The latest addition to the family is Nero BackItUp & Burn, which can be probably best described in some ways as Nero "lite".  Nero BackItUp & Burn aims to provide full control over data protection, backup and recovery. 

 Read on for the road testing!

First Impressions
As with all things Nero, BackItUp & Burn is available either in a physical media kit or a 153 Mb download.  The installation was simple follow the bouncing ball type.  My system required a Microsoft Installer (MSI) 4.5 update and a 2007 Microsoft Office System Update: Redistributable Primary Interop Assemblies update.  Both were performed automatically by the Nero installer and did not require a reboot until the end of the full installation process.

The BackItUp & Burn interface is reminiscent of the Nero suite but simpler in some ways, and more intuitive in my view.  On the left is a status column providing an overview of Backups and Jobs, Job Status and Calendar.  On the top row are options for Backup, Restore, Sync and Tools.  Further to the right are some special icons which will be discussed later in the review.


Test Drive
Nero designed the interface to empower a user to configure a backup in three steps or less.  In Nero's launch presentation, they stated the design the interface to have the look and feel of the Microsoft Office package to appeal to a normal user.

Clicking on the Backup button on the top menu bar gives four options: Autobackup, File Backup, Drive Backup and Verification.

Autobackup is self explanatory.  It has the option of either backing up to local and external hard drives, or to Nero Online Backup.  Activate the Autobackup to local and external hard drives gives the option to either choose the C drive (local) or another target (external).  Choose the destination and Local Autobackup is turned on.  All it took was two mouse clicks and the job is created.  By default BackItUp performs a full backup with verification enabled and an incremental backup every 2 hours.

File Backup allow a more refined filter for the backup selection over the Autobackup option.  The target selection provides a more granular control over the process without raising the level of difficulty greatly.  You can choose the type of backup from:
* full - all files and folders in current direction are backed up
* incremental - only saves files of the selection that has been changed or added since the previous backup of the backup set.
* differential - all files of the selection that have been changed or added since the very first execution of the current backup set are saved.
* update - if the target is a hard drive, the previous backup files will be replaced and updated if there have been changes or additions.  No new backup folders will be created for this on the hard drive.  However, if the target is a disc, new folders will be created and this mode will act in exactly the same way as Incremental Backup.

Next the time schedule is fully customisable with Once, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, When Idle, At System Startup, At Log On, Not Scheduled, On Directory Change or On Device Plugin (removable media only).

There are options for compression modes, encryption.  Regular users of Nero Burning Rom would note the same "Enable verify after backup" and "Shutdown computer after backup" options are available.

For expert users in the expert options menu there are file filters, CPU control, Scripting, Email notifications, Logging and Debug and Miscellaneous options such as backup of user access rights and ability to suppress status information amongst others.

Restore of backed up data is easy following the wizard with the option of either restoring selected files or the drive(s).

Lastly Nero BackItUp can manage jobs to synchronise folders.  This feature has been a Microsoft PowerToy forever but it is nice to have the functionality integrated into the one interface.  The synchronisation can be either uni-directional or bi-directional and types such as mirror, enhance, update and add.  Users are prompted to select which version of a file to keep in the event of multiple versions.


Other Features and Tools
The ImageTool disc is a Linux-based disaster recovery tool that restores the hard disk or partition in event of an incident such as malware infection or hardware damage.

Create SyncTool allows synchronisation of data to other drives with a runtime version of the software that does not require software installation.

As part of the disaster recovery functions, Nero RescueAgent is included in the BackItUp suite.  RescueAgent is essentially the last ditch attempt to recover files, whether it is from scratched optical disks, or deleted from any storage media that has gone beyond the Recycle Bin stage.  How well does RescueAgent perform?

I put in a 1Gb USB flash drive that sees decent traffic from day to day and used the "Fast Scan" setting.  The results were quite astounding.  I managed to recover a set of music files, fully intact from about two deletion cycles old.  Subjecting the flash drive to a Windows format however was a different story.  A single pass with Windows format will defeat the "Fast Scan" mode, but the "Deep Scan" mode still brings up results.  Even after one full standard format and one quick format, I was able to recover the same music files.

Lastly, Nero Express is bundled in as part of the package.


Gripes
The only gripe I really have with BackItUp is that the progress bars and timers are almost useless when backing up large volumes.  Then again, having seen more than my fair share of Windows XP progress bars, it is just another minor issue I can live with.


Conclusions
Nero has come up with a winner with BackItUp and Restore.  Traditionally good backup and backup strategies are the domain of larger corporations, whereas the average home user and SOHO would have it very far down the priority list.  Yet this latter group is more at risk of permanent data loss, but backup is an onerous task to perform.

The Nero BackItUp and Restore user interface makes it simple to setup and perform multitude of backup functions to virtually any media.  It does not magically protect your data if you choose to backup your files to the same disk it came from, but it offers support for flash drives, external hard disks, optical media and online storage.

One feature I particularly like is the "on device plugin" schedule.  I have set up backup scripts for many people but the failing has always been this: I configure the job to run at a particular hour to a particular drive, except the user simply fails to have the drive plugged in during the backup time.

The Nero RescueAgent is no forensic tool, but it is still provides better than expected results for a "bundled" product.

Nero BackItUp and Restore is available for $99.95 (box version) from Dick Smith, Harvey Normal and JB Hi-fi, or $59.95 online download.  The price includes 1 Gb of online storage.  Some people may think the price to be expensive, but what value do you put on your irreplaceable family photos and personal data?
 

UNBOXING

The NS4600 comes with pretty much the same kit as the old units: Our sample came with a multi-language quick start guide, US Power cable, a short length of Ethernet cable and a CDROM containing the PDF user manual and SmartNAVI software among other things.

As the NS4600 employs the same neato drive rail system as the other Promise units we have looked at, four plastic rails were also included in the package. Along with a change of colour (from orange to white) the rails now come with a strip of handy sticky labels.

Promise insists these rails create an environment that is less prone to vibrations which lessen the likelihood of vibration related hard disk errors. While screwing the hard disks onto these rails does add a few minutes to the initial setup time, it is a small price to pay for that extra peace of mind.

While we haven't done any formal vibration testing, we can say that every time we have inserted drives into Promise units, they have felt securely and firmly in place.

DESIGN

While the basic shape of the NS4600 is near identical to the previously tested NS4300N, the new unit's design features some key differences.

The NS4600 has kept the same black and silver colour scheme of the previous SmartStor units, but the NS4600's darker element has gone from matte to shiny piano black. With this shininess, comes a completely smooth look and gone is the distinctive ripple design of the older units. The LEDs have also changed from green to blue (during normal operation) and they no longer wrap around the front right hand side. 

Other changes include two neat strips of venting on the drive bay door as well as a small locking mechanism on the bottom right hand corner to keep the drives secure from prying hands. While our sample did not come with one, we have been informed that all retail units will come equipped with a small key to lock/unlock the drive bay door. Next to the small lock is a circular "one touch backup" button, which despite its looks, is not the unit's power button which is now located on the rear.

The rear also features two USB ports, an eSATA port, the power connector and that all important RJ45 Ethernet port. A single cooling fan vent also replaces the two separate vents found on the NS4600N.

Turning the unit upside down reveals a small latch which opens up to a completely user accessible power pack - reminiscent of those used in modern notebook computers. While we have found Promise's previous units to be very reliable, should something occur to the power supply in this new unit, it can be quickly replaced without the hassle of undoing screws and getting dirty.

