Category Archives: Peripherals
Last year I reviewed the U-Socket by Fastmac. A year later RCA is here with something similar. If you're like me you have more and more gadgets and mobile devices that charge via USB. With each new device you either get a new USB charger and/or USB cable. While you can usually use any of these chargers to charge any of your devices, it's nice having a "built-in" USB charger whenever possible. This way you can pack your favorite USB charger in your luggage/computer bag and just leave it there for travel.
What's the USB Wall Plate Charger
The concept is simple. You plug this wall plate charger into any existing outlet and you get an AC plug plus two USB charging ports. The bottom one is higher powered 1.2 AMP for charging tablets such as the iPad.
What are the Pros?
- Easy to install – just plug it in
- Gives you two USB ports (one high powered one)
- Still lets you plug in a standard AC plug even with a power brick without blocking the ports
What are the Cons?
- You lose an AC plug (you go from 2 to 1)
- It sticks out about an inch
- You only get one higher powered USB port to charge things like tablets, instead of two
How is this better or different than the U-Socket?
The U-Socket (pictured above) is more of a permanent install. You or your electrician (please use an electrician if you don't know what you're doing) replaces your existing wall plug with a U-Socket and you get the two AC plugs plus two high speed USB charging ports. Therefore the RCA Wall Plate Charger is only better in that you can just plug it in and remove it whenever you want. You can also take it with you on a trip and use it in places like hotels or vacation homes.
The Bottom Line
I still prefer the U-Socket over the RCA Wall Charger. However, for something quick and easy it's hard to beat the RCA Wall Charger for its simple "plug-it-in" approach. I wish that it either didn't stick out so far or if it's going to stick out an inch then it might as well have the USB ports on the side. Also not sure why you have to give up an AC plug. Seems like at a minimum they could have done a pass-through to the existing one (I don't have an electrical engineering degree, so I'm not sure what's possible). I would recommend the RCA Wall Charger for anyone that needs an easy or temporary USB charging solution. It's available in either white or almond here for about $15.
Lastly if you're going to have something sticks out about an inch, then you might consider this alternative one.
January 31st, 2012
12:35
Overpriced?
Rarely will you hear me complain about the price of anything. I feel that companies and individuals have the right to charge whatever they want and we as consumers have the right to buy it or not. Ultimately if no one buys a product then the company will either fail or adjust accordingly. I saw this product recently and I thought "COOL!" That was until I reached the price point. My eyes opened wide for a bit, but then I remembered my rule. Don't complain. You don't know what it cost to develop the product?You don't know what it cost to manufacturer the product? You don't know what ti cost to distribute the product, etc.
How much would you pay for the world's only Flash Drive for iOS Devices?
A nifty product for sure. On one end it has a standard USB plug like any other flash/thumb drive and on the the other end it has a 30pin dock connector. Plug it into your computer, copy files to it and then plug it into your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch and copy files from it using their App. Sounds great! I could actually see using one of these from time to time especially when getting files from others. However, for me I can't quite justify the price (starting at $99.95 for 8GB). I can get an 8GB flash drive for $8 all day long. I can even get a 32GB flash drive for $27. Wait, that's not a fair comparison. These low priced thumb drives can't plug into your iDevices. Right! OK, I can sign up for a free Dropbox.com account and transfer up to 2GB's of files back and forth all day long for Free between my computer and iDevices. Wait, that's not really fair either. You need an internet connection to make that work and if you're wanting files from someone else then you got to do some setup work on their end to get the files into your Dropbox. True! Well can't you just download an App that lets you transfer files between computer and iDevices wirelessly? Yep, there are tons of them and here's a cool one called Air Sharing. Alas, it's not as simple as a physical flash drive either and these apps either require an internet connection, WiFi connection or Bluetooth connection. Yes, it would appear that this is a unique product offering a unique advantage and perhaps it can command a uniquely high price too. This product will be especially attractive to those who are now carrying their iPad most of the time instead of a laptop. The market will ultimately decide!
You can get an iFlashDrive starting at $99.95 for 8GB here.
September 19th, 2011
12:57
Winners of the Terry White Drobo Contest!
photo compliments of iStockphoto.com
Without further ado I'd like to announce the TWO Winners of the Terry White Drobo Contest:
Judy Gitterman of California
and
Raymond Barr of Massachusets
Congratulations to the Winners and Thanks to all who entered! Drobo was very pleased with the response and hopefully that means we'll be able to do more giveaways in the future!
