PogoPlug has gotten a fair bit of coverage here at CrunchGear, including a full review of the original PogoPlug device. A new version was recently released, with quite a bit more to offer, so an updated review is in order. The second generation PogoPlug supports up to four USB drives, offers gigabit Ethernet, has mobile clients for the major smartphones, and has a burgeoning independent developer community. That’s a lot for a $129 gadget!

Features:

• works with Linux, Mac and Windows computers, plus Android, Blackberry, and iPhone smartphones
• supports up to 4 USB drives, and recognizes NTFS, FAT32, HFS+, and ext2/ext3 partitions
• access and share files from anywhere, with no changes required in your firewall configuration
• create and share media slideshows with ease
• MSRP: $129

Pros:

• super easy to use: setup completes in less than a minute
• diminutive form factor
• extremely extensible

Cons:

• No display of free space on USB media
• All access goes through my.pogoplug.com.
• No wireless networking

Review
I’ve been using Dropbox for a couple months now to synchronize my files across several different computers. It works, but sometimes I just don’t want my data living on someone else’s servers. The PogoPlug solves that problem by allowing me to store my data on my physical hardware, and access it from anywhere using either a web-based interface, a WebDAV system that makes the PogoPlug look like a locally connected drive on my computer, or via a mobile phone. I can also store a lot more data on a PogoPlug for considerably less money than twelve months of Dropbox service.

I have two gripes with the PogoPlug, which should be addressed up front. They’re both pretty small, and do not in any way detract from my willingness to recommend this product to everyone. First, all remote access of my data takes place through the my.pogoplug.com URL. I believe them when they say “the data may be forwarded through our servers, but no copies are retained during this process”, but it still makes me a little uncomfortable. Also, it’s worth noting that when accessing your PogoPlug locally — that is, both you and the PogoPlug are on the same LAN — you talk to the PogoPlug directly, without going through pogoplug.com. Second, there is no obvious display of the capacity of the attached media, nor indication of how much space is free. It’s there in the Settings page, but not on the main screen’s sidebar. This usually won’t be a problem if you’re attaching current vintage hard drives, but if you plug in a USB flashdrive, you might have more interest in knowing how much space is free before you try to upload something.

The my.pogoplug.com website has had a modest update, to properly display the different media that may be attached to the unit. Navigating files and directories is as simple as it should be. Uploading and downloading files is problem-free. Creating slideshows from media is easy to do, and sharing those slideshows is simple, too!

One of the more surprising features of the new PogoPlug is its ability to transcode video files automatically. Upload a video to your PogoPlug, and within a couple moments it’ll have a small preview clip that you can play from your computer or iPhone. Then, while you wait, a complete mobile-friendly version of your video will be produced! This is not a fast process, since the PogoPlug hardware is not super-computer caliber. It took over eight hours to transcode a rip of George Romero’s classic Dawn of the Dead that I put onto the PogoPlug. But, once the transcode was finished, I was able to watch the zombie fun right on my iPhone while riding a city bus around town! I don’t know that this is a reason to buy the PogoPlug by itself, but it’s certainly a feature not commonly found in other NAS devices just yet.

Another interesting aspect of PogoPlug is that they don’t shy away from the fact that they use open source software under the hood. Many similar products don’t make any public mention of their use of open source software, let alone provide you root access to your device!

-bash-3.2# free
              total         used         free       shared      buffers
  Mem:       256012        20428       235584            0            0
 Swap:            0            0            0
Total:       256012        20428       235584
-bash-3.2# df -h
Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/mtdblock2           32.0M     11.6M     20.4M  36% /
none                    125.0M      8.0k    125.0M   0% /tmp
-bash-3.2# uname -a
Linux Pogoplug 2.6.22.18 #44 Mon Aug 10 12:57:36 PDT 2009 armv5tejl unknown
-bash-3.2# head -2 /proc/cpuinfo
Processor       : ARM926EJ-S rev 1 (v5l)
BogoMIPS        : 1192.75

That’s pretty cool, in and of itself. But the fun doesn’t stop there! PogoPlug has a robust and well-documented public API, allowing folks to create their own web-based applications to integrate with their PogoPlug devices. And there’s a lively third-party development community over at pogoplugged.com.

Product Page: PogoPlug

The Short Version: The Siberia v2 is SteelSeries’ entry into the virtual-surround headset market, and it holds its own against the excellent Logitech G35s and Razer’s Megalodon headset — at least, in sound quality. However, it doesn’t offer much to distinguish itself, and some minor but troublesome issues may have you springing for the Siberia’s competitors.

Plus: I’m giving these away! A lucky reader will be wearing these in a week or so. Details in the full review.