FEATURES AND USAGE

The NS4600's core business is to magically create an array of up to four discs optimized for performance or data security (RAID) which you can then access via your (wired) network (NAS). RAID support echoes the NS4300N with 0, 1, 5 and RAID 10 modes available. Network access also remains strong with its Gigabit Ethernet port.

If the above paragraph means nothing to you, it might be worthwhile heading on over to our original NS3200N/4300N review, where we provide an overview of both RAID and NAS technologies.

While providing a basic NAS/RAID solution - currently good for up to 8TB - is enough for some, Promise have packed the NS4600 with much, much more. For starters, the NS4600 is able to share eSATA and USB Hard disk drives across the network as well as supported USB printers. APC Uninterruptible Power Supplies are also supported, adding yet another layer of security to stored data.

To test the USB access we attached a variety of USB disks with a 100% success rate. We were able to access, read and write to a 3.5" Vantec NexStar 3 external hard disk drive enclosure; an old 160GB iPod Classic and even our Lumix LX-3 digital camera (with inserted SD storage card) was shared without issue.

Much of the NS4600's extra features come from its ability to load external plugins - Our sample was loaded with ML Donkey (Bittorrent Client), Firefly Media Server (Open source iTunes server) and DLNA Media Center allowing media to be shared with other DLNA compatible devices.

A neat party trick, for example, was the unit's ability to stream video files to any compatible HTML browser. We managed to get compatible media to stream to Safari on our MacBook Pro (and even our iPhone) with no discernible quality issues. And the NS4600's web based media interface makes browsing (and playing) media a doddle.

Along with iTunes server support, the NS4600 is also able to act as a storage device for Apple's clever Time Machine system. Once the SmartNAVI software was installed and operating on our MacBook Pro, a few clicks in the Time Machine preference pane successfully added the NS4600 as a Time Machine backup device. Easy.

The NS4600 also features a One Touch Backup function which enables users to make quick backups of selected folders on a connected PC, at the touch of a button. While the One Touch Backup feature can be activated using the button on the NS4600's front, the configuration is all done via the SmartNAVI software.

All Promise storage devices we have taken a look at have come with the  SmartNAVI software and the NS4600 follows this trend. The SmartNAVI software is fairly easy to use and is essentially a quick and easy access way to access all available Promise SmartStor devices on a network (and manage their many features).

Our testing was done primarily in OSX and the OSX version of SmartNAVI worked well with one exception: The software simply wasn't Mac-like. The reality is the SmartNAVI tool is a port of the PC version and in OSX it really feels that way. Does this stop it performing what it needs to do: No, but it will definitely clash with OSX's sleek aesthetics.

The good news is, that while the SmartNAVI software is handy, it's not essential for most tasks. The NS4600 has a built in HTML based configuration system, that much like the configuration pages of any modern router, can be accessed from any operating system via a web browser.

What's more, the more we looked at the NS4600, the more features seemed to pop out of Promise's shiny new box: Need a web server? No problem! How about remote access of your files over the Internet? Sure thing! And what about replication of data to a sister NS4600 unit for added security: Of course!

And like all SmartStor's we have reviewed, the basic Network Attached RAID storage component of the NS4600 has proven to be both reliable and easy to use.

Overall performance of the NS4600 was good with real world speed tests showing excellent improvements in both reading and writing over the old NS4300N.

For our speed tests we bundled 1.2GB of 10 megapixel photographs as well as a single 142MB executable file. All transfers were undertaken on a Windows XP desktop.

Transfer Time from PC

Build time for a three drive RAID 5 array was approximately 10-15 minutes.

We had to scrap all of our initial testing conducted with a four drive array as it turned out that one of the drives we were using was faulty and caused a massive slow down in the NS4600's write speeds.

During all use, the NS4600 remained quiet with noise levels were in line with the those we experienced with the NS4300N which we were perfectly acceptable: Sitting on a desk with a MacBook Pro, the unit was audible but not annoyingly so.

During extended transfer sessions, the NS4600 remained composed, but did seem to heat up a little more than the older unit - particularly on its glossy right hand side. While the NS4600 was notably warmer than our experience with the older NS4300N, it wasn't anywhere near warm enough to warrant concern.

The NS4600 meets RoHS standards and consumes as little energy as necessary when not in use. When on, but not in use, the unit is able to spin down the hard drives so as to reduce wear and tear on the drives whilst also reducing its electricity usage. Promise claim the NS4600 to consume just 6.6W during standby and 51W under load.

Additionally, from our very own wish list comes Wake on LAN support, which can be activated by simply clicking the /locate/ button in the SmartNAVI software from your PC.

Incidentally, we tried to wake the NS4600 from our iPhone (via the free NetAwake.app from Apple's App Store) and found that it worked perfectly.

NS2300N/NS4300N REVISITED

For half a year, we have been using our old two bay NS2300N and the larger four bay NS4300N as media and data servers, pushing photos, videos and documents across a small SOHO network.

In all this time, the two units have performed flawlessly. In fact, the only issue that comes to mind is that on a solitary occasion, the NS4300N's power button became stuck in the pushed down position. While this did manage to instill a few moments of genuine panic, after a few strategic pokes, the button returned to its normal function.

Both PCs and Macs accessed and managed the NAS boxes with ease and the ability to shutoff the units remotely via the web interface proved to be invaluable. On no occasion did the units seem to overheat or be bothered in any way - even overnight transfers of hundreds of gigabytes failed to rattle these units.

Also worth mentioning is that both the NS2300N and the NS4300N's fans have remained constant in their (low) noise level and have not developed any acoustic anomalies over time.

When we originally reviewed the units, their performance, features, build and cost effectiveness convinced us to rate these units extremely highly.

And yet, after six months of rock solid performance, 9/10 almost seems unfair.

SPECIFICATIONS

 
CONCLUSION

All in all, Promise has taken the solid NS4300N and mildly tweaked it with design and feature updates to provide an even more complete storage solution for the masses.

10/10

The NS4600 improves on the older units and provided this new unit proves to be as reliable as the previously reviewed SmartStors in the long term, I have no hesitation in giving this unit full marks.

For more information, including detailed compatibility listings and up to date specifications, please visit Promise Technology's NS4600 page.

The NS4600 is available now with a recommended retail price of $499US.

First Impressions

In Action

Test Data

Other Features

Specifications

Gripes

Conclusions

What is so special about this charger?  Read on!

First Impressions
The first thought that came to mind when unboxing the Brando Multi-Purpose Charger was actually "did someone pack an electric shaver by accident?"  The Multi-Purpose Charger has the look, feel and about the size of a standard electric shaver, with a colour scheme to match.

On the "foil" end of the charger is the 4 white LEDs.  Under the yellow acrylic cover on top of the unit is a spring loaded clip with two adjustable charging pins.  On the opposite end to the LED is a "solar in" port and a mini-USB port for DC out.  Left side of the unit is a power indicator and a three way switch to control LED, Off, and On.  The right hand side has Charge and DC Out indicators.

The Multi-Purpose Charger is charged from mains power via retractable pins on the underside of the unit.  Unfortunately it is in the standard US two pin configuration which means I require an adapter.

In Action

The basic operation of the Multi-Purpose Charger is simple enough.  Firstly the trick that is not stated in the rather skimpy manual is to put the 3-way switch into Off mode if you are charging the unit.  A full charge takes around 8 hours via mains power.  To charge your portable device using the Brando unit, you simply plug the supplied USB cable into the DC Out port along with the appropriately shaped connector.

