Archive for the Products Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Review: Sudio Vasa Bla Wireless Headsets

Posted in Products with tags on April 5, 2018 by itnerd

Maybe it’s because I am old school, but I haven’t been a fan of wireless headsets. My thought process has been that the best audio quality comes from headsets with a cable. Unfortunately Apple made using headsets with a cable more difficult when they dumped the headphone jack in that now infamous act of “courage.”  In my case, I’ve been living the “dongle life” with my iPhone 7 Plus via a Lighting to 3.5 mm adapter to try and use my existing headsets. But the net result was lesser sound quality.

That changed when I got my hands on the Suido Vasa Bla wireless headsets.

fullsizeoutput_adf.jpeg

I got mine in black with rose gold accents. But you can get them in four other colors. They look stylish and the cable that connects the earbuds is flat and has a rubber feel.

6AwYvA+kQIWMFDuyTT8pUA

There’s a three button control and microphone on the right side.

JV3K0bQJT8ChagUsLk4RMg.jpg

While the left side has the battery. Inside the box, which for the record was one of the better unboxing experiences that I have had lately as the packaging is very classy and clever, is a micro USB cable for charging, a rose gold clip for the cable, a high quality leather case, and replacement silicone tips.

From a technical standpoint, it uses Bluetooth 4.1 to give you a range of 10 meters. The battery life is 9 hours (I got just over 8 in testing) with a standby time of 10 days. You can quick charge it in 10 minutes, but a full charge takes 120 minutes. That’s handy as I tend to take flights lasting 14 to 15 hours at a shot. Thus the ability to recharge quickly is more than welcome. It has a driver composed of a 10.2 mm dynamic speaker with a frequency response of 18 Hz – 23 kHz which is pretty decent from a numbers perspective.

The real question is, how do they sound? Once I found the right sized silicone tips so that they fit my ears and stayed in place, they were exceptionally good. Speaking of staying in place, I tried them during a workout and I had no issues on that front and it felt comfortable to wear. I subjected them to my current audio torture playlist made up of Austra, The Pet Shop Boys, Lana Del Rey, Bruce Cockburn and Phantogram and it all sounded great. Everything sounded crisp and assuming you pick the right sized silicone tips, the bass wasn’t overwhelming. Sound isolation is great once I figured out what size of silicone tips to use and I can’t wait to try them on my next flight. The take home message is that you need to invest some time to pick the right sized silicone tips to get the best out of these headsets.

So, let’s get to brass tacks. The Sudio Vasa Bla Wireless Headsets go for $99 CAD direct from the Sudio website. But if you use the promo code “TheITNerd15″ (minus the quotes), you can get 15% off. If you’re sick of living the dongle life like I am, but you still want great audio at a good price, take a look at the Sudio Vasa Bla Wireless Headsets. They sound great, they look good, and the price it right. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed if you pick up a pair.

2 Comments »

Review: Asus ZenFone Max Plus (M1)

Posted in Products with tags on April 4, 2018 by itnerd

Today I’m going to review the Asus ZenFone Max Plus which is classified as a budget phone. Seeing as it goes for $299 CDN, it certainly fits into the budget category. But it didn’t perform like a budget phone by any means. In fact, it performs like a phone several levels above its weight class.

Let’s start with the display which is a very sharp and bright 5.7-inch 18:9 display which is viewable in all lighting conditions. It has a resolution of 2160 x 1080 which is way above what you would expect at this price point. Another plus is that fingerprints don’t seem to affect this phone’s display in a negative way.

Next up is the layout of the phone. The right side has the volume control and power button. The left has the SIM slot. The top has the headphone jack and the bottom has a Micro USB connector. That’s kind of odd seeing as we’re moving towards USB-C being the standard. There are speakers on the bottom as well.

