Pros
- Quickly and easily upload photos to Picasa, Flickr or Facebook
- Easy to categorize and organize photos
- Well laid out
- Not a memory hog
Cons
- Complicated to use with storage card in some instances
- Occasionally locked up during use
- Could me more customizable
The Bottom Line
SplashPhoto provides a good way to manage and upload your photos with your mobile device, but still has some kinks to be worked out.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes/No
Full Review
Uncertainty abounds when it comes to managing photos on a mobile device. My HTC S621 running Windows Mobile 6.1 came with a killer 1.2 megapixel camera that has just completely changed my life to the point that I’m considering quitting my current job to become a professional photographer! All sarcasm aside though, with the increased use of mobile phone cameras for day to day pictures many are faced with the question of what to do with all of those photos that get snapped at birthdays, bar mitzvas, and executions of famous dictators.
I personally was faced with a frustrating situation shortly after buying my HTC S621. I was trying out the new high-quality camera on my phone at a AAA baseball game with my family one night. My kid, of course, was doing something extraordinarily adorable and I had the phone out snapping away. All went well until I tried to use the phone’s web browser to log into my favorite online social networking site and upload my masterpieces so the grandparents many miles away could melt. After trying for 5 innings to simply upload 3 pictures I struck out (no pun intended).
So along comes SplashPhoto, a little program that can finally help you take all of those random shots of your cousin Patsy eating a footlong chili dog or the kid throwing up on grandpa and organize them into nice categories, even share them with the world.
Pros
- Cheap alternative to expensive Apple cradle
- Comes with AC plug for direct charging
- LED indicator
Cons
- A bit large
The Bottom Line
Apple won’t even included a dock with it’s new super phone and at $80 for purchase price, this cradle is a no-brainer to purchase!
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Apple has created a pattern. Release a great product, get the public buying it, then release an update and yank the accessories. Oh ya, then charge an arm and leg for it on the shelf. Why oh why does Apple think anyone want to pay $80 for a stinking piece of plastic to hold your iPhone is beyond me. Really, $80? For plastic? Come on, Apple!
Thankfully, there is third-party offerings and SvenOnTech was asked to review a cradle for the 3G iPhone. Since there’s not much to a cradle, the review was pretty simple. Unpack, plug USB cable into Mac, plug other side into cradle, place clear plastic backing into place, and slide iPhone into the slot. It’s that easy. (We even tested a 2G iPod touch…though the cradle is not recommended for that use.)
Pros
- Places laptop in ergonomic position
- Light, compact, and easy to travel with
- Easy to position and place variety of laptops on
- Helps keep laptop cool
Cons
- A bit pricey
The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a way to prop your laptop up while out on the road or even daily at your office, then Innovative has your perfect laptop bag companion, the Cricket. Small like its namesake, the little guy expands easily to let you plop your laptop on and get it in that perfect viewing angle. And, as a plus, it helps keep your laptop cool!
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
SvenOnTech reviewed the Attaché Laptop Desk a few months ago and wasn’t impressed with its cooling abilities. Then we get the Cricket and while its purpose has nothing to do with cooling, guess what? It actually helped keep our MacBook Pro cool! In fact, it felt cooler on touch after use than with the Attaché. How fun is that?
Now lets get into the true purpose of the Cricket and thats to position your laptop while not robbing your computer bag of room. I got to admit, I was immediately impressed with the Cricket when I unboxed it. Heck, it even comes with a nice little bag to hold it in. When compacted, the Cricket is one small tike ready for work. Simply press in the large round button to place the unit into an arch, like an A frame. Spread out and pull on the legs to get room for laptop placement. Set your puppy on and you are good to go. Now make the adjustment with the round button in the middle of the arch to raise or lower the laptop. That’s it. Simple, huh?
Pros
- Small and lightweight
- Announces callers phone number
- Good sound
- Fashionable
Cons
- Proprietary connector
- Doesn’t sit flush to cheek
- Can become uncomfortable after long periods of use
The Bottom Line
Even if it’s not the law in your state, you should be using a Bluetooth headset to encourage safe driving. SouthWing encourages your pocket book to save a lot of money with a headset that does better than others more than twice its cost. The SH241 is a great starter headset and may keep you from “upgrading” to the upper crest.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Cell phones are every where. From business to personal use to adults to children, it seems that everyone has a cellular phone. Add to the mix that nearly every driver uses their phone while navigating and in comes the need for something to bring safety back into ones driving habits. Enter Bluetooth headsets. Since its introduction in early 2001, Bluetooth headsets have become smaller, longer lasting in battery life, and easier to use. Even with all this improvement, two features still seem to lack with many manufactures, being sound and comfort. Will SouthWings roots in Bluetooth with experience from Ericsson help it one-up the competition? Let’s charge it up and see.
