Laptop Gear

Click Clack: The Kensington SlimBlade Media Notebook Set REVIEW

Click Clack: The Kensington SlimBlade Media Notebook Set REVIEW

I’ve never given much thought to how important using a keyboard is. If one thinks about it, a proper keyboard should have a good tactile feel, minimize wrist and shoulder pain, and have some flexibility with the function keys. I admit I’m not a touch typist, but I have mastered the hunt and peck style of typing and fully utilize the cut, paste and spell check combinations for successful clickity-clack typing. I’ve been using the new Kensington SlimBlade™ Media Notebook Set along with the optional SlimBlade Media Remote. Let’s take a look inside the packaging.

Corsair Padlock Thumb Drive Review: Protecting Your Data Today, Tomorrow, and Every Day In Between

Corsair Padlock Thumb Drive Review: Protecting Your Data Today, Tomorrow, and Every Day In Between

In today’s fast paced, spy vs. spy world, information is the most common currency. Protecting that information can mean the difference between wiping out an entire civilization and saving hundreds of millions of lives (not to mention getting the right kumquats at the grocery store). Until recently, information was stored on massive hard drives or servers, which took up entire rooms. Hardly portable. It was easy to store your important information in a locked room, secured behind heavy doors, and a phone booth elevator. Since then, however, storage spaces have grown both infinitely larger and infinitely smaller. What used to…

The Kensington SlimBlade Bluetooth Trackball Mouse Review

The Kensington SlimBlade Bluetooth Trackball Mouse Review

When I wrote about meeting with Kensington at CES, I had already been testing their SlimBlade Trackball Mouse for a few weeks. This is the mouse with a trackball that “gives you control even when there’s no room to move a mouse, then switches to mouse mode with the push of a button.” It’s now been well over a month since I started it exclusively with my Toshiba X205, and I am finally ready to share my experience…

The Proporta Laptop Battery Review

The Proporta Laptop Battery Review

One of most laptop’s main limitations is their battery life, which can usually only be relied upon for a few hours. This hindrance is never more evident that when traveling, because finding a place to recharge in airports and train stations can be a major challenge. On January 1, 2008, carrying extended batteries will become a little bit trickier when traveling by plane, but it can still be done as long as the extra battery is packed in your carry-on luggage (versus in your checked luggage) and it is under a certain size. Copied verbatim from the US Government’s Safe…

The Jetart NC5000 CoolStand Notebook Cooler Review

The Jetart NC5000 CoolStand Notebook Cooler Review

Are you still allowing your laptop to sit flat on your desk…cooking its hard drive in the hot air swelling from insufficient vents? If it works as promised, then Jetart’s new NC5000 CoolStand notebook Cooler might possibly be an inexpensive and effective way to keep your hard drive healthy and your laptop in the cool zone. Let’s take a look…

The Domo X Mimobot USB Flash Drive Review

The Domo X Mimobot USB Flash Drive Review

Moving your digital information from point A to point B is usually best done by using a USB flash drive, and nowhere is it written that the drive used must be some boring thumb drive. Witness the mimoco mimobot art toy USB flash drive, a memory device with more personality than any I’ve ever seen… mimobots are available in 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB capacities, produced in limited editions, are hi-speed USB 2.0, compatible with both Mac and Windows, and are enhanced for Windows Vista’s ReadyBoost technology. There are many styles of limited edition mimobots to choose from; I was…

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 950 Review

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 950 Review

Sometimes, I need to have white noise playing in the background in order to be able to concentrate. This can take the form of music (CD, MP3’s etc), radio (Internet or other), or the TV. Sometimes, the simple sound of the air circulating in the room that I’m in can be deafening, and just too loud. I need to fill the air with something other than, well… the air. Recently here in Chicago, we had a very bad rainstorm come through. My sump pump decided to die the day AFTER the storm when a lot of the water absorbed by…

The WirelessGround USB Leather Hand Strap Review

The WirelessGround USB Leather Hand Strap Review

I never thought I would be one of those people that used a hand strap, but at some point over the last year, I decided that I really like having one. I’ve been using a little freebie strap that came with a PQI flash drive, but the WirelessGround USB Leather Hand Strap I was sent convinced me to try something new. Why would I want to add a 7.5? long x 0.3? wide leather strap with a 0.6? square near its end to my Mogul? Well…check it out!

