Like to have a backup of all the photos you have on your computer?

Monday, August 3^rd, 2009

If you’d like a backup of all your precious photos to take over for the folks to see, to take to the office, or just to have as a safety backup, here’s a real easy way to do it!  Just plug the Picture Keep USB device into your computer, and – and well that’s it! Picture Keep has built in software to do all the work. It finds all the pictures stored on your computer and saves them safely to the device. Then the next time you plug it in, it only uploads new photos you’ve added. That way you’ll never have to worry about duplicates! When you plug Picture Keeper in the first time, it will ask if you would like to be sent a reminder email at an interval you select to remind you it’s time to backup your photos again. It really is a trouble-free device to use, especially if you’re not a computer whiz. If your computer crashes you might be able to replace your documents, but you don’t want to risk losing one-of-a-kind family photos. This way you’ll have a complete backup. When I first put Picture Keeper into my computer it indicated that I had 925 photos to backup. Then it started the process automatically.  It took about 7 minutes to save them to the USB flash drive. The Picture Keeper comes in two sizes, 4GB which holds about 4,000 pictures, and 8GB which holds about 8,000 pictures. (A lot depends on the resolutions of the photos.) I’d go for the larger size unless you’re sure you’re not going to add a lot of new photos over time. The 8GB is $39.95 on the company’s website. For some strange reason, when I did a web search on Amazon, they had the price as $59.95, which is way too high! NOTE: Picture Keeper is for photos only, not videos. More details and help:

www.picturekeeper.com

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw886

Update on August 3, 2009 by The Giz Wiz

Save an additional 10%! Email from Picture Keeper with some updates:

Thanks for your reviewof Picture Keeper on the Daily Giz Wiz for Monday 3 July 2009 - Episode 886 The price discrepancy between mysite and Amazon.com/Ritzcamera.com is in the process of being resolved.Atthe initial launch, I partnered with a digital picture frame manufacture (PortableUSA) and they set their own pricing. Better for me for customers to purchase from my website anyways! Additionally, in my current marketing I typically offer a 10% of coupon(save10). Twofeatures of Picture Keeper (over DVD based solutions) I'd like to point out are: - Use on multiplePC's and OS' (Windows and Mac) -Ability to add additional file types (ie .mov, .raw, .pdf, .xls, etc) via the "Advanced Options" to include in the default search. Lastly, the Picture Keeper software is licensed to you to run on ANY size device.For example, you can purchase a750 GB externalhard drive and just copy the program files to it and use it as a Picture Keeper drive.If needed, customerscan give us a call and weget their own drive setup for them. Thanks again.

Matt Stanchie

The Targus Easy-to-pack, Easy-to-carry Universal AC Adapter.

Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse, Friday, July 31^st, 2009, Netcast 885

I thought this was so neat the first time I saw it. It was an ultra-thin, ultra-light and ultra-portable, Universal AC Adapter from Targus. Instead of lugging the power adapter brick that came with your laptop, this one was easy to pack and way lighter. Just ½ inch thick and it weighed 8.5 ounces. It was also a perfect choice if you had to replace a lost or stolen original adapter. This universal adapter featured patented Targus PowerTips technology. They automatically controlled the voltage to match your notebook's requirements. And you could change both ends of the power block. One end could use an AC plug or the Targus Auto/Air Power Adapter for on the road or in the air. Of course airline seats with Empower capability are fading faster than the Targus Universal AC Adapter. New planes, and some older planes, which have been upgraded, now have regular AC power at the seat. In addition to powering your laptop, you could also purchase PowerTips for cell phones, PDA’s, digital cameras, portable printers, and more! It shipped with with 5 PowerTips. The output voltage (2-24 volts DC) was determined by the PowerTip that was attached. It was rated at a maximum of 70 watts. In the year 2000 retail was $120.00.

Here’s a deal on a Mobility Laptop/Accessories charger for just $35! (Deal was good as of Thursday, July 30th. I have not used this adapter or bought anything at this place. I found it by doing a web search. But it looks like a good deal to me.)

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=207503283

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw885 

Will you Envy the new LG EnV3 (VX9200)?

