debcook

There is an Iomega eGo external hard drive to please most anyone - available in a myriad of colors and capacities that hold hundreds of videos as well as thousands of songs and digital photos. If you want a strong color to match the sturdiness of the eGo you might take a look at the Ruby Red. I cannot think of anything bad about anything called Ruby Red. Remember the slippers? Have you ever tasted a ruby red grapefruit? Yum!

Not so long ago we had fewer choices. Whether it was a laptop, an external hard drive, a flash drive, a digital camera or a printer the choice of colors were small. Choosing between beige, black or silver did not take much thought.

Now that gadgets are available in every color under the rainbow the choices have become more stressful. Does the pink Bluetooth match the pink phone? Will I get tired of that purple digital camera? That pink Netbook is so girly.

There are some colors that go with most everything much like the little black dress. They are safe colors – you know the ones - black, silver and white. Could a red eGo external hard drive make you feel powerful and energetic? Who could resist a 320GB Iomega eGo external hard drive in Ruby Red? Good looks and good taste – what is left to say?

Bluetooth headsets have single handedly increased this Nation’s productivity. Even though cell phones cut the cords between us and our desks, the wireless headset has released our hands. No more crooked necks or one handed driving. Our voices can control who we call and when we call.

The choice of style, size and color is ours because the availability of Bluetooth headsets is immense. Over the ear, inside the ear and against the ear – is does not matter – they all work extremely well. Pairing them with Bluetooth enabled devices such as cell phones and computers is effortless.

I learned that pairing my Motorola H12 Bluetooth headset with my Sony UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) gave me a way to listen to radio stations that I would otherwise not have access to. Not too long ago my favorite radio personality moved to another state to work with a new radio station that offered live access via the Internet. As long as I am within 33 feet of my tiny Sony computer (locked inside a desk drawer) I can listen via my Bluetooth headset.

Functionality is most important but looking good is high on my priority list. You can see from the above photo that the H12 looks pretty good. The design is sleek and modern. It is compact and there is little to draw attention unlike those that constantly flash with a blue light. The charging stand looks like a miniature piece of art and the travel case also functions as a charging pod.

I could get technical but what I want to say is that you can hear a caller even with background noise. Once I was standing in strong wind while buying gas and not only could I hear but I was heard. There is more than enough noise at work but I no longer have to run to a quite spot to talk on my cell phone. In fact, I can hear better over my Bluetooth headset than I can with my phone pinched between my ear and shoulder.

Sometimes I – like most of you – forget things. I forget names, dates and phone numbers. However, I do not forget that I installed a printer on my computer. This is my first experience with a SSD so I wonder if there is a correlation between the two.

Admittedly I am just thinking out loud. When I tried to print a receipt from my online purchase of K-cups mysteriously my HP Photosmart 7960 was missing. I distinctly remember printing a document on this Dell Mini 9 Netbook from this HP printer just a day or two ago.

Thinking back about the things I have changed on this Netbook I can only come up with one thing. Yesterday I spent some time running the disk defragmenter. Surprisingly it was necessary after a very short period of time. I was desperate to get this thing running a bit faster – I simply do not have an extra five minutes to spend waiting for a web page to appear. OK – maybe that is an exaggeration – but not by much.

No matter the reason I am re-installing my printer. I will write myself a note on the calendar so I will not doubt myself incase it disappears again. Hopefully this is merely an odd occurrence – I really want to trust the SSD.

Redfly is a very cool gadget that I first discovered about a year ago. I liked it then and I like it now although I have not had any hands on experience with it (hence the picture is from Amazon.com). The price is right for what it is and I believe that for someone that uses it to its full capabilities the price is close to cheap.

How often have you wished that your cell phone had a bigger screen and that the keyboard was easier to use? If those are your wishes on a consistent basis the Redfly may be your wish come true. There is no CPU or software. Boot up is instantaneous. Battery life is long and can supplement the battery charge of a cell phone. Anything on the cell phone is displayed on an eight inch screen and the QWERTY keyboard is much better than that on most cell phones. Anything that can be accessed by the cell phone can be accessed by the Redfly. Anything that can be done on the cell phone can be done on the Redfly.