My personal complaint with most Bluetooth headsets (BTh) is the lack of loudness. Most are just too faint and I struggle to hear the caller. Other headsets may be loud enough but then have heavy tone making it difficult to hear the caller clearly. Some headsets pass these two problems with great clarity and loud sound but after an hour kill your ear, such as the famed Jawbone. So, of course the first thing I tested was these very things and called up 611 on my phone. The sound was loud, very loud. So loud in fact, I was forced to turn it down. But 611 is pretty loud anyway, so I tried another regular call. To my surprise, it was still nice and loud. The clarity? Pretty darn good. The SouthWing did suffer a little from deepening the tone of the callers voice, but it wasn’t so bad that you were forced to say, “Excuse me,” during a call. After a month of use, I was very pleased with the sound volume and clarity.
The SouthWing SH241 is small. Very small. It is one of the smallest headsets I’ve used but not the smallest. When you fit the headset with the very common rubber fittings on the device and stuff it in your ear, it feels fine. I wouldn’t call it comfortable but I wouldn’t call it uncomfortable, either. At first. After a long period of use, a little over an your in your ear, you start to feel its presence. Within a few hours or more, it’s time to pull it of your ear canal. I also noticed that it doesn’t fit snug in my ear with any of the three different sized ear mounts. The SH241 does come with an ear loop, but those are just plan silly and add more discomfort. Finally, because the way the SH241 sits in your ear, the rest of it doesn’t sit flush against your cheek like many other Bluetooth headsets do. To me, this was no biggy, but with this becoming the “norm” by all the other headsets, others may think you’ve inserted your headset wrong when looking at you.
The button placement is done stealthily placed under a pad that reminds me of the old video game system, Magnavox Odyssey². With raised dots to at the top for up and at the bottom for down (volume) and two in the center for the multi-function button, they’re easy to find. However, the middle button is a bit difficult to press in. Since this is your answer and hang-up key, that’s not a good thing. The button needs to be more raised and easier to press in for future versions.
The SH241’s claim to fame is how it announces the callers phone number (if Caller ID is enabled.) This is pretty nifty especially on a phone like the iPhone that doesn’t support custom ringtones in a Bluetooth headset. It’s Push4, a programmable speed dial preset, is also a nice feature for those with a phone that lacks voice dial capabilities. Other features include all answer, reject and end, voice dialing, last number redial, call mute, automatic call answer, transfer call to headset or to phone, quick disconnect from headset, access to AT&T Voice info, and Whisper mode. The latter simply disables the caller ID information being spoken to you.
The SH241 comes with three different interchangeable covers to give you the bling you might to hang from your ear. For charging purposes, it comes with a proprietary connector. This immediately displeased me since so many other headsets are now using the mini-USB connector. Yet another charger in my wall and in the car. I brought this problem up to Jim Hunter, US National Sales Director at SouthWing, and he agreed with me that it isn’t the best solution. Hunter explained the decision to go with the odd-ball connector was to keep the headset small. The innards of a mini-USB connector wouldn’t have allowed SouthWing to keep it as small as it is had SouthWing gone without it. Still, I resisted the explanation and encouraged Hunter to tell the designers to figure out how to get mini-USB into later models.
The small little guy seemed to last as long as other Bluetooth headsets we’ve used in the past. With more like four hours of talk time and a couple of days of standby time, you’ll do fine with the longevity of the SH241. Just keep that charger near by. 
Overall
As more and more states require the use of hands-free devices, the need for a good and comfortable Bluetooth headset is going to become more important more than ever before. SouthWing comes from grand heritage and hopes to bring better than average products at less-than average prices. With it’s exclusive offering of the SH241 through AT&T, unique features, great sound, and decent wearability, SouthWing may just accomplish its goal.
