Category — Product Reviews

The Samsung Focus is a Windows-powered smartphone running on AT&T’s 3G network. It uses Samsung’s popular combo of their 1GHz processor and 4-inch Super AMOLED display to provide a lightening fast speeds matched by equally impressive graphics. On paper, the phone is well equipped by today’s standards. It comes packed with 8GB of memory, which is expandable via microSD card, captures video in 720p HD, and features built in turn-by-turn navigation. There’s a lot to like about the Focus, but does it make sense to go with Windows Phone OS over the competition? Read on to find out.

Main Features and specifications:

• Windows Phone OS
• 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display; WVGA resolution (480 x 800)
• 1GHz processor
• On-screen keyboard
• 8GB internal storage; expandable via microSD memory card
• 5MP camera with LED flash
• 720p HD video recording
• Xbox LIVE
• Includes stereo headset with in-line controls

The Good
Windows Phone OS: Windows Phone OS is colorful, fun to interact with, and felt very fast on the Focus. It’s a unique change of pace from the onslaught of Android and iOS powered devices that have flooded the market over the last few years. The home screen buttons do take up more room than Android and iOS icons, but the common activities are all there, front and center. We especially enjoyed the daily briefing functionality, which aggregates weather, news, and stocks. The animations are also a nice touch and really add depth to the OS. The main issues we had with Windows Phone were the lack of available (and free) apps and limited custom settings.

Design: Samsung has been designing cell phones for many years now. Their experience and expertise is very apparent in the Focus. Its design reminded us of a luxury automobile, with a wide top and flared base, chrome-colored accents, and dark colored finish. The wake/sleep button is located on the upper right-hand side. This took some time to get used to, but after a week or so, it felt natural. In a strange, but surprisingly practical move, Samsung moved the covered charging port to the top of the phone – next to the headset jack. The volume up/down rocker is located on the left side and could use a bit more space between the up and down buttons. The only other downfall to the design is the curved back, which makes typing more difficult than it should be when the phone is laying flat on a table.

AMOLED Display: The vibrant 4-inch display is one of the first things you will notice about this phone. Its colors are super saturated and the contrast is outstanding. It can even be seen in sunlight. Not much can be improved here.

Camera: The 5 megapixel camera will be more than adequate for most users. It’s easy to use, the controls are well laid out and the physical shutter button was a nice touch. There are a wide array of creative controls, ranging from white balance to saturation to dynamic range control. Video recording is done in 720p at 30 frames per second. There were some annoyances with the camera, one of which was the flash control resetting every time the app was exited. The other was the front touch buttons getting accidentally activated while trying to frame a shot.

Included Headphones: The included headphones are high quality noise-isolating earbuds with an in-line mic, volume control and call answer/end button. We like when manufacturers include headphones with their phones, and these high quality buds were a welcome change from the standard, off-the-shelf fare.

The Bad
Build quality: Samsung did an exceptional job at designing the Focus. Its sleek black front, backlit touch-sensitive buttons and pinstriped grey backing excel in both the boardroom and the nightclub. However, there is not a single piece of metal to be found on the outside of this handset. This isn’t to say the Focus isn’t a durable smartphone, it just doesn’t feel like a high quality device.

Not enough granular control of settings: We searched high and low, but could not find a way to change basic settings, such as touch-button and network status bar timeouts. The large calendar icon that takes up one-quarter of the screen was unable to be resized and compared to other smartphones of this caliber, the number of controls in the settings panel was limited. It’s the little things like this which really bring home the fact that this is a new OS. This isn’t to say these minor issues won’t be addressed in future releases and updates, but they notch the phone down a few steps at present.

Lack of Apps: Let’s face it, these days, it’s all about the apps. With hundreds of thousands of apps in both Apple’s App Store and Android’s Market, Windows Phone has a way to go before it can compete on that level. At the time of testing the number of apps in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace was less than 10,000. Favorites like Pandora Radio, Words with Friends, eBay and TweetDeck are nowhere to be found.

Should I buy one?
There’s no question that Windows Phone OS is destined to become a true competitor in the smartphone battlefield. Samsung’s Focus does an excellent job at supporting the OS and looks good while doing so. As far as hardware is concerned, the Focus is spot on with what a modern day smartphone should be. However, the lack of included apps and overall refinement raise questions as to what can really be gained by going “Windows” rather than iPhone or Android.

