We are in the full swing of summer, and in addition to great weekly sales, all of the sites are having massive ongoing sales. Steam’s summer sale is done but Direct2Drive and Good Old Games are each featuring massive deals every day – there is no way I can keep up with those, so I suggest you check out the sites! In capturing just the best of the ongoing sales, I have pretty much totally abandoned my rule of no more than 50 deals from all sites … there is just way too much great stuff out there at insane prices!! However, I am sticking with the >50% savings rule, and you will see… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Carly recently wrote about how Borders had finally used up its last life on its last quarter, and it is ‘game over’ for the former bookstore titan. As part of that, Borders stores are having massive clearance sales to get rid of everything possible. As noted above this is an in-store deal on in-stock items only – and also represents the final chance to use whatever gift cards / rewards / whatever you might have left. And also as noted, all of this expires on July 31st. So if you have a local Borders (you can search here) , head there as soon as you can and check it… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

One of the big claims of the new Sony Vaio S-series laptop is that not only does it deliver great performance in a svelte package, but combined with the sheet battery can deliver up to 15 hours of usage between charges. I have already tested the ‘Normal Use’ and ‘Hardcore Gaming’ modes … now it is time to see if this thing can actually delivery 15 hours of battery life! In this article I test out my ‘Make It Last’ scenario – that is just what it sounds like: a svelte setup that doesn’t use any power unless it absolutely needs to, but allows me to go about my day and get stuff done… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(image courtesy Underdog of Perfection) I’ve talked before about my Motorola Droid. We’ve had a love/hate relationship over the last 18 months or so, but all good things must come to an end. Ours has a specific end date, as I am up for a new phone on August 12th. Unfortunately, none of the Android offerings on Verizon have me terribly excited, and in fact I’m questioning whether an Android phone is my next step. It started when I headed to Verizon Wireless’s site to check out their phone selection. The Thunderbolt, Charge and Revolution are all 4G LTE, which is intriguing and a good future-proofing plan, since I intend to buy on-contract… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Mix together a crime-drama mystery, puzzles, hidden objects, and tons of twists and turns and intrigue … and you have the makings of one of the most compelling games made for the iPad this year. The name of that game is “Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds” from G5 Entertainment. Let’s take a look and see if it lives up to that promise! The Hype: Try your hand at investigating a crime, crack the case and catch the criminal in this perplexing hidden-object game! Detectives Turino and Lamonte have been assigned to a new investigative unit: Special Enquiry Detail. Their first case is the shocking death of the daughter of… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

For the last few months I have been using a 13″ MacBook Air as my primary computer. It works beautifully. It is thin, light, and more than speedy enough for my needs. In addition, since the screen resolution is the same as the 15″ MacBook Pro I used briefly a few years ago I don’t feel like I’m compromising because of the size. All of that noted, however, there was part of me that, for these last months, had my eyes straying to (lusting for?) a different laptop. Yes, back in January Elana got an 11″ MacBook Air and I have thought about getting one (again since I owned one briefly when they were… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

We love a good pair of headphones and were excited to see news that Soul electronics had entered into a partnership with Ludacris to bring a line of new headphones to a host of retail outlets including Apple.com, Amazon.com, BestBuy.com and more. The new line is comprised of an initial 5-model line-up of high-definition headphones that offer the elite sound caliber of a professional headphone with a distinct flair for self-expression and style. Among them are the elite High Definition SL300 Powered Noise Cancelling headphone, High Definition On-Ear models SL150 and SL100, and the SL99 and SL49 High Definition In-Ear headphones. Here’s a bit about each- The SL300 model offers superior noise cancellation technology combined with Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This week Google Chairman Eric Schmidt made a widely covered statement: “The big news in the past year has been the explosion of Google Android handsets and this means our competitors are responding,” Schmidt reportedly said. “Because they are not responding with innovation, they’re responding with lawsuits. We have not done anything wrong and these lawsuits are just inspired by our success.” In other words, if it was some small company or a marginal OS like Windows Phone 7, Apple wouldn’t bother – except that they HAVE done this: remember Psystar? Apple has aggressively sought patents on their technologies and them protected those patents. Many folks ask why Apple is so lawsuit-happy… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

