Mine arrived about 40 minutes ago, a day early. I’m super excited. I’ve been a bit jealous of my wife’s K1 model and when the new one was finally made available for ordering I wasted no time in placing my order. Now, after about 35 minutes of using it (it took a few minutes to get the box open and plug it in) I have to say that I’m pretty happy with the product overall. It is certainly too early to draw any final conclusions on the device, but so far things are looking pretty good.
The packaging is pretty, not that it matters too much, but they seem to have put in a bit of effort to go above and beyond the basic cardboard box. The box contents are very simple: the device, a USB charging cable with AC outlet adapter and the getting started guide. Simple and to the point, with nothing extra or unnecessary. I like that.
I plugged in and was up and running very shortly thereafter.
So, how awesome is it? Honestly just about the same as the K1. That’s pretty awesome in my book, as I’m a big fan of the K1, but the K2 does not appear to be revolutionary or even all that much different to me in the interface or the functionality. I know that it isn’t really supposed to be, so I’m not disappointed in it, but for those who are expecting something materially different, this isn’t it.
When the initial specs were announced I suggested that it might actually be too thin. I still feel that way. Holding it in my hand it just didn’t feel natural. It is much, much wider than it is thick and that makes holding it difficult. Plus, the back is now a brushed metal rather than the rubberized grip material that the K1 was made of. This allowed it to continuously slide out of my hand while I was trying to hold it and read it. Once I slipped it into its fancy Kindle cover, conveniently now an additional purchase item rather than included, things got much better. The cover isn’t particularly thick, but it is enough that when flipped open it provides an appropriately significant bulk to the device. The inside of the cover is also a feltish material, providing some friction against my hand. It makes it much more manageable to hold.
The other dimensions are basically the same as the K1 so that isn’t much of a change. You can see from the photo that it fits reasonably well in my hand (my hands are not huge by any means – men’s medium or large for gloves) and the balance while holding it seems pretty good. I think that the “Prev Page” button is just a bit too high to be comfortable to reach with my left thumb while reading one-handed, just like the K1 was, but the K2 is at least closer to reachable. Still not perfect, but not too bad.
Regarding readability and the newly upgraded display, I am rather impressed. The images (I’ve mostly been using the NY Times for images thus far in my testing) are sharp and the additional shades of gray do make a significant difference in the overall quality. From a text perspective I don’t see much of a difference, but the K1 was pretty good so the K2 keeping that high quality is good enough for me. Page turning is snappy and switching between books is pretty quick. Definitely no complaints from me on that front.
The USB connector allows for both connectivity to a computer (it installed all on its own on my XP SP3 system and appeared as a removable drive for loading additional content on to the device) and for charging of the unit. I’m a big fan of USB-based charging for portable electronics so I am pretty happy on this front. But I am annoyed that, much like the Blackberry Storm, the USB cable is not a standard Mini-B connector but a Micro-B connector. Why? Why oh why was there a need to change this standard? There are millions upon millions of Mini-B cables already out there. I see the the Micro-B is a bit thinner, but I’m annoyed that I am basically going to have two sets of cables to carry now.
I was able to load a document on to the device using the USB connection quite quickly and that was completely functional. Ditto for getting books downloaded from the store using the WhisperNet connection from Sprint.
Some interesting things that seem to be “missing” based on the K1 are a user-replaceable battery and a memory expansion slot. I have no idea why they would skip out on these two things. Yes, it has 2GB of on-board memory built in, of which 1.5GB is usable. And the books are not incredibly huge (The Three Musketeers is ~822KB; today’s NY Times is almost 2MB) so there is capacity for a lot on the device. But still, leave room for future growth. Ditto on the battery issue. Why make replacing it a maintenance event rather than a quick swap by the end user? Did they learn nothing from the annoyance at Apple about the iPhone battery situation??
So, there’s my first 40 minutes worth of experience in a nutshell. I’ll be on the road non-stop for a week starting on Friday so I’ll have plenty of time to put it through its paces and do a more thorough review. But at a glance it looks pretty nice, if not revolutionary.
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17 Jun
Posted by scottc as Product Reviews, TravelTechTalk
My review of the day is of the "La Fresh travel packets" kit. This is a pretty low-tech product but something I’m convinced everyone could use in their carry-on.
