Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 26th, 2010
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Short version: The drive performs as well as any other, and the e-ink display is handy. It’s up to you to judge whether it’s worth the extra cost. Features: E-ink display shows label, free space, USB 2.0 or Firewire 800 interface Included Smartware backup software On-drive encryption MSRP: $150/320GB, $180/500GB, $200/640GB Pros: Bus-powered E-ink display is handy and works great Interface and drive are as speedy as expected Cons: Slightly ’spensive Full review: We’ll keep this one short: the main feature being reviewed here is the e-ink display on this thing, and I may as well just tell you that it works great. I can’t make a call for you on whether it’s worth the slight, but noticeable, premium, but you can rest assured that it’s useful and works well. The drive is very straightforward, as drives should be, and has both a USB 2.0 interface and a FireWire 800 one. I conducted an informal test of drive speeds by copying files totaling ~1GB on and off the drive, and these were the results: As you can see, USB 2.0 copies at the expected 20-30MB/s, though multiple small files to the drive does tend to bog it down, as is often the case. FireWire 800 didn’t trip at all, providing a constant 40-50MB/s. The drive comes with nice little short, white cables for both USB and FireWire 800, and thoughtfully includes a FireWire 800 to 400 adapter. The SmartWare software loads as a virtual disc when the drive is mounted. While I would rather it simply mounted two partitions, like LaCie does, but it didn’t bother me much. You can turn off the VCD but it’ll keep a menu bar or task bar element there for access. You may have seen the software before, and maybe not; it’s straightforward and backing up is simple and customizable, letting you choose which types of files to back up. It maps your entire drive every time you start it up, which is kind of annoying, but at least you know its information won’t be out of date. Of course you can also lock the drive; it’s provided with 256-bit encryption accessible through a password program that launches from the virtual CD. Or you can turn it off and it’ll load up instantly. The SmartWare software is also where you customize the e-ink label. You can put up to 12 characters, anything that fits on a 13-segment display. So no hearts or stars, sorry. If you’ve got the money to get a few of these, this is a great way of keeping track of his and hers, or which is audio backup and which is video backup, that sort of thing. I mean, you can always label a drive with a bit of masking tape and a sharpie, but this is more official, and looks cooler. Conclusion The price is a lot to ask if you’re looking for a lot of plain storage : 30 cents/GB for the 640GB version, and you can get drives for as little as 10 cents/GB. But if you want for something sleek and portable, and the e-ink appeals to you, this drive should serve you just fine. Product page: Western Digital My Passport Studio
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
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The Western Digital MyBook 3.0 and Seagate BlackArmor PS110 have company. No longer are those two hard drives tasked with holding up USB 3.0’s banner because the Buffalo MiniStation Cobalt is launching in April and is ready to help along the cause. Just like the other two drives, the MiniStation Cobalt can see speeds up to 5 Gpbs. The bus-powered 2.5-inch drive also plays nicely with USB 2.0 although the speeds will of course be USB 2.0-ish. Both 500GB and 640GB options will be available at launch but the company has so far not announced prices. [ Buffalo via MacNN ]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
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Sure, there’s something to be said for understatement, but I’m going to start mistaking these things for floor tiles. These new hard drives only come in one flavor: silver, 1TB, $199 . They’re aimed at Mac owners, which explains the price. You can get a terabyte for a hundy if you look. Also: just wait a couple days, I’m working on a review of the My Passport Studio , and its little e-ink display is the business.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
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Now that winter is drawing to a close in most of the country (it’s still snowing here in the Sierra Nevadas), it’s time to think about getting out and taking more pictures. As a photography enthusiast, I know there’s a few things that I consider critical whenever I’m out shooting, things are I don’t leave home without. Tripod: If you are concerned about taking tack sharp pictures, don’t trust the vibration reduction on your lens. Personally, I use a travel sized tripod (like the GorillaPod , or an Ultrapod ). Now, some would recommend a larger size tripod, but in my experience there’s a few draw backs. First off, unless you go with carbon fiber and spend upwards of around $300 (for a good one), you’re going to end up packing around something heavy. Second, it’s not always possible to just spread out the legs of a tripod wherever you like. I’ve found that a mini-tripod is much lighter, and more useful in most cases then a full size tripod. Strap: The best camera strap I’ve ever found is the Black Rapid R-Strap . I learned the hard way not to depend on the factory strap, and getting my camera off from around my neck was one of the best things I ever did. Black Rapid has also improved the attachment system between the strap and the camera so you don’t need to depend on a small piece of plastic to keep your camera secure anymore. Bag: Being outside, you need to travel light. The best way to carry your gear (like that tripod, or extra lenses) is in a camera bag. Since you’re going to be outside shooting, I’d say travel light and go with something like the Domke J-5XC . I had a chance to try one out recently, and