Reviews | Gear Diary

Memopal Online Backup and Storage Review

I reviewed Diino last week and while I thought that it had potential, I couldn’t really recommend using it as a primary online backup solution. I was trying out two other services at the same time, so here’s Part II of the trilogy. Memopal is a year-old start up based in Italy, providing online backup and storage services. They have two plans for consumers: a $49 plan with 150 GBs of combined space for backups and file storage, and a $99 plan with 250 GBs.

Reviews

CatGenie Self-Flushing Self-Washing Cat Box Review

Cats make great pets because they don’t require a lot of attention like dogs do. Just give them a bowl of food and a pan of litter, and they can pretty much take care of themselves. The only downside to having an indoor kitty is that we humans have to clean their ‘toilet’ for them. Not fun…

Reviews

Nextar Ribbit Review

After seeing the Nextar Ribbit and showing it to my son, I literally jumped at the chance to look at this fun little MP3 player with him. This MP3 player is SMALL. So small, that not long after Luke had it, he had misplaced it. Luckily, it doesn’t cost that much to replace this cute little frog head.

Reviews

JAVOedge Lumberjack Back Cover for iPhone 3G Review

Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the making of this case. Really! Although it might look like wood from the outside, the Lumberjack Back Cover from JAVOedge is actually made from pressed cork. Looking for an eco-friendly and stylish case for your iPhone 3G that doesn’t add much bulk? This might be the one for you.

Reviews

Patek Philippe has Arrived!

“You never really own a Patek Philippe, you merely take care of it for the next generation,” or so we are meant to believe. Rubbish! Buy one for yourself and if you are lucky enough to have a son who understands and appreciates it, you can then not concern yourself to its whereabouts beyond your earthly presence.

Reviews

The HTC S740 (Rose) Windows Mobile Standard Phone Review

[This is a joint review between Doug Goldring of JAMM and Judie Lipsett of Gear Diary; it will appear simultaneously on both sites. Doug’s comments are in black, and Judie’s are blue italics] The last time I used a non-touch screen version of Windows Mobile was the Motorola Q. It ran Windows Mobile 5, and I quickly learned that the interface was nothing short of terrible. That phone lasted about a week before I declared the phone completely unusable and gave it away to a friend. That was then. This is now: Windows Mobile 6.1. And a lot has changed….

Reviews

SplashPhoto for iPhone makes easy work of photo uploads and organization

I’ve been testing out SplashPhoto for iPhone for the last few weeks. Until this application I’d been emailing all my photos to Flickr which generally works ok except that the process can be a cumbersome one. SplashPhoto makes the management of your photos especially easy for anyone who uses either Flickr or Picasa (the two web photo management sites supported) because you can upload multiple photos at one time instead of the cumbersome one-by-one process that email demands.

Reviews

Philips Norelco arcitec 1090 Electric Shaver Review

Wet or dry? That’s the question men have faced since the invention of the electric shaver. For years, I used Braun electric shavers, but they weren’t waterproof and I got tired of buying refills for the cleaning base, so I switched to the vibrating Gillettes a year ago. They’re good, reliable shavers – but they’re also a little… boring. I thought about getting a new, waterproof Braun, or a Panasonic, but I saw the Philips Norelco RQ1090 in the Virgin Atlantic inflight catalogue, and made yet another impulse purchase.

Reviews

JAVOedge Fiber Cases for the Amazon Kindle 2 Review

It’s a common occurrence. One of shock and disbelief. One experienced by many first time Kindle 2 owners. Here’s how it goes…. They open the package. Unpack all the included items. And then, scratching their head in shock and wonder, they begin rifling through the contents of the box once again looking for it. What is it they’re looking for you ask? The included case of course. It’s only then that they realize that the Amazon Kindle 2 comes with no case. Although perhaps surprising to some, probably not necessarily a bad thing. After all, how many of us actually…

Reviews

Flip UltraHD Review

Yesterday we posted on the two new video camera’s from Pure Digital. The new Flip Ultra and UltraHD. Today a review unit arrived. 🙂 It is a definite step up from the Flip units I have used before, and yet it retains the small size, ease of use and reasonable price. Let’s take a look.

