Product Review and Giveaway: Quorky iPad Case

Several weeks ago, I was sent a few items from Boxwave to review. I did a quick review of the three products and promised to do a more extensive review and then provide a means to win each of the goodies.

Today we start in with my most used and most liked of the three, the Quorky pouch iPad case. I pretty much take my iPad 2 everywhere and this case makes it easy to transport pretty safely in style. It fits an iPad 1 but it feels a little tighter, it should accept the New iPad (iPad 3) with no problems.

From the product page on Boxwave: "Cork is harvested using bark tissue from trees indigenous to the Mediterranean region.  Farmers harvest the single layer of exterior bark, leaving the tree trunk and interior bark intact and able to regrow all that was taken.  A single Cork Oak tree can be harvested from every 8-14 years of its 200-year life."

So you can feel pretty good about using cork as it's environmentally friendly (though a part of me often wonders how the tree feels about having it's outer "skin" sliced off every few years?).

BoxWave Product Review Initial Impressions

I will be doing a series of product reviews for BoxWave. The package of products arrived last week and I've just started to break them out and start using them. They sent me three to start with. They are: TriConnect Mini DisplayPort adapter, Quorky iPad 2 Pouch and Trignetic Capacitive Stylus.

I am not being compensated for these reviews and have an agreement with BoxWave to review them honestly and as fairly as I can.

When the review process is finished, I will be giving them away through this blog and probably via Twitter and Google+ (don't ask about Facebook because I don't use it).

Roadtesting an HP Probook 6550b

I've been using an HP Probook 6550b for the last two weeks or so now and, while it is a nicely put together machine, I am reminded from moment to moment just how much I dislike the over-convoluted mess that is the Windows OS. In this case, it is running Windows 7 Professional which looks nice and seems quick enough.

It looks decent enough but has the same annoying quirks and fickleness that plagues every Windows operating system. To get anything done on this thing, you've gotta be willing and able to dig into the underpinnings. Even for something as stupid simple as plugging in a set of headphones and making them "just work" without having to fiddle with the damned dials all the time.

Yes, in this case I was using my iPhone 4 headphones that happen to have a built-in microphone and that probably threw the poor laptop into a tizzy which made it forget what headphones are primarily for. The poor laptop never had a chance against such a calculated foe.