PCProwl

You may think as I did, what’s the point in having a solar panel on a keyboard thinking that it would be a cheap gimmick rather than anything useful. Turns out I was completely wrong, being solar powered the keyboard can pretty much last forever without you having to change the batteries. Which I’d say was another step closer to a hassle free wireless life.

The solar panels, located in the upper left and upper right side of the keyboard are incredibly sensitive meaning that you don’t have to think about leaving it in bright light when you aren’t using it. Instead it charges from pretty much any light source including the light coming from your monitor so the charge truly does last forever in normal usage.

At only a third of an inch thick, the K750 is another one of Logitech’s Ultra Thin keyboards and I must say it incredibly sexy as a result. The minimal lines and the sleek curves mean that it will fit in on any modern looking desk.

These thin notebook like keyboards are certainly growing on me from a typing point of view. Not needing to press big clunky keys certainly makes me feel like I’m typing faster, but it is yet to be seen if it has any massive amount of difference. This board in particular is very nice to type on, unlike the majority of Laptop keys the ones on the K750 are curved, which means that the pressure is spread across the whole of the key making typing much quicker.

Key Features of this Sexy Keybaord

• 1/3 inch thick
• Wireless
• Solar Powered

Get the Logitech K750 Keyboard

• Find it on Amazon

I remember not that long ago when webcams were grainy and stuttery and overall a very poor experience. With faster internet connections and better hardware the latest generation of cameras have improved rapidly on their much older predecessors.

Take this Logitech C310 for example which records in 720p HD right onto your computer, which you can use to chat with people over instant messaging programs such as Windows Messenger, Skype and more recently Facebook. You also have the option of uploading your videos straight to either YouTube or Facebook if you feel that way inclined.

Of course you also get the silly software that comes with most webcams that allow you to add all sorts of effects to your videos such as fish eye distortion and changing the colors in the image. You might spend a few minutes playing with these but I doubt you’ll use them very often.

This webcam also comes with a number of features that have enhanced the usability of the camera when compared to older generation webcams. The camera automatically adjusts the exposure of the image, this means that even in a semi dark room the image should still be bright enough to see. The camera not only has a inbuilt microphone, as you would expect but it also cancels out background noise in the room, so if you are trying to chat to someone and the TV is playing in the background it should reduce the audio level of the TV so the person on the other end can still hear you clearly.

This is a little nifty camera from Logitech, and although it isn’t the most attractive webcam in the world it is very good value for money as it manages to pack in a lot of advanced features for a budget webcam.

Key Features of this High Definition Webcam

• Great Microphone Quality
• Perfect Image Quality
• Simple Functional Design

Get the Logitech 720p Webcam C310

• Find it on Amazon
  

Keyboards come in all different shapes and sizes these days as almost everyone uses one from day to day, and everyone has different needs. I’d say this ultrathin keyboard from Logitech is designed for those who are used to typing on a notebook keyboard and trying to move onto desktop. I know I certainly find it weird going from my thin keyboard on my laptop to chunky keys on a desktop.

Lots of people talk about upgrading their wired keyboards to wireless ones, I really don’t get this. Why would taking the wire out of the equation make a keyboard better? Its purpose is to sit on your desk and not move, not being portable and easy to move around. The only thing that taking the wire out of the equation does it make your keyboard slightly less responsive. I for one am glad to see that Logitech are still making high end keyboards that actually still use a wire.

The thinness of this keyboard is actually astounding, with its minimalistic design at only 9.3mm thick which is actually the same as the iPhone 4. This may not sound like much but you have to remember that the keyboard needs to fit in the mechanical keys.

Of course one of the main features of this keyboard is the backlighting provided on the keys, which are usually only reserved for gaming keyboards. The lighting on the keys come brightest through the characters on each key, but there is some spill around each of the keys themselves, which make it much easier to see which key you are pressing. You can also change the brightness of the illumination so you don’t blind yourself when working in a really dark environment.

I must give special mention to how quiet this keyboard is to type with, I suppose it’s the thinness that can be attributed for this because you aren’t pressing down huge chunky keys. But this keyboard is almost silent to work with, so if that’s what you are a looking for it comes highly recommended.

Key Features of this Slim Keyboard

• UltraThin at only 9.3mm
• Illuminated
• Wired
• Silent Typing

Get the Logitech UltraThin Illuminated Keyboard

• Find it on Amazon

Simple yet effective seems to be the moto that Western Digital are using as of late when designing their hard drives, they all seem to just work as advertised without any pointless frills that other manufactures seem to throw in. No coffee coaster DVD’s or wasteful partitions on the drive that are full of useless software that no one ever uses.

The design of the WD Elements is beautifully simplistic, if you are looking for a fancy futuristic style I do not quite think this drive enclose is for you. However, if you just want a simple black box that sits in your desk working away silently and reliably you should certainly consider this Hard Drive, because of this simplistic design it has a solid and durable feel to it. With no ventilation holes the only openings in the drive are for the connectors, Mini USB and Power, this means the drive runs incredibly quite.