September 16th, 2011
12:20
Last Call for Entries to the Terry White Drobo Contest
Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up that today Friday, September 16th 2011 is the last day that you can enter the Terry White Drobo Contest. See my original post here. Enter the contest here. Also remember that the more entries I receive the greater the chance will be that we'll give away a second Drobo! You have til 2PM ET (GMT-4) to enter. Hurry!
September 12th, 2011
12:49
It’s the Terry White Drobo Contest!
While I've given away lots of things in the past such as Adobe Software at Adobe sponsored events, this is my first big "Terry White" giveaway! It's the largest prize I've given away on any of my blogs or social media channels. Partnering with Drobo, I'm giving away a 4 Bay Drobo Storage unit.
How to Enter
It starts by registering for the contest here. If you register you're eligible. That's it!
However, you can increase your chances of winning by spreading the word on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Follow me on Twitter and then Tweet about the contest and why you want to win. Include in your tweet "The @TerryLWhite #Drobo Contest" so that your tweets can be tracked. If you're on Facebook then head over to my Facebook Fan Page, Like the page and tell me why you want to win a Drobo. If you're on Google+ add me to your Circles and then mention +TerryWhite in your post about why you want to win a Drobo.
Not on Twitter, Facebook or Google+? Then post your reasons why you want to win a Drobo in the comments below.
FAQ
Q. What's a Drobo?
A. See my review here.
Q. Why are you giving away a Drobo?
A. I talk about and promote the products that I actually use. Therefore when Drobo offered me a unit to giveaway, I gladly accepted.
Q. What do you get out of giving away this Drobo?
A. Drobo pays me $2.95 per entry
Q. Really?
A. NO, they aren't paying me a dime nor have they ever paid me anything. Not even advertising on my blog (Drobo are you listening? Hello! Just kidding 
) Like many companies though, they do send me review units.
Q. Is this a US based contest only?
A. Nope, I realize that I have a worldwide audience and it's open to everyone.
Q. Does the Drobo you're giving away come with the drives?
A. Nope
Q. Why not?
A. Because they didn't give me any drives to giveaway.
Q. That sucks!
A. Not really a question, but if you feel that way then don't enter. Have a nice day.
Q. How long does the contest run?
A. You can enter between now and Friday, 2PM ET (GMT-4)
Q. When will we know who won?
A. Hopefully it will be my Monday post next week. So a week from today?
Q. How will the winner receive his/her Drobo unit?
A. It will ship directly from Drobo once the winner has been drawn.
Q. How can I learn about this Drobo you speak of or other Drobo products?
A. Head over to the Drobo website.
Q. Are there any other rules or restrictions?
A. Yes, please no whining. Please don't tell me about how you wish it was something else or run differently or whatever. Just don't enter.
True Drobo Story
I thought I'd share a true story about a recent experience that I had with one my Drobo units. I have three Drobos in my house. One is connected to a Mac mini, which serves as my file server. The second one is connected to an iMac, which serves as my iTunes/Media Server and the third one is a Drobo FS, which serves as a network Time Machine backup. When I got the Drobo FS I installed 4 brand new drives in it. The 5th drive was a 1.5 TB drive that I had lying around from a previous upgrade. Figured since Drobos can have drives of mixed capacities I'd put it to use. After a couple of weeks I got an email. Not from Drobo the company, but from my actual Drobo hardware. Yes, the Drobo can actually email you in the event that something is wrong. The email was a warning that one of my drives was failing. Sure enough it was the old 1.5TB drive. My data was being protected by the other 4 drives and I ordered a new 2TB replacement. I replaced the faulty 1.5TB with the new one and kept right on working the whole time. This was the first time that I got the chance to see a Drobo actually do what it was advertised to do. It protected my data against drive failure with ZERO DOWNTIME! Backups are still important, but it's this added peace of mind that makes me love my Drobos even more!
One more thing…
If there are a ton of entries I'll give away a second Drobo!
Good luck and I'm looking forward to picking a winner!