Price: $39.99 (Retail)
Platform: Bluetooth enabled phone
Pros
- Fast, efficient, and well laid out
- Extremely versatile
- Highly customizable
- Synchronization with desktop client
- Cleaver use of iPhone features
Cons
- Number pad not automatically enabled for numeric entry
- No remote sync
- Need letter tab index for long lists
- Done soft-button does not save entries
The Bottom Line
If you’re a person of order and need an easy to manage and read list application for your iPhone that also talks nicely with your Mac or PC, then take a splash with this refreshing application that will immediately put a check in your “Buy list program” todo today.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes (Conditional)
Full Review
I’ve come to need list programs on my smartphone. It’s an absolute must for my device, be it PDA years ago or smartphone today. So, when the iPhone released in 2007 without application support, I was heavily bummed. Sure, there were a swarm of web apps that helped elevate this problem, but when you didn’t have a strong signal, or one at all, you basically had no list. When Apple announced its SDK in January of 2008, I was excited because I knew I would have a list program. Something. Anything. I wasn’t picky at that point. Thankfully, SplashData was keen to make its popular list program, SplashShopper, for the iPhone and that pleased me beyond all expectations. As a long time user of SplashShopper dating back four years now, I was a bit giddy over the news. But, let me put on my unbiased reporter hat and give you the deets on the iPhone version. You might be surprised to read what I wrote.
When SplashData informed SvenOnTech of the release of SplashShopper, it gave us a running start with it the day of the release. We’ve used it and abused it since. Like most of our reviews, we go the distance so we can sniff out the problems as well as highlight the greatness. Our time with SplashShopper allowed us to find many things that we feel will be helpful to our readers in making their decision in a list program.
Pros
- Can help in the time it takes to remove dust and scratches on a photo particularly in organic backgrounds
- Greatly improves the quality of portraits in less time than usual PhotoShop tools
- Improves productivity
Cons
- Learning curve to understanding the best way to use these filters (’how to’ examples come in handy here)
- Takes time to work into existing processes if you use PhotoShop everyday
The Bottom Line
Alien Skin has a good set of filters here. If you use Photoshop on a regular basis, and are able to take the time (as with any tools) to understand their functions these filters can really improve your work process and speed up results.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Using Photoshop every day, there are always ways to improve the process of image manipulation and touch up work. Alien Skin has developed these filters to help in that arena. Everything from major image repair to the skin tone improvements — these filters can find their way into your process in provide results.
Pros
- Easy to use (Very intuitive software)
- Quick project creation (fast photo upload; no account to set up or other front end hassle)
- Built in guidance (set page margins “goof proof” your design)
- Great creative flexibility- able to do full page spreads (see photo) and more
- Quality product delivered to your door
Cons
- Not compatible with Mac
- Only supports Internet Exlorer (ActiveX required)
- Lack of spell check
The Bottom Line
If you’ve been looking for a product that delivers quality while being easy to use, try RocketLife. A focus group ranked RocketLife far superior to other mainstream competitors (CVS, Kodak Easy Share Gallery, Shutterfly, and Snapfish) in every category and overall. Save yourself the hassle and make RocketLife your first choice.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
RocketLife may be relatively new to the market, but their products are top of the line in the internet photo processing arena.
Beginning with an amazingly well thought out software package for book creation, you can literally create a book product in a matter of two minutes with their standard templates. That’s right, there’s no account to set up, no password to create, none of that front end hassle. You just choose your product, upload your photos and play. Which means you get more done in less time.
Pros
- Yahoo! Local integration
- Send2Car
- Traffic updates to route
- Clear and loud speaker
- User added modules
- User customizable
Cons
- Large and bulky unit
- Huge mount
- Sometimes quirky routing
- No zoom on turns
- No multi-stop routes
- Weak battery
- Expensive monthly service fee
The Bottom Line
Dash Express positions itself as the first smart GPS that can help you avoid congestion and get you to Point B faster than any other navigation system available today. Its use of Yahoo! Local, Send2Car, and DashApps make this the most feature rich and advanced GPS ever; however, when you lose your Internet connection, it’s one of the most basic and lackluster GPS’ that could sit on your dash.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes (Conditional)
Full Review
When I first heard about the Dash Express and it’s ability to communicate to the Internet and other Dash Express GPS devices for a more accurate look at traffic, I was fascinated with it. GPS devices for the most part have lacked any leaps in features and this was the jump I had been wanting to see for some time. You can imagine how excited I was when the unit arrived a week later at SvenOnTech headquarters. After registering the Dash online, would it rise to the heights I had been waiting for or would it be just another well crafted marketing campaign?
