Top portable drives for home users (roundup)

Having up-to-date backups of your data is like insurance, we all need it and at the same time never want to have to resort to it.

Though backing up data is not required by law, the consequences of not doing it are often so huge that it's fair to call those who don't frequently back up their important data, well, reckless, irresponsible, or just simply foolish. The truth is, when you realize that the originals of your important documents or photos are gone because of a hard-drive crash or losing your laptop, being called names is the least of your worries.

Now there's an easy fix. Here's a list of our top portable hard drives that make backing up data a no-brainer. Take a look and get yourself one if you don't already have a backup solution in place.

HP Portable Hard Drive
As simple as its name, this drive offers up to 1TB of storage space, fast USB 3.0, and HP SimpleSave backup software that, as long as you leave the drive plugged in, will take care of backing up all important data whenever the computer is idle. There's literally nothing else you need to do other than plug it in and run the backup software. Read the full review.

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WD My Passport Studio (Fall 2011)
This is the latest in WD's My Passport Studio family; it replaces the version released in 2010. The new drive now boasts an all-metal, scratch-resistant design and provides multiple connectivity options, including two FireWire 800 ports and a USB 2.0 port. The reason it doesn't feature USB 3.0 is simply that Mac computers don't offer this option. With up to 1TB of storage space and very fast performance via FireWire 800, the drive makes a great portable backup option for use with Time Machine, especially for Macs that don't yet support Thunderbolt. Read the full review.

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Clickfree C6
This is the latest backup portable drive for home users and it's arguably the best one for the technology-challenged. The drive's backup software runs by itself and makes a daily backup if it's kept plugged in. You can recover files using its software when Windows is running, and you can also use it as a boot drive to restore the entire system in case of drive crash or virus infection. On the downside, it doesn't support Macs. Read the full review.

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Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro
This is one of the sexiest portable drives to come with backup software, and that software works via a click of the mouse. Plus, the drive includes 3GB of online backup storage for free. The drive works with both Macs and PC. Read the full review.

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Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra-portable
This drive's included Memeo backup software, though not as easy to use as that of the Clickfree C6 or the HP Portable Hard Drive, works as intended out of the box. On top of that, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra-portable is by far the most flexible portable drive. More-experienced users can use its swappable adapter with other internal drives in case they need to recover data from the drive of a broken laptop. It's also a perfect drive to use with Apple's Time Machine, while remaining friendly with Windows thanks to its included software that allows the drive to work with both platforms, regardless of what file system it's formatted in. Read the full review.

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Clickfree C2N
Another portable backup device from Clickfree, the C2B is as easy to use as the C6 and can back up multiple computers in the same network while plugged into just one of them. The device, however, can't back up and restore the entire system--merely the files and folders. It works with both Macs and PCs.

Why an Apple HDTV is a huge risk?

With the release of Steve Jobs' biography this week, it seems that the man's final desire was to build an Apple television.

His biographer, Walter Isacsson, wrote that Jobs had the idea of a simple interface cracked, but then told CNET that the product was not "close at all" and "very theoretical." This hasn't stopped analysts from leaping over each other to pinpoint the TV's launch date (late 2012? early 2013?) in some kind of "guess the number of jelly beans" competition, especially after the news that the creator of iTunes was heading up a team to produce it. Even the New York Times has chimed in today saying that it really is coming, honest.

But is a full-fledged Apple HDTV a good idea? There's been several instances in the past few years of companies pulling out of the TV market--mostly Japanese manufacturers like Pioneer and Hitachi pushed by the cheaper LCD competition coming from the Asian mainland.

Meanwhile, Apple's had a lot of ideas, and while most of them have gone on to inform and inspire a whole slew of products, not all of them were well received at the time of launch, or successful afterward. People, including myself, scoffed at the idea of the iPad: "It's a big iPod Touch with no clear usage model," we said. I still believe that's true, yet the iPad has sold like cupcakes (hotcakes are so 2008). And it looks like its protege, the Kindle Fire, might be just as red-hot.