August 29th, 2011
12:00
Review: OWC Mercury On-The-Go SSD External Drives
Yes I'm a speed freak. I spent much of the money I made as a youth paying for speeding tickets. This means I also like my computers to go as fast as possible. I moved to SSD (solid state drive) drives with my latest notebooks and while the cost is high, I do like the boot times, application launch times and of course the data copy times (see my original boot time comparison video here). Speaking of data copy this made me think about the drives that I'm copying that data to and from. While it's great having a fast internal drive, I started to look at the external drives I carry around too. This is when I decided to test the OWC Mercury On-The-Go SSD External Portable Drives. The good folks over at OWC sent me a review unit (a 240GB Mercury Extreme Pro). The first thing I wanted to test was copy speeds. The drive comes with a 1.73GB disk image of shareware on it. I figured I'd start my test copying this file back and forth and between drives.
Copy Times (shorter is better)
To copy 1.73GB disc image from the OTG 240GB SSD Drive
To copy 1.73GB disc image to the OTG 240GB SSD Drive
To copy 1.73GB disc image from the LaCie
To copy 1.73GB disc image to the LaCie
Next up a folder of RAW photos
To copy 3.87GB folder of photos from the OTG 240GB SSD Drive
To copy 3.87GB folder of photos to the OTG 240GB SSD Drive
To copy 3.87GB folder of photos from the LaCie Drive
To copy 3.87GB folder of photos to the LaCie Drive
The OWC SSD drive won in every test and I imagine with larger copies such as backups and clones the time savings would be realized even more.
A Startling Realization – Firewire 800 is not fast enough
After doing just a couple of tests with the new SSD drive and my existing LaCie Rugged Drive I realized that while the OWC SSD drive was faster (see the numbers above), it wasn't night and day faster. I have a theory that the bottleneck is the Firewire 800 bus itself. In other words the data can only go as fast as Firewire 800 will transfer it.
The Bottom Line
The OWC Mercury On-The-Go with an Extreme Pro SSD drive is Fast, Silent and Portable! It's also likely to be more reliable as there are no moving parts to fail like in traditional hard drives. SSD drives can slow down over time and that has yet to be seen with this model as I haven't had it long enough to know if that will happen or not. The one thing that isn't an advantage right now is speed over traditional drives with FW800. With that said they do offer a USB 3.0 version that will likely yield faster results over FW800 if you happen to have a USB 3.0 equipped computer. However, until we see Thunderbolt based portable drives I don't think we'll see the real speed potential of these SSD drives. With that said, you'd have to weigh the cost of going SSD vs. traditional hard drives for your portable data needs. Having a drive with no moving parts/peace of mind comes at a premium price.
The OWC Mercury On-The-Go 240GB SSD goes for $479.99
Their 320GB 7200 RPM Drive in the same case goes for $104.99.
August 22nd, 2011
12:16
Yes, Another Portable Speaker Review – Pop-up Mini Speakers
I've reviewed various travel sized speakers here in the past and I really like the ones I've already reviewed. However, my buddy Bruce Mandel was raving about a pair of "pop-up" speakers that he had gotten and he was so sure that I'd like them he loaned them to me. He said, "you have to try these." So i did. The funny thing was that my first experience with them was a test of my AirPort Express and using AirPlay to send music from my office to my studio. These speakers were the most accessible at the time and I decided to plug them in the AirPort Express mainly to see if my AirPlay would work in that location (very far from the main AirPort Extreme up stairs). I Turned on the speakers after plugging them in and walked all the way to the other end of the building where my office is located. When I fired up iTunes and selected those speakers (AirPort Express) I actually didn't expect to hear them until I got back into that area of the studio. I was blown away to actually not only hear them from such a great distance, but to actually hear that they sounded pretty good.
Pop them up for more bass
During my initial test I hadn't even popped them up yet. When you do you actually get more base response than you do when they're closed. They definitely sound great for speakers this size. The two speakers magnetically attach to each other for travel/storage. When you pull them apart you can then pull out the audio cable from one to plug into the other for stereo sound. They come with a separate cable for charging and of course there is a cable to plug in to your audio source. The speakers charge via USB.
