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Zagg InvisibleShield Review

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2010-07-12T11:02:17-04:00

The AppleNinja has an ancient secret to upgrading her Macs every year, and it’s doesn’t involve scrolls and big piles of cash. What if I told you there’s a $50 investment you can make in your gadgets that will keep them looking pristine and perfect - and more importantly, preserve their high resale value? Welcome to the Zagg InvisibleShield.

This video will speak for itself. Here’s a MacBook Pro with insanely heavy use after a year looking as gorgeous as the day I bought it.

Read on to learn more about this great, but hard-to-install product!

Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid SSD Review

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2010-07-08T17:21:16-04:00

It’s hard to buy a new hard drive these days, and not feel somewhat cheated. On one hand, traditional hard drives have never been cheaper. But on the other, their performance is completely eclipsed by solid state drives. It seems like you have two choices - pay outrageous amounts of money for little space and bleeding edge performance, or get a cheap drive with ample space that will be the bottleneck in your system performance. Neither is a great option.

Seagate is trying to make its own path with the Momentus XT Hybrid SSD. It’s a clever concept - a traditional 7200 RPM drive with 4 gigs of an ultra-fast SLC SSD built in. It memorizes what programs you use the most, and loads it into the read-only part of the drive.

One notable reviewer lauded it, proclaiming “finally a good hybrid SSD!” The problem is, this high-profile reviewer measured it on a Windows system. The AppleNinja got her hands on it, and found it strongly DECREASED her system speed in OSX. Read more to get the gritty details of why Mac users should not buy this drive.

iWork Coming to Apple Tablet?

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2010-01-09T10:23:54-05:00

Buried in a NYT article today on the deluge of tablet devices was news that Apple engineers have spent years working on a multitouch version of iWork. Such a move could signal that Apple intends for the tablet to be much more than “just a giant iPod Touch,” as many have maligned.

“This could indicate that Apple wants the tablet to be a fully functional computer, rather than a more passive device for reading books and watching movies,” reported the NYT. “That could help justify a higher price.”

There have also been a bevy of rumors that a cloud-based version of iWork is coming - presumably to compete with Google Docs, which runs and stores your documents entirely online. With many speculating that the Apple tablet will have 3G internet access, could it be that this version of iWork will be all-portable and all-online?

This is a test.

Wacom Intuos 4 Medium Review

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2010-01-08T18:35:17-05:00

Let’s start off by dropping the the truth bomb. Wacom products have barely changed in the decade I’ve been using them. Yes, they’re prettier. Yes, they are more sensitive and have more buttons. But the core digitizer technology and user experience have barely changed at all.

In general, that’s a good thing - the Wacom line is the only serious choice for a graphic artist. There are few that would argue that they make the best tablet in graphic arts. Their technology has always been tied directly to the Adobe apps most creative professionals use. But, there’s also the skeptical argument that they are quite overpriced for what you get.

I’ve owned every generation tablet in the Intuos line, and all of them have been very solid. The Intuos 4 is unquestionably the best in the line so far, but is it worth $350?

Dragon Age Origins: First Impressions

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2009-12-22T11:43:15-05:00

First and foremost - this is the by far the best hardcore game I've played yet on Mac. If you like Bioware games, you'll find this a very playable version of the bestseller.

The game is 9 gigs to download, and takes up 17 when installed. It took 8 hours to download from Direct2Drive! Installation was easy, though the ridiculous EA account requirement took some fiddling. I had to enter in both my keys for the game and the bonus content, and I was off.

Apple 24-inch LED Cinema Display Review

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2009-12-18T22:16:04-05:00

Lots of GeekGals rock their Macbook as their only computer. The portable panache is great, but what happens when you go home? A laptop is not ergonomically awesome for sitting at a desk and working. Not to mention, between the monitor, charger, mouse, printer, speakers and external drive - you have an ugly mess of wires.

Apple has the solution, and tragically - it’s almost $900, almost as much as a new Macbook. What’s the story, Apple? Is this another in your long line of overpriced monitors, or do you have the goods this time?

G-Technology High Performance 1TB External Drive

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2009-12-16T17:34:31-05:00

If you’ve got a Macbook, then you’re probably in the market for an external drive. The reality of Time Machine backups and high definition iTunes content means most users will need storage beyond their original drives, especially if they have a Macbook.

