Laptop-DRV » Reviews

Seagate FreeAgent Dockstar Survey

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:17:32 +0000

Every holiday families get together, picture are taken, video interviews are precariously recorded and yet no one ever views them. So how is a family to share all this media? Sure, you could spend countless hours uploading the contents of your hard drive to s ome file sharing service, but that’s just too many steps for all that its worth.

Enter the Seagate FreeAgent Dockstar. It’s a dock that enables you put your FreeAgent Go hard drive and up to 3 USB storage devices online and accessible any where there is an Internet connection…without any uploading.

While owning a FreeAgent Go portable hard drive isn’t mandatory, the draw here is that it is clearly designed for folks that have already made an investment in the FreeAgent Go hard drives, t hough it’s never too late to start.

Setting up the device requires little to no Networking knowledge. Just plug in its power, an Ethernet plug (connected to the Internet) and your choice of storage. After that you’ll just need to navigate to http://dockstar.pogop lug.com where the d ock needs to be authorized. There& #8217;s no charge for the first year of service ($30/year after that), and if you haven’t already s ussed it out, Seagate has chosen to use Cloud Engine’s popular Pogoplug technology to deal with all the online file sharing.

If you’re not familiar with Pogoplug, no worries, but its essentially a very clean and simple way to share files online. The interface was originally built for Cloud Engine’s Pogoplug device that turns any hard drive into a Network Attached Storage device. I guess Seagate l iked it so m uch that they’ve decided to license the technology.

Once the Dockstar has been activated you’ll be redirected to a page where you can view you r drive’s contents. Alternatively, those running the Pogoplug application on their PC will be able to access the drive as if it were a locally connected hard drive on their computer. In other words, files can be dragged and dropped to the Seagate Free Agent Dockstar as if it were any other USB attached hard drive with no additional uploading.

Unlike DropBox (a free online storage service that also mounts like a local drive on yo ur computer’s desktop) you can’t right click and create a public link to the file or folder in question. Instead, you’ll need to navigate back to the Dockstar website and create a public link.

And this is where the UI goes a bit sour. If you want to share a folder, of say pi cs, you can publish it to Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, rss feed or simply create a public URL for viewing. Since I didn’t wan t to share my personal pics with any of the aforementioned services I figured the public link was best, right? Wrong. The public link doesn’t allow your friends to easily download all the pics. Instead they’re required to wait for each one to loa d and then, and only then can they download one pic at a time. The only way to get around this is to share the drive’s entire contents (or cr eate a c ompressed file), which then enables them to download the entire folder. Hopefully Pogoplug will fix this issue in the next software/website iteration, but it is very surprising to see this UI lacking since DropBox offers a simpler sharing soluti on out the gate and their service free.

Update: It looks like you can ‘invite people’ to share a folder. Once this is completed you can allow them to either have ‘full access’ or just ‘view/download’.

Also of note, the option to select/deselect the social services for sharing often resulted in the service hanging and required me to close out the page.

For those of you sporting an iPhone, you’ll be glad to here that there is an accompanying application. It enables you to access your drive’s contents from any wher e you might roam. This is nice if you’d like to view a large numb er of pics on your iPhone and lack the local storage. In the event that you’d like quick access to any of the pictures, Pogoplug allows you to download the image to your iPhone. Unfortunately, though, the same does not apply to music or movies. You can only stream stor ed movies or music, which is frustrating since these types of media tend to be larger and a greater tax on bandwidth, especially if you don’t have a 3G or WiFi connecti on. But media problems aside the UI of the iPhone app is easy to use and clean.

Seagate FreeAgent Dockstar costs $100, which is $29 cheaper than Pogoplug’s cur rent offering. There is also the option to add a FreeAgent Go hard drive, which can provide storage up to 1TB. The ability to add other USB stor age devices to the setup certainly add some bang for buck and any of you that struggle with up loading pictures this might be the best resolve. The price of the dock includes 1 year of service, after that you’ll need top drop $30/year to keep on NASing, a price that will certainly dissuade a many a user, especially seeing as that Pogoplug, the maker of the NAS technology offers its service for f ree. Nonetheless, Seagate FreeAgent Dockstar is super simple to use, setup and should prove useful to even the mos t tech lame.

You can buy the Seagate FreeAgent Doc kstar from Amazon for $79.

Pros:

Easy and simple setupWorks w/ up to 3 USB storage devicesSmall footprintClean iPhone app

Cons:

Costs $30/year after 1st yearPublic link not easy to createMusic/movies can’t be downloaded to iPhone locally

iSkin Pro Handle Keyboard Protectress Survey

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:10:03 +0000

There are surely a lot of people out there that ha ve a hard time keeping liquids and other debris off their keyboard. For those people as well as all you OCD enthusiasts out there, the iSkin Pro Touch Keyboard Protector is a great way to shield you r keyboard from the e lements, provided that you don’t mind feeling an entirely different keystroke.