Apple is a company that has always sought to innovate, but for every iPod and iPhone there are also the forgotten children like the Newtons and Apple iPod Hi-Fis. Even the Apple TV set-top box has had a sluggish reception, and despite Jobs' enthusiasm at its launch, it's now seen by many as a niche product.

I think an Apple HDTV would also likely be a niche product, and while niche hi-fi thrives, niche TV products don't. Sure, there are occasional Bang and Olufsen and Loewes TVs, but Apple is much more high-profile than that. If the Apple HDTV does indeed exist, it would likely be a luxury product along the lines of Sharp's new Elite TV, the ill-fated Pioneer Kuro, or the Samsung C9000 ultrathin LED TV.

While the verdict is still out on the Sharp Elite, its price relegates it to the estates of the 1 percent. Meanwhile, Pioneer exited the TV market spectacularly, despite an overwhelmingly positive reception, and the Samsung C9000 simply disappeared; there's no correspondingly premium-priced UND9000 in Samsung's 2011 U.S. lineup.

The Kuro lesson

The pitfalls of the Pioneer Kuro case should be a warning of "what not to do" to the Cupertino, Calif., legions. Here was a company that built an amazing reputation on a premium product but found they lost more money trying to market and develop it than they could ever recoup in sales. According to one Pioneer representative, the plasma division was only responsible for 14 percent of the worldwide turnover, yet was the main reason the company hadn't turned a profit in five years. Pioneer jettisoned the plasma business and turned to its more-profitable audio and in-car products instead.

Pioneer had many "successful" plasma products in that time, but still the most fondly remembered and highly regarded is the Kuro. Indeed, CNET still uses the Pro-111FD as the benchmark against which other TVs are judged. Yet after debuting in 2007, Pioneer's premium TV bounced from in-house production across to Panasonic in 2008, and then Pioneer announced it was getting out of the plasma business in 2009.

Apple has a solid reputation when it comes to image quality: the Mac is the "go-to" device for photographers and designers across the land, and its LED cinema display promises a "viewing experience unlike any other." Any notion that an Apple HDTV wouldn't try to compete against the big guns in terms of image quality should be quickly dispelled. Sony's "Google TV" is a budget screen with a "work in progress" operating system, and I can't imagine Apple releasing something like that.

TV as toaster oven
Unfortunately though, a TV is now increasingly seen as a commodity item like a fridge or a minivan. Mainstream consumers generally want the biggest they can get for the cheapest price. Most Apple products do not fit well into this view; they are well-built, premium items and priced accordingly.

Though Jobs said bringing the simplicity of an iPod to TV was always his vision, an Apple HDTV just seems like the wrong product for these times. Analysts predict we will soon see TVs with integrated cameras allowing Skype conferencing in the home as well as Kinect-based voice and gesture control. Jobs said the TV would have a simple user interface. What is more simple than talking or even waving? Sure, an Apple TV could integrate the Siri voice control from the latest iPhone, and while people are wary of talking to their electronic devices in public, maybe they'd be more comfortable in the privacy of their own lounge rooms.

To succeed, the Apple HDTV needs to do something we don't already anticipate it will do, and do it simply. It needs to be one of those ideas that makes you go "of course!"

What would it look like, though? A big iMac? Possibly somewhere between that and the aforementioned ultrathin Samsung 9000 and a nice bright Apple logo in the middle. But by the time this thing comes out, that sort of design will be old hat. Apple would really need to flex its design biceps to catch people's attention, because--at least to judge by Samsung's latest efforts--TV bezels themselves will be nonexistent. We envision Apple would partner with either Samsung or Sharp, two of the only LCD manufacturers left, to produce this mythical device.

Will Apple produce a TV? Maybe. Would it be a popular product? Popular in that everyone will talk about it perhaps, but there's no way it could be a volume product. A big, expensive product with great ideas but that not many people would buy? You've got to wonder why Apple would bother, other than to act as a marketing exercise or as an homage to Steve Jobs. In this way it would become Jobs' own Epcot Center.

Nokia Lumia 800 (unlocked)

Nokia Lumia 800 in black, cyan, and magenta.