Reviews

The Goatee Saver Review

If you have a goatee, chances are it has happened to you. You wake up from a less than stellar night of slumber, drag yourself in front in front of the mirror, lather your face up with shaving cream and begin to shave. Then it happens. You notice a slight irregularity in the shape of your goatee and decide it needs fixing. Except when you try to even it out it just becomes worse. Now you decide you’ll have to fix the other side. The process repeats itself until you end up with a freshly shaven face because you were…

Reviews

Unboxing the Vertu Ascent Ti

It’s not every day that I get to unbox an $8000 mobile phone…oh heck, who am I trying to kid?! Up until a few days ago, I could honestly say that I had never unboxed any device that cost so much. But through a twisting series of events, starting with my friend (and fellow gadget magpie) Drew purchasing a Vertu Ascent Ti at full retail price last summer (and eventually moving on from it), I now have one in my possession. Needless to say, the Vertu Ascent Ti a pretty big upgrade from the other two Vertus I have written about…

Reviews

Tiger Woods PGA Tour for iPhone/iPod Touch Review

I like sports games. I’ve tried the most of the current golf games currently available in the iTunes App. Store. Of them “Let’s Golf” is my favorite. However that all could change now that EA Sports has just released the next in their line up of much anticipated titles, Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the iPhone and iPod Touch. EA calls the Tiger Woods series of the world’s number one selling golf franchise game. Does the game live up to the hype? Read on to find out.

Reviews

Shape Service’s Mobiola xPlayer Review

I tend to think of myself as an “on the go” type of guy with a sedentary lifestyle…not sure if that makes any sense to you but it does to me. I have some travel for work, coach high school baseball, volunteer with the local Board of Education, and have a 15-month old that we are always taking to the zoo. But as you can see from those activities a lot of my time is spent sitting around….enter Shape Service’s Mobiola xPlayer for the Blackberry Curve 83XX series.

Reviews

Spb Mobile Shell 3 Review

[Note: This is a three-way, multi-site review. Chris Spera (italics), Clinton Fitch (bold), and Doug Goldring (plain text)have all teamed up to review Mobile Shell 3 together. It is being simultaneously posted on Gear Diary, and Just Another Mobile Monday.] It is hard to believe that it has been only a little over two years (February 2007) since Spb Software House revolutionized the way we use our Windows Mobile devices. Since that time, dozens of other software developers and OEMs such as HTC, Samsung, and Sony-Ericsson have adopted this same technique of replacing the user interface entirely. Through all of…

Reviews

Dell Remote Access Review

At first glance Dell Remote Access looks like any other remote access product on the market. You open a portal Page, my.dellremoteaccess.com, login and you will see a list of the devices on the same network as the computer running Dell Remote Access.

Reviews, Vehicles & Gear

First drive: 2010 Chevy Camaro SS

The wait is over. The trilogy, complete. Chevy Camaro is back – and back in a big way. After a seven-year hiatus, the new Chevrolet Camaro has (finally) returned to dealer showrooms, and thanks to the good folks over at Freedom Chevrolet in Southwest Dallas, I was able to spend some quality time with the new musclecar sporting the regal bowtie.

Reviews

Two Cases from TrendyDigital for Amazon Kindle2 Review

I suspect it comes as no surprise that those of us on GD who have an Amazon Kindle2 are big fans. At last count there were five of us from the site who have, use and rave about them. We love the portability, the exceptional battery life, the Whispernet for immediately downloading books and other materials, the Whispersync to keep various devices working together (since I also have an iPhone and a Touch this comes in very handy all the time), and we love the fact that the book selection and prices are excellent. As with any device, however, no…

Reviews

Diino Online Backup and Storage Review

Over a year ago, whilst working feverishly on an overdue college paper, I spilled a large glass of water over my laptop. Cue panic attack as the MacBook Pro sizzled. I had a backup of that document on my Fujitsu tablet, but it was several days old, and so was the previous SuperDuper backup of the MacBook. Fortunately, the MacBook was fine after several hours by a heater (with the battery out, of course). I got round to looking at online backup services after that. I evaluated SugarSync (pricey), Diino (no Mac client) and settled on Mozy. After the initial…

Outdoors, Reviews

Weber EP-310 Gas Grill Review

In a former life, I was a classically trained chef. I went to culinary school, worked in the restaurant business for a number of years and lived and breathed all things food and cooking. Although that seems like a lifetime away (I’ve since moved on to another career) I still enjoy cooking and do it often. I do a lot of my cooking on a grill. I use my grill all year long. Winter, spring, summer and fall. I’ve been known to grill in the snow or under an umbrella in the rain. My last grill wasn’t the latest or…

Reviews

Twitter Desktop Clients for Mac, Dual Review

By now most of us are aware of Twitter. If you’re not Twitter is a “service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” Twitter is popular. The service doubled its user base in March alone (See this link). And as a result, there is no shortage of desktop Twitter clients out there available to download. In this comparison review Larry (Nambu and Tweetie) and Wayne (TweetDeck and Seesmic) take a look at four of the more popular Twitter desktop clients available for the…