Category Archives: Accessories

Birchbox Tortoise Folding Sunglasses

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I loved the idea of these sunglasses. I was hovering over the “Buy” button on a pair of Ray Ban folding tortoise sunglasses when I saw these were going to be in my June shipment from Birchbox. So imagine my excitement that I was just about to save around $150!

Update: Birchbox contacted me and are fixing me up! More at the end of this post.

Birchbox Folding SunglassesAnd then they came, in a neat green box and they looked every bit as good in real life as I’d expected. Bigger lenses than the Ray Bans, not my typical style, but considering the price difference it seemed like a worthy replacement.

I should say that these Birchbox sunglasses are also not polarized, have plastic, not glass, lenses and aren’t quite the quality of an Italian sunglass. But for $30 (their retail price), it’s hard to argue against affordable, stylish summer shades. Sadly it wasn’t long before I realized these shades were a bit too shady, and in the worst of ways. Continue reading →

MetaWatch Strata, a Smart Watch for Nerds by Nerds

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I’ve had the MetaWatch Strata for a few weeks now and thought it was about time that I share some thoughts on it. But first I’ll answer the question you’re probably asking, “What the heck is a ‘MetaWatch?'” It’s a smart watch, a watch that connected via bluetooth to your iOS or Android phone. “Oh so you mean a Pebble watch?” No. I mean a MetaWatch.

That is the MetaWatch I have, the Olympian Blue with Digital Camo Band. I’ve had mine for just under a month and I can confidently say that it has changed my life for the nerdier (and maybe even for the better).

MetaWatch was brought to life and into our lives via a successful Kickstarter campaign. It wasn’t quite as successful as the Pebble Watch campaign, not even close really, but it was a success none-the-less. In all honesty I don’t know why so many people got so excited about the Pebble. It got over $10,000,000 in Kickstarter funds and a second round of $15,000,000 after the campaign ended.

Pebble raised over $25,000,000 and yet they had issues getting them to customers. Meanwhile MetaWatch raised just over $300,000 and they were shipping to customers a month later. That’s impressive. Also the MetaWatch is both dorkier, cooler and just overall a better watch than the Pebble. I’ll never understand why Pebble won the money race. Continue reading →

Review of the RockDoc Bluetooth Speaker by Pitbull

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A few weeks ago I was contacted by the people behind this speaker requesting I review the RockDoc Bluetooth speaker endorsed by Pitbull. When I got the email I nearly laughed out loud at my desk. Someone asking me to review a speaker by Pitbull, the rapper? I love rap music, more than most people would probably understand or believe, and I even like a few songs he is featured on but he’s never made my list of rappers I love.

RockDoc Bluetooth Speaker Pitbull

Luckily for him, me, the RockDoc marketing team and VisionTek (the people that actually make it) the RockDoc Bluetooth is something I actually really do like to listen to. No one was more surprised than me. It isn’t a perfect speaker but at less than $60 on Amazon, the VisionTek RockDoc Bluetooth speaker over performs. At the end of the review I have links for a 15% discount as well as a way you can win one of these! Continue reading →

FiiO E6 Portable Headphone Amplifier Review

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I sure did take my time getting to this review. My apologies. Nevertheless, here we go. A review of the FiiO E6 Portable Headphone Amplifier, $28 on Amazon.com and worth every penny if you have larger headphones or want to squeeze a little more sound quality out of your devices. You’re using an iDevice with a 30-pin dock, add on the FiiO line out dock adapter for just $7-10 more.

Apple Nano with FiiO E6 Amplifier

Apple Nano with FiiO E6 Amplifier

Right now you might be asking, “Justin, why would I buy the a headphone amplifier and line out dock connector?” Basically, everything sounds a little bit better and a lot louder and the benefits can be heard with even cheaper headphones. Here’s why.

Continue reading →

Kuzy Hard Shell Case for MacBook Pro with Retina Display

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The moment my MacBook Pro with Retina Display (rMBP) was purchased I hit the web searching for an appropriate case to protect my new purchase. Unfortunately the usual suspects, Speck and Incase, didn’t have a shell case available.

In a way this made sense. The design of the rMBP is unique, ridiculously thin and difficult to design a case around. I was told this much from an Incase representative. I got my rMBP in August and by December there still was no case from Incase. Speck had a case out but it was $50 and my previous experience with Speck laptop cases was not great. My previous MacBook Pro had a Speck shell on it but I swore them off after replacing it twice due to defective construction.

Kuzy - Rubberized Hard Case Cover for Apple MacBook Pro 15.4" with Retina Display

Kuzy – Rubberized Hard Case Cover for Apple MacBook Pro 15.4″ with Retina Display

Exhausted of waiting for Incase to come out with a solution I opted to make a radical choice. Instead of buying the brand I knew and trusted, I bought a brand I had never heard of. Basing my purchase on the hundreds of positive reviews on Amazon, I bought the Kuzy hardshell case.

The Kuzy case is half the price of the $50 Speck case (which has mixed reviews at best and is currently not being sold by Amazon directly until issues with the case breaking are fixed) and $35 cheaper than the shell Incase eventually came out with. When the Kuzy case arrived, with its minimal packaging and straight from China paperwork, I was a bit skeptical. Never-the-less I proceeded to put the case on my precious MacBook Pro. Continue reading →

ZAGG invisibleSHIELD EXTREME Seems Impossible

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Some time ago I wrote a favorable review of the ZAGG invisibleSHIELD (for now on called Zagg Invisible Shield, oiy product names these days). It did exactly what it promised, came with a first class warranty and didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Applying it to your device could prove a little difficult but with some practice I’ve become a total pro.

Now Zagg has a new product out and I’m not so sure about it…

Introducing the invisibleSHIELD® EXTREME, a patented award winning, protective film for gadgets. Delivering the same premium quality as the original invisibleSHIELD, this exceptionally tough, and virtually indestructible film features a new shock resistant layer that preserves touchscreen clarity and functions.

So now that we’ve all watched that video, let’s discuss. This simply cannot be possible, am I right? How can a  material that’s flexible and only 0.2mm thick possibly provide this much protection? This is better than the Gorilla Glass the iPhone already has.

I haven’t decided if I’ll be getting the iPhone 5, but if I do, I’ll be buying this new Invisible Shield. If it is even half as good as it promises, I might start using my phone sans case. And you can be sure I’ll review it here, though there’s no way I’ll attack any of my iPhones with a hammer to test this thing. Maybe I can find cheap, dead iPhone on eBay bash. That could be fun.

What do you think, could this even be possible? If it is, Otterbox should look out.

ZAGGfolio iPad keyboard case review

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I believe that Apple created the iPad, at least initially, to be a content consumption device. It’s fabulous for reading magazines, watching video and playing games. However, when it comes to actually being productive, I found the onscreen keyboard practical only for short-form content like tweeting to friends, updating my Facebook status and short replies to emails.

Enter the ZAGGfolio Keyboard Case, a device that tackles these issues with ease.

ZAGGfolio Keyboard Case

This $99 bluetooth keyboard case changed the way I use my iPad.  Continue reading →