Overall:

Features:

Durability:

Charging Speed:

Price:

Pros

• Charges batteries without need to be in notebook
• Small and compact

Cons

• Conditioner did not work during tests
• Very expensive

The Bottom Line
If you have extra batteries that need charging and you do not feel like waiting for the other battery in the notebook to be charged, then this may be an option for you. While NewerTech claims this device will recondition your battery, we were unable to do so with both an original Apple OEM battery or a brand new NuPower battery furnished by NewerTech. At a very step price of $150, we would only recommend this if you must quickly charge a bank of batteries.

Recommended
Maybe

Full Review
So, you’ve got a lot of batteries for your Apple notebook, huh? Oh, just two? Still, you’re looking to charge them both at the same time, right? Well you cannot do that on the notebook so you’ll probably be interested in looking at an external charging station such as NewerTech’s Intelligent Battery Charging Station. Now, is the $150 price tag for the intelligence part or for the convenience?

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Overall:

Features:

Durability:

Battery:

Price:

Pros

• Perfect fit
• Easy-press battery-charge indicator button
• Ships fully charged
• Backed by strong warranty

Cons

• Minor gain of “up to 4.4%” battery capacity from original

The Bottom Line
If you need some NuPower to replace your tired and end-of-life MacBook Pro battery, then look no further than NewerTech’s replacement battery. Made solid and backed by NewerTech’s just as solid warranty, you will be hard pressed to find a replacement battery as good as this one for this price.

Recommended
Yes

Full Review
When I first purchased my MacBook Pro, the very first model to replace the aging PowerBook line, I was excited by the longer lasting battery that came with the updated Apple notebook. The original battery lasted pretty long after heavy use; however, nothing lasts for ever. So, it was time to replace Apple’s battery but most likely not with another Apple battery due to the high price tag. So should I get one of those cheap ones on eBay or go to Best Buy and try my luck there? Or, should I try one from one of the longest running Mac accessory company, NewerTech?

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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Features:

Secureness:

Durability:

Price:

Pros

• Portrait / Landscape twist assisted
• Loud speaker
• Easy Bluetooth pairing
• GPS antenna works on GPS software
• Works with most skins and case while on iPhone
• Mount should work on iPhone 4

Cons

• Mount is awkward and difficult
• Footprint a big large
• Mount blocks camera
• Mic quality issue

The Bottom Line
The Magellan Premium Car Kit secures your iPhone in a grip-type fashion which requires two hands to safely attach and remove your iPhone from the mount. Most may not even find this a concern and outside of the back plate blocking your cameras view, really this is one strong mount for your iPhone or iPod touch. With compatibility for skins and cases, a good sounding speaker and the easy twist orientation, this may be your mount for your car, if you can find it under three figures.

Recommended
Yes

Full Review
Magellan is well known for its car all-in-one units and thus has had some experience with mounting these units. Magellan has taken that engineering thinking and know how and come up with a mount for the iPhone 3G/S and iPod touch. Enhancing GPS with a built-in antenna and placing a loud speaker into the car kit, Magellan hopes you’ll over look, um, Tom’s mount for the Premium Car Kit. But should you?

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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Features:

Secureness:

Durability:

Price:

Pros

• Compact with small footprint
• Easy to mount and dismount iPhone
• Holds iPhone steady while driving

Cons

• Built-in antenna seems non-effective
• Built-in speaker insufficient for phone calls
• Pairing requires phone to be mounted
• Lack of Bluetooth calls through line-out

The Bottom Line
TomTom has made a mighty fine car kit that mounts easily and securely. The iPhone never bobs or bounces while driving and the mounting method is the easiest of all mounts we’ve seen. Sadly, the speaker is weak and useless and the built-in antenna does not seem to boast your reception in any way. Yet even with its faults and bit high price tag, the small footprint and easy mount makes it a winner.

Recommended
Yes

Full Review
The iPhone has brought GPS to millions of phones with a simple and easy download from the App Store. Not so simple has been finding a way to mount that phone for viewing the GPS while driving. With many options for a mount, how does one decide which is the best? TomTom hopes that its car kit mount will be a choice that ends up on your windshield.