In terms of key stats, here’s what the ZenFone Max Plus has under the hood:

  • Dual Sim Unlocked (one SIM supports 2/3/4G, the other SIM support 3G/2G voice)
  • Octa-core 1.5Ghz Processor
  • 3GB RAM
  • 32GB of storage (expandable up to 2TB via a MicroSD slot)
  • 8MP front camera
  • Dual rear camera with 16MP and 8MP Wide-Angle
  • Android 7.0
  • Fingerprint sensor
  • Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n WiFi

What’s cool about this setup is that unlike a lot of phones with dual SIM slots, this one has two slots for nano SIMs, and a separate slot for storage. That way you can fully maximize the phone’s capabilities. From a performance standpoint, it was okay. I was able to run games on it with the graphics settings cranked down a bit. But if you’re expecting Galaxy S9 or iPhone X levels of performance, you won’t get it here. Ditto for the fact that this only supports 802.11b/g/n WiFi in an age when 802.11ac is the standard. But for most people that this phone will be targeting, all of that is not going to be a problem.

The real star of the show is the camera setup. It has a dual camera setup in the rear that’s capable of 16-megapixel camera for regular shots and an 8-megapixel camera for wide-angle stills. My test shots on the trails of Rouge Park showed that it was a capable setup that worked well in a variety of lighting conditions. You can right click on any of the photos to enlarge:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On top of that, you get a panoramic mode (click to enlarge):

P_20180330_141509_PN

On top of that, it does a portrait mode as well as a “beauty mode” that makes your selfies look better. There’s also a 64MP mode that uses software to increase the detail of any photo taken in that mode. Shuttle lag was almost non-existent and autofocus was instant. You can run it in auto mode or take total control using the “Pro” mode.

Now when it came to videos, the ZenFone Max Plus does HD videos as evidenced by the video below:

You’ll note that the video shows that the ZenFone Max Plus was having issues with autofocus. Other than that, the video was good. The audio was clear as well as evidenced by the honking geese. But a software update to fix the autofocus issue would be welcome.

In terms of battery life, the phone was able to last a day and a half of moderate use on my part. But it does charge quickly.  It gets from zero to 20 percent within 30 minutes, while an hour of charging will get you 47 percent. A full charge takes more than two hours.

So what’s the bottom line? While not perfect, the Zenfone Max Plus from Asus does more than enough right that it merits strong consideration from you if you’re looking for a phone in  the budget end of the market. In fact considering that it has features like an 18:9 display which a lot of flagship phones don’t have, it might even be a choice for someone who’s looking upmarket. It’s another strong effort from Asus who seems to be constantly putting out phones that are going to attract attention in the marketplace.

 

Leave a comment »

Review: Hex Brand Transit Tote

Posted in Products with tags on April 3, 2018 by itnerd

By Ms. IT Nerd

I have been on a journey to find the perfect tote ever since this past January when I lost my tote on the transit system. I realized that I like many people carry quite a bit everyday. At a bare minimum I needed a tote to carry my hefty 15” Mac book pro, an umbrella (after all it is spring time), my phone and wallet, one water bottle, my travel mug for coffee and lunch. So I was intrigued when the opportunity came to me to review the Hex Brand Transit Tote.

fullsizeoutput_ad9

It is a well-built laptop tote (dimensions 16.75″L x 16.5″W x 5.5″H) as it strikes a balance between stylist and sturdy. It is well padded yet light. And it’s better looking than what the pictures show. As far as I can tell it comes in only one colour which is black. But the lack of a colour choice doesn’t matter as it looks stylish. I have already had two of my girlfriends ask me where I got this new bag. That tells you everything you need to know right there.

