Oh! Gizmo

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]

By Ian Chiu

There’s something besides CPU speed and hard drive space that you will never have enough of, and that’s USB port. So, what do you do to get more of those when your desktop is already heavily cluttered? Belkin has a ingenious idea to slip its USB hubs into your desktop’s grommet holes. The 3″ grommet hub reviewed on Everything USB has 4 raised USB ports with openings on each side for hiding excess cables, and depending on your holes’ size, you may need the 2″ version. One surprising discovery was how well the hub accommodated the larger USB devices. Two devices that the reviewer had problems with in the past fitting into stacked USB ports can now be plugged in with ease. And lastly, since the hub fits snugly in a grommet hole, you won’t have a problem with it flipping or tipping over when multiple cables are connected. Downsides are the lack of activity LEDs and the hassle of drilling your own grommet holes if not present. For full review, hit the link.

[Belkin In-Desk 3″ Grommet Hole USB Hub Review @ Everything USB]

By David Ponce

When GM invited me (disclosure: expenses paid) to California to test the 2008 Cobalt SS, now turbocharged… I half expected a schmaltzy sales pitch and a somewhat spirited drive. And while I got the (not-so-schmaltzy) pitch and the drive, I never, not by a long shot, expected the kind of kick-in-the-pants performance it delivered. If it’s an affordable race car you’re looking for…

This.

Is.

It.

The 2008 Cobalt SS will out pace and outmaneuver just about anything in its class. Civic Si, Golf GTI, watch out. Aside from the turbocharged 260hp Ecotec engine, a combination of two technical features (no-lift shift and launch control) give the car a clear edge in acceleration, while Brembo brakes stop it on a dime and Nürburgring-tuned FE5 Sport suspension keep it on the track. If it wasn’t for a couple of underwhelming aesthetic choices, I’d give this car full marks.

Read on for the full review.

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By Ian Chiu

The LifeCam VX-7000 USB webcam is part of the promotional effort by MS’ hardware peripheral department to increase consumers’ awareness of their Windows Live! services. The camera itself isn’t any groundbreaking; you won’t find any motorized base nor auto focus, even though the latter of which is becoming the de facto feature on high-end webcams. The most notable improvement is perhaps the glass element lens for better image quality. Hardware-wise, the VX-7000 hasn’t quite caught up with Logitech and even Creative yet.

However, the VX-7000’s software acts as the heart of the fully integrated Windows Live system, coordinating between the webcam, Windows Messenger, Windows Media Player, Windows Live Spaces, and Windows Movie Maker for a complete Microsoft communications package. In real terms, this system means that you can use your webcam to not only video conference with your Windows Messenger-using friends and colleagues, but also record podcasts and video podcasts and upload them to Microsoft’s social networking site to share with others. And this pretty much covers most aspects of the software.

For the full review, hit the link after the video effect demo below.

While I thought Microsoft did a good job constructing a desktop-friendly camera that fits well on any LCD and handles video conferencing and smaller size video podcasts without any problems, I was disappointed to find that the camera’s high definition options were usable only with a sacrifice in quality. As a result, while this camera is a good option for someone looking to make video call or lower resolution podcasts, there are other cameras out there that will accomplish the same task for less money.

[MS LifeCam VX-7000 USB Webcam @ Everything USB]

By Ian Chiu

OCZ is known for their high-tolerance RAM & PSUs targeted at PC enthusiasts. When the company entered the USB flash drive market, it wanted to take their products to the top, rather than competing in the “a dime a dozen” category. Its new ATV Turbo thumbdrive, according to Everything USB, is top notch in almost every area. For speed, it consistently stays between 30 to 31MB/s; for durability, the rubber drive survived sub-zero temperature, in a pot of boiling water and in an oven heated to 200 degrees Farenheit for 10 minutes. OCZ even thoughtfully included a holder chained to the drive that fit snugly with the cap to ensure it doesn’t go anywhere. The reviewers only gripe was the lack of encryption software.

For the full review, hit the link.

