Review of 16GB Flash Drives

Our friends at Test Freaks gathered up 17 different 16GB drives and did some hands on benchmark and testing.  First off, props goes out to Mr. Brozio for convincing all the manufacturers to give up free 16GB drives.  Second, I give him kudos for the in-depth analysis and benchmarking test.  Well done.

The 16GB USB review includes the following drives:

• Adata Sport Series RB19 16gb
• Corsair Flash Voyager
• HP USB Flash Drive v125W
• Imation Swivel Flash Drive
• Kingston Data Traveler100
• Kingston DataTraveler HyperX
• Memorex Traveldrive
• OCZ Diesel
• OCZ Throttle
• Patriot Exporter XT
• PNY Attache
• PQI Traveling Disk 1221
• Ridata EZdrive Lightning Series
• Sandisk Cruzer Micro
• Super Talent Pico-C
• Transcend JetFlash Elite Enabled
• Verbatim Store ‘n’ Go

I wont give away the full details on the 16GB USB review – please check with Test Freaks.  However, it is painfully clear that Transcend Jetflash is a horrible drive.  Which is funny as they spend a good amount of marketing time and money saying they are the best performing.  Transcend must be taking Ford’s marketing philosophy and advertising their weakness.  “Built Ford Tough” ha – those cars are anything but tough.

To get a bit of their approach Test Freaks considers:

If I’m looking for a USB drive, the first thing I look at is the Copy To or Write speeds, this is what is most important to me, the next thing would be the Copy From speeds, as for me what I do most is put data on it, then take it off, reading from the drive is not that important to me really. So it all depends on what your priorities are concerning USB drives, the results are here, you can judge for yourself which is best for you.

For the full 16GB USB Drive review please visit Test Freaks webpage.

Review: Telescope Lens for 3G iPhone

I was so excited to get the new telescope lens for the 3G iPhone, but at the same time, apprehensive that it would be a gimmick. I was thrilled to find out the telescope lens actually worked!  The case used to mount the lens also snaps On and Off quite easily.

Using the case without the lens is a great way to add some protection to the iPhone, but when using a dock station, you’ll need to remove the case. The lens screws on and off so you can fit this inside your travel pack and take it out when you need it. Obviously you won’t leave the lens on while cruising around town.It doesn’t come with a lens cover which is fine for me, but considering it’s stored more than used, especially if you are planning to be mobile, it would be nice to have something so the lens doesn’t accidentally scratch.  For me, a zip-lock bag works fine.

I took some photos around the house.  Just like a real zoom camera lens, you have

Review: 4 Port USB Car Charger Adapter

I love this thing…It’s exactly what I wanted. I did not want to purchase a different charger for every device I have and my bluetooth speakerphone adapter and both cell phones are all charged via USB cable so now I can charge all three of them through the USBFever 4 port USB car charger and adapter.

I don’t think I’ll ever use all four at once but knowing that you can is empowering (pardon my pun) After a trip to Sea World, my iPhone 3G was just about depleted (no surprise about the short battery life – but I wouldn’t trade it for any other phone, in fact, I’m slowing transitioning from Windows to Mac for my personal computer as I’m not playing FPS games anymore and the Vista Operating System turned into a huge let down for me).

So I decided to set the iPhone stop watch and take some screenshots by pressing

I’m a big Blackberry fan and yesterday I received a notice in the mail for the long awaited touchscreen Blackberry.  It’s finally making the grand enterance.  Coming out in about 1 month is the Blackberry Storm.  This new touchscreen is a direct competitor to the iPhone and a nice addition to the RIM product lineup.  After all, they’ve been behind for about 1 year.

The Blackberry Storm will be offered by Verizon in the US, has four front panel buttons and is powered by USB.  For me, I like the four button navigation and sleek look of the Storm.  What I’m a little concerned about is the touchscreen typing.  I’m afraid nothing will compare to the Quirky keyboard I currently use on my World Edition.  I’ve tried the iPhone and it’s a nightmare, I’m hoping the Storm will be a little better.

I couldn’t dig some details such as price and whether the Storm has a camera or not.  The image shown had some criticism that it was photochopped, but it looks identical to the official Verizon notice I received yesterday.

Source:  CellFanatic.

Gadget4All sent me their Blue Mirror wireless Bluetooth visor car kit for review and I’m glad they did, as California will start enforcing the “mandatory hands free car kits” come July 1st and the ticket is expensive, so this review couldn’t have come at a better time. This is what I found:

Review Summary for Wireless Bluetooth Visor Car Kit:

UPDATE: The bluetooth visor car kit is available at Amazon for immediate delivery. Great product for the quick fix you might need if in California or another state which has a “hands-free” wireless policy.

The wireless visor Bluetooth car kit is well made, easy to operate and performs well. Sound quality is good, setup is easy and user design is well thought out. Strong mounting assembly yet portable and easy to disconnect.

Out Of Box Experience:

The Blue Mirror is packaged well and comes with:

• Main Bluetooth wireless visor kit (5″ x 3″ x .75″)
• Mount clip with very strong magnets
• USB cable (mini to Type A)
• Car power adapter (cigarette style)

The product is simple and intuitive to put together. I was able to charge up the unit in under 1 hour as it was already charged. The full charge time is maximum of 3 hours. You can use either the USB cable and power from a laptop/computer or use the cigarette power adapter in your car along with the USB cable to recharge that way.

I reported on the EVGA UV Plus+ USB video adapter a couple weeks ago and today I found this good EVGA USB video adapter Review from TigerDirect. The video is about 4min long and has some terrible comedy – but funny to watch in a pathetic way – like The Office. If you need some more detailed information about the EVGA USB video adapter, or on the fence and need someone to verbally push you over the edge, check this out:

Can’t view the video? Click here.

REVIEW OF MAGICJACK PHONE

The MagicJack phone is a simple device which is specifically designed to connect your regular [and current] land-line phone to the internet for Voice Over IP calling.

I ran into one of the project managers of MagicJack from a different business deal and he sent a phone for review. I’ve mentioned the MagicJack phone before, but this is my first experience using the product.

OVERVIEW

The MagicJack is a small device [2.5" x 1.5"] and works as a USB dongle which connects to your computer via USB port. The MagicJack phone does not require a Hi-Speed USB connection and thus will work on your front USB connection of a PC tower or the slower ports off your laptop docking station.

The USB MagicJack costs about $35-$40 depending on where you get it. You then pay $19 [the year after you buy it] for unlimited calling in the United States, Canada and parts of central America. Calls outside this region are then chargeable, but very reasonable. I looked up rates to the UK at it was $0.02 per minute. Not bad at all.

WHY IT’S UNIQUE

The MagicJack phone is unique because it has a regular phone jack connected to the dongle. This means ANY phone can be plugged into the device and used for VoIP calling