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Waterfield Personal Muzetto Man Bag

Confession: I have carried various man-bags for many years but not so much lately. In part because of the occasional snickers I have gotten from good ol' boys in the parochial city I live in and the rest due to the highly changeable weather here that usually dictates that I carry a jacket providing all the cargo capacity I need. But there are many situations that are well served by a bag and I dislike carrying bulky stuff in my pockets. In my case, a recent day job change forced me to start packing my lunch every day. If I was going to carry a bag anyway it might as well be a cool one, so the search was on.

I started with a vertical, all-nylon unisex bag from InCase that I bought several years ago. The futuristic, silver-grey material now looked way too big-city for me and worse, it was festooned with gimmicky little cellphone pockets, zippers, and secret compartments. The slick nylon had not aged well either. Only natural materials gain character with use, while synthetics just get shabby. Pass.

Next I found a faded tan canvas vertical at The Gap. One large compartment, two small pockets inside, and zero structure. Everything just dropped to the bottom and bulged out. It had a big brass buckle, distressed leather edges on the flap -- definitely masculine. It was cheap and I needed something to haul my daily stuff, so I bought it. I quickly found out that it was anything but weather-proof, and that the plastic clip buckles that hold down the flap are easily broken since they are attached to the bottom and take a beating every time you set the bag down.

When I saw that WaterField Designs had a new line of man-bags coming out, I requested a review sample of the smallest one, the Personal Muzetto ($179), measuring 10.5 x 8.5 x 1.5 inches. I have always gravitated to the most compact case I can find that will carry what I need. This works both ways, forcing me to pare down to the essentials and not pack loads of unnecessary stuff -- that's what women's purses are for. (Just kidding.)

Like everything I've seen from WaterField, the Muzetto is a beautiful piece of American-made craft. The attention to detail is exemplary with nary a flaw in stitching or materials. The rich brown leather reminds me of a well-loved baseball glove. The interior is the same taxi-yellow weave material they use in their larger bags, the light color making it much easier to find things inside. The inside of the flap is of a textured, tough nylon and can be ordered in a variety of cool outdoorsy colors, but I chose basic black.

So what makes a man-bag not a purse? Design. The squared off edges, vertical orientation, and ballistic nylon shoulder strap make a clear statement that this is not a feminine accessory. I asked several women in my life their opinion and it was unanimous: none of them would think of carrying a Muzetto. It has a slightly military vibe to it, purposeful and unadorned if you go with a Black or Copper colored inside flap and somewhat less so if you opt for Green, Flame, Pine, or Pearl.

It was raining the first day I used the Muzetto, but rather than stress about the leather getting water damaged I just threw my stuff in the bag and headed out for my day. A real man-bag should not have to be pampered. I toss mine around and don't worry about it at all, and after two weeks of this I can report that It looks better than new. The leather is so well-oiled that it repairs itself. Most minor scratches and scuffs just disappear, and those few that don't just add more tough-guy character. Splashes and rain do not stain it and the cargo inside stays dry. Even in a hard wind, the heavy flap design stays down without any need for a fiddly fastener or card-killing magnet. The adjustable shoulder strap has a removable matching leather shoulder pad back with rubber. It stays put on your shoulder when you swing the bag around to use it.

The Personal Muzetto has a four pocket layout that I use thus, back to front:

• Rear pocket for folded papers, 3x5 note cards, and receipts.

• Main interior chamber holds a WaterFIeld Small Gear Pouch ($19) to organize my cables, adapters, a Griffin PowerDuo iPhone charger ($39.99), Leatherman Micra multi-tool, guitar capos, Hearos ear plugs, and some personal hygiene items. The remaining half of the main chamber carries my lunch.

• The smaller zippered pocket within the main chamber holds my WaterField Leather Wallet ($19) and my battered old Levenger Bavarian Key and Coin case, the original slim version they no longer offer.

• The front padded pocket just under the main flap is perfect for my Levenger Double Zip Eyeglass Case, my iPhone in a WaterField iPhone Suede Jacket ($9), and a Cross ATX pen clipped to the edge for quick access.

An organization trick I often use is to nest a small personal bag into a larger laptop bag. This keeps the essentials separated from the big iron making it easy to haul what I need and only what I need. Turns out a Personal Muzetto fits nicely into the front pocket of my medium-size WaterField Cargo Messenger ($199) where my MacBook Pro lives, safe in a fitted WaterField Sleeve ($57 with the optional flap and worth every penny.)

The things we carry change over time. A bag that fits your stuff today may not fit tomorrow. A truly great bag is one that carries one's personal items for many years. Through some combination of talents, the designer sees what will work going forward and measures accordingly. When he uses excellent materials and cuts no corners putting it all together, the result is a classic. You grow attached to such a thing. It exceeds your expectations and gives service far beyond anything promised. And such things do not necessarily cost more than cheap transient Chinese crap -- over the long run, that is. The only reason you ever have to buy a classic more than once is if it gets lost or stolen, never because it fell apart, its lines grew tiresome, or the over-designed pockets are too device-specific to hold your new gear.

And that's what I tell myself, every time I send WaterField Designs a check to purchase their review samples. Everything they make that I've held in my hands is simply great, instant classics all. The Muzetto is no exception.

~David MacNeill

WaterField Designs Muzetto

New Life For Your Old TiVo

My five year-old Sony SVR-3000 TiVo went south. The 80GB hard drive just up and died with no warning at all. Just wouldn't boot and made nasty clicking sounds. I have a nine-year old daughter who absolutely MUST have her Hannah Montana, so I had to move fast or risk major domestic unrest.

I seemed to me that this scenario must be playing out in thousands of households right about now. There were boatloads of TiVo Series II units sold around the time we bought ours and all those hard drives are winking out all over the world, slowly but surely. So I decided to build this article based on the experience of replacing the drive.

Google "TiVo replacement drive" and you'll find a number of companies that specialize in TiVo upgrades and repairs. I chose DVRUpgrade.com and Weaknees.com since they looked like the most established operations. Contacted both and made arrangements for replacement drives, pre-imaged with the TiVo software specifically for my Sony. Hard drive capacities have jumped dramatically since I bought my TiVo, so I opted for a 400GB replacement from both companies. Since I always record at Best Quality, I went from about 20 hours to nearly 120 hours, a huge improvement that has dramatically changed the way I used my TiVo -- more on that later.

I ordered the same upgrade kit from each firm on the same day and received both boxes at the same time a couple days later via UPS. Both kits cost $199 with free ground shipping. The drives were the same too: 7200RPM Seagate DB35 mechanisms designed specifically for use in consumer media devices. Yes, you can shove just about any drive into a TiVo, but using a drive made for the task will yield smoother video performance and a quieter living room. Such drives can be difficult if not impossible to find in retail outlets, so it's best to get them from companies like the two I chose. The 400GB drive I chose can be purchased unformatted for $169, but then you'll have to spend another $20 for software specific to your TiVo model, get it all hooked up to your home computer, then do the image transfer -- not pretty. Of the two companies only DVRUpgrade.com offers do it yourself software installers. Though I briefly considered going this route, it saves a mere $20 and I'd have to borrow a Windows box to accomplish it. Our computers are all Macs and though we have a couple of Windows laptops lying around gathering dust, you need a desktop machine to do the deed. It's too much hassle for me to save a mere $20.

The out-of-box experience from both firms was virtually identical. The Weaknees kit included an "Upgraded By Weaknees.com" sticker for your TiVo and a hint card showing how to change your remote's Skip button into a handy 30-second skip. Both offer a one-page instruction sheet detailing exactly how to open the unit, remove the old drive, install the new one, and close it all up without binding any cables or forgetting to plug anything into the right socket. It almost could not have been easier. All you need is a simple screwdriver and basic manual dexterity. I was able to complete the task within ten minutes both times, and I was dawdling and taking notes the whole time.

Just Like New

Once you have your TiVo bolted back together, just plug it into your home theater system and turn it on. The experience that follows is exactly the same as if you had just bought a brand new TiVo from the store. Answer a question about your zip code, tell it how you connect to your system and identify your cable channel lineup, and TiVo does the rest. You lose all your stored programs, recording schedules and preferences, but look at it as an opportunity to clear out the old commercial network crap you've been watching and replace it with lots of public television -- I'm only half kidding here. Make a promise to yourself that you will not waste any more of your precious life watching bad television shows. TV is 90% wasteland but the other 10% can be a very good use of your time and that of your family. End of sermon.

