This past Thursday, I and fellow Hardwaregeeker, Michael Reyes, was invited to the Blackberry Playbook Launch Party….
RIM…. THANK YOU for an amazing event

So, I just finished playing with the New Blackberry Playbook for the past 3 hours. I wish I had another one to make a video of it. I will get around to posting one up in the next couple of days (need to get Fancy for the camera).

So in the mean time I will make this short and straight to the point….

First thing I have to say is…. HELLO FLASH WEBSITES!!

The Playbook supports Adobe Flash and the loading speed in awesome!!! just as good as my laptop (using my home network).

With dimensions of 5.1-inches tall, 7.6-inches wide and 0.4-inches thick and weighing 0.9 lbs, it definitely has a smaller feel than its main competitor.

It offers a 1024 x 600 screen resolution and a mutlicaptive touch screen (was easily playing Beethoven’s Fur Elise with both hands on the piano app that I downloaded.)

I was taking pictures and video with its 3 MP high-definition forward-facing camera and 5 MP high-definition rear-facing camera and the clarity is superb, especially with the video playback that I heard through the speakerphones.

It has Micro USB and Micro HDMI ports to be able to connect it to a display screen (**cough cough** watch hulu on TV, please APPWORLD, get us a Netflix app!!).

It runs on a 1Ghz dual core processor and 1 GB of Ram. Grouped with the Blackberry Tablet OS, this is great with being able to run multiple applications and being able to navigate between screens/applications with the ease of just a SWIPE!

Blckberry phone users: You are able to bridge your Blackberry Device to the Playbook to access your calendar, email, BBM, files and other data on your phone. I emailed RIM to ask one important question, if through the Bridge Connection can you access the internet? Can you bbm from the playbook if you are not connected to a network? I am waiting on their response! So Blackberry users, think of this as a second, bigger and funner screen to acces your Blackberry. At the moment, it was not able to support my Blackberry Torch but as soon as they release it, hopefully you guys will let me know before I let you know (wink wink)

Setuo was easy, but not so quick since it automatically detected a software update in which I had to wait oh SO PATIENTLY a good 4-5 minutes to play with my new toy. It starts you off with a quick tutorial how to navigate through menus, as I remembered the first time I played with it a couple of weeks ago when Blackberry first showcased it, was a little difficult to find out how, but once you learn it, its so easy my not so tech savvy dad can do it.

In conclusion (need to come to an end to stay true to my short and simple), the Blackberry Playbook is an amazing tablet, with a great touchscreen and sleek look and design. Two things I can’t wait for is to accesorize it and download apps that I’m sure will grow over the next few weeks.

When can you get the Playbook? APRIL 19th!!! at a Blackberry retailer, including Best Buy, which you can pre-order there now.
April 19th April 19th April 19th….

Enjoy!

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It have spent approximately two months with this beauty and I love love love it. I wanted to review the things that make this laptop special and different from all the rest out on the market.

The notebook itself is small but it has one powerful set of speakers! Thank you Harman/kardon and dobly advanced audio. I like to stay entertained and when you live by yourself it’s nice to have some background noise.  With this laptop it’s less noise and more sound (yes corny but true). I like to listen to music while I am cooking but lack the counter space to have it in the kitchen. With this laptop it doesn’t matter because I can hear it from the other room and the sound is not distorted!

Next, let’s talk about the HDMI port. I had a small problem playing my yoga DVD at first, but after a little fidgeting I had no problems at all! The laptop is very user friendly and by pressing the function button down along with F5 you get numerous options for displaying your screen on your TV. Let me tell you, it is MUCH easier to follow a yoga DVD when you can actually see what the person is doing. I was slacking on my yoga until I plugged the HDMI into this laptop.  (You’d think I had a working DVD player like a normal person but alas, I do not)  Also, this is great for playing shows off of websites or displaying pictures for the family to see. Did I mention this comes with a built in Blu-ray player?

I also used skype for a few work meetings, the sound, again, was perfect.  I even managed to use the built in camera to catch a scrub-muffin picture of myself hard at work!