I’ve recently been given the opportunity to review one of Drobo’s latest creations: the Drobo FS. The FS, which stands for file sharing, is a 5-bay NAS that plugs into your local network via gigabit ethernet. In plain english, you plug the Drobo FS into your wireless router and all the computers in your home (or small office) instantly have access to a huge hard drive. From a technical standpoint, there is a lot more to it than that, but the beauty of this device is you don’t need to know what is going on behind the scenes in order to reap the benefits.

I will be conducting a more detailed review which will be posted over at my Boston Tech Gear column, but I wanted to share some initial thoughts after a week with the device. From unboxing to set-up, getting hands-on with the Drobo has been a wonderful experience. Maybe it was the little black pouch it came in, or the fact that within 15 minutes I was able to add 4TB of protected storage to my network – whatever it was, I liked it.

Setup on my Mac was as easy as it gets. Insert the installer disc, click install and restart. As soon as my machine had come back to life I was greeted by the Drobo Dashboard (more on this in the full review) and a public share with full read/write access for all the computers on my home network. That’s it.

Transfer speeds over my gigabit ethernet connection were good, but definitely not as fast as a locally attached firewire/USB hard drive. This is for a few reasons, which I will get into in the full review, but for the vast majority of users, speeds will be more than sufficient. Case and point, I asked a non-techie person in my house to copy some files to the public share and then asked them what they thought about the transfer speed – to which they replied something along the lines of “it takes as long as it normally does.”

Once you start digging into the advanced options, which there are plenty of, you can really start having some fun with the device. One can set up additional users and shares, control the time it takes before the hard drives spin down – even dim the LEDs. This Drobo also gives you the option to set up Time Machine backup shares. Have three Macs in your house all using Time Machine? Not a problem, each one can have its own backup.

So far, I have been very happy with the design, ease of setup, and simplicity of the device. There are some weaknesses, but you will have to read my full review to hear about those. Stay tuned.

Last week, Elgato announced a new TV tuner/DVR solution for the Mac. It is called the EyeTV HD and pulls 720P HD cable content right from your set-top box. The device was born out of the need to get television shows and movies out of the living room and on to the multitude of devices people are using to get their daily fix.

I am in the process of working up a formal review to be posted on my Boston Tech Gear column, but I wanted to share some of my initial thoughts about the device. To start, I have yet to come across a more streamlined way to move content from cable box to computer. Total setup time is less than 15-minutes, and that includes cable connecting, IR blaster placement, and software installation. Once the device is fired up, all it takes the click of the mouse to schedule a recording.

Recording TV shows to a computer is nothing new, we Mac-wielding television enthusiasts have been doing it since the days of the Performa 638cd. What is new is what happens after the show has been recorded. By way of a simple preference selection or click of a button, the EyeTV software will automate the conversion of the raw H264 HD footage into the iPod, iPhone, and iPad friendly .m4v format. One-half hour of HD content morphs from a 3GB file into 1GB for the iPad and 250MB for the iPhone. The file is then automatically added into iTunes. Very cool.

I will get more into the specifics in my official review, but after a few days of use I am beginning to see some serious advantages to using a computer-powered DVR such as this. For anyone that regularly views movies and shows on their iPhone or iPad, this device could definitely make life a little bit easier. However, without giving too much more away, it isn’t all puppy dogs and rainbows (is that even a real saying?). You need a Core2Duo Mac for the EyeTV HD to really be happy. Also, that Mac needs to be within a few feet of a cable box, which is not all that common. But, for those serious about their television, these are small prices to pay.

Head over to my column at Examiner next week (June 1, 2010) to read the full review.

It may seem slightly crazy, but believe it or not, there is no built-in way to manage a collection of PDF documents on the iPad. You can view them as attachments in email, but there is no way to save or bookmark the files. Not to worry – the folks over at Good.iWare LTD have got us [slightly insane] iPad early adopters covered with their app, appropriately titled, GoodReader.

With GoodReader, document viewing woes are a thing of the past. This high quality app allows for the transferring, managing, bookmarking, and oh yea, reading of anything text. PDF’s/Docs/TXT – even Excel spreadsheets. Just install the app, connect the iPad to iTunes with the USB cable, and drag whatever files you want into the file transfer well. Within minutes you will be in iPad PDF reading heaven.

