Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Roxio Creator 2011, or, make your pictures and videos 3D!

by Maya Grinberg on August 24th, 2010

My Roxio 3D glasses.

Roxio, the software company behind a variety of disc burning software (VHS to DVD, CDs, and probably the default program on your new Windows machine for burning media) just released a new media creation and editing software called Creator 2011. Creator does all the things a traditional media editor should, like editing and burning videos to disc, creating copies of CDs and DVDs, and what have you. One thing that’s very new, however, and worthy of a whole writeup of its own, is the new 3D capabilities of the program.
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The Cute Geek Back to School Guide: Toshiba Laptops

by Cristina Cordova on August 10th, 2010

It’s back to school time for many geeks out there and we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to review Toshiba laptops so that you can buy the best one for your needs. All of these laptops come with Windows 7, so if you’re a fan of the software, these are the notebooks for you. They also include Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Edition to write all those papers. Let’s get into it!
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Motorola Backflip Reviewed

by Maya Grinberg on July 11th, 2010

The Motorola Backflip is an AT&T smart phone running Motorola’s Android OS, called MOTOBLUR. The backflip has a pretty cool design– the front of the phone, which is a full glass screen that, when off and viewed straight on, looks a lot like a mini-iPhone, flips open by rotating towards the front (backwards from the usual way flip phones work). This makes for a pretty slick little device that you want to slide open and closed over and over, just for fun.

In its full open position, the Backflip has a backlit soft button keyboard, and a completely unique trackpad on the backside of the screen– when holding the phone, your index fingers could go behind the front screen to navigate the interface with the trackpad. Continue Reading…

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Motorola H17txt Reviewed

by Maya Grinberg on July 11th, 2010

The Motorola H17txt bluetooth earpiece looks like many others– it hooks onto your ear with a relatively small form factor, and has a little boom that opens outwards from being folded in, which effectively turns the device on and off. It’s lightweight and pretty comfortable, in so far as when you have it in your ear, its easy to forget about it and leave it in as you exit your car (and thereby expose yourself to the people on the street as a potential “tool-with-headset-but-not-in-car”). One very special feature, however, makes this headset pretty unique– it has the ability to read out incoming texts to you, and when programmed correctly, respond to senders with an auto-reply that lets them know (via text) that you’re driving  but will get back to them when you finish.
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Gamer Grub

by Radiris Diaz on July 2nd, 2010

pizza_lg Gamer Grub is the ideal snack for gamers because it is packed with essential vitamins and neurotransmitters that will be sure to provide you with an extra boost of energy and memory power to help you beat the next battle. It is also very easy to eat – you tear, tilt and enjoy. Its grease-less – which is greattttttttttttt! I won’t say you won’t get crumbs on you, but you don’t have to worry about having ultra shiny controllers. I tried some of them out – actually I tried all of them out and really enjoyed them. If you want to watch my initial response to tasting the BBQ ones – check it out below…

Gamer Grub is available in 4 difference flavors (BBQ, P&J, Pizza and Smores) and can be purchased at your local Barnes & Noble, Game Stop, etc. – for a list of fine retailers please click here.

Also, if you have the time, read how it was created – it’s pretty funny…(http://gamergrub.com/blog/index.php)
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Wicked Audios Metallics

by Radiris Diaz on July 1st, 2010

img_0883 Wicked Audio makes a lot of trendy, ‘hip’, audio products that add that extra umph some of us need while rocking out to our latest tunes. The latest and greated in Wicked’s collection are their Metallics – which as the name suggest are their cute earbuds in metallic colors. I received a pink pair to try out and I liked them from the moment my eyes caught a glimpse. I immediately started wondering how much ‘better’ earbuds will have to get before they’re considered bad for us.

