Stories by James Hutchinson

Fuji Xerox DocuPrint C2120 colour laser printer

The Fuji Xerox DocuPrint C2120 colour laser printer improves slightly on the DocuPrint C2100. For the extra money you get little more than a memory boost, but this sub-$1000 colour laser printer still shines when it comes to value, print speed and quality.

Written by James Hutchinson03 Aug. 09 10:40

QNAP TS-219P Turbo NAS device

QNAP's TS-219P Turbo is a two-bay network-attached storage (NAS) device designed for homes and small offices.

Written by James Hutchinson31 July 09 11:40

Samsung ML-4551ND monochrome laser printer

Samsung's ML-4551ND is the company's top-of-the-line monochrome laser printer, and it offers network connectivity and fast print speeds.

Written by James Hutchinson29 July 09 16:10

QNAP SS-439 Pro Turbo NAS device

QNAP's SS-439 Pro Turbo is the company's first network-attached storage (NAS) device to use 2.5in hard drives. Powered by an Intel Atom processor, this four-bay NAS device is extremely fast, but doesn't offer the power efficiency or quiet operation of other 2.5in NAS devices.

Written by James Hutchinson29 July 09 14:30

Synology DS409slim NAS device

Synology's Disk Station DS409slim is one of the first network-attached storage (NAS) devices we've seen to make use of 2.5in notebook hard drives instead of 3.5 desktop hard drives. The use of 2.5in notebook drives allows the DS409slim to be smaller than most NAS devices on the market, and it will also consume less power. However, it also means that the maximum storage capacity of the DS409slim isn't as high as NAS devices that use 3.5in drives.

Written by James Hutchinson24 July 09 12:20

Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB (ST32000542AS) internal hard drive

The Barracuda LP (ST32000542AS) is the first internal hard drive from Seagate to store two terabytes of data; 2TB is currently the maximum capacity of a single 3.5in SATA 2 drive. The Seagate Barracuda LP also manages to cut down on energy consumption compared to conventional 7200rpm hard drives while retaining reasonable performance.

Written by James Hutchinson07 July 09 13:50

Western Digital My Book World Edition II (4TB) NAS device

If the 1TB storage capacity of the My Book World Edition network-attached storage (NAS) device simply isn't enough, Western Digital's two-bay My Book World Edition II might be suitable.

Written by James Hutchinson23 July 09 17:20

Aigo aiPower N6215 iPhone case

If, like plenty of others, you are frustrated with your iPhone's battery life, help is at hand. Like the Mophie Juice Pack Air, the Aigo aiPower N2615 combines a rechargeable battery and iPhone case, giving more juice to your Apple iPhone 3G or 3GS. Though the extra battery life might make the aiPower N2615 indispensable for those on the move, the case can be frustrating.

Written by James Hutchinson31 Aug. 09 16:20

Solidata K5-32 solid-state drive

The Solidata K5-32 is a 2.5in, 32GB solid-state drive (SSD). It features single-level cell (SLC) memory, which allows it to provide higher input/output operations per second (IOPS) than drives with multi-level cells (MLC). This makes it a good choice for servers, workstations and high-end desktops, but it does come with a high-end price tag to match.

Written by James Hutchinson28 Aug. 09 10:15

Brother MFC-8890DW monochrome laser multifunction

The MFC-8890CDW is Brother's premium monochrome laser multifunction printer. Targeted at small to medium workgroups that don't need colour printing, the MFC-8890DW boasts integrated Wi-Fi and a secure print feature. It doesn’t have a high price tag either. Unfortunately, this printer is hampered by an unintuitive control panel and overly simplistic Web-based interface.

Written by James Hutchinson27 Aug. 09 12:00

Solidata K6-32 solid-state drive

Solidata's K6-32 solid-state drive (SSD) provides 32GB of storage in a 2.5in enclosure. It isn't the cheapest SSD of this capacity currently available, but is still an affordable option if you're looking to make the transition from a conventional magnetic hard drive to flash memory. This drive won't consume much power during use, but also won't compete with the likes of Intel's X25-M or performance conventional hard drives when it comes to file transfer speeds.

Written by James Hutchinson21 Aug. 09 13:00

Samsung CLX-6240FX colour laser multifunction

Samsung's CLX-6240FX colour laser multifunction printer is surprisingly large and offers a decent set of features. With automatic duplex, an internal hard drive and a decent amount of memory, this multifunction printer is suitable for small offices. It can print quickly and offers good monochrome print quality, though colour graphics leave something to be desired.

Written by James Hutchinson18 Aug. 09 16:30

Samsung CLX-6210FX colour laser multifunction

Samsung's CLX-6210FX colour laser multifunction printer offers mid-range features at an affordable price. It provides acceptable speed, but suffers from print quality issues, including inaccurate colours and inconsistent monochrome results.

Written by James Hutchinson17 Aug. 09 17:10

Promise SmartStor DS4600 DAS device

Promise's SmartStor DS4600 is a direct-attached storage (DAS) enclosure that can house up to four hard drives and provide up to 8TB of storage. It's suitable for a direct connection to servers or workstations, it supports RAID arrays, and its design allows you to hot-swap the hard drives. Its management interface and build quality leave something to be desired, however.

Written by James Hutchinson12 Aug. 09 17:00

HP SimpleSave Portable (320GB) external hard drive

HP's SimpleSave Portable is a 320GB external hard drive that can automatically back up data from multiple PCs with minimal input from the user. The included software is geared towards novices and is extremely easy to use, though we would have liked some more comprehensive backup options.

Written by James Hutchinson11 Aug. 09 13:20
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