Typing can be a fickle thing . It’s often very precise in its cadence and once you get used to a certain feel it’s difficult to transition your technique to a new format. That’s the thing with the iSkin Pro Touch. It feels so alien that it’s hard to use for an extended period of time. I felt like I was using some sort of Naval computer while wearing a scuba diving outfit with waterproof gloves on.

Part of why I don’t think the Pro Touch works all that well is b ecause it just lies flat on the keyboard and your presses tend to slip a lot. If there was some way to get the keyboard protector closer to the keys through some type of suction, perhaps it would perform better. Like I said before, you are going to have to go through some serious adjustments of your typing style to get used to the way the Pro Touch feels.

On a plus sid e, the Pro Touch is lightweight, malleable, and extremely portable. If you are willing to give it a try for the sake of your keyboard and put in the time it takes to adjust, then this product could possibly work for you.

For me it was highly inaccurate, too bouncy, and too heavy on my fingers to maintain speed and efficiency. I wo uld rather use some type of compressed air to keep my keyboard f ree of dust and fingernails.

Pros:

LightweightEasy to usePortable

Cons:

InaccurateDoesn’t feel like “Yours”Slow

Buy the iSkin Pro Touch here for $22!

Survey: Apple’s 27-inch iMac and Witchcraft Mouse Build an Superb Couple

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:53:49 +0000

Apple’s new 27-inch iMac is a speed demon, especially the model shipping with the new Core i7 processor. Even better, the latest iMacs ship with the new Magic Mous e, Apple’s first single-button mouse that gets it right thanks to the powers of multitouch.

Wired.com’s Mike Calore is mesmerized with his Core i7-powered iMac. He gave it a rating of 8 out of 10:

Put one of Apple’s new 27-inch Co re i7 iMacs on yo ur desk, and you run the risk of alienating yourself from your friends, co-workers and loved ones.

Sure, the sheer speed of the thing is amazing — the new Core i7 processor is outrageously fast — but it’s the massive screen that will turn your brain into a gob of HD-saturated jelly. Seriously. The iMac’s screen is so freaking huge, so bright and so crisp, it will render you dumb with child-like glee. You’ll just want to sit there and wat ch movies all day and night.

And yours truly was a fan of the Magic Mouse. I th ink it’s the first Apple mouse that doesn’t suck. (I wasn 217;t a fan of the Mighty Mouse because of its gunk-collecting trackball.) I gave it a 7 out of 10, knocking off a few points because of the lack of Expos? functionality:

The Magic Mouse ditches the lozenge-shaped body and gunk-c ollecting trackball of its predecessor (the Mighty Mouse) in favor of a curvy wedge shape with a fully touch-sensitive housing. The new form factor fits more naturally in your hand than previous Apple mice — enou gh so to erase the painful memories you have of that atrocious hockey-puck mouse from the ’90s.

….

As is often the case, these gains come with loss, too. The Mighty Mouse had a click able scroll wheel and two squeeze sensors on the si de that could each trigger the Expos? and Spaces tools for desktop management. The Magic Mouse doesn’t have any built-in gestures for Expos?, which seems like a wasted opportunity.

Want the full gist? See Mike’s full review of the iMac and my writeup of the Magic Mouse at the Wired Reviews site.

iSkin Alone FX Survey

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:38:59 +0000

Finding an iPhone case that’s attractive and utilitarian isn’t always easy. It is now. The iSkin Solo FX is a totally swank iPhone case that will have onlookers gawking uncontrollably at what they think is an absolutely unknown phone.

Compatible with the iPhone 3G and 3Gs, the Solo FX is a two part ultra-thin compact case that feels great in your hand as well as in your pocket. The protective film that covers the front of the iPhone is a chromed out mirror that adds a super sweet aesthetic to your phone that you have definitely never seen before.

It’s touch screen friendly so you’ll have no problem accessing the controls like you normally would. Se eing through the mirro r looks pretty cool on most occasions, but you will notice some extra glare. You will find a slight bit of resistance between the screen cover and your finger but it’s nothing you won’t be able to instantly adjust to.

The mirr or screen collects s mudges like it ain’t nobody’s business but it wipes clean just like the iPhone does . So far I’ve accumulated some scratches on the face of the mirror but nothing that takes away from the shine or polish of this radiant accessory.

The case itself has a sticky but not too sticky plastic resin that really feels nice to hold and s tays firm in a pair of je ans. The weight of the ca se is fairly light and doesn’t add muc h bulk to your iPh one which is always a welcome feature among protective cases. There’s a circular pattern embedded on the backside to add some visual flair and will sort of remind you of those jelly bracelets and shoes the kids used to wear.

Through taking the case on and off of my phone several times, the elasticity held up much better than the InCase ones from a few years back. The button ports didn’t always match up exactly but no big deal.

What I did find was that some of the controls were difficult to access through the plastic case. The power button and the volume controls are covered really tight by the ca se and required a concerted effort to activate. Pr obably the biggest drawback to the case because you really have to concentrate to press these buttons, and it can get annoying.