[OCZ ATV Turbo 4GB Flash Drive @ Everything USB]

By Andrew Liszewski

Lasers are one thing that every geek really wants, but few of us actually need. Sure they might be useful for scientific applications, and occasionally pointing, but when it comes down to it most of us don’t have any real reasons for buying one. Maybe it’s because lasers are one of the rare items seen in science-fiction films that we actually have access to. Or maybe it’s because a laser brings us one step closer to the holy grail of geekdom, the lightsaber. To be honest though, I have no idea what the real reason is.

What I do know is that when Wicked Lasers asked me if I wanted to review their new Photonic Disruptor model, they had me at the word ‘laser.’ In addition, not many people know this but OhGizmo! has an official policy of reviewing any device with the terms ‘Photonic’ and ‘Disruptor’ in its name. Not surprisingly, this laser is the first.

So after using the laser for a few weeks now I’ve come to realize why the company discourages people from referring to it as just a ‘laser pointer’ and why their website includes the warning “The Photonic Disruptor is a laser weapon designed for military and law enforcement use only.” If you’re curious (I know you are) my full review of the Photonic Disruptor including photos is available after the jump.

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By Evan Ackerman

Well, I’ve had my 250mW Hulk from Dragon Lasers for nearly a month now, and I’m finally feeling guilty enough to write up the review and send her back to Dragon Lasers. Unfortunately, I don’t get to keep this scary piece of hardware, so you’ve got some assurance of objectivity in this review. I tried to be as comprehensive as I could, so the review is pretty long, but there’s a bunch of pictures as well as some video with stuff on fire at the end. So, read on! Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

While a truly ‘paperless office’ is still many years away, it seems a completely wireless one is almost within our reach. As long as you ignore the need for power cords, you can pretty much eliminate all the other wires through the use of cell phones, bluetooth and of course wifi.

The latest devices to at least cut one of their cords are printers. Thanks again to wifi, those annoying and limiting parallel port, USB and network cables are a thing of the past. While I have seen wifi printers in stores before, Lexmark seems to be the first manufacturer to be really gung-ho about the idea, and have released an entire line of affordable wifi printers with no extra hardware or adapters needed.

I had a chance to look at the Lexmark X4550 All-In-One printer which is one of the company’s first wireless models. You can read my impressions and full review after the jump, or just look at the pictures if you feel you’ve already done enough reading for the day, I’ll understand.

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By Evan Ackerman

Boy was I excited when a box from Dragonlasers showed up at my door yesterday. I don’t mind telling you that I giggled like a little girl as I opened up the box to reveal a 250mW (!) green laser. I’ll be, um, experimenting with it over the next week or so, and I thought I’d ask you guys if there’s anything in particular you’d like to see. No, I’m not going to do anything dangerous, expensive, illegal, or immoral. And yes, I’ll be wearing eye protection.

Just to get you started, 250mW has a visible range on the order of 100 miles (halfway to the ISS) and is easily capable of burning or melting anything that’s non-reflective. We’ve reviewed high powered lasers in the past (here and here), but the Hulk is the most powerful thus far.

Post suggestions in the comments, and I’ll see what I can do.

By Andrew Liszewski

While the Apple Newton was really the first gadget to introduce handwriting recognition to the consumer world it was far from perfect. From my own experiences the technology really only became useful with the Palm Pilot’s Graffiti system but even then the user had to learn a special variation of the alphabet and could only write the characters on a designated area of the screen. It was definitely far from true handwriting recognition but it was still quite usable. (My trusty Handspring Visor still sits on my desk to this day.)

Fast forward to today and most stylus driven PDAs and tablet PCs contain a fairly robust handwriting recognition system but at the same time they’re not exactly cheap. And that’s why the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer was so intriguing to me since it offered a certain level of handwriting recognition in a small form factor and at a reasonable price.

After playing with the pen for a few weeks now I’ve come to the conclusion that some of its features will appeal to a younger demographic while other features might be useful for the older crowd. You can check out my full review of the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer after the jump.

*Update: In my original review I claimed the FLY Fusion was not capable of recognizing or converting cursive writing, and could only be used with printed text. Upon further testing I’ve discovered this was not completely correct and I’ve updated the review, including my conclusions, accordingly.

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