If you’ve got a Mac and you’re one of those people, you might want to try the Plextor PX-610U external DVD burner for Mac. With an online price between $90 and $121, the drive burns CDs and DVDs at a max of 8X (5X for DVD-RAM discs) and is powered via the USB port on your computer.

In the box is Roxio Toast 9, a USB cable, a cleaning cloth, a soft pouch, instructions and the little white drive.

Sure, the SuperDrive in the Mac is a fine burning drive, but why waste the life of your internal drive? With the nearly pocket-sized Plextox you can burn from disc to disc easily and quickly.

As an example, I put a copy of Paul and Storm’s album Gumbo Pants in my Mac and fired up the included copy of Roxio Toast 9. Watching the burn window, the average burn speed was about 9X with some of the high spin rates bumping 18X. The burn – disc to disc – took about two minutes for an album with 30 songs on it and a play time of 46:30.

Next up, an unprotected movie…for archival and my own back-up purposes only. Burning protected material is said to be wrong.

I started with a copy of Vertigo from Alfred Hitchcock. After putting it in the Mac and doing some ‘magic’ to it, I burned those files to a DVD+R in the Plextor.

Yes, it took a while. Actually started at 7:45PM and was done at 9:30PM. So, almost two hours for one DVD is quite a while. The promised 8X didn’t materialize, even on discs rated for 16X, but it did average in the 3-4X range which wasn’t horrible.

The drive – as I mentioned – is small. It comes with a velveteen carry pouch and a USB cord. The cord serves as both the recharging cable and the transfer cord.

In fact, when I got the drive it was probably charged but schedules and life got in the way so much I let the charge dwindle to almost nothing. In just a couple hours, even while using the Plextor, the drive was fully charged and ready to go. Pretty cool.

The drive spins silently, has a button on the front to eject discs, and has an odd stainless steel square on the top.

What’s my take?

Stuff I like -

Relatively fast DVD and CD burning.

Comes with Roxio Toast 9 – you’d pay probably $50+ just for that software.

Charges with the included USB cable (so no need for an external power supply).

Fits in a cargo-pants pocket, it’s just a sliver larger than a standard CD or DVD case.

Stuff I don’t like -

Not a heck of a lot stands out. The drive works as promised and comes bundled with the software you need. It even includes software for the PC in case you also have a PC.

So, my only reservation is the price because you can get a DVD external for less money in a lot of places. But this drive holds its own.

The verdict…

If you’re going to use DVDs and CDs to back up your data and entertainment…and you own a Mac…this drive makes some sense. The included Roxio Toast is sweet and is fully-functional, even as bundled software.

The rechargeable white case fits in your pants and just plain works. As I implied, the only reason to look for another solution is if you already have burning software and just need a drive.

But I like this little drive. It makes the cut.

The post Plextor PX-610U Super Multi Drive for Mac appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

How often have you sat at a conference table struggling for control of a power strip designed to juice up devices for everyone around you?

There are always too few outlets, too many people and too much embarrassment in monopolizing one of the outlets to charge up your pink iPod Shuffle or first gen iPhone.

Now, callpod® comes to the rescue with a six-sided gadget that lets you play the role of mobile-device charging station.

The budget bundle they sell gives you one adapter, the base station (about the size of a large SLR lens cover), the cord and a carrying pouch. It also includes a voucher for another adapter – pretty genius from a business point of view because you must contact them again to get the free adapter. Stupid from a consumer standpoint because it’s another hurdle.

What did I think? A few things…

Way too much plastic was used in the packaging of this device. When I was done snipping the cases of the charge pod and six adapters it looked like my living room was the set of Edward Scissorhands in a plastics factory.

Does it work? Superbly. As long as you choose the right adapters – and this is made easy by their comprehensive site – you can have your iPod, iPhone, cell, Blackberry and two other gadgets juicing up from one outlet.

The carrying pouch is a nice touch. Too frequently, I find myself putting cables and accessories into my laptop bag where they sink to the bottom. In this instance, all the pieces are kept together. Nice.