The La Fresh travel packets are small pouches with a variety of single use products. They come in 2 versions; one for men, and one for women.
The male version contains (one of each of) the following sachets:
The female version contains (one of each of) the following sachets:
The contents of the male (L) and female (R) La Fresh travel packets kit.
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12 Jun
Posted by scottc as Belkin, Power It, Product Reviews
It’s been a few days since I last posted a product review, so I’ll try and catch up in the coming week.
My product review today is of the Belkin Mini Surge Protector / USB Charger. The concept is brilliant; make a 3-outlet portable surge protector, and add a 2-outlet USB device charger. It combines 2 things almost everyone needs when they are on the road; protection from harmful electrical surges, and a way to charge your phone, PDA and media player.
The Belkin weighs 6.7oz/189 grams and is about 5 inches/12 centimeters long. The prongs are protected by a plastic cap which should ensure you don’t stab yourself, or bend them when you pop it in your laptop bag.
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08 Jun
Posted by scottc as Blackberry, OtterBox, Product Reviews
There are 2 types of Blackberry user; one that never goes anywhere without their device, and one that has a husband/wife that tells them to leave it at home or face dire consequences.
If you are in group one, then you’ll often be found in fun places, with your Blackberry holstered on your side. If that is the case, then you’ll probably have already killed several of them when you got sand, water or beer stuck inside it.
So, today I’m going to get you up close and personal with the latest Blackberry case from my friends at Otterbox; the Blackberry 8800 series Defender case.
The Defender case turns your fragile and vulnerable Blackberry into a drop and drip resistant email machine without interfering with any of the features, buttons or ports.
The case itself consists of 5 parts: a thin plastic molded membrane for the device, a 2 part hard plastic shell, a silicone rubber skin and a holster with belt clip.
The plastic membrane wraps around the front and back of the Blackberry and has an opening for the trackball. The earpiece and speaker are still perfectly audible thanks to thin pieces of filter material that keep dust and dirt out, without dampening the volume of the phone.
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27 May
Posted by Seth as Being productive, Input devices, Kensington, Product Reviews
In the world of external mice for a laptop, there is a very fine line between too bulky to justify making room for in the laptop bag and too small to be functional. The MoGo mouse clearly is the slimest and lightest option on the market, and I’ve been using one for about a year now, so I’ve grown accustomed to its lighter than air feel. Still, there are times when I want something a bit more substantive to use, particularly when I’m deskbound for a few days at a time. And thanks to Kensington, I have found a winner: the Ci75m Wireless Notebook Mouse.
The Ci75m stands 0.65″ off the desk. It is huge compared to the MoGo while folded up, but it is actually the same height as the MoGo when active. And you can actually put weight on the Ci75m without worrying about accidentally closing it and disconnecting. It also includes a clickable scroll wheel which is very nice to have.
Like most of the wireless mice on the market it uses a proprietary wireless transmitter rather than BlueTooth. This is a pet peeve of mine and I cannot figure out how the cost of producing a dedicated transmitter is less than buying a BlueTooth chipset, but that is the only reason I can come up with for why vendors continue in this direction. The wireless is reliable and I’ve had no range issues nor have I had reception issues of any sort. At least the dongle stores in the bottom of the device without adding to the size at all. The wireless runs on a pair of AAA batteries, so easy to replace as necessary, though I haven’t managed to wear mine out yet after a relatively busy week of use.
One unique feature that the Ci75m has is the ability to work in a wired mode, in addition to wireless. The USB receiver has both the radio in it as well as a Mini-USB connector to receive the cable from the mouse. As soon as you go wired the radio shuts off. This is great for working on an airplane, assuming you can find room to use an external mouse. The cable is just over two feet long, providing plenty of range of motion. And in an impressive feat of industrial design, the cable remains stored inside the device while not in use, wrapped up around the outside of the body with the plug safely secured. The top is secured via magnets, so even an incessant fidgeter like me cannot break the plastic catch that is holding the top onto the base.
I love the form-factor of this device, especially compared to the many “travel” mice that seem to be shaped more like a racquetball than anything particularly ergonomic. And I’m willing to cut them some slack on the proprietary wireless connection since the same dongle also adds the wired support for the mouse. Overall, the Ci75m is a keeper. I still like my MoGo for ulta-portability, but this is a great compromise, especially for those with big hands who are worried about “crushing” the little MoGo.
