The PowerBag Backpack by Ful is a medium to large sized backpack built tough. It has suspension contoured back straps that help handle the heaviest of packing jobs. The outside material is tough, durable, and water resistant. There is a really cool padded side pocket intended to keep your laptop or tablet safe and separated. The front pocket is large with organizers for your electronics, tablets, and other small items. This is where the battery pack is stored; it’s roughly the size of the original game boy, if you can remember! The back pocket is large and empty, it expands and contracts a good amount depending on the amount of stuff inside. There’s one side pocket with two elastic pockets and two charging cables inside. One charging cable has Micro-USB and Mini-USB connectors and the other is an iPhone/iPod/iPad charging cable.

One of the coolest features, which we actually had to read about to discover, is that the rubber PowerBag logo is actually a button! Press it once and any number of four lights will illuminate depending on battery life. Hold it for two seconds and the battery will start charging up to four devices with the built-in Mini-USB, Micro-USB, and Apple connectors. There’s even an open USB port to charge any other USB device imaginable. The battery is 6000mAh, which is roughly four full smartphone charges. Speaking of the battery, Ful’s website says that the PowerBag Backpack comes with a replaceable and rechargeable 3000mAh battery, while the Powerbag Deluxe comes with a 6000mAh battery. That said, our review unit came with a 6000mAh battery. PowerBag’s battery has overload protection so you can’t accidentally overload a specific device, PowerBag will stop charging that specific device. There is an included AC wall charger to charge PowerBag. You can either plug the adapter into the charging port on the side of the backpack, or you can plug it straight into the backpack’s removable battery.

The backpack has comfortable large cushioned straps with a sternum strap. Each strap has a reflective strip along the top for your safety. I took PowerBag on a four day trip with me — it was still packed to the brim with clothes and electronics. PowerBag is great at accommodating a large amount of stuff. It’s also just as good at maintaining a small and light form with a minimal amount of stuff. I was impressed with how durable and versatile the PowerBag is. The battery also seemed to last forever. I charged my devices and friends’ devices sporadically throughout the trip and the battery lasted the entire time. I only had a few small gripes.

Firstly, a second side pocket would be nice. The only side pocket is great for charging a cell phone and a bluetooth headset (or something), but it would have been convenient to have another small pocket for a bottle of water or my keys. None of the organizer pockets in the front are zippered or sealable (except for the tablet pocket which has a velcro flap). Lastly, the laptop compartment doesn’t prevent laptops from sliding around, but it didn’t seem to be a big deal.

I’m pleased to announce that the PowerBag Backpack by Ful is my new go-to backpack. You instantly become everyone’s best friend when they realize devices can be charged simultaneously with enough juice to go around. In its current form the PowerBag is quite masculine, I know plenty of ladies who need to charge on the go as well! Hopefully future versions of the bag will at least be a bit more unisex but right now it is very much a geek guys go-to bag.  The PowerBag Backpack by Ful is available in black, blue, or red for $139.99 from mypowerbag.com.

The Good: Comfortable, Durable, Large Battery (4 smartphone charges), Battery Indicator, Isolated Side Laptop Pocket, Dedicated Tablet Charger, Built -in Charging Adapters, Good Expansion, Battery Overload Protection

The Bad: Could Benefit from More Sealed Pockets, No Waist Strap, Adapter Cables are Short, Laptops can Slide around Pocket

The new Canon PowerShot SX200 IS packs in a lot of features considering that it’s still just a compact camera. For starters it’s got a 12x optical zoom to compliment its 12.1 megapixels. It’s also capable of going up to IS0 3200, it has got a 3.0″ LCD screen, an optical image stabilizer, and for those who dig HD – you can record HD video with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels. The SX200 IS also has HDMI output so you can connect it directly to your TV. Design wise, it’s got a somewhat traditional and boxy looking design which might not appeal to everyone, but it does come in the color choices of black, red, or blue. The Canon PowerShot SX200 IS is available now for $349.99. Overall, this is definitely more of a prosumer compact, and we expect it to make great shots like most of the PowerShot line.

