Due to an explosion of digital content, IDC says demand for storage capacity continues to grow at a rate of nearly 60% per year. In response to this growing need, Seagate and Maxtor continue to deliver solutions that help customers effectively store, manage and share their most precious files (music, photos, video, documents, etc.). The company most recently introduced the following high-capacity products:

- Seagate FreeAgent Pro with Mac compatibility - 1TB capacity
- Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus - 1TB capacity
- Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini - 250GB capacity

We’ll have updated reviews on some of these products shortly.

The unit I purchased differs a bit from what Logitech’s official description provides in the fact that it comes with a wireless optical mouse as well, it was also about 20 bucks cheaper than the listed $99 retail price. Here are my thoughts on the cordless notebook accessory.

The Logitech Alto Cordless (pictured above) basically allows you to place your notebook on the stand, which also has 3 additional USB connections for adding more devices to the unit. I’m using the stand right now to write this review, and I have to admit it makes life with a laptop much more comfortable. Logitech says the stand works with almost any laptop; I’ve personally hooked it up to a Sony VAIO and an HP with no problems.

The stand is powered by one included AC adaptor, and the cordless keyboard is powered by 2 AAA batteries. Installation is a breeze, as it simply works once you hook it up, no drivers are needed. The full size keyboard connects wirelessly to the stand, and the integration is pretty cool, given that there are lights on the stand to indicate if caps lock or number lock is on. There are also a bunch of convenience keys on the keyboard itself, such as volume controls, mute, and quick keys for accessing your email, the Internet browser, search functions, and more.

Here’s a side-view shot of the unit with a laptop on it.

As I said before, the unit I purchased came with one of Logitech’s wireless mice as well, but any wireless mouse can be used if you can’t find the combo pack that I’m talking about. As for the actual usability of the stand, it does make it feel as if you were using a desktop PC more than a laptop, since the screen is elevated and you have a full size keyboard with all you would expect, such as full size number pad, etc.

There is also a cable management slot on the rear of the unit, which will come in handy as you add other devices to your set-up, such as external hard drives, iPods, and other devices. When you aren’t using the device it folds up nice and flat so it doesn’t take up too much space.

Now, no device in my mind is without a down side, fortunately, the Logitech Alto Cordless doesn’t have a whole lot of drawbacks, or cons. One notable exception would be that some of the hot keys aren’t compatible with all notebooks, at least in my tests. They all seemed to work fine with the VAIO unit, but many of them didn’t work with the HP notebook, so expect your mileage to vary on that front.

Bottom line - for the money (especially if you snag it with the wireless mouse at less than $80 bucks like I did), it’s definitely worth picking up. If you’re looking for a way to make your notebook a bit easier to use this is definitely a good option, particularly for people that use their notebook more than they use their desktop. I suppose you could tote it around from location to location with you, and it certainly is portable enough to do so, but I’m thinking that isn’t quite as practical as having it in a set location.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

More info can be found on Logitech’s product page for the Alto Cordless.

Personally, there are only a few gadgets that I rely on using on a day to day basis. My iPod, my Blackberry, and of course, my laptop. Aside from that, everything else is really just extra clutter, especially if its one of those ‘I can do it all, but I can’t do any of it really well’ gadgets.

So, what gadgets are a must have for you? And do you agree that some of the gadgets hitting the market are just ridiculous pieces of electronics that are more or less useless for the average Joe?

Comments are welcomed.

Sure, we’ve all seen the videos on YouTube about how formidable the iTouch screen can be (check this video out), but you still need to make sure you add a bit of padding, and protect the shiny silver back from being scratched. Now, there is no science to choosing the right case, just pick something that suits your style.

For my iTouch I decided to go the flip route, choosing DLO’s flip leather case with belt clip, pictured below.

Officially its called the HipCase (leather folio with belt clip for iPod touch), see more info at DLO’s web site here. Personally, I really like the slim-line clip and the look and feel of the case.

No matter what style you decide on, shell out the few bucks to protect that MP3 player, you’ll thank yourself down the road.

Design:
The Belkin USB 2.0 Plus Hub (7 Port) has a very nice design. It measures 6″ x 3.5″ x 3/4″ and measures 1″ at the tallest point where the two ports are on top. Six inches in length is a bit long, but that is because you have five USB ports that line up horizontally, along with the power inlet and the data cable that attaches to your computer. As I stated earlier this hub has weights built into it, so as it will stay where you put it. Under the unit, it has four rubber feet for added stay-put protection.