Pros
- Simple to use
- Excellent address voice input
- Premium display
- Customizable
- Clear and loud speakerphone
- Extensive POI
- IQ Routes works well
Cons
- Short battery life
- Gas prices not accurate
- Sometimes quirky routing
- RDS-TMC not useful outside of large metro areas
- No dedicated address voice input button on remote
The Bottom Line
In a crowded GPS field, the TomTom sticks out of the traffic like a big yellow school bus. It will not only get you to Point B but it’ll get you to Point B in a way the competition only wished it could do.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes (Strong)
Full Review
SvenOnTech has tested many TomTom’s all the way back to its Palm offering nearly six years ago. We’ve always loved its easy to read interface and have been impressed with the features offered by the Holland-based navigation company. Always trying to do something different than the other guys, TomTom has continued to improve its devices from integration to Eclipse radios to including hands-free Bluetooth speakerphone. So what did the Dutch come up with for the GO 930? Address voice input. Oh ya, now we’re talking…literally.
Pros
- Simple to use
- No PC or Mac needed
- Versatile media selection
- Great video quality
Cons
- No auto-stop recording
- No support for Mac OS HFS+ formated drives
The Bottom Line
If you have a ton of video tape that needs to be archived to a digital format to preserve those years of memories and you want to do it easily and quickly, there is no better option than the Pinnacle Video Transfer.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
A few months ago, SvenOnTech was offered to give Pinnacle’s new gadget a try. When we received it, I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical to how well this would work. I grabbed a Sony SLV-MH1F video cassette recorder out of the garage and a Western Digital Passport external hard drive from the drawer and hooked up all the cables to the Pinnacle device. I shoved in The Ten Commandments (please respect all copyright laws…this was just a test) VHS and pressed the record button on the Pinnacle Video Transfer (PVT). I used the Best video setting which Pinnacle states is a resolution of 720×576 (PAL, SECAM) / 480 (NTSC) 1.5 Mbps video and 192 kbps stereo audio 48 KHz for hard drive and flash media. The iPod’s best is 640×480 1.5 Mbps video with 128 kbps stereo audio 48 KHz and the PSP clocking in at 320×240 1 Mbps video and 128 kbps stereo audio 48 KHz.
After a couple of hours, tape one was done and I pressed the record button again to end the recording. A few lights flashed as it completed the recording process and I then had blue lights shortly after. I unplugged the Passport drive from the Pinnacle Video Transfer and plugged it into my Mac. In a newly created folder, VIDEO, lay my new recording. Affectionally titled VID00001.MP4. I double clicked it and up came QuickTime with The Ten Commandments in all its VHS to computer glory. Even though the video tape was from the 80s, the quality was very impressive. The audio was excellent as well. In fact, it was difficult to sense any loss of quality from the transfer at all. I was highly impressed. At a little less than a gig an hour, you will be able to pack a lot of videos onto your drive.
What surprised me must about the PVT was just how easy it was and how good the results were. Taking the supplied composite cables and hooking them up to the OUT on the VCR and into the PVT and then hooking up the USB cable to your hard drive was all it took. Well, that and the power cord. You select your quality and then hit record. It’s that easy. I’ve used many analog-to-digital conversion kits and they always were a pain to use. In fact, I didn’t use them after recording a few tapes to the computer because of the frustration of difficulty related to them. From Dazzle (I had the very first version and then an upgraded one) to gung-hoo video cards from ATI. In the end, it was the software that made them all suck and that doesn’t even account for the system resources it steals from your computer. No computer time for you while recording or start all over when it crashes. The PVT removes all of this burden.
Pros
- Good battery life
- Stable operating system
- Push email
- Feature rich
- Good sound
- Easy to use keyboard
Cons
- Built-in browser
- “Pearl” wheel moves cursor/selection slowly
- Menu navigation can be tedious
- No out-of-the-box Mac support
The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a good, reliable, email power-house smartphone at a good price, then you may not have to look to far. The Curve 8330 is stable and a reliable phone for any corporate or Internet using user that needs to always be connected…both via voice and data.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Research in Motion’s BlackBerry started as an email communicator and grew into a smartphone. It has slowly been chipping away at Nokia and Microsoft’s market share and continues to increase that share year after year. It’s because of advancements like those found in the Curve 8330 that allows BlackBerry to continue to be delighted with its strong sales figures.