The sleep and charge function on the laptop is yet another great feature. I can charge my phone without having to hunt down the wall plug for my phone!

The SD port in the front is very fast and convenient considering it is a standard used by most cameras and we live in the age where we all tend to be obsessed with photos and capturing those memorable moments.

Overall, the notebook is fast, portable and the brightness of the screen is nowhere short of amazing. The only thing I missed about my personal laptop where my saved bookmarks.

I call the Toshiba Satellite M645 Cutegeek approved.

The M645 starts at $729.99, check out the available models here.

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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.

The second product I checked out was also from Speck – the Fitted fabric-wrapped hard shell case.  It gets an A for design in that it comes in 5 different fabric patterns, but I found placing the iPad in the fitted case difficult.  The frame did not perfectly snap in, and it took several minutes to get it on right.  Also, if you’re like me and you keep the iPad on its docking station, this case isn’t something you can keep on your iPad as it won’t fit in the docking station with the case on.  It’s also a little pricey at $49.95.

The best iPad protective carrying case I’ve come across so far is Case-mate’s The Express iPad Vertical Nylon Flip Case.  It’s made out of black ballistic nylon and it’s got a simple, practical design.  There are embedded magnets in the front flap screen to help keep your iPad secure.  At $34.99 it’s a good investment to help protect your iPad from scratches, dirt, and occasional spills.

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Last week, I received the Pantech Breeze II. At first, I thought this phone was more like a joke. A high school senior with this phone? Yeah, I didn’t see that happening. But to my surprise I actually grew fond of the Breeze II and all the features on it.

The Pantech Breeze II has a display of three icons right on the front cover; they light up when you either have a message, phone call, or you’re battery is being charged (it changes from red to green. Green is fully charged). I thought this feature was one of the best because you can just look down to see what messages you have or if your battery is about to die without even opening the phone.

There are also three shortcut buttons which definitely come in handy. You can assign a shortcut from speed dial to calculator to notepad. It helps to assign shortcuts you often use like the calendar and notepad for when you’re busy body like me and have a hectic schedule. The shortcuts are a lot faster than going to Menu, then looking for the category, then look for the application. It’s right at your fingertips.

Speaking of applications, the Pantech Breeze II can run over three applications at once. How awesome is that? When you exit an application like a game or the internet browser you can choose to actually exit or just push the app. to the background. This lets you keep whatever you are doing out of sight until you open it again, just like the tabs on your internet browser on your PC. The iPhone can’t even do that!

The phone has so many different applications that really spice up the phone. For example, the Pantech Breeze II has AT&T music. You can shop for music, listen to AT&T radio, search music videos, and even make your own tones! It also has Yellow Pages and GPS applications. This phone really keeps you connected to everything you need. Oh and you can Email and IM too.

The Pantech Breeze II also has this cool feature in Messaging. It allows you to keep messages from your contacts all in one conversation this feature is known as threaded conversations. No more wondering where to look for that text message your boyfriend or mother sent you an hour ago. The Pantech Breeze II will keep everything you have sent and received by your contact in “IM CHAT” like conversation.

Oh before I forget it also has a built in 1.3 megapixel camera that does both Video and Still images. The quality is pretty good just check out the picture I took of myself below.

That’s me and my friend Cianell (I’m on the right) aren’t we cute?

I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover, or in this case a phone by its size or appearance. I would recommend this phone to anybody who needs or wants a phone.

The Pantech Breeze II is available in at&t wireless stores and on their website at http://wireless.att.com for $19.99 with a 2 year contract.

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How heavy is your purse?  How many things do you carry in it?  How many individual gadgets?

With the advent of devices like the iPhone, I have, like many women, been able to trim the “fat” from my bag.  I’ve combined my cell phone with my music device with my GPS and stash multi-use makeup/beauty tools, among other things.  However, I almost always have a book in my purse that adds some heft.  I love the feel of a book in my hands and the idea made me wary, but in an effort to streamline, I decided to see if an ebook reader could further lighten the burden on my shoulder.  I decided to crack open a Barnes & Noble Nook. (Note: no gadgets were harmed in the making of this review.)

