Netbooks and tablets may be all the rage but sometimes you need the kind of raw power only a desktop computer can offer. That’s what today’s Gear Deal brings… raw computing power that will blow you away with its Quad fore processor, a 1 TB hard drive and 9GB of RAM. Yes, you read that right, 9GB of RAM! The HP Pavilion Elite HPE-380t starts off impressively. Base specs include a Core i7-930 processor running at 2.8GHz, 8GB DDR3 RAM, a 640GB Hard Drive, a 1GB Radeon HD 5450 video card, a 7.1-ch speaker system and more. Our Gear Sponsor has tracked down some nice upgrades and savings that make it even more powerful… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The summer crazy travel season is upon us, and if your family is anything like mine, you need all the help you can get to prevent you from going crazy.  Well, Kensington is here to help.  They are offering six “affordable, grab and go tech accessories and smart tips for summer travel.”  Gadgets and tips for summer travel; isn’t that exactly what you need to keep summer travel from making you nuts?  Maybe it’s time to surf on over to the Kensington site and check ‘em out, then. Full information below. Kensington Computer Products Group, a worldwide leader in mobile computing accessories, offers a wide variety of products to keep you connected wherever Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Update: This contest is now closed and the winner is Stacy Franz Brown. Thank you for entering, and watch for more great Gear Diary contests coming soon!! I could sum up this entire review in one word (Whoosh!), but I think Lenovo would not be happy. Nor would you, since you clicked through to a review intending to find out more about a product, and not just that’s it’s very fast. So let’s get started in on the Lenovo A63 desktop and what makes it so impressive that it left me with “whoosh” as my description! First of all, a bit of a disclaimer: I am geeky, but not great with hardware. I know… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! I hope that all of the GearDads out there had a great Father’s Day – I know my family spoiled me! The past week was E3 with loads of announcements … but as a result the actual new release schedule is hitting the summer doldrums. This week sees the release to the sequel of one of my favorite games in recent years: Puzzle Quest 2. The game is releasing for DS and XBOX Live Arcade now, with other platforms coming later this summer. There are also several games related top the Transformers franchise, with the DS getting separate Autobots and Decepticons… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Week of 6 of the  C25K program is in the books.  Only three more weeks to go.  Here’s how this week’s workouts looked: Larry: If you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed the lack of Tweets related to the C25K program this week.  No it wasn’t a Twitter failure. Judie: And if you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed the same lack of Tweets; that… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The Kobo Android app is finally out! It is the first major bookstore besides eReader to have an app for the Android platform, and it offers some major advantages, as well as some serious drawbacks. Read on for my review! First of all, there’s some benefits to Kobo’s system. They believe your book should be available wherever you are, on whatever platform you’re using. So similar to Whispersync, you can start a book on your smartphone and continue it on your computer or another device like the iPad. Unfortunately, at this time the Kobo Reader does not have any sync capabilities, so while you… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

World Cup fever is in full swing, and soccer/futbol apps are popping up all over.  Like Sauce Digital’s Touch Soccer 3D Lite and Touch Soccer 3D 1.1 app for the iPhone and iPod touch.  Coming in at an MSRP of $0.99, Touch Soccer, in the words of the Sauce Digital folks, It includes all the World Cup teams in the correct groups, so players can play the World Cup as their favourite team. It also includes an “Auto Running” option for the more casual gamer – so all they have to do is shoot! So why not surf on over and check it out, and help fulfill your soccer/futbol lust? Further information below. Touch Continue reading on Gear Diary …

As more and more apps get updated for iOS 4.0 the question of what it all means becomes increasingly important. We already know that Apple’s idea of “multitasking” and “backgrounding” is not the same as what we experience on a desktop. (ie, all the applications you are using continue to run even when they have been moved to the background or the dock.) No, Apple’s idea of multitasking involves allowing key FUNCTIONS to continue running in the background but not the apps themselves. If you want that you’ll have to jailbreak and get Backgrounder. Apple’s reasoning is well-known by now. The figure this allows users to get most of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The inimitable CarlyZ and I sometimes talk about just what kinds of enhancements or changes to eBooks the iPad will enable.  One example is The Elements, by all accounts a fabulous use of the capabilities of the iPad.  Other book and magazine vendors–Wired, for example–are working to see what enhancements they can add to their content for the iPad. Into this category comes Superare, a “motion comic.”    While the idea for a motion comic is not brand-new (there was a “Watchman” motion comic last summer, but it was really just a MP4 iTunes file), it is in my view a pretty untapped area.  Creator Amo Tarzai has worked hard to marry the… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

USBFever doesn’t like to get behind the curve.  As such, they’re now offering a selection of cases for the iPhone 4.  Behold: Silicone Case for iPhone 4 (iPhone 4G) http://usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=1872 Screen Protector for iPhone 4 (4G) (Ultra Clear) http://usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=1873 Rubberized Silicon Prism Case for iPhone 4 http://usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=1874 Twine Leather Case For APPLE iPhone 4 http://usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=1875 Ultra Slim Silicone Case for iPhone 4http://usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=1876 Rubberized Silicone Case for iPhone 4 http://usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=1877 Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Many Kindle users have been waiting in anticipation of the Kindle 2.5 update for the Kindle 2 and the Kindle DX and now that it is available for download we’re ready to see if it does really make the Kindle easier to use.  Or does it fall short of what it should be? First, getting the update is a piece of cake.  You can wait for your Kindle to receive the update over the air automatically or you can do like I did and download the update from the Amazon Kindle Software Update website. If you are impatient like me and downloaded the update, here is how you install it.  Just drag the file to… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Artwizz’s Alustand has some pretty good looks.  It’s got that Macbook like metal and a crystal like plastic piece that connects both aluminum parts together.  It looks like it might be sturdy, but in my opinion, it falls short. I love that you can collapse it down and stick it in your laptop bag.  If you have a Apple Bluetooth keyboard, the whole package will go nicely in your bag.  Both aluminum pieces nest and I am not exactly sure where the crystal piece can go, but it’s not difficult to find a spot in your bag. Unfortunately, when it comes time to assemble it is where… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have written here and here and here about the OnLive gaming service, which was announced over a year ago as a way for gamers with relatively modest computer hardware to run the latest and greatest games in HD. The service was supposed to release on June 17th, but folks sporadically started gaining access on the 18th – which is when I got access to the service. I’ve had the chance to get some play time with the service and wanted to give you some first impressions. The service runs on most reasonably powered Macs or PCs without… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love Sena’s cases. Their Folio for iPad is by far my favorite iPad case thus far and I use it all the time. When I saw their new Collega appear on the site I was intrigued. Here was an iPad case that stood out a bit from the others I had seen. Since it was “on sale” during pre-release I jumped on it and put in my order. It arrived last week and I’ve been using it on and off… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We received this question from one of our readers… here are the answers from our editorial staff… Dear Gear Diary, Does iPhone 4 kill the flip? I’ve wanted something like that for a while but think the new iPhone might be as good or better. Signed, Flipping Out For The iPhone 4 Dear Flipping Out, Dan: I love my Flip Video Camera. I really do. But I do worry about their future… unless they make one significant change in a hurry. When the iPhone 3GS came out and had the ability to shoot video, I questioned how it… Continue reading on Gear Diary …