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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Map Interface:

Features:

Accuracy:

POI:

Audio Volume:

Price (Overall):

Pros

• Best map interface we’ve seen
• Info Bar wealthy on information
• User configurable Voice prompting at turns
• Contact search for addressing
• iPod pausing during voice instructions
• Facebook integration

Cons

• Lackluster iPod interface and controls
• Generic highway badges
• Limited POI database
• No Internet look-up for POIs

The Bottom Line
With a slew of GPS offerings for the iPhone it is becoming difficult to find the right navigation software for your Apple device. CoPilot’s expertise and years of experience is evident in its mobile app version. While odd routing issues crept up during the review, CoPilot Live proved itself to be a nice offering with some rough edges. With a free 30-day fully functioning version to try before you buy, CoPilot is something every traveler should download to their iPhone.
Recommended
Yes

Full Review
CoPilot has been around for years and it’s version 8 number boldly indicates this. I still remember the first version it released for laptops almost a decade ago and now, it’s been shrunk down to the little iPhone screen. CoPilot Live handles the reduced screen real estate quite well placing important information in clear and easy to read parts of the screen while never cluttering it up. Of all the navigation applications I have reviewed, iPhone or stand-alone, I would say CoPilots map interface is the best. But does it get you to your destination the best?

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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Features:

Speed:

Durability:

Battery:

Price:

Pros

• Crisp, bright screen
• Loud external speaker
• Responsive multi-touch screen
• Excellent camera
• Free turn-by-turn GPS with Street View
• Solid and speedy Verizon network

Cons

• Flash crashes often and drains battery excessively
• Multi-tasking slows down system and drains battery
• Difficult pin-point cursor control in text
• Navigation not fluid and intuitive as iPhone
• App selection good but needs improvement
• Difficult to view screen in sunlight

The Bottom Line
Let’s face it, the iPhone has set the standard for smartphones and the first question asked while reviewing the HTC Droid Incredible was, “Is it better than the iPhone?” That question is not a yes or no answer, read the full review, but I will say this much: the HTC Droid Incredible is a stunning phone and does many of its functions superbly and if you are stuck on Verizon or do not wish to leave it, then the HTC Droid Incredible is the phone you should get.

Recommended
Yes (Strong)

Full Review
Google’s Android operating system has come a long way since the first device, the T-Mobile G1. Playing catch-up is never easy and that’s what Google has been doing for the last 18 months with its LINUX mobile OS it acquired a few years ago with the iPhone. Out of the gates, Google didn’t look to be a threat to Apple’s superior phone but just after a few seconds on the HTC Droid Incredible one realizes quickly that this Droid isn’t your father’s Oldsmobile.

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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Features:

Speed:

Durability:

Price:

Pros

• Motoblur very functional
• Consolidated or separated messaging
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Multi-Touch screen
• Decent battery life for light users
• Never froze or bogged down

Cons

• Awkward in your hand
• Price is too close to much more capable phones
• Screen still slightly in the way of top QWERTY row
• Unacceptable battery life for moderate to heavy users
• Screen could be larger

The Bottom Line
While this phone did all I asked it to, I did not ask that much of it. And I am certain that I would spend a few extra bucks to get a much more capable phone, like the HTC Incredible.

Recommended
No

Full Review
Motorola is marketing the Devour as a less-expensive alternative to it’s big brother, the Droid. It has lower camera resolution, no flash, a smaller display, and less memory. The operating system is also not as speedy, but that did not bother me with what I was doing. The Devour does have the pull-out keyboard, which is a plus for those who don’t using a touch screen for typing.
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Overall:

Picture:

Brightness:

Blacks:

Gaming:

Video:

Price:

Pros

• Amazingly bright
• Short-throw lens
• Light and compact
• Great picture
• Versatile with many inputs

Cons

• Lens cap difficult to mount
• Attracts dust easily
• Speaker not loud enough for video programs

The Bottom Line
The Optoma GT720 was designed with gaming in mind and it excels in its goal and yet pushes the envelope far enough to easily qualify it as the center piece of your home entertainment center when it’s time to relax from gaming and ease into a movie.

Recommended
Yes

Full Review
Projectors have been around for a good long time. I can remember using my first one during a business meeting in Silicon Valley in a conference room just blocks away from Paramount’s Great America. I had to turn off all the lights and close the blinds to the windows, both exterior and interior, to have an acceptable image for viewing on the drop down screen. Just twenty minutes after the presentation, the unit was hot enough to fry an egg on and the shutdown process took a good five minutes before I could unplug it from the wall. Nearly twenty years later, Optoma has made some amazing changes today from what I used that afternoon. But the GT720 is designed for games, not just PowerPoint slide shows. How does it hold up to the fast paced movement of todays games as well as the ever difficult ambient light?

