iPhone 5 Dodo Book Back [Review]

I arrived into the office on Friday 21st Sept (launch day) to find a 64GB Black iPhone 5 waiting for me. I was still using an iPhone 4, I skipped the 4S, so after 2 years of iPhone 4 use I thought I would treat myself to a new one.

This isn’t a review of the iPhone 5, there are plenty of those around so I’m not going to rehash what everybody else has said although I will add one criticism and that’s about the battery life. It sucks. Yes the iPhone 5 has 225hrs standby, so that’s 25 hours more than the iPhone 4S but remember I’m coming from an iPhone 4 which had 300hrs standy so I’ve effectively lost 75hrs standby. Other than that, the build quality and design of the new iPhone 5 are fantastic, it feels great in the hand, it’s disturbingly thin and light yes feels much more rugged than the glass backed iPhone 4 and 4S.

The last thing I wanted to do with my ultra thin iPhone 5 was plonk it into an ugly and bulky iPhone 5 case and lose the benefit of the slimmer design. If you’ve read my previous review of the super slim Elago S4 Breath iPhone 4 case you’ll know that I hate iPhone cases and if I do need to use one I’ll use the thinnest one I can possibly find. Continue reading “iPhone 5 Dodo Book Back [Review]”

KeyCase iPad 2 Folio Deluxe with Bluetooth Keyboard [Review]

I bought the first generation iPad on UK launch day way back in 28 May 2010 and since then have upgraded to the iPad 2, again on launch day and have the new iPad (aka iPad 3) pre-ordered for delivery this Friday 16th March. I love the iPad, it filled a gap between my iPhone and MacBook Air that I didn’t know was there. In a similar way, the KeyCase iPad 2 Folio Deluxe case with built in bluetooth keyboard fills a gap for an iPad  case that I didn’t know was there.

Whilst this review relates to my iPad 2 paired to a bluetooth keyboard case, the majority of the benefits I discuss in this article would equally apply to a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 case with built in bluetooth keyboard or a Kindle Fire case with built in keyboard (if such a thing exists).

I’ve never had a problem using the iPad or iPad 2 onscreen keyboard, it’s fast and responsive and the keys are a decent size (in landscape mode at least) but I would never dream of using the iPad on screen keyboard for anything other than quick email replies, form filling, brief note taking etc. For anything that needed more than 5 minutes of keyboard time I’d bring out the MacBook Air which is far easier to speed touch type on and get a lengthy email, proposal, blog post or report typed up.

Continue reading “KeyCase iPad 2 Folio Deluxe with Bluetooth Keyboard [Review]”

Case Logic SLR Sling SLRC-205 [Review]

Much like women seem to be addicted to buying shoes and handbags they don’t need, I seem to be addicted to buying camera bags I have no use or room for. My biggest is a Dakine Mission rucksack that can take several full frame SLR bodies, all my lenses including my Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS and more. I have small and medium size  Lowepro bags to suit every camera type I own but these are all thin over the should types.

I’ve never found a good compromise between size, comfort and useability, until I came across the Case Logic SLR Sling bag (aka the SLRC-205) which is perfect for any full frame SLR (excluding ones with additional battery grips fitted and the pro-series ones with large battery grips). Here’s a quick snap of the SLRC-205 alongside my Canon 5D Mark II with Canon 24 -70 F2.8L lens.

The SLRC-205 is designed to be worn using a single strap, diagonally across your shoulder to the hip/waist on the opposite side to the shoulder it is slung over. The strap is nice and large, well padded and even when fully loaded the bag is extremely comfortable. There is an additional waist strap should you wist to have a 3-point restraint system, this can come in handy if you are planning to run or carry out any exercise or extreme sports whilst wearing the bag. Continue reading “Case Logic SLR Sling SLRC-205 [Review]”

Pluscom 2.5″ IDE to USB HDD ultra slim and ultra cheap [Review]

Like most ‘geeks’ and ‘tech heads’ I have a sizeable graveyard of 3.5″ and 2.5″ IDE and SATA hard drives that I’d stripped out of decommissioned computers, laptops, Sky+ boxes etc

The larger spare SATA drives are soon to be put to good use in my new DROBO S which I just received and will review shortly but the older IDE drives were the ones that were really mounting up and beginning to gather dust.

I have a generic IDE/SATA to USB adapter for testing the drives and securely erasing them but it’s a clunky bit of kit that lives in a drawer by my desk. I decided the smaller form factor 2.5″ IDE drives taken out of old laptops would be handy in an enclosure to add to my portable USB drive collection. I already have 3 USB Freecom Toughdrive(320GB, 500GB and 750GB) which in my opinion are the best portable drive that size, they don’t require power but most important for me is they have nicely integrated USB cables.

So I don’t need a fancy enclosure for these old 2.5″ IDE drives, one 40GB and one 60GB, they’re just going to be spares so I set about finding the cheapest 2.5″ enclosures that I could on eBay and came up with a winner.

 

 

These Pluscom 2.5″ USB 2.0 Aluminium enclosures couldn’t get much cheaper at £3.80 including delivery! I opted for one  silver and one red just so I can tell them apart easily. I ordered them from the same seller and both were delivered the next day and I am pleasantly surprised with them.

Continue reading “Pluscom 2.5″ IDE to USB HDD ultra slim and ultra cheap [Review]”