Announced by Barnes & Noble last October, but only widely available within the last 2 weeks, the white Nook could be confused with the more popular Amazon Kindle.  Although I only reviewed the Nook, I did consider both devices. They both fit perfectly into my purse –  at 7.7″ x 4.9″ x 0.50″, the Nook is almost the same size as the Kindle, which measures 8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″, but much smaller than most of the books I read. They are comparably priced with the Nook available online and in stores for $249 and the Kindle online only for $259.

But how about the weight? The whole goal WAS to lighten my purse.  The Nook actually weighs in at 12.1 oz, while the Kindle is only 10.2 oz. Definitely a positive for the Kindle.  However, the pluses seem to stop there. The rest of the specs favor the Nook (full comparison here):

After buying my Nook in store, I ran home to give it a try.  It was sitting so pretty and Apple-minimalist in its rigid plastic packaging.  That damn. Plastic. Packaging.  It took a good few minutes of examining and pulling the plastic apart, much like a puzzle, before I could even get to my Nook!  Maybe I’m just dumb.  But maybe not! Because once I got it out of its case it was a breeze to start browsing and exploring.

You have to sign up for a Barnes & Noble online account, then you use the color touch screen on the Nook to punch in your email address to register the device to your account.  The touch keyboard was not as easy to manipulate as an iPhone/iPod touch’s but it was still pretty responsive.  Submitting the registration over air took mere seconds. I then set up my home Wi-fi and started to check out the content….after making sure there was a credit card on file on my BN.com account.

Browsing the store is intuitive – there’s books, magazines, newspapers, etc.  Most major new releases are available, as well as popular authors.  Many books are $9.99 or LESS!!  Many classics are available for $0.99 and there’s free content, too.  Since I LOVED The Time Travelers Wife, I decided to buy Audrey Niffenegger’s 2nd novel: Her Fearful Symmetry. It downloaded quickly and I quickly lost my apprehension over ebooks. Although I was not turning the pages manually, or smelling the book, or feeling the paper, I was still able to become engrossed in the reading experience, mostly due to the excellent E-Ink contrast.  The text was easy to read in good light, but I had a hard time seeing once the light started to fade (yes, I’m one of those that will read a book well into poor light). This is easily remedied by turning on a light or buying a small attachable lamp.  The pages turn quickly and the “Reading Now” button on the touchscreen takes you to the last page you were on.  As someone who is forever losing bookmarks, this is a very handy feature.  Another handy feature?  A battery that lasts for daaaayyyss!  I am definitely impressed by how few times I’ve had to plug in my reader.

Further adding to my reading experience was the purchase of a soft, black, leather case ($34.95). The Nook is held in place on the right, almost creating a sensation of holding an actual book.  If style is important to you, there’s plenty of cases to choose from: from vintage-y linen to gorgeous, fashion forward designed by Kate Spade to gel…cover…things.

All in all I went from skeptical bookworm to obsessed ebook reader reader (?).  I love the Nook and highly recommend it to anyone who reads a lot, needs to save space in their bag, wants to have lots of reading material available at once or travels a lot, among others.

Do you have one? What’s YOUR thoughts? Would you get one?

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Seagate’s FreeAgent|Go Portable Drive is the first external hard drive that I laid my pretty little hands on. I was dreading actually using it, because I thought it was extremely complicated and time consuming. I imagined myself disheveled in a corner, with my computer running extremely slow, giving me errors that the maximum capacity was dangerously close to being met, advising me to close some windows…and me, flipping through pages, trying to figure out how I could clear some of the memory from my computer, by connecting it to a hard drive, before it gave me the oh’ so dreaded BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH.

That was my fear. I hoped not to end up in that situation.

And that’s exactly how it happened.

…Sort of…I even documented it, because I was like, “Oh my god, my thoughts have become my reality – FML“.

I was forced to use the portable drive one night, when my computer decided to do its own thing. I plugged in, with my eyes closed, and hoped it would happen magically, and honestly that’s almost exactly how it happened.