Once you are up and running again, behold the vast amount of space you now have. Suddenly, you chose to set your Season Pass settings to "Keep Until I Delete", saving interesting programs for months instead of days. I found myself casually working my way through my favorite channel's upcoming shows, selecting anything of even remote interest to me of others in the house. Why not? Anything that turns out to be junk is easily deleted, and there is now plenty of space for it all. I also left TiVo Suggestions on, something I have never done because it tended to fill my old drive up so quickly. In a few days the system had suggested a number of excellent programs we would have otherwise missed.

Of course, you don't need to wait until your old drive dies to reap the benefits of an upgrade. The massive capacity and smoother performance you'll enjoy is worth the money. Both the companies I worked with offer excellent kits but I would suggest checking both sites and look for special offers before you order. As I write this, Weaknees.com had a sweet deal on their 500GB upgrade kit: $229 pre-imaged for your device.

Second Drive Option for TiVo Junkies

If you are a serious TiVo junkie, another option is to add a second drive to your rig. Not all TiVo units can physically accommodate a second drive, so check the Weaknees.com and DVRUpgrade.com sites to find out if your unit can handle it. While it is certainly possible to simply order a second drive and install it, this is not the most desirable method. You'll have two drives of differing ages and performance, one of which will eventually fail and take down both drives in the process. You also have a fair bit of low-level drive tinkering to do, which may be beyond your geek pay grade to accomplish. It is far wiser to order a pair of drives as a single upgrade kit, pre-imaged for plug-and-play installation. A pair of 500GB drives, for example, yields a whopping 360 hours at Best Quality, while a pair of top of the line 750GB drives gives so much space that your TiVo can't even display the number! The only downside is the increased noise level of the second drive in your living room. That was a deal breaker for me as I can't stand the thought of spending a day in front of a noisy computer, then relaxing in a room almost as noisy that evening. Then again, I didn't actually try this out so I don't really know how loud it would be. Just think about this before you decide how big to go.

Weaknees.com

DVRUpgrade.com

Remote Possibility: Logitech Harmony One

Another item that is probably due for replacement or upgrade is your TiVo's tired old remote control. In my case, the Sony part is no longer offered even as a refurb; seems the lead level in the paint is too high in those old remotes to resell. Our beat-up old remote is held together with duct tape and the silkscreening is worn off the main buttons, so I contacted Logitech, the leader in programmable universal remotes, about a TiVo-compatible upgrade.

Logitech offers an array of attractive universal remote controls with some serious tech under their hoods. I selected their latest product, the HarmonyOne remote ($249). Now that may seem like a fair bit of cash for a universal remote, but this one is so much better than anything else out there that you won't mind.

The remote control hassle has become a real nightmare. When I am visiting a friend's house, I never touch their remote controls as a rule. Every one of them is different and so many things can go horribly wrong that I just don't do it. At my house, we have FIVE remotes for our home system, three of which are in constant use; it's absurd and frustrating. I'd love to just toss them all in a drawer and just use the front panel controls on all the devices, but these days many features are accessible only through the remote so you're stuck with the little plastic torture devices.

I've purchased and reviewed countless universal remotes over the years and none have been very good. There is always one critical function that they won't do, or one device's codes they can't replicate, or they turn things on in the wrong order, or need to be pointed just so or they won't work, or the damn batteries fall out and you need to completely reprogram it to do anything at all -- this is way more trouble than it is worth.

I am extremely pleased to report that Logitech has gotten it right with the Harmony One. It's absolutely brilliant. Slim and comfortable, it has a bright color touchscreen for major functions, or Activities as they call them: Watch TiVo, Watch a DVD, Listen to Radio, and so on. While touchscreen interfaces on remotes is nothing new, the level of sophistication on the Harmony One is light-years beyond anything else on the market. It even has an intelligent Help system that actually helps you solve problems and doesn't just send you back to the manual.

Out of the box, you drop the unit into its sleek black charging cradle to top up the replaceable lithium-ion battery inside. While it charges up, go over to your components and write down the make and model numbers of each device in your rig. Install the Logitech software in your Mac or Windows computer, then follow the prompts to enter this information into your new account at Logitech. By then your remote is probably sufficiently charged, so plug it into the supplied USB cable and let it update itself with the latest firmware if it needs to. The software then steps you through setting up your Activities, suggesting the most likely things you do with the devices you've specified. It works amazingly well. It knew that I want my TiVo on all the time and that I needed my first Activity to be "Watch PVR", which I renamed "Watch TiVo". It asked a couple of questions and set it up to switch on the TV and the surround amplifier/receiver and to leave the TiVo on no matter what. It set the input and output so I could listen through the surround system. Perfect!

Same experience with my DVD/CD player and the radio receiver functions in my surround amp/receiver, as well as my old VCR and my LiteOn DVD recorder. You can set it so that components remain on or off, or switch on only the components need for that Activity. The key feature is the way it intelligently asks about inputs and outputs so you never have to fiddle the TV/VCR button ever again. Set it once and it's done. You can even set the power-on sequence if you need to. The software found all my components instantly but didn't know all the remote codes for my Sony TiVo remote, so it directed me to point the original remote to the Harmony One and teach a few codes to it. After two of them, it said it knew the rest and it worked perfectly from then on. Need a particular oddball function from one of your old remotes? The Harmony One can learn it, then let you map it to one of its buttons or touchscreen icons. Sweet.

The above may sound complex but it's not; the Logitech software makes it super easy. You can add new devices at any time, remove old ones, make changes to button layouts, customize the touchscreen buttons, add your own graphics, and more if you want to geek out. The controls are laid out in a completely sensible way, not in that crazy haphazard way most remotes are. You always have a backup of all your settings on your computer and on Logitech's servers. The family loves it and babysitters can now easily operate our system without confusion. Take all your old remotes and stick 'em in a drawer -- you won't be needing them. I can't say enough good things about the Harmony One.

~David MacNeill

Logitech Universal Remotes

WaterField Cargo Messenger Bag

I have become an accidental messenger bag collector. Yes, I do ride a single-speed urban assault bike and yes, messenger bags make perfect sense for short jaunts around town, but I think the real reason I prefer them is because they are masculine. Any proper messenger bag gives you the ability to carry your stuff around without the metrosexual overtones of the dreaded man-bag.

Messengers also do yeoman duty as briefcase/attaché replacements. Even back when I was an executive type toiling in dreary corporate fortresses, I never got comfortable with the inflated self-importance suggested by a briefcase. I always got a kick out of slinging something informal and collegiate over my starched shirt, as if to say, "Yeah, I make six figures, live in a McMansion, and drive a Lexus but that's not who I really am inside."

My first messenger bag was one I picked up at the launch of Wired Magazine in 1993. It was a black Timbuk2 Messenger with a big fluorescent pink Wired logo on it. It was just one big sack with no internal pockets of any kind. Took me a while to realize that you just throw whatever in there and let it adapt itself to the shape of your back. I was hooked. When I decided to stop carrying around a magazine billboard I picked up another Timbuk2 Messenger ($95), a large red-black-red one with an internal flap containing pockets for mobile phones and such. Still have it 15 years later and it looks as good as the day I bought it, even though I've beaten the crap out of the thing and never so much as wiped it down. When I need to haul a big load of anything that can spill, this is the bag I use. The rubbery interior coating is thick yet pliable, keeping the contents protected and quiet while also being waterproof both ways. If you favor your beer in bottles as I do, this may be the beach bag for you.

Several other messenger-style bags have come my way over the years. I reviewed a Trager Courier Laptop ($167) that was lightweight and attractive but which I ultimately found to be a pain in the keister. With its matte-black interior and myriad undifferentiated pockets it was difficult to figure out where everything was in that bag. The wimpy nylon section dividers just sort of flopped around when I tried to put things in the pockets one-handed. Papers and magazines would get trashed in the thin document compartments. And the instant you set the thing down the whole rig would flop over to the ground due to the bag's minimal structural stiffness. Even though it measured 16" x 13" x 6" it could only hold a smallish laptop AND you had to buy a separate padded sleeve for it since the bag had no built-in padding for a computer. This bag would be okay for carrying a sandwich and a couple of books to class but that's about it. I see Trager now has a proper messenger bag line, so perhaps I'll give them another look -- assuming they'll speak to me after they read this.