You won’t be making a fashion statement with this hat, that is for sure. But it will display how committed you are to producing green energy. The Solar Powered Ventilated Cap will help you avoid the sun and keep you cool at the same time as it transforms the solar energy to operate a working fan on the bill of your hat. The hat itself is your typical adjustable baseball hat and there is no need for any extra batteries as the hat charges itself. It’s available only in blue and at Computer Geeks.com

The Spark Nano GPS Tracker from Brickhouse Security looks more like a toy than a powerful GPS Tracker. Claiming to be one of the smallest and lightweight GPS Trackers out today, it can easily slip into a  pocketbook, jacket pocket, or any discreet place so you can track someone or something. The sensitivity of the device will allow for real time location updates on your computer or you can get alerts via text message or e-mail when your Spark Nano has left the building, so to speak. It works off both GPRS and GSM networks so it allows for a better area of coverage. Another nice feature is that it has a built-in panic button, perfect for children traveling on a school trip, so you can watch ever move they make till they come home. The only downside to what is a unique item is that you will have to pay a monthly fee to actually utilize all these great services. You’ll have to pay for a subscription and if you want to use the added features you’ll have to pay additionally for that too.  Spark Nano GPS Tracker retails for $299.95. It may just be cheaper in the end to hire a Private Eye…

Pantech C820 Matrix Pro

Hardware:
The Pantech Matrix Pro’s hardware is solid and feels sturdy. The Matrix Pro sports a metallic finish and curvy top and bottom. Unfortunately the Matrix Pro’s screen tends to attract fingerprints and smudges, so you might want to keep a wipe handy. Overall, it is not the most attractive phone in the world, but definitely pleasant looking, especially considering that many phones which manage to fit in two keypads end up being pretty fuggly.

The Pantech Matrix Pro is on the small size for a smart phone, width and height wise (4.17 x 2.0 x 0.85 inches) – so it will fit in your pocket easily. However, it will also bulge out of your pocket a bit because the inclusion of two keypads end up making it pretty thick. Though the Matrix Pro weighs 5.3 ounces, which isn’t all that much, for some reason the handset also feels a bit hefty in your hand. It’s also got a 2.4” screen with a 240×320 resolution. The screen is clear and pretty bright, and is pretty much on par with other similar Windows Mobile smartphones.

The keyboard on the Matrix Pro feels good to type on and key presses feel slightly stiff but comfortable. The keyboard surface area is smaller though then lets say the T-mobile G1, and is made up of just 3 rows, and as a result it is a bit more cramped. However I still found it comfortable to use. The numeric dial pad is made up of totally flat keys, sort of RAZR style, but they are also comfortable to dial with. The sides of the phone sport dedicated volume controls, a camera button and a record button. Its front face holds dial and end keys as well as a circular navigation key that looks like it’s ready to be a scroll wheel, but it’s unfortunately not one.

In the box you get a sync cable, software CD, charger, 3.5mm headphone adapter, a case and a manual.

Interface / Home screen:
One of the strongest aspects of Windows Mobile 6.1 over its predecessors are the slick updates to the home screen layout which includes a new slide panel layout that now lets you easily access things like recent calls, get access to your voicemail, text messages, mms, email, appointments, AT&T services (xpress mail, instant messenger, media net, media mail) and settings (profile wireless manager, ringtones, background image and task manager) without leaving the home screen. You can now also scroll through, and play music from your Windows Media playlist. The slide panel home screen can even show off the album art associated with the track you’re playing. While this new home screen option is very welcome, the rest of the Windows Mobile 6.1 interface is starting to look old.

Overall, navigating through the OS didn’t feel sluggish and overall the phone had good pep, though there were pretty minor delays, like a second or so delay when switching between landscape / QWERTY and portrait views. The handset comes ships with just 256MB of ROM and 128 megs of RAM, but it sports an SDHC slot for up to 32GB expandable memory.

For those of you looking for a touch screen, the Matrix Pro does not have one, however between both keypads you don’t feel like you’re missing one. Also, the OS is designed well for phones without touchscreens. That said, we do wish that the circular navigation button on the front face doubled as a scroll wheel.