The plug/charger is too bulky. It’s like a clunky videogame plug and the prongs are prone to stick out and eventually rip through the aforementioned carrying case.

When I originally reviewed the Chargepod, the bulky plug made me wonder what the designers were thinking. I heard just yesterday from the manufacturer (10/19/09) that the plug that shipped with my unit was correct in all specs EXCEPT size. Below is a photo of the proper charger that ships with the Chargepod. The smaller plug makes this device even more versatile and useful.

In the photo below is the plug that came with my review unit.

What’s my verdict?

This thing definitely makes the cut. Short of bringing along multiple powerstrips, this is the best way to make everyone around you happy and still allow others to plug their laptops into the provided plugs at conferences and tweetups.

chargepod Value Pack – $39.95 (chargepod base, one adapter and a coupon for another, carrying case and plug)

chargepod Bundle Pack – $79.95 (chargepod base, six adapters, car lighter adapter, carrying case and plug)

The post Chargepod lets you be very powerful on the road appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

So when I got the ABBA Gold player pack from SanDisk (or should I say Sansa), I was worried that if I ever tried to remove the card I’d end up tuneless.

But I soldiered on and unwrapped the package. Inside the bundle – for $35 – came the player, some headphones, a microSD case, a microSD USB adapter (w00t!), the microSD with ABBA Gold on it, and an AA battery.

As I am prone to do, I immediately pressed and prodded the player – just longer than a AA battery and about the size of a fat lighter – and nothing happened. I pushed on the card and it popped out easily. I pulled on the case, still no music. So I resorted to the directions.

These told me I had to install the battery. Funny, because most things I build or assemble end up with extra parts so I didn’t think anything was wrong when the AA battery was rolling around my lap.

The cover was a little difficult to slide off, but once I had installed the battery, the music flowed with ease.

Now you realize that microSD cards are the vehicle of choice for moving data to and from myriad cell phones. You might not realize that they’re also perfect for backing up data on your computer. I’m taking this tangent because with the USB adapter Sansa included, I now have a way to back up music, photos, documents on a container that fits in the coin pocket of my jeans.

That’s a huge win. In fact, during the 2009 CES in Las Vegas, SanDisk was handing out 16GB microSD cards and USB adapters. I’ve used that device probably more than I use my desktop or even pocket back-up drives. On vacation it becomes a perfect spot to back up photos – so if I lose my camera and my laptop I’m still protected. The only way I’m up a creek is if I lose my pants…but then I suspect I might have other issues to worry about.

Enough digressing, what did I like or despise about the Sansa Bundle?

The instructions are fun and pretty clear. Printed on colored little squares of paper, they walk you visually through inserting the battery and getting the player going. *Without these instructions I might still be monkeying with the buttons on the player in silence.

The headphones are just a step above airline quality earbuds. They deliver sound, but it’s not like listening to top-end audio. The faux gold connector at the end might make you think they’re better than base level, but I don’t think they are.

USB adapter. JUST A MAJOR WIN. Love that this was included. It’s an added bonus that I didn’t anticipate.

Player thoughts. The player fits in a pocket easily. Operation is above average, although you have to repeatedly hit buttons to get a response. For instance, to increase or decrease volume you need to press, press, press. I’d rather have a control that climbs when you keep the button pressed. Music navigation is easy – forward and back. And accessing the card and battery are simple too.

Sansa is offering a slew of music packages in a line called slotMusic. This collection is just an overpackaged microSD card with a full album on it. You take that card, pop it into your phone or Sansa player and you’re ready to go. Albums cost about the same as a CD, but are already more versatile than a disc.

Overall, I’m not sure I’d jump at a $35 player and album package for myself. It makes a neat gift for someone who isn’t too far along the technology spectrum – but if you’ve already got an MP3 player, this isn’t for you.