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Overall:

Durability:

Battery Life:

Price:

Pros

• Batteries come pre-charged (Instant)
• Durable
• Long lasting charge (Regular)
• No memory effect (Regular)

Cons

• D-sized cost a bit high
• Long recharge time for regular series
• Australia only

The Bottom Line
Vapex batteries work well and keep your electronics running for a good amount of time. They don’t appear to be cheap and thus you can put them in your expensive devices without fear of battery leaks. Sanyo no longer is the only game in town for quality and economical rechargeable batteries, mate!

Recommended
Yes

Full Review
SvenOnTech received a batch of AA and D battery cells for testing. Like many of our readers, we have lots of electronic devices that like to eat power and cause you to spend lots of money on those “long lasting” alkaline batteries that claim to keep going and going and going. Truth is, they’re bank breakers and rechargeable really is the only wise way to go, both financially and environmentally. Sanyo, known for its cheap electronics, has surprised the world with well made Ni-MH cells at a low cost. Now Vapex wants in on this business but is it as good as those white batteries?
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Overall:

Clarity:

Bass:

Highs:

Durability:

Battery Life:

Price:

Pros

• Very comfortable
• Option for use with cable
• Foldable for compact storage
• Good overall sound
• Includes multi-country power adapters

Cons

• A notch too quiet
• High MSRP with a bit high street cost
• Not enough bass

The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for some comfortable and good sounding headphones without the tangled mess of wires to connect to your Bluetooth device, and you can find it at a good price, then we would recommend you champion yourself the Sennheiser PX 210 BT. Your ears will thank you.

Recommended
Yes

Full Review
Sennheiser is well known for its quality in sound among the audiophiles. Audiophiles also know how poor Bluetooth is for great sound so the PX 210 BT has an up-hill battle from the start. Sennheiser adds some nice features like easy to feel buttons, multi-country charger, audio cable for when the battery dies, as well as making it compact when folded up. Add in the comfort factor of the headphones and you have a feature rich headset, but what of the main feature? Sound.

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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Interface:

Usefulness:

Features:

Price:

Pros

• Purchase once, read anywhere
• Incredibly easy to use and read from
• Rivals the actual print version in image quality
• Timeline thumbnails improves browsing
• Clickable ads bring you to manufacturers website
• Staggering magazine selection
• Jump directly to article from Table of Contents

Cons

• Lack of ability to download more than one item at a time
• Search and annotations not supported
• Can not select and copy text from articles
• No mobile to desktop sync for “last page read”
• Page slow to render with each page turn
• Downloads can be slow on slower broadband connections
• Can’t download files from desktop version to save time

The Bottom Line
Dear Amazon, I wanted to thank you for the idea of bringing print to a small, light, and easy to read device. Sadly, however, I am here to inform you that your services will no longer be needed now that I can read all my favorite magazines, and then some, along with a good amount of books, on my Mac, PC, iPhone, or iPad. Ooooh, yes, the iPad version, mmmm. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drool but – wow! – Zinio on the iPad makes your Kindle look like an elementary school kids science project sitting next to a NASA Ares 1-X rocket. I know, silly, huh? Just like anyone would be silly not to download and install Zinio to a newly purchased iPad upon ripping it out of its box!

Recommended
Yes (Strong)

Full Review
If you’ve read our review of Zinio Reader, for both the desktop and the iPhone, then you already have a foundation for where I’m going with this review. I mean, unless Zinio just slapped in its iPhone app and gave this new iPad device no real thought, Zinio for the iPad can’t be bad, right? Right?
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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Performance:

Usefulness:

Features:

Price:

Pros

• Very easy to use
• Smooth conversion of data

Cons

• No local password protection
• Does not allow check printing
• Does not allow for BillPay
• Does not provide specifics or editing of data in investment tracking (including history, specific transactions)

The Bottom Line
Intuit gave the Mac community exactly what they promised: a simple, Mac friendly program. It is called “Essentials” for a reason, because that is really all you are getting. Unfortunately, this is still no match for the Windows version of the program and any Mac user that was waiting for a thorough financial management program will need to keep waiting…again.