Call Quality:
Call Quality was very good on the Matrix Pro, testing in New York City, I could hear callers clearly and vice versa. I generally had full bars as well, but then again I only have gotten a chance to test in an area which is known to have good coverage. The speakerphone worked ok, but often callers on the other end said they had some difficulty hearing me when talking to them on speakerphone. Also the speakerphone does not get quite loud enough for noisier environments. Overall, the phone’s battery can manage to last a few days with light use and even over a day with moderate use. In contrast, most smartphone I’ve worked with tank out after a day of even moderate use.

Software:
The Matrix Pro comes with plenty of software including an instant messaging app that gives you access to AIM, Yahoo and MSN messenger, a weather app, a PDF program, a Java VM app for running other Java based apps, a mobile banking app as well as AT&T’s optional specialized services like Xpress Mail and MobiTV, and AT&T’s Navigator application which takes advantage of the built-in GPS. Office Mobile is also included which contains Excel, OneNote, Powerpoint and Word Mobile. Oddly, there are some apps, like the Mobile Banking app which have icons in the menu system but aren’t actually installed on the device yet until you manually download them. The handset also comes with a great selection of games, including Guitar Hero 3 Mobile, Brain Challenge, Bubble Breaker, Jewel Quest II, Midnight Pool, Ms. Pac Man, Scrabble, Solitaire, and Tetris. Unfortunately many of these like Ms. Pac-man and Guitar Hero 3 are just demos, which is a bummer.

Internet:
The Matrix Pro does not have Wi-Fi abilities, instead you have to rely on only 3G for surfing the net speedily. The Matrix Pro comes preloaded with Internet Explorer, of course. Using DSLReports’ Mobile speed test, the Matrix Pro came up with a 120kbit/sec result. Surfing the net with AT&T’s 3G network in NYC felt pretty fast, even when using bloated Internet Explorer. However, I would highly recommend downloading the free Skyfire browser which is a lot faster than I.E. and also emulates the closest desktop surfing experience possible on a Windows Mobile smartphone. Skyfire also renders web pages better than Internet Explorer and overall takes better advantage of AT&T’s 3G network. In order to understand just how much faster Skyfire is, check out the loading time comparisons below.

Internet Explorer:
1:05 for ChipChick.com
8 Seconds for m.cnn.com

Skyfire:
23 Seconds for ChipChick.com
5 Seconds for m.cnn.com

E-mail:
Windows Mobile of course integrates with Microsoft Exchange beautifully and does a good job of playing nicely with imap and pop3 accounts. However, the Matrix Pro also comes with support for AT&T’s Xpress mail which is a $4.99 a month push email service that lets you get your mail as soon as the email server receives a new one. It’s compatible with most personal email accounts including Yahoo! Mail, AOL, Windows Live Hotmail (MSN, Hotmail and Live), Comcast, EarthLink, and others. Xpress Mail also saves the devices from running scheduled sync if there is no mail and it enables you to to sync contacts and schedules with your phone.

Multimedia:
A trial of MobiTV is included. MobiTV offers the ability to stream TV popular TV shows to your handset. I was able to watch streaming episodes of Lost without a hitch. Granted the screen isn’t big enough for watching video for serious lengths of time, but it was awesome being able to watch some TV while waiting for the train. Other notable preinstalled multimedia apps include Pandora for free music listening, a trial for XM radio Mobile and for MobiVJ which provides access to music videos, and there is also access to AT&T’s music shop.

As for audio and video playback, the device comes with the standard Windows Media Player which lets you access your music by artist, album, and genre. Album art and star ratings can also be viewed while listening to tracks. Unfortunately the Matrix Pro comes uses a proprietary headphone jack. The T-mobile G1 is guilty of the same offense. We can’t understand why companies would bother making a multimedia handset with anything but a 3.5mm jack. However, to their credit, at-least Pantech does ship the Matrix Pro with a 3.5mm adapter.

Camera:
The Matrix Pro sports a 2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom. Both the camera and video recording/camcorder function give you a nice amount of options such different choices for white balance settings including Auto, daylight, cloudy, and fluorescent. You also have options for special effects: Normal, gray, sepia, and negative, and a self timer. The video recording is nothing to write home about with just  a 176×144 resolution. But it’s a nice feature to have regardless. The camera photos also were just mediocre and like most other average camera phones, photos taken in the daylight came out much better. And unfortunately, the camera sorely lacks a flash.