What I also like in this tote is how much it can hold.

fullsizeoutput_ad8

I have found some other totes have a smallish opening that ends up making it hard to slide a laptop in or it is restrictive to sliding a regular Tupperware box in or anything else that you want to carry. The Hex tote is wide enough for all those things. This is the first tote that I feel that I can do away with my purse as it has these nice external snap pockets:

fullsizeoutput_adafullsizeoutput_adb

There are two in the back and one in the front which I like as they are snug to the bag and keeps your stuff secure.

fullsizeoutput_adc

This Hex tote also contains these well-designed internal organizers that allows for easy access while keeping your stuff secure as it has a large durable zipper. I feel that this tote is lighter than other totes made with leather as it is made of a durable neoprene fabric that is water resistant and has handles for you to carry. The adjustable shoulder strap gives you the option to set it up in a cross-body bag configuration (which is my preference) or a shoulder bag.

The Hex Transit Tote retails for approximately $99 US or $130 CDN. This stylish tote bag hits all the check marks for me and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

1 Comment »

Review: Western Digital My Passport 4TB Portable Drive

Posted in Products with tags on April 2, 2018 by itnerd

I was having some issues with my NAS and I needed an external drive with at least 3TB of space to back up the contents so that I could erase it and set it up from scratch. Thus it was timely that my local computer store had a sale on the Western Digital My Passport 4TB portable drive as that would more than satisfy my need to back up 3TB of data.

4K%ZV8mMRC+wF60653U7iA

It is a USB 3.0 drive with a stylish exterior (which has the added bonus of being available in multiple colors, but its finish is a bit of a fingerprint magnet) that fits in your pocket. Though I would recommend getting a case for it to ensure that it survives any bumps that it might be subjected to.

Western Digital does include some software in the box in the form of backup software, a drive utility that will check the status and secure-erase the drive, as well as encryption software for dealing with sensitive data. Further to that, the encryption is hardware based which won’t slow it down. I should note that the drive utility software works on both Mac and PC. Ditto for the security software. But the backup software is PC only.

So, how does it perform? It isn’t the fastest drive around if you’re copying large amounts of data such as 300GB disk images like I was last week. But for most people that won’t matter as I found the performance to be pretty good when copying things like MP3s and movies which are far smaller in size.

So what does this drive go for? You can pick up the 4TB version for $120 USD which is a pretty good deal. It is also available in 3TB, 2TB, and 1TB versions as well if you don’t need that amount of storage or don’t want to spend the cash on a 4TB drive. One thing to consider is that it has a 3 year warranty which makes it an even better value. Not that you’ll need to use that warranty as from my experience Western Digital drives are extremely reliable. And in my mind it should push it to the top of your list if you’re looking for an external hard drive.

Leave a comment »

Review: Kingston DataTraveller 100 G3 Pen Drive

Posted in Products with tags on March 9, 2018 by itnerd

You can never have enough USB pen drives around as they come in handy. Case in point the Kingston DataTraveller 100 G3 pen drive.

IMG_1381.jpg

This one is 16GB, but you can get them in sizes from 8GB all the way to 128GB. Though I cannot find the 8GB model in any store that I visited. So expect 16GB to be the floor.

IMG_1382.jpg

It’s a USB 3.0 pen drive made of plastic that uses a cap-less design for convenience and the sliding mechanism works well. The back side of the drive has a loop for lanyards. A key chain won’t fit here which I think would be the more typical use case. It’s physically very small. From a performance standpoint, it’s very average. I measured the drive’s performance at 42 MB/s read and 15 MB/s write. In other words, there are faster drives out there. However, what it has going for it is price. I picked this one up for $8.99 CDN. But you can drop $64.99 on a 128GB drive and there are sizes in between these two extremes. If you need a cheap drive and high performance isn’t a factor, check this drive out.

 

Leave a comment »

In Depth: Revolar

Posted in Products with tags on January 27, 2018 by itnerd

In the age of #TimesUp and #MeToo, a product came to my attention that I think that very relevant to the times we live in. Called Revolar, it is a discreet button type device that’s synced to your smartphone (it supports iOS and Android smarphones) that you can wear to get yourself out of unwanted situations.

revolar-andrea_purse-03.jpg

You can press it once to let your contact list know that you got to your destiantion safely. Press it twice in a row and your phone rings until you answer it, which is a great way to get yourself out of a crappy date or some other uncomfortable situation. It also has real-time GPS tracking for your contact list to see where you are in case you need help. Press it three times consecutively in an emergency and the police are contacted, and GPS is tracking your every move. This in short creates multiple ways for you  to be safe.