Features:

• USB or 3.5mm connection
• Retractable microphone
• Lightweight construction
• Leather ear cushions
• MSRP: $110

Pros:

• Handy to have USB and 3.5mm
• They really are light
• Sound is great

Cons:

• Fit affected by lightness
• Somewhat flimsy feel
• USB bit looks and feels cheap as hell

Review:

I used two SteelSeries headsets before this one, and neither worked for me. I found the 5HDs tinny, and the original behind-the-neck Siberias tended to slide down your head and put all their weight on your ear (painful). So I’m happy to report that the Siberia v2 combines a traditional form factor with an improved sound driver — as well as a virtual surround sound USB connection. It works out to be a pretty decent little package.

The headphones identified themselves as “C-Media” when I plugged them in, which turns out to be a generic USB audio dealer; I’m guessing the USB component is a SteelSeries branded one of these. Not that I expect everyone to design their own Dolby Surround interface, but you should know you’re not getting anything exotic here.

Coffee, Tea, or USB?

The handy thing about these headphones is that they can be either USB or traditional. Unlike either the G35s or Megalodon, you can just pop the audio jack in like any other pair and not have to worry about changing sound devices — say, if you’re in the middle of a song or podcast and don’t want to interrupt it. That convenience, and the light weight of the headset, are probably the best reasons to choose these over another.

Because these really are light. So much so that my first impression was one of cheapness. To be honest, that impression wasn’t at all alleviated by the USB attachment, which looks and feels like something you’d buy at a dollar store. The headphones themselves are shiny plastic, rather plain-looking but not badly put together by any means. It’s just the lightness that throws you off. One tends to expect a certain amount of weight with surround-sound headphones, but the truth is the surround part is just a way of processing the sound; the headphones themselves need not be especially heavy-duty.

The downside of this lightness is that they don’t really settle on you. The elastic part of the headband actually lifts them up a bit, which results (at least for me) in the bottom parts of the earcups tilting out and coming off your ears. Needless to say, this produces sound leakage and eliminates any isolation they might have offered. They didn’t always do this, but any movement of my head seemed to make them shimmy up just a little bit, until there’d be a small gap through which I could hear the outside world. I can’t say, of course, whether this would happen for you, but I believe the light construction and elastic head-bit are going to produce the effect to some extent no matter what. People with bigger heads might get off easier, I’m thinking.

The Sound of 0wned

When they’re on your ears, however, the sound is great. The original Siberia headset had the same well-balanced sound, and SteelSeries has embiggened the driver to produce clearer bass in the v2s. Movies don’t have the canned sound that seems to happen when surround sound is forced. Games sounded great as long as the headphones stayed on my ears. I got owned in Counter-Strike Source (guy took three bullets from my deagle and didn’t drop, come on now), but it was worth it to test out the sound; positioning was good, clarity was good, no complaints at all.

The cord is… a bit annoying. There are two inline remotes if you’re in USB mode; the first is a third of the way down the cord, then the next one is another third of the way. That’s a troublesome configuration, since there is no stretch of cord you can roll up if it’s only a short way to where you’re plugging them in. The USB cable is very stiff, which doesn’t help either (of course, the G35’s cable is like that the whole way). And there are no clips, so it’s always just kind of hanging there.

The microphone is great, though. It sounds good and retracts or pulls out easily so it doesn’t get in the way.

If it’s something you care about, the Siberia v2s are pretty cool looking. Here’s a big version of the header photo; plain, but also refined.

Final word

Headphones are a crowded field right now, and there are a lot of good products out there. Unfortunately, I can’t give the Siberia v2s a very strong recommendation; there are simply too many little issues for a >$100 headset. Although the sound is great (as it was in the previous version) and the USB/analog flexibility is nice, I just don’t see myself using them regularly due to the fit and setup issues. Guess I’ll wait for the v3.

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OOOPS. Giveaway, right. Just comment! I’ll pick one randomly. Sorry, it’s been a long day already.

There’s usually a lot of unnecessary foreplay that goes along with accessing an old hard drive just to pull a few files off of it. You have to find your external drive enclosure, you might have to make sure you have a screwdriver to open it up, and… well that’s pretty much it but that can take the better part of a morning if you’re not organized.

So I submit to you that this $15 “USB to 2.5 inch SATA HDD Cable” is a good idea. Everything you need to connect a laptop hard drive to another computer is all contained in a tiny cable that’s unique enough compared to all your other cables that it won’t easily get misplaced.

It actually does come with a protective case for good measure, but you and I both know that it’d get lost or filled with slices of American cheese within minutes.

