For those of you who have more PCs then screens a KVM is always the best option. A few years ago their weren’t too many options, especially if you are looking for multiple screens and multiple machines. If you want a three screen setup on one machine your best bet is to stick to one machine and not use a kvm but if you have multiple machines then this is the way to go.

Pros:

• Easily handles dual screen mode on 2560+ resolution with movies and games without an issue
• Very clean and sleek design
• Came with all the cables to connect 4 machines with dual screens
• Keeps the resolution of the PC even when it restarts and it isn’t the machine actively on the screen

Cons:

• Doesn’t work with the latest wireless mice
• A bit expensive but most Dual DVI KVMs are around that price if not more

Overall: Love the KVM and it works with any operating system, but I can’t believe it doesn’t recognize my wireless mouse, for something that expensive you would think they could have taken care of something such as this especially since its been around for a while.

Link: Amazon
Price: $475
Rating:

There have been a lot of details and press conferences about the BB Playbook and other tablets. And the Playbook is built on Blackberry’s platform so it will be a corporate communication tool and tablet at the same time. I for one don’t think it will fair very well compared to the iPad, and that the case with other tablets, none of them are gaining the success of the iPad. One main reason is that BB App Store is not even half as good the iPad App Store, there aren’t enough applications and they said they would open it up to the Android market which I am not sure about yet. Apple does make good hardware but that isn’t what sells their product, its the user experience and the selection of quality Apps. And in our case the Blackberry App Store doesn’t work on this side of the world, but for Apple it does, it doesn’t make any sense why they are blocking their App store. At this rate I don’t think the tablet will do well especially since it will have very few applications for the international market and you can only do so much with BBM.

I am one of those people that tend to talk and drive a lot, and I really hate in car bluetooth systems because they interrupt the music when it rings and that drives me nuts. So I have turned back to bluetooth headphones, I tried a few different ones over the years, the Jabra BT250 was my favorite back in the day, but looks like aliens attached something to the back of your ear. I didn’t car because it was comfortable, people could hear me, and it was loud enough but over the years I couldn’t find out that fit that worked just as well and they stopped making them. The jawbone was pretty good but it just didn’t fit my ear very well. Then Bose came out their own bluetooth headset, at long last they have adapted their amazing sound technology to a bluetooth headset. The moment I saw it available forsale I purchased and I never regreted it, now I feel weird talking on the phone and holding the phone. Even when I’m at home walking around, my phone is in my pocket and I’m using the headset.

Pros:

• Crip Sound, very clear and loud(The other end can’t tell its a head set). You can’t hear the background
• It only weighs 136 grams which is very light, and you don’t feel it while you are wearing it
• It fits comfortably in your ear, same as the tri-port head phones
• Works with bluetooth enabled devices to stream music to them, so you can listen to your iTunes
• Very simple to use and intuitive, not a confusing headset
• Battery lasts for about two days with heavy usage which is pretty good
• Charges via micro-usb so its the same as the Blackberry and Android, so you don’t need a spare charger

Cons:

• A bit on the expensive side but worth it since quality built headset from Bose
• You can only use it on your right ear

Overall this is an excellent bluetooth headset, Bose have really done their homework when putting this product together, they knew what people wanted. If you don’t mind it being only a right side bluetooth then I highly recommend it to anyone, it 4.5 out 5 because of price but its an excellent product and does exactly what it promises.

Price: $149
Link: Amazon
Rating:

I have been looking at iPad Mounts for a while now that could be mounted in different locations all over the house. I tend to use my iPad for many different applications, controlling music in the house, playing Pandora while sitting at my desk, reading lots of different items on the iPad. I found the Wallee mount but for some reason it seems to get lost in the delivery so in my search I have found the Vogel Mounts. For $70 you get the case and the Vogel Wall Mount which you can rotate the iPad in any way and its a simple case to use. Then they have other mounts such as the Car Mount and Flex Mount for use with the same case which makes it a versatile case. I like the Flex Mount because you can position it where you need it. You have to drill these mounts into the wall and then attach the case to them, but they do have an adhesive mount if you can’t drill into the wall. Overall I think these mounts are very cool especially that you can use different mounts with it, and it also works with products other then the iPad.