There are a plethora of options to choose from, but this GeekGal wanted the best. Price was less important to me than reliability, looks, and most importantly a Firewire 800 interface. She settled of the gorgeous G-Technology High Performance 1 TB for $200. Was this drive just a pretty face, or was the performance there to justify the cost?

Apple Magic Mouse Review

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2009-12-13T11:30:45-05:00

Apple might have a reputation for making the best computers in the world, but their mice have been a Britney Spears disaster. Who can forget the infamous “hockey puck” mouse that shipped with the G3? The Pro Mouse that limited users to a single button? With the sting of the constantly-cloggable Mighty Mouse scrollball still fresh in many Mac users minds, Apple has some convincing to do.

Macbook Pro Unibody 17 2G Review

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2009-12-11T21:35:33-05:00

The Macbook. A decade ago laptops were something you associated with the lovable, pimple-faced Dungeons and Dragons players that nervously asked you out. Now, they are as essential to a modern gal’s life as oxygen. A modern Carrie Bradshaw relies on her Macbook as the nexus of her life - her music, her Facebook, her photos. The right Macbook is not an optional accessory - and finding the right one is highly personal.

This is the second generation in the Macbook Pro unibody line, a critically praised evolution to the Macbook. The laptop is milled from a single piece of aluminum, resulting in a machine with a rocksteady feel. The design is stunning Apple minimalism. Whereas many Windows machines have buttons and ports jammed into every possible corner, the MBP has just a keyboard, a trackpad, and a few inconspicuous ports on one side. It is a truly beautiful machine, one as stylish as it is functional.

iPhone 3GS Review

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2009-12-11T21:27:02-05:00

Gather around the campfire for a super geeky story. This summer, talk of the new iPhone was quite the topic with the GeekGal and her coterie of nerdy Mac dudes. There’s always buzz about future Apple products, but this time it was just insanity. The Internets were ablaze with supposedly leaked pictures of an all-aluminum iPhone with video chat capabilities, multiple cameras, a display with organic diodes and in one particularly hopeful case, transwarp drive. Each rumor promised more orgasmic wonder than the next.

The night before the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, the GeekGal read a story by Daring Fireball’s John Grueber - a super reliable source. He said that the new iPhone would look exactly like the old 3G iPhone. It would have the ingenious new name of the iPhone 3GS, and would have increased speed, a compass, and the ability to shoot video. The next day, this was exactly the phone that was released. The reaction was bittersweet to say the least.

The iPhone 3GS is an evolution to the iPhone 3G, rather than a revolution. The S in the name stands for snappy, Apple’s buzzword about the phone’s increased speed. Apple also increased the much-maligned quality of the camera from 2.1 to 3.2 megapixels, and gave it the ability to use voice commands.

iPod Nano 5G Review

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2009-12-11T00:28:43-05:00

Another year, another batch of iPod upgrades. This year, the Nano is the star of the show - featuring a heavily-hyped video recording feature. But, many people are getting bored of the onslaught of marginally improved iPods. Does Apple break the color cycle with the 5G and deliver something truly improved?

This is undoubtedly the best iteration of the iPod Nano to date. It’s not as strong a step forward as the Nano 3G “Fatty,” but everything different here is quite welcome. Apple chose to not increase the memory this year, so 16 gigs is still the largest size available. The GeekGal recommends splurging on the larger model, since it’s $30 more, and 8 gigs fills up quite quickly.

GeekGal L.A.M.B. UltraViolet Leather Clutch

Brianna Spacekat Wu — 2009-12-11T00:17:56-05:00

There is a huge gap in the market for fashion-forward gadget accessories. The iPhone is the sexist phone in history, and most of the cases for it look like they were designed by the nerd patrol. That’s why I was so delighted to see Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B. line had Apple gear! The prices are very reasonable, and the look is tough and functional. Is this a product line a girl can get behind, or a cheap cash-in on Stefani’s gal cred?

The bag that caught my eye was the UltraViolet Leather Clutch, a small bag that’s designed for your iPhone, and not much else. GeekGal has often lamented the absence of designer bags that will easily accommodate her iPhone, as many of her favorite lines of purses think we’re still living in the ancient days of dumbphones. It arrived from the Apple Store in just a week, so GeekGal took it for a test drive.