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.
Amazon
The Best Network Card For VMware ESX Home Lab Machines
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!
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!
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.