I’ve been using this app since day one and it has been nothing but a joy to use. File transfer was a bit rocky in the beginning, but now that Apple has allowed for the drag and drop file transfer, it is no longer an issue. This is .99 cents well spent. Highly recommended.

Get a copy here [iTMS link]

Continuing with their run of April news announcements, Apple has just released an update to their popular MacBook Pro line of notebook computers. Not much has changed, but what has, is significant. The new pro machines have been updated with Intel’s Core i5 and i7 processors, offering substantial performance gains through the use of a new 32-nanometer manufacturing process, Turbo Boost, and Hyper-Threading. The marketing material may sound a bit gimmicky, but the performance increase is anything but. Even though the new clock speed has dropped from 2.8GHz to 2.66GHz (at the top), performance is estimated to increase by roughly 50%. Having used the 15-inch model with the 2.66GHz Core i7 processor for the last few days, I can confirm this statement with utmost confidence.

My previous workhorse laptop had been a 17-inch 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro. It was working for me, but I often felt it lacking in performance when driving a second display and doing heavy photo editing between Lightroom and Photoshop. I had plans to switch over to a desktop for my photo/video production, but to make a long story short, that did not work out. Now here I am with the fastest laptop Apple makes… So how does it compare to the machines it is replacing?

To sum it up, this is the first laptop I would consider to be a true desktop replacement. Everything is faster with these new i7 machines, from launching apps to converting video. Even while driving a secondary display, the machine feels more akin to a desktop tower than a laptop.

To give an idea of how I use my Mac portables, this is a list of programs that are typically open together:

• iTunes open playing music (with a huge, memory robbing library)
• AdiumX
• Mail App
• FireFox
• Preview
• Lightroom
• Photoshop (50% of the time)
• Word
• Dictionary
• Tweetdeck
• iCal
• Flickr uploader

My old machine could handle this, but not without frequent slowdowns. This new machine has left me feeling much more confident in its ability to handle the heavy lifting when necessary. It feels like a completely animal, one that doesn’t back down when playing flash video on one display and rendering 1:1 previews of 21 Megapixel RAW files on the other.

So what is not to like? Well, the stock 1440×900 monitor leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, the Apple store I purchased mine from did not have the high-res antiglare ($150 upgrade) machines in stock. I think it is strange that this is a $150 upgrade, mainly because I don’t know many professional (at least photographers) that want a super reflective glass display on their notebook, or desktop for that matter. I am unsure what Apple’s love affair is with these new displays but I am a matte kind of guy. However, 90 percent of the time I will be using it with a calibrated display for photo work, so it doesn’t really matter.

Other than that main gripe, the battery life claim of 8-9 hours is just not realistic from what I have observed. As one of my colleagues said in an email, “maybe in a dark room staring at the wallpaper with no wi-fi on and display set to 10% brightness.” That about sums it up. I saw 4.5 hours under normal usage, wi-fi on, display 90% – while composing text, surfing web, responding to email, working on some files in Lightroom, and watching the occasional productivity killing YouTube video. I actually got better battery performance out of my 17-inch unibody. This is no deal breaker by any means. To be able to get 4-5 hours out of a high performance laptop while away from AC power is fine by me, it is just a little strange that Apple would claim 9 hours.

Overall, the new models represent a significant performance boost to the previous line of 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pros. While it may not be worth upgrading from a 2009 model, it really comes down to what you are doing with the machine. I personally saw valuable performance gains, but not everyone is editing photos/video on a daily basis.

The good:

• Top-notch performance from a portable, I have never used a faster laptop
• Great battery life, even though not the 8-9 hours claimed
• Best Trackpad out there, new inertial scrolling is great (works like the iPhone)
• I’m a huge fan of the chicklet style keyboards that Apple has made their new standard
• Practical, attractive, and environmentally friendly design
• New low profile Mag-Safe connector is cool

The not so good:

• Not a fan of the super reflective glass display, 1440 display on my unit seems slightly washed out
• SD card reader built in? Thought this was for pros, where is the CF
• No ExpressCard on the 15-inch model
• Wish there was a third USB port on 15-inch model
• Not much in the box, forced to buy remote/MDP-to-DVI cable – two things that used to be included gratis

What do you get when you combine one million pixels of image resolution, a compact form factor, and fully automatic shooting? A versatile digital camera that Epson calls the PhotoPC 650. The 650 brings the ease of a point and shoot 35mm to the sub-$400 digital camera market.

