You see, by 2012, Seagate and other research firms estimate the average household will store more than a terabyte of data, including videos, family photos, music, programs, vital documents and even homework. Currently, less than half of consumers back up their data.

People think they don’t need to back up their files, and others think it takes too much time. Still more people don’t know how to preserve their files.

That’s where the “appliance” comes in.

Seagate wants you to consider a backup drive int he same light that you look at your refrigerator or oven — an appliance with a single, vital use. And the company has finally made it easy.

We tested the Seagate Replica 500GB Multiple PC backup drive, and we were impressed. As soon as you plug in the drive, the device is ready to start backing up your files. We’re used to installing software and going through a little (a lot) of configuration, but Seagate’s just saying “screw it — let’s just back up the damn drive.”

It’s effortless. Every time you back up a drive, the on-board software overwrites the oldest versions of each file, so you can avoid clutter and a quickly filled drive.

The drive will quickly fill, however, if you have all your eggs in one basket. If you have all your videos and music and photos on your C: drive, the software is going to have you do a little work. That’s the one bad thing we found with this drive. A “mere” 500GB just doesn’t do it in the iTunes age, where every time you download a video, you’re getting a 500MB standard version and a huge high-definition version.

When this product is available in a 2TB setting — or more — then we can safely say we’re in the backup appliance age.

But assuming for a second that 500GB is enough for you, the Replica functions better as a single PC backup solution than a multi-PC solution. The included dock insinuates that you can put the drive on a desk and back up all your computers from there, but that’s useless if you have a desktop in your bedroom and another in the basement.

For a single PC, or a PC and a laptop, the automation of the Replica makes it easy to back up your system files, documents, and some of your multimedia files. As ease of use goes, the Replica is as good as it currently gets.

While the size does matter, the Replica is a great solution. The included recovery CD allows you to restore your computer to its original state, even if your internal hard drive fails. This function combines with the practical ability to drag and drop backed up files if you delete them accidentally from your PC. The Replica is a functional, useful tool, if not totally an appliance yet.

The 500GB Multi-PC version is available for $129. A 250GB single-PC model sells for $88.

That said, the brand new Kensington Washable Keyboard looks and feels indescribably retro. The white 104-key device with full size and full depth keys feels like typing in a bygone era in computing. I even fired up Doom 2 for a little spin around the arrow keys.

The keyboard is no relic, however. That old Dell keyboard still types, but it also still sticks from the milky punishment.

You can immerse this baby in soap and water and scrub it down like a dinner dish and come out with a new, clean keyboard.

The board also has antimicrobial coating to prevent the growth of molds, mildews and fungi that can get you sick.

Let’s face it, the keyboard is one of the dirtiest surfaces you touch all day. In the newsroom, we often share old keyboards, and they’re just grungy. I read a study once that claimed that the average keyboard holds more bacteria that a toilet seat!

Try trying to rinse out your illuminated keyboard when it gets dirty. (You could try Cyber Clean though.)

I soaked the Kensington and put it through scrubbing and rinsing and then let it dry. Let me tell you, putting a computer keyboard under the sink is NOT a natural task. The whole time I felt like I was breaking some major commandment of computing. But lo and behold, once the keyboard sat for a few and dried, it worked perfectly.

My only complaint about the keyboard is that the folding legs at the top are a little cheap. I broke one of the little legs by accident, which is enough to prevent the keyboard from being a perfect “10.”

The keyboard is comfortable to type on. A lot of newer keyboards have taken a page out of the laptop world with shallow keys, but this is a regular keyboard that feels very traditional.

With that take on things, the Kensington Washable Keyboard is a winner. It’s a regular keyboard. It’s wired — no batteries to replace. It has all the standard, regular keys that a keyboard should have. It’s the perfect solution for an office or a computer user that just wants to clean up a bit.

That’s when this Other World Computing Mercury On-The-Go crossed the desk of the Blast Newsroom. It’s a 500GB Seagate Momentus 7200RPM drive paired with a casing designed to displace heat.

Still don’t recommend throwing it against a brick wall.

The Mercury On-The-Go’s first characteristic is that it’s dead silent. It makes almost no noise whatsoever.

Read/write time is compartable to most USB 2.0 drives.

Second, there’s an aluminum heatsink running through the length of the drive with vents allowing hot air to pass through. There are no fans, but this passive cooling outfit does keep things running smoothly. Even after a half hour of benchmarking over and over, the heatsink was lukewarm and the hard drive was running steadily fast.

How steadily fast? About 32MB/s. in USB mode, which is comparable to other drives we’ve tested. It’s not even half as fast as a good internal desktop hard drive, but it’s fast enough for bulk storage, backup, music, non HD movies and all your photos.

The triple interface — FireWire 400/800 and USB 2.0 — is a nice touch. USB is still the easiest way to go for most people, however, so that’s what we benchmark at. FireWire can be much faster, however, and the manufacturer boasts about 150MB/s speeds that we don’t think you’ll ever see unless you strip down your computer and don’t run any other applications while accessing your hard drive.

The drive is also OSX Leopard Time Machine ready, so you have that bell or whistle.

Overall, the Mercury is an excellent drive that’s fast and durable. It’s an ideal storage upgrade situation.

The only x-factor is the cost, which will run you upwards of $200, when you can buy a 500GB drive for much less nowadays.

By the way: Because of incorrect information provided to Blast, we reported that an eSATA version was available, but that product has been canceled and is not available.

The set works great with a Mac or a PC. Within two minutes of plugging in the USB receiver into a MacBook we were up and running smoothly with both the keyboard and mouse.