Conclusion:
I have to be honest and admit that until now, I hadn’t paid all that much attention to Pantech’s handsets. But after spending time with the Pantech Matrix Pro, I have come away pleasantly surprised at what a solid phone it is overall. For those looking for the best of both worlds as far keypads, an affordable price tag, and a solid feature set for a business phone with decent multimedia capabilities, the Matrix Pro doesn’t disappoint. The Pantech Matrix Pro C820 retails for $179.99 with a 2 year contract from AT&T. Alternatively you can pick one up from Amazon for just $99 with a 2 year contract.

The Good:
Dual keypad form factor is very cool, great messaging and email abilities, good overall performance, fast internet browsing and multimedia streaming, good call quality, solid feature set.

Bad:
No Wi-Fi, lacks dedicated 3.5mm jack for audio, Windows Mobile isn’t the hot shot OS that it used to be, camera lacks flash and its photos are mediocre.

Remember that George Foreman MP3 ready grill from two years ago? Well the Gastar miGrill Tabletop Gas Grill with Built-In Speakers is the same concept just in a nicer and hipper body. The miGrill provides 160 square inches of cooking surface with 8,500 BTUs of sizzle for your meat and 2 powerful speakers for the extra musical spice. You can attach any generation iPod or MP3 player into the built-in speaker module. The speakers are located towards the bottom of the Gastar miGrill. It also comes in red, black, and gray so not only will it entertain you with music and food, but it also color coordinates to your home. The Gastar miGrill retails for $129.99.

Indeed – There are so many job classifieds web sites out there, who has the time to sift through all of them daily? Not only does Indeed let you search through popular job posting sites, it also offers free daily alerts based on your keyword and location. So every time a job posting for an “executive blogger” comes up, you’ll be notified right in your mail box of that days related job postings.

Fatwallet – If you’re going to buy something online, whether it be business cards at VistaPrint or a new Macbook from the apple Store (granted, if you are able to afford to buy anything at all), then you might as well make back some money on your purchase. Fatwallet offers money back from most of the popular online retailers. Cash back rates vary from one e-tailer to another, with most just a few percent – but you’d be surprised how much money that ends up accumulating over time. And either way – it’s extra money in your wallet. Since being a member in 2005, I’ve made almost $600 is cash back payments. FatWallet also has a strong user forum where people posts great coupons and steals. Other notable (and very addictive) sites for great bargains that we recommend is BensBargains.net, TechBargains.com and SlickDeals.net.

Emurse – Emurse is a free resume builder which provides all the tools you could possibly need to present a professional and powerful online resume. You get a customized web address for your resume that offers visitors the ability to save your resume as a Word Doc, PDF, text file, HTML file or you can offer potential employers the option to subscribe to it via an RSS feed. Emurse also offers instant notifications when potential employers view your resume.

Media Convert – Whether you need a screenshot of a web site or you need to convert a Word document in to a PDF, don’t fret if you don’t have the money to shell out for the necessary software. This site will take care of all of these things for you for free. Media Convert offers an assortment of useful services such as converting a Powerpoint presentation in to a video, generating image thumbnails, and combining multiple video files in to one – as well as many, many more useful stuff.

Hulu – In case you’ve missed the commercial with Alec Baldwin playing an alien, then allow us to introduce you to Hulu. Hulu offers free streaming episodes of popular TV shows as well as some movies. We’re talking big time network shows like the Family Guy, Battlestar Galactica, and Saturday Night Live – you know, the good stuff.

Mint – Mint is an all in one finance service which is aimed at helping you manage your money and manage your debt. The site helps you figure out your taxes, keep track of your transactions, and stay in control of your budget. The service will even send you emails and SMS alerts when there has been a change in your finances.

txtdrop – Practically every wireless provider has recently raised their text messaging rates. And lets face it – all those texts add up on your bill. Save some money easily by using this web site to send messages. The site also offers a Mac OS X Widget, Vista Gadget, and an iPhone optimized version of the site. However, if you’re an iPhone or iPod touch user, we recommend trying out the Pinger Textfree app which lets you send and receive text messages for free.