What I dont like
You've already heard all the things that I like about them. Small, good sound, battery powered. As far as what I don't like it's really more about the design of the cables, ports, switches, etc. While you certainly need the cables that are supplied, it just seems that they could have done a better job in the way the cables attach. Also I find the audio cable to your computer/iPod, etc. to be a bit short. I'd like the cable be about 6 inches longer. When I tested these the cable was so short that I had to put the speakers on the floor in order to reach the AirPort Express that was plugged in the wall.
While I'm not sure that I'd give up my previous Bluetooth speaker recommendation, these definitely have a better sound to them and I really like the magnetic coupling. I also really like that the cords are retractable right into the unit.
You can get a pair of these here for $49.95 or you can just get one here for $29.95.
Now the question becomes do I give these back to Bruce or not?
August 3rd, 2011
12:17
My New Lightroom Tethering Display
When I shoot in studio I'm usually shooting tethered to Lightroom 3 99% of the time. While my 15" MacBook Pro has been adequate all these years, I decided to go with an external display in my new studio. The question was, "which one do I get?" Right about the time I asked this question, I saw that Dell (yep, Dell) had just introduced a NEW 24" Display. You might be asking why would I get a Dell monitor for my Mac? Good question. The main attraction for me to this particular display is that it "rotates!" The display can be used in either portrait or landscape orientation.
It has all the latest bells and whistles including: LED, IPS (in-plane switching) for wider viewing angles, Display Port, USB Hub, DVI, Adjustable Height and a 3 Year Warranty.
For those of you old enough to remember the Radius Pivot Displays, you'll probably remember that back then the display would auto adjust based on the rotation and the driver on your computer. In the case of this new Dell there is no such magic for the Mac. However, manual display rotation is built-in to Mac OS X's Display Preferences. While it would be a slight pain to have to manually switch this setting every few seconds I find that I leave it in Portrait "most" of the time. If I shoot a wide shot, it displays it, but it just doesn't fill the screen. If i'm going to be shooting a long series of landscape oriented images then I'd make the System Pref adjustment.
Lightroom's 2nd Display Feature
Lightroom 3 natively supports dual displays. This means that I can set the second display to Loupe view, full screen with no overlays. It works GREAT! This also means that I DON'T mirror the displays. I treat the Dell as a second display/virtual desktop.
Why not just shoot to an HDTV?
That question comes up a lot and I've tried it. My Nikon DSLRs have HDMI out and I could plug right into a nice big HDTV. The problem I find with this mostly is that the colors, brightness, contrast, etc. don't look the same. This means that after doing a shoot and importing the images into your computer they could look really different than what you adjusted for during the shoot. Since my shots are going to end up on a computer more often than a TV, I'd rather tether into my computer to begin with.
Dell? Really?
If you know me, you know that I've rarely if ever mentioned Dell on my blog (or anywhere else), but this time I gotta say that I'm currently a happy Dell customer. I'm actually surprised with all the accelerometer tech that Apple uses in iDevices that they haven't done this with their computer displays. Oh well, for now "it's a Dell."
You can check out the Dell UltraSharp U2412M "W Display here.
I also bought this Display Port to Mini Display Port cable. Of course after I ordered it I remembered that monoprice.com probably has it cheaper and they do.
June 21st, 2011
3:20
Wacom Outs A New iPad Stylus and Sketching App
The great folks over a Wacom have shpped their NEW Bamboo Stylus for iPad (or any other touch screen mobile device). Ever since I started using the iPhone and then the iPad for doing model releases I realized that having a stylus was a must have accessory. While I've enjoyed my Pogo Sketch (the Targus one is OK too), I couldn't pass on the opportunity to try the one from the same company that makes my graphics tablet (Intuos 4). After all Wacom has had MANY YEARS of experience in designing tablets and pens to go with them. I figured that if anyone could design a good stylus for touch screen devices like the iPad it would be Wacom. Unfortunately the iPad doesn't offer pressure sensitivity like the Wacom tablets do. However, I have found the tip of this new stylus to be very comfortable to work with and smooth for on screen writing, signing and drawing.