I was a bit skeptical of the thin design, as it sits very low to the desk, but once I tilted it forward with the tabs in the back, it was very comfortable under my hands. The keys are quiet and easily navigated. Running on only two AA batteries (included) the keyboard is very light. An indicator light is also set off when these batteries are at 10 percent remaining. Aside from a standard QWERTY setup there are several other features located above the keyboard and number pad. Eject CD, Internet search, email, web browser startup and media keys are all featured above the F1-F6 keys. A more involved set of media shortcut buttons is located above the number pad. These include the standard previous track, next track, play/pause and volume controls.

When the keyboard is not in use, a sliding plastic cover at the top center of the keyboard can be moved over the keys, which reveals a holster for the mouse. Placing the mouse in this holster powers the mouse off in order to save battery life. With the mouse in the holster, the keyboard and mouse configuration can be rotated 45 degrees away from the user to make it a standing picture frame. A clear sleeve in the center of the back of the keyboard allows for a 4 X 6 photo to be displayed when not computing — a nice touch.

The only way I could see improving the keyboard portion of this wireless set would be to offer back-lit keys, or a glow in the dark keyboard for easier nighttime use.

The mouse wasn’t a letdown either. I was concerned that it may be heavy, since it is battery operated, but the weight is very comfortable. It moved just fine on my desk, even without a mousepad, and it felt even more comfortable than my Microsoft wireless mouse (which cost about as much as this whole set). I had no problem with the response time of the mouse using it about 2 feet from the USB receiver. There is an USB extension cable included which will allow for greater distance if needed.

This mouse is nothing fancy but it’s everything a mouse should be: a lightweight, comfortable, two buttoned mouse with scroll wheel. As with the keyboard, there is a low battery indicator located between the left and right buttons on the top of the mouse. Not visible unless turned on, the light is housed beneath the two buttons and will come on once 10 percent of the battery life is left.Your browser may not support display of this image.

All in all, this set is a great value for the money. It can currently be had for about $70 through Amazon. We have used several inexpensive wireless sets in the past, but the Kensington Ci70 actually blows them away. With the Ci70’s comfortable design and unique features it’s an easy choice for anyone in the market for a wireless keyboard and mouse set.

Netbooks — those little tiny computers with a dozen hours of battery life — are growing hugely in popularity lately. Kensington recently came out with an equally tiny wireless mouse, a reversible sleeve, a security lock, a multi-device power adapter and a good, old-fashioned, wired USB mouse.

After toying around on some of the netbooks we’re reviewing for various purposes, we’re impressed, particularly with the Wireless Mouse for Netbooks and its nano receiver. It’s a small but comfortable mouse and a great alternative to the frustrating touchpads. Just keep a supply of batteries or rechargeables handy.

The Security Lock for Netbooks works with any laptop with that security slot, which is nearly every laptop. It features a coil of wire around a four digit combination lock. The wire is thin, but you can’t beat the portability. It won’t stop a pair of bolt cutters, but it will prevent someone from walking off with it at the library.

I’m not a huge fan of sleeves, but the Reversible Sleeve for Netbooks is a great choice for those of you that are. It fits up to a 10-inch netbook and stretches for some accessories. Forget about a full power cable, though. That’s why we tend to use bigger laptop cases. Maybe we’re old fashioned.

If you’re all like “man, I hate battery-powered wireless mice,” boy, do we have a solution for you. The Wired Mouse for Netbooks was actually our favorite device. We didn’t mind the little bit of wire for the security of an “always working” mouse. It beats carrying around an old Dell mouse in our little netbook sleeve. It’s a plug-and-play mouse that tracks really well on these small screens.

The last item up for bid is the Power Adapter for Netbooks. But they didn’t give us one, so we don’t have much to say about it. From the pics, it appears to come with a variety of charging heads, and it charges both the laptop and your USB-compatible phone. That’s handy. Wish we had one.

Available June 19, the iPhone 3GS is Apple’s new iPhone hardware. Apple claims that everything on the phone is “twice as fast” at loading apps, sites, and everything else. The device will also feature a faster 3G antenna (7.2Mbps HSDPA, for those who like details), the rumored 3MP auto-focus camera, complete with an API for developers, and a 30 FPS video camera with an associated app to allow for video and photo editing. Another rumor to come true is an internal compass that will orient the maps app depending on which direction you’re facing.

The iPhone also features a new voice control UI, allowing users to make vocal commands such as “Call Mom” or “What song is playing?” all in a live transcripted interface. Snazzy? Sure. Necessary? Probably not.  The phone also features hardware encryption and an improved battery life which should come as a relief to iPhone users everywhere.

The form factor for the iPhone 3GS is staying exactly the same, available in black and white (sorry, no flaming orange iPhones). Storage will also increase–$299 for the 32GB model or $199 for the 16GB model. Still too pricey for you? Pick up the older iPhone 3G for just $99 (yay recessionomics!).

The iPhone OS 3.0, which will ship June 17 to other iPhone users contains many new improvements, most of which have been announced before, but we’ll summarize them anyway: the iPhone is finally getting copy/paste, MMS messaging, system-wide Spotlight that will index your email, contacts, and apps, and a landscape oriented keyboard.

A cool new feature will allow users with MobileMe to locate their phones should they go missing and you’re not in enough hysterics from losing your iPhone to be able to use a computer. Apple announced support for data tethering, but AT&T was notably missing from the list, most likely indicating that iPhone users in the US will be SOL. Safari will be updated to run faster and will auto-fill contact and stored login info.

