Reviews

NOX Audio’s Scout Headset

When I last looked at a product from NOX it was their gamer oriented Specialist set of headphones which I liked really well.  However, most of the time I have been preferring earbuds.  Well NOX sent me a set of their new Scout earbuds to check out.  Are they as good as the Specialist?  Let’s find  out. The Scout headset is of the type that fits in your ears with adjustable silicon cushions.  While some might not like this style I really like how they feel in my ears plus with the different cushion sizes they tend to stay put in your ears when…


iPad Accessory Review: ViewSticks iPad Car Mounting System

There are a growing number of us who want to use our iPads pretty much everywhere. And one of those places is in… the car. The iPad makes a great car entertainments system for kids in the backseat. The only thing is… you need a good, secure way to hold the iPad in place. ViewSticks offers one system for doing just that. Priced at just $19.95, the ViewSticks are a convenient, low profile way to hold your iPad in place behind the drivers or passenger seat for easy viewing. Here’s a look at them in action… From the Company: Compatible…


Review: Roll-able Bluetooth Keyboard from EFO Gadget Shop

Sometimes I would love to just travel with my Droid 2 or a small tablet sized device but the built in keyboard on my Droid 2 isn’t that conducive to typing big e-mails.  So when I saw this keyboard, I thought let’s try this as a way to make a extremely mobile setup for blogging or e-mailing.  EFO Gadget Shop sent one to me to review.  Will it be as useful as I thought?  Well today we will find out. This keyboard is an extremely portable bluetooth keyboard.  It is many times smaller than a Apple Bluetooth keyboard and even…


Review: Monsoon Vulkano Deluxe Pro

I spent a large portion of the summer building a nice deck just outside my back door.  Once it was finished we would sit out there under the bright Texas stars and I would tell my wife I needed a way to watch sports out there.  My WiFi is full strength on the deck, but I could rarely watch live sporting events.  If only I could watch on my iPad or iPhone or even laptop.  Enter the Monsoon Vulkano to grant my wish!  The Vulkano sports technology for TV placeshifting, digital video recording, internet video playback, universal plug and play…


2011 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon all hat, no rodeo

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Poetic words meant for lovers and lyricists. In the real world things don’t always go accordingly. My situation refers to the Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon that I recently spent a week with. Here are the words I penned last year during my first experience with the new Caddy: “The vehicle we enjoyed at this stopover (of the Cadillac Culinary Tour) was the new wagon from Cadillac, the CTS Sport Wagon. Wagons have not gotten much love over the past few decades and Chevy Chase did not do them any favors in his vacation movie….


WordStorm for iPhone/Touch/iPad Review

The other night, my wife said she needed a new game to play on her iPhone.  Being the Blue Plate Special guy, I started spouting off a list of free or cheap games we already owned.  Of course, she said thanks and walked off to find her own application.  I finally noticed that she had been silent for a long while and was affixed on her phone.  She explained that she found a new game that was addicting and challenging and that I could use it in my Blue Plate thingy.  I am a sucker for puzzle style games, especially…


iPhone 4 Case Review: monCarbone HoverCoat Carbon Fiber Case for iPhone 4

Dan: I recently had the opportunity to review the monCarbone HoverCoat fiber Carbon case for the iPad, and I liked it a lot. I liked it so much in fact that I still use it daily, even when my iPad is in a case. I love the way it protects the back and sides of the iPad, feel more comfortable knowing that the iPad is easier to grip thanks to the texture of the material and appreciate the way it looks on my iPad. Recently monCarbone sent two of their iPhone 4 HoverCoats to us to review. The cases are…


iPhone 4 Case Review: ingear Flexi Grip Edge

ingear is an iPhone case company that I hadn’t heard of until they reached out to us at Gear Diary to see if we’d be interested in reviewing some of their cases. I happily accepted and in a short time a giant box filled with iPhone and iPad cases arrived on my doorstep. Based in Singapore, ingear manufacturers accessories for a variety of mobile devices throughout Asia. The company does so with a three-pronged approach. Their goal is to create a product which looks good, functions well and is affordable all at the same time. They were kind enough to…


2011 Ford Edge Sport Fresher and Hipper

The Ford Edge crossover utility vehicle paved the way to a new segment for Big Blue Oval to compete. We recently got familiar with a 2011 Edge Sport model, aimed at customers who want a fresher, hipper crossover and this year Ford has updated styling AND technology. The Edge Sport rolls on up to 22-inch polished aluminum wheels, a first for this segment. The Edge Sport 22-inch wheel/tire handling package elevates the already “sporty” crossover to a new level of handling and control. It feels at home on a road course or twisty mountain road, but still delivers a ride…


Gear Review: Mikey For iPod, Records Anything, Anywhere, Anytime

I was pretty excited when Blue Microphones announced the new version of their iPod microphone, the Mikey, at CES 2010. Unfortunately the product faced some considerable delays but as with many things good things come to those who wait. The all new Mikey 2 was released last week and I was lucky enough to receive one to review. Blue touts the Mikey 2 as the “perfect tool for mobile recording.” It features a 230-degree rotating design, two custom tuned Blue capsules which enable you to record in stereo and USB pass through. Perhaps most impressive is the Mikey’s three gain…


Home Gear Review: Aluratek Internet Radio Alarm Clock with Built-in WiFi (v2)