The unit comes with six different connectors to suit the most common needs such as a Nokia, Motorola or Sony Ericsson phone.  None of the connectors are labelled but it is assumed that you have your device handy to try it on for size.  To charge your device, it is a matter of making the connection and putting the 3-way switch into the On setting and charging begins.  The charge LED flashes during the process and then turns steady once the device is fully charged.  The charger will adjust the polarity automatically.

What sets this Multi-Purpose Charger apart is the ability to charge devices with removable batteries such as for a digital camera.  The spring loaded clip holds the battery in place, and the charging pins can be moved closer or wider apart to meet the requirements of the battery terminals.  It is not known whether it can concurrently charge via the clips and USB though.

Brando claims that you can connect any dynamo devices, solar panel devices, etc to the Solar In port of the Multi-Purpose Charger to charge up the battery.  A full charge via solar takes around 20 hours.


Gripes
As with most things from Brando, the user manual is minimal.  But as with all things from Brando, they are not so complex as to be unuseable if one spends a few minutes playing around.  I found the labelling on the device inconsistent and slightly confusing.  For example, I turn the device On to discharge into my gadget.

Specifications
* Built-in Battery: 3.7V, 6000mA high capacity polymer lithium battery
* Output Voltage: DC5.5V +/- 0.5V
* Input Current: 500mA-800mA
* Input Voltage: AC110V-AC240V
* Input Frequency: 50Hz-60Hz


Conclusion
The Brando Multi-Purpose Charger with 4-LED Torch is an useful, if inelegant, device to keep my gadgets powered for longer than they are designed to by manufacturer.  For someone like myself who could be away from mains power for the best part of a day and constantly draining the life out of my batteries, the 6000mA battery really helps keep things alive for me.

The charger is available here for USD$39.  Thanks Brando for the on-going support!

First Impressions
The Qstarz Explore 2000 is a small black box about the thickness of a cigarette packet but smaller in other dimensions.  A monochrome LED dominates the front fascia, and there are just three rubberised buttons on the right side next to a mini-USB port.  Whilst controls for the Explore 2000 appears minimalistic, the simplicity can only be a good thing when you are focus on your chosen sporting activity rather than fiddling around with a plethora of buttons.

The three buttons controls the powering on and off of the Explore 2000 (including enable/disable of log mode), toggling the LED backlight on the LCD and a Tool button that performs the distance unit switch and reset measurements.


In Action
The device really performs two main functions. The first being a GPS receiver that displays the latitude, longitude and elevation.  Based on this information it displays the current speed, average speed and distance travelled on the LCD.  The second function is to record all of this information into the 4 Mb of internal memory when the Log Mode has been enabled.

The hardest part of using the Explore 2000 for me is to remember turning on the logging feature.  In my first live testing of the unit I had the unit powered on and a GPS signal lock and went off on my merry way feeling quite chuff with myself.  It was only until some time on the way back to base when it occurred to me that I did not enable the Log Mode.  Logging is turned on by pressing and holding the power button for one second.


Software
The supplied Qstarz PC Suite which comes on a mini-CD and is really the pièce de résistance of the Explore 2000.  The suite includes the QSports V1, Travel Recorder V4 and a GPS driver so that the device can be used with a PC based navigation software.

The Travel Recorder V4 import tracks from the Qstarz and displays your route, speed at each point and other GPS metrics.  Additionally there is the ability to import photos and geotag them.  The entire project can then be exported to Google Maps, Flickr or Locr.  The photo geotag is done by matching the date and time stamps on the files against the same on the route and photos which correlate are added to the route display.  The geotagging information can be written into the photo EXIF.  The Travel Recorder even provides the ability to offset the times in the event of the camera time being set incorrectly.

QSports which is the primary application for the Explore 2000 is geared for tracking and analysis of sporting activities.  The logged data is imported from the Explore 2000 after a sport has been nominated an activity for which the log represents.  "Valid" activities include: Cycling, Running, Hiking, Motor Cycling, Rowing, Skiing, Multisport and 'Others'.

Each imported data represents a track, a summary of the activity is displayed next to a Google Map representation of the route taken and a graph of Speed and Altitude versus Distance or Time.  The Summary Data contains the Start Time, End Time, Total Time, Moving Time, Distance, Moving Speed (average and maximum), Elevation Gain and Calories burned.

Moving to the Time Data, again Total Time is displayed along with Moving Time broken into Ascent, Descent and Flat both in h:m:s and a percentage of total time.  Distance and Speed Data are similarly broken into Ascent, Descent and Flat.  Elevation Data provides Elevation Change in Gain and Loss, Vertical Speed achieved in Ascent and Descent.

There are graphs galore to plot Speed, Altitude, Distance, Time, Acceleration and Total Ascent in any combination.  The Play tab links the graph into the map and displays the progress of your journey both on the Google Maps and the graph in question.

Once a number of tracks have been imported, the Statistics page can then depict activities on a daily basis.  A great feature of the QSports program is that the software supports multiple users so different people can use the unit to track their activities and import the data as separate entities within the application.

Both QSports and Travel Recorder can export the GPS data in various formats, including HTML, Google Earth KML and KMZ, GPX, NMEA and basic CSV formats.  If Google Earth is installed, KML or KMZ data can be exported directly into the software.


The QStarz Explore 2000 comes with additional software such as geotag tools for Symbian and Windows Mobile 5 devices, and other tools for the Symbian, PC and CE platforms.  Notably there is no support for MacOS.


In the Box
* Qstarz Explore 2000
* Lithium-ION rechargeable battery
* Mini USB cable
* Travel charger
* Software CD
* Warranty Card + Quick Guide
* Bike Mount Kit
* Incase Sports Armband


Specifications
* Baud rate: 4,800 - 38,400 bps
* Datum:  WGS-84
* Hot/Warm/Cold Start: 1/38/42 seconds (average)
* Sensitivity: -159 dBm
* Bluetooth: V2.0 / SPP Profile / Class 2
* Dimensions: 71.3 x 43 x 20 mm (LxWxH), (2.81" x 1.69" x 0.79")
* Weight (with battery): 84 g (2.96 oz)
* Battery life: Up to 20 hours
* Built-in memory: 4 Mb (logs up to 260,000 waypoints)


Gripes
A few gripes with the Qstarz Explore 2000.  As far as the unit is concerned, my personal preference would be to have the log mode permanently enabled, or at least that it remembers my last setting with it.

The log mode indicator only comes on (or off) after the button is pressed and released.  A number of times I ended up switching off the device whilst thinking the symbol will show up on screen.

The software packages are highly functional and have a nice look and feel to it.  On a number of occasions it did crash on me during the play mode.  There are also some basic spelling mistakes in the menu, e.g. widzard instead of wizard.  Also the software packages are independent of each other requiring separate downloads from the Explore 2000.  It is not possible to export data from one package and import into another.

The built-in battery is rated for up to 20 hours, I managed 16 hours of use before it ran flat.


Conclusions
The Qstarz Explore 2000 itself is a simple and robust device.  It does not take long to get adapted to and be up and running.  The QStarz PC Suite is by far the star of the package providing a great tool to help analyse and track activity patterns.  The multi user account support is a definite win in my view.

The Qstarz Explore 2000 is available now for USD$139.

The Verbatim Tune Board isn’t quite your everyday normal keyboard.  It offers a unique blend of features not really found on other keyboard: illumination and sound.   With these features, this keyboard can be used for gaming, entertainment, and everyday use.

Introduction

When we use a keyboard, we really use it only just to type.  But keyboards are getting fancier and adding more features.  For instance, there are now ‘gaming’ keyboards that have more keys to give you that extra edge by reducing the number of keys you need to press. 