Thursday, July 30^th, 2009

The EnV3 is the third in a series of very successful EnV phones from LG. Each new version updates the camera and other features. I’ve had all 3 versions. The newest version uses Verizon’s high speedEV-DOnetwork. It features a nicely redesigned keyboard and an updated 3 megapixel camera with LED flash. TheEnV3 has a small, easy-to-read  (1.6”) external display. The numeric keypad is now much larger, with easier to push keys. When you flip the phone open, there’s larger 2.6” internal display and full QWERTY keyboard. Push the dedicated button if you want to compose and send a text message quickly. When I travel, I use that a lot. Unlike the earlier models, this one includes a single charge/data cable. The USB end of the cable goes into the AC plug adapter to charge the phonevia a wall socket. It still uses microSD cards, and it still has a 2.5mm headphone jack. I wish that had changed to the 3.5mm standard. Since the EnV3 supports Bluetooth stereo, having a 3.5mm headphone jack may not be that important. As with all 3 of the LG phones, it has what I consider remarkable sound from stereo speakers which must be tiny, because the phone is so compact! The only strange thing about the keyboard is that the space bar is very small, but it didn’t turn out to be a problem when texting.  A 950mAh battery powers the phone, and I was surprised how many texts and emails I could read and send on a single charge. The earlier version had just 9 speed dial locations; this one has 998. Now I need to get more friends! It’s $79.95 with 2 year contact, and of course that's after the rebate. It’s available in Slate Blue & Maroon. I have the Slate Blue, but it sort of looks like black to me. The maroon does look maroon! Either color, I think this is a great value in a cell phone. Verizon only.

www.verizonwireless.com

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw884

An easy way to charge four devices at once.

Wednesday, July 29^th, 2009, Netcast 883

Charge4All is a new portable charging mat that makes it easy to charge four handheld device at one time for a single AC power source. True to form, as soon as I started to describe this device Leo was on the web buying one! It’s really simple to use. You unroll the soft, silicon mat, which is used as a secure place to lay out the small electronics you want to charge. The AC adapter plug goes into the wall socket and the other end plugs into the multi-charger, which has four charging ports. The Charge4All ships with the mat, the multi-charger and five of the most popular smart charging plugs, including: iPod/iPhone, Mini USB, Micro USB, Samsung SCH, and LG Chocolate. Even though they say LG Chocolate it works with other models. I used it earlier today to charge my new LG EnV3. This is an easy way to recharge all of your electronic devices, including iPhones/iPods, cell phones, mp3 players, Bluetooth devices, PDA’s, digital cameras, portable GPS's, and more. The company will offer up to 29 different additional smart plugs via its website that adapt to almost all handheld devices on the market today. You get the five smart plugs mentioned above with the kit, and can buy additional plugs for $4.95 each. A car adaptor is also available for charging devices on the road. (I believe Leo bought that too!) Remember that this is for charging small devices only. The company wants reporters to make sure people understand that the Charge4All Portable Charging Mat is not designed for charging laptop computers or other high-current devices. (But you knew that!!) Price is $29.95. (I was originally told $39.95, so the new price is really good to my mind.)

For additional information, please visit www.charge4all.net.

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw883

Leo comes up with a real nice gadget for his Turn the Table Tuesday!

TTTT Tuesday, July 28^th, 2009 Netcast 882

Lucky Leo bought one of the first of the new Samsung Netbook model NC20. (It’s an update of the NC10.) This new Netbook helps blur the line between netbooks and laptops. It has one of the largest Netbook screens to date, at 12.1”. It uses a Via Nano CPU while most every other Netbook uses Intel's Atom processor. Leo not only loved the bigger screen, but he said the Samsung NC20 sports what feels like a full sized keyboard. (Samsung says it’s 97% full sized.) I asked Leo  if it could run video, like a movie recorded on a USB flash drive and Leo said the NC20 would be totally up to that task. I’ll give you the specs, which I found on line since I don’t own one of these gizmos. (I wish I did!) Leo has already replaced much of the standard components inside to make his own special TWiT high tech version. But from the factory it comes with a 1.3GHz Via Nano Processor, 1GB of memory, 160GB hard drive, VIA VX800 chipset, VIA Chrome9 HC3 IGP integrated graphics and Windows XP. The 12.1-inch wide-screen LCD display offers a 1,280x800 native resolution, which Leo said lets you see an entire page more easily. Dimensions (WD) 11.5x8.5 inches. Weight 3.3 pound, weight with AC adapter 4.1 pounds. List price is about $550.

Samsung Page: http://tinyurl.com/mmb9af

J&R Music Price, under $500. http://tinyurl.com/n4o6yb

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw882