Stories by Jon L. Jacobi

Optimize your router for VoIP and video

We're at an awkward stage as the age of network-streamed multimedia matures. Broadband and cell providers have only recently realized the public's enormous appetite for streaming video, VoIP, and the combination of both.

Free utility works to overcome SSD slowness

To understand why I love the tiny, free FlashFire utility/driver, you'll need a little background. I bought an original Acer Aspire One netbook with an 8GB solid state drive instead of a hard drive to keep the weight down. I replaced its custom Linux OS with XP--but XP, not being optimized for a super-slow SSD such as the one on my netbook, froze every half minute or so for 5 to 15 seconds while data was written to the disk. It's not long before such behavior starts driving you nuts.

LG NAS adds Blu-ray Drive

LG's N4B1 NAS box is neither a comprehensive media server nor a particularly fast performer, but as a network-attached storage device, it's quick enough for home/small-business file serving. The unit — available for around $US700 — is also the sturdiest and quite possibly the best-looking such box I've had my hands on. You also can't beat it's HTML configuration interface for looks or ease of learning and use. But none of that compares to the N4B1's most outstanding feature: An integrated Blu-ray burner, unique among NAS products in the SMB/SOHO market.

Acronis True Image Home 2010

True Image Home 2010 is as effective and easy to use as any imaging/backup program you're likely to find. That's right: I just called True Image "easy to use."

Insofta Document Backup

Insofta Document Backup is basic in name as well as concept, making the backup process as simple as possible.

Paragon Hard Disk Manager 2009 Suite

The latest version of Paragon Hard Disk Manager includes updated driver support and a slew of new features. Two of the additions - the ability to back up individual files and folders, and diverse hardware restore - are particularly useful.

Logitech Vid offers free and easy video calling

When you think of Logitech Vid (free with some restrictions), think of an easier-to-use version of Skype with superior quality. The most salient reason for the ease of use verdict comes from the simple fact that you choose people to chat with by their e-mail and a photo they take when they sign up, not some potentially obscure screen name. There's also a simple but intuitive onscreen interface.

New Quantum Fireball: Gobs of gigs

Quantum Corp.'s latest broadside in the more-hard-drive-for-less-cash wars is the Fireball Plus AS. And with a whopping 60GB of storage for only US$245, it's a mighty salvo indeed. Despite its low price, the AS is state of the art in every detail.

Top 5 CD-RW Drives

Falling prices is the name of the game this month. Though Plextor's speedy PlexWriter 12/10/32A remains at the top, Sony claims the number two spot with the $200 Spressa Professional CRX140E/CH2. This 8X/4X/32X model features the same hardware as the more expensive CRX140E/CH, which had been on our chart since last December.

Superb Data Protection for Office or Home

So your computer dodged this summer's power fluctuations and brownouts without using a UPS device? Wise up. Demands on the nation's power grid are only going to increase; prepare for the worst.

Plextor's CD-Rewritable Speed Demon

After being socked in at 4X for well over a year, CD-Rewritable speeds have suddenly soared, climbing recently to 8X, and now to loftier 10X heights with Plextor Corp.'s PlexWriter 12/10/32A--an all-around barnstormer of a drive.

Rewritable DVD: Ready for the Big Show

DVD-RAM is now bigger than ever. With new drives capable of handling higher-capacity 4.7GB media being demonstrated by Hitachi Ltd., Panasonic, and Toshiba Corp. at this week's PC Expo in New York, this rewritable format is finally ready to stand up and be counted. Drives should be available this summer; Panasonic and Toshiba say they'll begin volume shipments in July. But you don't have wait--or head to PC Expo--to get a peek at this DVD breakthrough: We've taken a hands-on look at Panasonic's 4.7GB DVD-RAM drive already.

HP's IDE CD-RW Drive Joins the Jet Set

Until recently, burning CDs at rates faster than 8X meant dressing for a SCSI affair. Well, drives that write CD-Rs at 12X may still be a SCSI-only party; but now, thanks to Hewlett-Packard Co.'s 10X/4X/32X CD-Writer Plus 9310i, IDE users can enjoy high-speed times. The product costs US$299, about $50 less than a 12X drive.

[]