May 19, 2012

Get a Cradlepoint PHS300 Portable 3G WiFi Router For Just $79!

Amazon is offering the PHS300 for just $79 with free shipping available. This is $100 off the retail price!

Get Dragon Dictate 2 for Mac, Just $129 Today Only!

Dragon Dictate might be the best dictation option for Mac users, but it's not very good at that

I’ve been wanting to pick up a copy of Dragon Dictate for Mac for a while, but it’s an expensive proposition at $199 (list price). Amazon has been marking it down to $149 regularly, but even that’s fairly expensive. As a paid writer I can justify the cost as a business expense. But as a bargain hunter, I hoped that some day Amazon would drop the price further.

The Best Network Card For VMware ESX Home Lab Machines

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I’m building a home/lab server to run a variety of workloads, but VMware ESX is chief among these. Sadly, VMware ESX is especially picky about network interface cards (NICs): Although many are supported, most are intended for servers and thus very expensive and difficult to find at retail. So I set out browsing through the VMware ESX HCL, Newegg, and Amazon to find the best network card for my home lab machine. Here’s what I’ve found out so far.

Back From the Pile: Interesting Links, January 7, 2011

It’s been a slow week (the holidays) and a crazy one. I’ve started pouring out the thin provisioning series, with 10 posts so far, as well as launching a new video “talk show” about enterprise IT. And I’ve got a new post over at SearchStorage, too. Whew!

Get a Cradlepoint PHS300 Portable 3G WiFi Router For Just $99!

It's like a MiFi, only way better!

I love my Cradlepoint PHS300 router. It’s been a constant companion for me for two years, providing Internet access for me and my friends at just about every conference I attend (and organize!) It’s a battery-powered box with a USB port and WiFi radio. Attach almost any 3G or 4G modem or smartphone (other than the iPhone) and you’re online and sharing. And it’s better than a MiFi: You can customize the experience, it’s faster (in my testing), and it scales to support way more users.

Buy The Speedy Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB Hybrid Drive For Under $120!

The Momentus XT is a nice compromise between "spinning disk" capacity and SSD performance with an emphasis on low cost

Seagate has definitely gotten the attention of road warriors and storage nerds with their Momentus XT hybrid hard disk drive. Many agree with Brent Ozar, who called for it to be a standard component of every laptop. Even I was impressed! That’s why I’m psyched to see the 500 GB Momentus XT listed on Amazon.com for just $114.99. That’s only a little more than a standard 7200 rpm 500 GB hard disk drive, and the performance is notably better.

Back From the Pile: Interesting Links, November 19, 2010

This regular series features highlights from the week. Last week focused on Tech Field Day output, with lots of great writeups resulting from our November event. But there’re a few other interesting items included, too!

The Best Black Friday Deals For Nerds Like Me (2010 Edition)

Not all advertised items are really that special!

Holiday shopping in the USA traditionally kicks off with “Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving. Although not quite the bonanza it’s rumored to be, many retailers do offer compelling Black Friday deals. Here are my favorites for 2010.

ioSafe SoloPRO Review: Is It The Safest Place For Your Data?

The ioSafe SoloPRO protects your data from a house on fire. Seriously! That's really what it does!

It’s hard to stand out in the world of external storage devices, and doubly-hard to compete with the hard disk drive makers themselves. This hasn’t stopped folks like Iomega, Verbatim, and LaCie from trying to impress customers with flashy cases, software bundles, and clever functionality. But clever new twist on the external hard drive concept just rolled into the Pack Rat lair: The ioSafe SoloPRO is fireproof and waterproof. Cool!

$50 Off The Excellent Sony NEX-3 Camera

The Sony Alpha NEX-3 is a great camera made even better with a $50 discount!

I’ve really enjoyed my Sony NEX-5 mirrorless camera. Since I wrote up my review in September, I’ve used it frequently. Sony recently posted a major firmware update which addressed many of the usability concerns I (and many others) had as well. My only concern is that the NEX-5 is somewhat expensive, starting at $649 with the “pancake” lens and $699 with the telephoto zoom. Now there’s some relief on the price: Amazon is offering the “little brother” NEX-3 for just $499 or $549, a $50 discount from list price!