I found that it’s the ideal size for shooting in the outdoors. It’s also got the best strap I’ve ever seen on a camera bag. The J-5XC is one of Domke’s smaller bags, but you want to travel light when you’re shooting outdoors. I recommend a shoulder bag because in my experience, a backpack is more of a pain in the butt then it’s worth. You have to try and find somewhere to put everything down, remove the backpack, get at your gear, put the pack back on, etc. With a shoulder bag it’s easy access, and I’ve actually rested my camera on my gear bag more then once in order to stabilize for a shot. Storage: I prefer to bring my netbook with me, but there are other storage solutions out there. Regardless of what you use, it’s a good idea to backup your pictures off of your memory card at the end of the day. You never know when your card is going to be corrupted, stolen, or just plain lost. If I’m shooting at multiple locations (say in Yosemite, for example) I’ll back up my shots after coming back to the car. It’s a shame to go on that once in a lifetime trip, and lose everything. It just makes sense to back up, particularly if you are on an extended shoot lasting multiple days. For me, a netbook serves dual purposes, so it’s the ideal solution. If you’re looking for something lighter then a netbook, you might also want check out some of the portable camera backup systems available on the market. Be aware however, that these devices can cost as much as a netbook for the same amount of storage. Incidental Gear: There’s a few things your should carry just for general purposes. Personally, I wear a Suunto Core Light Black (because it warns of inclement weather, and also tells you the sunrise and sunset times), I always carry a multi-tool (like the Leatherman Skeletool ), and I shove all my other stuff (like cellphone, wallet, GPS, etc.) in my Evolution Travel jacket. Of course, the biggest thing is to get out there. You can’t take pictures of that sunset if you are at home sitting on the couch, and you’ll never get that great sunrise shot if you are still in bed. It doesn’t matter what camera you use, what matters is that you have a camera with you. So what gear do you carry? What do you consider to be essential for when you leave the house?
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
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If you’re like me, you thought the AirStash was a mustache that floats in the air, like those seed things in Avatar , only not glowy. But the AirStash is actually a USB key with built-in SD card slot that can, in a few seconds, create a private hotspot that allows you to share the media on the SD card with anyone within Wi-Fi range. The device costs $99.99 and can store and display images, docs, presentations, and contact info. For example, you can take some shots, put the SD card into the AirStash, and view the photos on your iPhone or iPad . Easy peasy. Product Page
Posted by 010081
Tech
Monday, March 15th, 2010
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While most SSDs currently cost more than netbooks and iPhones, there are a few low-cost options starting to become available. Just last week OCZ announced a sub-$100 40GB option and now even Intel has a cheap 40GB option that’s just now available. The 2.5″ X25-V will no doubt be popular with those looking to join the SSD party without much of a cover charge. It offers a basic set of options including Trim support across the 40GB of 34nm NAND flash memory drive. But just remember that even SSDs follow the old mantra of you pay for what you get . Expect slower speeds with this drive although it’s probably quite a bit faster than you current spinning disc type.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
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In Dave’s SSD roundup the other day, the cheapest drive carried the day — naturally. Though the Kingston SSDNow V only has 40GB of space and you pay a pretty high price/GB, it’s really the easiest entry to SSD-land, and 40GB is plenty of space for a boot drive. In fact, you could even make do with 32GB. And lucky for you, OCZ just released a new Onyx model that gives you just that for under a bill! Sure, 32GB is going to be barely enough for Windows 7, your programs, and a little scratch space for My Documents, and the 125/70MB/s read/write speeds are nothing to write home about, but it’s an SSD for a hundred bucks. The quickness will be apparent, even though this is the lowest grade stuff you can get. It’s still going to be faster than a spinning drive. [via Hot Hardware ]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
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I got up this morning and started thinking about the next thing I wanted to add to my PC. Like many of you, I’m into upgrading when I see fit to increase performance, and I think that putting Windows 7 on an SSD might be the way to go. So, like many of you, I decided to look at some of the most recent reviews and see what looked interesting from the price/performance standpoint. So there’s a problem in general with buying an SSD, like any other component. You order it, the big brown truck arrives, you open the box and BAM! Press release announcing a newer, better, version of the drive you just bought. Not shocking, I know, but it makes doing this round-up thing a bit difficult. Let’s take a look at the drives that got my attention: Name: WD Silicon Edge Blue Capacity: 256GB Cost: $999 (Cost per GB: $3.90) What looks good: I liked the fact that it was was made by Western Digital, I liked the large capacity, and the reasonable performance . It was incredibly expensive though, and the cost per GB was a bit out of line compared to other products. Name: OCZ Vertex, with the SandForce Capacity: 100GB Cost: $438 (Cost per GB: $4.38) What looks good: OCZ has been pushing these things out at an incredible pace. The Vertex is the latest, and the fact that they claim to have a