Weebly – Perhaps you’re looking to become your own entrepreneur and start your own business or maybe you already have your own business but don’t have the collateral available to hire a web designer and make your own web site. If that is the case, check out Weebly which is one of the best and easiest to use web-based web site creators. What especially sets them apart is that they also offer free domain hosting, so your site will have a professional .com address as opposed to some ugly yourcompany.freehosting.com. Of course, you will have to pay for the domain name, but those are usually just $10 a pop at GoDaddy.

If anyone has any other great recession helpful web sites that they would like to recommend, please let us know!

Michelle G. of Lubbock, Texas

Teresa M. of Everett, Washington

and
Martha K. of Hartford, Connecticut

They each won a Monster Cable Digital PowerCenter MDP 900.

The Sonos Multi-Room Music Digital Player system is for people who love music. Not just like music – LOVE music. It is meant to fill your home with it no matter where you go. In the living room, kitchen, bedroom, or den. Just about anywhere you might be at a given moment – you can have access to your entire media library.  The Sonos gives you the freedom to stream not only your media files but internet radio or local radio channels.

Setup:
When we first received the Sonos we almost passed out by how many boxes there where. Not that I’m put off by the quantity of boxes, but I certainly had in the back of mind that this was not going to be easy to setup. However I was wrong! The unpacking took me longer than actually setting the Sonos up. We got a chance to review the Sonos Speaker Bundle 150 as well as some extras which comprised of the Wireless Controller, Zoneplayer 120, Zoneplayer 90, 2 Sonos Loudspeakers, Sonos Zonebridge, and a cradle for the controller. Like I said – that is a lot of boxes. Once unpacked it may seem a bit overwhelming as to where you should put all these pieces. The first thing I did was decide where I would put the Zoneplayer 120 along with the speakers. Granted I don’t live in a huge luxurious home so it took some finagling to decide where I would put and keep the speakers since the Zoneplayer 120 does need to be connected to a router or modem via ethernet. So that was a bit tricky. Luckily, all the components of the system have a streamlined design that any Mac owner would appreciate. They blend into your home without looking like an eyesore. The ethernet cables also have a flat design to make it easy to blend on to walls for decent wire maintenance. Another nice feature is that both the Zoneplayer 90 and Sonos Zonebridge are both wireless so they can be placed anywhere in your home so that you can really complete that experience of having a fully amplified musical abode.

Installation:
After placing the Zoneplayers were I wanted to them to be, the next logical step was to install the software. I have an iMac and the installation was done in 10 minutes. You follow the onscreen prompts and the devices are picked up around your home. You’ll have to repeat the steps to have the computer recognize the other Zoneplayers scattered about but with just the press of a button on each player the software picks it up and installs it. You can label each player for the area its in. Lets say the Zoneplayer 90 is in the living room – so you can label it living room etc… this will allow you to control that device when you are in the room or not by giving it a name associated with its location. Once the devices were picked up it was time to import my MP3s….that is where I hit a snag. Everything was going too perfectly! I repeatedly kept coming across the same error over and over about how my files couldn’t be imported followed by the file name. After spending some time on the Sonos Support forum I downloaded the newest version of the software and tried again….Still no luck. So again…I headed over to the forum and it seemed to be only a problem with those who have Mac computers and not so much with a PC. After additional digging, I found a suggestion to change my file sharing settings and modify my file name of the location of where my MP3’s were coming from….it was becoming a big hassle.  Finally, finally after changing just one more permission under the Security Settings and then Firewall settings I was able to access my files. This was after three hours. I was a bit upset that this wasn’t something that was mentioned in the manual or easily accessible on the forums unless you dug through and found it.
However setting up the radio functionality was a lot easier. It took 2 seconds, it asked you where you reside and then a whole list of stations pops up for you to listen to. Of course there is the ability to preset the stations you love. I was finally ready to begin my Sonos experience.

