Today for review I’ve got another printer, it’s an all-in-one that is one of the best I’ve ever had the chance to review, it’s just chock full of features that anyone can appreciate. The printer is the Canon Pixma MX870 and it has features like dual paper trays, double sided printing, quiet scanning and printing along with very near studio quality picture prints. The MX870 also does regular printing very well, even on the low setting the quality is outstanding of the printed pages. You can hook the MX870 up via USB, ethernet or even wireless so you’ve got a few options there in terms of connectivity. So read on…

I was going to do a video unboxing for this printer, but unboxing printers is just rather difficult, they’re big and unwieldy.. so this time I’m doing it the old fashioned way.

The Canon Pixma MX870 is packaged very well.

Once everything is unpacked we find the printer itself, five ink cartridges, power cord, phone cord and several papers and driver/software CD.

There is actually 2 black cartridges in the MX870.

Down inside of the printer is the print head.
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The MX870 is a large printer weighing in at 26.1lbs with dimensions of (W x D x H) 19.4″ x 17.1″ x 8.9″

On the top is the auto document feeder, under that is the flatbed scanner.

There is paper tray on the back of the printer.

On the front is the control panel, below that is the paper out tray, and actually beneath that is a second paper tray.

To the right of the paper tray is the card reader, and below that on the bottom corner of the printer is a USB port.

On the back of course you’ll find the USB, ethernet, and phone connections along with the power as well.

The control panel run across the top, in the center is the 2.5” color LCD display.

On the right is the number pad, along with copy buttons. In this picture you can also see the Wi-Fi light is on as I’ve got it connected to my network.

In the center is the display, to the right of the display is the navigation pad, but what’s interesting is that the dial on the outside spins so you can navigate that way as well as just pushing buttons.

Then to the left is the power button along with the main function buttons.

Specifications:

PIXMA MX870 Wireless

Bring the ultimate wireless printing solution to your home or small office. The PIXMA MX870 Wireless1 Home Office All-In-One lets you print from any room in your home and boasts incredible 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi2 with tiny 1pl ink droplets and a 5 individual ink tank system. A built-in, fully integrated 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder means fast copying or scanning of your originals so you can tend to other tasks while the printer is at work. Its built-in Auto Duplex Printing prints 2-sided documents without having to manually flip the pages and can reduce your paper consumption by 50%. Combine both of those and you can automatically copy two sided documents without having to flip any paper manually at all. Additionally, various security features like password protected PDF’s let you feel safe about creating and distributing your most confidential files.

Super G3 High-speed Fax and networkable Ethernet ensure efficient communication and thanks to Dual Color Gamut Processing Technology, your copies will maintain the integrity of the original while you produce remarkable scans at 4800 dpi. This versatile Wireless Office All-In-One also prints photo lab quality pictures. So, utilize 2 Paper Paths to easily select printing documents on plain paper and pictures on photo paper without having to load one paper at a time. Speaking of photos, take full advantage of Canon’s fantastic Wi-Fi printing technology and print your photos wirelessly from compatible iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPod touch devices with the new Easy-PhotoPrint for iPhone App, available for free on the app store. Enjoy additional computer-less printing capabilities via compatible memory cards, PictBridge and optional Bluetooth4 while images are easily viewed on a 2.5″ LCD.

Whether you’re running your business on a PC or Mac, the PIXMA MX870 meets all of your printing needs in one machine and can fit virtually anywhere!

Features:
Extraordinary Resolution
Realize the power of 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi firing with 1pl. Benefit? Incredible quality and detail in both your business documents and photos.

High Performance Individual Ink System
This 5-color ink system consists of four dye-based inks plus a pigment-based black ink, producing exceptional photos and crisp, laser-quality text. Only replace the color ink tank that runs out. So, you save money on ink!

EasyPhoto-Print EX
Your days of driving to the store or waiting on long lines at a kiosk to print your photos are over. Do it yourself at home with your Canon PIXMA printer! Print as many images as you want on photo paper up to 8.5″ x 11″. You can even print multiple pictures on one page. Plus, with one touch of your mouse, EasyPhoto-Print automatically crops images, corrects red-eye, smoothes facial lines and skin tone and even brightens and sharpens faces.

Fully-Integrated Duplex Auto Document Feeder
The built-in 35 sheet Duplex Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) makes it easy to copy, scan or fax multiple documents without having to load them one at a time. Its full integration makes it easier to fit into tight spots and once it’s loaded it lets you do, well whatever you want.

Built-In Auto Duplex Printing
Keep it green and automatically print, scan and copy on both sides of the page without the hassle of turning it over manually. This saves you time, money and paper – plus you’re helping the environment!

Easy Scroll Wheel
Easily and quickly access and select the various features available for faster operation.

2.5″ LCD Screen
Easily view, select and edit your images for simple computer-free printing. No downloading needed, just pick your pic and print!

Specifications:

Print Resolution (up to):
Color: Up to 9600 x 2400 dpi
Black: Up to 600 x 600 dpi

Paper Sizes: 4″ x 6″, 5″x 7″, 8″ x 10″, Letter, Legal, U.S. #10 Envelopes

Standard Interface:
Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b/g)1, (Compatible with IEEE 802.11n)
Ethernet
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Card Slots (See Memory Card Support)
PictBridge (Cable not included)
Bluetooth v2.0 (Optional)

Dimension (W x D x H): 19.4″ x 17.1″ x 8.9″
Weight: 26.1 lbs.
Warranty: 1-year limited warranty with InstantExchange Program. 1-year toll-free technical phone support.

Price: $199.99 (from Amazon at time of review)

I had no issues with installation, it says it should take 20 minutes but it took about 5 total. It does install quite a few things.

Once done there are several shortcuts on your desktop now:

Here’s something interesting that I’ve never seen on any other printer, there’s LED in the print head that light up when you install the cartridges. Nothing special, but I thought it was a nice touch, this way if the LED is lit then you know the cartridge is in correctly.

When installation is completed the control center opens up with several options for you:

The My Printer section is where you can access all of the settings, and there’s a ton of them.

Let’s take a quick look at the control panel. There is a template section where you can print lined paper and graphs along with checklists and even calendars.

Scanning with the MX870 is easy and the scanner is very quiet and fast. There’s several options when it comes to scanning like scanning to PC, PDF, Email and OCR.

I did one scan, the same as my other printer reviews and it came out decent, but a bit cut off for some reason. I did do another afterwards and it seemed to work fine, not sure why the first was cut like it is.Then I scanned another one and it was cut off, not sure what’s going on here. One of the things I look for in a scanner is the crop feature, the MX870 has this feature but it handles it differently, after you scan and before you save you can crop it then save the cropped scan.

I printed several pages, just text and pictures taken from this site actually and they look very good. The text looks crisp and clear, and the pictures are decent, and this was just on the regular quality setting. Here’s pictures of the prints and close ups as well. You’ll notice there’s really no bleeding at all in the text, nicely done.

I also printed several pictures as well and they came out beautiful honestly. The print quality is excellent, I used good photo paper and I had the settings on high as you should when printing pictures. So the print quality is very near studio quality, there are no lines in the pictures and they look perfect really. With the settings on high most printers do take a while to print pictures, but the MX870 was fairly fast really.
The MX870 has got a ton of features truly that anyone can appreciate.

There is one thing that I could complain about and that’s the size, it’s a big and heavy printer. If you’re limited on space you’re going to have a hard time finding somewhere to put this printer. On the other hand though it is wireless so you could put it most anywhere and still be able to print, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the same room as you are.

The ink cost isn’t too bad really. If you go and buy it from Canon they’ve got a nice bundle package for $54.99 that includes black and all three color cartridges and you get 50 sheets of 4×6 glossy photo paper, or you can get three black cartridges for $41.99, or just the plain four pack of cartridges with black and colors in there for $47.99. That comes to about $12 each which is cheap for ink these days

Conclusion:

The Canon MX870 is in my opinion a great printer really, it’s got a ton of features that any business would appreciate but the average user can appreciate as well.

All in all I like this printer a lot, it has all of the features that I want in a printer, the ink is inexpensive, it’s fast, it’s quiet and it produces quality prints even on the low settings. It has an auto document feeder which is something I can appreciate, but the MX870 will take two pages and print them onto one piece of paper for you, one on each side and you don’t have to flip the paper, it does it for you.

Pros:
+Easy installation
+Fast prints and scans
+Quiet
+Inexpensive ink
+Easy to use
+Double sided printing, no flip
+USB, wired or wireless connection

Cons:
-Scanning is a bit off at times
-Large size printer

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

This product was given to TestFreaks for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review, we do not, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products. To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of Canon PIXMA MX870 Office All-In-One Printer is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

Today for review I’ve got the MSI Wind12 U230 netbook, it’s called a netbook but it really isn’t it could really be considered an ultra-portable notebook as it does have an AMD Athlon Neo X2 CPU in it, along with ATI HD 3200 Graphics. It’s much more powerful than the netbooks we’ve become accustomed to, but the price is a little bit more than other netbooks, but not as much as you might expect. In my time with the Wind12 I’ve come to like it quite a bit, it has a nice large keyboard that’s makes typing easy and enjoyable. The dual core CPU does allow you to do many things at once without the system slowing down, as far as graphics, it does do HD content and it has an HDMI port as well, but don’t expect to be playing games on high settings. So continue on to learn more about it and see how it compares to three Atom based netbooks I’ve got on hand..

We’ll start with the video unboxing:

Then we’ll get into the still pictures of the Wind12. It comes packaged well.

Included with the Wind12 is the power supply, battery, assorted documentation and driver/utilities disc.