You’re better off getting slotMusic or even buying tracks separately and then loading them onto your existing player. Another option is to get one of Sansa’s other players – they offer a little more versatility and some even receive radio signals.

Still raving about the USB adapter though.

Final determination…

Sansa Player and slotMusic make the cut, but only for those who don’t already have a better option.

Sansa Player Pack with ABBA (or a number of other artists) – $35

The post microSD makes a play for music – via SanDisk appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how cool it is to have dependable storage for everything from contact lists to music files to photographs. In that post I think I also mentioned that a longer review was on its way. This is that longer review.

Once you get it out of its package, the Seagate FreeAgent Go is a dream. But Seagate is still using some of those crazy, form-fitting plastic packages that threaten to slice off your limbs if you slip while pulling them apart. It might look sleek on the shelves of the Apple Store or local Best Buy, but I’d rather Seagate start using a less hazardous type of packing.

Aside from the danger zone of unwrapping the drive, the rest of my experience with the drive was superb.

While many gadgets tout their ‘plug and play’ capabilities, Seagate’s drive delivers. In mere moments – really – I was moving files via USB from my Macbook to the 500GB drive.

In mere minutes I had changed the setting on SuperDuper to recognize the FreeAgent Go as my backup drive. And that was seamless as well.

In fact, in the months I’ve been putting the drive though the rigors of daily life – including regularly shuffling info on and off of my laptop to make room for podcasting, photos and client work – I have yet to have a snag.

Sure, drives are warranted against failure for years but the resolution to a drive failure is just a replacement drive from the manufacturer. It’s better to not have a drive fail in the first place and the Seagate looks to be up to the task.

Here’s where it’s been…

Eight plane flights including X-ray machines and banging around in my laptop bag
A car ride from Detroit to Austin, ending at South by Southwest (SXSW) with three other guys who relied on me to process audio files in a moving vehicle
Multiple scooter rides into Boston where I set up my remote office in various coffee shops
and making regular trips from a desk drawer to the countertop at my house for my twice weekly backups

Here’s what I’ve used it for…

Moved 65GB of music to and from the drive three times to keep space clear on my laptop
Copied audio files for iRoadTrip to the drive for sharing among the group during that car ride from Detroit to Austin
Used it to backup articles, interviews and sound and video files during SXSW and other conferences
Organized my iPhoto and regular photo library by moving 40GB to and fro
and as mentioned above, twice-weekly backups of my 235GB of data on my Macbook’s 250GB internal drive

What’s the next step?

For me, I think I’m going to see if I can get a Seagate 500GB to install into my laptop. I think I’m going to replace the other large externals I have around the office for these pocket-size dream devices. And I think I’m going to finally start using the dock that comes as a FreeAgent Go accessory.

That’s correct, in the five months I’ve been using the drive, the dock has sat in that same plastic packaging. Mostly because I work in lots of places and the dock is a great device if you have one work space where you can just drop your drive when you arrive and work.

But a friend I spoke to has the Seagate FreeAgent Go 320 with 400/800 Firewire and USB, and he uses the dock every day. It defaults to the highest speeed he said. And he loves that he can use the drive on the road and at his office.

The Bad…

• Silly packaging
• USB cord is fairly short so if you’re really using a laptop on your lap, you might need to balance the drive on your thigh

The Good

• Tiny size – really is about the size of your passport in width and about the thickness of a Tic-Tac box (for the USB version), the Firewire drives are a little thicker
• Grippy surface on the bottom of the drive keeps it from skipping off your desk
• Plug and play is the way all drives should behave
• Price – for the size and the capacity, you can’t get much better than $199 list and $149 actual for 500GB – including the dock

Bottom Line

Storage is a moving target. It will ALWAYS be cheaper tomorrow than it is today. But your memories and your data are always worth more than you can imagine, so spend the money now. The FreeAgent Go is a great solution for anyone who wants to keep their data safe and backed up. It’s small enough to fit in a safe deposit box if you so choose. It fits in your shirt pocket. It holds 500GB (comes in 250GB and 320GB and 640GB too). It also comes in USB 2.0 or Triple Firewire 800/400 and USB 2.0. I say get it, you won’t be disappointed.

