Laptop Gear

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

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,…


Apple 15″ MacBook Pro Review

Chris Spera’s review in Black, Mitchell Oke’s Comments in Blue and italicized. I’ve been a freelance writer for a while now. Recently, one of the principles at WUGNET (The Windows User’s Group NETwork) remarked to me that I had been writing for them for nearly 10 years. WUGNET is one of the best and only newbie/intermediate-skilled Windows resources still on the Internet. The site provides shareware downloads (screen savers, games, applications and utilities). They’ve also got some really great, free newsletters and one of the most complete Computing Tip databases on the ‘Net. I know… I’ve put most of them…


Logitech VX Revolution Laser Mouse Review

When I bought my MacBook Pro back in December I was excited that it had built-in Bluetooth, something that I gave up with my previous notebook. It was great being able to sync my PDA/Phone and use a wireless mouse without cables or dongles. The Logitech MX900 has for several years been my favourite mouse because of its excellent shape, multitude of buttons, rechargeable batteries (with charging dock) and Bluetooth. No other mouse had impressed me since, or made me want to replace it. I figured it would be no problem to pair it up with my Mac and get…


The Jetart NP7600W Aluminum Notebook Cooler Review

One of the first things I noticed about my new FujitsuT4215 was that it gets pretty hot while running in laptop mode. See, there’s this vent on the left hand side, and it cranks out heat like there’s no tomorrow…and the bottom of the laptop get’s pretty warm, too. Which is why it seemed particularly timely when I received a review sample of the new Jetart NP7600W Aluminum Notebook Cooler.


iSkin ProTouch Keyboard Protector Review

With the increasing amount of time that people are spending on their computers these days, be it for work or pleasure, eating and drinking in front of the computer is commonplace. With this comes the risk of spilling that coffee or cup of Diet Coke (Judie :P), or dropping crumbs of that cookie into your keyboard, where they will literally put a spanner in the works. Enter the iSkin ProTouch, a product designed to help keep all those nasties off and out of your vulnerable keyboard. The iSkin is a rubber cover that sits on top of your keyboard that…


The i.Tech Virtual Keyboard (VKB) Review

[Ed. note: this review picks up where the Unboxing left off. If you haven’t already read it, read the i.Tech Virtual Keyboard Unboxing first.] This past month with the i.Tech Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for me. During this time, I have managed to learn way more about Bluetooth Stacks and Windows XP Service Pack 2 upgrades than I ever wanted to know…but I’m getting ahead of myself already, and we wouldn’t want that… 😉 As many of you will recall from my previously posted unboxing, the Virtual Keyboard (VKB) is a futuristic…


The Belkin CushTop Review

When I bought my latest laptop I envisioned spending more time sitting on the office couch, versus time spent sitting at my desk. In this lovely fantasy, I would no longer sit with my back half-turned to the room; instead I would have my feet propped on an ottoman, with WiFi streaming to the laptop on my lap, and Gizmo (my Yorkie) curled at my side. CNN would be on the television, and I would would have my ever-present cup of Diet Coke and small bowl of chocolate covered espresso beans somewhere accessible – but not so near that I…


The Brando 1GB USB Flash Card Review

Some days it seems as if I have seen just about every form a USB flash memory device could take, but every now and then a product will come along and make me think “hey, that was a great idea!” The Brando USB Flash Card is just such an item. Measuring 3.4″ long x 2.1″ wide x 0.15″ thick, the USB Flash Card is the exact size of a credit card, and the approximate thickness of three. The USB Flash Card is available in 1GB size, and unlike the Walletex memory card I reviewed last year, it does not have…


The i.Tech Virtual Keyboard Unboxing

The i.Tech Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard has been on my list of must-try items ever since I first heard about it – which if I remember correctly was in 2003! The first time I saw pictures of a keyboard which worked by beaming a red laser display on any flat surface, my inner geek did a happy dance! This is a product that looks like came straight out of a Philip K. Dick novel, out of a Star Trek episode, out of a…you get the picture. 😉 Like many new technologies, the VKB had a few false-starts and took longer to…


The Purosol Plasma Molecular Screen Cleaner Review

Have you got a filthy television or computer screen lurking somewhere in the house? I do, or rather, I did. While my laptop’s screen is usually kept as spotless as possible – because I am obsessive like that – Sarah’s looks like it has been pulling weekend duty in a public library. Those that hate fingerprinted screens might want to cover their eyes…this is a scary, scary sight… 😯 That’s why when I was approached about trying the new Purosol Plasma Molecular Screen Cleaner, I jumped at the chance. Can you blame me? So why hadn’t I just taken a…


The Atech Flash PROGear-G5 28-in-1 Card Reader Review

One of the downsides of trying almost every type gadget known to man is that they all seem to take different memory cards. Why is that? (A rhetorical question if there ever was one, I don’t really expect an answer. ;-)) As each new memory card format comes out, all I can do anymore is?be grateful that they come with SD adapters so that I can at least access the card’s contents from my laptop’s built-in reader. However there are plenty of cards that won’t play nicely with SD, either because they are too big or because they are too…


The Case Logic 6 Capacity USB Drive Shuttle Review

While I was at CompUSA one day… I came across the USB flash drive case made by Case Logic (model JDC6). Case Logic calls it the “Case Logic”. I thought what a neat idea. My USB flash drive collection is growing and carrying more than one is proving to be some what of a problem, so I bought the case. The case is 5.25″ x 3.75″ x 1″m and weighs in at 4 oz, which makes for easy carrying. As the product name implies, there are 6 pockets and are made of a mesh material with elastic edges to keep…


The 256MB Ikura Sushi Memory Disk Review

It should be no surprise that because I live in the middle of dry and dusty West Texas, I don’t often get to partake in good sushi. One night while I was talking to G-A of Akihabara news, he was lamenting that there was no good meat in Japan. I assume he wasn’t talking about Kobe beef, but he was basically making the remark because I am in cattle country. 😉 So I smarted back that at least he had good sushi, and he said no problem, he would send me some. Yeah, right! And sure enough, he did… About…


The Jetart NC3300 Cool Stand Review

Right before I started this site, I bought a Toshiba Satellite A-105 laptop on a whim. It was one of those times where I was standing in a store, and the right item with the right specs and the right price was staring at me from its shelf; I couldn’t exactly leave without it. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but in the last month this laptop has replaced my desktop computer – I now do just about everything on it. As with any notebook computer this Toshiba manages to put out a bit of heat, and using it…