The top is plain, just the MSI logo is there. When you get it there is a cover on it, under that cover is a glossy lid.

On the bottom you’ll find just one large access panel, along with ventilation slits.

The battery isn’t flat like most others are, it does stick out a bit and create a stand for the Wind12. This is something that I like it adds a little bit of an angle to it for typing.

Removing the battery reveals a sim card slot.

On the left side you’ll find connection for power, vga, HDMI and one USB port.

On the right side you’ll find a lock, ethernet port, memory card reader, two USB ports and the audio connections.

There’s nothing really special on the front edge, there are some LEDs slightly visible.

Opening it up you’ll find a nice large sized keyboard, a glossy screen with a webcam at the top.

On the bottom edge you’ll find a few features stickers on either side of the touch pad.

The keys are flat and springy, but they are nice and big, they seem a bit bigger than the full sized keyboard I’m typing on right now actually. According to the MSI website the keys are EDS style keys or Ergonomic De-stress.

This is what MSI says about it: MSI Ergonomics De-Stress (EDS) Keyboard features a surface area that is 51% larger, so the face of each individual key is wider for your typing convenience; it encourages natural finger and wrist movement to reduce strain and allows you to work for hours without discomfort.

And the keys are nice and big, typing on this keyboard is almost like using a full sized keyboard, which is a very nice feature for a netbook to have. Personally that’s one thing I don’t like about netbooks, the small keyboards.

Now we’ve got all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at the desktop and the some screenshots etc.

Boot time is a bit long, but most netbooks. From the time I pushed the power button to took 1 minutes and 31 seconds to get to a usable desktop, meaning everything was loaded and I could click programs  and they would start right away. The Wind12 is running Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit.

There’s quite a bit of stuff on the Wind12, and it comes with Norton Internet Security that bugs you every time you turn on the computer and at regular intervals as well if you don’t activate it. The picture of the desktop below is every thing the way it  comes, except the ‘review’ folder and the MWSnap program shortcut are what I added. There’s also a 60 day trial of Microsoft Office, Microsoft Works, Adobe, System Recovery Shortcut and the user manual is in a folder on the desktop right there for you.

Included with the Wind12 is KIDO’Z, it’s a child safe was for kids children to surf, watch videos and play games.

It also comes with some goofy webcam software from Arcsoft called Magic-i that allows you to have fun with your webcam, not my thing but I’m sure kids like it.

I did play with the camera, but there’s an issue with it it seems to be pointing too low, to use it I had to have my head way down low to the point where I’m almost touching my desk… There’s something funky there with the hardware installation apparently, you should be able to sit normally and have the camera see you correctly…

Here’s several screen shots from CPU-Z and one from GPU-Z telling us what’s in this netbook:

So it’s an AMD chipset with AMD dual core processor along with ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics. There’s 2 gigs of DDR2 ram in there and a 320gb hard drive.

Out of curiosity I ran the Windows Experience Index  program as well and we got a whopping 3.1 score. I honestly expected more from this netbook considering it’s a dual core CPU, but the problem is the graphics card and Aero as you can see here.

Here’s a look at the Device Manager as well with a few things of note expanded, as you can see the Wind12 does come equipped with 802.11n wireless and there’s a Seagate hard drive in there.

As far as the netbook itself, playing HD video was actually very smooth and it looks very good. The Wind12 does have a glossy screen, something which i don’t care for personally because of the glare, but apparently this a trend now as most all netbooks and notebooks have them…

Surprisingly the dual core AMD CPU though doesn’t feel much faster than the Atom netbooks I’ve got, but you can do more things at once once with it without the system really slowing down.

The sound is ok, it’s a netbook so don’t expect surround sound, HD quality sound from it, but it’s not bad overall.

Battery life is decent, about 4 hours with just light browsing etc,  don’t expect a full day out of it, but it’s a netbook and most don’t come with high capacity batteries so that’s about the norm. Of course doing more things at once will shorten the battery life, but that’s expected, just make sure you take the power supply with you if you intend to be gone for a long time with it.

For gaming, yes you can do light gaming, but don’t expect to play Crysis…

One thing I also don’t care for on netbooks is the touch pad, they’re usually very small, but the Wind12 does have one that is pretty big and easy to use. Not that I actually use them anyway, unless I really have to.. It is centered below the keyboard and I did find myself touching it accidentally, but I seem to do that with all netbooks and laptops.

Specifications:

Wind12 U230

Processor & Cache: AMD Yukon CPU MV40/ L335 Processor
Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
Chipsets: AMD RS780MN + SB710
System Memory: DDR2 667/800MHz, 2 SO-DIMM slots, Max: 4GB
LCD Display: 12.1″ 1366*768 HD Ready
Graphics & Video Module: ATi Radeon HD3200, share with system memory
Audio: 2 high quality speakers
HDD: 160GB/250GB/320GB SATA
Webcam: 1.3M
Card Reader: 4-in-1 Card Reader, SD/MMC/MS/XD

Communication Port:
Built-in 10/100/1000 LAN
Built-in 802.11b/g/n WLAN Card / Bluetooth V2.0 EDR Supported (Bluetooth is optional)

I/O Port:
Graphics Card Output (15-pin, D-Sub) X 1
USB2.0 Port X 3
Mic-in Port X 1/Headphone Output X 1
LAN Port X 1
HDMI X 1

Keyboard: 87 keys
AC Adaptor: 65W
Battery Pack & Life: 3/6 cells (Optional)

Dimension & Weight:
297(L) X 190(D) X 24-31(H)mm
1.3KG with 3 cell battery

Price: $479.99 ( At Amazon at time of review, but it’s not yet available, only for pre-order)

I’ve taken a look at a few netbooks here on TestFreaks and I collect and save the data, so fore the testing and comparison here I’ve put the Wind12 U230 up against the Acer Aspire D250, HP Mini 11 and the Gateway LT 2016u as well.

We’ll start off with ATTO Disk Benchmark. The Acer comes with Hitachi, the HP comes with a Toshiba and the Gateway comes with a Western Digital and the MSI Wind12 comes with a Seagate. The Wind12 has a 320gb while all three others are 160gb drives.

The WInd12 apparently comes with a nice fast drive, not much faster than the HP Mini, but still fastest of them all.

Next is the Physical Disks test and the File Systems Tests from SiSoft Sandra. For all the Sandra tests I used the new SiSoft Sandra 2010 portable Edition.

First is the File Systems Test:

Drive Index :
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Random Access Time :
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.
This is not the raw disk performance that other benchmarks test – but the speed of the volume itself that depends on many more factors like file system, operating system cache, position on disk, etc. Thus this is the performance you get at the file system level.
Drive Index: is a composite figure representing an overall performance rating based on the average of the read, write, and seek tests, and file and cache size. The Drive Index is intended to represent drive performance under typical use in a PC. A larger number means better performance. The weighting of the results is not equal it represents the distribution of different files sizes as used on these devices (obtained through field research).

According though this test though the HP Mini is a bit faster overall.

Next is the Physical Disks Test:

Drive Index :
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Random Access Time :
Results Interpretation : Lower index values are better.
As the test measures raw performance it is independent on the file system the disk uses and any volumes mounted off the disk.
Drive Index: is a composite figure representing an overall performance rating based on the highest read or write speed across the whole disk. Thus the higher the better.
Access Time: is the average time to read a random sector on the disk, analogous to latency response time. Thus the lower the better.

Here in the Physical Disks test the Wind12 and the Seagate hard drive is the winner.

Next up is CrystalMark which tests the entire systems:

The Wind12 with the Dual Core CPU truly is the better performing computer in this test.

Cinebench 10. It tests two things, the CPU and the Graphics, the CPUs are the same, so we’ll ignore that result and move to the Graphics test:

The second test measures graphics card performance and is run inside the 3D editor window. The project file used can test all graphics cards that support the OpenGL standard. In this scene, only the camera was animated. This scene places medium to low demands on graphics cards and tests the maximum speed with which the scene can be properly displayed.

Scores:
Acer Aspire One D250: 212
HP Mini 311: 1150
Gateway:272
MSI Wind12 U230: 1414

Here’s the actual screen shots if you’re interested:

Next is SiSoft Sandra CPU Multi-Media Benchmark. Yes it’s not a graphics benchmark, but the entire computer plays a role in the test.

Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Benchmark the (W)MMX(2), SSE(2/3/4), AVX processor units.
Results Interpretation
Multi-Media Integer (Pixels/s) – higher results are better, i.e. better integer performance.
Multi-Media Single/Double Float (Pixels/s) – higher results are better, i.e. better floating-point performance.

Yeah, I’d say the Wind12 wins this test easily..

Next up we’ve got SiSoft Sandra CPU Arithmetic Test:
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
Benchmarks the ALU and FPU processor units
Results Interpretation
Dhrystone (MIPS) – higher results are better, i.e. better integer performance.
Whetstone (MFLOPS) – higher results are better, i.e. better floating-point performance.

Again here there’s really no contest, the dual core AMD CPU easily bests the others.

Next is the Cache and Memory Test:
Benchmark the processors’ caches and memory access (transfer speed).
Results Interpretation
Cache/Memory Bandwidth (MB/s) – higher results are better, i.e. faster memory bandwidth.
Speed Factor (MB/s) – lower results are better, i.e. less difference between processor cache speed and memory speed.

The Wind12 is better for the first part of the this test, but as you can see for the Speed Factor where lower is better the Wind doesn’t do to good at all..

Next is the Memory Bandwidth test:
Benchmark the memory bandwidth of your computer
Results Interpretation
Integer Memory Bandwidth (MB/s) – higher results are better, i.e. faster memory bandwidth.
Float Memory Bandwidth (MB/s) – higher results are better, i.e. faster memory bandwidth.