Push notifications (including text, sound, and “badge”) will finally go live in this release, after much delay. Apps will also be able to access the dock connector, allowing you to use you iPhone with external gadgets, such as TomTom’s new GPS driving device. Peer-to-peer interfacing will allow you to connect to other users to play games or send information such as contacts.

Overall, only Apple could drum up so much publicity for something that is ostensibly just an evolutionary change rather than a revolutionary change. Nevertheless, these developments are still exciting, even if they’re overdue. We’ll let you know what we think when we get our hands on a new iPhone 3GS in just a couple weeks.

The MacBook Pro line is being expanded with a new 13-inch model. All sizes will have the new unibody built-in, non-removable battery which Apple claims will last for 7 hours. All models will get a speed bump and come with a standard 4GB of DDR3 memory, expandable to 8GB. The MacBook Pro also now comes with a Secure SD slot, replacing the PCI slot that got (basically) zero use before.  The MacBooks are getting a Firewire 800 port (I guess all that moaning when Apple got rid of it last time actually had an effect) and their brethren’s Secure SD slot.

The prices across all laptops have been slashed; both the 17-inch and the 15-inch Macbook Pro models as well as the Macbook Air will drop $300 to $2499, $1699, and $1499 respectively , while the Macbooks will drop $100 to start at $1199. Yay for the recession and new toys!

The Expert Mouse has been around for about 10 years. The first time I tested one was for ReviewCenter.com, and the trackball was “90s computer case beige” in color. It depended on mechanical, dust-gathering wheels to position the cursor.

This is the seventh generation of the Expert Mouse. Now, it’s optical, has a “Scroll Ring” to replace the mouse’s scroll wheel, and has an attaching wrist pad for ergonomics. But it’s basically the same big-old trackball. Same size. Same shape.

A trackball takes some getting used to. The ball rolls smoothly and gets better as the oil from your hands transfers onto it.

There is evidence and argument that says a trackball is better for you than a mouse — and a mouse has been shown to be absolutely terrible for your wrist, so that’s not surprising.

The Scroll Ring is a nice touch. We’ve become hopelessly dependent on scrolling windows on the fly. The real difference here is that you’ll find yourself using all your fingers instead of just one or two. As you get better with the Expert Mouse, its four buttons and the Scroll Ring, you’ll find your fingers flying around it to perform tasks.

Installation is a breeze. Plug it in, and the mouse snaps to action.

I admittedly, still use a mouse for my input needs. The Expert Mouse is as close as I’ve come to converting. It’s a great trackball that’s comfortable, sturdy and functional.

The device allows computers with single-display video cards to add a second monitor using only an available USB port.

The adapter is just a box with a USB port and a digital video port and supports widescreen 1440 x 1050 and up to 1280 1040 standard.

The device works, but there are some troubles. Installation in Vista takes forever. I was not impressed with the DisplayLink driver that the adapter installs. The driver changed settings and modes on my primary display. That makes me nervous, especially as a gamer. I don’t want some unpluggable peripheral making changes. Uninstallation also takes forever.

When you do get it up and running, the Dual Monitor Adapter really is a versatile solution, especially for business users. Kensington allows you to stack up to six units if you want to keep going with your displays. I just think there are some question marks – Kensington says it’s plug and play, and that may be the case in XP, but not in Vista or Mac, which still relies on “beta” drivers from DisplayLink.

Take a good hard look before you buy. If you have a laptop, this might be a good solution. If you have a brand new desktop, there’s a good chance your video card already supports two monitors.

Docking stations are nice if you use the laptop primarily at one location or have lots of things to plug into it that don’t move — input devices, webcam, monitor. This leaves the BookEndz with a good chance to market third party docking stations. This is a hard thing for the company to manufacture since the laptops don’t just have a docking port like most laptops that have first party docking stations. They are left with plugging into the external ports and then just moving them to the outside their device.

BookEndz still have some options that users can work with, though. With their MacBook docking station, they have a USB hub inside, so you can have 6 devices plugged in, while the MacBook only has two USB ports on the side.

The docking station has all the original laptop ports plus the mini DVI is converted to either a DVI or a VGA. You can only use one at a time. If you plug in both only the VGA is recognized.

The BookEndz also use a sliding switch on the side to plug in the speaker/headphone port. This is important since the MacBook enables the port based on a sensor that detects something plugged into the port. When the headphones or speakers are plugged in the laptops speakers are disabled.

The switch on the Bookendz unit I was given was a very sticky. It is hard to move from plugged in and unplugged. This will loosen over time with usage. The company said that the one I was sent may be an early model and the new ones are looser and easier to switch to plugged in, or unplugged. They do make it easy enough to just plug everything in at once.

I like that when I use a BookEndz I can go from standard laptop to having a big monitor, and normal keyboard. Using a USB video card, it’s possible for a Macbook to now have two large monitors plugged in, and then it’s easy take it away when you need to go.

One part that makes it hard with the newer Apple laptops is the much toted power plug. Apple does not appear to let any third party companies make Mag-Safe adapters. BookEndz have a space for the original power bricks to be used. This could have been done better. They seemed to have decided to make it easy for the user to unplug the power brick to take with the laptop, instead of leaving the power brick in the docking station. This means every time you go to unplug the docking station, not only do you unplug the docking station, but also the power adapter. This also requires sitting the docking station on top of the wire so it will all sit flat. I think they should have made the docking station hold the power adapters more snugly. That way you can just plug everything in at once.

The design of the plastic casing is fairly smooth and flowing like the MacBooks, but the devices have touches here and there that look more hobbyist.