Next came a promising messenger-ish bag from Incase. It was a structured, wedge-shaped affair that offered tons of useful space, great laptop protection, and really cool aesthetics but literally fell down in the daily usefulness department; it would not, under any circumstances, remain upright. The company no longer makes this model and that's probably a good thing.

My next victim was a Tenba Messenger PM-17c ($115), a serious bag made for photojournalists who don't want to look like photojournalists. This has become the bag against which I judge all others. It is extremely well organized, with pockets galore that work well in daily use. Paper compartments are well separated and just stiff enough to keep their contents in presentable shape. The interior is light grey so I can easily find things in dim light. It's built to take a beating with burly hardware, stout materials, taped seams, and a thick rubberized bottom. It is designed to be extremely comfortable in use. Thick pads along the bag's backside, grab handle, and shoulder pad make it effortless to schlep for hours. And it looks somewhat like a piece of military surplus, particularly in Olive Drab; no one will ever call a Tenba Messenger a man-bag. And somehow this 2.8-pound, 18" x 13" x 7" bag manages to look smaller than it actually is. You can fit a 17" laptop in the padded rear compartment but at a glance you'd probably never guess it could handle that. I toss my trusty old 12" PowerBook in vertically, with an accessory bag alongside carrying an AC adapter, a DC adapter, a mouse, a clip-on webcam, and all my cables. I've even used the Tenba for overnight trips. It swallows up a change of casual clothes and a shaving kit easily yet still manages to look more like a book satchel than a piece of luggage. Since it qualifies as a "personal item" instead of a roll-aboard I can usually take my electric guitar onto the plane instead of checking it.

So into my contented, Tenba-toting life comes a lovely WaterField Cargo Medium ($199) and a pile of matching accessories. WaterField, AKA sfbags.com, has been making extremely well-regarded cases for many years, all designed and made in San Francisco where, as the company proudly proclaims, "Rent is high, labor expensive, and competition is intense." Which they follow with, "We wouldn't go anywhere else." You've got to love 'em.

The incredibly nice people their sent me their flagship Cargo messenger bag, medium size with black and yellow "Taxi Indium" accent flap and the paragliding harness buckle. They also offer this bag with an airplane seat buckle, but now that flying has lost all its charm for me, I'd rather not see that particular piece of chrome everyday, thank you very much.

First impressions:

1. Wow, it's really pretty -- maybe too pretty for a man to carry anywhere outside San Francisco or NYC?

2. How can it be so light yet hold its shape so well?

3. The outside phone pocket is on the wrong side. Is the designer a leftie?

4. Okay, I see the big pockets, but where are all the little pockets?

5. There is no padding anywhere on this bag except the shoulder strap.

At this point, I'm feeling like I might be looking at a beautifully executed designer's dream of what messenger bags look like in some alternate universe. Compared to the determined utility of my Tenba, the WaterField Cargo seems kinda puny and costs about twice as much. Yet WaterField bags have so many glowing reviews from journalists and breathless testimonials from customers that I decide I must be missing something here.

That's when the light came on: It's the accessories, stupid! You can't evaluate this bag without taking into account the SleeveCase, the CableGuy and/or the GearPouch. Okay, I'm BSing you on the GearPouch thing since I don't actually have one to review. But if it's anywhere near as good as the three different-sized CableGuys I received, then I think we'll all be okay. (Note to self: Order a GearPouch!)

The WaterField Cargo is not a bag, it's a modular system. That's why WaterField offers the "Mambo Combo:" a bag, a laptop sleeve, and an accessory organizer for one reduced price. You can custom order just what you need and still save $24 or so.

Let's start with the SleeveCase. Like the Trager bag, the Cargo lacks a padded laptop compartment so you'll have to order one along with your Cargo. I requested the horizontal SleeveCase for my MacBook ($39) and it fits like the proverbial glove, offering 6mm of neoprene protection from anything coming from the bottom or the side. The top is open, so I'll just have to hope the Cargo's thick ballistic nylon fends off anything falling from on high. (You can custom order a padded top flap for an additional $15 -- I wish I had done so.) The fit is so perfect that WaterField included a little strap loop at the bottom so you can pull the case off without having to use just your fingers to clamp the top of your computer. The SleeveCase works great as an around-the-house carrier for my machine and there is even a handy pocket on one side for small items, but there are no D-rings for a strap unless you custom order them for an additional $12, or $18 with a matching strap. The SleeveCase is a superbly designed thing, far better than any other minimalist laptop case I've used, including designs from Trager, Tom Bihn, Incase, and several others whose brands I've forgotten.

For items like AC adapters and cables, you'll want one or more CableGuy gear cases. These come in three sizes, all of which fit into one or another pocket in the Cargo. The Large model ($25) spans the width of the front zippered pocket and makes a workable shaving kit if you keep your liquids in ziplocks for safety. The Medium model ($22) holds all my laptop stuff, as described above in the Tenba paragraph. The Small model ($19) is a catch-all for foreign coins, receipts, small tools, guitar picks, and so on. None of them are padded, but the edges are sewn in such a way that they provide a good deal of protection from bumps and the lack of padding keeps the whole rig slim and easy to manage in tight quarters.

And that is really the main difference between the WaterField Cargo and the Tenba Messenger. Packed for a hypothetical trip with identical gear, the Tenba is shorter but thicker -- it can serve as a pillow if you're desperate. Even completely empty it's a little pudgy. The WaterField is inches slimmer and easier to navigate with in crowded spaces but not as comfortable to carry long distances. Your priorities and travel style will decide for you.

Then there is the gadget pocket issue. It seems like a trivial thing but in daily use, it's kind of a big deal. No bag designer can know exactly what you will be stuffing in your bag, so you either get lots of smaller, different sized pockets or fewer large ones. The WaterField leans toward the larger size, with two paperback book-sized deep pockets under the front zipper flap, the underside of which is graced with a shallower wide pocket. In the rear compartment where your laptop and/or clothes live, there is a row of three pockets, a slimmer one that's roughly iPod/iPhone size, and an ID/biz card pocket. You also have an external phone-size pocket on right side of the bag but you may not like it there. Since I spend so much time with a heavy guitar hanging from my left shoulder, I always sling my bag strap over my right shoulder to keep my back in balance. Worn thus, my phone would be behind me on my right in a blind spot that thieves will not fail to notice. Park my $400 iPhone there? I think not. I use that pocket for pens, mints, cheap sunglasses, combs, and other items of negligible value.

And now we tackle the prettiness issue. Laugh all you want, metro-boy -- I live in Idaho where things like this matter to a bloke. I suggest ordering your Cargo in black if you feel self-conscious wearing all that splashy color. On a bike, of course, the bright colors are a good thing, which is why I went for the screaming yellow Taxi Indium on mine. The usual rules of male coolness are somewhat less strict when cycling -- where else can a dude wear spandex and not elicit chuckles from the punters? At the cafe, however, it's a different story. Look at this photo of Indiana Jones with his battered canvas bag. Now imagine that bag festooned with a cheerful yellow checkerboard pattern -- 'nuff said.

Verdict? I am retiring the Tenba and going with the WaterField. The case-within-a-case modularity fits my travel style better than the Tenba's generic approach. And the slimness of the Cargo may even make my crazy life run just a little smoother. When I'm overseas on tour for several months at a stretch, I live out of my luggage in a way the average daily commuter never will. Last summer I went nine straight weeks living out of a messenger bag, a small duffle bag, and a guitar case. Everything has to work in perfect harmony, from insane airport security lines to dinky rental cars to ale-soaked greenrooms to closet-size quarters in back of the pub. And sometimes you have to be able to instantly grab everything you own and run like hell. Weight, bulk, reliability, and organization become hugely important on the road. I feel confident my WaterField gear will do just fine.

~David MacNeill

WaterField Cargo at sfbags.com

What's wrong with the iPhone

I've just spent a month with a loaned iPhone and have a few thoughts to share. My friend Conrad has written several thousand words on the iPhone elsewhere on this site, so I won't duplicate his excellent work. And I agree with his overall assessment: the iPhone is a wonderful device, skillfully combining a superb mobile phone, a slick web browser, superior email functionality, a powerful personal organizer, and an iPod media player. But as sweet as it is, the iPhone is not all it can be.

