phone Edition Review

[Ed. note: If you haven’t already, then take a look at the first part of this review, Unboxing the i-mate JAQ3, in which Judie opens the JAQ3’s box and takes a quick look at this PDA phone and its other box contents.] For this jointly written and jointly posted (on each of our sites) review, Judie’s comments will be in black, and Clinton’s comments will be in blue and italicized. One afternoon about a month ago, I received an email from an i-mate executive assistant saying “Jim Morrison wants to send you an i-mate JAQ3 Windows Mobile phone, can you…

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Reviews

Roadwired Skooba Satchel Review

Two weeks ago I started my university course studying for a Bachelor of Creative Technology (Digital Television Production). The reason I bought my MacBook Pro late last year was in preparation for this course, so of course I wanted to take it with me every day. Problem was I didn?t have a nice bag to carry everything in. My laptop backpack was too big and my laptop bag looked pretty lame. Roadwired sent me one of their Skooba Satchels to try out, and it was my hope that it would be up to the task. It needs to be able…

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Reviews

The APIOTEK VP-0002 USB Skype Phone Review

As a VoIP phone, the APIOTEK VP-0002 could be the thinnest in the world with only 7.5mm thickness; it has been 100% developed for?use with?Skype. Unlike other regular Skype phone handsets, the APIOTEK VP-0002 has a shiny, elegant design?due to its stainless metal back casing. It reminds me of?the Apple iPod and Nokia 8810 GSM cell phone. The APIOTEK VP-0002 Skype USB Phone is a product from Taiwan. An official link of the product is here for reference. Functions and specifications are shown outside the box. The package contains a USB handset, USB cable, user guide and driver CD. Feature:…

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Reviews

The Scala-700 VoIP Headset Review: changing perceptions

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, using a Bluetooth headset is the perfect companion when it comes to using a cell phone. I personally ONLY use a headset when driving or sitting at my desk conversing with clients via my smartphone or Skype. I really don’t need the Captain Picard references or the need to look “fashionable” with a blinking blue light in my ear dining at a restaurant while worrying if my “ear roach” will fall in my salad plate (which I did see happen one time!) But I’m not here to talk about the Five Rules of Bluetooth Headset…

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Reviews

The Gennum nX6000 Bluetooth Headset Review

When I recently reviewed the nXZEN PLUS 5500 BT Headset, I was very impressed by its noise cancelling capabilities, so much so that even though the 5500 was larger than the AX2 I was using, I started using it instead. Well, now the one thing that I missed about the AX2 has been replicated in a Gennum device: Meet the nX6000, a very petite BT headset which combines the excellent noise cancelling properties of the larger nXZEN models with the tiny size I like. Included in the box are the headset, a miniUSB charging cable, a USB AC Adapter two…

The MacDrive 7 Review

Reviews

The MacDrive 7 Review

Mitchell’s comments in Black, Chris’ comments in Blue Since my switch to Mac back in December I haven?t had very many problems integrating my MacBook Pro into my life. Except for a few programs that I can?t find equivalents for in Mac OS X, it has gone pretty smoothly. One area that has frustrated me is data storage. I like to have as much free space as possible on my internal drive, so I often use external HDDs. I do this particularly when editing video, as the files created are large, and temporary files for effects and previews quickly add…

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Reviews

The Slim-Line Presenter PLUS Review: Unlocking PowerPoint prison

With apologies to Bob Dylan, have you ever felt like you were stuck in PowerPoint prison with the presentation blues again?* Most us have seen the overabundance of slides, with 9 point type, variable mix of fonts, sound effects and motivational video clips to fly like an eagle? Then again, for every 100 misuses of PowerPoint, there is that one person who understands their audience and is all about conveying their PowerPoint message in a clear, concise and compelling manner. These presentation warriors in the old days (post Kodak Carousel slide tray era) used to trudge through airports carrying the…