maintenance algorithm and increased durability really appeals to me. One of the concerns I have about an SSD product is the reliability, so this helps. It’s also, like most high capacity SSD drives, very expensive. This is the review I looked at when I was researching this unit. Name: Micron RealSSD C300 Capacity: 256GB Cost: $799 (Cost per GB: $3.12) What looks good: Crucial knows memory, no doubt there, and the review that I read on this product was very positive. It’s a good all around performer, supports SATA III, and has great performance. Unfortunately it’s still silly expensive and it’s not out yet. Name: OCZ Agility Capacity: 60GB Cost: $199, (Cost per GB: $3.31 after rebates) What looks good: The price made me really have to think about this drive. For my project, I don’t need a ridiculously large drive, I’m just going to put the OS on there to try and squeeze out a little more performance. The OCZ has adequate speed, adequate transfer rates, and some more of the lovely algorithm that’s supposed to keep the drive running smoothly. The reviewer liked it too , and described it as a great drive for exactly what I have in mind. Name: Kingston SSDNow V Capacity: 40GB Cost: $159 (Cost per GB: $3.97) What looks good: Reasonable size, decent performance, lower price. The SSDNow V seems to have it all . There’s a reason for that though, it’s actually a relabeled Intel X25-M. That’s actually a good thing, as Intel’s controller chipset does provide a serious performance boost. So which one would I buy? Well, I’ve decided to go with the Kingston. I don’t have $500 to spend on a drive so it’s within reach, and the reviews were good. Now I just have to reorganize my system so I’m ready to upgrade when the drive gets here.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
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Forget about the just-announced Corsair Reactor and Nova SSDs because you’re not going to want those after you hear about the upcoming Force models. This new line forgos the Indilinx Bareboot controller for the faster SandForce SD-1200 processor, which enables the Force line to read at 285MB/s and write at 275MB/s. Yeah, that’s quick. Trim support is also present on the SATA II drives as long as you’re running a Trim-friendly OS like Windows 7. Don’t expect all this SSD goodness to be affordable, though. The Force series will feature 100GB and 200GB models at launch, but Corsair has yet to announce their prices. However seeing as the slower and smaller Nova 128GB model retails for $369, it’s safe to assume that the new Force drives will retail well north of that price-point. We should find out shortly. The Force line is expected to be available within two weeks.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
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Excuse me while I let off a little steam. I was a tad hasty in my proclamation yesterday that the TiVo Premiere changes everything. It doesn’t. In fact, it doesn’t change anything. It’s a big pile of disappointment and missed opportunity. TiVo doesn’t release hardware that often so when it does, it better be good. Tivos have a ridiculously long shelf life. The TiVo HD XL was their last hardware update and that came out in September 2008. That model just added the THX certification and increased the storage capacity over the TiVo HD, though, which launched in the Summer of 2007. Even then the UI they used was twice as old. Needless to say many TiVo fans were pumped about yesterday’s events. Our boxes were starting to get a little stale and at least I think most expected TiVo to take care of its loyal customer base like it has in the past. But that’s not going to happen. The Series4 TiVo Premiere UI is not getting pushed to Series3 hardware as we found out yesterday. It has something to do with the new Adobe Flash software requiring a dual-core chip or some nonsense like that. But then there’s the new hardware, too. In case you didn’t notice, the new hardware is almost exactly the same has the HD and HD XL models, besides the additional computing power to run the swanky Flash interface. They have the same measly 320GB and 1TB hard drive options as the previous models. Hard drives are cheap now and I can’t be the only that expected TiVo to out 1TB and 2TB options. I don’t even think you can buy a 320GB hard drive anymore. Arris had the right idea when it stuffed a third high-def tuner in its Moxi HD DVR, allowing the box to record three HD stations at one time. After all a single multistream CableCARD can handle six channels simultaneously. But alas, the TiVo Premiere only has two HD tuners. TiVo previously has always been great about treating its loyal subscribers with fresh UI updates. Even 5 to 7 year old boxes often got most of the new features when they rolled out. TiVo so far claims that the Series3 boxes cannot handle the 100% Flash UI, which could very well be true. So why then develop on such a resource-intensive platform? Other programs like Boxee and XBMC have shown the world that beautiful interfaces can be designed to run on even the most simple hardware. At least TiVo continued to innovate in the remote market and turned its famous peanut remote into a QWERTY slider. There’s a lot to love there besides the fact that it’s not included and requires an additional dongle to work. No matter, we’ll take a QWERTY remote anyway we can get it. Don’t get me wrong, the new interface is wonderful. It’s just sad that TiVo clearly lost its way and forgot about its loyal customer base. They have to be loyal, too. Content provider DVRs offer the same basic functionality for a fraction of the price. But us TiVo owners actually spent hundreds to buy our DVRs and still pay a higher monthly fee than you can lease a DVR from a cable company. That’s because they offer a lot more features, a more pleasing user experience, and at least we thought they were backed by a customer-focused company. That perception changed a bit yesterday.