Where I differ from comrade Conrad's assessment is in the text entry and editing department. The rest of the device is so beautifully crafted that we've all just blindly accepted the QWERTY tap-and-pray text entry it offers. It's a clunky, tedious, and error-prone method for entering anything more than a name and a phone number. I think Apple is so deathly afraid to include anything even remotely like handwriting recognition that they've crippled the iPhone. And to make matters worse, there is no cut and paste function. Come on Apple, this is cut and paste we're talking about, not immersive telepresence. How hard can it be for your army of brilliant software engineers to code that?

And one more thing: the lack of Flash compatibility in the browser is more than annoying, it's almost a deal breaker for me. I don't care about watching videos or playing games, I need the ability to edit Google Docs and use other "Web 2.0" functions. Without Flash, the iPhone is not really a handheld computer at all, but a mere data viewer with a lovely touch interface. Nothing wrong with that -- most folks seems satisfied using their iPhones this way. But I'm an editor, and I need my tools to allow me to edit things.

Don't get the idea that I'm handing in my enthusiasm along with my loaned iPhone this week. On the contrary, I'm buying my own iPhone to replace the loaner as soon as I can. I've grown completely attached to the thing and can't stomach the thought of having to go back to my primitive Motorola RAZR - yuk. I'm an iPhone man now and nothing will change that, but it frustrates me that Apple is hobbling this otherwise fantastic device for...what? Marketing paranoia because of what happened with the Newton MessagePad a decade ago? Petty political jostling with Adobe over Flash? Fears over iPhone cannibalizing MacBook sales if they make it too useful? Are they afraid they'll confuse us if they include too many powerful features?

We'll eventually find out, of course. Until then, count me among the iPhone fanboys not so much for what it is today, but because of its potential. ~David MacNeill

Casio Pathfinder PAW 1300T7

Used to be if you wanted a rugged watch for hiking or diving, you paid a lot of money for it. Now the Rolex Explorers, Omega Speedmasters, and Tag Heuer Aquaracers mostly hang from the wrists of folks who want to look outdoorsy but would never expose their shiny timepieces to the elements. Nothing wrong with that, it's just the way some products go upmarket over time. And it makes sense in a world where you can buy attractive, durable, and supremely functional digital watches for less than what it costs to get a mechanical Swiss watch cleaned and tuned by your friendly neighborhood horologist.

Casio has been in the outdoor digital watch space for decades. Their watches have been to the ends of the Earth, had the crap knocked out of them, and still did their job. The company's terrestrial line is called Pathfinder and they are probably the most fully featured wrist-worn instruments you can buy.

I tested the top-shelf Pathfinder PAW-1300T-7V with the titanium bracelet. This year's Pathfinders are much thinner and more comfortable than previous models in the line, yet none of their legendary features or durability have been sacrificed. The watch runs on a rechargeable battery that is constantly topped up by a solar cell. Even in total darkness, it'll stay accurate for many months on a charge.

Far more than a watch
This watch is really far more than a watch. It has a receiver for the time signals transmitted over most of the world from atomic clock installations such as the one in Fort Collins, Colorado that serves the continental US. Four times a day, it checks the signal and adjust as necessary so you always have the exact time. So called "atomic" watches are the most accurate portable timepieces you can buy.

Now that you know the exact time, how about the direction you are traveling, the altitude, the temperature, and a weather forecast? This Pathfinder has a digital compass, an altimeter, a thermometer, and a barometer. The compass can be easily adjusted for magnetic declination, bidirectional calibration, and northerly calibration for absolute accuracy. You can even set a bearing to guide your way through the wilderness.

The altimeter does a remarkably good job using air pressure and temperature to give a reading. It can measure your ascent/descent over time, displaying the data in a graph. You can see the highest and lowest you've been over a period of time and set an altitude differential. A variety of display options make this feature easy to love.

Perhaps the most useful of the non-timekeeping features is the barometer/thermometer mode. The sensors work in tandem to not only give you a reading of current conditions but also tracks the data constantly no matter what foreground mode the watch is in. You can quickly check a graph from the main time display that shows the weather trend over the recent past. If the line is heading down fast, sailors take warning. If it's headed up, put away your rain gear and slap on some sunscreen.

And, of course, this remarkable device does more: world time, countdown timer, stopwatch, and alarms. It is waterproof to 100 meters -- not water resistant, waterproof as in fall-out-of-the-boat-into-the-lake. It has an electroluminescent display that can be activated with a tap of a button or set to automatically come on for two seconds when you flip your wrist to see the watch face.

Perpetual motion machine (almost)
Considering that this instrument runs on solar power for years and does so much, it's practically a perpetual motion machine. You can get this watch with a resin, canvas, or titanium band so prices range from $300 to $350. I recommend getting the titanium band, as it will not only last forever but looks as good as any multi-thousand dollar Swiss sport watch and works better than any metal band I've ever used. I once had to return a $2000 Breitling Aerospace three times in two years to have the titanium band repaired under warranty. I got so tired of this that after the last repair, I sold the watch and gave up on Breitling forever. The Casio bracelet design feels better, locks more securely, and the workmanship is flawless.

This Casio Pathfinder takes almost nothing from me yet gives back more than any other sport watch I've ever used.

~David MacNeill

iPod Sound Systems

There are dozens of iPod-compatible sound systems on the market. You can't swing a cat in a consumer electronics store without knocking over stacks of them. We've rounded up over 20 of the best, put them all on the bench and let 'em rip. What follows is our short list of the best in each category, with ties given where we couldn't pick a clear favorite. Some models sound so similar that the only way to choose is because of a unique feature or a cool design aspect. Price did not factor into the equation, since in virtually all cases the prices are so close as to be irrelevant.

I can only imagine how many times Apple designers tried to fit little speakers to the iPod, only to have their designs end up in the trash. The iPod is so perfect as it is that bulky speakers just have to be a separate item. Recalling the Great Boombox Plague of the 1980s, perhaps Steve Jobs simply doesn't care to be exposed other people's musical tastes -- unless they are buying that music from the iTunes Store so all he hears is the sweet ka-ching! of profit. De gustibus may be non disputantum but everybody likes to get paid.

Of course, Apple does offer one iPod sound system, the $349 Apple Hi-Fi. Requests to Apple for a loaner to review have yielded no response, so the Hi-Fi is not included in this roundup. The Hi-Fi began quietly disappearing from retail racks a couple of months ago and it is no longer available at Apple's online store, so they are either working on an updated model (likely, since the Hi-Fi product page is still up on Apple's website) or leaving the iPod sound system business for other companies to exploit.

Best All-Purpose iPod Sound System: Harman Kardon Go+Play ($349)
This amazing machine really crosses categories. It's certainly portable, weighing in at under 5 pounds with batteries. Yet it sounds better than any other sound system made strictly for AC-powered desktop use. The Go+Play uses the exact components Harman Kardon made for the Mercedes S-class. Its sound is unlike anything else any other unit is capable of emitting. The high end is airy and crystal clear, while the dual subwoofers pump out so much clean, thumping bass you'll have the neighbors complaining. Between the extremes there lies the all-important mids, and HK made them pour out exactly right. I compared the Go+Play to my Audioengine A5 desktop monitors ($349 street) and it was basically a wash. The A5s were flatter (meaning more accurate compared to the source material) and the stereo "soundstage" was wider since they were farther apart. But in detail, volume, and sheer spine-tingling power, the Go+Play held its own. If I was going to play my music in some music exec's office, I'd drop the Go+Play on his desk and let it blow his ponytail back.

This Go+Play is not without controversy. Other reviewers have whined about the lack of equalization controls and the horizontal dock bed. Yep, your $350 sound system has no bass or treble controls -- nor does it need them. Harman Kardon designed in the hi-res digital logic to make all necessary adjustments for you. To my ears, they got it absolutely right. I could not find a volume level that needed any EQ to make it better. Technically, you could employ your iPod's internal equalizer presets to bend it as you please, but I see no need. The flat dock is only a problem if you want to use the remote to pick songs from you iPod screen when you are across the room. From that far away, you wouldn't be able to read it anyway. I don't think this is a deal breaker, but you might. I think having the iPod display visible from the front of the machine would detract from the ultra-minimalist aesthetic of the thing. Speaking of the remote, it uses RF (radio frequency) instead of IR (infrared) so you don't have to aim it to use it. You also get greater range. There is even a pop-out drawer for it hidden in the back of the Go+Play.