This hub has a small rectangular hole next to the two ports on top of the unit, (this part is made up of rubber). This hole is so that you may stack another Belkin USB 2.0 Plus Hub (7 Port) on top if you should need more USB ports. If you should need to add another 7-port Plus hub, you will notice that it is a nice snug fit due to the rubber. If you only need one (7 Port) the hole in the center is not that attractive and looks a bit odd, but it doesn’t affect the performance. Belkin also makes a smaller 4-Port hub in this series, which is also stackable. Both the 4 and the 7 port hubs have the handy cable management system so that you don’t have to hunt for that cable to charge your MP3 player, cell phone, etc. And yes you can have a seven port and a 4 port hooked up together, and still be able to stack the two together.

On the front of the unit are seven hidden green lights, one for each port and one red light to let you know that the unit is receiving power. The green lights will only be lit if that particular port is in use; the red power light stays lit, as long as the power supply is plugged in. I might also add that the seven green lights are not numbered, nor are the ports, which will cause a problem if a device stops working.

Belkin makes the 7 and the 4 USB 2.0 Plus Hub in green and white, baby blue and white, brown and tan. As far as I know, these are the only color choices available.

Performance:
As many may have figured out by my previous product reviews or if you know me personally, I am quite the technology enthusiast, and love a cool gadget! I will be quite honest here, I am not the kind of guy that just looks at a gadget and assumes it to be a good or bad gadget. All gadgets are equal until proven otherwise. I like to see if a product can run at full capacity without any flaws, crashes, and without any dropped devices, and so forth.

So when I got home with my new Belkin USB 2.0 Plus Hub (7 Port), I proceeded to fill the ports up. I attached my 80 (GB) Zune, 30 (GB) Zune, V3 Motorola Razr, 2 (GB) thumb drive, cordless mouse infrared eye, Bluetooth headset, and a portable WD 200 (GB) hard drive. All ran smoothly for about the first six hours. Then my pc started giving me the dropped device (kurchunk) sound that your windows pc normally sounds when a device is dropped. This is normally a pretty easy fix, not with the Belkin USB 2.0 Plus Hub though. I started unplugging ports and plugging the devices in my pc’s provided USB port and all was ok with that device again. I did this with all seven ports, until finally I was left with seven empty ports, and the hub would not pick up a new device at all. Come to find out, in order to get the hub working again, I had to unplug both the power and the data cable and plug them back in again. Once I had the hub up and running again, I only plugged in my V3 Motorola Razr and my 80 (GB) Zune. Again the hub started dropping devices, only this time it had waited for about twelve hours. After about a week of the same results, I decided to return the hub for a full refund.

Final Thoughts:
When the hub was working, I really liked it, the design of the unit looked nice atop my workstation, but with the all the problems that I ran into, I am sorry but I can’t recommend the  Belkin USB 2.0 Plus Hub (7 Port) to anyone. Maybe it was just the particular unit that I had purchased. If you have one of these units and find that it operates flawlessly for you, let me know.

http://www.belkin.com/

Pros:

• Adds up to 7 USB devices to your computer
• Features 2 top-load USB ports for quick access
• Includes an internal weight and stay-put pads to keep Hub anchored to the desk
• Requires no external power supply (for most devices)
• Prevents damage to your computer and devices with over-current protection
• Comes with a Belkin Lifetime Warranty

Cons:

• Drops devices frequently
• You need to unplug the power & data cable, for it to work again
• Ports are not numbered
• Lights are not numbered

The new Google Sync application is a small download, currently only available for Blackberry. I downloaded the app and gave it a go, but here are a few issues that I ran into, and the Google support groups don’t seem to have a clear answer for any of them.

1. Initially, none of the currently active appointments in my Blackberry calendar where synced up to my Google calendar
2. Only new entries, and furthermore, only new entries created with my Google email address on the Blackberry would ever sync. (this means anything created with a blackberry.net address never seems to sync)
3. If I invite an attendee via my Blackberry to the event, I end up with a duplicate Calendar entry, meaning I have to delete a duplicate (an specify not to inform attendees of the deletion), every single time I create a new calendar event.

With these issues in mind, its hard for me to recommend the Google Sync application in its current state.