Overall I think it’s a very good and useful product for what it does. I think it beats just plugging in each port separately every time I get to work. For what they had to work with I think they did a great job. I just wish Apple thought of this sooner.

By the way: Because of a reporting error, we removed the line “Apple hasn’t ever produced a docking station for their laptops.” It was incorrect.

Also in the high-priced range is the Tributaries T12 power strip, with eight rotating power receptacles and Ethernet, phone and cable protection.

It’s $120, which is too expensive for anything labeled a “power strip” that doesn’t include a uninterruptible power supply/battery backup for your gadgets. I don’t care what brand or label it falls under.

That said, it’s a damn shame the T12 costs over $100, because it’s one of the handiest power strips/surge protectors I’ve ever used.

Eight of the 12 sockets rotate 90 degrees to get whatever AC adapter you’re using out of the way of everything else. The 12 also delivers 4320 joules of surge suppression. It’s rated for 15 amps for up to 1875 watts of load — enough for several computers or your entire home theater and much more. It also offers a $25,000 warranty on plugged-in devices.

We’re basically rounding out the year with this review, because we started 2008 by introducing everyone to the Powramid — an innovative pyramid-shaped power strip.

Like the Powramid, the T12 is superior in almost all ways (except cost of course) to traditional power strips. The sockets are arranged — and move — to accommodate all of your many gadgets.

Plenty of people on the blogs have asked why you need 12 plugs. I’m a big nerd, but I don’t run a multiple display setup or keep my video game consoles on my desk. I managed to basically fill up the T12 with what I would think is a normal amount of computer junk:

• Computer
• Monitor
• Cell phone charger
• Wireless mouse charger
• External hard drive
• Cable modem
• Router
• Printer
• Computer speakers
• Digital camera charger

So it’s not the plugs that are the problem.

Price is the problem, and there are somewhat comparable products out there for less.

Just be careful. Don’t go to the dollar store and buy “Joe’s brand surge protector” and be aware of the cheap imitations of the cheap imitations with fake UL certifications.

Bottom line: you don’t absolutely need to spend $120 for a decent power strip, but if you’re spending thousands on a home theater with all the trimmings, don’t think you can get away for a $5 one either.

I’m working on another one of my Globe Tests articles for the Boston Sunday Globe business section, where I get to do what I normally do: play with fun toys.

Last time, it was computer mice, and the Globe and Blast saw something like 12 computer mouse reviews as a result.

The WD My Passport Studio maxed out at 32.7 MB/sec, which is admirable.

This time, it’s portable hard drives.

One of the drives that my story will feature is the Western Digital My Passport Elite, a delicious, beautiful 2.5-inch 500 gigabyte USB 2.0 hard drive with a soft, leathery finish  and a 5-year warranty.

One of the drives that didn’t make it into the story, however, is the WD My Passport Studio, another 2.5-inch 500 GB hard drive, only this one is formatted for Mac and supports FireWire 400 and 800 for faster data movement.

We test drives with HD Tune Pro 3.10. The two drives are virtually identical on USB 2.0 mode.

The My Passport Elite was just as good, really

The Studio tested just a little bit faster, but that could easily just have been random background interference. For all intents and purposes, the Studio is an elite with Firewire and Mac-formatting, and that’s really yummy (yeah I didn’t have dinner tonight, I’m hungry) for video folks, graphic designers, photographers, etc., because 500 GB is just a sick amount of data (today). I don’t care who you are.

The Studio is formatted HFS+ Journaled, and it  supports Apple Time Machine

The only major difference: the My Passport Studio doesn’t have the Soft-touch Finish. What gives WD? You couldn’t leather this one up too?

It’s important to note that while they’re small and possibly edible, these are still hard drives — rotating metal discs and lots of moving parts. Just because they’re small doesn’t mean they’re iPod Nano’s. They’re designed to be packed up and move around but I wouldn’t go jogging with one in my pocket.

Both drives have lighted capacity indicators showing you how full the drive is, which is useful if you plug it into a server and are doing automatic backups.

Both drives also are 100 percent powered by the computer you plug it into — no external power supply required.

By the way, 500 GB can hold 220 hours of DVD video, 125,000 MP3s, or 142,000 high-resolution photos.

Please look out for my Globe Tests column this Sunday in the Boston Globe Money & Careers section or Boston.com/Business!

This one surprised us.

We’ve spent the last month reviewing all sorts of mice: big mice, small mice, weird mice, but mostly expensive mice. And lo and behold, we’re having some fun with one of the cheapest of the bunch.

The Razer Salmosa mouse is not a decked out super gaming mouse. In fact, a lot of gamers are going to be turned off by it. It has two buttons plus a wheel/wheel button — which almost makes it seem like a normal mouse.

Then we get under the hood and find out that things aren’t nearly as they seem. Below the mouse are the two switches to control precision and response time. We preferred the default 800 dpi and 125 khz resolution/response but you can switch up to 1800 dpi and 1000 khz when you’re gaming and need the extra juice.

Speaking of games, the mouse does perform admirably in most game settings where you don’t need 10 buttons. The biggest boost for the mouse is that it’s accurate. Whether you’re editing a photo, shooting a guy in the head, or just browsing your email, you move your hand, and the cursor goes where you want it.

The Teflon non-stick feet also made sure the mouse performed as well on a desk or counter top as it would on one of Razer’s super mousing surfaces.

Even the wheel, a little fatter than usual, seemed to know where I wanted the page to scroll.

Lastly, the two buttons the mouse does have are comfortable and responsive.

The only complaint is that the matte surface of the mouse doesn’t respond well to oily hands, raising concerns of sweaty gamers’ hands ruining the look of the product.