Here again the Wind12 is the better choice as you might expect.

next is the Memory Latency Test:

Benchmark the latency (response time) of processors’ caches and memory
The latency of caches is measured in processor clocks (i.e. how many clocks it takes for the data to be ready) as it is dependent on the processor clock speed.
The latency of memory is measured in nanoseconds as it is typically independent on processor clock speed.
Results Interpretation:
Latency: Lower is better
Speed Factor: Lower is better

This chart is bit backwards because lower scores are better, so the Wind12 doesn’t do very well here at all. Still though were talking nanoseconds, so really there isn’t that much of a difference at all…

Finally we have the x264 HD Benchmark 3.0 from TechArp

Simply put, it is a reproducible measure of fast your machine can encode a short HD-quality video clip into a high quality x264 video file. It’s nice because everyone running it will use the same video clip and software. The video encoder (x264.exe) reports a fairly accurate internal benchmark (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encode and it also uses multi-core processors very efficiently. All these factors make this an ideal benchmark to compare different processors and systems to each other.

so here’s the results:

HP Mini 311:

Results for x264.exe r1342
————————–
encoded 1442 frames, 6.48 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 6.53 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 5.98 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 6.39 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.53 fps, 3970.98 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.50 fps, 3970.69 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.53 fps, 3971.67 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.53 fps, 3971.30 kb/s

and here are the results for the Acer Aspire One D250:

Results for x264.exe r1342
————————–
encoded 1442 frames, 6.84 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 6.85 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 6.84 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 6.78 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.53 fps, 3971.06 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.54 fps, 3970.62 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.53 fps, 3971.81 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.53 fps, 3971.28 kb/s

results for the Gateway LT:

Results for x264.exe r1342
————————–
encoded 1442 frames, 7.00 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 6.97 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 6.99 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 6.97 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.58 fps, 3971.00 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.58 fps, 3971.39 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.59 fps, 3971.57 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 1.58 fps, 3971.93 kb/s

Results for the MSI Wind12 U230:

Results for x264.exe r1342
————————–
encoded 1442 frames, 16.09 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 15.45 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 16.32 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 16.26 fps, 3899.26 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 3.69 fps, 3971.95 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 3.87 fps, 3971.12 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 3.85 fps, 3971.38 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 3.86 fps, 3970.44 kb/s

I also ran it on my Corei5 750 computer:

Results for x264.exe r1342
————————–
encoded 1442 frames, 63.64 fps, 3901.21 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 64.67 fps, 3900.68 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 64.07 fps, 3901.21 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 63.98 fps, 3900.68 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 19.67 fps, 3971.81 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 19.76 fps, 3971.25 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 19.61 fps, 3972.15 kb/s
encoded 1442 frames, 19.53 fps, 3970.28 kb/s

As expected the dual core easily bests the Atom processors in the other netbooks I’ve got when it comes to encoding and HD video file…

As far as the price is concerned, the Wind12 is more expensive that the Acer Aspire One and the Gateway that are in this review, but it’s about the same as the HP Mini 311, about $20 more than the Mini actually. Which if I had a choice between the Hp Mini 311 or this Wind12 I’d take the Wind12 any day…

Conclusion:

If this is where netbooks are headed then this is a good thing. The Wind12 is priced not much higher than some other Atom based netbooks out there but it’s much more powerful making it more useful overall.

The Wind12 US230 is a great choice if you’re looking for a new netbook, it offers the portability of a netbook but the power of a notebook in the same form factor.

The Wind12 is nicely made and it seems durable. The battery life is a bit short, but that’s expected for most netbooks out there today. The keyboard is nice and large, the keys are about the size of a desktop keyboard so you’ll be typing easily on it.

Pros:
+Lightweight and well made
+Dual core AMD CPU let’s you do more things at once
+Nice large keyboard
+Rather large touch pad
+Small and protable like a netbook but powereful like a notebook

Cons:
-Short battery life
-Something wrong with built-in camera, pointing too low
-Trial software, Norton and a lot of stuff installed
-Glossy screen

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

This product was given to TestFreaks for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review, we do not, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products. To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of MSI Wind12 U230 Netbook is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

A 19” LED HDTV with an MSRP of $199 doesn’t sound too bad, especially when the retail prices is usually lower than the MSRP! The new Sceptre 19” LED HDTVC features a 2ms response time and dual HDMI ports along with USB ports as well. It’s energy star 3.0 compliant and only weighs in at 17lbs, so it’s lightweight too.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS
•    Active Screen Size 18.5"
•    Aspect Ratio 16:9 Wide Screen
•    Response Time 2 ms
•    Contrast ratio 4000:1 (Dynamic) / 1000:1 (Typical)
•    Resolution 1366 x 768
•    Dual HDMI and USB ports
•    Energy Star 3.0 complied
•    Brightness 250 cd/m2
•    Built-in speakers
•    Neck & Base Detachable

These 19” LED HDTVs are available in black at Walmart, Sears, Target, Costco, NewEgg and Tiger Direct for just $199 MSRP. For more information, please visit www.sceptre.com. 

Sceptre Announces Inexpensive 19” LED HDTV is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

There’s a ton of stuff here that Scosche has just announced as accessories for your netbook and mobile computing needs and I’ve got to say that I want it all!  They’ve just about covered everything here with wireless headphones, three new chargers, covers or cases and a Bluetooth adapter along with a card reader and even a cooling stand with built-in 3 port USB hub.

Scosche will unveil the new skyCASTER wireless RF Computer Headphones with USB transmitter

Scosche’s new netBOOK Power Line will feature three new charging devices — inVERT, netVOLT car, and netVOLT home.

Scosche will also display its new netBOOK Protect line which includes the netSUIT PRO carrying case for netbooks and iPad, netSUIT reversible sleeve, sCLEAN non-toxic eco-friendly screen cleaner and netKIT.

The new Scosche netBOOK Connect line features blueLIFE, a low profile Bluetooth® USB adapter, the memoREAD high speed card reader with flush folding USB connection, and the fanBASE portable netbook cooling stand with 3-Port USB hub.

[via www.scosche.com]

Scosche Launches 2010 Line of Netbook Accessories is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

However, sometimes those wonderful shared opinions can be rather strong. Wait, let me rephrase that – they can border on hate spewing. But in reading the “hate”, we have found a pattern to it. There tends to be four general types of hate review writers. So, we thought it would be interesting to explore these four types, along with some memorable examples:

Misguided

The “Misguided” reviewer is the one that simply has it wrong, and they trash the product in the process. These are the folks that speak before they think, and obviously do the same when they buy. Often the misguided reviewer has unrealistic expectations of the product, and they do not mind sharing their ignorance.

Take for example this review of a Cuisinart food processor:

“I have owned a large Cuisinart and tiny Black and Decker food processor in the past. I was looking for something to puree baby food with. This is an attractive product but when I got it home and tried pureeing some pot roast with cooked potatoes and cooked carrots, I could not believe the noise it made. Kind of a cross between a jet engine and a dentist’s drill. My kids (toddler twins) burst into tears and I was really appalled. I would never use something this loud near them or near my own ears. I am returning it tomorrow and will try buying another Black and Decker mini chopper.”

Now, I am not sure what she expects from a food processor. The action of grinding up raw materials into puree is simply not a quiet process. I am also not sure how close she had her ear (or the twins) to the device, but I think it was too close. I do love the scene she paints, though – it is like something straight out of Mommy Dearest with the kids screaming and the jet engines harmonizing with the drill – poetic.

Another misguided reviewer, who just bought Bioshock 2:

“This game is a total nightmare to install,which has been documented by so many others.

I’d like to add a couple of comments.
1. It requires 11 Gigs on your drive
2. It auto installs on your C drive and no way to install on a different drive.
…
My C drive is Raid 0 using two Intel X25 80 Gig SSD’s and I sure don’t want 11 GIGS installed on it.

I was never able to get into the game due to a “required” update that would not install and when the update does not install, your only option is quit to desktop. How stupid it that? “

Now, the first problem we have here is that the computer only has a total of 80g storage (configured as a raid setup). This is not a gamer’s machine. In today’s games it is not uncommon for many gigs of storage to be the norm. Add to that a required setup (Direct X or video driver, maybe?) that never finishes, and you have a user dead in the water. Again, this is not a gaming machine, and it probably does not have the needed video hardware.

Trolls

Anyone that has spent any time on a newsgroup or a forum already knows what a troll is. When it comes to leaving reviews, the “troll” is simply there to bash and degrade others. Trolls will often attack highly rated items and its associated reviewers. You will rarely find much of value in a troll’s review, but they can be entertaining nonetheless.

Consider this review left for the game Okami:

“The only way I can explain all the good reviews for this game is that clearly all the people who hate it are trying to forget that they dropped a chunk of change on it and it’s absolutely awful. … Although there’s a certain amount of (enjoyable) discovery required for other games, Okami takes this to a rather unenjoyable level. … We’ll be selling Okami on craigslist the first chance we get. The up-side to all of these misleading good reviews is that we shouldn’t have any trouble unloading it!”

Obviously the reviewer did not care much for what they “discovered” on the game, and they think it’s awful. However, I bet they were all smiles when they sold the game.

Unhappy Customer

The “Unhappy” Customer wants to tell you about an experience, not necessarily about the product itself. They want to share their grief and tragic story, so that it may save others. It is posted as a cautionary tale, otherwise you too may suffer the same fate. At least that seems to be their intentions.