If you have had similar results, or perhaps more promising results with this, we’d love to hear about it. For now, it’s back to using the calendar the way I have been, with no over the air syncing, at least until an update arrives that addresses the current issues.

Cell Phones: Drain your battery fully once a week (we have all heard this one). Keep your cell phone away from extreme temperatures. Most of the time if your cell phone starts acting weird a new battery should fix it, if you need to purchase a new battery, I would suggest a reputable dealer. If you happen to drop your phone in liquid of any sort, disassemble your phone as soon as possible and let it dry out for a couple of days, most of the time this works. There are other techniques for water damage, if you need to know, contact me & I will provide the information. If you have a cheap cell phone, I would just replace it, but if your phone is fairly new and costs a lot, seek a repair technician. If the technician quotes you a price of 50% of the phone’s value, you are probably better off buying a new phone.

Flat Screen TV: Ventilation plays a major part in a long lasting TV, make sure not to stuff it into a tight cubby-hole, with little or no air, (let it breathe). Keep your fingers off the screen, (LCD) Liquid Crystal Display, their is a thin layer of liquid under the screen. Plasma TV’s have a thin layer of gas beneath the screen that is charged by electricity, touching either screen could damage your TV set (both are quite expensive to repair). If your flat screen is more than five years old you are probably better off just buying a new one.

DVD and CD Players: Again ventilation, keep these players cool and dry. Never drop or jar the unit. If they begin to skip, first try cleaning the disk, if that does not solve the problem try a DVD or CD cleaning kit. If by now it still does not work you could try to have it professionally serviced, it would probably be less expensive in the long run just to buy a new one. Besides, DVD players are dirt cheap now-a-days, CD players are even less, and lets not forget that recently Blu-Ray and HD DVD players have come way down in price in the last few months

Readers are more than welcome to leave their own tips.

A group of bloggers over at Zatz Not Funny have obtained a patent application from the folks over at IBM that allows for non-skippable ads at any point on a DVD. Sweet Huh?

So what does the patent filing actually allow? It means that here in the near future they could embed a DVD with a certificate that determines whether the disc should be played with advertisements, and if the DVD is flagged for ads, the non-skippable ads or commercials could run at any point during the video. The commercials could be grabbed directly from the net (if the DVD Player is connected to the net) such as a pc with a built in DVD Player, or the commercials could come pre-loaded with the content on the disc.

Before we start ranting and raving, this patent with IBM was filed over a year ago. So lets hope that this hair-brained idea will never see its way onto our DVD’s. Who knows maybe this will only be implemented on the budget DVD’s and the free DVD’s; you know the cheap DVD’s at your local retailer, instead of the $29.99 versions.

If that is the case that is fine with me. But what if downloading these new ads from the net becomes a reality, this could possibly entice advertisers that have been lax-ed to purchase commercial time on the DVD’s in the past, to start peddling their ads on to you. Presently most DVD players are not connected to the net, currently there are those Ethernet ready HD DVD players on the market and lets not forget that Blu-Ray players could connect to the net here in the very near future. With that being said, it is very possible that we may see DVD movies with pre-loaded content here in the near future. Also if these commercial filled DVD’s hit the market, will the prices drop?? “I would think not”!

What are your thoughts on these preloaded commercials? Is it fair that we could pay $29.99 for our next DVD and be bombarded with commercials?

I’m leaning towards signing up for the service, since it also includes XM Radio Online, which means that in addition to while in the car, I can listen to XM while at the PC.

The problem, it’s about 13 bucks a month if you pay monthly, of course there are lower rates for ordering a longer subscription period. Honestly, I think I’m gonna go ahead and subscribe, I’ve been much happier listening to XM in the car than I thought I would be.

How about you, what do you think of these pay for play radio services such as XM and Sirius?

Lets assume you’ve reformatted every computer in your house, and now you are left with only one computer to authorize (since Apple only gives you a total of 5). How the heck are you supposed to get the other PCs activated? The answer is pretty simple, but don’t waste a phone call to Apple’s support to get the answer, just read on.

Once you have 5 PCs activated, under the Account settings tab within iTunes you’ll then see an option to deauthorize all PCs connected to your account. According to Apple, you can only use this option once every 12 months, so be sure you really need to do it before actually submitting that request.

Once done, all of the computers are deauthorized, and you can authorize them one by one as you see fit. See, simple.