I rarely like to put my own little fetishistic watch reviews up here unless the watch is something amazingly unique or unless I think you, dear reader, will get a kick out of the quality or styling of a particular piece. That’s why I chose to write up this Benarus Megalodon Diving Watch, a huge monster of a timepiece that is water resistant to 2,500 meters or about 8,000 feet. Considering the deepest SCUBA dive was 330 meters while the deepest ADS dive was 610 meters, I doubt you’ll make it down to 2.5 kilometers in one piece.
Barring improbable diving capabilities, why is the Megalodon so cool? Well first it has a self-winding automatic ETA 2824-2 movement with date window and sweep seconds hand as well as a case the size of a small apple. The case and band are made entirely of titanium and so are surprisingly light and wearable although there were some fit and finish issues with the clasp and bezel. → Read More
Short version: A powerful little device, significantly brighter than others of its size, with decent battery life and a good picture. Too bad it’s so damn loud, and not the most user-friendly thing of all time either. → Read More
Short version: A stylish and fun alternative to the likes of the Canon G12 and Nikon P7000. It’s not the quickest on the draw, and the build quality is obviously a step down from its elder brother, the X100, but image quality is good and operation is straightforward. It’s got a great lens and after a little familiarization could be quite versatile. While it compares decently with the competition, it’s far from a knockout, and if you’re looking for a compact enthusiast camera you would do well to look closely at the other options before pulling the trigger.
Check inside for the full review, with sample pictures and all that. → Read More
Iomega’s Mac Companion hard drive is a 2TB ($349, 3TB model is $449) desktop drive with a few features that make it interesting to the average Mac (or PC) owner. While it doesn’t have the bells, whistles, and network access of many NAS and home storage devices, it does look good next to your iMac.
The drive is clad in brushed aluminum with a black glossy top panel and a two-port USB hub in back. You can also daisy-chain Firewire devices through the rear Firewire ports for 800mbps data transfers. → Read More
Short version: While Skyrim does almost nothing to address the weaknesses of its predecessors, it expands on the strengths to such an extent that even its most substantial flaws seem microscopic. You may not lose yourself in the unimaginative combat and story, but the world Bethesda has created is so huge and so beautifully realized that you won’t care.
An enormous game like this demands an enormous review, so head on in for lots of words and pretty pictures. → Read More
An attractive and comfortable phone with a nice camera and enough speed for most users. The qHD screen is sharp and the design is understated. It’s just too bad Motorola had to ruin the UI with a few ugly effects.
It’s not a major update to the original Atrix, but it has some welcome changes and stands on its own as a good choice for non-iPhone AT&T users. Read on for the full review. → Read More
Short version: Battlefield 3 plays it safe and focuses on maximizing player engagement, but falls prey to a lack of variety, a shabby UI that’s clearly a holdover from consoles, plus of course the inevitable bugs, lag, and rocket spam. There’s a good game in here, but only if you’re willing to overlook some real flaws. But as it has been for years with big multiplayer games like this, the bugs tend to disappear and the players find themselves powering through bad matches for that one incredibly good one. I just wish the good ones came a little more often.
It feels like a missed opportunity to me, but it’s a game and community that will only grow and improve. Read on for our detailed review.
Oh, and we’re giving away free copies of the game. → Read More
The pedometer – those little things you wear to measure your steps – has always been a weight loss gimmick. Only recently, however, have pedometers gotten smart enough to do more than just vaguely shame us into walking a little further. Take Striiv, for example. This keychain-sized device measures steps walked and stairs climbed and includes a unique set of cute little games that should, in theory, get you off your bum.
Like the FitBit, Striiv senses strides and stair climbs from the comfort of your pocket. It has a small LCD screen and lasts one week on one charge, making it quite Tamagotchi-like in its size and interface. To use it you just slip it into your pocket and it gives you goofy little badges (“Good start” for your first 150 steps, “Average Day” for 4900 steps, the average number of steps an American takes each day) and you can track your daily stats.
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Short version: Probably the best-looking game I’ve ever played, despite a general lack of imagination. The gameplay itself, though, is (without exaggeration) probably less sophisticated than Doom.
But is this ditzy game worth your money? → Read More
The Aspire S3 is Acer’s first ultrabook. The notebook is almost unabashedly a MacBook Air clone with straight lines and a clean design but it’s also $400 less. There are some trade-offs when comparing this to the Air, sure, but for the most part the Aspire S3 is a fine ultraportible for the Windows crowd.
What Acer and all the rest of the ultrabook makers are building are by all accounts fine computers but will no doubt catch flack because of their similarities to the MacBook Air. The Aspire S3 isn’t a MacBook Air killer. Not alone at least. This notebook gives me hope that the PC isn’t dead and ultrabooks will be the genesis of this revival. → Read More
I love analog tech and I love analog sound. That’s why I wrote up these two basic reviews of two Empress analog pedals for guitarists sick of bleeps and bloops and color LCD read-outs. I added a few video demos, as well, but I was able to play with this gear for a while in my own home studio and came away quite pleased.
Empress Phaser Pedal
Empress’ phaser pedal packs a lot of features in a small package. Between the 2, 3 or 4-stage modes, several submodes, and overall quality in both hardware and sound fidelity, this pedal is one of the better offerings available.
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Short version: Absolutely worth a play, but there are a number of flaws that cause DEHR to fall short of greatness. The bosses, the “domestic” environments, and certain je ne sais quois mais ce n’est pas bien about the level design. It’s far from perfect, but the core gameplay, second by second, is fun and exciting. → Read More
Short version: A nice-looking device, and it works more or less as advertised, but the quality of the printing simply isn’t good enough. If you want instant photos, analog is still the way to go. → Read More
Short version: A solid pair of laptop or desk speakers, unremarkable but warm and powerful, with an understated and attractive design. More attention to detail would help justify their price, though. → Read More
With HD video recording, great image quality, and a solid selection of lenses, the Nikon D5100 and Canon T3i are on the top of a lot of wish lists out there. For people already in the Canon or Nikon camp (full disclosure: I’m a Canon man), the choice is obvious if an upgrade is in their future, but for the less dogmatic and new recruits to the DSLR crowd, it’s not nearly as clear-cut. $800 buys you a lot of camera either way.
Pixel peepers will want to check out the reliable and exhaustive reviews at DP Review (here and here) and other photography-centric sites where systematic checks on image quality are conducted, but I wanted to just put these two worthy devices head to head and see not just how they compare technically but in everyday use. → Read More
Short Version
As a long-time fan of Olympus’ Micro 4/3s series of cameras, I came to the E-P3 expecting good things. I was not disappointed. The camera is like Mini Cooper or a Smart car: it gets you where you need to go, you have fun on the way, and the resulting savings in size, bulk, and, in some ways, price makes it a great second camera for a DSLR buff or a great first camera for someone just getting started in the world of removable lens shooters. → Read More
In my short years as an ‘aspiring’ watch photographer, few timepieces have truly evaded a good picture as the Chanel J12 Chromatic. The rich universe of hues that emit from Chanel’s new “chromatic” material are more or less impossible to capture in stills – as the colors mix and meld with the light so amazingly. It is a sin to evaluate this watch for yourself seeing it in still images alone. → Read More