Today, we will be taking a look at a keyboard that has gone a slightly different route.  We will be looking at the Verbatim Tune Board.  This keyboard has special features such as illuminated keys and built-in speakers.  Let’s have a look.

Installation

Installation is as simple as plugging it into your computer.  I used it on a computer with Windows Vista installed.  By just plugging in the USB cable to my computer, it automatically installed and loaded the drivers so that both the keyboard and speakers were functional.

A Closer Look

The keyboard came in an attractive black and green box.  You can see part of the actual keyboard on the front.  The back of the box shows the features of the keyboard.

The keyboard design has a hinge shaped look.  The main keyboard area is flat, however, the speaker area hinges up so that the speakers are angled to face toward your head.  The keyboard is pretty much all black except the Verbatim logo at the bottom edge of the keyboard.  The edges of the keyboard for the most part have a glossy look, but I imagine those parts can get scratched easily.

The keyboard pretty much has your standard layout which includes the typical Windows shortcut keys.  There are however additional buttons near the speaker area as well as media player control buttons above the numlock key.   At the very top of the keyboard are a bunch of buttons.  From left to right, you can turn the illumination of the keyboard on and off, disable sound, the big button is to turn the speakers on and off, and there are volume control buttons to decrease/increase the volume.  The buttons for the most part are visually self-explanatory.

There’s not much to see at the back of the keyboard.  The main features that I noticed are the four large rubber grips and the 2 hinges to raise the height of the keyboard.  The design of the hinges is interesting since it allows the keyboard to be adjusted to two separate heights.  If you pull out the small hinge flap, it will raise the keyboard slightly.  And if you pull out the 2^nd hinge, it will raise the keyboard even more.  You will get a clearer picture of how that works by looking at the pictures shown.

When you turn on the illumination, the keys on the keyboard will have a glowing blue light.  The keys are lit in such a way that the light surrounds each key and there is just enough light to light up the actual number, letter, or symbol.  In the dark, you will be able to locate all the keys easily.

There are two satellite speakers on the keyboard itself.  I first chose to listen to music and watching videos.  The sound overall was generally good.  The vocals and instruments were clear.  The sound did sound slightly tinny in the highs, but did not detract from the experience.  When doing same gaming with the keyboard, I noticed that the speakers had excellent stereo separation. I could easily notice sounds coming from the left and right making it a bit easier to anticipate where enemies were coming from.  Whether it was shooting a gun from a machine gun or a shotgun, the sounds could be heard crystal clear.  In terms of volume, the sounds were still very clear even at high volume.  This keyboard is able to output sound loud enough for a small group to watch a movie huddled in front of a computer monitor.   Of course, these will not compare to a dedicated sound system which will be able to provide low bass and high sound output. 

One main question a person might ask is why a person needs speakers on their keyboard.  The main reason is that it reduces the extra bulk of having dedicated speaker system.  Also, since the speaker controls are just right above the keyboard, it can be considered even more convenient than reaching over to the side to change the volume of the speakers.  This is ideal for the college student living in a dorm and has limited space for things.  It can also be for someone who cares more about having a compact computing footprint on their desk.

Conclusion

I was really impressed with the build quality and features of the keyboard.  There are many keyboard out there, but the quality of this keyboard puts it near the quality of Microsoft and Logitech keyboards.  The illumination, sound, and media player features of this keyboard make this product appeal to gamers, music enthusiasts, and even those who love technology and are looking for that unique product to have.  While the speakers don’t quite match up with dedicated speakers, they still do provide clear sound quality.  This product can be purchased at Buy.com for just under $70.

 Our rating? a solid 4 out of 5.

Introduction
The Jabra GN9350 is a dual-function wireless headset designed for both traditional and PC-based telephone environments.  Jabra claims "state-of-the-art Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology removes impurities from the incoming signal, enriches sound quality, and maintains a safe, consistent volume level. It is also the first wireless headset for IP telephony that features wideband audio at 6.8 kHz which is more than twice that of conventional telephony".

Again I have invited my office's local OCS guru, Justin Morris, to roadtest the Jabra GN9350 and provide his impressions as an expert user.


First Impressions
The GN9350 has a silver and black slimline boom design that may not appeal to all but in my opinion is great for a professional environment.  Far from being a tiny discreet unit but given it is designed for an office environment it is certainly not out of place.  The headset weighs in at 26 grams which is heavier that other units we have previously reviewed for Jabra.  To compensate, the unit comes with both a headband or a neckband both of which were suitably comfortable to wear for an extended duration.

Hidden from view under the cover of the base station is an LCD display, a four way thumb pad for customising the features, a clear dial tone switch and a pairing button.

Installation was simple requiring at the most basic level, a line to the telephone cord port and another line to the handset port.  Connecting the USB cable from the base station to the notebook resulted in an automatic installation as a plug-and-play device.


In Action
As it has been with all the Jabra products that DigitalReviews have tested in the past few months, the sound quality on the GN9305 was excellent.  The unit is rated for a range of 300 feet (approx 100 m) and depending on the material of the building you are in, the mileage will vary.  With the need to connect the USB port to a workstation, one is very much tethered to the base station.

When the earpiece is lifted from the base station, Communicator would be taken off hook which makes life simpler.  On the handset side though, a handset lifter is an optional accessory, unless the phone has Electronic Hook Switch (EHS) which is a feature supported by the GN9350 to allow automatic answering of a call.

The unit is rated for up to 6 hours talk time on VoIP or 9 hours for normal telephony which generally covers a typical work day considering it would be recharging during a lunch break.  For those who can't stop talking, a second hot-swappable battery is available as an accessory.  Four LEDs in the base station provides an indication of the level of charge left in the headset.

One feature of note is that the GN9350 has 64-bit digital encryption enabled for secured communications.


Gripes
The base station takes a little practice to fit the headset back on for charging but with a bit of practice the problem mostly goes away.

It would be nice to have bluetooth connection between the base station and a PC or notebook as it would provide more freedom to roam around the office.

Similar to the previous Jabra review, the GN9350 does not get bundled with a handset lifter but is offered as an option.


Specifications
* Talk time: 6 hours VoIP, 9 hours telephone
* Standby time: 43 hours with base station powered on, 120 hours with based station powered off
* Battery recharging time: 3 hours
* Bandwidth: 200 Hz - 6.8 kHz full audio for VoIP, 200 Hz - 3.5 kHz in telephony mode
* Volume limit: PeakStop technology with max 118 db SPL (RMS)
* Weight (headset): 26 g (0.91 oz)
* Weight (base): 255g (9 oz)
* Operating frequency: 1.9GHz
* Wireless technology: DECT 6.0
* Music Streaming
* Wireless range up to 90 meters (300 feet)
* Clear calls in noisy environments
* Security: 64-bit digital encryption
* Conference call: Up to 4 units
* Three wearing styles: earhook, neckband and headband

In the box
* Jabra GN9350 headset
* Jabra GN9350 base
* Power supply
* 1 x neckband
* 1 x headband
* 1 x earhook
* 1 x USB Connection cord
* 1 x Telephony cord
* User manual


Conclusion
In short the Jabra GN9350 is a compact unit with great sound quality.  It is excellent for a desk-based user vis-a-vis a road warrior.  There were some minor gripes but at the asking price, a handset lifter would certainly would not have gone astray.

The Jabra GN9350 retails for around USD$250 or AUD$360.  Thank you Jabra again for the on-going support.
 

In them we always talk about RAID configurations and provide a brief explanation when we do so.