Here’s a video for Revolar in action:

Revolar is the brainchild of Jackie Ros and her co-founder Andrea Perdomo. Both have had negative experiences that drove them to make a product to allow one to feel safe in any situation. The reality is that:

  • Every 98 seconds an American is sexually assaulted
  • 1 in 4 women & 1 in 6 men are sexually assaulted in the U.S.
  • Hate crimes against minorities have gone up by 67% in the last two years

With stats like that, you can see why a device like Revolar is valuable. There are two versions of the Revolar. The Classic which is $40 USD, the Instinct which is $80 USD. I am pretty sure that there’s someone in your life that could use Revolar. Thus I would recommend considering this product to keep them safe.

Leave a comment »

Review: goTenna Mesh

Posted in Products with tags on January 27, 2018 by itnerd

Today I tested a really interesting device that has the potential to make a difference to anyone who reads this. the device is the goTenna Mesh.

fullsizeoutput_aa8.jpeg

The goTenna Mesh is a device that lets you create a private network to send and receive text message as well as location data with your cell phone. Here’s the cool trick: It does this without your cell phone being connected to a cellular network. It does this by operating on the 902-928MHz band in North America. That allows two or more of these devices to allow for communication. The more part is the key because the more of these devices that you have, the more of a mesh network that you can create. That means you can extend the range of roughly 4 miles to something much broader. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth and leverages the goTenna app that you can get for iOS and Android. It has a battery that lasts 24 hours and takes an hour to recharge via a microUSB connection. It’s watertight and has a couple of straps for you to hang it off your backpack for example.

Now, all of this sounds very interesting. So to test this, set up one goTenna Mesh on an Android phone, another on my wife’s iPhone, and I took a third one with me on a walk to a local park while my wife remained in our condo. The idea was that I would turn off the cellular data connectivity along with WiFi and then send and receive messages until I was out of range. Now this is an urban area where there are lots of tall buildings. Plus I was walking to a park that was in the opposite side of my condo building. Thus I was fully expecting to not get a whole lot of range out of the goTenna Mesh. But I was in for a bit of a surprise. I was able to get 0.8 miles away before I was out of range. That doesn’t sound impressive, but given all those factors, that’s actually quite good.

The next thing that I did was walked back to roughly 0.6 miles away from my wife and dropped a third goTenna Mesh unit to test the ability to create a mesh network. I simply had to turn it on and hide it someplace. That allowed me to get 1.2 miles away from home before I was out of range. Thus it is easy to imagine that if there were a bunch of these in a geographic area, you could be miles away from another person and still communicate with them. On top of that, if you were in a more open area, you could easily get much more range from each device. That’s not just theory, there is a community of goTenna Mesh users that are growing. When I checked the network map, this is what I saw:

Screen Shot 2018-01-27 at 2.07.11 PM

Clearly, if the goTenna Mesh catches on, it’s very easy to see that this could be useful as an alternate means of communication that doesn’t involve your cellular provider, such as in the event of an emergency. There are other use cases that the company illustrates that show how compelling the product is.

A word about the messages that I was sending and receiving. Everything is encrypted end-to-end. You can choose whether your messages are reaching a specific individual, a group of people, or all Mesh users nearby. On top of that, if your goTenna Mesh unit relays a message, you won’t be able to see it. You can also send your location data along with a map. But strangely, you cannot send photos.

A two pack of goTenna Mesh units is $249 CAD. This technology looks very promising. And based on the use cases that I read about make it very compelling for those who go off grid, or just want a safety net in case the worst happens.