Consider this review for a GPS from an obviously unhappy customer:

“This GPS unit is not as shown in the pictures. The pictures show topo maps, which are not included. … I called Garmin to ask if I could download a topo map, being as the picture description lead the buyer to believe it was included. However, after a long wait, the guy was very unhelpful and unfriendly…. Another thing I don’t like about this unit, is that the bright screen goes dark a couple seconds after you hit the button, therefore causing you to continually refresh the bright screen to use it. I haven’t taken the time to see if I can change settings and lengthen the bright screen, as I’m taking it back anyway.”

So, they bought the GPS, and the picture showed it loaded up with a topo map that is not included. Since the topo maps cover very specific areas and the GPS can hold only a limited amount of these, I do not know how Garmin could think ahead to load the exact maps the end customer needed. On top of that, the reviewer spent more time writing about the backlight timeout than it would have taken to change the setting. Again, maybe Garmin should have read the customer’s mind and preset it accordingly.

Another Unhappy reviewer, this time for a blender:

“This product has been a nightmare experience. The blade attachment falls out each time I try to make a blended drink. Liquids end up all over floors and counter tops, and pricy beverage ingredients are wasted.”

Wasted pricey beverages – no wonder the user is upset. But as to how it ends up all over the floors and counter tops is a mystery. Were they trying to fix the blades while it was on? Maybe they were imbibing on those pricy beverage ingredients during the preparation?

Rager

The “Rager” will rant, rage, and joke about a product in an approach that borders on the obscene if not possessed. But when the smoke clears and hearing returns, it is an almost satirical review that can be fun to share. It is no wonder that this is the most popular type of hate review.

Here we have a full on Rager that is simply not happy about their computer:

“this computer sucks! I can not stress that enough. I have had this dog now for 3 years and it is awful. … Also, they have these keys around the mouse for retriving your mail and for shopping–very easy to hit these key by accident–only if you use companies associated with them, well if you hit these keys your stuck and you can’t get out of the set up form without setting up an account and it is a major problem, if you have a dead line to meet and this computer won’t let you out. … But this dog is a machine I will have it’s memory wiped out and then I will smash it with a sledge hammer! Best to put it out of it’s misery.”

Apparently they keep hitting the function keys and setting up new accounts… which makes them late for their “dead lines”. After 3 years I bet they have hundreds of accounts and growing… At least they know how to use a sledgehammer. And all of this for a computer that has given three years of great service, even it was time spent mostly on filling out unwanted forms.

Another Rager has found that the game Agent Under Fire was not up to their expectations:

“This game [is bad]. I think that this was not a good idea. The graphics [are bad], the gameplay [is bad], and the multiplayer is even worst. Hopefully the next Bond game will kick this ones fat … back to the industry to teach the makers a lesson!!!”

This one is funny, and I love the way they emphasized the bad with brackets. The reviewer is so creative that they are even going to teach the makers a thing or two. Wow, we are honored to have his review.

Another Rager apparently does not like their Nokia phone:

“Pros: There are honestly no pros on this phone except for the fact i can call people with it.

Cons: The keys are too small to be able to text.
It has no other options for ring tones.
Confusing main menu set up.
Summary: Bottom line is i am returning the phone today and i just got it last night. This phone was the worst experience i have had with any cell phone.”

Well, luckily they can call people with the phone, even if they can’t change their ring tones. It sounds like it is a low end cell phone that mostly lets you make and receive calls. If this is the case, I can hardly see how this could be the worst experience they have had with a cell phone.

And another Rager with a disappointing Avatar video game:

“This game was complete garbage, The game was so talked up as being something of a bright future in gaming. The graphics were support to be ground breaking. — They are not, they are ok, but they drive the game down for being laggy. The controls are awful and the gameplay is pretty boring. The environments are large and interesting.( that is the only good I can say about the game). I can’t believe that this game was created as such garbage. DO NOT BUY!”

The only good thing is apparently a large and interesting environment. Well, if you really expected the game to be “a bright future in gaming”, then you are going to be disappointed. And so they were.

So there you have it… a quick rundown (with examples) of some of the hate reviews we get and the kind folks who leave it. While it is best to leave a well thought out, accurate review there is occasionally information to be learned from even these kinds of reviews. So, in a nutshell, if we want to have the most information, we might as well get used to seeing these types of reviews. Maybe by learning to categorize them it will be easy to see the humor and, in the end, appreciate them for the works they are.

Four Types of Hate Reviewers (And Why We Love Them) is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

I’ve taken a look at a few media players here on TestFreaks and most are fairly decent and honestly they’re all pretty similar at least in the interfaces. Today for review I’ve got another one from Cirago called the CiragoTV Pro CTP1000. It’s a media player with HDMI, Component and Composite outputs so you can use it with any TV and it includes a 500gig hard drive for you storage. The CTP1000 also has a memory card reader and a USB port so you can read directly from memory cards, USB flash drives or USB hard drives so you can expand the storage or quickly view things without transferring them to the main hard drive. One thing about this product though is that it’s UBS only for transfers, there’s no networking with this unit, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Read on..

We’ll start off with the video unboxing for you:

Then we’ve got still pictures.

Cirago included all cables needed to get the CiragoTV Pro CTP1000 set up with no hassles.  In addition to the cables you’ve got the power supply, manual and remote with batteries.

The remote is small and arranged well, the buttons are nice and big  or should I say tall.

The player itself is black in color with just the red power button on the front and the Cirago logo there as well. It kind of reminds me of a cable box really..

On the bottom you’ll find ventilation and rubber feet.

There’s nothing on the left side of the player but on the right you’ll find a regular USB port for external storage devices and one for the transfers along with the memory card reader.

On the back is where all of the connections are for Component, Composite and HDMI along with power and optical audio.

Specifications:

CiragoTV Pro CTP1000

The CiragoTV Pro CTP1000 Series is two products in one – a USB storage device and a media player. Backup and store all your data – files, photos, music and videos – through the high-speed USB 2.0 interface. Then simply attach the CiragoTV Pro to your HDTV and play your stored movies, music and photos. The built-in card reader and USB port lets you easily access your digital media from your flash drives, memory cards, digital cameras or external hard drives. All functions are easily accessible from the remote control.

* Play high-quality HD video from the internal hard drive, connected USB storage or memory cards
* Reliable storage solution for USB 2.0 interface
* High performance transfers (up to 480Mbps, USB 2.0)
* View photos and slideshows with background music
* Card reader (MemoryStick/MemoryStick Pro, SD/MMC) for easy access to media
* Multi-language user interface
* Includes remote control

Description:
Interface: 1x USB 2.0 (device), 1x USB 2.0 (host)
Memory Card Support: MemoryStick/MemoryStick Pro, SD/MMC
Power: 5V, AC/DC adapter included
Video Output: HDMI 1.1 up to 1080i (upscaling), AV out, YPbPr (component)
Audio Output: AV out, SPDIF (optical)
Supported video formats: MPEG1 (dat, mpg), MPEG2 (vob, mpg), MPEG4 (avi, divx, xvid)
Supported audio formats: MP3, WMA
Supported image formats: JPEG, JPG
Warranty: 1 year
Dimension: 10 x 6 x 1.8 in (unit) / 12 x 7.1 x 5.9 in (Retail box)

Price: $99.99 (at Amazon at time of review)

Let me start with this USB only for transfers issue. I’ve taken a look at several media players and right now I use the Patriot Box Office as my main media player which has networking built-in. For a couple years I was using the older Mvix 4000U media player and it did not have networking functionality but it worked fine for what I needed. What I hated about it though was the fact that any time I wanted to add something to it I had to unhook it and drag it over to my computer to transfer the files, needless to say it didn’t happen often. In this day and age when everything is networked I have to ask why you wouldn’t include it or at least have the option for it like some media player do with a USB dongle. As far as I can see from the Cirago site there isn’t any way to add network functionality to the CTP1000.

Anyway, rant aside about the non-networking issue, let’s get into functionality.

First the CTP1000 is limited as to what formats it will play, some Mpegs and some Avi files would play and some wouldn’t, like I couldn’t play AVCHD files, in fact the box couldn’t even see them. Some Divx files played fine and some didn’t, there would be no audio on some, but they played fine on my computer. So there’s a problem there somewhere, or the box is just very limited as to what it can play, and if it is it’s not going to be very attractive to people who want a multimedia player.

The remote works fine, no issues there, the range seems good.

If you’ve read my other Cirago Media player reviews then the interface here will look very familiar, it’s the same basically.

When you turn it on you’re greeted with five options for Photos, Music, Videos, Files and Setup.

Photos is for viewing photos as one might expect, you can view them individually or let them play as a slide show with the ability to change transitions.

The Music tab is just a basic music player, it will play WMA and MP3 files but not my music from iTunes…

The next tab is Videos, here you’ll only see two files, but I had more on there, they just didn’t show up.

The next tab is Files where you can view everything on the media in one place, uncategorized essentially. Again here, I had other files on there but they just didn’t show up. When you view items from the Files tab you’ll also get a preview, if it’s a video the video will actually play in the bottom right corner.

Under the Setup tab you’ll find all of the options for changing the settings for General, Video, Audio, and Photos.

Using the player to watch movies is fine, it does upscale for you and it it looks decent.

All in all it’s not a bad media player but it’s limited in functionality.

Conclusion:
Overall the CiragoTV Pro CTP1000 media player is not a bad product but it’s very limited in its functionality and that’s its downfall really. There’s no networking or even a way to add it, I could forgive the lack of built-in networking if there was at least an option to add it, but there isn’t.

The CiragoTV Pro is limited as to what types of media it will play as well, here again that’s not a good thing either. Yes you can play the most basic formats and that might fine for average users, but by limited the formats you’re also limiting your customer base.