Interface:
The Sonos controller is just like it’s other components sleekly designed and easy to use. Everything is very visual and doesn’t require a graduate degree in engineering to figure it out. The right side of the device resembles a iPod scroll wheel to obviously scroll through the menu options or songs available on the system. Its big bright LCD screen makes it easy on the eyes as you scroll through your options.
The first place I wanted to play my music was in the kitchen. Nothing gets you in the mood to make a meal like a little Andre Boccelli. I selected kitchen and the Zoneplayer I set up in there started to play music through some desktop speakers I connected to it. Standing in that room I gave the controller over to my co-editor who was itching to listen to a little Alanis and she started her Zoneplayer in the living room. So at one moment we had different music playing in two different parts of the apartment. In a smaller space than an average home, music from one room can over power the other room. So be careful when you set it up, that you take into account sound absorption so that you don’t irritate another Sonos listener.
When the controller was given back to me I decided I wanted all the rooms to listen to my fave song that just came on and very easily I was able to make that happen by selecting all the Zoneplayers to play the same song. The controls were super easy to navigate and a nice new feature is that you can now control it from your iPhone or iPod Touch via a free Sonos app. So there is no need for me to keep passing the Controller around and around to operate the system. Once the app is downloaded onto your iPhone you can easily do all the same functions. So it’s like having another controller in the room without having to pay extra for it. Again the interface is sleek and extremely easy and with the ability to see all the music and FM stations available on your system to control.

Conclusion:
The Sonos Multi-Room Music Digital Player is perfect for those who have large homes and want the ability to have music playing in random parts of your home that suits your own personal taste. No more telling mom or dad to shut off Frank Sinatra or vice a versa about your loud heavy metal. It’s also perfect for businesses like restaurants and spas that want to give customers a more personal experience as well as save money with unnecessary and costly wiring for other complex systems that do the same thing but on a different scale. I was extremely happy with my time with the Sonos and except for that little snafu with importing my MP3 library, it was overall a great experience. However I would have liked if the Zoneplayers did have a built in speaker so that you had the option to not attach external ones. This takes up space that sometimes you just don’t have, as well as creating more visible wires.
Of course such a luxury music experience doesn’t come cheap, the Sonos BU150 Multiroom Music System bundle typically starts at $999 and up. But sometimes the cost of music is priceless.

The Good: Very user-friendly. Excellent design concept and software interface. Perfect for large homes or businesses looking to add a personal touch. Liked the iPhone app a lot, saves money on having to buy additional controllers.

The Bad: Would have liked to have had a bigger troubleshooting section in the manual for possible Mac problems importing your MP3 library. You have to attach speakers to every Zoneplayer to hear music, would have liked built-in speakers. A bit pricey but you get what you pay for.

Read below for more information about Monster Digital PowerCenter MDP 900

Monster® Digital PowerCenter™ MDP 900
Monster boasts their powerful electronics yet again with their Digital Powercenter MDP 900, this powerhouse is one of the top models for data protection under dangerous power conditions. The MDP 900 is more than an ordinary surge protector. Patented outlet and cord labels are color coordinated for easy hookup, and to make sure you don’t accidentally unplug the wrong piece of equipment.

Green and Energy Clean
The Monster GreenPower™ MDP 900 PowerCenter™ protects your computer and the valuable data stored on it from common power surges and spikes. It also provides a high level of protection for high definition home theater components. Monster Dual Mode Plus™ surge protection automatically disconnects and sounds an alarm to protect your equipment. Monster GreenPower™ automatically shuts down outlets to stop energy waste. Surge protection is also provided for phone and Ethernet connections, for complete system protection.

Features:

* Advanced Dual Mode Plus™ surge protection with automatic disconnect and audible alarm
* Monster GreenPower™ stops standby mode energy waste and saves money
* Exclusive PC Clean Power™ Stage 2 filtering rejects noise and interference
* Surge protected coaxial, network and phone connections
* 10 surge protected, color-coded AC power outlets
* 4220 Joule rating provides a high level of surge protection
* Powerline Communication (PLC) compatible with HomePlug® high speed networking
* Mountable design for easy mounting to desk or AV cabinet
* 2 convenient USB surge protected charging ports
* $300,000 limited connected equipment warranty

Regulations: Monster Cable & ChipChick.com are not responsible for any lost packages or incorrect shipping addresses. The prize is not redeemable in cash and must be accepted as awarded. Approximate value of prizes may vary. By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation of his or her name and/or likeness and/or voice/photograph and municipality of residence for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium (including without limitation over the internet and picture data storage). Contestants must be living in the U.S.A. to submit an entry.