Western Digital is pushing the capacity of their drives all the time, the WD Elements range currently coming in a wide choice of sizes from 500GB to 3TB. Although this drive doesn’t come with USB 3.0, it isn’t very widespread and probably won’t appear on computers as standard for the next few years. However if you are wanting to future proof your hard drive, with the fastest speeds for years to come you may want to look at other desktop hard drives such as the My Book Essential. Again, on the other hand you have to ask if the drive will even last long enough as hard drives always have a certain shelf life and you may be purchasing a backup drive before USB 3.0 even becomes common place.

I am a fan of Western Digital, and for good reason they create awesome hard drives. Yes this one isn’t future proof, however if you look at the amount of positive Amazon reviews you can see that almost 1000 people have given it 5 stars and almost another 300 giving it 4 stars which must say something about its quality.

Key Features of this External Hard Drive

• Solid Simple Design
• Reliable
• Plug and Play
• No unnecessary software

Get the Western Digital Elements

• Available on Amazon

I must admit I am a fan of Logitech products, every peripheral that I own seems to be made by Logitech and that isn’t usually a conscience decision, it’s just because they make good solid products that just work as intended. This wireless mouse no different, it’s not trying to hard by adding loads of unnecessary features that get in the way of usability it’s just a portable mouse that just works.

The M305 is part of Logitech’s fantasy range, in that they have a range of garishly colored and patterned versions available which apparently allow you to bring out your inner self by allowing you to have matching accessories for your computer in a wide range of colors. Who knew that people would worry about whether their webcam matched their keyboard and speakers? I decided to choose a subtle silver over the other colors.

This mouse has a “Plug-and-Forget” Nano receiver, which basically means its really small and doesn’t get in the way if you are using the mouse with a laptop. I’ve had a couple of mice with these USB Wireless receivers and they do seem a lot more responsive than Bluetooth equivalents. Not only that but you don’t have to worry about setting the mouse up to work with the computer, it really is plug and play. I’ve used this mouse both at home on my Windows 7 laptop and at Uni on the Mac’s without any problems of having to install drivers to get the thing to work.

The mouse takes a single AA battery, which is easily replaceable by sliding open the palm rest on top of the mouse, which also reveals a compartment for the nano receiver. The fact that it takes a replaceable AA battery rather than an inbuilt rechargeable battery means that you can just swap out the battery without having to wait for it to charge. Also with it being AA they wont be too costly to replace either.

All in all, I’d say this is a pretty solid mouse whether you are using it on the go or on a desktop machine and wanting to keep your desk free from wires. As it’s from Logitech you know it’s going to work as expected and for a long time in the future and not fail in a couple of months down the line.

Key Features of this Wireless Mouse

• Nano Receiver allowing wireless connection
• Ergonomic Design
• Portable – Small enough to be used on the go
• Long battery life

Get the Logitech M305

• Available on Amazon

I remember taking a floppy disk to school to hand my homework in, if you’d told me back then that I’d be able to fit 1 TB of data in my back pocket I would have thought 2 things. Firstly, why on earth would I need 1 TB worth of Hard Drive space and secondly I would have thought you were crazy.

Yet times have changed and consumers are consuming more digital content they are also demanding more and more space for their data on ever decreasing drive sizes. The Western Digital My Passport Essential SE is one such drive, the next generation portable drive from WD measures at just a meagre 4.3 x 3.3 x 0.7 inches yet is able to store 1 terabyte of data and features USB 3.0 which allows this device to transfer up to 3 times faster than USB 2.0.

I’m already loving how USB 3.0 is being pushed by drive manufactures even before they they start to appear on new computers, of course this is because it benefits the manufacture as it means that they can advertise higher transfer rates. But I’d certainly say the winner here is the consumers because they can future proof their drives and not leaving them feel like they have an obsolete drive when they buy their next computer.

There are only 2 gripes I have with this drive, the first one being the finish of the case of the drive. This might not sound like much, but the unit I have is in black and within the first couple of days of use scratch marks started appearing all over the device which were incredibly visible due to the glossy finish. If you think you be bothered by such scratch marks I’d suggest trying a different color other than black so see if the visibility is reduced, or of course you could try one of the many different cases that Western Digital sell. The second problem I have is the length of the cable, I suspect that because it’s so portable WD wanted to keep it short to stop it getting tangled in laptop bags however the cable length can become a pain when trying to plug it into the back of a desktop computer.

I still can’t get over how much data I can now fit comfortably in the palm of my hand, we really are living in the future. This is a wonderful little drive, looks incredible and is future proof, what more can I say than I’d highly recommend it.

Key Features

• USB 3.0 – Future Proof
• Small lightweight design
• No Power supply
• Encryption and Backup software included

More Info

• Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB on Amazon