USB to 2.5 inch SATA HDD Cable [USB Geek]

Man, am I sleepy! I almost didn’t post a giveaway for you all today! Maybe I won’t post the giveaway and maybe I’ll just go take a nap… what do you guys think? Nap? Or Pulse Smartpen.

You’ll recall that the Pulse Smartpen is one of the coolest toys we’ve played with this year and we’re giving a kit away to one lucky commenter. How do we keep our prices so amazingly low? We get this stuff free and pass the savings on to you!

To enter, simply comment. We’ll pick one winner at random. Special thanks to Livescribe for hooking us up.

Everyone needs more storage. But why spend the cash an external drive when we’re giving away a sexy 500GB G-Drive mini? It’s small, has both USB and Firewire interfaces, and sexy like it’s big brother I just reviewed.

All you need to do is leave a comment with the storage capacity of your first computer with a dedicated hard drive. Mine was a 1.2GB drive in a Compaq desktop. I thought I would never fill that up.

Vote only once and the winner must have a US shipping address. We’ll pick the winner on 12/15/2009. Good luck!

The Short Version: These headphones fit a sort of questionable niche; who really games and travels so much that they need compact gaming headphones? But that aside, the G330s are still a mixed bag. Sound quality is good for a traditional headphone style, but they don’t seem to fit as intended. If you find yourself needing a portable gaming headset, try these on before you buy.

Also: I’m giving away the pair I reviewed, details at the end of the review.

Features:

• Compact design
• Fresh styling
• USB interface
• Inline volume/mic controls
• MSRP: $50

Pros:

• Sound is pretty good for traditional headset style
• It really is quite compact
• USB interface simplifies things

Cons:

• Why?
• Headset fits strangely, slips down over time

The question I have to ask you right off the bat is, do you really need your headphones to look cool? I mean — if you’re playing WoW in a cafe, isn’t it a little late to worry about your image? Secondly, in what situation are you traveling and gaming so much that you need a special headset with a microphone built in? You don’t have enough space to pack a solid headset like the Megalodon, yet you can carry a 17″ gaming laptop? But enough questions, you see my point. The G330 headset seems to be a product without a market to me, but perhaps Logitech knows best.

The G330 has a behind-the-head design that makes it extremely compact. It’s also flexible so it won’t snap in your bag. The whole thing seems extremely well-designed and is built very well. It’s all flexible plastic, and the mic is positionable. The earcups swivel a bit so they push directly onto your ears, which helps the sound a lot; traditional headphones tend to improve the closer they are to your ear. The cord is about seven feet long, has a pretty standard in-line remote on it, and ends in the traditional green and pink 3.5mm jacks. These plug into a short USB adapter. Construction all around is excellent.

Unfortunately, the fit is a little more difficult to like. I’ve had behind-the-head sets before and they’ve worked for me, but for some reason this one seems to sink on me. That is to say, I put it on, position it so it’s gripping me by the ears, essentially, and start gaming. All is well until I realize that a few small movements I’ve made have caused it to slip down, causing the frame to rest on the top of my ears and the actual drivers to no longer be where they should be. All it takes is a quick adjustment, but really, a good pair of headphones shouldn’t become uncomfortable every five or ten minutes.

I can’t guarantee that this will be your experience: after all, we all have differently-shaped heads, and the G330 may fit yours admirably. All I know is that my head isn’t that small, and even on the tightest setting these things slip down all the time.

When they’re on properly, they sound quite good. The swiveling ear cups ensure the sound is taking the best path into your ear, and they also help distribute the pressure equally. They produced decent depth, good highs, and solid bass. Keep in mind these are not closed headphones so your roommate, spouse, or neighbor at the cafe will hear what you’re hearing (not to mention what you say into the mic).

I still don’t really understand the draw to a semi-compact pair of headphones (in-ears provide better sound, isolation, and are far smaller) for “portable gaming.” It’s not for a DS or something — the Razer Moray+ does that — it’s for PC gaming on the go. But is that really… something? I don’t know. I just wanted to register my puzzlement.

I had a mixed experience with the G330, but because it was with such a subjective thing as fit, I can’t withhold a recommendation. Logitech makes good headphones, and if one pair doesn’t fit me, I’m not going to trash it. But the behind-the-head design isn’t for everybody, so if you’re looking for a pair for yourself, try them on first if you can. I can’t recommend them as a gift, however: it’s just too much of a risk that the recipient will encounter the same fit problems I did. Aside from that, however, the G330 is an attractive, well-built, decent-sounding pair of headphones.

And the contest! Tell us what games you like to play on the go; I’ll pick one of you guys at random and you get the pair I’ve got (lightly used, mostly disease-free).

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