Because we know gamers sweat.

The Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 is another foray into laser tracking technology that is probably going to take a back seat to Microsoft’s BlueTrack technology.

It’s probably good that they’ll be leaving this one behind, because it’s not one of Microsoft’s better mouses.

The problem is not so much with the laser tracking — that works fine for the most part, especially on a mousepad. It’s just not a well designed mouse. The buttons don’t press in quick succession unless your fingers are just in the right spot, a disaster in games.

We also experienced problems with the cursor freezing up at random times, and we even had a problem syncing the mouse up to its receiver on one of our laptops.

The thumb button was also a problem. We found ourselves clicking it by accident a lot when we were doing regular left clicks. That, alone, turned us off the mouse.

It does come with a replaceable rechargeable AAA battery and a dock to charge it, so that’s a plus. The AAA battery life is great too.

Really though, as you can certainly see from Blast’s “Holy Mouses” coverage of like a dozen mice this fall, there are lots of good choices out there in the input device world. Just not this one.

With Microsoft and Razer joining forces to produce their Habu mouse, that really leaves two major companies fighting it out in the world of computer mice, specifically hardcore gaming mouses.

The Logitech G5 Laser is regarded by many as the best pure gaming mouse on the market, so we decided to take a look at the G9 to see if it’s the next evolution or just a bunch of cheese.

The first thing we noticed about the G9 Laser Mouse was how different it was compared to the G5. It’s a different size and shape, the buttons are different, heck, even the wheel is different.

The second thing we noticed was that it was very impressive in its own right.

The mouse has all the standard gaming bells and whistles including nine buttons, a 4-way tilt wheel, on board adjustable sensitivity and weight and that Logitech hyperscrolling where you flick a finger and the wheel spins and spins and spins.

The wheel lock/unlock button has been moved to below/the feet side of the mouse, which we don’t necessarily mind as long as the laser is off.

The G9 is a corded mouse. Many gamers, this one included, haven’t made up their minds about cords versus cordless. On one hand you have a wire to worry about, and on the other, batteries. We’ll leave that one alone.

The mouse tracks very well, saves gaming profiles via on board memory, and has decent drivers that let you customize all the buttons. Overall, it’s a great mouse and a solid option for PC gamers.

I may finally have found a replacement for my Dell optical mouse. I’ve been shipped two dozen mouses over the last couple years, and I always go back to my old wired Dell default special.

Why? Simplicity, comfort, easy button pressing, and good pointer tracking for when I need to do a photo cutout or some kind of funky design on the cover of Blast.

With the review units of new Microsoft BlueTrack mouses, they include a brick — a real block of construction material that has granite on one side and shiny metal on the other. This is designed to show that the BlueTrack can move on nearly any surface, including wood, shag carpet, kitchen counters, and metal. It still won’t work on glass or mirrors, so don’t throw out all your photo mousepads just yet.

The mouse is fat but not over-sized. It fits my hand comfortably. It comes with a dock, but they should have made it a USB dock. The last thing we need is another AC adapter somewhere.

The Explorer tracks extremely well across a high-resolution screen. It’s comfortable metal wheel scrolls nicely down the page with just the right amount of resistance and precision.

It also installs quickly. I later installed the actual drivers from the CD, but you can just plug in the miniature adapter and you’re instantly ready to mouse around. It works on XP, Vista, and Mac.

I stuck with the default mouse for so long because it was a good fit. Most keyboards are roughly the same, but the mouse is something special for the user, and you really have to form a bond with your pointing device. Heck, we’re all going to get debilitating wrist injuries by the time we’re 40 anyway, so we might as well like the mouse.

I thought I broke it. But I didn’t. Phew.

The Buffalo MiniStation DataVault is a tiny little 160GB 5400 RPM hard drive that is completely powered by mini USB and features full disk encryption/password access for a nice touch of portable security.

It really is small. It’s not much larger than a first generation iPod.

Getting back to the first paragraph, Buffalo advertises that the HDD is suspended on shock absorbers in the case, protecting it from … stuff. Clearly, the best way to test this was to transfer a bunch of big files onto it and then start shaking it like a bottle of water with one of those Crystal Light On the Go packets poured in.

Then I dropped it on the ground. Not hard. Just so.

Then Explorer froze and crashed.

I pulled the plug, restarted Explorer and plugged the drive back in. Vista warned me that the drive was improperly turned off last time and offered to do a scan to check things out. It turned up clean and about half the files had transferred onto the disc. I transferred a bunch more to and from the drive and it seemed to work fine. I’ll let the reader be the judge there.

The best thing about the drive is that it’s truly plug-n-play. I plugged it into a USB port and it was asking me for the password in seconds. I also like that it draws all its power from USB and doesn’t require another one of my vital AC sockets.

As far as performance goes, HD Tune averaged about 28 MB/sec read and about 27 write, which is above average for a USB drive.

We test drives with HD Tune Pro 3.10.

The drive comes pre-loaded with Memeo backup software and Firefox and Thunderbird portable with a taskbar app to launch all the portable programs you want to load onto it. (Big fan)

It seems like a good drive and a great bargain at under $100.

Just in case, Buffalo does give a 3-year manufacturer warranty.

It supplies emergency power to nearly any small, portable device, but not in that disposable, one use, drug store special kind of way. The rechargeable lithium polymer battery will fill up your cell phone’s gas tank three times before the GearJuice runs dry.

GearJuice will charge your Blackberry, iPod, iPhone, PDA, Bluetooth headset, cell phone and nearly any low-power device that takes a USB or mini-USB source. The device detects how much juice you gear needs and outputs the correct voltage.