If you’re looking for a very basic media player, then yes this isn’t a bad choice, it does work for the most basic media functions, but that’s about it only the basic formats are covered here with this product. That’s what it’s supposed to be though, just a basic media player.

Pros:
+Easy to use
+Nicely made
+Multiple connection options for video out
+Can play from UBS devices and memory cards
+Good picture quality

Cons:
-Limited video formats
-No networking
-USB only transfers

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

This product was given to TestFreaks for review by the company for review purposes only, and is not considered by us as payment for the review, we do not, and never will, accept payment from companies to review their products. To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of CiragoTV Pro CTP1000 Multimedia Player is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

All I can say is that it’s about time Intel lowered their prices on SSDs and got with the program here. Yes Intel SSDs are fast, but they’re prohibitively expensive for the average user. Now though Intel has finally released their versions of the Boot drive. Their small SSDs that are to be paired with a standard hard drive, the idea is that you use the SSD for your operating system and a nice fast mechanical hard drive for your main and for your writing to drive. They’re called the Intel X25-V, and they’ll be starting at a capacity of 40gig, they’ll be TRIM enabled of course. Pricing is listed as $125 each, and I just checked NewEgg and they’ve got them in stock with free shipping for $124.99. The X25-V should get read speeds up to 170mb/s and write speeds up to 35mb/s, which is on par with other boot drives out there today..

“The Intel X25-V features 40GB of 34nm NAND flash memory. This non-volatile memory retains data, even when the power is turned off, and is used in applications such as smartphones, personal music players, memory cards or SSDs for fast and reliable storage of data. SSD benefits over a traditional HDD include higher performance, battery saving and ruggedness. "Adding the Intel X25-V to our existing family of high-performance SSDs gives our resellers a full range of high-performing, quality SSDs for notebook upgrades, dual-drive desktop set ups or embedded applications," said Pete Hazen, director of marketing for the Intel NAND Solutions Group. "SSD adoption continues to be one of the more exciting trends in personal computing, and this entry-level product enables users to enjoy the productivity and performance benefits of Intel SSDs at a new price point."

[Via Aving]

[Via Intel] –Full Press Release

Intel Introduces Value Series SSDs is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

Samsung has just announced an upgraded version of their Galaxy Spica Smartphone that utilizes Android 2.1. The upgrade features augmented reality technology and enhanced multi-media features along with an upgrade to the camera offering enhanced picture options and viewing functions. Messaging functionality has been improved as well making it easier to attach files to MMS and emails, contact management has also been improved through the alphabetical index. The upgrade is available direct from the Samsung Mobile website and their PC Studio 7 program starting in Germany in March, and then to the rest of the world gradually… whatever that means exactly, I’m not sure..

“The Galaxy Spica becomes a highly intuitive communications device offering users the option to personalize no less than nine side-scrolling screens. Users can really let their imaginations run wild, creating different home screens according to different personal interests or requirements.
The handset now features augmented reality technology that displays real-time digital information of your surroundings over the view-finder of the Galaxy Spica’s 3 megapixel camera. The Galaxy Spica also features Samsung widgets, Visual bookmark and PC Sync support to enable users to synchronize their devices quickly.”

[Via Aving]

Samsung Upgrades I5700 Galaxy Spica Smartphone is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

I’m not Irish so I don’t get the whole St Patrick’s Day thing really, I mean I get the patron saint of Ireland thing, but what does that have to do with going out and getting drunk? Anyway, it’s time for the news from our friends around the world, it’s pretty much the regular stuff, product reviews etc, not much really going on special this week on that front. The new Dragon Age game came out yesterday, or should I say expansion pack, I haven’t played it yet but I’m eagerly wanting to as I very much liked Origins..

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter

Storage Related:

G.SKILL PIS Series 4GB Kit 2000MHz (F3-16000CL6D-4GBPIS).
G.SKILL has been making affordable memory DIMM’s since 1989 and if you’ve built a computer within the past 2-3 years, you more than likely know exactly who G.SKILL is. It’s hard to look passed G.SKILL’s value line of memory especially if you’re on a budget, but what about the hardcore enthusiast? With their PI Series line of memory, G.SKILL has been known to offer high frequency compatible memory at decent pricing. This DDR3, 2000MHz, 4GB dual channel kit we received from G.SKILL is no exception. With 6-9-6-24 2N timings and 2000MHz of frequency to play with, we were very eager to see what this PI Series kit was capable of.
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1806

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JMicron JMF612 Solid State Drive @ Benchmark Reviews

DESCRIPTION: Western Digital depends on the JMicron JMF612 Solid State Drive controller inside their WD SiliconEdge-Blue SSD to produce 250Mbps reads and 170Mbps write transfers. JMicron has also secured their JMF612 processor in the A-DATA S596, the upcoming Corsair Reactor SSD series, and the yet-to-ever-release Active Media Predator-X7. While the SSD industry grows daily, only a few select manufacturers offer popularly-accepted Flash NAND SSD controllers. In this article, Benchmark Reviews evaluates the JMicron JMF612 Solid State Drive processor.

ARTICLE URL: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=481&Itemid=60

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Seagate BlackArmor PS110 500GB USB 3.0 Portable Drive
Link: http://www.bigbruin.com/content/seagateps110_1
Quote:  The BlackArmor PS110 500GB drive is Seagate’s first entry into the new world of USB 3.0 hard drives. And considering that it may be the typical consumers first USB 3.0 product, they have put together a great bundle to make the transition as easy as possible. You get not only the 500GB drive, but everything else you might need to use this with a laptop computer.

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LITE-ON iHOS104-08 Blu-Ray Drive @ TechwareLabs

Quote: Just a couple of years ago, 1080p TVs were a thing of miracles and if you were to mention that you had a Blu-Ray drive, you would be considered a sort of miniature deity. Now everyone and their brother had an HDTV. Let’s check out what Lite-On has that can get the best high-def out of your HTPC, without breaking the bank.
LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/lite-on-ihos104/

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Kingston & Mushkin: High-speed DDR3 memory kits @ InsideHW
Kingston’s HyperX is the fastest DDR3 memory kit we’ve met so far and we have to disregard its price and honour it with an “Editor’s Choice” award, while Mushkin kits are still very good choice.
Article link:http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Memory/Kingston-and-Mushkin-High-speed-DDR3-memory-kits.html

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Crucial 8GB Kit DDR3-1333/PC3-10600 CT2KIT51264BA1339 Memory Review
Link:http://www.ocinside.de/html/results/crucial_8gb_pc3_10600.html

These new Crucial 4GB UDIMM DDR3 modules were announced recently and each module has 4GB per module instead of the so far usual 2GB per module.
This capacity makes an enormously high memory upgrade possible for current High-End systems, because with e.g. 4x 4 GB modules it is possible to reach gigantic 16GB DDR3 RAM. This is fantastic for developer of 3D animations and graphic designer, but also for all other power users with a 64 bit operating system.

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Audio / Video:

Arctic Cooling E361-WM Earphones Review
Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/948
Summary:The cooler makers try their hand on the audio market with an earphone (with integrated microphone) for the iPhone, smartphones and PCs. Let’s see how they fared.

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Ankit Stay True Headphones and the link to the review is:
http://www.topreviewshop.com/ankit_stay_true_headphones
"Ankit aims to bridge the gap between earphone and accessory without losing focus of the main purpose of the former – sound. Could their line of in-ear earphones really appeal to both the hipster and the audiophile? Let’s find out."

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Arctic Cooling Arctic Sound E352 Earphones @ PCShopTalk
Quote:
"Arctic Cooling have diversified a lot their product types. Now we get to see from them game consoles, portable game consoles or even audio devices. In the next article I’m going to take a look upon their Arctic Sound E352 earphones model for a more in-depth presentation."
Link: http://www.pcshoptalk.com/content.php?282-Arctic-Cooling-Arctic-Sound-E352-Earphones

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SanDisk slotRadio Player
Quote: Never heard of slotRadio? It is an initiative by SanDisk to capitalize on the DRM encumbered music market. For a one time fee, you get lots of music that is playable on certain devices that can play slotRadio media. We at ASE Labs thought that the market moved on from proprietary forms of media. Still, we’ll see if it has some worth to it.
Link: http://www.aselabs.com/articles.php?id=5628

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Arctic Sound E361-BM Earbuds @ Techgage
Link: http://techgage.com/article/quick-gage_arctic_sound_e361-bm_earbuds/
Quote: It’s not uncommon for a company which focuses on one thing to branch out into another, but I am not sure many people would have predicted a company such as Arctic Cooling would begin producing audio equipment. Fortunately though, the company has obviously done its research, as the audio quality is very good (with great bass!).

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Sennheiser HD800

Link:http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sennheiser/HD800
Sennheiser’s latest and greatest headphones are put to the test. The HD800s created quite a fuzz when released, not only were they one of the most expensive headphones launched last year, they were also the most anticipated ones. In this review we put them to the test and see if there can be a reason to spend $1800 on headphones.