But sometimes it's good to get more than just a quick reminder and dig into a solid overview of all the RAID possibilities. 

Well, our friends at OZHardware did just that and here's the link to an excellent article.

They haven't mentioned RAID 10 yet but there are two more advanced write-ups coming!

Thanks, guys!

Introduction
The Jabra M5390 is no ordinary bluetooth headset, it is a multiuse headset that connects simultaneously to mobiles, desk phones and PC softphones.  Additionally, Jabra is one of three vendors (including GN Netcom entity) who has Microsoft Office Communicator certified headsets.  Of these three vendors, Jabra has the most products certified for OCS (Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007).

Due to the OCS certification, I invited my office's local OCS guru, Justin Morris, to roadtest the Jabra M5390 and provide his impressions as an expert user.


First Impressions
The Jabra M5390 is black with a discreet silver trim that has corporate environment firmly in mind for the design cues.  The long boom is slightly curved to follow the contour of your face to place the microphone as close to the mouth as possible.  Weighing in at a mere 15 grams, it is sufficiently light enough to not cause undue discomfort after a long period on the ear.

The unit comes with a matt black round base station with an indentation to fit the M5390 headset in for charging purposes.  The A335W USB adapter is paired with the rest of the M5390 kit for quick connections.


In Action
In JM's words, the M5390 is a great compact headset to use.  The sound quality is very clear and the unit sits on the ear comfortably.  With the base station sitting on the desk in the office and only the A335W dongle and earpiece on the road, the Jabra M5390 provided a lot of freedom whilst maintaining connection to the Office Communication Server.  The button on the side of the boom works to take the Communicator off-hook and dial.

The battery life is rated at 6 hours which rates reasonably well considering the unit is designed for people who are tethered mostly to an office environment with the occasional trip.


Gripes
At the rate Jabra has been going in the last few reviews, it is almost going to make this section redundant.  However, with the M5390, on occasion it can take some time to open Communicator when the off-hook button is pressed.  I understand however, that this issue is already resolved with a recent firmware update.

The firmware update also rectifies the issue where the device is only being detected as a USB audio device rather than a communications device – the unit becomes the default audio output when plugged in.

Last of the gripes, the Jabra M5390 does not get bundled with a handset lifter but is offered as an option.


Specifications
* Talk time: 6 hours
* Standby time: 60 Hours
* Weight: 15 g (0.53 oz)
* Music Streaming
* Wireless range up to 70 meters
* Bluetooth technology
* Clear calls in noisy environments
* True wideband sound with USB dongle
* Compatible with most desk phone systems
* A335W dongle is compliant with PC based softphones including Cisco IP Softphone, Skype, etc.

In the box
* Jabra M5390 headset
* Jabra M5390 base + charger
* Two wearing styles: earhook and headband
* A335w wideband Bluetooth USB dongle
* Travel charger
* Power supply
* USB Connection cord
* User manual


Conclusions
The Jabra M5390 Multiuse Headset is a great Unified Communications device.  With a great sound quality and seamless integration with mobiles, desk phones and soft phones, it is worthy of consideration for the corporate office.  It certainly got JM's seal of approval: works awesomely and is rad!  The M5390 is available now for around USD$180 or AUD$389.
 

First Impressions
The Kodak EasyShare W1020 Digital Frame exudes a certain simple elegance when admired from afar.  The construction is a strictly plastic affair with a simple glossy white border surrounded by black edging.  It is not fine timber or cool metal but the result is quite pleasing.  A number of stick-on "mat boards" are provided as part of the package if you so wish to add a touch of colour and stray from the default white.

The kickstand swivels and locks into place giving the option of having the frame in either landscape or portrait orientation. There are keyhole slots for mounting the frame to a wall in either orientation and also a threaded tripod mount for those who wants to display their photos in that manner.  In landscape mode the bottom of the frame has cleverly hidden rubber feet to help prevent the frame moving about and scratching the surface it is sitting on.  This treatment however is not applied to the portrait mode.

The back part of the frame is home to card readers including support for CompactFlash, SD/SDHC/MMC, Memory Stick and xD-Picture cards.  There is support for Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Pro Duo cards but the required adaptor is not provided as part of the package.  There is USB and USB mini connectors, one in each flavour and the frame supports reading from USB mass storage devices.

Also tucked away on the back part of the frame is the power button, volume control and audio in/out jacks.


In Action
The 10 inch LCD has a resolution of 800x840 pixels which is par for course for a photo frame of this size.  The panel has a 16:9 aspect ratio which I have always find to be an interesting choice for a photo frame as happy snaps has a 3:2 aspect ratio.  Certainly Kodak is not the only manufacturer to make this decision.

The most noticeable feature on the Kodak W1020 reveals itself the moment you turn on the unit.  Two strips of discreet orange lights runs along the right and bottom edges to indicate two sets of touch-sensitive areas for controlling the W1020's menus.  A gentle tap brings up the menu and with a bit of a learning curve helped by some on-screen hints, I could navigate the menus reasonably well.  Scrolling is done by swiping your finger along the bottom touch strip then pressing the corresponding "Select" touch point along the right strip.  The hardest part is to keep remembering that it is not a touch screen device and wondering why it was not responding.

Picture quality is above average though not razor sharp.  The images are a little lacking in details but bearing in mind the 800x480 resolution it does a decent job.  The colours are quite natural and lean towards the vivid palette.  The black is not deep but is compensated with a good mid-tone range to give definition to shadows.  Viewing angles are good but not awe inspiring.  In landscape mode, it is almost impossible to see the image from the left but from all other sides is fine.

There are two speakers embedded on the back of the frame which provides passable quality sounds for background music in MP3 format.  Given the space limitation these speakers are never going to achieve high fidelity.  There is an audio out socket which could be used to connect the frame to external speakers which may provide better quality sound.

In addition to displaying photos, the W1020 has limited video support in the MPEG-1, MPEG-4, AVI and MOV formats.  The 512 Mb of built-in memory is rated to hold about 4,000 photos resized to the fit the frame's resolution.  One item to note is that photos are automatically resized during the process of transferring photos to the frame.

A sought after feature in the Kodak W1020 is the wireless support opening up an array of methods to have photos displayed on the frame.  In addition to being able to copy photos from your PC, there is support for Kodak's own Gallery service, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, Webshots, Facebook and MSN photo sharing services.

As a value added proposition, with some configuration via the Kodak's FrameChannel Web the W1020 is capable of displaying news, sports, weather and other information.


Gripes
As always, there are a number of areas which are found to be issues.  The general OS is sound and reasonably responsive.  However, the biggest hurdle I faced in the process of road testing the Kodak W1020 undoubtedly is the virtual keyboard.  Using the scroll bar interface to enter a maximum level security wireless passphrase ranks as one of the most annoying tasks I have had to do in recent times.  I have to say I am glad that I only have to do it once.

There is no sensor to detect the orientation of the frame so there is no auto-rotate function.

No fittings provided for the wall mount.

