October 15, 2015

Twelve South BookArc (2015 Redesign) Review

October 15, 2015/ Nir Schneider

Where do you put your MacBook when you're not using it? Do you put it back into your laptop sleeve, bag, or off to the side where it takes up valuable desk space in disarray? If headphones have headphone stands, why shouldn't MacBooks have a desk companion too. Unless you're new to Macs or have been living under a rock for the past few years, there's one very such thing. It's called BookArc - a beautifully crafted piece of anodized aluminum made to compliment any MacBook whilst proudly presenting it by vertically elevating it off of your desk. And this one is the much improved version of the original winning recipe.

While this newly redesigned version of Twelve South's BookArc continues serving its original purpose of providing users an organized and efficient way of using their MacBook in a closed-display mode (aka clamshell mode) with an external display setup, it also offers a few other improvements we think are worth taking a another look at.

June 17, 2015

Intocircuit 2nd Gen Power Castle 15000mAh Portable External Battery Review

June 17, 2015/ Nir Schneider

You could always pick up a well designed external backup battery from a well known brand at some ridiculous cost, which in most cases barely has enough of a capacity to keep up with all of your gadget charging needs. Or you can take a seemingly riskier bet on an unknown external battery that offers ten times the capacity of a popular brand name battery, but at more than half the price. It'll always seem to good to be true, and in some cases it is. We're always up for testing out faster, better, higher capacity portable external batteries and this one in particular turned out to be a solid winner.

So that's why we've been hard at work testing out Intocircuit's new 2nd Gen Power Castle backup battery pack and all of its promising advertised charging prowess. It's a 15,000mAh external battery bank with dual USB charging ports that can simultaneously deliver 2.4A of charging power for quick charging of pretty much anything that charges over USB. Intriguing consider most other similarly sized batteries will only have one high-speed USB charging output while the other will only deliver a measly 1A of power. More on the Power Castle's charging performance in our in-depth review after the jump!

August 01, 2014

Bluelounge Kickflip Stand for MacBook Pro Review

August 01, 2014/ Nir Schneider

Have you ever wished you could adjust the typing angle of the built-in keyboard on your MacBook? Instead of having to sit down to type on a flat keyboard and tilt your display way back, you could use something as streamlined as the Kickflip. Bluelounge has come out with an ingenious way of adding elegant flexibility to Mac users using an adhesive-backed flip-out kickstand it calls the Kickflip. When adhered to the bottom of either a 13-inch or a 15-inch MacBook Pro with or without a Retina display using a strong yet removable and reusable adhesive goodness, forms a foldaway kickstand, which puts your MacBook at an elevated typing and viewing angle much like the small flip-out legs behind most keyboards – only that this thing an overpowered version of that. Our full review is right around the corner!

January 23, 2014

WaterField Staad Laptop Backpack Review

January 23, 2014/ Nir Schneider

WaterField has a new narrow-profiled backpack to be proud of, and it's the company's first ever attempt at creating a backpack after years of perfecting hand-made shoulder-style gear bags and device sleeves. WaterField's new Staad backpack is a special handcrafted, made-to-order laptop and tablet carrier designed with lean formal aesthetics in mind. WaterField is known for its rustic, distinct looking gear bags and the Staad is yet another intriguing extension of that sophisticated line. Want to know what it's like to live with the Staad? Then make your way down to our full review!

December 20, 2013

Twelve South BassJump 2 Review

December 20, 2013/ Nir Schneider

Twelve South, the company with a respected bias towards all-things Apple and primarily Macs, has recently come out with the Bassjump 2 - a successor to the original BassJump that launched a few years ago. It's still as portable as ever so you can take it with you almost anywhere, consumes its power and delivers audio using only one of your USB ports, and is made out of aluminum so that it perfectly compliments your Mac. For those of you who haven't yet discovered this little squarish metal box of tricks and don't know what it does, well, the BassJump 2 is quite simply a portable subwoofer add-on that connects to any MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air creating an energetic threesome of audio awesomeness. It basically introduced the missing mid-level and low-end bass so desperately needed to your Mac's built-in speakers using an external power-friendly and sleek complementing design along with a custom OS X app. Make your way down to our full review to find out what's new with Twelve South's BassJump 2.

June 12, 2013

Bluelounge MacBook Pro/Air Messenger Bag Review

June 12, 2013/ Nir Schneider

Bluelounge heavily invests in designing products with simplicit refinement. But while the company is most known for its useful set of desk-cleansing organization tools and tablet accessories, Bluelounge is a newcomer to the gear bag side of things. It has, however, managed to grab our attention with its relatively new and quite impressive selection of crafty-looking and eco-friendly bags. We're going to be taking a look at the appropriately named Messenger Bag, which predictably is a messenger style bag capable helping you carry a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro up to the now uncommon 17-inch model - all the while knowing you've bought a 100% post-consumer recycled product. Catch our full review on the Messenger Bag down below!

May 12, 2013

Sena Folio Case for MacBook Air Review

May 12, 2013/ Julie Nguyen

Sena is a maker of high quality leather products for all of your portable devices. As an owner of many Sena cases over the years, I know that the company puts out well designed products made of quality materials. While there are many folio style cases out there for the MacBook Air, Sena's Folio Case stands out from the rest. Why you ask? Find out after the jump.