Link: Vogel

There are a lot of storage solutions out there, some simple and some complex, the WD My Book line has been very successful for people looking for a home storage solution. I’m more keen to go for something slightly more complex and works on the network but if you need a solution on your desk then this would the way to go. It may not be on the network but its a lot of space and looks good.

WD My Book 6TB with FireWire 800/400, eSATA, and USB 2.0 for connectivity, and it also works with Apple’s Time Machine.

Link: Gizmodo

I get a lot of questions about my photographs and the cameras I use, and its a range of different cameras, most of the time its a DSLR and sometimes its an advanced point and shoot which is the Canon G11. Now I usually use the Canon 40D and Canon 7D depending on what I want to shoot and the type of shot I have in mind. If someone is new to DSLRs there are a lot on the market and a huge variety to choose from.

The Canon 600D (T3i) is a high featured entry level camera with a lot of features of the Canon 7D & 5D, its even more featured then their mid-level cameras like the 60D. 1080p @ 24, 25 or 30 frames per second which is very good, it has a few features which are automated and it has exposure lock during recording an a jack for an external microphone. Intially DSLRs were meant only for photography but that lined is being blurred with shows and some movie scenes being shot with DSLRs, and this case a person who is new to photography would love and enjoy this camera.

Link: PocketLint

For a while I was looking for a dedicated scanner which can perform a multitude of scanning tasks in all forms of papers. It connects directly to a computer and not a network scanner, there are other models which are network oriented from the same family. In my case I tried the S1500 and it is very efficient, scanning all forms of documents directly to pdf, integration into Quicken or Outlook depending on what you need, if its business cards, personal bills, or taxes.

The S1300 is portable, fast, light, efficient and costs $250. If your looking for something a little bit more heavy duty there is the S1500 which is shockingly fast, scanning 20 pages a minute, and if its double sided 40 pages a minute. At $450 the S1500 is the bigger brother with the extra features. And it comes to build quality the reviews of all the models in the Fujitsu ScanSnap speak wonders of them. If you scan a lot and like having all your documents digitized then this is a scanner for your needs at a decent price.

Link: Amazon
Link: Amazon

Now there are only two major players in the storage market Western Digital & Seagate. Western Digital purchases Hitachi Global Storage for $4.3 Billion. I for one purchase a lot of internal hard drives for my storage needs and I have specific drives that I always get. Usually I always get Western Digital because they have quite drives and an excellent warranty & return policy. I don’t often get hard drives from Seagate because they seem to develop issues over time but surprisingly they have the best external hard drives from my experience, much better then WD. Now Hitachi tackles enterprise level hard drives and some of their drives work very well with storage solutions but they do have an annoying warranty service but I’m hoping with this buyout Western Digital processes will apply to Hitachi. This time around I have purchased the 3TB Drives from Hitachi and looking forward to seeing them in action.

Link: MSWHS

Never knew what this camera was but saw the vimeo video above and I was intrigued. Once he had the Phantom Flex in his hands and he spent the whole night messing around with it.

I was working a gig in Vegas with a brand new Phantom Flex high speed digital cinema camera. I had to try it out. In fact, I never did go to bed that night. I opened up a wormhole shooting at 2,564 frames per second.

After seeing this I was very intrigued, what a fantastic video, so clear and amazing. I wish I could make something like that, and I looked into the camera to find out it cost between $50’000 to $150’000 depending on the options. I think I will stick to my flips cameras for now, but that is one hell of a video and amazing camera.

Link: VisionSearch

Currently going ahead with a new home theater setup and I have been looking at a lot of different combinations, and so many different setups to learn from. I went with the DLP screen since I have the space to work with, and I love big screens. I have a lot of machines that will be connected to it for our viewing pleasure, such as: Home Theater PC, PS3 Slim, XBox 360, Sonos Music Player, and OSN Box. I have decided to go with a 7.2 setup since I have the chance and space this time around. After careful and continuous research these are the components of the system I have put together for the perfectly loud and crisp sound that I am looking for will all my movies, games, and tv shows. And enough Bass to shake the house down.

Components:

• A/V Receiver – Onkyo TX-NR1008
• 2 Front Speaker & 1 Center Speaker – Paradigm Speakers
• 2 Rear Speaker & 2 Surround Speakers – In-Ceiling Meridian Speakers
• 2 Subwoofers – Earthquake Front Facing Subwoofer

Once all the components come together I will be making a more detailed post and review of the items.