Archive for the 'Accessory' Category
Pros
- Fun colors
- Easy to install and uninstall
- Complete access to all iPhone controls
- Can dock with case installed
- Slim
Cons
- Protective film for front of iPhone is not included
The Bottom Line
The Flick protects your iPhone without the bulk of other cases that are on the market. Creating a piece that flips up at the bottom of the case is helpful for docking purposes.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes (Strong
Full Review
I had been looking for a case for my iPhone that would protect the product but still be slim enough to slip into my wallet. Most cases available are rather bulky and make it hard to use the controls on the phone. The Flick forms closely to the phone allowing for full use of all controls. The Flick does not get in the way of the face of the phone but rather forms right around the silver edging of the face making a very nice outline.
Pros
- Easy to install
- Driverless installation
- Bootable on Windows machines
- Excellent warranty
Cons
- Only has two ports
The Bottom Line
With speed gains of SATA / SATA II and a slew of accessories on the market to take advantage of the SATA protocol, slipping one of these MAXpower controller cards into your PCI-Express slot is a no brainer.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Mac users have been enjoying the benefits of SATA for nearly a decade and the protocol has finally become a standard in all computers manufactured today. From optical to platter based drives to solid state drives, SATA is the standard. Now that standard is starting to wash and soak into accessories making the eSATA port almost as common as the FireWire port. Interestingly enough, Apple does not put eSATA ports on its machines and many PCs are missing these ports as well, though I have seen quite a few PC laptops with them. If you would like to take advantage of the SATA speeds of the many accessories out there and you have a PCI-Express port, then may we interest you in a NewerTech MAXPower eSATA 6G PCIe 2.0 Controller Card?
Pros
- Fast FireWire 800
- Cables included
- Timemachine ready
- Packed with tons of software
- Quality build
Cons
- eSATA requires an external power source
- eSATA performance disappointing
The Bottom Line
OWC’s Mercury Elite line is a fantastic place to find quality and speedy accessories for your Mac or Windows box and this portable hard drive is not exception. Even though the eSATA figures didn’t impress as they should have, truth is, this a portable device that will encounter more FireWire and USB than eSATA which nearly negates the offense. You will not be disappointed slipping this hard drive into your pocket.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini is fitted with a “Quad Interface” on the back that runs off the bus power of your FireWire or USB ports. OWC packed everything you’ll need in the box including high quality double shielded USB, FireWire 800, and eSATA cables. You will also find a DVD-ROM packed with Intech’s SpeedTools, Prosoft Engineering’s Data Backup for OS X, NovaStorBACKUP for Windows, Carbon Copy Cloner – a favorite of mine – and over 2 GB of other goodies. Inside the slick “aircraft grade machined aluminum enclosure” of the Mercury one would find a 2.5″ SATA hard drive (OWC also offers solid state drives), a translucent blue activity LED, an ultra-protective shock system, and ports for connecting the mini to your computer. You will not find a fan in the super quiet unit since OWC uses the enclosure to rid the unit of heat build up from either the 5400 or 7200 RPM drives. When attached to your computer, instead of the standard OS icon, you’ll see a picture replica of the OWC Mercury Elite AL Pro mini – that’s a mouthful – on your desktop. Ya, between the blue LED and that, it makes the Mercury just that much cooler. 
Ratings
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?
Ratings
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?
Ratings
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?
Ratings
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.
Ratings
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?
Read the rest of this entry »
Ratings
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.
Ratings
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?
Pros
- Tremendous remote control database
- Simple key layout
- Very easy to customize
- Powerful infrared transceiver
Cons
- Bit complex to set up remote (too many steps)
- Favorites require association to Activity
- Unable to disable vibration within application
- Inability to add user images for buttons
- Steep price
The Bottom Line
You can finally take control of all remote controls in one place with the Rē. The Rē contains enough built-in infrared databases to make you say aloud, “I’ve never heard of half of these brands,” while easily finding your well known brand. Finally be able to view a DVD from your home theater with just one button press while the Rē powers and sets everything up for you.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
I once had an iPAQ 3600 series that had a built-in universal remote by Nevo. I loved it as it was always with me and became a major factor in my work outs at the club since I no longer had to beg the staff to change the channels on the TVs. It also made home entertainment as well as playing tricks at my friends house simple and fun. Thankfully Barry Baril of NewKinetix also enjoyed the same experiences as I did with his iPAQ of yesteryear and this was, “One of my motivations to build the Rē,” he told me in an email. Outside of the built-in infrared port missing from the iPhone, is the Rē as good as the Nevo?
