Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Whenever I listen to music I like to block out all the background noise and other sounds around me. So instead of speakers, I usually opt for either a set of earbuds or full-sized headphones. While it means I can enjoy my music without distraction, I unfortunately often end up missing phone calls or delivery men knocking on my door when I’m at home. It’s even more of a concern if I’m out wandering the city, as I have to be extra conscious of people, bicycles and other vehicles I don’t hear.

And that’s what interested me in the AirDrives as an alternative to my regular headphones. Instead of completely covering or blocking the ear canal, they’re designed to sit just outside your ears, allowing you to hear your music as well as everything else going on around you. The AirDrives were created by Mad Catz and the company has recently released a version designed specifically for the iPhone. I had a chance to try them out and you can find my full review of the AirDrives for the iPhone after the jump.

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By Andrew Liszewski

There was a lot of excitement when Asus announced the EEE. It promised all of the functionality of a real PC (running Linux or Windows) with a form factor that was smaller than any other laptop on the market. While there were trade-offs when it came to screen real estate and memory, the relatively cheap price made it an instant hit when it was finally available. However, since the Asus EEE was the first to usher in a new wave of ultra-compact laptops, there were next to no accessories available for it when it hit the market. Thankfully though, with a flood of other ultra-compact laptops on the way, we’re starting to see more and more third-party accessories become available.

A few weeks ago WaterField Designs announced a version of their SleeveCase for the upcoming HP 2133 Mini-Note PC, but since I’ve already chosen the Asus camp I decided to take a look at a version of the case designed for the EEE instead. You can find my complete review of the WaterField Designs EEE SleeveCase after the jump.

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By Evan Ackerman

I’m not much of a cell phone person. I’d like to be, but I’m not… The phone I have now (some sort of Samsung slider thing) exists for the sole purpose of making phone calls. Novel, I know. And until I got a chance to spend some time with a phone that does a little more, I didn’t really have any idea what I was missing. Read my full review of the Kyocera Wild Card cellphone, on Virgin Mobile’s 3G network, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Evan Ackerman

Solar power is definitely the new sexy when it comes to renewable sources of energy. The Solio solar charger combines form and function and is designed to charge just about any gadget you own, and look good while doing it.

Read the full extra-special Earth Day review, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

As February 17, 2009 creeps closer and closer, many people are rushing out to upgrade their old analog TV sets with brand new digital HD models. Of course I have no problem with that, but did you realize that fancy new LCD monitor you bought for your PC can also serve as a high-def display? It probably won’t be able to tune in an over-the-air HD signal right out of the box, but that’s where the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick comes into play.

It’s a small USB dongle that connects to your PC or laptop and allows you to watch standard or high-def TV broadcasts alongside your spreadsheets and email. You can even use your PC as a PVR with the included software, which will take care of all that free hard drive space you have lying around. And if you find that clicking a mouse button takes away from your TV watching experience, it even includes a remote control for turning your workstation into a pseudo home theater. You can read my full review of the PCTV HD Pro Stick after the jump.

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By Evan Ackerman

I have a tendency to complain a lot about batteries. I can accept the fact that batteries are a necessary evil, but do there have to be so darn many different kinds of them? I love rechargeable AAs because you can use the same batteries over and over in a lot of devices, but increasingly, new gadgets have integrated, customized, expensive lithium ion batteries. The iGo powerXtender is a brilliant little AA battery pack that, with the aid of iGo tips, you can plug into virtually anything to recharge and/or power it. The best news is that it costs all of $16; read my full review after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

When I first read about this whole ‘digital pen’ trend a year or so ago, I really wasn’t sure if there was a market for the devices as most people now rely on computers, cellphones and PDAs when it comes to communicating or jotting down notes. But based on the feedback I got from my review of the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer there’s definitely a large group of consumers looking for a way to bridge the gap between writing with a keyboard and writing with a pen or pencil.

Over the past year the EPOS Digital Pen has popped up on OhGizmo! from time to time in various prototype forms, but now that the pen is finally hitting the market I had an opportunity to see what it was capable of and how it compares to the FLY Fusion. You can check out my full review of the EPOS Digital Pen & USB Flash Drive, complete with plenty of photos, after the jump.

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By Evan Ackerman

You might remember that I wrote about Logitech’s MX Air last July, under the headline “Logitech’s MX Air Mouse Is Real, Spectacular.” I think spectacular might be an understatement now that I was finally able to wrangle myself a review unit to try out for a little while. The idea behind the MX Air is that you can use it as a normal wireless laser mouse, or you can pick it up and a gyroscopic sensor will kick in, letting you use it just as effectively in mid air. It’s hands down one of the sexiest peripherals I’ve ever had the pleasure of fondling, and unlike a lot of things that look this good, it’s intelligent and functional. But is it worth the $150 asking price? I think I can probably convince you… Read my full review, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Evan Ackerman

Back in October, I did a long review of Dragonlasers’ Hulk 250mW green laser. I guess it must have impressed someone over there, because I just got another test model in the mail… A different 250mW green laser called the Spartan. The biggest differences are the size (much smaller) and the fact that it uses rechargeable lithium batteries (yay!).

The Spartan laser is approximately the same power as the Hulk that I’ve already reviewed, so as far as burning stuff, you won’t be seeing any new lightsaber slice ‘n dice.. But that in no way means that I won’t be able to come up with some cool tricks for this review. I was hoping, though, that you guys might be able to post some suggestions as to what I should do with this thing, based on what you saw and liked about some of our previous laser reviews.

As before, I won’t be doing anything dangerous, expensive, catchably illegal, immoral, dumb, or boring. And I will be wearing serious eye protection, since Dragonlasers was kind enough to include some badass anti-laser goggles. That said… I’ll be having some fun, too.

Legal, safe fun, of course. Of course.

[ Dragonlasers Spartan GW 250mW ]

By Ian Chiu

USB hard drives are mostly slow and drain too much CPU resources. Yet, they sell like hot cakes as they offer both true portability and universal compatibility. So, what if someone makes a USB hard drive that addresses the two major problems? That would be a great product.

Buffalo wants to do just that with its Turbo USB external hard drive, with special Turbo mode. It claims that the speed in turbocharged mode is around 64% faster than a standard 4200-rpm drive. To shift into high gear, you will need to install a special tweaked driver that basically kicks in whenever it recognizes Buffalo’s drive. According to the reviewer at Everything USB, the improvement was reportedly only 13% better than without Turbo USB. The drive operating under normal mode is actually fairly quick, topping at 34.7MB/s. Taking into account that most USB drives operate at the 25 to 30MB/s range; the Turbo USB is icing on the cake. Also, higher speeds in USB drives are often associated with an increased CPU usage. In the case of the Buffalo, CPU utilization dropped in half from 11% to 5% after Turbo USB.

For full review, hit the link below.

[Buffalo Turbo USB 320GB Drive Review @ Everything USB]