The portable drive comes with one short, white USB cable and a “Quick Start Guide”. As soon as I plugged in, I clicked on the drive and was prompted to take action. It asked me what I wanted to do, backup, update, etc. and in a manner that was extremely pleasing to me, because I am a visual person. The product had an application running, showing me the different things the hard drive could do. It was a relief to use something new and not have to download anything using a CD – the software is preloaded onto the drive (it’s netbook compatible!).

You hear the word encryption and without some technological background, you may not automatically know what it means. The demo shows you – in an ‘everyone can understand’ manner.

It’s a plug and play device; the Quick Start Guide is a mere 9 inches by 12 inches (approximate), sheet of paper, folded into 8 sections – so you can imagine how small. The small size is almost comforting, because you know you won’t be stuck reading through a bunch of pages while trying to use the drive.

The size of the hard drive is also great – it’s tiny, lightweight and extremely thin. It boasts dimensions of 0.49″ in H x 3.15″ in W x 5.12″ in L. It weights 5.64 oz (less than a freaking pound!!!). Isn’t that incredible? Here comes this product to save my day, and I won’t even feel the difference in my bag when I start carrying it around everywhere.

The capacities range from 160 GB to 500 GB and some capacities vary by color so doublecheck that they have the combo you want before getting excited.

Since I’m on the road a lot, and no longer use my personal computer as often as I once did, my current laptop, aka my work computer, was the home to over a year’s worth of pictures. I love the camera ladies and gentlemen. I attempt to capture every single memorable moment when I’m out and about, with friends, in new cities, etc…that takes a toll on your computer. At one point, I even managed to bring my track count on my computer to over 11,000 songs…You would’ve thought I was using a really outdated laptop if you saw how slow it performed, but that all ended when I transferred all of my personal treasures onto this beauty of a hard drive.

My apologizes for not capturing the time it took to transfer all of my prized possessions but I can assure you it was quick, thanks to good’ ole Mr.USB who performed at a rate of up to 480 Mb/s. Its rotational speed is 5400 RPM and because I didn’t fully understand what that really meant I asked another great man in my life, Mr.Google, to help me out. I searched for the performance specs of similar drives (different capacities and sizes) and this drive either performed at the same level or better (I even compared some benchmarks). If you’re someone who has a ton of stuff and think it may take longer than you may want to wait, you can leave your drive on doing its magic because the drive is ‘environmentally smart’ enough to power itself down when it’s no longer in use (through its power management features).

The drive is affordable (prices range from $89.99 to $149.99), and for the capacity you’re getting I would consider it an absolute ‘bang for your buck’. At first I was annoyed that it did not come with a dock, but when you see its size you won’t see that as a problem. For one, I don’t need the drive to stand parallel next to my screen when its use, so that wasn’t the issue. I only wanted something that could protect it when I put it away. Its size comes in handy with its storage because it fits in every side pocket in most of my purses, and like most laptop bags, there are many compartments that go unused so you can easily fit it into one of those.

I went on Seagate’s site today and low and behold, my only ‘complaint’ about this product not coming with a dock was answered when I clicked on ‘Special Offers’. All of the drives are on sale, and almost all (except the 1TB) come with a free dock. The dock also comes with a protective travel case. You can’t beat that.

I was recently informed that the sales for mini notebooks/netbooks were projected to increase significantly this year, if you are one of those people interested in obtaining one, but the memory capacity is holding you back from making that purchase, consider complementing it with one of Seagates’ portable drives. In a world when we’re surrounded by the same color computers everywhere we turn, adding some style to your life through these drives provides you with the edge you’re looking for.

Seagate’s Free Agent|Go: Portable Drive is a Diamond Award recipient for being aesthetically pleasing, lightweight, being one of the thinnest on the market (if not the thinnest), offering a free dock, being user friendly, and for providing a 5 year warranty.

It also receives a Green Award for helping achieve “a smarter planet” (through energy conservation).

Thanks Seagate for bringing me into the light of portable hard drives.