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SteelSeries Siberia v2 headset and mobile device adapter review
"At last, let’s take a proper look at the headset itself, which comprises of a pair of headphones complete with a design that automatically adjusts to comfortably fit the size of your head thanks to the flexible black band you can see above the headphones themselves, something which really works rather well, only proving to be very slightly uncomfortable after a long period of use.  SteelSeries also provides an two metre extension cable with support for both line-out and microphone jacks, giving you a three metre cable length to play with in total – A joy to behold compared to the excruciatingly short cables offered by many headphones."
http://www.elitebastards.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1332&catid=13&Itemid=27

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Arctic Cooling E352 Earphones
QUOTE: "Since the last pair I looked at things have not changed a whole lot. Output power stays the same, as does impendence, cable length and connection type. However, we do see a change to the frequency`s response with a lower, or as I like to call it, more accurate rating of 18Hz – 22KHz.
The most notable change here is of course the wooden chassis used instead of the aluminum one. However, I cannot see any specific information regarding the choice to use wood other than ‘warm sound definition by exquisite wooden chassis’. So, clearly Arctic Sound thought they were onto a winner, but equally did not want to give too much away."
For more information, please visit – http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3186/arctic_cooling_e352_earphones/index.html

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Mobile Related / Laptop / Desktop:

Acer AspireRevo Review
"There’s something to be said about a "desktop PC" small enough to fit in a drawer, yet brawny enough to power a whole entertainment system. Acer’s AspireRevo R3610 nettop PC fits just that role. Hovering around $400 certainly doesn’t hurt its cause, either, except the price may be too good to be true if you’re looking to make this your primary PC."
Link to the review:http://www.digitaltrends.com/product-reviews/desktop-computer-reviews/compact-computer-reviews/acer-aspirerevo-review/

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Overclockers UK Titan Goliath Core i7 Full Gamer System Review @ Verdis Reviews

Starting at £854.99, the OverclockersUK Titan Goliath features an array of customisation with numerous different graphics cards, hard drives & SSDs, cases and operating systems to be added for a performance boost. Described as the “pinnacle of performance”, the Goliath certainly looks good on paper but how will it compete against rivalling systems? Let’s take a look…”

URL:http://verdisreviews.com/reviews/overclockers-uk-titan-goliath-core-i7-full-gamer-system-review/

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OtterBox iPhone 3G / 3GS Impact Series Case @ PCShopTalk
"On the market there are tens if not hundreds of case types for the Iphone 3G/3GS. Most of them are made to enhance the phone design, but do not offer full case protection. OtterBox has designed a case that looks stylish, but also offers full phone protection. Let’s look further upon this review for a more in-depth presentation. "
Link: http://www.pcshoptalk.com/content.php?281-OtterBox-iPhone-3G-3GS-Impact-Series-Case

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Coolink Lapchilla Laptop Cooler Review @ Tech-Reviews.co.uk

Briefing: Today we have the Coolink LapChilla Laptop Cooler. Coolink has created a cooler which allows you to change the adjustment for your particular use with a multi-angle design.

Link: http://tech-reviews.co.uk/reviews/coolink-lapchilla-laptop-cooler/

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Evercool FIT NB-FT1 Notebook Cooler Review
"Since 1992 Evercool Thermal Co Ltd have been specializing in producing thermal solutions for the computer and telecomms industries. They have an extensive product range. Today we look at the Evercool FIT notebook cooler."
LINK: http://www.vortez.co.uk/review.php?id=143

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Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 13" Notebook Review
http://www.techspot.com/review/254-lenovo-thinkpad-edge/
The ThinkPad Edge notebook that we’ll be looking at today is part of an all-new series from Lenovo announced early this year at CES. The ThinkPad Edge blends some of the things we liked on the IdeaPad with the power and legacy of ThinkPads. Aimed at style- and budget-conscious business users, this system features some firsts from Lenovo, like a new keyboard layout and a low entry price for ThinkPads at just $579.

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Assorted Stuffs:

Interesting News: Facebook’s Warning to Avoid Using Bogus Apps

If you have deliberating on using any applications which allow you to see who is viewing your profile then you might want to think twice.

http://www.gaj-it.com/16661/facebook-warning-avoid-using-apps-allowing-you-to-see-who-is-viewing-your-profile/

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‘Dubai Twestival March 25′
The first Twestival of 2010 takes place March 25 at the Intercontinental,Dubai.
The Full Article can be viewed at http://tech.tbreak.com/2010/03/dubai-twestival-march-25/

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A Guide To Going Green for Saint Patrick’s Day

The legend of Saint Patrick says that he was responsible for banishing snakes from Ireland. He was also known as a patron saint of Ireland, but the holiday named in his honor is probably better known for its never-ending flow of green beer, hooligans and shenanigans. Before you hit up the bar for some festive ale, perhaps you should consider taking on some green habits as part of your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Here are a few green tips to help keep the environment happy.

Direct Link:http://www.futurelooks.com/a-guide-to-going-green-for-saint-patricks-day/

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Home Theater PC Building – A HotHardware How-To
http://hothardware.com/Articles/Home-Theater-PC-Building–A-HotHardware-HowTo/

Building a Home Theater PC is often times a much better option for enabling your entertainment center for various forms of digital media playback capability.  Rather than stepping up to additional discrete components, like a stand-alone Blu-ray, DVD or CD player, why not infuse your living room entertainment center with real intelligence and multimedia muscle and build an HTPC (Home Theater PC)? 

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Interesting New: Augmented Reality App for Auto Trader

So how does it all work?  If you see a car which catches your fancy when you are out, then all you would need to do is take the picture of the car, crop the image and leave just the number plate and the app will use the iPhone’s GPS and 3G connections to search for similar models for sale near you.

http://www.gaj-it.com/16573/iphone-ipod-touch-app-auto-traders-augmented-reality-app-for-second-hand-car-hunting/

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Integrated Systems Europe 2010 Tradeshow

We visited Integrated Systems Europe 2010 this year, the show for professional Audio Video and electronic systems integrations, located in Amsterdam RAI.
http://www.madshrimps.be/gotoartik.php?articID=990

==

Techgage’s 5th Birthday Contest – Win a Gaming PC! @ Techgage
Link: http://techgage.com/article/techgages_5th_birthday_contest/
Quote: Techgage has just turned five, so what better reason to celebrate? To help kill two birds with one stone, we’re looking to YOU for input on what we’re doing right, and what you want to see more of (or improve). As a thanks for taking our site survey, you’ll be entered to have a chance at winning our custom-built gaming PC, valued at $4,200!

==

WIN with Noctua – NF-P14 FLX and NT-H1
DESCRIPTION:
"There’s just one week left until our Noctua competition closes. Be sure to get your entry in to be in with a chance of winning a Noctua NF-P14 FLX and NT-H1. For details follow the link."
LINK: http://www.vortez.co.uk/contentteller/content_page/win_with_noctua_nf_p14_flx_and_nt_h1.html

==

Megacon 2010 Coverage @ TechwareLabs

Quote: From costumes and celebrities to models, magic and more the MegaCon 2010 show has it all. We walked down the hall of the Orlando Convention Center and through the doors and might as well have stepped into another galaxy. Our journey through MegaCon lasted a short four hours and we only managed to see a small part of the events and happenings going on. The walls were lined with memorabilia and every gizmo and gadget from your favorite show, comic, and film. Check out our huge gallery of pictures from the event where people dressed as their favorite characters.
LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/megacon-2010-coverage/

==

Quick Links:

MusicSkins Custom Wii Skin Review @ Wii Digest

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: Enermax MODU87+ 700w PSU Review

Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced Computer Case Review @ Tweaknews

GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H (AMD 890GX) Motherboard

ASUS P7P55D-E Pro Intel P55 LGA 1156 Motherboard Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Microsoft Sidewinder X4 @ LanOC Reviews

ASUS Maximus III Extreme Motherboard Review

Coolink SWiF2 Series Cooling Fan Roundup Review @ BayReviews.com

iXBT Labs Review: AMD 890GX Chipset Overview

Mionix Naos 5000 Mouse Review @ Hardware Secrets

Thermaltake SpinQ @ techPowerUp

NZXT Premium Cables Review @ OCIA.net

Gigabyte X58A-UD3R Ultra Durable Motherboard Review @ Ninjalane

ProlimaTech Armageddon CPU Cooler Review @ Benchmark Reviews

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600 Watt Review @ Tech-Reviews.co.uk

Best CPU Cooler Heatsink Performance @ Benchmark Reviews

Thermaltake Element Q ITX Chassis

Cooler Master Excalibur @ LanOC Reviews

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: MSI P55 GD85 Review

Antec Two Hundred Mid Tower Chassis

Forza Motorsport 3 @ Barry’s Review Blog

MSI R5770 HAWK @ Bjorn3D

be quiet! Pure Power 430W

Coolink Corator DS Gapless Direct Touch CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews

Overclock3D have just published a new article titled: XFX Radeon HD 5670 1GB Review

Not Yet Another Core i7 980X Review – Overclocking With LN2 @ Madshrimps

Antec CP-850 850W Power Supply Review @ ThinkComputers.org

HIS Radeon HD 5770 1GB Video Card

News for Wednesday March 17th 2010 – St Patrick’s Day Edition is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

DivX is popular everywhere and we all like free right? So go over and grab the new version of the DivX Plus package to get your HD on! Starting today you can go and download DivX plus for free, it’s actually four products in one the Player, Codec pack, Web Player and Converter.

DivX, Inc. , a leading digital media company, today announced that the latest version of the Company’s flagship video software package, DivX Plus(TM) Software, is now available as a free download for Windows 7, Vista and XP on the Company’s website at www.divx.com/software/divx-plus

The completely redesigned DivX Plus Software offers users an uncluttered and easy-to-use interface for the playback of DivX video on the desktop and in the browser, including DivX Plus HD video, which supports up to 1080p HD H.264-based videos in the popular MKV file format.

The DivX Plus software package is comprised of four individual products: the DivX Plus Player, the DivX Plus Web Player, the DivX Plus Codec Pack, and the DivX Plus Converter. The DivX Plus Player includes the all-new DivX To Go feature, which makes it easy to transfer videos from the computer to any of the 250 million DivX devices that have shipped worldwide from major brands, including DVD players, Blu-ray players, digital televisions, gaming consoles and mobile phones.

