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Tech Review: WD My Passport (Yellow) 4TB Portable Hard Drive

By Amazon, Reviews, TechnologyNo Comments
Years ago, I bought an Iomega StorCenter Home Media Server.

Iomega was bought out by Lenovo whom only offered limited support for Iomega products. I updated it a few years ago and since its never been able to connect over the Wifi, only by ethernet cable.

Then recently the Server started making hard drive failure sounds. It had all of my downloaded TV series and films on. So I decided it was time to update.

Instead of opting for another media server, I went for a WD My Passport (Yellow) 4TB (photoed above and below). Here’s the My Passport features:

  • It’s Plug and Play, meaning that it doesn’t require its own power source but is instead powered through USB.
  • It’s portable.
  • It is made by Western Digital (WD) whom have an excellent reputation for making high quality hardware products.
  • It comes in various hard drive sizes: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB & 4TB.
  • It has a funky design.
  • It comes in various colours: black, white, blue, red, yellow & orange.
  • It runs silently.
  • It is relatively cheap, available on Amazon for just under a £100 for a 4TB model.
  • It has Built-in 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption meaning that you can set it so that a password is required for access. This feature cleverly allows someone to use the drive on any computer – even one that doesn’t have the WD software installed and without having to install any software.
  • Auto Backup software is installed. Or you can use other software for backups including Apple’s Time Machine.

I decided because my new drive is portable that I wanted a solid case to protect it when not in use. I found this AmazonBasics Case:

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I found this great solid Amazonbasics Case for the external hard drive.

If you’re looking for an external and portable hard drive to give yourself more disk space on your laptop or PC, I can highly recommend the WD My Passport (Yellow) 4TB on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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Tech Review: The Logitech UltraThin Keyboard Cover for iPad

By Amazon, Reviews, TechnologyNo Comments
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The Logitech UltraThin Keyboard Cover

An ex-boyfriend of mine bought me Logitech UltraThin Keyboard for my iPad Air. Like anything the Logitech UltraThin Keyboard has Pros and Cons.

Logitech really need to improve the battery life of this device. After just over a year of use the battery died on mine. The Logitech UltraThin Keyboard has no way to change the battery – so it just has to be chucked in the bin. Which was disappointing and is a shame because there’s lots I like about the device. Here’s a list of Pros and Cons:

Pros:

  • Easy to setup and connect to iPad via bluetooth.
  • Thin Design and white colour.
  • Doubles as a cover for iPad.
  • Easy to charge by plugging into a computer USB port.
  • The stand slot is great for positioning the iPad at the perfect angle to easily see the screen.
  • Portable meaning you can work on the go.
  • Status light: Green you are good to go, Amber (flashing) charging, Red no charge.
  • On/Off switch on the side, so that you can switch it off to save power when not in use.
Cons:

  • Price. It’s expensive for what it is.
  • Battery Life and inability to change the battery.
  • There’s a lag between you typing on the keyboard and it appearing on the screen. At times, I’ve had to wait for it to catch up.
  • Lots of additional functions on the keyboard – but no instructions enclosed on how to use them. Meaning for the average user they will be useless.


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The Logitech UltraThin Keyboard Cover in Use.

Logitech UltraThin Keyboard is available to buy on Amazon, although after my experience, I can’t really recommend it.

Review soon,

Antony

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Health Tech Review: Contour Next USB Glucose Meter by Bayer

By Health, Reviews, TechnologyNo Comments
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Diabetes/Health Illustration Logo.
© Antony Simpson/Sye Watts.

I’m a type 1 diabetic. See my blog post How I was diagnosed with Diabetes to learn more about my diabetes story. Anyway today I’m reviewing the Contour Next USB Glucose Meter.

Sometime ago, I switched to the Contour Next USB Glucose Meter. It was one of the best diabetes-related things I’ve ever done.

The Contour Next USB Glucose Meter is small, easy to use and track trends. There’s so many good things about the Contour Next USB Glucose Meter, that I’ve put together a list of features that I like:

  • It’s small – tiny in comparison to most other Glucose Meters. Something I appreciate and that I imagine others would.
  • It’s easy to use – with it’s big colour display and three options. It’s three options being: Logbook, Trends and Setup.
  • As well as logging blood sugars it has the options to log carbs and/or insulin.
  • USB connection to the computer with java-based software that’s Windows & Mac compatible.
  • Software – That creates great detailed reports in PDF format that you can then share with your GP, Diabetes Nurse, Diabetes Consultant, etc.
  • Both the device and software track trends – the software reports giving much more details on trends.
  • USB charges meter battery – not that in the plus 6 months I’ve had it I’ve needed to charge it.
  • Meter allows you to fill the same strip with extra blood if you didn’t put enough blood in the first time. Rather than starting again.
  • No coding or quality testing required.
  • Finger-pricking device is small.
  • Comes with a slightly bulkier case that keeps everything together – the meter, the testing strips and the finger-pricking device.

Here are some images of the Contour Next USB Glucose Meter:

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Contour Next USB Box

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What The Meter Looks Like

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Sample of PDF Report that the software creates.

The only thing I dislike is that the java-based software can be slow and occasionally crashes. But the benefits the software brings far outweigh these slight annoyances.

Overall the Contour Next USB Glucose Meter is by far the best glucose meter I’ve used. It’s probably the best on the market. An improvement on future models could include connection/communication with Apps that could be used on the iPhone or iPad.

You can Request a FREE Contour Next USB Glucose Meter or Find Out More about the Contour Next USB Glucose Meter here.

Review soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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