Specifications
Image file formats: JPEG, EXIF
Video formats: MPEG 1 and 4, AVI, MOV
Audio formats: MP3
Dimensions: 29.8 x 20.8 x 3.4 cm (11.7 x 8.2 x 1.3 in.)
Weight: 893 g (31.5 oz)
Display size: 25.9 cm (10.2 in.) diagonal
Display area: 22.1x 13.2 cm (8.7 × 5.2 in.)
Display resolution: 800 x 480 pixels
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Display type: aSi TFT active matrix
Display backlight: LED
Display brightness: 350 NITs
Contrast ratio: 300:1
Memory: 512 MB* internal memory available, 2 memory card expansion slots
Memory cards supported: Secure Digital (SD), Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC), Multimedia Card (MMC), MEMORY STICK (MS), XD-Picture Card (xD), CompactFlash (CF), USB flash drives
Power consumption: 6.80 W (power on), 0.47 W (standby power), 0.47 W (power off)
Power supply: 100–120 V AC, 60 Hz (US), 100–240 V AC, 50/60 Hz (WW), 12 V DC
Operating temperature: 0° to 50° C (32° to 122° F)


Conclusions
The Kodak W1020 is a well thought out digital photo frame that performs the basic photo display function admirably.  Without doubt it is feature packed although some features are less useful than first appears.  Overall there is a good balance between the performance, image quality, features against the cost.  The ability to connect to web based image hosting website certainly makes this an attractive proposition as a gift to the less technology savvy members of the family who are keen to see changing images from your life.

I did find it challenging to navigate all the options via the frame once the initial work was done.  However, in the normal course of use I would invest the time and effort to configure the unit to function as I want it then rarely change the settings unless required.

Kodak EasyShare W1020 Wireless Digital Frame is available now for USD$229.95 (or AUD$429.00).

In this review, we take a look at a SSD that is actually affordable.  With a reasonable size of 32GB and a price tag potential of just under $100, this is a product that seems to be just right for a consumer looking to take advantage of this technology.

 

Introduction

I personally believe that Solid State disks is the next step up in hard drive technology.  SSD's

are different than traditional hard drives (the kind where you see 5400RPM or 7200RPM on the

box).  How are they different?  The first and most obvious answer is that that they have no

moving parts.  You've seen those tiny USB flash drives that you can easily find in your local

electronics store.  It is pretty much the same idea.  If you are aware how a traditional hard

drive works, you will know that there are metal plates that spin at high speeds with a tiny arm

and head that reads data off those plates.  Based on that kind of mechanism alone, if data is

being read on one area of a plate and needs to access data on an area at the opposite side, it

can take some time for the plate to spin just enough so the data can be read.  This is called

the access time.  SSD's behave much differently.  Since flash memory is being used and there are

no moving parts, the data is always just there ready to be accessed instantly.

A Closer Look

Today, we will be looking at the Cavalry Pelican 2.5" Solid State Drive (SSD) with a capacity of

32 Gigabytes.  With a 2.5" form factor, this is ideal for putting in a notebook computer since

the majority of notebooks use a 2.5" hard drive.

The product came in a simple plastic container.  It was surrounded by a clear plastic bag

because there is a USB cable included with the product.

Specifications

The back of the container listed the specifications of the product. 

The following are the specifications of the drive:

Capacity: 32GB
Interface Type: SATA & USB 2.0
Sequential Read: 130MB/sec
Sequential Write: 90MB/sec
Random Read: 80MB/sec
Random Write: 25MB/sec
MTBF: 2,000,000 (may be an error since the website says 1,400,000)
Power Consumption: 390mA active and 300mA idle
Temperature: Storage -40C to 85C, Operating 0C to 70C
Humidity: 95% under 55C
Mechanical: Shock: 1500/0.5ms, Vibration: 20G/20-2000Hz
Acoustic: 0dB
Seek Time: 0.1ms
Operating System: Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS9 or later and Linux

There's not much to see visually when you see the product.  It seems like a solid metal

container.  It is completely black, but there is a sticker on it identify that this is a Cavalry

branded product.

What is interesting about this product is that it has both a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and

mini-USB port.  The SATA interface will mainly be used when it is put in a notebook computer

that supports SATA.  The mini USB port is very convenient in being able to use the drive as is

for storage just like any other USB flash drive or USB key.

After installing the SSD in a notebook, I immediately noticed a difference in noise levels. 

Since the SSD has no moving parts, there is a much lesser operating temperature.  Because of

that, my notebook was dead silent because it didn't need to turn on the internal fan to cool

things down.

Testing

I used HDTach to benchmark the read speed of the drive.  I found a difference in the results

when testing the USB vs the SATA interface.  Using the USB interface connected to a desktop

computer, I was able to achieve a sequential read speed of 31.3MB/sec, a sequential burst speed

of 35.1MB/sec, a random access time of 0.5ms, and CPU utilization of 11%. 

When using a Hitachi Deskstar 320GB 7200RPM desktop hard drive, I was able to achieve a

sequential read speed of 55.4MB/sec, sequential burst of 123.6MB/sec, a random access time of

13.5ms, and CPU utilization at 4%.

When using the Calvary SDD, I was able to achieve a sequential read speed of 80.4MB/sec,

sequential burst of 111.3MB/sec, a random access time of 0.4ms, and CPU utilization at 22%%.  It

is interesting to note that a SSD will take a little more processing power.

Out of curiosity, I also test a Corsair Voyager 8GB USB Flash drive. I was able to achieve a

sequential read speed of 33MB/sec, sequential burst of 33MB/sec, a random access time of 0.5ms,

and CPU utilization at 17%%.

When transferring large files on the notebook computer, the average write speed shown was about

20MB/sec.  There is a big difference in comparison with a desktop hard drive which can get about

50MB/sec on my desktop.

I was able to boot a freshly installed XP from the moment of pushing the power button on the

notebook and seeing the main desktop loaded in XP took an impressive 23 seconds.  Doing the same

test on the same notebook with a regular notebook hard drive, it took 29 seconds to boot.

Conclusion
Based on a my tests in this review, this budget SSD drive still has a way to go in terms of

write speeds.  Because of that, it is not as fast as a traditional hard drive yet.  So who would

this product be ideal for?  I think this product would be great for those who do light to medium

work on their notebooks.  The incredibly fast access times translate to applications and

documents that load up faster.  In addition, it is also ideal for someone looking to cut their

boot times down.  At Buy.com this drive sells for $110 or $99 after rebate.  That is considered

a bargain for a SSD drive these days.  But if you do gaming or heavy work, I'd recommend

sticking with the traditional hard drive until the fastest SSD drives come down in price and

until the technology matures even further.

Read on for our review.

As I hinted in the introduction, the first time I heard about the Chinavasion A-320 I wasn't entirely sure it was real: The feature set was unbelievable and its tiny form factor and pictures seemed too slick to be true. And the fact that it coming to my attention around April 1 didn't fill me with confidence either.

Despite all this, I put it all on the line and set about getting my grubby little hands on an A-320. A week or so after placing my order at Chinavasion's website, my cluttered desk got that little bit more cluttered: Turns out Chinavasion's A-320 Micro Game Station was real after all.

IN THE BOX

Beyond the unit itself, the A-320 was accompanied by a USB cable, a US power brick (with international adapter), a composite TV cable and a pair of rudimentary headphones. Also included were two manuals (one English and one Chinese), two pieces of unknown (Chinese) paperwork, a small triangular quality control tag and a bright orange "Do not attempt to flash/update the firmware on this MP3/MP4 player," slip.

It is interesting to note that on both the paperwork and the unit itself - both on its exterior and its boot screen - the A-320 identified itself as a Dingoo Digital. A quick Google search revealed that the Dingoo Digital is a product with a growing community and something of a revelation in the retro gaming scene. Why Chinavasion doesn't openly advertise this, I'm not entirely sure.
The build quality of the A-320 is quite good and despite weighing in at only 100g, the unit really does feel as neat as it looks in the photographs. And with dimensions of 125x55x14mm the size is just about perfect.