"DivX Plus software represents a major step forward in our mission to create a seamless, high-quality media experience that empowers consumers to enjoy the content they care about not just on the computer but on any device in their lifestyle," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "Our new software connects the content that millions of users watch on their PCs to the millions of DivX devices all over the world, offering a bridge between the Internet and the living room."

  Key features of the DivX Plus software package include:

  --  Easy video transfer to DivX Certified devices--DivX To Go ensures that
      any video file played in the DivX Plus Player can also be played in
      any one of the 250 million DivX devices shipped into the global
      market. DivX To Go is an intuitive, step-by-step wizard for
      transferring videos from the DivX Plus Player to DivX Certified
      devices, such as DVD players, DTVs and the PlayStation® 3.
  --  Broad Playback Support--The DivX Plus Player and DivX Plus Web Player
      offer high-quality video playback of a wide variety of formats,
      including the latest versions of DivX and DivX Plus codecs and new
      components for playback of DivX Plus HD video in the MKV/H.264 format
      on Windows 7. The DivX Plus Codec Pack also provides an enhanced DivX
      playback experience through third-party players such as Windows Media
      Player and media extenders.
  --  Stunning HD Video in Your Browser--The new DivX Plus Web Player offers
      high performance DivX and DivX Plus HD web video streaming with
      surround sound and subtitles through standard HTTP servers and
      JavaScript programming as a plug-in for Google Chrome, Firefox,
      Internet Explorer and Safari.
  --  MKV Streaming to Gaming Consoles--DivX Plus Software streams HD
      content in the MKV format to the PlayStation® 3 or Xbox 360 with the
      new DivX Plus Codec Pack, which enables Windows 7 to play MKV files.
  --  High Quality Video Conversion--The DivX Plus Converter was completely
      redesigned and is now offered free of charge for conversion of 1080p
      HD content to DivX Plus HD, which is based on the MKV file container
      and H.264 codec.

"DivX Plus Software makes the HD video experience intuitive to users with all levels of expertise," said Guto Araujo, Vice President and General Manager, Software and Services, DivX, Inc. "To the experienced user, it offers a range of streaming, converting, and web video publishing tools. Through uncluttered and easy-to-use playback screens, the software also lets all users simply enjoy full screen DivX Plus HD videos even on lower powered computers such as netbooks."

Availability

Starting March 16, 2010, the DivX Plus Software is available around the world in the following languages: simplified and traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.

For more information about DivX Plus software, visit www.divx.com/software/divx-plus

About DivX

DivX, Inc. is a leading digital media company that enables consumers to enjoy a high-quality video experience across any kind of device. DivX creates, distributes and licenses digital video technologies that span the "three screens" comprising today’s consumer media environment–the PC, the television and mobile devices. Over 250 million DivX devices have shipped into the market worldwide from leading consumer electronics manufacturers. DivX also offers content providers and publishers a complete solution for the distribution of secure, high-quality digital video content. Driven by a globally recognized brand and a passionate community of hundreds of millions of consumers, DivX is simplifying the video experience to enable the digital home.

Web Site: http://www.divx.com/

DivX Releases New DivX Plus Software Package for Easy Playback of HD Video is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

Here’s a product that most of us hopefully will never get the chance to see..  if you’ve paid attention tot he news you’ll know that cell phones in prison are a growing problem, and one company is addressing the issue with a product that will detect them called the Bloodhound. So it’s basically an alternative to cell phone jamming that some prisons want to use, after all there are legitimate uses for cell phone in prisons, but just not for the prisoners…

Berkeley Varitronics Systems, Inc. (BVS), a leading provider of advanced wireless solutions and products to the domestic and international wireless telecommunications industry, today announced the company has successfully field-tested the Bloodhound cell phone detector at one of the top ten largest county correctional facilities in the nation. The Bloodhound is a hand-held, wireless cell phone detector that does not employ the sledgehammer approach of cell phone jamming, currently prohibited under U.S. federal law.

BVS conducted the field-test at a national correctional facility that houses 1,300 inmates (both men and women) and employs more than 400 security officers as well as administration staff. Security officers and BVS discretely walked the halls of the correctional facility with the Bloodhound cell phone detector to pinpoint in real-time the exact location of contraband cell phones in use.

"The field-test was successful as we noted illegal cell phone activity rather quickly," said Scott Schober, President and CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems. "Utilizing the cell phone detector’s high-speed scanning receiver and Direction Finding Antenna, the Bloodhound detected cell phone activity in areas where it was strictly forbidden. Surprisingly there were even cell phones detected in the cafeteria, which is prohibited."

To combat the escalating number of contraband cell phones smuggled into prisons and correctional facilities, some prison officials have imposed fines of up to $5,000 and extended sentences up to five years when an inmate is caught using a contraband cell phone. Recently, Steve Largent, CEO of the CTIA, released a statement in support of the Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2009 (S. 1749), introduced by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), advocating the Senate to severely penalize prison inmates who use wireless services to conduct unlawful activities or harass and intimidate the public. According to Senator Feinstein, the bill would classify cell phones and wireless devices as contraband material, and anyone who provides, or attempts to provide, an inmate with a cell phone could face imprisonment of up to one year.

"BVS has sold a significant number of Bloodhound cell phone detectors to federal and state correctional facilities and numerous government agencies since its release on December 14, 2009. Of the hundreds of correctional facilities that have contacted BVS, the majority are frustrated with the number of cell phones that continually make their way behind bars and are desperate for a solution like BVS’ cell phone detector," added Schober. "According to some correctional officers, cell phones are smuggled in through criminal defense lawyers, family members, food service staff, maintenance contractors and even corrupt security guards looking to make some extra cash."

Prior to the release of the Bloodhound cell phone detector, correctional facilities have had to battle the widespread use of contraband cell phones with specialized K-9 units that are trained to smell the batteries in cell phones. In the state of New Jersey, for example, the cost to purchase a trained dog is $5,000 plus the trainer’s salary for a comprehensive ten-week course the dog and trainer are required to complete by the New Jersey Attorney General. Couple these costs with regular vet and food bills and the solution is costly. The inmates make the K-9 units’ job even more challenging by hiding the cell phones in strong smelling foods such as peanut butter.

In addition, the FCC has been petitioned to allow cell phone jamming in prisons, currently prohibited under Section 333 of the Communications Act that specifically forbids any willful or malicious interference with licensed radio signals and prohibits the manufacture, importation or sale of any device intended to jam or disrupt wireless communications. Critics of cell phone jamming, including the CTIA, have expressed concern that cell phone jamming technology could interfere with emergency response and legitimate cell phone use near prisons.

As an alternative to cell phone jamming and K-9 units, The Bloodhound cell phone detector is a safe, legal, quick and cost-effective way to monitor and pinpoint unauthorized cell phones within correctional facilities 24 hours a day. The complete Bloodhound unit costs $1,800 and can also be utilized by government agencies that want to enforce a ‘no wireless policy’.

BVS will be showcasing the Bloodhound cell phone detector at the International CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas March 23-25th at booth #2400, as well as at the GovSec/U.S. Law Conference in Washington DC March 23 – 24th at booth #609.

About Berkeley Varitronics Systems

Berkeley Varitronics Systems, located in Metuchen, New Jersey, has been providing advanced wireless solutions and products to the domestic and international wireless telecommunications industry for over 35 years. Since 1995, BVS has introduced over 50 unique wireless test devices for a variety of applications including the popular Cellular, iDEN, PCS, CDMA, RFID, LTE, Mobile WiMAX, FIXED WiMAX, 802.11b/a/n/g & Bluetooth specifications. For more information about BVS, visit www.bvsystems.com.

The Berkeley Varitronics Systems logo, names and logos and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Berkeley Varitronics Systems, Inc. All other names are for informational purposes and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Web Site: http://www.bvsystems.com/

The Bloodhound Cell Phone Detector is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

The Alex from Spring Designs is now taking pre-orders for $399. It’s a dual screen  eReader based on Android with a 6” Electronic paper Display and a color 3.5” LCD below it. It’s certainly one that looks interesting and out of all of the eReaders out there I think I’d grab this one as opposed to the others really.. The main reason being is that it can do quite a bit like web browsing, email and even videos..

Spring Design today announced that the dual screen multimedia Alex™ eReader will be available online at www.springdesign.com today for $399. Customers may visit the online store to pre-order their Android-based Alex eReader supporting eBooks in EPUB, PDF, HTML and TXT formats. With Alex’s full Internet browsing using WiFi connectivity, users can read and download books, access online audio and video content including YouTube videos, communicate using Gmail and chat and use a number Google Android applications. Due to localization of international versions with partners, pre-orders placed on the Web in the U.S., will be shipped no later than mid-April.

“Whether for entertainment, education, or corporate communication, Alex offers the most dynamic and powerful multimedia eReader in the marketplace for creating new media text.”

Alex connects to Google’s bookstore with over one million titles, and other bookstores that support Adobe DRM. Spring has engaged multiple international partners to jointly deliver multi-language versions of Alex for countries speaking Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Korean and Hebrew. Alex is the first eReader to offer international versions of the product through its local country partners connecting to local bookstores.

Alex features a 6" EPD (Electronic Paper Display) screen and a full color 3.5" Android based touchscreen LCD enabling users to multi-task over the Internet while reading their eBooks. A touchscreen virtual keyboard supports easy searches as well as creation and access to interactive hyperlinks.

