Mac Edition Radio

Mac Edition Radio produces reviews and news stories about the latest technologies, digital imaging, music, & photography.

Review – i-dSp and dSp Portable DAC/Headphone Amplifiers from HRT

A few years ago, we witnessed the first truly portable USB-powered DAC (digital-to-analog converter) headphone amplifiers. The idea was that with a simple plug-and-play unit, not much larger than a flash drive, you could bypass your computer’s low-cost and often inferior audio-quality DAC and headphone amplifiers. The price ranged from $200 to $300, but most consumers thought the step up in audio quality was a bargain. HRT has long offered superior external DAC solutions, which we have reviewed in the past. With the introduction of the i-dSp and dSp, at a price under $70, have they rewritten the rulebook for external DACs? How do these bargain priced units stack up? Read our full review to find out!

Harris Fogel, posted 9/25/15

Apple's View Of Storage, Circa Late 2015

Apple's September 9th press event was about many things, but one interesting facet was their treatment of various storage-related issues. John Mulhern III highlights four separate parts of Apple's emerging storage strategy and consider what they mean and the implications for consumers.

John Mulhern III, Posted 9/13/2015

Review – Working With Kingston's HyperX Savage SSD

Laptops never have enough storage, and like many others I needed to upgrade one of my MacBook Pro computers from Mac OS X Lion to Yosemite... Fortunately, I had a 240 GB Kingston HyperX Savage SSD drive at my disposal. Read our full review to see how the process went and the performance improvements that resulted.

Ken Kramar, posted 8/26/15

Review – Seagate Personal Cloud 2-Bay 4TB Network Attached Storage Device & Seagate 4TB Backup Plus Portable Hard Drive

One of the great joys of advances in storage technology is that Network Attached Storage is no longer scary or difficult. And to prove it, consider the recently released Seagate Personal Cloud 2-Bay 4TB NAS device. At a price point barely any higher then a normal external hard drive, the Personal Cloud builds upon earlier products like the Seagate Central, and offers a refined and easy to use feature set for consumers. Last year we reviewed the Seagate Backup Plus Fast Portable USB 3 Drive with two internal drives in a stripe. With the introduction of new 4TB hard drive mechanisms, Seagate can now offer the 4TB Backup Plus which should prove to be more reliable then a stripe which is built for speed. Read our review to see how these new products did in our tests.

Harris Fogel, posted 7/26/15

Review – Seagate Seven USB 3 Hard Drive and LaCie d2 Thunderbolt™ 2 Desktop drive bring performance and design to product matrix.

Ever since Seagate purchased LaCie the distinctions between the two companies continue to blur. A case in point is the Seagate Seven^mm, a thin USB 3 drive with an absolutely cool metal case that mimics a hard drive. Normally such a design statement would be the province of LaCie, but here is Seagate rocking the form factor. In this review, we look at the LaCie d2, a beautiful, speedy, and SSD upgradable Thunderbolt desktop drive, and the Seagate Seven^mm, an ultra thin, small, and beautifully designed USB 3 hard drive.

Harris Fogel, posted 7/26/15

Pre-Revolutionary Historical Site Meets 21st Century Music and Culture at Sexton Sideshow’s Memorial Dei Family Picnic

Each Memorial Day weekend, the historic grounds of the 300-year-old Gloria Dei Church in South Philadelphia is transformed into a day-long festival of great music, delicious food, and tremendous fun for celebrants of all ages. We found the celebration to be a wonderful way to spend the day while supporting a great cause!

Nancy Burlan, with additional reporting by Harris Fogel, posted 7/10/15

Review – Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6 & CC

Like many photographers, we have switched 90% of our workflow to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Its cross-platform compatibility, combined with ever more robust Digital Asset Management features, coupled with state-of-the-art image editing, and an affordable price has proved a serious challenger for other image editing apps. The recent release of Lightroom 6 updates the app in areas large and small. Is Lightroom 6 or CC a good bet for your digital photography needs? Read our review to find out!

Harris Fogel, Posted 6/27/15

Review – TextNow Wireless Cell Phone and App

There are lots of options for cell phone users, and over the past years consumers have sought out lower cost options. Certainly apps like Skype have made it possible for folks to save on their data plans as long as they have a Wi-Fi network available. A new entrant into the pay-as-you-go cell phone space is TextNow who have combined several different technology approaches to save consumers money. Read on to discover if the TextNow can save you money while meeting your communications needs.

Harris Fogel, with editorial input from Nancy Burlan, Posted 6/21/15

Good Times Were Hoppin’ at the 7th Annual Great Beer Expo in Philly!

What do you get when you put together more than 60 breweries from near and far, thousands of thirsty Philadelphians, miles’ worth of pretzel-necklaces, delicious street truck fare, and the best weather Mother Nature had to offer? Philly’s Annual Great Beer Expo is a festival worthy of its name!

Nancy Burlan, with additional reporting by Harris Fogel and Ken Kramar, posted June 20, 2015

Review – NeatConnect Wi-Fi Scanner + Software

As tax time approaches and departs, we are reminded how many expenses we have, often on crumpled up pieces of paper, or business cards from conferences. The solution? Well, it’s generally held to be a scanner that captures the info, freeing you from paperwork. But most of those products pretty much stop short after capturing the data. Neat has been building a reputation for taking the data past the scanning phase and making it organized and accessible. Their latest product, the NeatConnect Wi-Fi Scanner + Software offers a scanner, the cloud, organizational tools, and mobile access in one product. Will the NeatConnect Wi-Fi Scanner + Software make your life easier? Read our full review to find out!

Harris Fogel, with additional research by Nancy Burlan, Posted 6/19/15

Mac Edition Radio

Pages

OUR SPONSORS