Recommended
Not this version. There are basic changes that Intuit must make before this product becomes usable by even the most basic user. **

Full Review

Background: I have been a faithful Quicken user for the past fifteen years for both personal and small business financial management, tracking, and planning/budgeting. Initially, I used Quicken on Windows driven PCs and looked forward to each and every update.
Several years ago, I made the switch to Mac and became a Macevangelist in all areas except…financial software. Initially, I continued using the Windows version through Parallels, but I did not like keeping one foot in both worlds. The Mac OS was just so much better, so I looked forward to the release of Quicken Mac 2007. Like many other Mac users, I was very disappointed with the Mac version and the lack of userability that failed to cross over from the Windows side of Intuit. This led me to a long evaluation of all the smaller financial software programs that other frustrated Mac users began to develop. Unfortunately, I could find nothing as complete and intuitive as Quicken in the Windows environment. I forced myself to use Quicken Mac 2007 as the “best thing out there.” So, along with many, I was pleased to learn that Intuit had stripped down to the basics with Quicken Essentials for Mac (QEM).

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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Interface:

Usefulness:

Features:

Price:

Pros

• Purchase once, read anywhere
• Excellent search feature
• Clickable ads bring to manufacturers website
• iPhone app incredibly easy to use and read from
• Staggering magazine selection
• Jump directly to article from Table of Contents

Cons

• Zoom is pixelated on the iPhone
• Search and annotations not supported in iPhone
• Can not select and copy text from articles
• No mobile to desktop sync for “last page read”
• Notes are not searchable on desktop reader

The Bottom Line

Recommended
Yes (Strong)

Full Review
Ah, Apple. What can you say about one of the most amazing come backs in modern history? Left for dead in the late 90s with Michael Dell suggesting that the Cupertino-based company should just close shop and give back the stockholders its money to one of the most talked about companies of the Digital Age. So of course the world went nuts with the iPad announcement. Listening to CEO Steve Jobs, back for the first time on stage since his leave of absence in 2009, the attentive crowd listened to list of great things, what many called an over-sized iPod touch, could do. One of those things Jobs told the room full of invitation-only reporters was the ability to display magazines and books. Like a Jedi, Steve played his mind tricks upon the elite crowd of those who wouldn’t dare tell the great Grand Master of the Council that it’s already been done. For years, in fact. In color! For the Mac…and PC…and iPhone…and the iPad mini, er, iPod touch. Look away from the blinking lights of Apple folks, Zinio’s been here for a while now. Let me tell you about it.
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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Features:

Speed:

Durability:

Price:

Pros

• Simplifies data encryption to stupid-easy!
• Great value in price
• Encrypts entire drive including OS
• Easy to use USB dongle to unlock

Cons

• Noisy fan
• Must be powered up and unlocked prior to PC boot
• Lose your key, lose your data

The Bottom Line
Data needs to be protected and protection should be easy. Thankfully the DataPort SecureDock is quite frankly, stupid easy! If you can turn on a key, insert and remove a USB dongle, then you can protect yourself from identity theft, unauthorized access, as well as having a secure off-site backup. Told ya, stupid easy.

Recommended
Yes (Strong)

Full Review

Security is an important thing and many in todays world really do not realize just how easy data can be stolen from a hard drive undetected by the owner. It’s not just a matter of grabbing a hard drive physically but rather just starting one up and copying the information off the computer to a USB flash drive. Accountants, lawyers, and doctors, to name a few, need to protect their data but lack of simplicity is usually the number one reason for this not happening. May I introduce to you the DataPort SecureDock?

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Overall:

Ease of Use:

Features:

Speed:

Durability:

Price:

Pros

• Hotspot capability
• Multi-tasking
• webOS
• Speedy Internet connection (EV-DO)
• Nice form factor

Cons

• Painfully slow boot-up
• Price is a bit high
• Multi-tasking (bogs system after a while)
• Limited application selection
• Hotspot requires additional costly monthly charge

The Bottom Line
No matter how many rumors one keeps hearing of a Verizon-based iPhone, as of now, there isn’t one. Instead of dreaming and waiting for something that may not happen for some time, an alternative is the Palm webOS-based phone. The Pixi, the baby brother of the Pre, comes with a keyboard below the screen and does all the stuff the Pre can. While it’s no iPhone, the Pixi is also no joke. Palm made a fine phone in the Pixi and Verizon made it a Plus with the Hotspot ability.

Recommended
Yes

Full Review
Palm introduced the Pixi last year through Sprint soon after it wooed the world with the Pre. The candy bar format smartphone now gets a Plus added to its name and Palm is hoping that it, and the Pre, sale like candy. But is the added Wi-Fi Hotspot ability enough to satisfy your sweet tooth?

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