I’ve had a chance to check out more than a few Internet radios in the past year or so and I am impressed with the growing feature-set and fidelity we are beginning to see. I have been checking out Aluratek’s current offering and can safely say that while it doesn’t stand out from an increasingly competitive market it does have some compelling features and a price point that make it a worthy contender. Here’s a closer look… From Aluratek: Aluratek’s new Internet Radio Alarm Clock with Built in WiFi allows you to easily access more than 11,000 radio stations in…


Review: Everki Agile Slim Laptop Bag

I recently found my first laptop bag.  The bag is from an era when laptops were big, bulky and weighed a ton.  Simply being able to carry them made them mobile.  The bag was huge, heavy and had no features.  Today, mobile computing keeps getting smaller.  Full screen laptops are much thinner and netbooks and MacBook Airs seem to be the best way to be on the move.  As our devices shrink, so should the bags we carry them in.  Thinner and lighter have become a must for my gear.  Some of my favorite gear bags come from Everki.  They…


iPhone 4 Case Review: Case-Mate Bounce with Pong Radiation Reducing Technology

While at CES last year I had to chance to chat with the team from Pong. The Pong case for the iPhone was the first case which was designed with the goal of blocking the iPhone’s potentially harmful radiation from reaching your brain. Then a few weeks ago at the Pepcom Holiday Spectacular I ran into the gang from Case-Mate. They informed me that they had teamed up with Pong and were going to be releasing a new version of the Pong case very soon. Well the case has arrived and it’s called the Case-Mate Bounce. The Bounce case features…


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 Movie Review

The Harry Potter series has a great tradition with my family. The first book exploded on the scene when my younger son was just 3, and as a result I was reading the books aloud to both boys and my wife, providing all of the voices. As the movies arrived alongside new books I modified my voices to more closely match the movie actors. And even when the last book arrived, in spite of the fact that my two boys tore through re-reads of the entire series in less than a week … they wanted me to read it aloud,…


iPad Accessory Review- Mophie workbook

I love Mophie’s products. Their batteries are among the best designed and most useful I have found. Last year at CES, the Mopie juicepack air saved us over and over and over when our iPhone batteries wore down as they searched for a signal on AT&T’s network. Now Mophie has extended their line to include their first ever case… the Mophie workbook. I’ve had one here for the last couple of weeks and really like the design. It takes all of the best features of other portfolio-style iPad cases and adds its own twist that makes the workbook unique. Here’s a…


ioSafe SoloPRO Fire & Water Proof External Hard Drive Review

Our love of ioSafe‘s fire proof and water proof external hard drives is no secret. I mean how can one not love something that’s able to survive this, or this? I’d been using ioSafe’s original product, their Solo model, since I first tested it back in August of last year (they sent me a replacement after I’d burned the original up in the car.) So when they asked if I was interested in being upgraded to one of their newer Pro models I happily accepted. The SoloPRO is available with either eSATA/USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 connectivity and you can…


Guitar World Lick of the Day for iPhone/Touch/iPad Review

  Recently, I have reviewed many apps for guitarists.  From tuners, chord libraries, effects, to tableture.  IOS devices have proven to be an exciting platform for musicians.  Virtually any guitar related activity has been available on my devices except a way to improve my playing.  How about I use my iPad and or iPhone to tune up, find my chords, plug in my guitar to get the right sound and then receive lessons?!?!  Agile Partners, developers of several of my favorite musician apps, has just released Lick Of The Day in partnership with Guitar World Magazine.  Through in app purchases,…


Case-Mate Fuel Lite & Max Review: Packing Serious Power for the Power User

I think those of us Gear Diary writers who own the iPhone 4 have been pretty impressed with its battery life. Unlike the iPhone 3G or 3Gs, on most days we’re able to make it through an entire day without a recharge. However, on days when we’re out and about for extended periods of time or just really relying on our phones recharging sometime during the day becomes a necessity. And for us specifically CES is fast approaching and that’s one week where an extra battery, or two, or three, for your phone becomes a must have. Case-Mate recently released…


Review: Guitar Sidekick For Mobile Devices

If you follow reviews here on Gear Diary, then you have noticed an exciting new trend for guitarists.  A ton of apps have been developed to use while playing the guitar.  Tuners, metronomes, tablature, chord diagrams, effects.  You name it, it can be found on various mobile devices.  As an iPhone user, I have reviewed and been an active user of many of the IOS guitar applications.  Here is the one problem I have found with this new genre of apps:  Where do I hold my iPhone?!?!  I have tried balancing on my knee and setting it on a table…


The Aluratek Libre Review

Talk ebook readers, and everyone thinks Kindle or NOOK. But there’s a whole subset of hardware out there for people who aren’t interested in connected readers, and just want a simple device that handles multiple formats. That’s where an ebook reader like the Aluratek Libre comes in handy. The Libre is physically very similar to the Jetbook Lite we looked at last spring. It has the same slider along the left side for page turns, along with page turn buttons on the bottom. There are d-pad and navigation buttons along the right side, plus a T-9 keyboard along the right…


Lexus CT200h Sporty New Hybrid CrossTourer

Lexus has a new hybrid vehicle being readied for market and let me begin by saying I wish them more luck with this CT200h hybrid sportwagon than they saw with the HS250h hybrid sedan that debuted last year. Lexus’ last sporty wagon was on the inaugural IS300 platform and was dubbed SportCross. I was assured the CT200h is not intended to be the next SportCross but the two do share bloodlines and driving dynamics. We spent some time with Lexus and the new CT200h in New Orleans recently and I was left with the impression that the CT should see…