Ratings
Pros
- Plethora of supported interfaces
- Supports any modern hard drive
- Sleek looking
- Drop-in hard drive mount
Cons
- No tactical indicator of successful drive mount
- Price is a bit high
The Bottom Line
If you’re like many in todays modern techno-family, then you have extra hard drives lying around your home. Additionally, with the low cost of hard drives today, there really is no reason not to have extras for archive purposes. Either way, NewerTech’s Voyager Q allows you immediate access to your data without any work other than dropping the drive into the Qs bay and double clicking an icon on your Desktop. Instant access with more ways to connect to your hard drive than James Bond ever associated with his Q.
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Hard drives liter my draws, cabinets, and desk. They’re every where. Some are archived drives and others retired ones. Needless to say, accessing anything on them has required some work in the past with either mounting them internally in a PC or in an enclosure. Yes, there’s also many variants of the SATA/IDE to USB set-ups that can be used, too, but man, what a mess of cables that is. Thankfully, the folks at NewerTech live like me and desire a nice easy, clean, way of data retrieval. The Voyager Q has landed on my desk and what a relief it has provided. Can it offer your scrap pile of metal, platters, and silicon reprieve as well?
Pros
- Incredible big sound from such a small unit
- Cool retro look
- Full iPod/iPhone integration
- Supports non-Apple hardware
- Remote with storage compartment
- Informative and easy to read LCD screen*
Cons
- Lack of storage for iPod/iPhone adapters and audio cable
- * Difficult to read LCD when characters are scrolling
- Black color susceptible to dust
- No HD Radio
The Bottom Line
Altec has packed a box with boom and it’s called the MIX iMT800. It’ll play jamz from your iPod or iPhone…and tell you the name of that tune and who’s singing it. Sporting the retro look from the 70s and 80s, Altec when classic with a AM/FM radio and threw in a slick remote. Down to the orange LCD display, the MIX screams “take notice!” and once you have, your ears will thank you for doing so.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
I have always been a huge fan of Altec Lansing. Biased? Ya, maybe, but with such a rich history of great sounding products, who wouldn’t be? When Altec sent me the MIX my first item of test was the bass it thumped about in all of its PR Altec had sent. In went the iPhone 3GS and on went the test play list. “Woo,” was my response and believe it or not, but my next action even surprised me. I turned down the bass. Not because it was sloppy but because it was too over powering! “Dude, this thing booms!” I shouted over “September” by Earth, Wind, & Fire. Ya, but how would it sound against Aretha, Andy Gibb, JT, Slaughter, Mother Love Bone, and Will Smith? Could the MIX get jiggy with it?
Pros
- Nicely made
- Sytlish look
- Durable
Cons
- Little tricky to remove
- Unexplained Dock connector hole netting removal
The Bottom Line
If you’re not looking for a “permanet” case or belt-clip holder but want something to protect your iPhone while in a purse or jeans pocket, then for the price, you really can’t beat the Uniea U-Pouch.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Uniea prides itself on more than just protection but also on quality and looks. You’ve heard not to judge a book by its cover but son, this ain’t a book and you have full permission to judge it by its cover. You’ll be pleased with what you find inside, too.
Pros
- Sporty look
- Comfortable material
- Unique cable management
- Comes with 2 guards
Cons
- Very tight fit
- Phones backing exposed by insert slit
The Bottom Line
If you’re a jogger or one that works out the gym and you want your iPhone easily accessible while working out, then for the good price, this may be your ticket…if it’s not too tight on your arm.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
Uniea wants you to take your iPhone on a run. Well, with you as you run or walk. Simply just slide in your iPhone into the back of the U-Motion, secure it to your arm with the velcro strap, and plug in your headphones. Now run…or walk. As you are on your course of health, you will undoubtedly look sporty with your iPhone strapped to your arm while listening to This Week in Tech, or to the latest remastered Beatles edition of Rubber Soul, or even while talking on the phone.
Pros
- Excellent sound
- Tight and accurate bass
- Compact
- Comfortable
Cons
- Cable is a bit too short
- A bit bright in the highs
- Does not support iPhone phone features (lack of mic or remote)
The Bottom Line
Apple made its users stick out with white ear buds and AKG wants you now to stand out from the Apple crowd with its Wasp. The black and gold (Pittsburgh Steelers terms here) does make the statement that these earbuds are different and once in your ear, you too will hear that difference. While somewhat of an investment for “mere earbuds”, it’s an AKG investment that will not disappoint once shoved into your ears.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
For our second review of AKG product, we chose the Wasp version of the K 330s to take for a spin on our iPhone and Mac Pro. AKG is a name well known for its grand sound and work with professional artists so it would be interesting to see what it could do for a challenging format such as in-ear headphones for under $100. At first, I was really surprised by what I heard. Were my ears deceiving me?
