Official: Apple iPad Coming April 3rd

No more speculation necessary. Apple finally announced that their much hyped device will be available on April 3rd, 2010. The device will also be available for pre-order on the 12th of this month. After a crazy week of speculation from rumored sources and reassurance from the manufacturers, the device now has a specific release date. Apple however wasn’t able to meet the March shipping deadline they self imposed. But only 3 days off isn’t too bad in my book. As mentioned by Apple, the WiFi only version will be offered now, with the 3G/WiFi iPad shipping at the end of April. Those of you not in the US do have to wait until the end of April to get your hands on one. The good news however, both models will be available at the same time. Hit the break for the full release details supplied by Apple.

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Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1010/VPC-HD2000

Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Dual camera, High Definition, feels good in the hand, the 1010 is priced right at $319, easy to shoot video and photos, cold shoe for accessories, mic input, headphone jack, will accommodate up to 32GB SD Card
Cons: Dock is used to transfer video if you don’t want to keep taking out the SD Card and more often than not this transfer did not work and ended up corrupting the video being transferred.  When I used a card reader to transfer all was fine so I imagine it is a firmware issue.  This happened on both the 1010 and the 2000.  Poor image stabilization, poor low light shooting, poor tech support from Sanyo.
Overall: I had high hopes for both the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1010 and the VPC-HD2000 and was relatively happy with the performance considering the 1010 is a $319 price point, not so happy with the $499 priced 2000.  With all the things mentioned if you don’t mind taking out the card to transfer I think the 1010 is a deal and will do the job for most weekend consumers.  I just expect the data transfer to work as advertised and that was my major disappointment.  For the $499 that the 2000 is priced at, you can easily go with a proven winner like the Canon HF200, which I will be reviewing soon.

I buy my photography equipment from B&H Photo Video out of New York City and the customer service is superb and return policy liberal.  The prices are great and I save loads because I don’t pay sales tax considering I am out of state.  Go check out the folks at B&H Photo Video by checking out their website BHPhoto.com

Quickly Sync in iTunes with BackOff

Rating: 10 out of 10
Pros: Saves valuable time, it’s FREE, ability to only use it when needed, Mac and PC.
Cons: Must restart iTunes between uses
Overall: Skipping the backup is not something I’d recommend on any regular frequency, but this allows you to skip it for those times where you are really just out of time and needing to run out the door. Works for Mac and PC.

Review: Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch tablet

Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: Pressure sensitive, works with the pen or your finger, reasonably priced, very thin and light weight.
Cons: There’s a bit of a learning curve when working with the pen the first few times.
Overall: I’ve always wanted to extensively test a Wacom tablet to see if I could get the hang of it. After using the Bamboo Pen & Touch, I can honestly say it’s a unique experience. This is the perfect device for those that are artists and want a way to create brush strokes and drawings on your computer. I personally will not be using this product for my future graphic design projects, but that’s only because I’m such a die hard mouse user. But if you’re looking for new input device that will give you a new way to interact with your computer, then you should really give one a test drive, you just might get hooked.

You can purchase this product for $99 from Wacom.com.

Mac Monday: Quick & Easy iMac RAM Install

If you have ever wanted to upgrade your RAM or wondered how to do it, I have put together this short video.  I show you how to upgrade your RAM in literally less than 5 minutes.  I used two sticks of 2GB Patriot DDR3 PC3-8500 1066 RAM.  If you have any questions please email me at tommoccia@buymeaniphone.com.

Video Review: Agent18 Stitch Bag

Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Sleek and stylish design with an attractive color scheme & build. Professional. Splash proof, tons of room & pockets, and great padding for your laptop computer.
Cons: Although I find the bags spacious size convenient its also the drawback as it can tend to look and feel bulky, of course that will also depend on your body type the more petite you are the more bulky it might seem.
Overall: I found “The Stitch” to be a great bag & yet another exceptional product from agent18.

This product can be purchased from Agent18 for $49.95.
Save on Agent18 products! Use my code: “A18Pash”
15% off of a $10 purchase or more

Video Review: Tyme Machines Star Wars USB Drive

Rating: 9 out of 10
Pros: It’s a Storm Trooper, enough said!
Cons: May be difficult to use more than one USB because this one is so wide
Overall: You’ll never confuse your USB drive with your co-workers again. If you’re a big fan of Star Wars, then you need to pick up one of these drives.

You can purchase this  product directly from Tyme Machines’ website for $29.99 for 2GB.

Review: Monsoon Multimedia HAVA Titanium HD WiFi

Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Allows you full access to your DVR and cable box at your home. Also includes USB Dongle for WiFi
Cons: Doesn’t currently work with Mac, setup is a little tricky.
Overall: If you’re always away from home and want the ability to access your recorded shows on your DVR or just watch TV on your iPhone or PC laptop, then you need to check out this piece of hardware. Don’t call it a Sling Box, cause this unit blows the Sling Box away. One of the biggest features that trumps the Sling is the ability for multiple people to be viewing live TV from different devices. So if I want to watch a basketball game in my office on my computer, my wife could also be watching live TV on her iPhone from another room in the house or any place where there is WiFi.

You can purchase this unit from the HAVA website for $249.95.

Video Review: Logitech DiNovo Mac Edition Keyboard

Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Pros: Easy to type on, fits the Mac look very well, 3 year battery life, extra function keys, Logitech Control Center
Cons: Hot keys with the eject button do not work, such as Sleep (Command + Shift + Eject), glossy black design will show off fingerprints
Overall: This will be a welcomed edition to any Mac setup. With Logitech control center setting function keys to your preference is just a few clicks away. The black and aluminum make it look right at home with recent iMacs and Macbook Pros. If you are able to pick this up on sale I highly recommend this keyboard, so much that I’ve decided to award it the Editors Choice award.

Video Review: Trexta Kechi MacBook Air sleeve

Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Really nice quality leather
Cons: High price tag.
Overall: This is a really sharp looking sleeve for your MacBoook Air. The quality of the leather is superb and it has ample padding to protect your Air from low drops. I think the biggest draw back for most will be the $99 price tag.

This product can be purchased directly through MyGearStore.com for $99. If you use our promo code BuyMeAniPhone, you can receive 10% off.