Archive for May, 2008
If you are tired of the anemic sound your notebook came with but don’t want a full size set of speakers crowding your desk, the B-Flex 2 Hi-Fi Stereo USB Speaker is the ticket. The B-flex 2 is available in both black and white colors. The speakers are attached to a flexible neck that allows you to position the speakers to your liking. For some reason it reminds me of the head from the Wall-E robot from the Disney movie.
The B-Flex 2 is powered completely by the USB bus so no external power adapter is needed. The system consists of two 36mm paper cone drivers with an output of 1W per channel. The frequency range for the system is 200 - 20,000 Hz and the resonant frequency is 200Hz. Weight for the system in only 2.8 ounces making it very portable and the dimensions are 3.25″ x 7″ x 1.25″. The B-Flex 2 system is much more compact than say the Yamaha NX-U02 or Logitech V20, but I have to wonder if the B-flex sounds as good.
Ever wish for a color laser all-in-one (AIO) that will fit into your small office or home office and give you all of the features you need at a price you can justify spending? The HP Color LaserJet CM1312nfi MFP ($499.99 direct) may be just what you’ve been waiting for.Despite its low price, the CM1312nfi doesn’t skimp on features. It works as a standalone fax machine and color copier, includes a network connector, and can both scan to a PC and fax from a PC over a network. And you can conveniently scan and e-mail by launching your PC’s e-mail program to open a new message with the scanned document attached.
With its small size, modern styling, audiophile focus, and that oh-so-important USB connector, you’d expect the NuForce Icon to find a home next to a laptop on a glass topped desk in a high-rise office building with full length window views. You might be right – that’s definitely one of the roles the Icon can play – but this amplifier displays a surprising amount of versatility for its size: in addition to a USB input that turns it into an external sound card like the Asus Xonar U1, the Icon includes a headphone jack for connection to a portable music player (iPod, Zune, CD player, etc.), a discrete headphone amplifier, a line out port for connection to a powered subwoofer, RCA inputs for connection to stereo components, and two Ethernet ports for use with CAT-5-enabled speakers (or standard speakers through special cabling).
All together, the Icon makes for an interesting package, but given the number of possible applications, we’re surprised that NuForce doesn’t make a higher-end version of the amplifier with tube amplification. After all, why can’t we have our premium sound and miniaturization all in one package?
One day, all your kitchen gadgets will look like your toaster. Your fridge will have bread slots, your oven, a crumb tray. Dualit is leading the toaster revolution with their new Dualit Lite DAB radio.
As well as toaster-good looks, you get DAB and FM radio, a kitchen timer and alarm clock, and the chance to have it powered by the mains or the rechargable battery.
It’ll be available from July for £85.
With fuel prices hitting record highs, it’s more important than ever to get directly to your destination without having to drive around aimlessly. This is especially critical if you drive a larger vehicle like a truck or an RV, which doesn’t get good mileage to begin with. With a big rig, it’s also important to have a sizable display that won’t get lost on a large windshield or dashboard. Garmin ’s big-screened nüvi 5000 is designed specifically to meet the needs of such drivers.