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I am a Wii-a-holic as my brother, Michael, from HardwareGeeks.com calls me. I use my Wii daily, specifically the Wii Fit, which along with a healthy diet, has helped me lose 23 pounds in the last six months. I’ve been doing it for so long that now I feel like it’s too easy. Luckily for me, my brother recently gave me the T-Fitness Pro Pack .

It’s an interesting product. It has everything I needed for my Wii Board and more. My favorite accessory was the rechargeable battery for the Wii board. The current trend is ‘going green’ and saving money, exactly what the rechargeable battery will allow me to accomplish. This was the first and best part of the package.

The package also included a yoga mat, which I found helpful during “training” sessions. It’s just the right length and it forces you to center your body. The bright green color can be distracting during strength training so I recommend putting some tape to allow your eyes to focus on when looking down. A logo of some sort would do the trick as well though (hint, hint designers of the T-Fitness Pro Pack).

Wrist and ankle weights were the other additions that provided another dimension to my workout – a much needed change. The weights made the workouts feel completely new and made me a bit sore the next day. Don’t forget to take the weights off during your weight-in or you’ll be very disappointed.

I enjoyed using the product and most of what came along in the package, but there were two items that left me a bit dissatisfied. An exceptionally short lanyard is included, and off the back, looks like it can pose a choking hazard. Secondly, a cleaning cloth is included. I liked that part, except the cleaning cloth, if meant to clean the Wii Board is extremely too little. The only thing you can possibly clean with it would be your glasses.

The most hilarious and ridiculous item included in this package is the headband. I wonder if the designers laughed at the image of us looking like Richard Simmons replicas, when including them in the T-Fitness Pro Pack. Who actually wears the headband while working out in their home? Instead of the cleaning cloth they should have sent some short-shorts and a striped tank top.

It does come with a carrying case for your Wii Board which is cool because my friends and I sometimes meet up at one of our places to work out together.

The T-Fitness Pro Pack is a great product, but I think they were gearing it more towards kids, although I will continue to use it and recommend it to my friends.

The Pro Pack is available at various retailers both online and off, and costs about $40 at amazon.com.

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For those people that are not ear-bud wearers, but still want the noise isolation provided by most, Acoustibuds make earphone adapters that give the same comfort, snugginess and sound that great (noise-isolating) ear buds provide.

The earphone adapters significantly increase the sound quality you get from your regular ear phones. I wore them with Apple earphones and they definitely improved the sound quality. I had a coworker of mine also use them during our work day and he was ‘a believer’, asked to buy them off of me, and also said it sounded so much better with them on. The surprising thing is, is that at a first glance all it looks like are weirdly shaped earphone thingies. I say thingies because I didn’t know what they were when I first saw them, but behind that piece of rubber is some well thought out plan of how to make someone’s listening experience a little more amazing than the last time they used their earphones (last time meaning without the adapters).

The design behind it is great. One of the main reasons I tend to dislike using earbuds is because I often find myself having to readjust them, or find myself putting them back on, or too far in, in hopes of it staying securely in my ear. This is always the case whether I’m exercising or about to pass out on a plane. The rings around the Acoustibuds™ enable them to get deep into your ear, without hurting you or causing discomfort. They fit just right (if you find your size that is, because they come in different ones), and tightly so you don’t have to worry about readjusting your earphones during a workout because they fall out for whatever reason.

They’re rubber, so they can easily be cleaned and come in different colors for those versatile types. You can also use these adapters on other gadgets, such as Bluetooth earpieces. Go to the website to get a complete listing of compatible devices.

Lastly, these adapters would be the perfect complement to the latest and greatest iPod shuffle’s headphones. According to a very reliable source, the headphones that currently come with the shuffle are jam-packed with all the new advanced functionality, like the easy-access controls but the sound sucks. Having the controls on the earbud cord make it impossible to switch them up, but if you add these adapters to them you’re set. TA-DA! You’ll have great waves, without having to give up the latest goodies to come with the shuffle.