Obviously, I could rattle on and on about this remarkable machine, so I'll just leave you with this single sentence description: 120-watts cleanly powering four world-class speakers built into a portable, black and silver work of art that consistently lets your iPod's music sound absolutely wonderful at any volume, indoors or out.
Harman Kardon

Best Stationary iPod Sound System: Audioengine A2 Powered Speakers ($199)
Okay, so I bent the rules a little. The Audioengine A2 doesn't have an iPod dock unless you plop one on top. But the left speaker does have the connections to make this work with the iPod dock you already own. The company doesn't market the A2 as an iPod-specific sound system, but it works beautifully that way. At one-third the size of the $349 Audioengine A5, these compact speakers still sound so full you'll be looking around for a secret subwoofer under the desk. Silk tweeters, kevlar woofers, dual class A/B 30-watt amplifier, beautifully finished cabinets in black or white, and all the gold-tipped cables you'll need for connect anything to them.

If you're up for spending $150 more, get the Audioengine A5 ($349) instead. More lows, more power, more everything. Buying the A5s makes sense if you want to fill a living room with sound and you don't plan to move them around much. I've used a pair for almost a year now for all my everyday listening and as second monitors for my Pro Tools recording, mixing, and mastering work. They sit atop a pair of $1000 Mackie HR824 studio monitors I use for my critical work. The A5s sound near as good unless I have to crank up the volume to paint-peeling, rafter-rattling levels. These are magnificent sounding, great-looking powered studio monitors pretending to be mere powered speakers. I don't think you will find better sound for the price and you definitely won't find anything better looking.
Audioengine USA

Best Mobile iPod Sound System: Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere ($149) and Altec Lansing iM600 ($149)
This was a tough call. Two identically priced units from two great companies in fierce competition. There are plenty of things about the two products that will sway you one way or the other, but either way you win. They both offer brilliant sound quality from compact designs that were built to last. They are more alike than they are different. The Logitech is wide where the Altec is more squarish but both pack small and flat. The Logitech has an AC adapter that fits in the iPod well for easy travel, while the Altec has a very good FM radio. Both have internal rechargeable batteries, the Logitech rated at 10 hours and the Altec rated at 7. Both offer stereo field expander logic to trick your ears into thinking the speakers are farther apart, though at the risk of a slight increase in distortion at max volume. Both have auxiliary input jacks for non-iPod audio sources and both have excellent remote controls. Both have comparable output power and maximum volume before distortion spoils the party. The Logitech has a sweet fitted travel case, while the Altec has an alarm clock feature. If you haven't already decided which one you want more at this point, then perhaps you don't need a mobile sound system after all.
Logitech
Altec Lansing

If you're looking for sound quality and affordability in an iPod docking station, these cheap iPod speakers could be the solution that sounds good and isn't too expensive.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Want to spend a little less and still get good sound, useful features, and solid build quality? Consider the following products as safe choices in this increasingly crowded market niche:

Macally TunePro ($99)
We were impressed with the TunePro for its pleasant combination of superior good looks, small footprint, cool embedded clock display, excellent radio, and clear sound from its flat panel speakers. If you need an iPod-compatible clock radio on your bedside table and don't plan to blast it loud enough to wake the whole house, the TunePro is a great choice.
Macally

Griffin Technologies Journi ($130)
The Journi was hot on the heels of both the Pure-Fi Anywhere and the iM600 for top billing. It has a comparable feature set, stereo field expander logic, aux input, rechargeable battery, remote control, and a brilliant design including an integrated case that folds into a stand. In fact the only area that fell from "excellent" to "good" was the sound quality when cranked way up high. If you never listen really loud, then you could save yourself $20 and go with the Journi. You've got to love that black faux-leather case/stand!
Griffin Technology

Altec Lansing iM9 ($199, heavily discounted online)
If your travels take you places where your gear tends to get roughed up a bit, you should consider the Altec Lansing iM9 . It offers much of what makes the Pure-Fi Anywhere and the iM600 attractive, but it's wrapped up in a semi-rugged shell. Bass output is remarkably good for its size, though the trebles are not quite as sweet as others in this range. It uses alkaline C-size batteries instead of a built-in rechargeable pack and it is about two pounds heavier, but it comes with a really nice backpack-style case for taking your music where no one has gone before.
Altec Lansing

iHome iH82 Powered Speakers ($129)
If you want a stationary bookshelf-style stereo in a bedroom, kitchen, or dorm room but can't pony up for the Audioengines, consider the iHome iH82. This is a pair of powered speakers, one of which has a built-in iPod dock. Sound quality is nothing to write home about but is certainly adequate for casual listening. These would be great for an iPod-toting teen. The list price of $129 is too high for what you get. If this set listed for $99 they'd be a lot easier to recommend -- look for discounts online.
iHome Audio

DLO iBoom Travel ($89)
Though there isn't much of what you'd call boom in the iBoom Travel, there is plenty of travel potential due to it's diminutive proportions. This is the smallest iPod clock radio we've seen and it does all the things you'd expect it to and does them well. Just don't expect the little guy to blow your socks off.
DLO

~David MacNeill

World's Best Headphones for iPod

The people who create the music you love don't hear their work the way you do. They all use speakers and headphones made for professionals -- pricey, ultra-reliable, serious tools you'll rarely see on any store shelf. Think Sting walks along his private beach in Tahiti with common iPod ear buds on? Can you imagine Springsteen sitting on a plane wearing those throwaway earphones the sky waitress hands out with the peanuts?

It's not about status or wealth or fashion, it's about fidelity. When your life's work is made of sound waves, you need to hear the truth and you need to protect your hearing. Truly great headphones provide both, and they're not as crazy-expensive as you might expect. If you love music, read on and learn how to hear like you've never heard before.

Fair warning: You may be perfectly happy with the quality of your iTunes library the way it is. After listening to a few tracks on the world's best headphones, I guarantee that you will want to re-rip every one of your CDs and upgrade any songs you have purchased from the iTunes Store to iTunes Plus. Generally speaking, anything rendered at lower than 192 kbps, in MP3 or AAC format, will sound somewhat shabby on pro-grade headphones. However, once you've upgraded your library to 256 kbps, you will enjoy subtleties in your music you never imagined -- and you'll find yourself listening at lower volume levels too.

Impedance and sensitivity
You might think you can simply jack your studio-grade headphones into your iPod and achieve sonic bliss, but it ain't necessarily so. Most top-shelf headphones are designed to work best with hot amps and mixers that put out a lot more clean power than an iPod, laptop, smartphone, or portable CD player emits. There are compact, battery-powered headphone pre-amps that take care of the mismatch nicely, making any headphone sound as good as it possibly can. We like and recommend the Total AirHead ($99) but there are other mobile pre-amps out there.

How can you tell if a headphone will mate well with your mobile audio device and not need a pre-amp? Two terms to know: impedance and sensitivity. Without geeking out on you, I'll say that all you need to know is that the impedance should be low and the sensitivity should be high. Some manufacturers omit sensitivity ratings from their product descriptions, so often all you'll have to go on is impedance. Generally speaking, you want your impedance to be under 75 ohms. There are some exceptions but that's a good rule to work with.

The rub of low-impedance "cans" is that they aren't the absolute best sounding headphones in the universe. Great headphones need a lot of power and that usually means the impedance is high. Don't get me wrong -- there are some fantastic-sounding low impedance models out there that most people will swoon over. But the very best have impedances in the 200-300 ohm range. This makes testing and choosing them difficult, as there is a trade-off between mobility and performance. There are high-impedance headphones that are so sweetly good we simply had to include them, with the caveat that they need a preamp, adding $99 to the price.

Around the ear, on the ear, and in the ear
There are essentially three types of headphones: The classic big ones that go around your ear and rest against your head are called circumaural. These are the classic old-school cans you see recording artists wear in the studio. They come in two styles, closed-back and open-back. Closed-back designs provide isolation from the outside world and do not bleed sound out to your surroundings. The obvious benefits are that you hear only your music and no one else hears it. Recording artists always use closed-backs so they can hear the track they are playing or singing to but the ultra-sensitive studio microphone doesn't hear it. Open-back designs have a more natural sound; they are in essence a pair of small monitor speakers hanging in the air in front of your ears. With few exceptions, audiophile-quality headphones are open-back. They bleed all over the place and they block almost no sound from the outside world from mixing with your music, but they sound spine-tinglingly glorious. If you listen alone in quiet places, get open-back headphones.