Users can move content from the color LCD screen to the 6" EPD screen for easy reading and vice versa. The LCD screen complements the EPD text to support more dynamic functions such as annotating and highlighting what they are reading, or linking to relevant audio, video, and web links. Content can be viewed on both screens simultaneously with the Duet Navigator™ where the LCD screen is used to control the navigation of the EPD screen.

Maximizing the Power of Links

The power of Spring Design LinkNotes™ opens up a whole new dimension in publishing. Authors may insert hyperlinks in their books that show up on the EPD reading screen indicating that there is linked-in web-based content available. Users can click on hyperlinks in eBooks, corporate documents, or periodicals that lead to relevant web-based information or to multimedia content stored on the Alex eReader that will enrich their reading experience. Spring Design anticipates that this feature will be highly valuable in the education market where professors will be able to provide their own study notes, video illustrations, and audio enhancements to augment already-published textbooks.

"By combining a full multimedia browser with the efficiency and flexibility of an EPD screen supported by our open Android-based Alex eReader, we have truly placed a powerful tool in the hands of authors, publishers, professors, and institutions to create interesting interactive eBooks," said Dr. Priscilla Lu, CEO of Spring Design. "Whether for entertainment, education, or corporate communication, Alex offers the most dynamic and powerful multimedia eReader in the marketplace for creating new media text."

The Alex eReader weighs only 11 ounces and measures 4.7" by 8.9" and less than a half inch deep. Users may add their own content or download content to the microSD card offering expansion of user libraries up to 32GB. The Alex may be updated over WiFi and USB 2.0 and comes with headphones, AC/USB power connector and a padded cover.

About Spring Design:

Spring Design Inc., founded in 2006, designs and delivers eReader products to the eBook market. Its Alex eReader is the first multimedia, Android-based, dual-screen eReader with a full-function browser. It offers a hyperlink publishing tool, "Link Notes", that links eBook text to related video, audio, notes or web addresses. Spring Design Inc. is located in Fremont, California with engineering offices in Taiwan and China. Spring Design’s innovative patented technologies incorporate the seamless interaction of dual display and multi-online access in a single device, benefiting and leveraging the technology and resources of the Web to enhance the reading experience. For more information please see www.springdesign.com.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Spring Design Launches U.S. Web Store for Ordering Alex eReader is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

Looking for something good to eat? Then you might want to check out this new app called Grub.it. The app actually doesn’t focus on restaurants though, it focuses on the food so it’s a bit different than other apps food related apps. It also features reviews of the food as well so you can know what’s good and what isn’t and where to get your favorite dish…

Today marks the official release of Grub.it (http://grub.it/), a location-based web and mobile application that allows people to review individual dishes at local restaurants. Grub.it makes it easy for people to find top-rated meals wherever they are and review them on the go.

Unlike traditional food review sites, Grub.it focuses on individual dishes instead of the restaurant as a whole. This makes it easy for people to see what is popular at a given establishment or find the best place to eat their favorite food. Grub.it’s feature-rich mobile application allows people to ‘grub a dish’ (review what they are eating) from their iPhone or iPod Touch and share this with their friends on Twitter or on Facebook. The mobile version of Grub.it also allows people to find highly-rated dishes near their current location and keep track of what their friends have been grubbing, allowing them to discover new dishes in an organic, social way.

Grub.it can connect people with local specialties, hidden gems, and exquisite meals in their neighborhoods and beyond. Because users rate individual dishes, the reviews paint a more accurate and detailed picture of the restaurant. Grub.it allows people to see if a restaurant has only one standout dish in an otherwise mediocre menu, or if a return visit might be in order so they can sample more. Not sure what to order at a new establishment? At an old standby and wondering if it’s time to try one of their new creations? With Grub.it, people can find out what others are saying and add their opinions from the table.

Grub.it can be a powerful tool for restaurant owners as well as diners. By exposing valuable information about how people respond to each dish, Grub.it can help proprietors build business. Owners can find out why certain menu items are selling better than others at different locations and gain a better understanding of the key demographics and taste preferences of their customers. "Restaurant owners will soon be able to respond to reviews directly from the Grub.it website, among many other features aimed at helping owners improve their businesses," said Pradeep Elankumaran, Director of R&D at Intridea.

The mobile version of Grub.it is currently available for the iPhone and iPod Touch in the App Store. "An Android version of Grub.it is coming soon, as well as a version for Palm webOS," said Brendan Lim, Director of Mobile Development at Intridea. Grub.it for iPhone and iPod Touch was developed using Appcelerator’s Titanium Mobile (www.appcelerator.com) platform.

About Intridea

Intridea, Inc. is a high-end web and mobile consultancy that develops high-performance web and mobile applications for startups, government, and commercial clients. Intridea develops solutions for all mobile platforms, with particular emphasis on the iPhone, Google Android, and Palm webOS devices. Solutions currently offered include Present.ly, the mobile-enabled microblogging platform for enterprise companies, and CrowdSound, the enterprise user feedback tool. Intridea is headquartered in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.intridea.com.

Source: Intridea, Inc.

Web Site: http://www.intridea.com/
http://grub.it/
http://www.appcelerator.com/

Grub.it Released – Location-Based Dish Review Web & Mobile Application is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

Hey you Mac people out there, here’s one for you.. Western Digital has just announced a one Terabyte My Passport drive, and actually a 750gb version as well. Price are $200 for the 1tb and $180 for the 750gb drive. They are USB drives and they come with 256bit hard ware encryption with password protection..

WD® (NYSE:WDC) , the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its new one terabyte (TB) and 750 gigabyte (GB) capacity My Passport(TM) SE for Mac® portable USB drives. Available at WD’s online store, the new My Passport SE for Mac portable drives are formatted for Mac and compatible with Apple Time Machine® software.

Perfect for saving, storing and backing up Mac computers, these ultra-portable 1 TB and 750 GB My Passport SE drives are easy to carry because they are USB-powered and do not need an external power adapter.(1) Equipped with 256-bit hardware encryption with password protection for an extra level of security, this small drive with mega-capacity give users peace-of-mind knowing that their data is protected from unauthorized access or theft.

"With over 10 billion songs downloaded from the iTunes® store, the enormous capacity of the new My Passport SE for Mac drives makes them the perfect travel-friendly storage device to hold all the rich media content collected by videographers, creative professionals and digital media enthusiasts with large digital media collections," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group.

A product specification sheet and photos of My Passport SE for Mac drives are available on the company’s Web site at http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=807.

Price and Availability

WD’s My Passport SE for Mac portable drives are available now at WD’s online store. MSRP for the My Passport SE for Mac 1 TB portable drive is $199.99 USD and for the 750 GB model is $179.99 USD.

About WD

WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and media products.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

Western Digital, WD, and the WD logo are registered trademarks; My Passport Essential and WD Sync are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other companies. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies. One gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. One terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

(1) An optional cable is available for the few computers that limit bus power.

Web Site: http://www.westerndigital.com/

WD Introduces New One Terabyte My Passport SE for Mac Portable Drives is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

Let’s face it, we live in a world where there are a lot of people who aren’t very nice, and then we have ones that ignore what’s going on around them because they just don’t want to get involved. It’s sad but it’s all too true. Times have changed quite a bit since I was a child, I can’t see letting my children go out and do the things I did, it’s not for fear of what they’ll do, it’s for fear of what people will do to them. One of my biggest fears being a parent is something happening to my kids, and I think that goes for most all parents as well, but when they’re not in my sight it’s always in the back of my mind that something might happen to them… LiveSecure has just released what I think is a great product for you iPhone, iPod Touch and even the iPad, and it will be available for the BlackBerry soon and it’s called the Silent Bodyguard. it’s not an app just for kids, it can be useful for adults as well, but what it does is silently alert people that you are in trouble, it’s a panic button basically that send an SOS with your GPS coordinates to those who are pre-programmed into the app…

Dr. Clint Van Zandt, former FBI chief hostage negotiator and criminal profiler, is backing a new safety application designed for mobile phones. It sends an SOS distress signal with GPS coordinates to immediately reach potential rescuers who the phone owner has pre-programmed into the mobile phone without alerting any onlookers.

Van Zandt reports there have been many situations in which a person trapped or in grave danger didn’t have time to place a call or create a text message. The new application, Silent Bodyguard, has been described as a "silent panic button." It can be downloaded through http://www.livesecure.org/ for just $3.99. While currently it is just for the iPhone, iPod Touch and the new iPad, it will be available for Blackberry within a few months.

LiveSecure.org offers Dr. Van Zandt’s weekly blog with his analysis of the latest national crime stories, as well as a free DVD, "Protecting Children from Predators." It also has information on a national one-strike law for sexual predators and other vital security articles for families and businesses as well as links for organizations or individuals concerned with safety and security.

Businesses, universities and families are currently grappling with how they might respond fast enough to save lives in a distress situation, says Van Zandt. The Silent Bodyguard application was inspired by Jo Perry, whose youngest daughter was the classmate of a girl abducted and killed while simply on an errand in Los Angeles and whose oldest daughter attends the same University as the graduate student recently murdered in her lab.

Van Zandt is a well-known television guest commentator for NBC and MSNBC and is a published author and international speaker on matters of security, aberrant behavior, law enforcement and crisis management. He was instrumental in identifying the "Unabomber" and the Oklahoma City bomber in the 1990s. In corporate situations, Van Zandt often consults where serious tensions arise and helps defuse or prevent threats within the workplace.

The Silent Bodyguard creators are Jo Perry, the concerned mom noted above, and application developer Justin Leader, both of Los Angeles.

Source: LiveSecure.org

Web Site: http://www.livesecure.org/

Cell Phone Becomes Survival Tool with Silent Bodyguard from LiveSecure.org is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog