RAVPower 15W Solar Charger Review ( Model RP-SC02 )

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.

I recently received a RAVPower Solar Charger for a product review.  The package included the solar charger itself and 4 clips.  Although I never used the clips, there are 4 holes in the panel assembly so you can use the clips to mount it in the right position.

Solar Charger and 4 clips

When you fully open the charger, you will notice 3 solar panels, and then on a 4th section it has a pouch with two USB connectors in at (and directions written on the pouch itself which is useful).

The section with directions and the 2 USB plugs pulled out.

To give the solar panel a good test, I hooked up two of my DROK USB testers and a few devices to provide a load.  I tested it early afternoon, so the sun was not directly above me.

• When I had the panel laying flat, I was getting about 1.6A across both USB ports which is pretty good.  
• When I tilted the panels so they were "pointed" at the sun, I was getting about 2.5A across both USB ports.  While this is just under the max rated 3A, the devices I was using as a load test may have been the limiting factor not the panel itself. 

RAVPower Solar Charger fully unfolded

Even if 2.5A was the max I was able to get with that sunlight, that is still enough to easily handle two devices.  From my own prior tests I know that  Nexus 7 table pulls about 1A and a Moto X pulls just under 1A, so the 2.5A would have been enough to charge a Nexus 7 tablet and Moto X smartphone.

If you are going to be using this devices in situations where it would not be convenient to keep your devices connected during the day, you may want to consider pairing this with a RAVPower USB battery pack so that you can keep the pack charged (during the day) with this solar panel and at night you can use the USB battery pack to charge your devices.

Here are the main points I noticed about this product:

Ease of use: The panel is very easy to use, just unfold it and plug in your device.  For better performance, you can ensure it is pointed directly at the sun by putting something under it to tilt it the right way.

Performance: As I mentioned earlier, in direct sunlight this charger was able to put out between 1.6A and 2.5A depending on how you point the panels.  This should be enough for one or two devices, of course you have to be realistic and remember that anything less than direct sunlight will impact performance.

Design: The panel assembly folds down to a portable size, and the pouch at the end for the two USB cables (and to place your device to keep it out of direct sunlight) is a nice touch.  As I mentioned, I didn't use the 4 clips but I can see the value in the clips and holes in the panel assembly to help with placement.

Other considerations: This gadget is not as common as a normal USB battery pack.  For someone who likes having unique gadgets or is into "green" technology like solar panels this would make a great gift.

Bottom Line: This solar panel works as expected, is well designed, and would make a great tool for anyone that has a need and a great toy for anyone who likes to have unique gadgets.

Product Page : http://www.ravpower.com/15w-foldable-solor-charger.html

Inateck USB 3.0 HDD Docking Station Review ( Model FD1006 )

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.

NOTE: Inateck now has a model FD1006C.  Per Inateck, the only difference is that the new model comes with a dust cover.  Considering the small price difference, I would recommend anyone looking at the FD1006 instead go with the FD1006C.  Link to the new model is at the end of this post.

I recently received an Inateck FD1006 USB 3.0 HDD Docking Station ( model FD1006 ) for a product review.  The package included the dock itself, a USB 3.0 cable and the power supply.

Inateck dock with 2.5" SATA drive inserted sitting next to a 3.5" SATA drive for size comparison

Here are the main points I noticed about this product:

Ease of use: Once you connect the cables, all you have to do is insert your SATA hard drive and hit the power button on the dock.  No drivers, nothing complicated.  If you plan to swap drives in and out, this dock is great.

Design: This dock has a clean and simple design.  The dock keeps the drive in a horizontal position which in some situations may be ideal, however if you prefer Inateck does have docks that are "top loading" that my take less footprint on your desk.

Inateck dock sitting on top of my Xbox One

The laptop I was using for my tests isn't USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) compatible so I wasn't able to determine how UASP impacted speed, but based on some quick benchmark tests (using Ubuntu Linux) this enclosure performed similar to a few other adapters I tested.

With the correct hard drive, you can use this enclosure to add storage to your Xbox One - I will be posting more information on my blog about this and other options.

Bottom Line: If you are looking for a simple and solid dock for 2.5" and 3.5" SATA drives, this is a great option to consider.

Product Page ( FD1006 ) : http://www.inateck.com/inateck-fd1006-usb-3-0-hdd-docking-station

Product Page ( FD1006C ) : http://www.inateck.com/inateck-fd1006c-usb-3-0-hdd-docking-station

Inateck USB 3.0 HDD Tool Free External Enclosure Review ( Model FE2005 )

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.

I recently received an Inateck USB 3.0 HDD Tool Free External Enclosure ( model FE2005 ) for a product review.  The first thing I noticed was the case itself was very light.  After a quick skim of the instruction manual, I inserted a 2.5" SATA drive which was a very simple process.

Inateck enclosure and 2.5" SATA hard drive

2.5" SATA hard drive partially inserted into Inateck enclosure

After inserting the drive (not the one pictured, another drive which had Ubuntu Linux installed) I booted my system up from the drive to ensure everything worked properly.

The Inateck website lists the key points of "convenient function", "structure and design" and "appearance" on their page so I wanted to address each in my review.

Convenient function: The fact that no tools or drivers are needed, and installation is very quick, I would say they definitely met the mark on this aspect.  The typical user probably won't swap drives in and out, but if they need to this case makes it very simple.

Structure and design: As advertised, the case has a mix of aluminum and plastic which is supposed to help with heat dissipation.  On an older USB 2.0 system, the LED was blinking white and on a newer system with USB 3.0 it was blinking blue which gives a quick visual indication of the connection speed.

Appearance: This is exactly what I would expect for a product like this - a simple, clean and good looking design.  Other than the Inateck logo, there are no markings on the case.  The LED is bright enough to be noticed without being a distraction.

Inateck enclosure on top of Xbox One

The laptop I was using for my tests isn't USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) compatible so I wasn't able to determine how UASP impacted speed, but based on some quick benchmark tests (using Ubuntu Linux) this enclosure performed similar to a few other adapters I tested.  Make sure you research power requirements, for example an older drive or a 7200RPM drive may require more power than USB specifications allow (especially if you are going to use the drive on a USB 2.0 device).

With the correct hard drive, you can use this enclosure to add storage to your Xbox One - I will be posting more information on my blog about this and other options.

Bottom Line: I would say this product definitely matches what is advertised and gets the job done.  If you are looking for a simple way to add external storage, this is an option worth considering.

Product Page : http://www.inateck.com/inateck-fe2005-usb-3-0-superspeed-hdd-external-enclosure

Google Inbox Thoughts

I have been using Google Inbox for a while now.  You can read up more on the features here ( http://www.google.com/inbox/ ) but I will share my thoughts on each of the key features.

Bundles - This groups similar emails together, so (for example) all your promotions are in one bundle but anything financial related is in another.  This is very useful when you have many emails and want to prioritize which ones you look at first.

Highlights - I notice this most with Amazon purchases.  As you can see below, it quickly gives you an update on package shipping (as an example).

Reminders -  This gives you a simple method to put in reminders that will show up in Google Inbox.

Snooze - This gives you a quick way to hide an email for you to look at it later.  However, the only problem I have is that I tent to "snooze" many emails I am always doing a battle of snoozing them again like a game of whac-a-mole but that just means I need to act on them (or mark them as "Done" which archives them).  Similar to an alarm clock in the morning, at some point you have to stop hitting snooze and actually get things done.

As a side note, I have two other yahoo accounts (one I check often, one I rarely check) and I ended up adding them into Gmail.  Now I get all my email in one place, and I can even send and reply to emails using my yahoo address if I want.  This is not specific to Google Inbox, it is part of Gmail, but I enjoy using Google Inbox so much I wanted to consolidate all my email into one place.

Bottom line, I personally enjoy Google Inbox and the fact that Gmail is still accessible it makes this a no brainer to try out and see if you like it.

DROK USB Output Tester Review

I recently purchased two DROK Dual-USB output charging testers, and I figured I would test out a few devices I had (make sure you read the disclaimer at the end about the RAVPower and Maxboost items).

I decided to use smartphones and tablets I had available for the USB load, however in the future I may actually purchase a 1A/2A USB load device to ensure a consistent load for testing.

Load Devices with load rating based on a quick test

Nexus 7 (2013) LTE: Approx 1A
Nexus 7 (2012) WiFi: Approx 0.6A
Verizon Motorola Moto X: Approx 0.7A~0.8A
Republic Wireless Motorola Defy XT: Approx 0.5A

RAVPower Deluxe 15000 mAh battery pack with two DROK testers and 3 devices

In the picture above you see a rough idea of how the test hardware was setup.  Essentially I connected the phones/tablets (two devices) to each DROK, and then either one or two of the DROKs to each power source being tested.  In the picture below you will see the two testers, and devices tested.

Two of the DROK testers, and the various A/C adapters or USB battery packs

Overall, it was pretty interesting testing all the devices and seeing that in most cases they met or exceeded their rated capacity.  The test was only for a few minutes, not a longer test to see how the devices performed under a heavy consistent load.  Of course, I would not recommend exceeding the capacity of your charging devices.  See below for the results of each test.

RAVPower Two Port A/C Adapter (Model RP-UC02)

Rated : 2.1A

- Port 1: Both Nexus 7s, measured at 1.6A
- Port 2: Both Motorola's, measured at 1A

Results: The adapter was able to exceed the rated capacity, supporting 2.6A total.

Motorola Two port A/C Adapter (White one, from the Moto X I believe)

Rated 1.15A

- Port 1: Both Nexus 7s, measured at 1.1A
- Port 2: Nothing connected, not enough space between plugs to connected 2nd DROK tester

Results: The adapter was able to support just below the rated capacity.

RAVPower FileHub 6000 mAh (Model RP-WD02)

Rated 1A (only 1 USB port)

- Both Nexus 7s measure at 1.12A

Results: The battery pack was able to support just above rated capacity.  Note, this device can also has other capabilities ( file hub and router ) but those were not turned on at the time of my test.

RAVPower Deluxe 15000 mAh (Model RP-PB19)

Rated at 4.5A total (two ports)

- Port 1 (2.4A port): Both Nexus 7s, measure at 2A
- Port 2 (2.1A port): Both Motorola's, measured at 1.3A

Results: The adapter was able to support a total of 3.3A across two phones and two tablets.  I believe the devices were pulling their full load, so I don't think I hit the limit of the battery pack.

Maxboost Electron Mini 5600 mAh (Model MBP-5200B)

Rated 1A (only 1 USB port)

- Both Nexus 7s measured at 2A

Results : The battery back was able to exceed the rated capacity.

RAVPower Savior 9000 mAh (Model RP-PB23)

This device has a built-in microUSB cable (which I can't measure without some adapters) and a built-in USB port which is rated at 1A.

- Both Nexus 7s measure at 1.1A

Results: Device was able to support just over the rated capacity, and which I connected the Moto X to the microUSB port the rating on the USB port did not change so overall the battery pack was able to support 2 tablets and 1 smartphone and seemed to be within rated capacity.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the RAVPower and Maxboost products for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.

Inateck USB 3.0 to IDE + SATA Converter Review ( Model UA2001 )

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.

I recently received an Inateck USB 3.0 to IDE + SATA Converter ( model UA2001 ) for a product review.  Once I unpacked everything, I started to try out different uses for it since I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to test it.

Converter with a few hard drives (IDE and SATA)

First, I connected it to a Windows 8 laptop, and used the laptop to wipe and format a 2.5" hard drive (IDE).  After that, I copied an ISO image (for Ubuntu) onto the hard drive and connected the drive to another system running Windows Vista so I could copy the ISO onto the Vista system and burn a DVD with Ubuntu for use later.

While I was on the Windows Vista system, I connected the adapter to a CD burner / DVD reader 5.25" IDE drive that was in another tower.  As you can see in the picture below (the drive is above the two hard drives on the right side), the adapter was actually small enough that I was able to keep the drive in the tower and just connect the adapter behind it.  Being able to connected to the CD/DVD drive, and even the internal hard drives, would be great for anyone who often provides tech support to others since they can easily connect to internal devices without even removing them.

Converter fit inside the tower with no problem

I decided to test running Ubuntu from a hard drive connected to the Inateck converter.  Once I booted up from the DVD, I was able to install Ubuntu on both the 2.5" drive and later on a 3.5" IDE drive and in both cases Ubuntu installed and worked fine.  I was able to boot two different computers from Ubuntu installed on an IDE hard drive (connected to the Inateck USB to IDE+SATA converter) without any problems.

The drive comes with software you can use to backup your files, and the adapter itself has a button that launches the software.  I played around with the software a little, it is easy to configure and does the job.  I liked the fact that the configuration setup seems to be stored on the drive itself, so you can actually have multiple configurations (one per drive) and when you press the button it will backup according to the drives specific configuration.  Power users may end up option for other software to do backups or full disc images, but either way this adapter opens up a range of options.

Converter w/ 3.5" SATA hard drive connected to an Xbox One

In addition to various IDE devices (hard drives and CD/DVD drive), I also tested two SATA hard drives ( one 2.5" and one 3.5" ) with no problems and was even able to use one IDE and one SATA device at the same time.  Using the 3.5" SATA drive, I connected it to my Xbox One to test the ability to copy games to it for additional storage space.  Every test I threw at the device it was able to pass.

Bottom line: I would highly recommend this drive, especially for anyone in the following situations:

- Have old / spare drives lying around that you need to pull data from
- Looking for an easy way to do backups to multiple external drives
- Looking for an easy way to add storage capability to your system / laptop / game console
- Often acts as tech support for family and friends

Product Page: http://www.inateck.com/inateck-ua2001-usb-3-0-to-ide-sata-adapter/