Leave a comment »

In Depth: NEMS

Posted in Products with tags on December 30, 2017 by itnerd

One of the things that I have to do is troubleshoot network issues. In the past, I’ve used a virtual machine running Wireshark, or more recently I’ve been using this on may MacBook Pro. Both are useful for situations where a network issue was pretty clear and easily found. But the problem with both these solutions is that if I am hunting for something that isn’t easily found, or I have to catch it in the act so to speak, they’re impractical. I would have to set either of these on something that the customer owns. The same is true if I want to set it up for constant monitoring of a network to make sure that it is running as it should.

Enter NEMS which is short for Nagios Enterprise Monitoring Server. It is a pre-configured and ready-to-deploy Nagios Core image designed to run on the Raspberry Pi 3 micro computer which can be found on Amazon for just over $50 CDN. Making it a cheap and easy way to set up network monitoring for networks big and small.

NEMS watches hosts and services that you specify and alerts you when things go wrong on your network. For example, I was having problems on my home network accessing my mail server. Since the traffic to and from my mail server is encrypted, I used NEMS to isolate that traffic on my network and I was able to see that the traffic was being altered by by the router that I was using at the time which my mail server was rejecting because it had been altered. That allowed me to take action and replace the router. In short, NEMS gave me a very easy and quick way to figure out an issue that would have puzzled me for days. But besides trying to figure out odd issues on your network, you can be alerted if your server’s hard drive is getting full, if your web site goes down, or if your server room is getting warm. That way you can take action before things get critical.

The project is run by Robbie Ferguson, President Category5 TV Network. I spoke to him recently and he’s a big believer in trying to push down this sort of technology which used to be available only to big companies down to anyone who needs it. He’s thought this through from a setup and deployment standpoint, so if you have a basic understanding of how networks work, and you have an adventurous streak, you don’t need someone like me to deploy NEMS. Or if you’re someone like me who troubleshoots networks among other things, I can deploy this solution and give my clients enterprise grade network monitoring for next to nothing.

If you’re responsible for a network, or you have a a strange network issue, I’d suggest grabbing a Raspberry Pi and a copy of NEMS. From my experience, you’ll understand what is going on when it comes to what’s on your network, which will allow you to better manage and troubleshoot it.

1 Comment »

The IT Nerd Award For The Best SUV Of 2017 Goes To: 2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD

Posted in Products with tags on December 29, 2017 by itnerd

IMG_0225

Mazda has seriously raised the bar when it comes to the compact SUV segment when they rolled out the 2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD. It handled great, which was a given seeing as we’re talking about Mazda. It sips gas, which is again a given seeing as this is a Mazda. But they seriously amped up the style both internally and externally. In terms of the former, it has an outstanding interior. In fact, it’s so good that luxury car brands may want to take a look at it as the could likely take some lessons from Mazda as it is simply that good. The compact SUV segment is highly competitive. But Mazda has managed to have a product that is not only good enough to make them king of the hill at the moment, but one that is an IT Nerd Award winner as well for 2017.

1 Comment »

The IT Nerd Award For The Best Car Of 2017 Goes To: 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT Sport Ultimate

Posted in Products with tags on December 28, 2017 by itnerd

IMG_0734

Every time I review a vehicle from Hyundai, I walk away impressed. It started with the Genesis… Long before they spun that off as a separate brand. Then the Tucson impressed me so much that I bought one. And both of those vehicles won IT Nerd Awards. Now it’s the 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT Sport Ultimate turn to continue that tradition. What the Korean company has come up with is a hot hatch that challenges VW and its famed GTI in pretty much every area and leaves a grin on your face that is so large, it will be seen from space. On top of that, they have some cool infotainment tech on board in the form of BlueLink. In short, it really fits the definition of what a hot hatch should be at a price point that is accessible to those who are looking for a car in this category. For those reasons, the 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT Sport Ultimate is very much a worthy winner of an IT Nerd Award for 2017.

Leave a comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »