Computer Gear


Super Notebook Stand – Monitor Combi

My man cave/guitar room/sports memorabilia room/computer room is not the largest room in the house.  Last summer we decided to replace a large computer desk with a small one on wheels.  My only problem with new table was finding a place for everything.  I liked the smaller footprint, but needed a way to organize my desk while making it still look good.  One morning on my summer break I headed out the shop and built a small shelf out of some scrap wood.  I painted it black and slapped a couple of Apple stickers on it and had me a…


Unboxing the Logitech G27 Racing Wheel!

The Logitech G27 racing wheel is the follow up to Logitech’s wonderful G25 racing wheel that came out a few years back. It is developed mainly for the hardcore gamers who love to experience every bit of the game, and play it in true sense. It is designed to provide the best racing experience to the PlayStation gaming station users and PC gamers. Having used the G25 in the past, I would say I am a very happy owner of the fantastic G25 racing wheel made by Logitech. The G27 racing wheel from Logitech is everything a racing simulation fan…


Thinksound Headphones: Green Sounds Good, Really Good

Going green and buying electronics usually don’t mesh very well.  Thinksound set out to create great sounding headphones that were also friendly to the environment too.  Not an easy task to say the least, but one the company took very seriously. Thinksound‘s lineup currently consists of two eco-friendly headphones.  The company was kind enough to send me both to review. Does being “green” mean you have to sacrifice sound quality? Click on through to find out, but here’s a hint, in a word, nope….


DocuPen X Series- Review

We saw a lot of neat stuff at CES last month. One of the most interesting, at least to my mind, was a small hand-held scanner from PlanOn. At just about 9 inches long and a tiny bit thicker than an iPhone, the DocuPen X05 isn’t cheap… but it’s pretty impressive nonetheless. The company sent me a loaner unit, and I’ve been using it for the past week or so. Despite some frustrations when I initially tried to get it set up, I have been more than a bit “wowed” by this little gadget. Let’s take a look.


iFrogz Custom Fallout Headphones Review

Custom accessories are uber-popular right now.  We’ve seen several of our favorite accessory manufacturers bring custom offerings into their collections over the last few months.  One of the best of the bunch, iFrogz, has several items in its inventory which the company allows you to custom build to create your very own, one of a kind, item. Before I left for CES 2010 iFrogz allowed me to custom build my very own pair of their Fallout headphones which I picked up while at the show.  I’ve had a chance to uses them for a while now and wanted to share…


Nexus One Desktop Now Available For Order

The gold connectors on the bottom of the Google Nexus One are to be used for dock accessories, including a Desktop Dock and a Car Dock, but those accessories were nowhere to be found. Today, the Desktop dock is now available for order.


Quirky Cable Caps

Quirky, who use a community-driven process to determine which products to bring to market, and brings many products to market very quickly, have released their latest effort – Quirky Cable Caps. These caps, in 6 different styles, are designed to protect the (male) ends of USB cables and wrap up any excess cable as well.  They each have a wild-looking head which slides over the cable end, and a rubber band type of body used to tie up the excess cable. The six styles available are: Printer Man, Phone Dude, Camera Gal, Eye Baller, Egg Man, and ‘Da Bulb.  They are…


Plantronics .Audio 476 DSP Headset- A Gear Diary First Look

As I’ve written numerous times here on the site, I am a huge user of voice recognition software. I’m blown away by Dragon Dictation on the iPhone, use Dragon NaturallySpeaking on my Windows 7 machine, and I have MacSpeech Dictate on both my iMac and my MacBook Pro. When I upgraded to the current version of MacSpeech Dictate I discovered that it isn’t configured to allow you to use the built-in microphone for dictation. Turns out there is a reason for this for as good as the microphone is, it isn’t ideal for voice recording. Without a proper headset, there…


Seagate Dockstar – Review

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to review the Seagate FreeAgent Go. It is a small, pocket-sized external hard drive that looks sleek and has a tremendous capacity. One of the nice features of the hard drive is that it has only one port- a Mini USB. You can, however, purchase an optional dock for the hard drive that lets you simply slip the hard drive into the cradle when you’re ready to use it. The company offers a similar looking cradle that does much more, however. By incorporating a PogoPlug into the cradle Seagate has created a…


