Judie recently reviewed the Infinity Carbon 2×2 Carbon Fiber Twill Case. She loves it. The review started with this: We spend a fair amount of time reviewing accessories here on Gear Diary because all of us enjoy using products that enhance our gear experience. When I buy a new smart phone or tablet, the first thing I generally do is order an anti-glare screen protector for it … and immediately afterward I start looking at cases. The screen protector serves two purposes: much as wide tape placed across a window will help strengthen it during hurricane, I’ve learned through experience that a screen protector helps when the device is dropped. A matte screen protector Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I read a story the other day about how automakers have finally axed putting cassette players in new vehicles. Lexus was the final brand to do so and that went away with the announcement of the SC430 being discontinued. As I look around my office area here at home I am reminded of other technology gone the way of the Dodo bird. Nearby sits an old 8-track tape and in the other room is a “stack of wax” as DJs of days gone by described them. LPs. Long-Playing Records. This past Christmas I bought a USB-powered turntable to turn some of those “golden oldie” recordings into digital music. And today I was inspired. OK… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Mortal Kombat continues a gory media revitalization campaign with a limited edition Mortal Kombat Fight Stick controller.

Today’s Gear Deal brings us the 17.3″ HP ENVY 17. The system is fully customizable with prices starting at $1,299.99. Our Gear Sponsor has brought us news of a $400 coupon code that brings the price on the base system down to an amazingly low $899.99. Better still, it comes with a 2-year warranty and will ship for free. As an added bonus you can also get 50% off 6-cell or 9-cell batteries and save up to 57% on an HP All-in-One printer. So what’s the big deal with regard to this big laptop? Well it is just 1.25″ thin and weighs 7.5 lbs. It has a brushed aluminum chassis in carbon relic (metal)… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Tomorrow’s the day! Yes, that’s right, tomorrow the iPad 2 enters the marketplace and secures Apple’s dominance in the tablet world for the foreseeable future [says the resident fanboy!]. Tomorrow is also the day when you’ll be able to get an even better deal on an iPad 1, as early adopters cash in their old device so they can buy something shiny and new. All week we have been giving away iPad 1 accessories, and today is no exception. In fact, today is the biggest day of giveaways yet, and all of the items come from one of our favorite accessory companies, Speck. So what is in our Speck Giveaway and how can you… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Dragon Age II unlocked for me just after midnight Tuesday night, so I have only gotten a few hours to play so far. But I have had a number of folks ask me for my initial thoughts on the game … so here we go! First off, since Dragon Age II is a sequel to a game released in November of 2009 (less than 16 months ago if you’re counting), I am looking at this as a ‘delta’ review – in other words, I assume you’ve read my Dragon Age review … and I am starting out basically thinking that as a new game just over a year later, the game… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I recently upgraded to a 27″ iMac [thanks to a spectacular deal from Dan], and the first thing I did was install VMWare Fusion so that I could run Windows when needed. Well, truth be told, there is only one time that I ever really need to run Windows, and that is when I run Microsoft Money. You see, after nearly three years of using OSX, I have yet to find a money management program that I like nearly as much as Money, Microsoft’s long in the tooth financial software. It’s not an ideal solution, but being able to run a virtual windows machine on my Mac desktop has been a lifesaver. I’ve tried… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

GamersGate tends to feature heavily in my weekly round-ups of game deals, as they seldom have fewer than 50 items on their deal list – and the sales are usually pretty good, at least 25% off games you would actually want to play! GamersGate has been a great source of digital download games for a while, and are now celebrating their fifth anniversary – so naturally WE get the presents! This is Week #1, and for the next four weeks GamersGate is offering up to 75% off a huge list of games! Here are just some of the offers: 5 Realms of Cards 75% OFF Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The release of the iPad 2 is even closer now, and eBay seems flooded with original iPads as owners get ready to upgrade. Not everyone is dumping their iPad 1, though. Some of us are keeping our original iPad around and others are snapping them up on the cheap. Either way, accessories for the iPad 1 are still mighty useful. That’s why we are giving away three great accessories from Ten One designs. First up is the Particle case plus Sketch Stylus. The company describes the case this way: Particle means protection, but it comes with a bonus. The first Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Until relatively recently, so-called ‘cover songs’ were a staple of every artist’s repertoire. Whether it was classical artists playing compositions of folks like Bach or Mozart or singers doing the ‘great American songbook’, historically artists have established themselves by working through the existing tradition. Not any longer – now the great songs of the past are merely another source of familiarity to be bought and sampled to give your new song a familiar tune to differentiate it from the other similar sounding club dreck. This came up as we were watching ‘Don’t forget the lyrics’ and the song Savin’ All My Love For You came on, and it started a discussion about cover… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

OK, not totally free, as always you’ll need to be a new customer or eligible for an upgrade – and sign on to a 2-year contract. Still, the Pre 2 is a great phone with excellent features, and is supposedly going to get the Web OS update later this year allowing for the cool features HP showed in their media event a few weeks ago! Head on over to the HP Wireless Store and get your Verizon Pre 2 Upgrade for FREE! Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Appalachian Trail site) This is a super cool video if, like me, you’ve ever daydreamed about hiking the full Appalachian trail. However, since I have a job and lack the fitness to head out the door and cover 2,174 miles (unlike Dean Karnazes, who is currently running across the whole damn country!) Luckily, an intrepid through-hiker videotaped his experience, sped it up, added some fun music and created this video. If you’ve ever hiked the Appalachian and can identify any of the trails as they go by, be sure to share in the comments! Warning: If you’re sitting in your office while watching, this may make you want to take an… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the best things about being involved in this blogging community is that you never know who you are going to meet along the way. That is certainly the case with our friend Tom from Aligata leather. Shortly after the iPad was released, I did a review of a number of iPad folio cases. Shortly thereafter we received an email from Tom. He told us he was designing a simple but premium leather folio for the iPad, and he wanted to know if we wanted to take a look. Shortly thereafter Judie and I received sample of them. We were impressed by the cases, but even more impressed with Tom. He is one of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Original image courtesy of KnowYourCell If you were following mobile news over the weekend you probably saw some reports about Google remote killing some malicious apps that found their way to the market. While most were simply noting this because you may have been one of those affected users , others took some pretty hard jabs at Google for using an exploit of their own to remote into your phone and kill the apps. While this is not far off base, I think some people are taking it to an unnecessary level of conspiracy theory like ideas that Google is really out to spy on you and your apps. Taking into account that I am a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I admit, I’m not a big Facebook-er. I use it as a necessary evil, not a destination site. But it looks like the folks who brought us the “like” button are taking their insinuation into our lives a step farther; now they’re going to stream video too! According to the Wall Street Journal, Warner Brothers is floating a trial balloon in the form of of “The Dark Knight”. Rather than stream it through a subscription service like Netflix, you’ll be able to rent “The Dark Knight” on Facebook for 30 credits (or $3.00). While it’s only one movie, it’s enough to get many people sweating bullets over what this means for Netflix. The WSJ says… Continue reading on Gear Diary …