I will explain why I want a Redfly. Ironically I carry an iPhone 3G that is not compatible. My interest comes into play because of my AT&T 8525 PDA phone. It is compatible. Since my iPhone does not use Windows Mobile I have kept my 8525 to use as a PDA.

I find that my organization and time management has suffered since changing to the iPhone. My calendar is less detailed and there is no task feature. I miss Windows Mobile more everyday but I really like the glitzy features of the iPhone 3G. The Redfly would give me an entirely new way to watch and update my schedule. I could also watch videos from my iPod.

The battery life is around eight hours which would get me through most of a workday. The eight inch screen is compact enough to fit on my desk yet not be in the way. My calendar and my tasks would be in front of me all day. This alone is worth the price to me. Time is money so I figure that it would not take long for the Redfly to pay for itself.

Keurig coffee makers are the rage for home brewers. Just mention K-Cup and most people will know what you are talking about. For those who do not – a K-Cup is a small plastic prepackaged coffee cartridge of sorts. K-Cups loaded with gourmet blends of coffee, tea and hot chocolate please the taste buds of huge numbers of people everyday.

Is the Keurig so popular because of the taste, the convenience or peer pressure? I’d say a little of all of them. The taste is absolutely wonderful – at least the tea is. I do not drink coffee so I will leave that to others to confirm. K-Cups could not be more convenient – just drop one in, pull the handle down and push a button. Peer pressure – well if your friend has one you will want one too.

Many offices and waiting rooms have a Keurig sitting there for customers to use. Car dealerships keep customers happy while they wait for their cars to be repaired by offering them a little luxury.

In your own kitchen the ongoing cost of K-Cups is a consideration. If you are used to drinking coffee from a 16 ounce to a 20 ounce cup you will probably be happy to learn that you can use the same K-Cup twice. Simply let the Keurig make a cup of coffee. Then raise the handle. Next push the handle back down without removing the K-Cup. A little strength will be lost but for most blends this will hardly be noticed. Experiment for your taste preference.

After opening the box and setting up the Keurig I was tempted to remodel my kitchen. The machine is as beautiful as the coffee, tea and hot chocolate tastes.

If the lights went out within the next five minutes I would still have a bright light, an AM/FM radio, three 115V electrical outlets, one 12V outlet and a digital alarm clock. All of this and more is what my 600Watt Xantrek XPower Powerpack offers.

Sitting in the dark during a storm is not much fun and I know of what I speak. Last year an ice storm kept our entire area struggling for electrical power for nearly two weeks. Sure, there were candles galore and generators for sale from the back of semi trucks but overall we were all without a way to light a lamp or to charge our cell phones.

That experience convinced me that there had to be a better way to get through a blackout. While the utility company raced to cut the limbs from the electrical lines I needed an immediate solution.

Ironically we may find ourselves in the same situation within the next few days. Another ice storm is threatening to hit as I type this. The difference this time is that I have a fully charged powerpack ready to go at a moments notice. Charging my laptop and cell phone may be the most important function required of it.

Emergencies are not the only reason to use a battery pack like the Xantrek XPower. My riding lawn mower has a problem – it continually has a dead battery. This powerpack also includes jumper cables and I know from experience that they work great.

There is a small flash drive like device that can protect you from online hackers and key loggers. It uses much of the same technology as a smartcard. Think of the way an ATM works. The card stays in your possession and is required to log in – in addition to the PIN that the ATM recognizes.

With the ID Vault software loaded on your computer you are prompted to set up your account login information when you plug the ID Vault into a USB port. Banking, investment, shopping and email accounts are some of the options you have. Over 7000 websites are approved by ID Vault and if you attempt to log into a fraudulent site your login will be disallowed. Typically fraudulent websites are those that you are urged to open from an email.