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26 May
Posted by scottc as Kensington, Power It, Product Reviews
If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, then you’ll know that I love power. Being able to charge my gadgets anywhere in the world, far away from an outlet has become an obsession, and it’s been years since I found myself stranded anywhere without the juice to power my stuff.
So, today I’ll show you another gadget that can help you do the same; it’s the Kensington Portable Power Pack for Mobile Devices (I’ll just refer to it as the Power Pack).
The Power Pack is a small (85g/3oz) Lithium-Polymer battery pack with a USB output port. It has a capacity of 1800mAh, which on average should be enough for the following:
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25 May
Posted by scottc as GPS, Product Reviews, TomTom
Welcome to part 2 of my TomTom GO 930 review. Today I’m going to show off almost 75 screen captures from the interface. If you are on a slow connection, then I apologize in advance!
As you read in my previous review (Part 1 – the hardware), the GO 930 has a massive list of features. In part 3 (later this week), I’ll show the device actually in use on the road, and will attempt to show off the really cool features (lane assist, traffic IQ and destination entry).
I’ll show you most of the features the easy way; with screen captures.
The 8 preference menu screens:
![dump1221134430 [320x200]](http://www.techontheroad.com/images/TomTomGO930review_9842/dump1221134430320x200.jpg)
![dump1221134431 [320x200]](http://www.techontheroad.com/images/TomTomGO930review_9842/dump1221134431320x200.jpg)
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22 May
Posted by scottc as Being productive, Entertainment, Product Reviews
Raise your hands if you have ever taken a business trip with your carry on, your laptop bag AND a video projector. In this day and age of snazzy Powerpoint presentations, the humble video projector has become an invaluable tool. Sadly not everywhere you travel has their own projector, so you’ll often find yourself carrying an extra 20lbs of stuff.
That is where Projector123.com can help you. They ship projectors anywhere in the US and can get them delivered as early as 8:30 am the next morning.
The best way to see if they can keep their promise is to try them out, so I put in an order for their 2000 lumen projector for a 10:30am delivery.
10 am the next morning, my FedEx guy showed up with what looked like the kind of plastic case you see in gangster movies, though this one wasn’t handcuffed to him. The projector ships with signature confirmation, so someone will have to be present to sign for it.
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21 May
Posted by scottc as Entertainment, PDA and Smartphone, Product Reviews, Sony
I’m a sucker for convergence devices (and anything with lots of buttons and lights).
Any company that makes a product that combines several devices in one, has my attention. So, when I got the chance to review the Sony mylo personal communicator, I was naturally excited (yeah, I’m a geek…).
The Sony mylo COM-2 is a 6.9oz (196 gram) "personal communicator". The specifications are:
The mylo (which stands for "MY Life Online" runs a proprietary Sony OS with support for Adobe Flash widgets. The default software package includes the following applications:
Later in this review I’ll show off each of these applications, but let’s take a look at the mylo hardware first:
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19 May
Posted by scottc as Luggage, OtterBox, Product Reviews, iPhone, iPod/iTunes
Summer is finally getting closer, and many of the gadgets that keep us entertained during the boring weekday trips will now be coming to more fun locations to keep us entertained instead of keeping us awake.
The thing about more fun locations is that they are often not the friendliest to our gadgets. During the week, the worst abuse may be getting thrown into the x-ray bin at the TSA line, but when you are on vacation your poor gadgets get wet, covered in sand, food or worse.
My iPod classic (160Gb) cost $399, and I’m overly protective of it. Unlike many of my gadgets, I’m always fully aware that iPods are not the most rigid of gadgets and I just know that the hard disk is one drop away from death.
So, today I’m going to show off a product that promises to protect your cherished iPod from pretty much anything you could possibly throw (or drop) at it. The Otterbox iPod classic Armor™ series case is pretty much the toughest case you can get for your iPod. It is waterproof to 3 feet and the hard plastic body will protect it from the worst of accidents.
But the best part of this case is that it does all this while still offering headphone access as well as full access to the scroll wheel!
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