I can’t lie, I love having earbuds on. The freedom of being able to listen to my own music and sounds that bring me pleasure is just liberating – I love it. I really enjoyed trying these headphones out, they are pink (my new fav. color despite me not considering myself to be girly). I use them at work, on my commute to work (plane) and to work out.
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Shake Weight

by Radiris Diaz on June 22nd, 2010

Hey everyone, here are some quick thoughts/demo on the Shake Weight. I purchased it a couple of weeks ago and have loved using it. It’s an ‘easy’ workout, or so it seems. The summer is here – and less jiggle seems more appropriate each and every time it comes around.

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Protect Your iPad

by Cecilia Daclan on June 15th, 2010

I tested three products designed to protect your iPad in various ways.  First I tried out the Speck Shield View, which sells for $24.95.  It comes in a 2 pack, and it’s supposed to stick to your iPad screen perfectly, protecting it from scratches and smudges.  Getting it on the iPad was fairly easy.  The product comes with instructions on how to get it on smoothly.  However, once I peeled the backing to expose the protective film, a couple bubbles showed up that I couldn’t remove.  Granted, they were just two small bubbles on the edges, but bubbles are still annoying.  I give it a B for application and an A- for preventing fingerprint smudges.

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Samsung Restore

by Maya Grinberg on June 15th, 2010

Samsung Restore™The Samsung Restore is bright green, and for a reason. It’s made of 27% recycled materials, comes packaged in fully recycled materials, has a low power drawing charger,  and when you’re done with the device, can BE recycled (well, 84% of it anyway.)

Its a slider text phone with a couple of extra features– the interface, a simple Samsung OS, has dedicated shortcuts for Twitter, Facebook, and (oh boy.) Myspace. The 2.0 megapixel camera can also record video, and there’s a setting for videos you plan to email, which I assume records them in lower fidelity. The slide-out hard QWERTY keyboard is great, with very little mistyping and really satisfying clicking sounds reinforcing the typing you’re doing.

The phone goes for $50 with a 2 year Sprint contract, which seems standard for a feature phone. A smart-phone its not, but with the angle of being earth-friendly (I mean, they even pre-programmed some “favorite sites” with a page about Green tips) the lime green Restore is a solid texting phone, with several cool added features that I think make it a great option for anyone in need of a phone that does more than call folks but doesn’t need a smartphone. Continue Reading…

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Speck Fitted Kindle 2 Case

by Maya Grinberg on June 14th, 2010

Pretty snazzy, huh?

Dudes, if you’ve been reading my posts at all, you know I have kind of a thing for protective accessories. Call me crazy, but when you lay out a bunch of dough on a sweet electronic gadget, the last thing you want is scratches, cracks, or crashes to have their way with your darling machine. For this reason, I was intrigued to receive a Kindle Fitted case for my Kindle 2 in the mail from Speck– its a hard case with two pieces that snap together, fitting perfectly over your Kindle and providing it with a hard plastic home.

For my Kindle 2, I had been using a Belkin soft zipper case, which I still love. The Speck hardshell is intriguing, however, for several reasons.

1) It’s stylin! The back covers are SUPER cute. I have the white stripes pattern, but I think all of the options are really snazzy, and add a huge kick of style to an otherwise boring white Kindle.

I love the stripes!

2) It stays on the Kindle, whereas my soft cover zipper case was just a “holder.” In this way, the case is more of an accessory for the actual machine, versus just being the means for transport.

You can see from the pictures I took that the case is pretty attractive. There is a noticeable, and for me, pretty significant downer– it adds a load of heft to your machine! One of the hugely attractive features of a Kindle is how lightweight it is, making it easy to hold up for long periods of time. This case, when snapped on, made the Kindle feel significantly heavier! The Speck specs (hehe) list the case as a full 8 ounces! When your Kindle 2 is 10.2 ounces (I checked!), adding another 8 is no joke!

Coupled with the pretty steep price tag of $39.95, I would think hard about whether the looks, no matter how attractive they are, would be worth that kind of tradeoff. Think of your poor wrists!

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