reviews Archive

  • Bremont U-2 watch review

    Bremont U-2 watch review

    Posted on June 14, 2010 | No Comments
    ABlogToRead has another in-depth review of one of our favorite watches, the Bremont U2. The watch is styled after the instrumentation of the U-2 spy plane and includes a specially protected movement inside a special material that allows the watch to survive - get this - a freaking cockpit ejection at full Gs. There is even another little treat for those in the know:
    Like the MB1 watches, the seconds hand has an emergency eject handle as the counterweight. This handle would rest between your legs in a Martin Baker ejection seat - ready to be pulled in the case of an emergency. It has no such function in the watch! Imagine an ejection lever that would eject the movement from the case. That would reach new heights of pointless complications.

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  • Review and contest: Vizit, the first two-way, fully interactive digital photo frame

    Review and contest: Vizit, the first two-way, fully interactive digital photo frame

    Posted on June 10, 2010 | No Comments
    We've reviewed a number of digital picture frames here at CrunchGear, and they each strive to fit a slightly different niche. Isabella's new Vizit Frame brings some interesting new features to this crowded space. It sports a gorgeous 10.4" touchscreen, 3G wireless connectivity, and the ability to send pictures from the frame to someone's email address. It's probably the best digital picture frame I've reviewed yet, but still has a couple rough spots.

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  • HTC EVO 4G for Sprint Review

    HTC EVO 4G for Sprint Review

    Posted on May 31, 2010 | No Comments
    Let's clear the air right away: The Evo 4G isn't the second coming. It's not the iPhone slayer. It might not even be the best Android phone available to date. But it is a solid phone with amazing hardware running the consumer-friendly HTC Sense Android release. That's a good thing.

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  • Review: Sony Vaio Z-Series

    Review: Sony Vaio Z-Series

    Posted on May 28, 2010 | No Comments
    Short Version: The Sony Vaio Z-Series is a thin and light with a mission: to prove that a tiny – but expensive – laptop can run Windows 7 and almost anything you throw at it like a champ. Features: Intel Core i5 Processor 13-inch screen 3 lbs with battery Chiclet keyboard MSRP: About $1,899 ($2,299 as reviewed) Pros: Amazingly light Long battery life Optical drive Cons: Scratch prone [...]

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  • Review: Two smokeless cigarette solutions, Green Nicotine and Ploom

    Review: Two smokeless cigarette solutions, Green Nicotine and Ploom

    Posted on May 21, 2010 | No Comments
    I’m a bit of a smoker – cigars, mostly, and only when I feel like alienating all my friends – so I figured I’d try out some of these “electronic” cigarettes. I’ve already reviewed one similar to Green Nicotine, the SuperSmoker. However, Ploom is a bit different. Ploom uses a little butane heater ignited by a [...]

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  • Review: Sony Vaio F Series Laptop

    Review: Sony Vaio F Series Laptop

    Posted on May 20, 2010 | No Comments
    Short Version: Sony has always had a way with big laptops. Their F-Series, starting at $999 and going all the way up to about $1700 on a good day, is a monster but doesn’t feel huge and his heavy without being a boat anchor. With only about two hours of battery life you’re not going [...]

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  • Review: Marvin M103 Chronograph

    Review: Marvin M103 Chronograph

    Posted on May 13, 2010 | No Comments
    There are a few classic watch styles. There's the GMT and there's the three register chrono. But one of my favorites is the day/date chrono powered by the Swiss ETA Valjoux 7750. That's the movement that powers the Marvin M103 and, at about $1,790 with a favorable exchange rate. The watch is a standard three-register chrono with a seconds hand and a 12-hour register. The action is quite smooth and the large, handsome crown offers a nice bit of steel to grasp for setting the time and date. Marvin has created a very sporty chrono here and, although I wouldn't take this particular model under water, it is water resistant to 5ATM.

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  • Review: Doxie document scanner

    Review: Doxie document scanner

    Posted on May 11, 2010 | No Comments
    This is a great scanner for occasional scanning of single pages. It doesn't have an auto document feeder, so you're not going to use it for large scanning jobs. You'll use it to scan your W-2, or old family photos, or that newspaper clipping your mom saved from when you did something famous in your home town. For $129 it provides a good deal of functionality, including the ability to send your scanned items directly to a number of online services (Flickr, Picnik, etc). It's small and lightweight, which makes it a no-brainer to take with you on the go; but the form factor does present some placement issues.