Read on to discover the best tech of the Greener Products Expo that will all  help you live a greener and more fulfilling life. Did we say fulfilling? Well, maybe that is stretching it – but some of these products will make definitely you feel better about yourself and/or your wallet.

The SolarGorilla charger is so powerful, that it’s able to charge most notebooks as well as most Mp3 players, cell phones, GPS systems and handheld video game consoles. It comes with a 20V power socket as well as a 5V USB port and a Neoprene case to carry it in. It’s also portable with a fold-up design that has traveling in mind. Sure, there are plenty of solar chargers out there, but most are only powerful enough to charge a cell phone or Mp3 player, but the ability to power a laptop as well makes the SolarGorilla stand out. It retails for $249.95.

When I think of recycling, I think of a confusing mess. The Mode Premium All-in-one Recycling Center aims to change all that by keeping all your recycles in a compact and organized fashion. The Premium All-In-One Recycling Center hold up to 3 times more than a typical bin by utilizing a compaction system that crushes aluminum cans and 8 oz to 2 liter plastic bottles and jugs. It also has a paper bin for reducing kitchen clutter by organizing all your recyclable materials into one place. Mode Premium All-in-one Recycling Center retails for $299.9

This Kiwi Gas Saving device is designed to plug into your diagnostic port (OBDII) near your steering column. Kiwi helps assess how much fuel your using and it helps you figure out how to reduce that amount. Kiwi kind of works like a game, encouraging you to increase your gas mileage with ultimate goal being to obtain the highest Kiwi Score – which will ultimately save you lots of gas money too. “Daily, Kiwi will show you how much money on gas you saved compared to the last trip you saved with Kiwi installed. Over time, you can keep track of hundreds of dollars saved throughout the year.” The Kiwi Gas Saving Device retails for $289.

Many people don’t realize how posionus food waste is too the environment and that it creates greenhouse emissions. The Insinkerator might look intimidating, and it certainly is an intimidating tool for grinding up food waste. The device claims to be a lot quieter then a standard disposer and it makes the process of consolidating food waste in to energy or fertilizer a lot easier. There are even some places over seas that use their food waste to produce fuel.

99% of Perf Go Green’s PerfPower Eco-Alkaline Batteries are made of Biodegradable materials and they contain no harmful lead or mercury. When it’s time to recycle these batteries, the company even provides you with everything you need to send the batteries back to them. This way they can recycle the batteries. Even the batteries’ packaging material is made from recycled materials. The end result is great because not only are you not poisoning a landfill with batteries, but you’re also recycling these batteries so that they can be used again. Perf Go Green also offers an assortment of other environmentally friendly products such as trash and litter bags.

Be Green offers you several unique ways to “give the gift of green”. For every BeGreen PodDaisy Flower Card , Chili Pepper, or Forget Me Nots you purchase, a native tree is planted in an ecosystem restoration project in the United States. Each gift retails for $9.95 to $12.95. So where does the tech aspect play in to this? “An average tree will absorb more than 650 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) over its lifetime — that’s equal to the amount produced by driving about 740 miles.” If you look at it that way, that tree you just helped plant can help offset some of the damage we do everyday by just driving in a car.

Call2Recycle offers you a convenient way to recycle your old cell phones, recharge batteries or cordless electronic products. So before you think of dumping that old battery out, do the planet a favor and head over to their site and search for locations near you. Their drop-offs can be found at many popular retail locations like Best Buy, CVS or RadioShack.

I know I feel refreshed when I open the window and get a big wind of fresh air in my face. For others it could be different things, either way the Ionic Lifestyle Generator looks to create that positive wash of relaxation over your body day in a day out. What this little gizmo is looking to do is the same thing by injecting negative ions into your area, a super powerful 2,000,000 anions per cubic centimeter to be exact. Comparable to the output of a waterfall that generates between ’95,000 and 450,000 negative ions per cubic centimeter.’ It will recharge your mind, body and soul while eliminating the effects of smoke, dust or air pollution.