Pros
- Fashionable
- Deceptive as it doesn’t scream, “I’m a laptop bag!”
- Nice material and well built
- Accessory pocket for power cords and such
- Different
Cons
- Accessory pocket doesn’t close to protect from the elements
- Will not protect from falls
- Bit pricy for “just a bag”
The Bottom Line
Todays market for laptop bags has grown dramatically in the last five years. Like shoes lining the walls at Nordstrom’s, there seems to be a bag for anyone these days. The ColcaSac stands out from this crowed field with its almost “hippie” look without drawing attention to itself that it’s holding something precious…and expensive. If you don’t think $33 is too much for a unique and well crafted bag, then the ColcaSac is for you.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
The first thing I thought when the request came for SvenOnTech to review the ColcaSac was, ‘It’s kinda hippie looking.’ And while, yes, it uses a hippies favorite, hemp, for its construction, that’s pretty much where the peace child references stop as the ColcaSac really is one nice bag for your MacBook, MacBook Pro, PowerBook, or iBook…man.
Pros
- Excellent sound
- Compact
- Comfortable
Cons
- Cable either too short or two long (comes with two)
- Does not support iPhone phone features
The Bottom Line
AKG is well known in the professional world for extreme quality and rich sounding headphones and the K 450 brings that tradition to the personal market. Professional roots come at a price, but any discriminating listener will not be disappointed with a set of K 450s sitting on their head.
Ratings
Recommended
Yes
Full Review
I first heard the K 450s at Macworld 2009 and thoroughly enjoyed the richness of the mini-headphonse. Bass was fluid and deep while highs were crisp and defining. Even in the midst of a noisy convention center, I was able to take in the musical experience from my iPhone with a smile on my face.
AKG sent me a pair of K 450s for some in-depth R and R with them. In a quite office to give them a run through, my impression only improved with the K 450s. The quality of sound is amazing, even while knowing that I am listening to compressed music which in itself has flaws. Yet the K 450 emphasizes the beauty of the sounds it receives and magnifies them in your ears. The highs are clean and crisp and never harsh. Some headphones I’ve reviewed usually have problems in this area adding bitter, jarring, scratchy tones to the highs especially with spoken word. I never had this problem with the K 450s. In fact, listening to well recorded podcasts was a treat with the AKGs making you feel as if you were in the studio with the podcaster.
Pros
- Light and slim form factor
- Lengthens iPhone life by nearly 2 times
- LED indicater
Cons
- Doesn’t work with Apple Dock Connector
- A bit tricky to remove phone from battery
The Bottom Line
I loved the first Juice Pack and now this new Juice Pack Air is even better than the first. It’s smaller, lighter, smarter, and protective. Outside of planting an actual iPhone dock connector on the bottom, there’s nothing the Juice Pack Air is missing!
Ratings
Recommended
Yes (Strongly)
Full Review
So now Mophie’s gone and made its external battery into an actual case. It’s slapped a power switch into to prevent leaking and made it super slim. Oh ya, Mophie lowered the price, too. But is it all that? Why not watch the video review and see for yourself!
Pros
- Fast
- Great looking unit
- Small footprint
Cons
- Quality issues
- RAID1 failure in tests
The Bottom Line
LaCie has made one sleek looking external hard drive that begs for a spot on your desk to show off its good looks. However, if our data failure is any indication of troubles in mass, this is nothing more than a cheerleader on the football team that just looks hot but has no brains.
Ratings
Recommended
Maybe
Full Review
LaCie has been a well known accessory company for Apple for many years long before other companies pushing PC ware started dabbling into the Mac world. That experience has given a lead over those late comers that LaCie has enjoyed and used to push its products into a new realm of sleek looks. The HD Max is definitely one nice looking unit without a doubt with its shinny black case that reminded me of Darth Vader’s helmet when I first took it out of the box. The Dark Side had nothing to do with this cool looking external hard drive as LaCie tapped award-winning industrial designer Neil Poulton to come up with all this black goodness. When you hook up the power and cable the USB into your computer, Mac or PC, a blue light flickers from the bottom on the front of the unit bouncing memorizing light from the surface of your mount location. The light flashes as data is accessed adding to the pretty show on your desk. When you turn the unit around, you’ll find a switch that enables RAID0 or RAID1, two USB ports, a spot for your power, and switch for that power. You’ll also note two other LEDs one for each drive that show blue or the dreaded red for, oops, something’s very wrong, red. Except for the air vents in the back of the unit, the LaCie HD Max is just one nice piece of plastic covering the rectangle RAID hard drive that is small enough to easily hold in your hand.