New Gear Daily Deal: Vostro 3550 with Inspiron Mini 1012 It is time to start thinking about going back to school and with this New Gear Daily Deal you can make sure you or the student in your life has all the tool s/he needs. Imagine this- you are working on a paper in your dorm on your blazing fast Vostro 3550. Suddenly you need to get to the library fast. Sure, you could grab the Vostro but with its 15.4″ screen it is more computer than you need and, well, it isn’t exactly light. Instead you grab your Inspiron Mini 1012. It is small and light but still has all the power you… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Over at Android Central there was a reminder of the stark reality facing Android users: the Blackberry PlayBook has a newer version of Android than 81% of all users! As noted there: It’s running a newer version of Android than some 80 percent of you guys out there. When last we looked, some 18.6 percent of Android devices were running Android 2.3.x. (Honeycomb devices made up less than 1 percent on top of that.) And RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook? Why, it’s running Android 2.3.3, while some 59 percent of you out there are still officially stuck on Froyo, and another 18 percent are on Eclair. In the comments are… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal brings us the new HP x2301 23″ Diagonal Micro Thin LED Monitor. It features full HD 1080p resolution, a great range of connectivity that includes HDMI + DVI + VGA, an 8 million: 1 dynamic contrast ratio, 250nit brightness and a 3ms response time. It had all that and is still just 9.8mm thin. Normally $299.99 with this Gear Deal you can save $30. It will even ship for free. Gear Deal: HP x2301 23″ 1080p Micro-thin LED-backlit LCD Monitor via LogicBUY Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I remember when Sid Meier’s Pirates! for the PC launched in 2005. I had never played the original, and the genre wasn’t my usual sort of thing … but I grabbed it on the recommendation of other writers at the former GamerDad – and LOVED it! So when it arrived for PSP in 2007 I grabbed it right away – and also last night when it hit the iTunes App Store for the iPad. I knew the core game would be solid, and at $3.99 it was a very reasonable price. Here is the description: All hands on Deck! Sid Meier’s Pirates! is an exciting high-seas adventure that allows buccaneers to Continue reading on Gear Diary …

    Slacker Radio is really one of my ‘can’t live without’ services.   It’s one of the first things I put on any smartphone or tablet.  I use it on the PC and Mac.   I stream music from custom stations in the car, at work, home — and just about everywhere in between.   What’s great about Slacker — besides being able to use on any Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone (yes, your WP7 and your WinMo 6.5 phones), webOS and Nokia Symbian — is that the basic service is 100% free.  Listen to custom stations based on the artists or songs you like.  Choose Slacker stations based on types of music with minimal ads.    Maybe you need a bit more to kick back and really enjoy the remainder of your summer. Maybe your next BBQ or party could benefit from some Slacker love?  Maybe, just maybe you could use a Free Three Month Slacker Premium Subscription? We got those.  And we’re giving ‘em away! That’s right, we’ll be giving away a total of Five 3-Month Slacker Premium subscriptions to Gear Diary readers.    Read on to find out how to enter.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Need an expensive and colorful device to store your extremely important personal or professional data? Want a USB stick with a self-destruct function? Look no further. Consumers may be surprised to learn that Victorinox Swiss Army’s latest products, the Slim and Slim Duo USB lines, have just one function. Marketed as an innovative and decidedly “Bond-esque” luxury flash drive, the new Swiss Army USBs are ready for anything, that is, unless you need a can opener or knife. Buyers can now not only store their personal data, but also keep it protected via passwords and a vaguely described “unhackable” feature. If you’re like me, you might be curious as to how this slim tech… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

    Are you an aspiring filmmaker? A smartphone owner? If so, it might be time to get down to business making a 60 – second video for Verizon Wireless’ new Field Tester’s Challenge. The premise is simple: create a unique video short showcasing a field test of Verizon’s 4G LTE network. In other words, you’re making an advertisement. Although the video needs a runtime of just a minute, there really aren’t many other restrictions on entries. The full rules and regulations can be found here, though participants may want to get a head start on the project before the contest’s fast approaching August 20th deadline. Areas of particular interest to the cellular giant include download… Continue reading on Gear Diary …