The product can charge itself from any USB device — so you can just plug it into your laptop or desktop computer. It comes with six attachments, including iPod touch and iPhone and mini-USB connectors. Some models come with American and European wall plug adapters, but my model didn’t come with an AC adapter — which I didn’t mind because it’s actually much easier to charge the GearJuice right off my computer.

One small complaint: the GearJuice should have come with two full-size USB dongles. If you’re charging the device off USB, you aren’t left with a spare cable to go right ahead and charge up your cell phone or iPod at the same time. To this effect, GearJuice won’t turn your laptop into a power inverter.

The device itself charges up in a few hours from a dead, empty battery and IOGEAR says it will hold a charge for six months.

There are a variety of specialty adapters you can buy for GearJuice including the full-sized AC adapters and Samsung, LG and Motorola phone packs if — somehow — your phone doesn’t fit any of the included connectors. (When are all cell phones just going to charge and sync via mini-USB?)

Do yourself a favor, don’t throw out or lose the spare connectors. Put them somewhere where they won’t get lost or tossed. You’re probably going to break, lose or replace your cell phone within a year, and you’ll be crawling around trying to find the other connectors.

GearJuice is compact, comes in a soft, velvet carrying bag and priced right at under $30 on most websites. I approve.

Quick hits:

Developer: IOGEAR
Genre: Power
Launch Date: August 10, 2007

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Download facts and specs

It’s a mouse, designed for gaming, that Microsoft says was inspired by the Master Chief from Halo and the Mazda Senku Concept Car, among other futuristic muses.

“Microsoft Hardware conducted research with hundreds of gamers all over the world to uncover what they want from their mouse,” Microsoft said of the Sidewinder. “Research revealed gamers’ desire to personalize their mouse to fit their needs, whether it’s tweaking the weight, dots per inch (DPI), glide of the feet or button actions.”

The result is a pointing device with a built in display, add-on weight bars and the best scrolling wheel ever made.

Some consumers may find the Sidewinder overwhelming — and with good reason. You expect to buy a mouse and find, well, a mouse in the package. The Sidewinder opens up with a cable anchor that doubles as an accessories box for all your weights, an opening compartment for said weights and more buttons than many joysticks. This isn’t an office product.

There are two features that really set the Sidewinder aside. First of all, the tiny LCD screen displays the mouse’s sensitivity setting, up to 2000 dpi. It displays this feature right on the mouse, meaning you don’t have to interrupt your full-screen gaming session. Also keeping your game in the foreground, the LCD also handles display prompts for recording in-game macros and assigning them to one of the buttons.

The Sidewinder Mouse comes with four weight cartridges, three of which can be stored at once. Three 10g and a 5g cartridge let you store from 0-30 grams of weight adding to the overall level of detail you can employ on the mouse.

At $60-$80, the Sidewinder Gaming Mouse is a decent-sized investment, but considering the $50 pricetag on most games, I think it’s well worth it.

Quick hits:

Producer: Microsoft
Platform: PC USB
Genre: Hardware/Input Device
Launch Date: August 22, 2007

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Are you frustrated with the off the shelf routers you can buy in the store? Does your hardware crash on you at the worst possible moment? Does your Best Buy router not have the option to stop your room mates downloads from slowing down your internet? Well, one way to avoid the limits of off the shelf routers is to build your own.

Technically, you can build a router out of any old desktop or laptop computer that you have lying around by adding some routing software. This is often done with Linux and there are specific builds of Linux and OpenBSD that are written for this purpose. Examples include m0n0wall and pfSense.

If you want to keep the size still as small and unobtrusive as one of the off the shelf routers, you need to buy a router board. A router board is smaller than a regular computer and uses less power. The PC Engines Alix2 board that I’m looking at in this article is only 6″ x 6″ and powers off a small power supply or can be powered off an Ethernet wire.

The Alix2 is the replacement for PC Engines WRAP boards. The Wrap is a small networking-optimized board — basically a small computer.

The entire system is less than 1″ tall. The Alix comes with either 433 or 500MHz AMD CPU and either 128 or 256MB of ram. This may not seem like a lot compared to modern desktops, but it’s actually quite powerful for what we’re using it for. Remember, we’re going for low power, low heat.

The main operating system is stored on a CompactFlash card on most models. There is one model that has a IDE port to plug a in laptop hard drive if you really want to go nuts. A hard disk will use more heat, space and power, however.

These systems are very customizable considering their size and power usage. They can be purchased with two USB ports, up to three Ethernet ports, a miniPCI slot, and some models have a full size PCI slot.

The BIOS that these systems run on is set to automatically forward video to the serial port. This is very nice for building headless systems, so a monitor isn’t needed to check on the machine, only a computer with a serial port. They also support power over Ethernet, so the machine could be installed as a wireless access point with only a single Ethernet wire going to it.

As a power user, I wasn’t satisfied with the configuration on the store built router systems. If you know a little about networking and don’t mind playing around there are a few options for alternate systems to run that offer far more customizations. The router can be installed with OpenBSD for those that are die hard security fanatics and don’t mind a little work setting it up, or with a program called Monowall that aims to replicate Cisco routers — it also can be installed with your favorite version of Linux.

This is not for the faint of computer knowledge.

Using the PC Engines a board, a Mini PCI wireless card, a wire to adapt from the card to a standard antenna, the antenna and a box to put it all in.