Another common design you'll find are designed to sit directly on top of your ears. Called supraaural, these cans block a little more from the outside and bleed a little less than open-back circumaural designs. We did not include any supraaural models in this round-up for three reasons: (a) Grado, the top maker of this kind of headphone, chose not to participate -- which is no big deal because (b) I think they look funny and (c) in over three decades of hanging around in recording studios I've never seen anyone wear them.

In the last five years or so there has been a huge amount of interest in a style of headphone that was developed for discreet stage monitoring. They are variously called in-ear or canalphones but they are are the same thing. These are tiny little plugs that insert directly into your ear canal, like a hearing aid. Properly fitted, they virtually disappear. The very best sounding designs use multiple tiny speakers (also called drivers in pro audio lingo) to separate the highs from the lows for better fidelity. They are always low impedance and have high enough sensitivity for direct connection to iPods and other low-ouput devices.

In-earphones are not for everyone. They take a while to get used to and can be a bit fiddly to fit correctly. They are also harder to live with since you have to carefully insert them rather than just pop them on your head like big cans. When you take them off, you don't want to just throw them in your pocket. They are delicate little mechanisms and should not be exposed to hard knocks and dirt -- and you don't want to stick a dirty object directly into your skull everyday. You need to be a bit fussy and keep them in their sealed case.

But the rewards are worth it. In-earphones offer the best isolation of any kind of headphone, both internal and external. They are easy to take along because they are so impossibly small. You can listen privately in public without announcing to the world what you are doing. And best of all, the top models sound stunningly gorgeous.

The precursor of the in-earphone was the earbud, the design that comes with every iPod. Earbuds are small, handy, somewhat stealthy, and sound bloody awful. Muddy lows, missing mids, tinny highs -- no thanks. Life's too short to wear earbuds.

World's Best Headphones for iPod
I have combined all headphone types into a single list. Choose the style that you think would best fit your lifestyle, then decide how much it is worth to you to actually hear all of the music you love. Sticker shock is normal in this range, but you only have to pay once for the best, versus buying mediocre things over and over again. There are some relative bargains to be found at the end of the list, but remember: It's about sound, glorious sound -- as much as you can get for what you can afford.

Best circumaural open-back headphone with a pre-amp: AKG K 701 and Sennheiser HD 650
We have a tie for best sounding headphones. The AKG K701 ($450 list, $310 street) and Sennheiser HD 650 ($500 list, $350 street) are both so exceedingly great that choosing between them comes down to which one fits your head better. To me, the Sennheiser fits a little snugger yet feels lighter than the AKG, but almost imperceptibly so. If you prefer a headphone you can wear for very long periods, then you may find the AKG a tad more comfy. People used to wearing tight-fitting studio cans will probably like the Sennheisers better. There are also the dramatically contrasting aesthetics to factor in. The AKG is an eye-catching design in white and grey like your iPod, with an auto-adjusting brown leather headband that is classy looking and supremely comfortable. The Sennheisers are dark grey and black, with an austere old-school look that audio pros will prefer. Whichever you choose, you can be secure in knowing that you are wearing the best headphones on the planet. Don't forget to factor in an extra C-note for a headphone pre-amp -- you'll need it when you want to take all that goodness outside.

Best circumaural closed-back headphone with a pre-amp: beyerdynamic DT 770
If you want stunningly accurate sound but need isolation, buy the beyerdynamic DT 770 ($319 list, $269 street). These sweet cans offer the sound of beyerdynamic's top open-back model (the brilliant DT 990) but with the benefit of keeping all that goodness to yourself while you shut off the world around you. My friend Lance Taber is a principal guitarist/producer behind the smash-hit Guitar Hero series of computer games, and he always does his final mixes wearing his beloved DT 770s. This is a man with golden ears who can have any headphone he desires -- need I say more? Yes: Don't forget the pre-amp.

Best circumaural open-back without a pre-amp: beyerdynamic DT 860
Beyerdynamic doesn't make a big deal about it but they produce the best headphones you can buy that don't require a pre-amp. Perhaps they should be shouting it from the rooftops. With so many millions of iPods piping perfectly sweet music into crappy $5 earbuds, there is clearly a market for upgrades. Our favorite in the unpre-amped category is the DT 860 ($319 list, $269 street). It offers superb sound, clean aesthetics, durable design, and folding ear cups for easy packing. Just plug them into your iPod and hurl those little white earbuds into the dumpster where they belong.

Best circumaural closed-back without a pre-amp: AKG K 271
Go into any pro recording studio and you'll find the AKG K 271 ($270 list, $190 street). Dead accurate, incredibly durable, extremely comfortable, and reasonably priced. They offer excellent isolation for recording use, or just to keep street noise out of your Beethoven string quartets. They also mute themselves when you take them off -- how cool is that? Chances are good that many of your favorite songs were recorded by musicians wearing these cans. They have a removable locking cable since it's the cable that wears out first in constant professional use. It also makes them easier to pack and store. They drive well jacked directly into iPods. What's not to love?

Best in-earphone: Shure SE530
Want to make the world go away and drift into a perfect world of sound so powerful it makes the hairs on your arms stand up? Pony up for a set of Shure SE530 ($499 list, $359 street) in-earphones. Shure pioneered the in-ear monitor for musicians to wear on stage, so they've always delivered units that offer not only professional-grade sound but that are absolutely reliable -- every gig, tour after tour. When musicians started taking their in-ears with them to the tour bus after the performance, it became clear there was a market for in-earphones beyond the stage. Now there are several companies offering in-earphones but we think Shure has the edge. The SE530 uses three discrete micro-drivers: one for the highs and two for the low frequencies. The result is balanced, audiophile-grade performance unlike anything that has come before. It comes with a fit kit to make it easy to find that balance of comfort, performance, and isolation. Forget the noise-cancelling headphones you see from Bose, Sony, and others. If you want to really get away from it all and hear your music exactly the way it was recorded, you want Shure SE530s.

Best bargain in-earphone: Ultimate Ears super.Fi 5 Pro
While two hundred bucks is not what most people would call a bargain for a pair of earphones, true music lovers on a budget will be glad to pay it to get what they need. If you can't shell out five bills for the glorious triple-driver Shure SE530 in-ears, get Ultimate Ears super.Fi 5 Pro ($249 list, $189 street) in white, black, or clear (our favorite.) They offer the best performance you'll find in dual-driver in-earphones, with a smoothness that makes you want to listen for hours. They are easy to fit compared to most of their competition and the clear model with the cords wrapped over your ears and behind your neck make them essentially disappear, Secret Service agent-style. They don't insert quite as far as other models in this range, making them great for those who are new to in-earphones. These are remarkably sweet little cans for the money.

Best bargain circumaural without a pre-amp: Sennheiser HD280 Pro and Audio-Technica ATH-A700
Another tie, ladies and gentleman. The Sennheiser HD280 Pro ($199 list, $99 street) is a staple among recording musicians who need to spend their money on reference monitors rather than headphones. They are unbeatable for the $99 discounted price and can be easily driven directly by an iPod. They are reasonably comfortable and seal very well. If you need great sound and isolation on the cheap, get the HD280s. If you needs lean more toward listening than creating music -- and that music tends to be bass heavy -- then you'll find satisfaction in Audio-Technica's ATH-A700 closed backs ($299 list, $119 street). These attractive, oversize yet plushly comfortable cans offer specs and features usually associated with models costing twice as much and for the most part they deliver what the marketing language promises. To my ears, they sound a bit boomy in the bass which overrides the rest of the frequencies to an extent. You may like this hugeness, however. And you can always dial back the bass on your amp or iPod if it gets to be too much of a good thing. Still, a good value at $119.

Headphones don't have to cost a fortune to be good. These discount stereo headphones offer stylish design, an emphasis on sound quality, and won't set you back hundreds of dollars.

~David MacNeill

SeV Explorer Jacket

A coat, even one that is perfectly suited to a life entwined with personal tech, is still a coat. In the middle of the night, scrambling into something warm so you can drive your sick kid to the ER, it's just a coat and it had better do its job. Wallet, keys, mobile phone, grab the kid and you're out the door. This is no time to think about your iPod's earbud wires, okay? The SeV Explorer Jacket is a superb coat that'll keep you warm, make you look good, and let you brilliantly organize all your daily gear and effects within.