The ca se isnR 17;t at all “dockable” so for those of you who swear by that scenario be warned. Other than that, this case has been a huge surprise as I had no idea how cool it would be. Tons of people commented “What is that”, or “Is that your iPhone?”, and it got a lot of positive attention.

From watching your back, to checking you r grill piece at the club, the Solo FX is a must check out if not must buy iPhone accessory. While you may find it a bit pricey ($35), you really won’t want a new case after you tote this thing around for a while.

Pros:

Absolutely pimp aestheticEasy upkeepFeels great and is lightweight

Cons:

Buttons hard to pressCollects grime and smudgesMirror film retains scratches

Buy it here for $35!

Samson GoMic Survey

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:54:00 +0000

Anybody looking for a extremely portable USB condenser Microphone need look no further. The Samson Go Mic is the ultimate solution for portable recording on a budget.

To start, the aesthetic of the GoMic is very Apple. The silver and black microphone complimented my MacBook Pro as if they were friends who hadn’t seen each other in a decade . The construction of the GoMic felt a bit flimsy as the USB jack was wobbly but the mounting base/clip connected to the Mic was weighted appropriately and sat with confidence. The GoMic clamped beautifully to the top of my l aptop and also was comfortable sitting unattached and to the side. The clamp also allows for mo unting on any standard microphone stand.

Right out of the box the Samson GoMic delivers plug and play accessibility with out the use of drivers or software. I plugged in directly into my computer using the included extra long USB cable and my Mac and Garage Band recognized it immediately.

I used the Samson GoMic while recording vocals and acoustic guitar in Garage Band and while talking in iChat. In both scenarios the GoMic performed bette r than expected especially when taking the price (under $50) into consideration.

Offering switchable cardioid and omni-directional polar patterns, the GoMic lets you tailor what type of recording you need to make. Going a bit against the grain, I used the omni-directional setting for the vocals I recorded as and they turned out really wide and boomin g. My acoustic guitar sounded better using the cardioid pattern and the GoMic picked up the sounds with ease and precision.

The GoMic was really capa ble of detecting distant sounds when set to omni-directional as I could hear sou nds from the other side of the house as well as street noise. The microphone is also really “hot” in terms of gain in that I found no problems getting quality signals in any scenario I tested it in. Even when I distorted the signal it never really sound ed all that peaked out.

Everyone I talked to in iChat remarked on how clear and loud I sounded. The GoMic was also instantly recognized in iChat which is always convenient to those not apt to settings and preferences.

My only real problem w ith the GoMic was the actual plastic casing that the microphone is hou sed in. It could have matched the heavy duty nature of the mounting clip/stand. Other than that I couldn’t have been happier with the perfo rmance of the Samson GoMic.

For those people out there new to Digital Audio the GoMic includes some basic software to help you get started . I did not use this software as I have Garage Band.

The Samson GoMic is a fantastic product in terms of design, sound reproducti on, and price, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. This is a great gi ft idea for anyone looking to get into Podcasting, audio recording, and more. The GoMic even stows perfectly in your laptop bag making it easy to have with you at all times.

Pros:

Awesome compact designEasy to useSounds better than expectedVery affordable

Cons:

GoMic casing not all t hat heavy duty

Buy the Samson Go Mic here for $49!

MovieWedge Survey

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:23:26 +0000

Doubling as a hacky-sack, the MovieWedge is a convenient way to view media horizontally on your iPhone or iPod touch. The MovieWedge is lightweight and portable beanbag-esque cushion that supports your iPhone for prime viewing.

Embracing a brutally simple design aesthetic, the MovieWedge can effectively adapt to most any surrounding. Capable of changing shape to a small degree, the MovieWedge can easily fit in where ever you need it. From a stiff but moving airplane tray table, to your bed or your grassy backyard, the MovieWedge is unlike any iPhone stand you have used before.

The MovieWedge is pretty durable due to its impressionable footbag design. I can see at some point down the line it becoming a bit worn or frayed from general wear and tear but with any amount of TLC, the MovieWedge should last for years.

For only $10, the MovieWedge is a great gift idea for this coming holiday season for anybody that owns an iPhone, iPod Touch, or any PMP or smart phone that displays media horizontally.

The only thing I didn’t like was the made in China tag dangling off of the MovieWedge. I would have liked to have seen the logo embroidered on the cushion itself but it’s not a huge sticking point.

Any consumer would be happy with what the MovieWedge provides for the price and anyone looking for an iPhone stand/pillow should look no further.

It can also be used to clean the screen of your iPhone no problem!

Pros:

CheapVersatileLightweight and durable

Cons;

None

Buy it here for $10!

**Update**

Since the posting of this review, news has come in about a new tag that is now attached to the MovieWedge. While still not embroidered, the new tag looks much nicer than the previous one. See Pic below.