The box comes with the baud rate for its serial port set to 38400. The baud rate will determine how fast the screen updates when you type commands in from your computer. pfSense uses 9600, and since I do not need the screen to update frequently I went into the BIO and changed it 9600 to match. If you don’t have the right settings on your computer for the device plugged in the screen will display random, unreadable text, and typing anything won’t work. So if the operating system is running at a different speed than the BIOS, you won’t see one or the other, without changing the settings on your computer each time.

With them both at 9600, I’m able to just set my computer to 9600 and be done with it. Most serial devices seem to use either 9600 or 38400, or what’s reffered to as 8N1 — 8 data bits, No parity and 1 stop bit. These settings should also be again matched to what your doing.

To enter the BIOS menu just type S when the system is running though the Memory Test. It will print a menu as below:

(9) 9600 baud (2) 19200 baud *3* 38400 baud (5) 57600 baud (1) 115200 baud
*C* CHS mode (L) LBA mode (W) HDD wait (V) HDD slave (U) UDMA enable
(M) MFGPT workaround
(P) late PCI init
*R* Serial console enable
(E) PXE boot enable
(X) Xmodem upload
(Q) Quit

Just type the letter of the setting you want. Then Q to quit.

After setting the BIOS, I prepared the CF for pfSense. The developers officially support the WRAP, and now the ALIX systems, so getting an image to flash to the card was very easy.

Flashing the card was easy, depending on your operating system, in Unix/Linux or OSX dd works fine — in a terminal “dd if=filename of=/dev/usbdevicename”

Once the image is on the CompactFlash, stick it into the ALIX board, plug your internet into one port and your laptop, or your local network into another, and turn on the system. The ports are all labeled 1-3 on the board. When pfSense comes up the first time, it will ask through the serial port which Ethernet port is which and default settings. Just use the defaults on the settings if you’re unsure, and it can autodetect the proper Ethernet port.

Once the network is setup you can safely disconnect the serial port and do all further work through pfSense’s web interface. Just open the browser to the IP address you assigned to the box. often 192.168.1.1.

The pfSense website has a tutorial on Installing to the WRAP.

pfSense has a basic setup wizard that is run the first time it’s started. This can be run again at any time by going to system setup wizard. Once the setup has been run the basic LAN to WAN routing should work, and all your computers should be able to get to the internet. This is where all the fun stuff starts.

pfSense takes the powerful, yet east to understand (compared to other filtering systems) OpenBSD packet filter and puts a GUI on it.

It asks for the IP address or addresses involved, the port numbers involved, the protocols involved, which interface it is going through, which means whether this is traffic going to the Internet on the LAN port, or coming in on the Wan port destined for a computer inside. The rules can then block the packets, log the packets or allow them to pass. It can also do special actions on the packets, such as wait for all pieces to a packet that got broken up, and reconstruct it on the server before passing it on, or changing the “random” id in an outgoing packet, so others can’t intercept the packets as easy. Some OS’s use predictable numbers when it’s supposed to be random.

This allows you to say “I don’t want my kid accessing this particular game I don’t like so I block that computer from talking on the port the game uses.”

Under the same menu there is also traffic shaping. This is very useful, but a little tricky to setup and understand at first. This can be setup to, for instance, only allow downloads to take up a portion of your internet and prioritize web access or make access to a favorite web site highest priority at the expense of all other connections.

I found the ALIX suitable for my needs on a Verizon FIOS network. I haven’t had any speed issues or the random crashes.

Quick hits:

Hardware Manufacturer: PC Engines
Software Developer: pfSense
Genre: Networking

Performance: 5 out of 5 stars
Learning Curve: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Reliability: 5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The device allows users to view and control live television on networked computers via broadband and mobile phone service. It’s novel technology and priced right.

The new product has made an impressive splash since its summer arrival on store shelves. Recently, Hava took home the “Best of RetailVision” award in the Digital Home category.

“After only being in the retail space for 60 days, we are thrilled to be nominated as a finalist in the RetailVision Digital Home category,” said Colin Stiles, EVP of Marketing and Sales at Monsoon Multimedia. “With all of the outstanding companies and technologies presented at RetailVision, Monsoon is honored that our line of products that let consumers choose how and where they view their home TV were nominated for this award.”

It’s a good product. Just plug it in and let it go. HAVA Gold is the model I tested, but you may want to go with the Gold HD or the Platinum HD because it will support high-def and give you TIVO-style PVR support. Of course, if you just want an inexpensive way to stream your TV or video source remotely, the regular Gold variant will do just fine.

There’s also an application that goes beyond traditional television. You can plug any video source into the HAVA and check it remotely. You can plug your videocard’s output into it and check up on your PC (or any other PC for that matter) from anywhere in the world. You can throw your video collection online — keeping the large videos safely on a server. But best of all, you can watch live television from anywhere in the world. So if you go abroad or across the country on business, you can still watch your local headlines at 5 p.m.

I like this technology. I like this product. It’s cheap, and it gets the job done. It’s another device that lets you take full advantage of that high-speed Comcast is getting rich off of you with.

Monsoon HAVA Gold HD Features:

• Component Input and support for HD video source (1080i, 720p, 480p/576p) played back in the native 16:9 aspect ratio on the clientdisplay — “HD capable”
• Supports Windows Vista
• Windows XP Media Center Edition integration — appears as an installed TV-tuner card
• Connects to any TV source such as Cable, Satellite, DVD, TiVo or a Camcorder
• Enables TiVo-like functionality on the PC. Users can record, store, pause, rewind and fast forward stored video
• All inputs include a pass through connector, eliminating the use of splitters when connecting HAVA to home video equipment
• Streams video at an average of 8Mbps directly to PCs in home network in MPEG-2 full D1 resolution, at 720 x 480 pixels
• Streams MPEG-2 format over the home network, MPEG-4 format over the Internet
• Schedule and record programs for later viewing
• Allows burning of stored material to DVD

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

H.264 is the video format used by many modern video players, such as the iPod, iPhone, PSP, PS3, and the AppleTV. Unfortunately a lot of time is spent converting video files from other formats to play on these devices.