Your personal login information is stored on the device itself. If you loose it no one else can access your information unless they have your PIN. You can log into any website without the ID Vault – you just will not be protected and you will not be covered by the $1,000,000 identity theft guarantee.
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After the first year there is a subscription fee that covers support and software updates. I think that the price of $39.99 per year is reasonable for the peace of mind. When I travel I do not have the security of my own home network. Hotspots and networks of friends and family may not be secure. With the ID Vault plugged in there is no need to type in usernames and passwords. Even the PIN is not typed in – you click on an on the screen keypad.
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I like that my information is stored on a device that I have control of. It is better than having it stored somewhere in cyberspace where it could be compromised.

Data backup is one of the most important maintenance tasks that you can do. It never seems too important until you need to access data that has already been destroyed. If it has not happened to you already – it will sooner or later. With all of the choices we have available to us it is unthinkable to suffer such a fate.

It is not always convenient to backup new files. It seems that as soon as I backup my laptop files I add new ones at a fast pace. Before I realize how much time has past I am a couple of weeks into new data. I am not always at home so my Maxtor external hard drive is not readily available.

The solution is an easy one. Small compact flash drives fill in on a temporary basis. I have separate folders on my flash drive and on my Maxtor that mirror those on my laptop. Once I am at my desk I plug into my Maxtor external hard drive and back up entire folders. At any time I have at least three copies of my important data files.

At the end of each year I make another folder with the year as the name. I pull all of the file folders from that year into it. With 250GB of capacity I will not run out of space for a very long time.

External hard drives are worth their weight in gold. Thankfully most are pretty small and they cost much less than gold. I could go as far as to say my Maxtor is pretty. It looks like brushed aluminum and it is held upright by a small blue plastic base. I could lay it over on its side but I prefer it to stand upright as in the photo. A USB cable connects it to my laptop and I keep the power cord plugged into an APC surge protector. A single button turns it on and the blue light that flashes during the time it is connected to my laptop gives me comfort.

The Creative Zen is a cute little MP3 player. I was surprised to learn of its multitude of features including an FM radio, a calendar, a task list, a photo and video viewer, and an alarm clock just to name a few. The look and feel of the Zen is smooth and sleek.

Hands on experience with the Zen proved to me that the controls are intuitive. If you know which feature you are looking for you will find it. You will be surprised at the options found along the way. Once information is loaded into the device it is available at a moments notice.

If I had my way the screen would be touch enabled. It would be Bluetooth enabled as well so that a wireless headset could be used. There would also be a keyboard – most likely onscreen - so that a computer would not be essential to entering tasks for instance. In essence the Zen is a “read and listen only” device.

I realize that the Zen is much like other MP3 players including the iPod. It does what MP3 players do and I think that is fine – except that I want more. Now that cell phones are MP3 enabled they may take the need away for a separate device, especially since a cell phone includes the Bluetooth and keyboard that the MP3 player is missing.

The Apricorn external hard drive may not be on the lips of most tech reviewers but it is a little jewel in my tech tool box. Mine was purchased over a year ago and has been used nearly everyday since. It is small and requires no external power source. The attached USB cable makes it extremely easy to use in the field.

It is larger than my USB flash drives but it works great as an interim data backup drive. Even though I try not to be paranoid I do go to extended measures to protect my data and digital photos. This brings up something that I really like about this external hard drive above some others.

When the Apricorn is attached to my laptop it shows up in “my computer” as a hard drive – not just another drive letter. The name that shows up is EZ-Bus not simply a drive letter such as “G”. This is very helpful when I copy files from my flash drive onto the Apricorn. Have you ever started to perform this type of operation and then suddenly wondered if you were copying from the correct drive? That would be disastrous. Once you start pasting it better be to the correct drive.

This particular model has a 40GB capacity. The updated version is called Aegis Mini USB 2.0 and can be purchased as an 80GB or a 120GB version. I carry my Apricorn external hard drive in my purse and it has stood up well to all sorts of obstacles. It has successfully shared space with multiple gadgets and all of those other purse-like items.