2008 Hardware reviews - what’s new and what’s good
Here is 2008’s latest and greatest computer hardware to make your computer life easier than ever before. Huge hard drives; incredible (and cheap) printers, wireless connections for your TV and PC, wide screen monitors, .
1. A Big Easy Portable Hard Drive: Buffalo MiniStation – a USB external drive from 80GB to 300GB for US$100- 250. They are nicely designed, lightweight, and designed to absorb shocks!
2. Highest Rated HUGE External Drive: Simple Tech Duo Pro Drive: this HUGE external 1 or 2 Terabyte (1,000MB) hard drive is designed to be very easy to install. It can be USB or eSATA. Latest price is around US$200.
3. Media Streamer: Netgear Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000. The EVA8000 scans your PC or PCs and organizes your media, making the video or song that you seek easier to find. It plays almost every file you could have - DivX, Xvid, and .mp4 (MPEG-4 video with .aac audio). It was one of only three players I’ve seen that could play protected .wma files, and it and the Apple TV were the only two units that could play copy-protected iTunes Music Store files. Latest price is US$350.
4. Canon Pixma MP470 - color printer, scanner, and copier all in one for US$100! The control panel is hidden in the top-right corner of the machine. Flip up a small panel, and you’ll find a 1.8-inch LCD screen on the underside and an array of buttons on the panel beneath it. To Canon’s credit, the buttons are clearly labeled and sensibly arranged. Major functions like scanning and copying get their own, distinctively marked buttons; their plentiful
options appear on the LCD.
5. HP Officejet J4680 is HPs version of the Canon MP470. Actually instead of three features this is a 4-in-1 machine. Print, copy, scan, and FAX! The color or monochrome fax can hold 99 speed-dial numbers, enough memory to store 140 incoming pages, and Caller ID junk-fax blocking. In addition it has USB AND wireless 802.11b/g WiFi built in. The also included an automatic document feeder (ADF), so you needn’t stand around opening and closing the lid, placing and replacing pages on the scanner glass, when copying or faxing multipage documents. All for only US$130!
6. The Best reviewed widescreen monitor: HP w2207. The HP w2207 delivers one of the better-designed 22-inch wide-screen LCD monitors out there, earning extra points for its easily adjustable double-hinged base and for its strikingly good looks. Latest price US$229
Choosing a new cell phone can be a very complicated process. Is size important? Internet access a must? Large screen important? Must connect to your computer? Try this site, answer the questions and see what they suggest:
http://cellphones.about.com/od/buyersguides/qt/best_cell_phone.htm
7. Best new Cell Phones:
a. Apple iPhone 3G! It feels and looks great and has an incredible number of new features. Price varies
b. RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320. It now offers a more spacious and easy-to-use keyboard.
Price varies.
c. Nokia N95. With long battery life and fast performance, this one is very sought after.
Price: US$400
d. Samsung Instinct. Though the Instinct and the iPhone look about the same, there are some important feature distinctions. The Instinct offers its own brand of visual voice mail and it bests the first incarnation of the iPhone by offering 3G network compatibility, integrated GPS, and e-mail support, just to name a few. The new iPhone 3G will be more evenly matched, but even the Instinct gets points for its multimedia messaging, voice dialing and video recording. Price: US$129
e. Sony Ericsson W760i – This beauty includes a motion sensor, an accelerometer, and support for three UMTS/HSDPA bands. And now, this super world phone offers so much to like that it earned a PC Magazine Editors’ Choice Award. If you want a Walkman phone you can’t do better.
8. Here are two highly rated wireless Bluetooth headsets:
a. Nokia BH-208. It’s comfortable and cheap at US$40
b. Motorola H700. Its microphone flips open to turn on and closed to turn off. US$100
So, there you have some pretty KEWL items to beef up your computer. Enjoy!