Even though both devices look the same on the outside, they aren’t compatible with each other’s software. The Elgato supports higher resolutions than the ADSTech, such as the iPhone. The ADSTech Version can produce video for the iPod though that will work fine on the iPhone. Elgato uses the native Quicktime video encoder to front end its hardware. This means any program that can export selecting Quicktime profiles can use the H.264 Hardware to speed up the process. The ADSTech uses a third party program that only includes the profiles that the USB encoder supports.

The Elgato H.264 Turbo can recognize DVDs and put the main movie in chapter marks from the original DVD.

ADSTech treats DVDs as individual Video files. This means that your movie will likely be multiple files, instead of one total file. It also has no idea what to do with the IFO and BUP files on a DVD, so it will complain about these if you simply drag and drop a DVD onto it. They both work fine for converting one video format to another, such as one H.264 to another resolution, or a Divx file to a H.264.

Both companies claim that users can get up to four times faster encoding using their hardware over your computer’s CPU.

On my Dual core Macbook 2.0ghz, both USB Encoders performed about the same. I got about half the time using the hardware as using software methods. I was using the free software HandBrake to run software conversions as a comparison. In my case, I’m using a fairly new computer, and I’m still seeing a 2x speed improvement. If the USB encoders were used on an older computer the difference between software, and hardware would be more pronounced. Actual times, though, will vary depending on the hardware you are using. Even if the H.264 is offloading the encoding, your computer’s CPU or video card will still need to decode the original video files.

One complaint: neither solution will work directly with an encrypted DVD. If users want to convert a store-bought DVD to play on their iPods, or iPhones, they will need to either use a software solution that converts and decrypts at the same time, or decrypt to the hard drive, and then convert the video using their software.

Overall, the Hardware is great for people who play a lot of video on their iPod/iPhone, PSP, AppleTV, or PS3; it saves a lot of converting time. If you have more than one of these devices it also makes it easier and faster to convert from one to another, since the resolutions supported on the iPod are not supported by the PS3. If you have an older laptop, or desktop you will also find this useful. Those with newer computers, who mostly convert to one device from DVD probably won’t gain any time with the decrypting and converting time.

ADSTech: 3 out of 5 stars
Elgato: 3.5 out of 5 stars

There are a few things that should be considered when using an external USB hard drive of this portability class. Since the hard drive used in the Maxtor OneTouch III, Mini Edition is a 2.5″ 5400 RPM laptop drive, this eliminates the requirement of using a separate power adapter to power up the drive. The power is driven entirely by USB. Typical, bulkier external hard drives require an AC adapter that makes it difficult when moving the device around. Not having to lug around a power adapter can make the difference when space and weight is at a premium for the laptop road warrior.

Another consideration is the speed of the disk and its associated USB interface speed. Pretty much all external USB drives sold today will support USB 2.0 transfers speeds ideal for high throughput I/O transfers such as DVD burning.

So what is the trade off for the power requirement in using the smaller 2.5″ drive in the Maxtor OneTouch III? To compensate for not using an additional power adapter, Maxtor’s design uses a specialized USB cable that is capable of supplying the standard USB connection in addition to an additional USB connection used exclusively as a power source. The cable has two standard USB plugs that plug directly into the computer and one standard mini USB connection that plugs directly into the external hard drive.

From initial testing, most standard PC’s do not need the secondary auxiliary USB connection.

For Macs, the hard drive worked out of the box for our G4 iBook and Intel MacBook. A simple format using Disk Utilities would make the drive Mac OS formatted, however, this is unnecessary and will restrict the device accessible natively only by Macs. Keeping the FAT32 file system included on the drive ensures compatibility between Macs and PC’s. Unfortunately, for the newer Intel MacBook Pros and the G4 15″ PowerBooks, the USB Y-Cable is separated on two opposite sides and can not be simultaneously connected. One trick that worked was only plugging in one of the two USB connections into the MacBook or iBook and thus one USB connection is sufficient. However, on the bigger 15″ G4 PowerBook and Intel MacBook Pro, when only plugged into one USB port (due to physical layout on opposite sides), the hard drive would emit a high pitched frequency and would not be recognized by the system.

Thus, the Maxtor drive is incompatible with the 15″ laptop offerings from Apple. On both IBM ThinkPads and Dell Lattitudes, this drive worked perfectly in Windows XP.

The drive is compact and is very light for traveling purposes, but it only offers a conservative amount of protection of the outer shell in lieu of extra bulk. This works out relatively well as the drive looks stylish in its gray color with only one cable connected to its back. One feature was the Hard Disk activity LED indicator which would flash as the drive is being connected and accessed. The White LED is a little big and not very discreet, making it somewhat distracting as the user may shift his or her eyes seeing the white light. The case also lacks a significant amount rubber padding on the base. It would have been nice to see some sort of rubber padding to help absorb the shock of the hard drive while it is spinning on the desk.

Overall, the hard drive was easy to use and transferred files really quickly. Despite incompatibility with a particular branch of Apple Laptops, it largely worked out of the box.

The Maxtor OneTouch III Mini is light weight and easy to carry around making this ideal for clearing the immediate error message of lacking disk space.