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  • Review Round-up: Custom in-ear headphones

    Review Round-up: Custom in-ear headphones

    Posted on May 6, 2010 | No Comments
    There are a few ways to to get excellent audio out of a pair of headphones. You can have excellent components or a tight, close fit or special electronics. Or, better yet, you can have all three. I was lucky enough to be able to try three types of custom earphones/earbuds and am please to [...]

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  • Review: LiveBooks photo site

    Review: LiveBooks photo site

    Posted on May 4, 2010 | No Comments
    Short version: LiveBooks is a website designed to provide a platform for photographers and other artists to display and sell their work online. It’s an interesting alternative to the other sites out there in that it’s relatively easy to use, and the standard design templates are extremely well done. Features: No upload limit Drag and drop image management Password [...]

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  • Review: Casio GA-100 G-Shock Sports Watch

    Review: Casio GA-100 G-Shock Sports Watch

    Posted on April 30, 2010 | No Comments
    The G-Shock is a tough watch to love. They're Casio's answer to the Timex Ironman and, while they're quite rugged, the line has drifted towards Swatch-esque fashion models. Well, I'm glad to report the GA-100 brings it all back home with a world-time feature and stop watch that brings to mind the Citizen Skyhawk series with its dedicated readout windows below bold hands. The so-called "Three Eye" design (I guess the three dials - one analog and two digital - are the eyes? Whatever) and huge hands make this thing quite readable. The watch is light - about 70g - the watch is surprisingly cheap at about $99. It has a 1/1000th of a second stop watch, countdown timer, 29 time zones, and four alarms. It is shock and magnetically resistant, so you can wear it in the hatch in Lost.

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  • Review: Plantronics Voyager PRO UC Bluetooth headset

    Review: Plantronics Voyager PRO UC Bluetooth headset

    Posted on April 27, 2010 | No Comments
    There’s a small market for Bluetooth headsets that come with auto-pairing dongles. Some peeps need a quick and reliable way to use software like Microsoft Office Communicator and Skype and so I tested out the Jabra GO 6430 a few weeks back. While I found the audio superb, it didn’t fit right in my ear. Plantronics [...]

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  • Review: Energizer Recharge Smart Charger

    Review: Energizer Recharge Smart Charger

    Posted on April 27, 2010 | No Comments
    The last time I paid attention to rechargeable batteries was probably back in the early 1990s. We had this huge recharging tech that allowed you to recharge all sorts of batteries - none of which we owned - so we were limited to recharging the D cells we had and used in, as I recall, some kind of remote controlled boat. Anyway, Energizer has brought the battery charger into the 21st century by adding an LCD display that shows current charge level and, get this, hours left until a full charge. There's not much to say here. You can charge AA and AAA batteries - not at the same time - and the $19.99 kit includes four AA batteries, which is nice.

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  • Review: Kodak 7250 All-in-One Printer

    Review: Kodak 7250 All-in-One Printer

    Posted on April 23, 2010 | No Comments
    Scrapbookin’ and it feels so good Short Version: Kodak knows how to make low-cost printers with plenty of great features. The 7250 is no exception. Features: 802.11n wireless and Ethernet LCD display 32ppm black and wite, 30ppm color Wireless printing from iPhone, Blackberry MSRP: $199 Pros: Great networking features Compact Duplexing Cons: UI a bit hard to follow Low-resolution LCD Small paper trays There are few things are boring as printers. [...]

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  • Time is Money: a review of the Meeting Cost Calculator and Clock

    Time is Money: a review of the Meeting Cost Calculator and Clock

    Posted on April 23, 2010 | No Comments
    Many people lament about how unproductive the traditional "business meeting" is. One or more participants feel the need to assert their opinion at great length, or simply regurgitate the same information multiple times. Most of us sit passively through these time-wasting meetings because ... well ... I don't know! But now you can have the facts on your side when you want to remind people that any particular meeting is wasting time. Just Bring TIM, the "Time is Money" meeting cost calculator and clock! Read on for more, and a chance to get one for free.

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