Acoustibuds™ get awarded the Diamond Award for the month of April/May (we’re combining these months) because of its durability, its versatility, its price (its only $14.99 on Amazon.com and eligible for free shipping & $12.99 at pctoolsandgadgets.com and for optimizing all of its future user’s listening experience.

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I just got a BlackBerry Bold a few weeks ago after my Treo 750 died (may it rest in peace). I was still in the honeymoon phase with my BlackBerry – oohhing and aahhing over its features, downloading applications like Facebook for BlackBerry and TwitterBerry, busting it out while waiting in line at the grocery store to discover more of its new features – when I was asked to review the new Pantech Matrix Pro.

How could I say no? It’s a brand new phone, and it looks pretty sleek. I’ve never used a phone with both a QWERTY and numerical keypad, so I was eager to test that out. First impressions are everything, and my first impression of the Pantech Matrix Pro was that it’s heavy. Weighing in at 5.34 ounces and with dimensions of 4.2 x 2.0 x 0.9 inches it’s not exactly slim. Technically, the BlackBerry Bold weighs 0.5 ounces more, but for some reason the Pantech Matrix Pro feels much heavier. For a night out, it would take up significant space in my clutch purse and could not be conveniently slipped into my jeans pocket. But, it’s not a piece of jewelry, so let’s move on to the more important stuff…I mean, it is a cell phone so let’s talk about functionality.

Sound quality while using the cell phone is good. The person you’re talking to comes in nice and clear, and it sounds just as good on the other end of the line. However, I can’t say the same thing when you’re using the speakerphone. The sound isn’t as clear and background noise is noticeable. I did like the threaded text messaging. This feature is a must for someone like me who exchanges text messages frequently.

The phone’s display is bright and wide enough for easy viewing, though I noticed there can be a delay switching from horizontal to vertical and vice versa. I have to say, however, that the user interface leaves much to be desired as it offers limited customization capabilities. Surfing the Internet on the phone was fine. The screen was nice, clear and bright.

The Pantech Matrix Pro runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 so you have access to applications like Microsoft Mobile Office Suite and Microsoft Direct Push for email and messaging. It was a simple process setting up my personal email account, and it easily synched with my Outlook contacts, calendar and tasks. I was pleased with the AT&T 3G speed on the phone as I was able to quickly download attachments and video clips. Unfortunately, the phone does not have Wi-Fi capabilities. The Pantech Matrix Pro does have Bluetooth capabilities. It also has built-in GPS that can be used with AT&T Navigator.

As for the keypads, I had a bit of difficulty figuring out which key was for what at first. There are two soft keys located on the right and left of the keyboard. They’re not really marked clearly, nor are they raised keys, so it took me awhile to realize they were functioning keys. The numerical keypad is also flat, so if you’re one of those people who like to dial numbers while multi-tasking and not looking at the keypad, don’t try it on this phone because you could end up calling the wrong number. The QWERTY keypad is fairly easy to use, though it took me awhile to get used to it since I had been so accustomed to the Treo keypad and just mastered the BlackBerry keypad. While I had no problems punching in letters, I should note that I have small hands (some would call them “dainty”). I think someone with larger hands would have some trouble using the keyboard. I also realized I am not a fan of dual keyboard phones. Sliding from vertical to horizontal can be cumbersome.

The cell phone includes a 2.0 megapixel camera that I’m not too wild about. There’s a camera key on the bottom right side of the phone. I had to press this button multiple times to get the camera interface to come up, and it took a few seconds to load. I like the 7x digital zoom, as well as the ability to shoot in four different modes and to use effects like Sepia and Negative. However, the camera lacks a flash, and the quality of the images I shot were just mediocre. I also tried out the video feature, and the quality of the video was not very good…but that’s why I carry a Flip Mino HD wherever I go.

The Pantech Matrix Pro is available through AT&T for $180 with a two-year plan and after a $50 mail-in rebate. It’s a good phone as far as basic features, but I prefer a phone with better camera capabilities and one that doesn’t require sliding from vertical to horizontal. Back to the BlackBerry…

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