I've reviewed virtually every SeV product since before the company was launched. I think the only bits I've missed are the tie (because I'll never wear a tie) and the Ultimate Cargo Shorts (because cargo pants make me look fat). While I have ended up wearing a number of SeV garments long after the review was past, it was always the simpler, less obvious items that stayed in regular rotation. Jackets with a dozen visible pockets are not cool unless you are a professional cameraman -- and they make me look fat.

When I saw the new SeV catalog featuring the brown Explorer Jacket ($200 direct), I dropped their president Scott Jordan an email of congratulation. Here was an attractive cold weather long coat with classic lines that just happened to have 20 pockets invisibly arrayed inside. No backpack pocket, no car racing suit-style collar, and no overt logos. It even has big old-school buttons along with the main zipper down the front -- nice and casual. It still has crisp SeV lines, only the edge has been softened a bit. The handy gusseted breast pockets have buttons but they are just to complete the look; these pockets close with velcro tabs.

Fewer pockets, better pockets
I have used almost every pocket in this coat, a claim I cannot make about all previous SeV coats. Though the Explorer has fewer than most, they are placed better for the way I live. It's easy to pat myself down to find things once I get home and want to unload. Phone, wallet, keys, iPod, sunglasses, notepad and pen -- all right where I expect them to be. If I'm out with the family, add my compact camera, a paperback or magazine, and occasionally a flask. There is an appropriate pocket to hold all these things securely, yet you don't see or feel any bulges. Sure, stuff a fat hardback or a 16-ounce water bottle in there and you're going to notice, so if it bugs you, don't do that.

I liked the Explorer immediately and like it even more now that I've been all over town wearing it for a few weeks. It's cold here in Boise this time of year, so I often wear a thick wool sweater under my coat if I'm going to be outside for a while. The Explorer is cut generously enough to be comfortable even when heavily layered. The Teflon-treated "microsuede" fabric and quilted lining are light and flexible yet warm and resistant to both wind and moderate rain or snow. I have no complaints about fabrics, fit, or finish. It's all top notch and as good or better than casual outerwear from other makers.

I have but one minor complaint, and it is one that is an easy fix. The left inside eyewear pocket contains a shock cord with a metal alligator clip that is holding a square of microfiber for polishing lenses. Metal hardware in a pocket meant for glasses? Your hundred-dollar Ray-Bans will not appreciate that roach clip hanging around, so cut off the clip and the rough cord and let the microfiber dwell in the bottom of the pocket. If you lose it someday, so what? Cleaning cloths are infinitely cheaper than replacing scratched lenses.

Man purse? Think again.
SeV's latest designs show a sensitivity to the needs of people who do not want to dress like alpha-geeks. Many men carry two or three gadgets, a wallet and keys around all day. An SeV Tactical Jacket's 35 pockets are completely unnecessary and can be downright confusing for regular guys. But when regular guys get an iPod, a pocket satnav, and a digicam for Christmas and find themselves suddenly having visions of the dreaded man-purse, an Explorer Jacket starts to make a lot of sense. Save your what's left of your masculine pride and join the browncoats!
SeV Explorer Jacket
~David MacNeill

Voltaic Converter Solar Backpack

Green is good, no question. It's even fashionable. So does wearing a backpack brandishing three large solar panels make you cool or a tool? That's a call you have to make for yourself. I like the look of Voltaic's Converter in tan with green rimmed panels. It's less toolish than the same pack in Darth Vader black, blends better with outdoor environments, and is a bit cooler in the sun. If you are carrying a tuna sandwich in there, heat matters.

A few basic specs: The pack is made from recycled soda bottles, has a comfy breathable mesh padded back, wire-channels throughout for easy cabling, and has a fully padded compartment that can hold up to a 17-inch laptop. Unfortunately the solar panels cannot generate enough power to charge your laptop. You may be able to rig up a trickle charging setup but it isn't supported by Voltaic so proceed at your own risk.

The panels produce a respectable 4-watts so charging is noticeably faster than some other solar packs on the market. Fit and finish is excellent inside and out, with top-shelf zippers, fasteners, and fabrics. The inside is intelligently laid out with pockets right where they should be. You can carry a surprising amount of stuff for such a slim pack, but if it's not enough for you Voltaic offers several larger sizes in their line. You can also clip the Converter to the outside of another pack using the supplied connectors.

The Converter makes a fine pack for bicyclists and motorcyclists, with comfortable shoulder straps and clips for easy attachment to a rack or fuel tank. The straps can easily be arrayed to work as a messenger-style sling, if you prefer.

Charging through your day
Assuming you dig the Converter's aesthetic and you are able to part with $169-$199 bucks to own one, how does such a pack work in daily life? Depends on how often you go outside and what devices you carry around. All Voltaic packs include an ample array of eleven connectors to fit most devices. If all else fails, you can use the generic 5-volt USB adapter and charge using the cable that came with your device. And if you don't have USB charging as an option on your device, you can use the included 12-volt vehicle port to adapt any device that has a car charger adapter. There is no included iPod connector so you'll have to use the USB cable that came with your iPod. I'd recommend buying a spare to thread into the pack permanently.

Let's say you, like me, carry an iPod, a mobile phone, a compact digital camera, and occasionally a compact iPod amp/speaker system. If you commute on public transport to an office, you can grab some rays en route. But unless your commute is hours long, your devices will likely make the trip just fine on a charge from home, so a solar backpack is not really needed. If you spend your day wandering around a campus, listening to lectures and music on your iPod and yakking/texting on your mobile all day, then the solar panels start to make sense. You can grab some rays many times throughout your day, storing the juice in the Converter's 2800 milliamp-hour lithium-ion battery pack. The pack allows you to connect two devices simultaneously: one from the battery and one directly to the panels. Even heavy iPod and mobile phone users will always be topped up and ready to rock.

The digital camera situation is a bit trickier since there are few direct-rechargeable cameras. You would need to pack along a dedicated camera battery charger than has a 12-volt vehicle adapter -- a fiddly and heavy proposition unless you shoot all day long or you are on an extended camping trip with no access to AC power.

Rockin' 'round the campfire
My iPod amp/speaker has a rechargeable battery which I was able to power from the Voltaic's battery. Under ideal weather conditions, you could go camping and have a portable music system for your campfire parties. Sure, you could do this with an iPod boombox that used disposable alkaline D cells, but burning through six or eight cells a day is expensive and about as un-green as you can get. And those batteries are heavy to pack in and heavier to pack out -- can't just toss 'em into the campfire with the eggshells and paper plates, mate!

You won't find greener, better made, or more thoughtfully designed solar backpacks than the Voltaic line. If you are a heavy user of personal tech devices, your life takes you outside a lot, and you are down with the green-geek look of solar panels on your back, you can't do better than this. Voltaic Systems
~David MacNeill

Let's Get It On (Your iPod)

Getting the music, photos, and video you want onto your iPod is accomplished by getting the files into your computer, either by purchasing songs or videos from the online iTunes Music Store, or by importing your audio CDs, personal photos, and home movies into iTunes on your computer for transfer to your iPod. Most of us have audio CDs already, so virtually everyone will end up using both methods eventually.

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The iTunes Music Store has become the world’s number one store for digital media. You can select from a staggering array of music in any genre, old or new, either individual songs (99¢), complete albums (usually $9.99), or even multi-album “box sets.” Apple also offers their own reasonably priced “iTunes Essentials” compilations, with subjects ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.

But audio is not just about music. You can also purchase and download spoken audiobooks and short subjects such as NPR radio programs like This American Life. Apple has partnered with audiobook industry leader Audible to provide a vast array of titles from publishers both large and small.

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For all iPods except the screen-less iPod shuffle, the iTunes Music Store now offers video downloads. You can buy music videos with an embedded recording of the song that’s equal to the music-only version and commercial-free broadcast television shows that are available one day after they are aired, or individual episodes or whole seasons of classic TV shows from years past. But the big news is that you can buy full-length theatrical movies from $10 to $15.

Viewing videos on an iPod screen is surprisingly immersive for anyone with decent eyesight. As you would expect, the audio portion is of excellent quality and helps make up for the diminutive display. With the optional $19 Apple iPod AV Cable, you can send your videos to any TV. If you are fortunate enough to have an HDTV screen, you can drop another $299 (40GB) or $399 (160GB) on an Apple TV set-top box and complete the loop between your iPod and your big screen. Everything you buy from the iTunes Store is synched up wirelessly from your computer to your Apple TV as well as your iPod. Any way you look at this scenario, it requires a fair amount of money and even more faith in Apple as they morph from a consumer electronics company into a world-class media conglomerate bigger than Sony.