The Little Things
You might ask yourself "what is there to innovate in a stylus for an iPad?" That's a good question. After all, once you make a tip that works with touch screens what else is there? Surprisingly a lot. One thing I couldn't figure out with other styli is why there were designed to be so small? The first thing I noticed with the Bamboo Stylus was that it had a nice thickness to it as well as some weight to it that made it feel more natural in my big hands. Speaking of weight the other nice thing is that the slight weight differential of it is pushed to the tip end. This means that when I pick it up I can tell which end is the writing end without even looking at it. While I do wish that it was about a half inch longer, I found the length to be reasonable. Now on to the tip. This is probably the most important feature as it will either make it or break it for me when it comes to using a stylus. I prefer a tip that glides more easily on the touch screen. Some of the cheaper ones have more of a "rubber" feel, which is fine for "tapping" onscreen buttons, but horrible for writing/sketching. I'm happy to report that the Bamboo Stylus has a nice blend of easy gliding, but just enough grip for precise tapping. This is also due to the design of the tip and how it comes to a nicely rounded point. Again, there was some thought put into this and I would expect nothing less from Wacom.
If you're in need of a stylus for your mobile touch screen device, it doesn't get much better than this. You can get the Wacom Bamboo Stylus for iPad here for $29.95 or less.
One more thing…
There's an App too. Wacom introduced a NEW iPad App called Bamboo Paper (see my review here). This App is a virtual notebook for your iPad. If you hurry you can grab a copy of the App for FREE until the end of June here from the 
May 9th, 2011
12:33
International Power! Revisited
Image compliments of iStockphoto.com
Last year I wrote a post called "International Power" and the purpose of that post was to recommend adapters and accessories that you might use when you travel abroad. Since that time though I have been experimenting with different solutions and have just about completely revamped my list of travel adapters and plugs. The first goal was to reduce the amount of adapters needed and the second goal was to accomodate the ever increasing number of mobile devices that I'm traveling with. Since my job now not only involves showing Adobe Creative Suite on the desktop, I now show tablet and mobile apps on both iOS and Android devices too. On my current trip I'm traveling with a MacBook Pro, iPad 2, iPhone 4, Motorola Atrix and Motorola Xoom. Not to mention a Nikon D7000 DSLR, iPod nano watch and camera GPS device. That's a LOT of batteries to keep charged each night. One of the other big problems is that many hotel rooms can have as few as one single accessible AC outlet for you to use! Here is my current crop of adapters and gadgets to accomodate charging and powering on the go.
The Universal Adapter
All of my devices either can accomodate the higher voltages in other countries or charge via USB. Therefore I only need a couple of "adapter" plugs to adapt the US prongs to the sockets of foreign outlets. The one above is one of my new favorites. I like it because the prongs fold into it so that they don't protrude in your bag. I typically have at least two of these in my suitcase to leave in the hotel while I'm out and about and one in my computer bag for meetings and presentations.
Get one here.
The Universal Power Strip
I don't want to have to adapt every single charger to a foreign plug and as I mentioned you may not even have the luxury of multiple outlets in the room. So just like at home I would love to use a power strip that plugs into the Universal Adapter above. This Power Strip not only works on US current and the higher European 220v outlets. Also the plugs work for both US and European based prongs.
You can get one here. I use this one in my computer bag.
Retractable Extension Cord
Another common problem is that the single available power outlet in the room may be located across the room. This is when I pull out my retractable extension cord. Granted it's only 5' long, but it can make all the difference in the world.
You can get one here.
Charge 4 USB Devices At Once
My phones, camera GPS and iPod watch all charge via USB. Therefore I can get away with one of these multiple USB charging devices. Yes they work on the higher 220v current too and deliver standard USB power to up to 4 devices simultaneously and yes I've charged 4 devices at once without issue.
You can get one here. I also like this flater one too.
The iPad Power Adapter
While the iPad will charge over standard USB, it will do so at a slower rate. In this case I always travel with an iPad 10W adapter to charge the iPad/iPad 2 at top speed. This adapter also works at the higher voltages.
You can get one here.
Longer iOS and USB cables
Since the only available outlet in the hotel room is sometimes behind furniture or across the room it may be necessary to have longer USB and iDevice cables. I found some nice long ones here.
The Bottom Line
When I have all these things plugged into a single outlet, it's not pretty! However, it works. I can easily charge 6 devices without any problem. It definitely cuts down on the number of little adapters I have to carry and I don't have to worry about not having enough of the right adapters for the country I'm in .
I will cover the technology, gadgets, events and cool toys that have affected me in some way. I will also give recommendations on the products that I have actually used.
February 9th, 2012
12:43