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Play music, use Linux, save power
A roundup of devices that help round out your life |
May 5, 2008 |
By Peter Wolchack
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Small. Really small
Creative Zen Stone Plus with Speaker
This MP3 player has a lot of features: 500-song capacity, 20-hour battery, an alarm clock, FM radio, voice recorder, stopwatch and—rare in an MP3 player—a built-in speaker. And it packs all that in a tiny space: check out the paperclip in the photo.
The sound from the speaker may not be symphonic and the unit does not do photos or video, but for its size and with a price tag of only $54.99 it’s a lot of player in a small package.
www.creative.com
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Surf secretly
StealthSurfer by Hushmail
Your favourite coffee shop offers free Wi-Fi, so you can enjoy a nice dark roast while updating a spreadsheet and swapping IMs with friends. The only problem is surfing on an unsecured network potentially opens you up to both spies and malware.
Which is where StealthSurfer comes in. The USB flash drive plugs into your notebook and encrypts your network traffic and masks your IP address. StealthSurfer also comes preloaded with a Hushmail encrypted e-mail account, Hushmail for Outlook, Hush Messenger, Tor, Firefox, Thunderbird, a password manager program, and MojoDrive, which lets you use stored programs and documents on a borrowed PC without affecting that machine. StealthSurfer comes in storage sizes of 2GB to 8GB with prices ranging from $179 to $339. A 32MB model will be out soon.
www.hushmail.com
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Want an Air?
Check this out first: Lenovo x300
The new Air from Apple has been getting a lot of press lately, and with good cause: it’s about as sexy as a notebook gets. But practical? Not so much. The Air has no on-board optical drive and very few ports, making it less useful than it might be.
The x300, on the other hand, delivers a built-in DVD burner and multiple ports, and with a 13.1-inch screen (the same as the Air) and at less than three-quarters of an inch thick and weighing less than 3lbs., it’s still small and light enough to impress. And while the x300 is a joy to use, it’s not cheap: units start at $3,400.
www.lenovo.com/ca
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Spend $30, save much more
Kill A Watt power meter
Gadgets and devices are fun to buy (which is why you’re reading this section) but it’s important to understand how much electricity each uses, both for environmental and bank-balance reasons. The Kill A Watt measures the electricity draw of any appliance (up to a maximum of 15 Amps) and can calculate cost by the day, week, month or year. And for US$30, available from CableOrganizer.com, it might get you to unplug a few devices.
www.CableOrganizer.com
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Touch this player
Samsung YP-P2
MP3 players with touch screens are hot right now, which explains the YP-P2, a Samsung offering that delivers good sound and a very bright and attractive 3-inch screen. The touch interface is intuitive and fun to use and the unit also offers FM radio and support for video and photos.
The YP-P2 comes in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB models; the biggest model retails for approximately $270.
www.samsung.com/ca
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Linux. For consumers. From Dell
Dell Inspiron 530n desktop
Linux has been gaining some real consumer cred recently as more user-friendly versions of the OS come out, but a geeks-only stigma still hangs about it. What Linux needs is a major PC OEM to offer inexpensive, accessible Linux boxes.
Which is what Dell has just done. Available now are three laptops and the Inspiron 530n desktop (pictured) loaded with the Ubuntu 7.10 Linux distribution and Corel’s LinDVD. The desktop with a 22-inch monitor costs $749.
www.dell.ca/open
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Break-out price
Brother HL-2170W monochrome laser printer
The HL-2170W is a very good printer: its print quality (up to 2400 x 600 dpi) and speed (23 pages per minute) are both solid and its wide range of connection options—direct connect and wired or wireless networking—make it a versatile unit.
But this printer rises well above the competition on price: the HL-2170W lists for $179. That’s comparable to direct-connect lasers from other manufacturers but unheard of in a networked laser printer.
www.brother.ca
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Make your iPod look even better
Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin iPod dock
It’s pricey at US$599 but if you need big sound and a great-looking home for your iPod then take a look at the Zeppelin. It’s a three-way stereo system with two tweeters, two mid-range drivers and a woofer. At a total 100 watts of power, the Zeppelin also offers a matched remote and video output for a TV connection.
www.bowers-wilkins.com |
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Small. Really small
Creative Zen Stone Plus with Speaker
This MP3 player has a lot of features: 500-song capacity, 20-hour battery, an alarm clock, FM radio, voice recorder, stopwatch and—rare in an MP3 player—a built-in speaker. And it packs all that in a tiny space: check out the paperclip in the photo.
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