The first thing you notice about the PhotoPC 650 is the rubberized grip on the right side that comes together organically with your fingers and thumb. Even with one-handed operation, the 650 isn’t going anywhere. On the back side you are greeted by a high resolution 1.8 inch backlit LCD screen and an array of menu control buttons. With the LCD, not only can you see the photo before you take it, but the final result can also be displayed, allowing you to easily show off your picture-taking skills – try that with a 35mm film camera. In addition to the back LCD screen, a second monochrome LCD rests atop the camera body to display image quality mode, flash mode, battery life, shoot mode, and photos remaining. Between the two information displays, you can be confident in having all available information at quick glance.

Picture taking with the 650 is very easy. Simply open the lens cover, switch the LCD into view mode of choice (view or off), set your image quality, and depress the shutter. Lag time is about one half second, but with a half depress to bring your image into focus, shutter-lag is almost nonexistent. Images are recorded onto a compact flash card, the 650 comes with 8MB of storage, or enough to hold 35 photos in 3 out of 4 star quality mode. This is plenty of storage space for most users, but for those needing more, the camera will easily accept cards of 32MB or larger.

In the test photos I did notice a small amount of lens flare in a brightly lit outdoor shot. Macro mode was slightly blurry, but the shot could have been improved through the use of a tripod. Another slight issue was the occurrence of blacks showing up as purple, nothing that cannot be fixed using Adobe’s Photoshop 6.0.

In conclusion, Epson’s PhotoPC 650 brings affordable digital photography to the average consumer. While it is priced about three times more than a comparable 35mm camera, the cost savings in film and ability to instantly see your photo make it well worth the extra greenbacks.

See below photos taken using the PhotoPC 650

A few months back I determined it was imperative that my aging Lane Furnishings leather “executive chair” take on an early retirement. Lacking the proper support for days spent in front of a computer I went in search of an affordable ergonomic chair. After sitting in about 20 chairs at Staples and Office Max (or maybe it was Office Depot) I felt discouraged. Most of them were overpriced, gimmicky, and unsupportive. I quickly realized I wasn’t going to find my pick in a retail office supply store.

My next step was Costco, they had a decent selection online and the prices were certainly better than paying retail. I considered the Herman Miller Equa Chair, but $299.99 seemed like a lot for such an unattractive little chair (I did test it at our local Costco, and it was very comfortable and supportive). My eyes then gravitated towards the Space AirGrid chair, at $169.99 shipped it was one of the better deals out there. However, being an online-only product, I was unable to take the AirGrid out for a test drive. After a few moments spent further researching the chair I said what the heck and added it to my shopping cart.

Fast-forward a week or so, I had the chair assembled in about 10 minutes and took my first seat. Not bad, not bad at all. Fast-forward a few hours – not good. The main issue with this chair, aside from the base being too large for me, was the fact that it did not go low enough. When you are sitting in an office chair your feet should be flat on the floor as to alleviate pressure under your thighs and encourage proper posture. I loved the design of the chair, but unfortunately it did not fit me.

By this time I was quite frustrated. I had been to multiple stores, sat in dozens of chairs, and still could not locate an affordable ergonomic “all day” chair. On a whim I decided to search for Herman Miller’s masterpiece, the Aeron Chair. I stumbled upon a site that offered last years models of the basic chair for a discount and decided to go for it. At school, our library was stocked with Aeron desk and side chairs – it didn’t take long before I became partial to that pellicle weave.

Now that I have the Aeron in my office (picked up a size B) I can work straight through the day with minimal breaks. My back is fully supported; no pressure accumulates in any one spot throughout my entire body. The Aeron Chair is quite possibly the best investment I have ever made. When you think about it, you spend the greater portions of your day in two places: sleeping in your bed, and sitting at your desk. Therefore, wouldn’t it make sense to invest in a quality mattress and a phenomenal office chair? I think so.

Many thanks to Herman Miller, and all the researchers that had their part in creating such a great place to sit.

The Netflix PS3 streaming disc was dropped into my mailbox early Saturday morning, one day later than I had anticipated. As was expected, it shipped in the familiar red envelope, the only difference being the PS3 logo beneath the standard Netflix insignia. A red CD sleeve that read, “Use every time to watch instantly,” encased the disc.

