I absolutely love Logitech’s VX Nano cordless laser mouse for day-to-day work and travel, and recommend it to anyone who asks, but it is a bit on the expensive side and whose to say everyone will find it as comfortable to use as I do. So I also dig this cheaper alternative from Verbatim. The Easy Riser’s most obvious feature is the adjustable height which can be raised for a more comfortable hand posture, or flattened for easy transport. But it also comes with a classy silver and black finish and a programmable scroll wheel.
Best of all it comes in 3 different cost-effective flavors for any budget. A 2.4GHz wireless model with a tiny USB receiver (as tiny as the VX Nano’s) for $39.99, a wireless Bluetooth model for $34.99 and a retractable corded version for just $19.99. Available from Verbatim sometime in October.
Windows IceBox might seem like a strange name for a flash drive, but this USB stick isn’t for storing files, it’s actually used for freezing your hard drive. Well to be more specific, when connected to a computer it can be used to protect a designated partition from harmful or unwanted changes. The PC will function as normal, and will happily allow you to download viruses, malware, or delete important files, but when you shut it down with the IceBox still connected, your system will be restored to its previous healthy state. Anyone who’s ever had to fix a PC after a young’n has used it will appreciate the idea.
But you can also specify certain folders as being ‘open’ which allows you to make changes to them that will be preserved when the system is shut down, even though the partition is frozen. Like a documents folder, or your browser bookmarks where you might not want to lose new additions. Just $18.99 from USBFever.com.
Coming in 8GB and 16GB capacities, these tiny SSD drives plug directly into the SATA ports of your motherboard. They feature decent 75MB/s (read) and 30MB/s (write) speeds and only measure 25 x 39 x 6.5 mm. Elecom is trying to market these drives as a quicker startup drive in a regular systems or even a primary drive in a Mini-ITX setup.
Unless we’re missing something, this seems stupid. For one, the square format will block adjacent SATA ports, severely limiting your system’s capacity. Secondly, much larger capacity SSD drives are available for decent prices, so the speed argument is moot. Sure, they’re not as small, but so what? Can anyone tell us, aside from the gee-whiz factor, why these are a good idea?
In any case, they’ll be available for pre-order from GeekStuff4U in a few days at an undetermined price.
As the world slowly progresses to HDTV it might seem odd to find a device designed to facilitate old standard-definition displays, but that’s exactly what the AT-HD530 from Atlona Technologies does. It accepts a 1080P HD or UXGA digital signal from a PC (1600×1200 @ 60Hz) via HDMI or DVI and downconverts it to a standard-def NTSC or PAL signal available via HDMI, S-video or even ancient composite RCA hookups.
Normally I wouldn’t even give such a device a second look, but since I’m in the middle of testing out a pocket-size Pico Projector that only has a composite video-in connection, I can see how something like this could be useful in certain situations. Just be aware that it won’t work with HDCP-enabled devices if you were hoping it could be used as a workaround. $299 from the Atlona website available in late August.
On the outside it may look like a non-descript industrial box, but Panasonic’s new ultra-accurate 3D profilometer has some pretty impressive technology to boast about on the inside. Thanks to a specially-developed new probe the machine can measure the surface of 3D objects, including microscopic pores at least 50µm in diameter, with an accuracy of ±0.15µm. When the object is being ‘profiled’ the probe touches it with a force of just 0.3mN, which is the equivalent to the amount of force caused by a mosquito landing, and the measurements are conducted at a blistering speed of 2mm per second.
Other advancements include improved anti-vibration performance thanks to Panasonic’s vibration analysis technology, since you don’t want the probe bouncing around when it’s doing detailed measurements, and an overall reduced footprint making the machine about 50% smaller than its predecessor. The new 3D profilometer will be available for order starting in October in Japan, and is expected to be quite popular in the automotive and electronics industries where high-precision components are essential.
Besides being the ‘perfect gift’ for the chocoholic in your life, this chocolate bar themed mouse doesn’t have much else going for it. The sharp corners and hi-larious bite taken out of the corner make it about as ergonomic and comfortable to hold as the original NES controllers, and it’s actually made of plastic, not chocolate, so you can’t eat it! It is at least wireless, though with a price of about $36 I can’t imagine the receiver is going to be as tiny as the ones you’d get from MS or Logitech hardware.
We’ve long extolled the virtues of Microsoft Surface even as its $10k pricetag and lack of consumer availability have kept it firmly in the realm of fantasy for the average gamer. But this, right here, is why Surface and hardware like it needs to hurry up and turn into a product… Strategy gaming on this kind of thing looks absolutely incredible. Granted, this particular game (R.U.S.E., it’s called) is particularly well suited for this type of interface, but I can easily imagine playing Red Alert or StarCraft with nearly the same level of interactivity and control.
For the record, the device you see in the video is not a Microsoft Surface table, it’s from a company called IntuiLab. Not that it matters, though… Whoever can come up with a reasonably priced consumer product and bundle it with a bunch of optimized RTS games gets my next paycheck. I mean, paychecks.
I’ll admit I haven’t exactly been following the progress of external DVD burners over the past few years, but it’s nice to see they’ve finally reached the size of portable CD players from about 15 years ago. In fact the Pioneer DVR-XD09 could actually be mistaken for a very thick CD case, were it not for the fact it weighed in around 8 ounces. It connects to your PC, or more likely your laptop, via USB 2, and is capable of burning all types of disc media from old-timey CD-Rs up to dual-layer DVDs. And you road warriors or MacBook Air owners can expect it to be available sometime in August with an MSRP of $79.99.
Because of its small size and even smaller receiver, I typically recommend Logitech’s wireless VX Nano mouse for travelers not thrilled with their laptop’s touchpad. But it can be a bit pricey at times, so if you’d prefer to go with a more affordable corded model, the Elecom M-MK1UR features a handy rubber skirt that can be lifted allowing you to wind up and store the USB cable when not in use. It’s available for pre-order now from Geek Stuff 4 U in a variety of colors for about $41.
Related Tags: Ergonomics, Hardware
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