The post REVIEW: Seagate FreeAgent Go Portable Hard Drive appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Well, the trip’s been over for a few months, but I wanted to share with you a few of the gadgets that made the trip – and the sharing of content possible.

I delivered my messages to the world via these items…

Macbook – as a writer, this is my preferred communications tool. With it I can write, blog, tweet, email and even record sound and video. This item won’t be far from my lap during the journey.

Zoom H2 recorder – As a technology reporter for NPR and as a lapsed podcaster, I’ve found this device to be an amazingly versatile and powerful tool for capturing all sorts of sound. It records in WAV and MP3 formats and is lighter than my cell phone.

Seagate FreeAgent|Go external hard drive – I’m still working on getting a video camera to document some of the events along the way and in anticipation of shooting video I know we’re going to need some storage devices. This little drive is 500GB of pure portability. I’m doing a separate review of this drive, but what I’ll let out of the bag right now is that there’s no better feeling than having digital room to expand when you’re creating content on a regular basis.

Sound, video and even written files have to go somewhere and there’s no way I’m deleting all my Jonathan Coulton songs off my Macbook’s HD.

**By the way, if you ever need to know about a tech gadget – search MobileMag.com – they’ve done…we’ve done reviews of nearly every gadget you’ve ever heard of from micro projectors to Google phones to iPhone apps to cases. We even put up recaps of big tech events and slice-of-life sharing of how we use gadgets in our day-to-day life.**

iPhone – ‘nuf said. Although during SXSW the unmodified iPhones required a visit from AT&T to boost local connectivity in downtown Austin as attendees at the show were sucking up all the bandwidth. My iPhone is on another network.

Olympus 720SW digital camera – It’s waterproof to 10 feet, it’s crushproof and it’s shock-proof. I’ve taken this thing to about 47 other countries and I’ve no doubt it can survive the comfy 1500 mile ride in a 2010 Ford Escape. It also returns great photos like this one at the 2006 Tour de France.

Various dongles, cables, batteries and headsets.

So, when you’re hitting the road make sure you figure out what you need and then see if we’ve used it and reviewed it.

Safe journeys!

The post Cutler’s iRoadTrip Gadget Bag appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

If you work with digital content – be they photos, music or even documents – you’re going to need a storage solution.

CDs and DVDs have a limited shelf life and are unwieldy if the data you’re storing is larger than 4GB. That’s where portable hard drives come in.

External drives, at least those that are portable, are typically between 160GB and 500GB (and increasing every day). They are often plug-and-play, so moving your data is as easy as plugging in a USB cord and dragging your data to the drive to back it up. And now they’re even coming in secure, standalone models.

Maxtor’s BlackArmor Always encrypted Government-grade Hard Drive – $169.99 MSRP for 320GB – $119.99 MSRP for 160GB. However these were marked down on Maxtor’s web site the day I wrote this article to $134.99 and $59.99 respectively.

The BlackArmor’s claim to fame is that it has government-grade AES encryption certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It also comes with the “Maxtor Manager” software suite and the “BlackArmor Manager” software suite. These software suites can be installed and used to automatically back up files, synchronize folders on multiple computers, update passwords, and test the drive.

Any time the drive is disconnected it automatically locks, and without a password, one cannot access any of the backed up files on the drive. But how does it work? Let’s go from box to backup…

In the box are the BlackArmor drive, a USB cable to connect it to your computer, a carrying pouch, and a Quick Start Guide. In less than a minute I had it hooked up to my desktop and the BlackArmor Manager Configure screen auto launched. The first steps are to enter the drive’s 25-character Security ID (SID) that is printed on the back of the drive, and then create a password. Once this is done, you can now click Unlock and unlock the drive. When this is done the autoplay window will open and the guide instructs you to select Install Maxtor Manager from this window. This is just a straight forward install with a EULA screen and then install. Took all of about 90 seconds and then a re-start is needed.