After inserting the disc into the PS3, the Netflix application instantly launched. I was quickly greeted with a registration prompt, asking me to type my device specific code into a web browser on the same network (see slideshow for photo). This is how Netflix links the streaming account to your device. One interesting side note is if you do not use your device within one month, it will unregister automatically.

Very similar to the Roku, with menu’s being responsive and quick to load. My queue was fully loaded within ten seconds or so and video startup time was similar. Unlike computer based Netflix streaming, the device streaming (Roku/Xbox/PS3/etc.) allows you to watch available HD content. The HD video is streamed at 720p with standard Dolby Pro Logic audio. Both video and audio quality are quite good. Most of the time it is just a touch lower quality that the cable signal you are receiving through the local cable company.

Overall, the experience is a pleasant one. Any time a device can be made to do more tricks is a good thing in my book. My Roku will move on to a new life in the bedroom, and a HDMI port will once again see the light of day. See below video of the interface as well as a slideshow of photos from the review.

In what may be the slickest design for a USB thumb drive yet, LaCie’s iamaKey brings 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB of storage to a drive no thicker than your house key. Measuring just over two inches in length, this little guy features USB 2.0 transfer speeds, PC and Mac compatibility, and the ability to blend right in with the other keys on your key ring.

The first thing you notice when you pick up the iamaKey is the build quality. The device feels rock solid. Its simple construction is also quite beautiful. No plastic, no blinking LED’s, just a thin metal casing adorned with a lightly imprinted company logo. The connector end is about half the size of a standard USB cable. These new thin connectors do away with the metal casing surrounding the USB contacts. It is best illustrated by this photo. As far as performance goes, I was able to transfer 1GB of files from a LaCie 1TB external hard drive in about three  minutes. This time was about one minute faster than it took to transfer the same files to the old SanDisk drive it was replacing. Another great thing about this drive is how small the connector end is. I was able to plug it into my MacBook Pro along side all the other USB cables. This is something I could not do with my previous USB drive because it was wider than a normal USB cable. With savings of time and space, what more can you ask for?

If you are looking for a stylish device to replace your old, boring USB flash drive (or a great stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday season), look no further. Starting at around $22 for the 4GB version, this smart little device is one of the best USB drives I have had the pleasure of reviewing.

Think multi-room audio is only available in high-end custom home audio installations? Think again. Using Apple’s Airport Express, it has never been easier to stream your music wirelessly or setup two rooms to playback the same audio source. This $99.00 device is actually quite the multitasker, in addition to streaming your music, it can be used as a wireless access point and a wireless print server. 

Setup
Setup could not be easier, just plug it in and launch the Airport configuration software. The straightforward setup process allows you to name your Airport and set up a WEP/WPA wireless passcode. Within minutes you now have a mobile access point with the ability to stream music. If you already have a wireless router you can use the Airport to extend the wireless signal. 

Why it is so great
You already keep your music collection on your PC, and it is likely you are already using iTunes to manage it. Chances are also pretty good that you have either a home theater system in your living room, a mini system, or a large iPod dock/powered speaker. The Airport Express can stream the music from iTunes to any of these sound systems, all that is required is a 3.5 inch stereo mini jack connector – either mini-to-mini or mini-to-RCA, your local electronics store will stock them. You can even stream music digitally to nearly every home theater receiver using optical audio, which the Airport also supports through the same mini jack output. Now, when you are having a social gathering, game night, or romantic dinner, listening to your favorite playlist no longer requires hooking up your iPod or moving your PC to the living room floor. Simply select the Airport Express as your wireless access point and select “Multiple Speakers” from your iTunes drop down menu. 

Plays well with others
What makes this little device even cooler is it’s ability to play audio from multiple computers. If you have roommates, everyone can take their turn at being DJ for the night. All they need to do is select the Airport Express as their wireless access point and open up iTunes, it will automatically show up – there is no need to run any additional setup programs. Have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Download Apple’s free “Remote App” and take control of the music using your iPhone/iPod. You can change tracks, switch playlists, even adjust the volume of the audio you are streaming wirelessly from your computer. It doesn’t get much cooler than that. 

Conclusion
If you have speakers connected to your computer and a home audio system, this is certainly the most affordable way to set up multi-room audio, aside from running wires, of course. If you are an iPhone or iPod touch owner, the deal gets even sweeter with wi-fi remote capabilities. For less than one hundred dollars there is no easier way to set up wireless music streaming or multi-room audio.