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For digital photographs stored in iPhoto (Mac), iTunes detects your photo library and offers to render the whole thing on your iPod. On a Windows PC, or you can use the free Adobe Photoshop Album or just folders full of photos you specify to iTunes, and they render and copy to your iPod. There is an option in iTunes that automatically copies all your full-size original photos as well as the smaller ones it renders for the iPod display. If your photo library isn’t too huge and your iPod has the space for them, this is a convenient automatic backup method for your irreplaceable personal photos. Spend an additional $19 on an Apple iPod AV Cable and you can connect your iPod or the optional $39 iPod Universal Dock directly to your television and home theater system or powered speakers. The rendered photos automatically adapt to the resolution and display geometry of your television, and the iPod’s built-in Slideshow feature does a superb job of showing off your albums — with music you select from your library, of course!

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Podcasts are the free audio and video downloads to which you subscribe from within iTunes on your computer. The range of offerings and the production quality of podcasts defies easy description. The vast majority are amateur affairs from folks who really should not waste their breath creating them, while the very best podcasts are professionally produced and are absolutely wonderful. The iTunes Music Store has a complete directory of available podcasts which includes top ten lists, genre directories, and other organizational aids to help you find what you’re interested in. They’re free, so sample them with wild abandon.

~David MacNeill

Choosing The Right iPod For You: 2007 Edition

In last year's edition of this guide, I wrote of the three iPod models that, "for all their aesthetic similarity, they are three very different machines." This year, the five iPod models are closer in basic features than before. But there are now two dramatically different user interfaces to ponder and some models can access the internet and even make phone calls. You'll probably find it slightly more challenging to chose your perfect iPod than last year but the upside is that you'll be delighted by various new ways to make your iPod part of your life. No worries; every iPod still does what iPods have always done best: play your favorite tunes. Only now you can extend your iPod's usefulness beyond music until it becomes the center of your personal media experience. From privately enjoying your music through headphones to effortlessly buying a song you like while standing in line for coffee to watching a two-hour movie on a plane, the iPod makes it all possible.

Let’s look into each current model’s unique properties, followed by a section dedicated to older iPods you may come across on eBay and a section on how you put your media onto your iPod. Once you have the right iPod for you, just add a few accessories to make your iPod that much more enjoyable and well-fitted to your unique life. One thing to bear in mind is that you can sync multiple iPods to one computer, so don't think you have to limit yourself to a single iPod. The catch is that you can sync any iPod with only one computer, be it a Mac or a Windows PC. Sounds confusing at first, but it makes sense once you give it a chance.

iPod classic
What used to be called called simply “iPod” is now known as the iPod classic. It ships in two storage capacities, 90GB and 160GB, and two color schemes, white and black. It has everything ever offered by the various models that preceded it: peerless digital music playback, digital photo display, digital video playback, basic voice recording with an optional accessory microphone, rudimentary personal organizer functions, and games — all accessible from the most refined user interface on this planet. Everything is stored on a tiny, shock-mounted hard disk and synchronizes with the included iTunes software on your Mac or PC. Connection is via the included USB 2.0 cable for both syncing and charging the battery. Earlier iPods could sync and charge using a FireWire cable, but that transport has been phased out in favor of the more common USB.

The 80GB iPod classic ($249) should be your choice if you want to have the most fun with your personal media and have a moderate library of audio, photo, and video files you want to carry around with you. If you have boatloads of media files, then get the ever-so-slightly thicker 160GB model ($349).

The iPod classic is compact and easy to carry, but if you want it so small you barely notice it's there, you’ll need an...

iPod nano
This years iPod nano is a tiny marvel. This “impossibly thin” device loses the mini hard drive and replaces it with solid state flash memory in either 4GB ($149) or 8GB ($199) capacity. The new nano has a surprisingly large color screen that’s great for navigating songs, displaying album art, and displaying your photos and videos.

The iPod nano is for those who like to travel as light as possible and who don’t need or don’t want to carry their complete media library around. This is also an excellent choice for very active people, as the nano has no moving parts or spinning hard drive. Which naturally leads us to the...

iPod shuffle
Apple wanted to shut out the competition at the extreme low end of the digital audio player market, so they created the controversial iPod shuffle. Like the Studebaker Avanti, Hillary Clinton, and Beethoven’s late string quartets, the iPod shuffle polarizes the world into two camps: you either love ‘em or you hate ‘em. The redesigned iPod shuffle comes in no less than nine colors and is a lovely little wafer of tech goodness. It makes the original "chewing gum pack" design seem a bit tawdry and awkward.

Some love their iPod shuffles for their ultra-small size and low cost ($79), while others can’t get past the lack of a display or their paltry 1GB capacity. Most reviewers feel that the shuffle succeeds in offering what Apple intended: a supremely simple, inexpensive music player for active people who like to listen to one big playlist of songs played in random order. Pre-teens who have yet to accumulate a large music library, who generally lack access to excess disposable income, and who are often very hard on their personal electronic devices are the primary target buyer for an iPod shuffle. Second to them would be the existing iPod owner who wants a second, smaller device for exercising and rugged outdoor use.

Bored with "old-school" iPods? Ready for something completely different? Consider the...

iPod touch
By now you've seen the iPhone, a category-bending, worldwide smash hit iPod/mobile phone/handheld computer/internet access device. What you may have missed in all the fuss is the iPod touch, an iPhone without the phone. Marginally smaller than the iPhone, its features are a unique combination of iPod nano, iPod classic, and iPhone. It uses 8GB ($299) or 16GB ($399) of flash memory like a nano, so it's not affected by shock, runs forever on a charge, and syncs faster than the hard drive models. It has a huge 3.5" screen with touch sensitivity. There is no clickwheel; all functions are accomplished through touching the screen. The big screen sucks more battery than the other iPods, but it's so gorgeous you'll never notice or care. This machine was made for visual media, though it plays music as well as any iPod.

But that's not all folks. The iPod touch has WiFi (wireless internet access) and a powerful version of Apple's web browser built in. You can get online, grab your email, almost anything you normally use a computer for. If you're at Starbucks and hear a song playing that you like, whip out your iPod touch, tap the Starbucks icon that magically appeared on your home screen, and buy the song on the spot. When you get home, song purchases sync back to you iTunes library, just as though you'd purchased it from your computer. It's absolutely brilliant and there's never been anything even remotely like it, but only you can decide if it floats your boat or not.

Still not enough for you? Then there's only one iPod that will satisfy your craving for ultimate personal tech supremacy, the amazing...

iPhone
Take everything you just read about the iPod touch, graft in the best mobile phone you've ever imagined, add a few millimeters around the edges, a tiny speaker, one hundred dollars to the price of the deice, a $36 activation fee, and a 2 year phone contact ($60-$100 per month) with the ethically challenged AT&T Corporation, and you've got an iPhone. You also get a few more built-in applications, the most important of whcih is Mail. On an iPod touch, you have to access your email from the browser -- a workable solution for casual emailers. But if you live and die by email like I do, you need a full-blown email application like Mail. As of this writing, the only stoarage option is 8GB. That's adequate for the majority of users but frustratingly limiting for the rest of us.

But the main thing to keep in mind is the cost over those two years. At a minimum, US buyers will spend $1875. If your battery wears out because you use it a lot, add another $86 for a replacement battery -- ouch!

This Old iPod
Even though the original 5GB fat monochrome iPod from 2001 will work fine as a basic MP3 player today, you’d have to be a bit of a crank to limit yourself to one. Older iPods had relatively primitive battery technology that tended to lose capacity pretty rapidly. For the roughly $50 price of a new replacement battery, combined with the hassle and risk of cracking the casing open and installing it, you are probably wasting your money and time.

A better bet would be a gently used fourth-generation iPod with a clickwheel. The iPod models prior to this were a bit harder to operate and more prone to problems with the navigation wheel. Expect to pay about half the cost of a new model of comparable capacity. You’ll lose photo display capability on all models that lack color displays and video playback on all fourth-gen models.

Our advice: don’t buy anything older than fouth-gen with clickwheel. You’ll probably become dissatisfied with any previous iPod's limitations: increased bulk, shorter runtime per charge, lack of photo/video playback, lack of color, and its complete absence of any coolness. Apple iPod Apple iPhone

~David MacNeill