One nice thing I noticed right away about this drive is that it has two soft blue lights on the side. One is a large light that will only light up once the correct password has been entered. The other is a smaller light that comes on as soon as the drive is plugged in to your computer, but will blink and then go out when you use the “Safely Remove Hardware” tool to remove the drive.

My 320GB drive showed a capacity of 298GB. The drive comes loaded with the above mentioned software along with a PDF user’s guide. The guide is quite comprehensive and goes over all the features of the drive and goes very in depth on the functionality of the Maxtor Manager and BlackArmor Manager software. It tells you how to enter different modes, change passwords, change hint questions and answers, and all the different features of the automatic backup software. The manual is 126 pages, but a big reason it is so long is because of the extensive use of screen shots that make it much easier to learn how to use all the features of the software.

One major limitation to this drive is that the software only work on PCs and will not work on a Mac, so the testing done on this drive was performed by my friend Henry DuLaurence. I expect to leverage his PC farm for other devices that aren’t Mac friendly. But back to the test…

Moving files, deleting, copying and saving data was easy. I was able to read and copy the data on my PC and when locked down, the drive protected the files perfectly.

Unplugging/disconnecting the drive puts it back into locked mode, so whenever you’re done using it your files remain safe.

Things I like…

It is USB powered which means no clunky power adaptor to carry around.

The size and the feel of this drive are great. It feels heavy, solid, and well made in your hand. It fits into a pocket or laptop bag easily. The rubbery exterior ensures you won’t fumble it.

The password screen launches quickly when the drive is connected so you can enter your password and get to your files fast. I like the clean black and brushed aluminum design, and that your stuff is completely protected by passwords you choose. I like the ease of changing your password when needed.

Automated backup software included. Makes it easy to plug and play and start backing up in minutes and restore if and when needed.

Things I don’t like…

The BlackArmor drive will not run on a Mac. The BlackArmor will only work on a PC running Windows XP or Vista. It will not work with any other operating systems as an unlocking utility is required that only runs on these operating systems.

Initial setup and configuration is somewhat tedious, but needed in order to set the encryption key. But once it is done, you won’t need to do it again unless you forget your password and need to erase your drive to reset it. This could be a little intimidating for the basic consumer or the user who misplaces his manual.

Cords are way too short, which seems to be the norm for most of the portable drives I see. I understand that portable is important, but portable doesn’t mean minimal.

Only has USB support. All external drives should come with an ESATA port. Considering the amount of data that can be stored, you would think these companies would give you an option to move it quickly if you wanted, and if you haven’t tried an external drive connected with ESATA, which is must faster than FireWire, you would be amazed at how fast it is.

Finally, it gets dirty and smudgy WAY EASILY. The gloss surface holds fingerprints better than the FBI and the black case shows every speck of dust. In some photos you’ll almost be able to see my camera in the reflection. Sure, it looks striking and gorgeous in reflective black, but it gets dusty and dirty quick.

The verdict…

Unless you have a Mac, I think the Maxtor BlackArmor Drive makes the cut. It is priced similarly to other secure drives and the backup software is easy to use and very intuitive. Once it is configured it is easy to use on any PC. And if you shop around you can probably find a 320GB BlackArmor for around $90 which is a pretty good deal for someone who wants to securely transport their data.

Company URL: http://www.maxtor.com

(A good portion of this Cut-List piece was made possible with the help of Henry DuLaurence)

The post Maxtor Black-Armor; Some Serious Data Protection appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

CDs and DVDs have a limited shelf life and are unwieldy if the data you’re storing is larger than 4GB. That’s where portable hard drives come in.

External drives, at least those that are portable, are typically between 160GB and 500GB (and increasing every day). They are often plug-and-play, so moving your data is as easy as plugging in a USB cord and dragging your data to the drive to back it up. And now they’re even coming in secure, standalone models.