SvenOnTech received its Curve 8330 from Verizon and gave it a good using. Now, I’ll be honest, we’re iPhone users here at SOT HQ, but we went to a hypnotist to erase any memory of our use of the Apple made phone for this review. You’ll be reading a pure and untainted review. 
Seriously, we tested the Curve with as much as an open mind as possible.
The candy bar form factor is much like the other smartphones out there, half screen and half “thumb board”. Fairly new to the 8330 is the “pearl” ball-like mouse in the center instead of the scroll-wheel found on the side of the older units. Flanking its right and left are two buttons. The left side contain the Answer/Call button as well as the BlackBerry function/menu button. On the other side, you have the Return/Back and Hang Up/Home key. The right side of the body consists of volume keys (up/down) as well as the camera button. This button both invokes the camera and snaps the pictures. The other side has one button, for the voice dialing, along with one mini-USB for charging and data connection along with a jack for the hands-free headset. The top has a single button, the mute button. No buttons can be found on the bottom but rather a small hole for the mic. The back of the unit consists of an LED flash, camera, and a mirror (for self-taking portraits.) Three metal leads for charging are found on the bottom of the back of the Curve.
Okay, with all that out of the way, we can dive into the phone itself. When a button is pressed on the front, you are greeted with the menu screen. A single row of icons line the bottom with an information screen on the top. Time, date, new emails, missed calls, and such are found here. To the very top you’ll find signal strength and battery condition. Moving the ball around allows you to navigate the icons. Pressing the BlackBerry menu key brings up three more rows of icons and allows you to drift down further to see more items if needed. Ranging from email, games, settings, multimedia, productivity applications, to Verizon specific applications such as its GPS-like VZ Navigator, you’re always an easy roll from any application. Because of the ball, you’re able to always safely get to any part of the phone with a single hand. Pressing down on the ball opens a selected item.
The two main strengths of the Blackberry, email and phone use, are easily navigated to by either simply dialing a phone number from the thumb board or by rolling the ball to the email icon and pressing down. Making and receiving calls is very simple and requires little effort from the user. That should be the goal of all smartphones. Browsing your mail is just as easy and very manageable on the Curve’s email interface. The long list of SvenOnTech’s email was readable and using the ball to navigate and open a message was a piece of cake. Rich text or HTML formatted messages are stripped of its formatting and laid out in a very to easy read format. Reading, composing, and reply to email was never a difficult task. With push-email, the BlackBerry was always fresh with messages where even my iPhone struggled to keep up with emails from yesterday!
Pros
- Extends iPhone life nearly 2x
- Light weight
- Small
- Easy to use
Cons
- Slow recharge times
- No color-coded cord
The Bottom Line
With no removable battery on the beloved iPhone, when there is an absolute need for longer lasting power, there really is no better choice than the Mybat External Battery for the iPhone.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
When the iPhone was released, much was made of its internal battery and the inability to swap it out with a fresh one when needed. While Apple tried to douce the critics flames with some ritzy Silicon Valley bottled water with its assurance of long lasting battery life, many ignored the claims. To Apple’s credit, for the most part, the iPhone holds up pretty well, especially when compared with other like phones. However, if you’re on a long flight and are watching a lot of movies, don’t expect to make a long phone call on the way to baggage claims. I know there has been times where I had a full day of calls, email, and minor web browsing and my battery was less than 20% at only six hours. An extra battery would have been nice to have laying around. That’s where Mybat comes in.
Pros
- Places laptop in ergonomic position
- Light
- Built-in USB hub
Cons
- Fans seem to have little effect for CPU cooling
- No fan on/off indicator
- Bottom tabs block front-loading media
The Bottom Line
While we were a surprised to find little to no effect in cooling of our MacBook Pro, the Lapworks Attaché Laptop Desk does make nice for putting your laptop on the desk in an ergonomic position. The USB ports are an added plus, as well.
Ratings
Recommended
Maybe
Full Review
SvenOnTech first reported on Lapworks a few months ago. Lapworks offered to send us one for testing and we said yes. Shortly after we posted about the Lapworks, we had it on our test bench. It comes with a short “jumper” USB cable that gives power to the small fans on the unit when the laptop is on. A trance-like blue LED indicates power is being sucked slowly from your laptop when its switch is at the ON position. We placed our first-generation MacBook Pro on it, plugged in the USB cable, and turned on the fans. This was our first bout with a con. While the blue light is cool and all, it’s really not very practical. Instead of blinking or just coming on only when the fans are on, you have no idea if the fans are on. We couldn’t find any marked indicator for off or on near the switch either. So, up came the MBP and a visual inspection was made on the fans. Nope, off. “Click,” sang the switch when we moved it and the fans started twirling silently. Back went the laptop onto the Lapworks and we opened smcFanControl. It told us that our Apple notebook was running a steady 117℉. We made sure the default fan speed was enabled only allowing the fans to speed up when the temperature rose. We then walked away and let the Lapworks do its job.
Pros
- Excellent quality and build
- Premium leather
- Confidence in protection
- Reasonable price for the package
Cons
- Attaching clip to belt a bit difficult at first (Pouch)
The Bottom Line
With a ocean of cases to choose from, one can get easily tangled in sea weed looking for that perfect case. Rise above the vegetation and ride the crest of the wave with what we believe is the best of iPhone cases.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Apple has built in an incredible peace of hardware with its iPhone and while built to take some abuse, it doesn’t mean it can take daily bumps, nicks, and hits. If you’re one that treasures your phone and desires to keep it looking like the day you stood in line for hours and hours to purchase, then you’ll want to place that baby in a case. But what case? Like its cousin the iPod, the iPhone has growing plethora of choices and narrowing it down to a quality product is becoming difficult. Here at SvenOnTech, we’ve definitely have stumbled over the poor choices, so we think we’ve got a good foundation of what’s worth your time…and money. Having gone through three poorly made Belkin Holsters and the reviewed Griffin Elan Holster, we know what doesn’t work. Let’s just say after owning these two brands of holsters that just plain sucked, we’ve become a little jaded with our cases. So, when we walked around Macworld last January, we did so with a chip on our shoulder and only one company seemed to make us stop long enough to give it an unbiased look.
The Sena booth was more or less an end-cap near the main entry doors of the South Hall at Moscone. In fact, we almost passed right by it because the booth was so small. Thankfully the small display table caught this tough-sale and I stopped to take a closer look. I met Kris Scott, Sales and Marketing Manager of Sena Cases, and she proceeded to show me the various offerings Sena had. I was immediately impressed with the quality of the leather and designs. Sena agreed to send SvenOnTech a few cases to give a try and review and that brings us to this present moment.
![iPhone FMJ [SC-FMJI] : Skullcandy](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2176/2333933962_64712022b6_m.jpg)
Pros
- Rich sound
- Comfortable foam tips
- iPhone compatibility
Cons
- Remote button difficult to enable
- Price
- Ear gels not as comfortable as foam tips
- UPDATE: Remote button hangs on collars
The Bottom Line
Skullcany is known for hip looking and rich sounding headphones. It ventures into the iPhone realm with great success bringing all of its skull experience to make some very nice earbuds for your iPhone candy adventures.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Way back in May of 2004, SvenOnTech first introduced the world to Skullycandy with its SkullCrushers review. Man, did we love those babies. In fact, we still use them four years later! So when I met with Skullcandy in January and got a sneak peak of the FMJs, I was very excited. Skullcandy sound was coming to the iPhone!
SvenOnTech has used the FMJs for a solid two weeks and it is what we’ve come to expect from Skullcandy. While not crushing our skull, it does rock ‘em. The bass is great with an asterisk, that is. Alice Cooper’s Brutal Planet took its toll on the FMJs when the volume exceeded about 65% (R&B EQ setting) but at the lower end, it sounded great. tobyMac’s Hype Man struggled at the R&B setting but jaaaammed in Hip Hop and Bass Booster preset. Mat Kearney’s Undeniable shined at nearly every EQ setting on the iPhone. Because Skullcandy is about rich, deep, sound, I had to throw KJ-52 at the FMJs and Say What You Want did what it wanted when it came to getting funky but never slapped the ear drums with sloppy sound. I pushed the FMJs with You Can Still Come Back. With its full rich spectrum of tones and yet bass heavy, I just kept loving what Skullcandy put in my ear, baby. By the way, the volume was all the way up at the Hip Hop EQ setting for all of KJ’s selections. Ouch, my ears hurt after that test. (Any thing for you readers!) I tested other thrashers to the ears such as Project 86, Styx, and Night Ranger. Okay, the latter two aren’t thrashers, but they use to be considered such.