There are several Ionic Lifestyle Generators that could help you at home – in the form of a wall charger, for the car – in the form of a car charger, and one in the form of a usb device, and they all start pricing at $49.95. The Ionic Lifestyle Generator USB/Computer in particular will eliminate electromagnetic waves from your computer and monitor while generating millions of negative ions that will make you more productive and happy.

Finally a creative use for wasted energy. Scientists are figuring out a way to utilize the bio mechanical energy emitted as people exercise or perform daily tasks. To research this ability, hamsters are being monitored for what they do best – running in a wheel. Devices are strapped to the animals as they run in their wheel and the bio mechanical energy is captured as they exercise. “Dr Zhong Lin Wang of Georgia University’s Nano Research Group developed the flexible jackets, which are fitted with wires plugged into a nanogenerator that produces energy when they are bent and stretched.” One test result from a hamster produced a small amount of AC power. Dr. Zhong believes in 5 years that this technology could be outfitted in clothes for people and then used to charge cell phones or other devices. Or maybe your pet hamster will be powering your iPod? Read more here.

The controls are pretty basic and for those who laugh in the face of simple button mashing, you’ll be glad to know there are presets for different controller options to choose from with the ability to use different buttons, triggers, and joysticks for other actions.

The main focus of the game is the ability to do online co-op. Which is definitely a lot of fun and VERY helpful. Resident Evil 5 is all about working as a team, especially when you need a shot of some health juice if you are dying. You can even give each other bullets and swap guns if your partner is empty. Together you pull levers and team up to kill big bosses at the end of levels too. My colleague was using a rapid fire machine gun to kill this awful looking octopus/human/mutant and the power of two was increasingly apparent as we fought this thing together and kill it we did! Online Co-op will not require you to need a huge LCD as the screen doesn’t split and you can easily see where your partner is. The best part about this is you can do your own thing clearing an area and the same for them. So the need to move from one area together to another is not necessary. So I suggest getting a headset if you don’t have one just so you know were your partner wondered off too in case if you need a lever pulled. However the same doesn’t hold true for co-op on the same console. If you play with another player the screen will be split which may be a bit harder to play as the zombies and other flying creatures really require a nice size viewing angle to kill them all quickly.

I think any diehard Resident Evil fan will not be disappointed. Even newbies to the genre will like it. The game is pretty easy and just requires stealth, accurate aiming, and eyes all over your head. Basically what you need for any game. I was extremely pleased with the camera as it was easy to move and actually focused on things I needed to see. The fact you can select different controller options was a nice touch too especially for those hardcore gamers who enjoy change and customization. Resident Evil 5 will be released on both X-Box 360 and PS3 on March 13th and will retail for $59.99.

Until yesterday we had not gotten a chance to see just what kind of an impact SSD drives can have on everyday performance. We got to see a demo of two identical laptops, one running with a traditional 7200RPM drive and another running on SanDisk’s SSD drive. The laptop with the SSD Drive booted more than 2x as fast. Applications also notably loaded much faster on the laptop with the SSD drive. Acrobat PDF documents launched almost instantly while they took a moment to pop up on the laptop with the traditional hard drive. So we were finally starting to see why SSDs might be the light at the end of the upgrade-your-computer-tunnel. If you’re looking to significantly improve your old computer’s performance, aside from adding more RAM, it looks like SSD drives can be a great way to give a laptop more pep. Other benefits of having an SSD can include a bit of a battery life increase.

SSD drives can also offset the performance slowdown that happens after running Windows for several months. With Windows, the longer your run Windows, the more your system tends to slow down because of registry clutter and other issues. Which is why so many power users often format their hard drives. However because SSD drives’ read performance are so much faster than traditional hard drives, their speeds help off set some of that traditional Windows performance slow down.

SanDisk’s new G3 SSD is $149 for the 60GB version, $249 for the 120GB and $499 for the 240GB, which is of-course the most desirable of the three. However, the 120GB is probably going to be the biggest hit of the three because 60GB is not enough space for most folks, while the price point for the 120GB is reasonable for the performance and capacity. Keep a look out for our full review, we’re going to go ahead and give one of SanDisk’s new G3 SSDs a try for ourselves sometime in the near future.