The top of the unit is a single piece of clear plastic, with its D-pad and six buttons (labeled X, Y, A, B, start and select) being the only protrusions. Beneath this clear layer is a 2.8" 320x240 LCD screen which for its size and application, is more than acceptable. Throughout my testing I found the image to be sharp with bright colours and a fairly wide viewing angle. No dead/bright pixels were present in our sample.

The rear of the unit is built from a slightly grippy matte plastic which contrasts the smooth front nicely. Along with some small regulatory stickers and the Dingoo Digital logo, four small rubber stoppers round out the otherwise unremarkable bottom of the A-320.

The left side of the unit has two small holes - one for the built in microphone and the other for initiating an emergency reset. On the opposite side is a 3.5mm headphone port and a sliding on/off/hold switch. The top (front) surface is stark in comparison, with only the left and right shoulder buttons located where you would expect them to be.

The bottom (back) side of the A-320 is by far the busiest: Two silver 4x8mm speaker grills adorn each side, while the centre features a MiniSD port. To the port's left is a MiniUSB port while to its right is a 3.5mm A/V out port.

All things considered, the A-320 feels a lot more like it was made by one of the big three, than the relatively unknown Dingoo Digital.

Popular photo formats such as JPG, GIF, PNG and BMP can also be viewed as both thumbnails and full screen images.

Radio stations can be listened to (and recorded!) via the unit's built in FM tuner which can be programmed to store your favorite FM stations. Live audio recording is also possible via the built in microphone in three preset MP3 quality settings - High medium and low.

Text files can be viewed via the E-Book menu and both the internal and MiniSD storage space can be accessed via a built in file browser allowing simple file management directly from the unit.

The A-320's storage space is good too, with 4GB of built in memory - About 3.5GB available after the pre-installed software and demo files are taken into account. In any case, storage space can be easily expanded via the unit's MiniSD card slot.

USAGE

The A-320's menu system is neat and very easy to use. Each menu item has relevant sub menus which are accesed by navigating vertically. While most items are aptly named, some menu items are a little more cryptic - Emulation is listed as "Interesting Game" while your list of Radio Stations is labelled as "Campus Radio." Everything else is pretty much as it should be however, and getting your way around the menu system is fairly straight forward - The only real learning curve is getting used to hitting the A to select and B to return which for gamers should be no learning curve at all.

The A-320 comes with eight native 3D Games included which were interesting but ultimately relegated to curious oddity status. The 3D Games were playable and even enjoyable to an extent, but at the end of the day they felt like something to keep you occupied while you located games for the numerous emulators.

While we have already mentioned the A-320's myriad features, the most alluring is certainly its ability to emulate the games consoles Generation X grew up playing. While I couldn't dedicate a vast amount of time to find and play all the games supported - literally in the thousands - I did give a few a try to test the unit's abilities.

All GBA games I attempted to play worked well, with both sound and graphics emulated with no noticeable flaws. NES games were similarly good with no noticeable flaws in the emulation in all games tested. For the most part SNES emulation was good but not as perfect as GBA and NES. Some games worked well, but most required tweaking of the frame skip settings to get them to work adequately. Other games seemed to work better without sound - both by increasing speed and for some games, avoiding audio garbling. While most games worked after tweaking the settings, some more complex games (enhanced chipsets) flatly refused to play.

NEOGEO emulation was generally good with most games tested working well. At least one game loaded with corrupt graphics and a few others played without any audio. Those that did work, however, worked pretty much flawlessly, particularly once frame skip settings were adjusted to suit.

Megadrive (or for those on the other side of the pond, Genesis) emulation was a little more hit and miss. Some games played back well (again with changes to frame skip settings) but others were quite ordinary. The image was prone to flickering on most games tested while some just refused to play altogether. Overall, Megadrive/Genesis emulation stood out as the least playable emulator included on the A-320.

I tried a number of CPS-1 (Capcom Play System) games with good results. Most games tested worked well with no real issues. A few games refused to play, but generally, the emulator worked well with accurate audio and graphics throughout. While supported, I was unable to test any CPS-2 any games.

While all the emulators are slightly different, all have a fairly standard in-game menu which can be brought up by pressing the start and select buttons simultaneously. Overall, the ability of the unit to run emulated games was good and with some tweaks of the settings - frame skip mostly - most games should be at the very least playable.

Before moving on to the other features, I'll quickly restate that while the A-320 played back the selection of games I tested in the fashion described, other games may demonstrate varied results.

The various trailers and clips included in the A-320's internal memory all seemed to playback well, but when I played back a number of videos from my own collection, my success was somewhat hit and miss. Most files I attempted to playback resulted in an "Unknown Media Format" message, with a few low quality AVI files being the exception.

I did manage to play some DVD resolution AVI files but they generally stuttered enough to render them unwatchable - in my opinion. I'd suggest that with some trial and error, it wouldn't be difficult to find encoding settings that would allow for reasonable quality and smooth playback on the A-320, but don't expect it to play the majority of files it encounters, natively.

By contrast, the playback of audio files was smooth - I played back a number of MP3 files (VBR and constant bitrate) without issue. The output from the speakers was okay - about as good as you could expect for their size.

The A-320 is able to view text files and the 300kb files I threw at it worked perfectly. PDF files are not supported. Viewing pictures also worked without issue, and in testing the A320 managed to view 10 Megapixel JPG images, without issue, if a little slowly.

Radio reception was good with all the major Melbourne stations being picked up without issue. Audio quality was acceptable too and the ability to tune in stations manually (and create a personal playlist or Campus Listing) was handy.

Recording via the microphone produced good (but not stellar) results. The settings allow for files to be recorded in high medium or low quality and for all test recordings I chose the High setting. This setting resulted in fairly good audio quality with iTunes reporting recorded files as being in stereo with a 64kbps bitrate and a sample rate of 16.000hz. While these files sounded okay through my MacBook Pro's speakers, I wouldn't be using the A-320 for any archival purposes from the radio (or from the microphone for that matter). Of course, the recording feature is very handy for remembering a song you hear on the radio or quickly recording a quick memo.

Getting files to and from the A-320 is as simple as plugging in a USB cable or using the MiniSD card slot. For testing, we managed to pickup a MicroSD to MiniSD adapter on the cheap which worked perfectly. Reading files from the internal memory or MinSD card worked well under windows, but in OSX suffered from occasional drop outs for reasons I couldn't fully diagnose. Battery life was good and we managed to get well over five ours out of a single charge. While the A-320 package did include an International power adapter, it might be worth mentioning that my Australian iPod Classic power pack (connected via USB) charged the A-320 no problem.

CONCLUSION

The A-320 is a fine example of how technology has changed in the past ten years: Not only is the A-320 smaller than most of the console cartridges it is able to play, but it can also playback audio and video files and even play and record FM radio!

I generally found the unit a pleasure to use with only minor gripes: The unit did crash once or twice during testing but the emergency reset button quickly got the unit back on track. Some hardcore gamers may find the buttons or D-pad feel to be less than ideal also but I personally had no problem with it. In fact, the only improvements I would suggest are a hardware audio slider and moving from the nearly defunct MiniSD format to Micro or regular SD cards.

In summary, the ability of the A-320 to playback video (with some caveats), audio, record FM radio, display text and images and even record via its built in microphone makes this unit good value. Add to this list the ability to take Generation X back to that warm fuzzy place where they played their favourite 8/16 bit consoles and the A-320 becomes nothing short of priceless.

I know the A-320 isn't perfect, but I can't help but like it.

7.5/10

The A-320 is available from Chinavasion in black or white for $87US, or cheaper if bought in volumes greater than three.