Pros
- Small and lightweight
- Comfortable even with prolonged use
- Good sound
- Versatile charging options
Cons
- Tad too quiet
- Static issues when phone is on opposite side of ear placement
- Tone indicators need to be more obvious for each function
The Bottom Line
Plantronics continues to take a very good Bluetooth headset and make it better. With improvements to sound and volume quality, the Discovery 665 is one of the better headsets available in the sea of hands-free options.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
I’ve been using Bluetooth headsets (BTh) since they became available here in the United States in 2002. My first review of a BTh was the Jabra FreeSpeak and I compared it to offerings from Motorola, SonyEricson, and Plantronics. The Discovery 665 has come a long way since that comparison and I must say, I am much more impressed with this BTh than I am of pretty much everything since that review.
Plantronics prides itself with its headsets noting most predominatingly that it was the first headset used in outer space being used on the NASA moon landings. Still currently used at NASA, Plantronics brings its space-aged technology to regular Joe’s like you and me. The Discovery was the first Plantronics headset to really go the extra mile. I picked up the first model, the 640, two years ago and was pleased with it then. My only issue was it was tone heavy and the volume too low. So I moved onto other headsets, including those by Apple (review) and Jawbone, yet never really ever being satisfied.
When Plantronics sent SvenOnTech the Discovery 665 in January, I have to admit, I figured it would be just like the 640 and have the same faults. When I charged it up and placed it in my ear, I was pleasantly (okay, shocked) surprised just how loud the volume was. My head-banging years in high school has done its work on my ears, so I could use it a tad bit higher, but the volume was noticeable better than the 640. I was excited to use the Discovery 665.
Pros
- Incredible sound
- Impressive price point
- iPhone compatibility
- Wall-mountable
- Remote control
- Sleek looks
Cons
- Power connector placement
- Inability to hear calls on systems speakers
- Lack of remote dock
The Bottom Line
Finally, a system you can listen to your tunes to from your iPhone without the GSM interference purging through the speakers with it’s annoying and menacing sound. Oh, did we mention the classic killer Altec Lansing sound?
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Okay, okay, I’ll admit my bias right out. I love Altec Lansing products. I have ever since those first door speakers my dad put in his Ford Ecoline 150 van back in 1985. I still can remember playing the The Theme to Beverly Hills Cop from them at the beach that summer and how rich it sounded. I blasted those babies!
Since that day, I’ve always been keen to investigate anything with the Altec name on it and more times than not, I walk away impressed. When I met with Steve Schlangen, Product Manager of Altec Lansing, in January in a private meeting room off the halls of Moscone Center during Macworld Expo, I really know what to expect from the T612. It was the first real show off of the first officially “Works with iPhone” certification speaker product for the iPhone. Schlangen called it the “rock star of the show” and when he sampled it for me, I couldn’t have agreed any more. The thing was steller in its music representation. With 60 Watts RMS and 120 peak, this thing will fill up the room with rich tones and deep bass quickly. The T612 does this easily from its pair of 3 inch drivers and 1 inch tweeters incased behind a sleek looking black grill.
Pros
- Premium sound
- Competitively priced
- iPhone compatibility
Cons
- “Heavy” remote button
- Price could be lower
- Earbud size may be too large for comfort fitting for some
The Bottom Line
Maximo strives to bring quality sound at affordable prices. While we think the price may be a bit higher than previous Maximo earbuds we have reviewed, they are still lower than those offered by V-Moda and the sound is nearly as good.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
These earbuds are the sister offerings to the already reviewed iP-HS2. Instead of stuffing the earbuds in your ear cannal, the iP-HS1s fit in your ear openings. Maximo wanted to give users an option between noise-isolation type earbuds, the iP-HS2, and those that still allow you to hear your surroundings, the iP-HS1. Since I am one that likes to block out the distractions, I was more for the iP-HS2. So I tossed the iP-HS1 to my wife and let her use them for the review period after using them for a day myself.
She enjoyed the quality of the sound and liked the button on the bottom of the earbuds wire split. She claimed it was easier to answer calls or pause music than fumbling around for the same button on the Apple earbuds which is placed near the right earbud. This was Maximo’s thinking when it designed the earbuds, as told to SvenOnTech. Unfortunately, the buttons location adds weight to the earbuds and it makes for a slight tug on your ears when movement is constant such as walking or jogging. Maximo is aware of this shortfall and is working on an improvement in its labs.