One such device is Lenovo’s ThinkPad USB Secure Hard Drive – $219MSRP for 320GB – $179MSRP for 160GB. They put the word Portable in the name too, but it’s just about the size of a slice of bread so I think mentioning that is redundant.

The Secure Drive’s claim to fame is that it’s lockable. Recognized as a Consumer Electronics Show 2009 Innovations Award nominee, the drive has a keypad on the front that provides all access. Without a password, this drive won’t start spinning and remains invisible to your computer.

But how’s it work? Let’s go from box to backup…

In less than a minute I had it hooked up to my laptop. Immediately I was annoyed with the short cables and the decision to use a second USB for a power source. If you plug both USBs into your computer you’ve likely taken up all the ports. If you have a USB power outlet, you’ve freed up a port but now you’re tethered to the wall.

I’d have preferred a standard power cord, a single USB that powers the device and moves data, or a rechargeable battery in the drive.

Annoyances noted, I stared at the drive for a moment and saw the bright red LED. According to the manual that means the drive is parked and locked. I punched in the default password and clicked the unlock symbol and the drive spun and showed up immediately on my desktop.

My 320GB drive showed a capacity of 297.99GB and showed me two items on the drive – a system volume folder and a .pdf user guide.

The drive can have up to 10 user passwords, so you can let others have access to the drive. From what I could see, there is no way to set different levels of access. In fact, the guide isn’t really comprehensive. It tells you how to enter different modes and change passwords, but it doesn’t go through basic use of the drive.

Although the drive showed up on my desktop, I found that it remained read-only regardless of whether I used an admin or user password. My main computer is a Mac, so I borrowed a PC and the drive worked flawlessly.

The reason for this read-only state on the Secure Drive is that it has been formatted by a PC in NTSF mode. What that means is that if you have a Macintosh, this drive won’t work for you.

I called Lenovo about the issue and they agreed. They told me the only way to get a PC-formatted drive to work on a Mac was to format it differently, but doing so would make the drive incapable of reading files larger than 4GB each.

To me that didn’t seem like a major limitation – I can’t think of many 4GB files other than really large HD movies and maybe image files of DVDs or video games.

So, I copied the Lenovo software off the drive. Then I formatted the drive on my Mac into a FAT32 format. Lastly, I copied the Secure software back to the drive.

Voila! Now I had a Secure drive that worked perfectly with Macs and PCs and had a full 320GB capacity.

Back to the test…

Moving files, deleting, copying and saving data was easy. I was able to read and copy the data on my Mac or PC and when locked down, the drive protected the files perfectly.

Ejecting and disconnecting the drive puts it back into locked standby mode, so whenever you’re done using it your files remain safe.

Here are my thoughts.

Stuff I like…

The size and the feel of this drive are great. It fits into a pocket or laptop bag easily. The grippy exterior ensures you won’t fumble it.

I like the ability to set different passwords quickly. I like that it shows up on your desktop quickly. And I like the simplistic black design. Your stuff is completely protected by passwords you choose.

Stuff I don’t like…

Instructions are heavy on password setting and completely devoid of hard drive operation. Bad for the basic consumer who knows little about drives.

Out of the box it wasn’t writable on the Mac. Jumping through a hoop or two released the drive’s full capability on my preferred platform, but that’s not how hardware should work.

Cords are way too short. I understand that portable is important, but portable doesn’t mean minimal.

Port hogging. Two USBs for one tiny drive is annoying.
Pricey. You can get a similarly sized drive for $80 without the security feature.

Only has USB support.

The verdict…

Unless the price comes down and the glitches in Mac compatibility are ironed out (again, this might be a Windows/Mac issue and not Lenovo’s fault), the ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive doesn’t make the cut.

Even as a PC-specific device, it’s too expensive for anyone who is looking for an affordable way to securely transport their data.

Look for Mobile Magazine’s Cut List™ each week right here.

The post Mobile Magazine’s Cut List, by Jeff Cutler – #001 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.