The FLY Fusion Pentop Computer Review

The FLY Fusion Pentop Computer Review

When I was a kid, computerized math tutoring came in the form of the Little Professor, an educational device made by Texas Instruments. While it was a fabulously geeky toy for my elementary school self, the Little Professor did have its shortcomings – all “he” could basically help with was addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Today, kids have it made. Companies like LeapFrog have made educational electronic toys available and accessible – even to toddlers. I am going to tell you about their new FLY Fusion Pentop Computer, which is marked as appropriate for ages 8 and up. Due to…

The Docupen RC800 Review

The Docupen RC800 Review

I have always wondered about these devices and wanted to give one a try. Personally I have no need for something like this, but I can see where such a portable scanner could come in very handy. This is the Planon DocuPen RC800 Portable Scanner. DocuPen RC800 Features: – Rechargeable lithium-Ion Batteries – The DocuPen RC800 uses rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that allows it to remain perpetually charged without utilizing a separate charging unit. Once a user plugs the DocuPen RC800 into a computer’s USB port to download the scanned information, the scanner’s batteries are automatically recharged – Expandable MicroSD memory…

Sonnet 2Fit Review

Sonnet 2Fit Review

When I bought my MacBook Pro last year, I was surprised at how wonderful the computer truly was. One of the biggest problems that I ran into with it, though was protection. Please click the review link above (written by me and one of my best mates from Down Under, Mitchell Oke), and scroll down to the unboxing pictures. You’ll notice that the computer, for all its high-end price, doesn’t come with ANY kind of protection at all. While most notebook computers don’t, the high price point of the MacBook Pro really begs the need for some kind of case,…

The LTB 5.1 USB Headphones Review

Up until 3 months ago when I would play computer games (like Call of Duty 2 and Counter Strike) using just a normal pair of earbuds, which worked fine, but I wanted something a little better. LTB produce a pair of 5.1 headphones that connect up over USB, and they sent me a pair to try out. Included in the box are the headphones, USB-to-3.5mm adaptor, driver CD and manual. There was a second driver CD taped to the outside of the box with newer drivers, but I just downloaded the latest ones (for Windows) of their website. The headphones…

The LapWorks Aluminum Desktop Stand

Not long ago I reviewed a simple black plastic swiveling laptop stand which really impressed me because it made using my Toshiba Satellite more ergonomic?as it was kept?cool. My only real complaints against that economical (<$10) solution was that it wobbled a bit, and the front retaining lip blocked the Toshiba’s SD card slot. I no longer have the Toshy, it’s been replaced by my much loved Fuji T4215, but wouldn’t you know it? The Fuji also has an SD slot, as well as jacks for the microphone and earphones located on the front lower edge. I eventually found it…

The BatteryGeek 130Wh External Battery Pack Review

I have had my MacBook Pro for about 6 months now, and for the most part I have been very happy with it. The one issue that has been with it from the beginning is battery life. While it may be quite a powerful laptop, the 2.5hrs battery life (I have seen less more than once) is just plain slack. Due to the design of the MBP an extended battery isn’t really practical either as it would be a rather awkward hump in the middle of the laptop. There is a solution however. It might not be the most elegant…

Thermaltake iXoft Fanless Notebook Cooler Review

Thermaltake iXoft Fanless Notebook Cooler Review

Laptops these days are getting a lot more powerful, and along with that power comes a lot of heat. Some laptops obviously get hotter than others, and my MacBook Pro would be nearing the top of that list. When it?s running hard it can get very hot on the bottom, which is why the term ?notebook? was coined. At full (or even medium) load, my MacBook Pro is definitely not a laptop. Thermaltake, the guys that make computer cases and cooling products, have come to the rescue with a new product that puts your notebook back on your lap, without…

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…

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…

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 Logitech V450 Laser Cordless Mouse Review

What kind of mouse do you like to use when you are working at your desktop? Mine is a Logitech MX 1000 Laser which I’ve had for a couple of years, and it’s still going strong. I like it so much because it fits my palm, tracks exceptionally well, has multiple scrolling and button features, and it has a long-lasting rechargeable battery. Today I am going to take a look at a mini laser mouse, also from Logitech. This one is the V450 Laser and it is specifically for notebook computers – although it will also work as a regular…

The Digital Innovations airDr. Air Blaster CO2 Review

I’ve mentioned before what a problem dust can be in my workspace, and nothing aggravates me more than watching it try to settle into the crevices of my keyboard. One of ways I regularly combat this unwelcome desktop addition is by blasting it with compressed air. When the folks at CO2 asked if we would be interested in taking a look at some of the items on their site, for obvious reasons the Digital Innovations was one of my first choices.

The Logitech Alto Review

I bought a brand new Toshiba Satellite A-105 laptop in late September 2006, and by the time my new Fujitsu T4215 had arrived in mid-January, I had already managed to start wearing the left leg off of the Toshiba keyboard’s silk-screened “A” button. I have no idea what my problem is, but I am really hard on keyboards; I have commented before that I must just bang on the keys or something, because it is common for the regularly used keys to eventually lose their label. While this might not be a huge issue on the typical desktop keyboard (“Hey,…

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