Pros
- Turns iPhone or iPod touch into external storage
- Easy to use
- Edit Notes within application
- Inexpensive
Cons
- Doesn’t play video inside iPhoneDrive application
- Inability to search Notes, SMS, or Call Log
- Can’t delete Notes
- No way to install Ringtones
The Bottom Line
If you have gobs of room, or just a wee-bit, on your iPhone or iPod touch and would like to use that as a storage device like you can with regular iPods, then you’ve just found your app, baby!
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Since the release of Apple’s first successful entry in the mobile phone market, there has been many cries for missing features. One such feature is the ability to mount the iPhone (and now the iPod touch) as an external drive like the ClickWheel-based iPods do. Three firmware upgrades later, the sniveling continues.
Ecamm, makers of some great software (we love Call Recorder for Skype) that many of you are probably already familiar with, have come to the rescue! Wiping the tears from our blood shot eyes, Ecamm has created iPhoneDrive which allows users to move files to and from their iPhone and iPod touch. But it does more than that, in short, it lets you access the devices music, videos, podcasts, photos, Notes, and for the iPhone, SMS and Call Log. You can back up your data off the phone for later use which is great if you’d like to keep track of your text messages and call logs. Ecamm makes this well priced application so much more robust than just a drive transfer application, it seems silly to just call it iPhoneDrive.
One thing we liked about iPhoneDrive is it’s easy to use interface. Keeping with the already well-known iTunes look, iPhoneDrive sections off your device into Data, iTunes, and Photos. The Data section contains the Files area where it creates a folder (iPhoneDrive) and gives you access to that and other folders on the phone or iPod. Data is where you’ll also find access to Notes, Call Log, and SMS. You can also edit any of your notes from within iPhoneDrive. Yes, we said edit. Finally, Notes are now useful. The iTunes section lists all the same stuff you’d see in iTunes’ Devices section of your phone or iPods sync’ed data. Lastly, Photos gives you access to the cameras pictures and your photo library.
Pros
- Light and thin
- Best mount we’ve seen or used. Period.
- Great interface
- Good POI database
- Competitively priced
Cons
- Poor battery life
- Doesn’t specify end points location on road (left side or right side)
- Slow processor which causes delayed input
The Bottom Line
The GPS market is becoming crowded and thus more affordable. SvenOnTech has been reviewing these units for the last six years and we have to say, we are impressed with Harman Kardon’s entry into this market. We really disliked how the unit would not specify if our destination was on the left or right side of the road and how the processor would lag behind our finger presses. Other than that, this is a fine GPS.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes*
Full Review
SvenOnTech has seen many GPS units and for the most part, GPS is GPS. What separates the boys from the men is interface, accuracy, and volume. Yes, men speak much louder. Accuracy has been pretty spot on for many manufacturers we’ve tested with only poor address placement being the real major problem in this area. When it’s time to turn in a complex intersection, Harman Kardon, like most others, do this well. For the most part, addresses on the GPS-310 were pretty much spot on with the actual location.
The only dismal aspect to accuracy we found was that Harman Kardon thought it not prudent to tell us if our end point was going to be on the left or right side. When you’re in a large busy city and you’re in the left lane of four, and then you notice when it’s too late that you need to be in the right lane, well, that sucks. In one instance when this happened to us, it took us ten minutes to get back to where we had to be due to the no u-turn signs everywhere. What a frustrating thing when the whole idea of a GPS is to get you to your destination without worry. This is why you see an astrek next to our recommendation. If you can live with this limitation, then yes, we recommend it. If not, move onto another brand. (According to our contact at Harman Kardon, all three models do not give street position of your destination.)
We took the GPS-310 all over the Bay Area and Central Valley of California. We put in over 40 hours of testing into this unit, and did so side-by-side with a competitor we’ve tested (and reviewed here on SvenOnTech.) We found the GPS-310 to be more accurate and quicker, when we missed a turn, to re-route us than the other unit. In all fairness, the other unit was about a year old and a lot can happen in this industry in just twelve short months. From San Francisco, to San Jose, to Fresno, to Stockton, to Manteca, to Elk Grove, to Sacramento, to Oakland, to Pittsburgh (CA), to Walnut Creek, and beyond, the GPS-310 just did an excellent job of getting us to our destination. Again, outside of the lack of telling us, “Hey, it’s going to be on your left side,” we couldn’t have been any happier with the GPS-310.