Hercules XPS 2.1 40 Slim Speakers – Review

I tend to use my iMac for everything from music to tv to movies when I am in my home study. And why not? After all, the 24″ screen is great for TV and movies. (And the 27″ will be even better!!) There are, however, a few things that make the experience quite a bit better. First off, the SRS iWOW plug in adds both depth and a high level of sound configurability. Second, while the iMac’s speakers do “well enough”, a pair of external speaks make a HUGE difference! I’ve been using the Hercules XPS 2.1 40 Slim speakers…


Gboard Review: Gmail at lightening fast speeds

I recently made the move to making G-Mail my full time e-mail client.  In conjunction with the move, I also stopped using the Mac OS Mail application and am strictly reading and writing my e-mail via the G-Mail web based client. The transition has take some getting used to.  Reading and writing via the G-Mail site is a different experience than doing so via a regular mail application.  Simply put, it takes a heck of a lot more mouse movements and clicks when using the web based G-Mail method. When I first spotted the Gboard I immediately knew it was…


Altec Lansing Expressionist Ultra Review

Not all speaker sets are created equal, that much is certain.  Altec Lansing has sent me their latest — and what I consider their best — the Altec Lansing Expressionist Ultra Speakers. The Expressionist Ultra is currently the top of the Altec Lansing line.  This very stylish three speaker system boasts 200 Watts of power, and its tremendous sub woofer is bigger than the computer the system is connected to.


PlanOn Printstik Bluetooth Printer for BlackBerry Review

Back in August, we wrote about the PlanOn Printstik Bluetooth printer for BlackBerry devices.  This past week, PlanOn provided a review unit on loan, and allowed me to put it through its paces for several days.   Now that the Printstik has been returned, what did I like about it?  What could be improved?  More importantly, is this an item that should be added to your gear for daily use?  Let’s find out…


Altec Lansing Orbit USB iML237 Speaker Review

Last year Judie reviewed the Altec Lansing Orbit speaker.  It was an interesting speaker that can be used with any device sporting a normal 3.5 mm headphone jack.  The downside to using such a speaker with a laptop is that the internal sound card in most laptops can be a bit noisy. Altec Lansing recently sent me a sample of their  Orbit USB iML237 speaker. It solves the sound card issue perfectly.  



USB Fever Borescope Review

Have you ever dropped something in your PC case, and then could not find it amongst the chips, resistors, capacitors and other various nooks and crannies?  Next time, you can use this nifty USB Fever Borescope to find it.



No More Excuses! Back Up Your Data the Easy Way with the Clickfree Transformer

Sure, we say we’re going to diligently backup our data.  Heck, sometimes we even actually do it. It starts out with the very best of intentions.  You backup all those files daily.  Then weekly.  Then, monthly. Soon enough, though, you’ve fallen off the cart.  You’re going to softball games, soccer games, working on…One.  Last.  Deadline. Then two, maybe three months go by since your last backup.  We are all guilty of neglecting our poor data.  Usually around that time is when — gasp! — everything is lost.  We become victims a file corruption.  A dead hard drive spun into oblivion. …


Review: USB Fever Super Travel A/C USB Wall Chargers

When I came across the Super Travel A/C USB Wall Chargers from USBFever.com, I thought they were a great idea!  So I asked USB Fever to send a set to me, I received it yesterday, and I like it even more than I thought I would.  This charger is going to save me from carting 3-4 charger adapters along, plus it will also save precious power outlets in my hotel room when I go to DC in a week.


Neek Speaker Review

One thing I like to do when cleaning house is listen to podcasts or music.  I don’t have much of a stereo system in my home, and I wouldn’t want to make to have the whole household suffer from me listening to the latest from one of my many Linux podcasts.  So most of the time I have earbuds or headphones on while working around the house.  Sometimes, it’s just not convenient to wear the headphones, so I need a small speaker. With that in mind, when I saw the Neek Speaker I couldn’t help but wonder if it would…