First, let's focus in on some of the reasons why these network attached storage systems are becoming so prevalent.
For one, we all have massive amounts of data that we either generate ourselves or download from the Internet.  Music and video libraries plus photographic images have a tendency to quickly fill any hard drive of any size.  We can store them off-line but how?  DVDs don't do the job any more.  The only viable option is another hard drive.  But really we also want to have all our data accessible all the time so the hard drive needs to be attached.  And ideally, we want our data to be accessible to all the computers in our business or at home.  In other words in a network.  And lastly, it is important to have enough storage so that we can back up regularly, or more ideally, on-the-fly so that our data is always backed up and secure.  Hence the Network Attached Storage systems.


Unboxing and Installation

The design of the NS4600 is such that you would be proud to show it off on your desk.  And that is just from an aesthetic point of view.  Even more important is the inside design where they have used plastic drive rails to hold the hard disk drives, rather than metal ones.  The folks from Promise Technology wanted us to know that going for plastic was the better design decision for a number of reasons: not just because it is a bit cheaper (which it probably is) but because it eliminates vibration which is something you must do without in a setup like this.  Metal rails might be better if you constantly have to remove the hard disk drives but in reality that may never happen.  Unless of course you decide to fit the NS4600 in the cheapest possible way by putting in the lowest quality hard drives with the lowest capacity.  Some hard drives have an abysmal track record when it comes to failure but the high-end Western Digital and Hitachi drives are probably among the best when it comes to Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF).  And my motto is always to go for the highest capacity you can afford. 

Installation of these hard drives was a cinch and the total time from unboxing to seeing the NS4600 recognised on my system was less than an hour.  Mind you, I did not refer to the manual, seeing it is not the first NAS system that we have installed.  If this is virgin territory for you please have a good read of the excellent instructions that come with it. Most of your setup time will be spent screwing in the hard drives...

Powering up the unit takes about 90 secs initially.
The "Power" button on the front, by the way, is actually the One-Touch Backup button. Looks suspiciously like a power button but the real thing you'll find recessed on the rear of the unit...

You can't see it as a normal hard disk drive on your system initially but after installation of the NaviSmart software  you can easily browse the NAS through your network and map the shared network drives, like use the letter M for your Music drive, P for Photos or Pictures, etc..
When you're done with the software install, no Windows restart is necessary which is great.

One of the great features of the Promise SmartStor system is that you only need to install the SmartNAVI software on your main computer and not on every system on your network.  They can easily see and access the NAS with the proper authorisation, unlike the Netgear system we had before this. 

So the basic steps for installation are:
* Install the four drives as detailed in the Quick Start Guide
* Attach one end of the CAT 5e network cable to the RJ45 connection and other end to Ethernet hub or switch
* Install SmartNAVI software

And that's essentially it.  You might not necessarily do it within 45 minutes but the instructions will not leave you in the lurch and before long you will have a fast and reliable data storage system and media server with excellent backup facilities.

So far, the NS4600 been everything we expected and hoped for.

Features

Let's quickly highlight the main features of the Promise NS4600.
We will elaborate on these much more in our in-depth review of course.

Performance wise, we should be able to look for Sequential Read in a Raid 5 situation between 40 to 50MB/s and Writes between 30-40MB/s.  We will probably see this confirmed when we use IOMeter benchmark software.

The SmartNavi software is very easy to use and probably one of the most advanced GUIs that is out on the market today, enabling you to configure the 4600 very easily.

Of course it supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 with RAID 5 most everyone's choice these days as it combines protection and performance nearly similar to RAID 0.

Snapshot One Touch Backup: Snapshot allows users to takes a quick real time image of the SmartStor volume in seconds. Users can then restore the specific point-in-time data, providing a seamless automatic backup solution.

DLNA, BitTorrent and iTunes Server Plug-Ins.

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is standard for connecting digital devices for automatic
discovery and streaming to Music, Pictures and Videos.

XBOX 360 Support – You can stream Music, Picture and Video from the NS4600 via XBOX 360.

Media Tagging – Support for Media Tagging will provide correct Album, Artist,
Genre and Title information to the Digital Media Player. Remote Access Media Center (Phase One) – NS4600 features a Remote Access Media Center for accessing Digital Content (Music, Pictures and Videos) remotely from anywhere in the world.

ITunes Server with Video Playback (Plug-In) provides the ability for iTunes Applications running on
the PC and Mac to automatically discover music stored on the NS4600.

BitTorrent Client/Download Station provides the ability to download BitTorrent or Torrent Content
using the NS4600. This allows for downloads without the need for a PC.



The Promise SmartStor NS4600 will be readily available in mid-May 2009. MSRP is US$499.00.

If this has whetted your appetite -- stay tuned for Part II.
Coming out soon...




Specifications

Microsoft Windows Vista Home, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate
Microsoft Windows Server 2003/2008,
XP Home/Professional and Windows 2000
Red Hat Linux Enterprise 3.0, 4.0 (AS/WS/ES)
SuSE Linux Enterprise 10 (Server/Desktop)
Macintosh OS X (10.4.x and 10.5.x)

 Most of the tests that you come across on websites like ours deal with bits and bytes as well as speeds and specs.  Sometimes these seem far removed from real life issues...

So, how about a perspective from a user on installing an SSD in a notebook and letting us know the pitfalls and the difference it makes in speed and other matters?

 First things first.

Other Observations

 Conclusion

Let's first answer the question: why?

Good question (if I may say so) because it is not particularly pretty nor unobtrusive to have in your line of sight all the time. The normal way to fasten any device onto your windscreen is with a suction cup holder which works fine in all cases except in Europe. There the Brussels bureaucratic busybodies got it in their heads that this would be unsafe. This may be so if you consider the fact that when you park your car and take your phone or device with you and remove the suction cup, the ugly ring would be the tell-tale sign that this vehicle might have something worthwhile to steal. So this contraption will not leave any suction marks on your windscreen and that is a plus. The fact that it complies with the new European laws means there is a definite market in that neck of the woods. Coupled with the fact that you can use it straight out of the box means that Adapt may have something here. Yes, there are also some cars that have such a deeply recessed windscreen that it is almost impossible to find a suitable place for a suction cup....

So how does it work?
It's a function of weight and an anti-slip material that is so strong and resistive that a rear end collision is unlikely to move it. On the other hand it is very easy to pick up together with the device that you have suctioned onto it so, rather than stretching out your arms to program in your destination, I find it much easier to just pick up the whole assembly and fiddle with it before driving off. This functionality also makes it easier for your passenger to pick up the thing, do some navigating or select some good music tracks.
We also tested it under some rigourous driving conditions with sharp turns and heavy braking. It seems that nothing can move it from from its rightful place.

Conclusion
When I started this review I realised there is not much to say about a simple device such as the  Dashboard Donut. It all boils down to: is it value for money? In Europe the price is around 25 euros. This translates to about USD32. Fortunately you don't have to pay for the weight -- even if they have real lead in the Donut...

There are plenty of other solutions out there but this one does what it is advertised to do and does it very well. My only beef is that it is a fairly massive affair, necessitated by the weight. However I think that any improvement in reducing the size of the Donut has to do with the increase in stickiness. This will allow Adapt to make smaller models which would be even better suited to the smaller European cars...

It's no wonder that the Donut is already a big hit in Europe but for the rest of the world availability might be an issue. I know we here at Digitalreviews Network get our gadgets early on in the game and often even before they are officially released so it is not surprising that the Donut is looking for resellers all around the world.

As they say: "they sell like hot cakes... err: donuts!"