(Credit: Nicole Lee)

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--Mere hours after Nokia launched the Lumia 800 and its lower-end sibling, the Lumia 710, in London, we headed on over to the Nokia offices in Sunnyvale, Calif., to get a hands-on look at the new devices for ourselves. (Read Jessica Dolcourt's take on the Nokia Lumia 710 here).

If the Nokia Lumia 800 looks at all familiar to you, you might be thinking of the Nokia N9. Indeed, the hardware looks remarkably similar, with its unibody polycarbonite shell. As our colleague Jessica Dolcourt said, the overall shape and design of the phone reminds us somewhat of a stick of gum, and not in a bad way. The unibody design results in a streamlined look from head to toe, with flat tops and bottoms and rounded sides. The 4.59 inches (116.5mm) by 2.4 inches (61.2mm) by 0.47 inch (12.1mm) body feels grippy and solid in the hand. The Lumia 800 comes in three different colors: cyan, magenta, and black. Because it's a unibody design, it does not have a user-removable battery. 

 

The Nokia Lumia was designed from the inside out to fit the curved AMOLED display perfectly in the unibody polycarbonite shell.

Set inside the shell is a gorgeous 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display. It has a WVGA resolution and the term ClearBlack means it has a built-in polarizing filter that helps it look good under bright sunlight. A Nokia spokesperson told us that the phone was built from the inside out to fit the display perfectly. We were told that there's actually a tiny screw on the phone that when loosened will pop the display out (In case you need to replace it, we suppose). The Lumia 800 is said to be quite durable thanks to its solid build quality and Gorilla Glass display.

Interestingly, the display is actually curved outward slightly (about 2.5mm in depth) so that it looks as if the glass is hovering above the phone. The slight curve results in a smooth side-to-side swiping motion, which was Nokia's and Microsoft's intent. In our brief few minutes handling the phone, we did notice remarkable responsiveness during navigation, though that could also be because of the phone's 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm MSM8255 processor. It doesn't have the 1GB of RAM of the N9, however; the Lumia 800 only has 512MB of processor memory. 

The Nokia Lumia 800 has an 8-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens.

(Credit: Nicole Lee)

 

Nokia has always been known for its excellent cameras, and we're happy to report that the Lumia 800 does have an 8-megapixel camera with an f/2.2 Carl Zeiss Tessar lens and dual LED flash. We tried snapping a few pictures, and there didn't seem to be much shutter lag in between shots. It can record 720p HD video at 30fps and the camera app offers a few extra features like red-eye reduction, motion blur reduction, and more. It supports 16:9 wide-screen images as well. 

Other specs of the phone include 16GB of internal memory, with no sign of external media storage. However, users will get 25GB of free cloud-based storage courtesy of Microsoft's SkyDrive service. 

Aside from the usual Windows Phone services, Nokia has also contributed a few of its own apps and services. They include Nokia Drive for turn-by-turn navigation thanks to the company's Navteq acquisition (the maps can be preloaded onto the device via Wi-Fi in case you don't get any data connection), ESPN Sports Hub, and Nokia Music and Mix Radio for free streaming music.

The Nokia Lumia 800 will be available in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and United Kingdom in November. Pricing is expected to go around 420 euros ($585 U.S.), and you can preorder yours today through Nokia's Web site.

Nokia confines Windows Phone launch to 'select countries'

Nokia is excited about Windows Phone--but rather than a grand global launch, the Finnish company said today it will launch its first phones using Microsoft's mobile operating system only in selected markets this year. 

Given Nokia's global scale and the Windows Phone's pivotal importance to the company, that measured debut might come as a surprise. But Chief Executive Stephen Elop defended the plan while talking to analysts after Nokia reported better-than-expected financial results today. 

"We are being very deliberate in the sequence. It is a significant shift in the organization for how we sell and how we manufacture," Elop said in the conference call. "There is quite a long list of things to do," he said, mentioning language support for different parts of the world, marketplace capabilities, and operator billing. 

Another factor: Nokia doesn't want to needlessly undercut its existing business with the Symbian operating system, which long has been the standard-bearer for the companies smartphones but which Elop decided to phase out. 

"We're very thoughtful about how we first launch Windows Phone relative to where Symbian is strong so we get the right balance and right dynamics," Elop said. 

Elop is expected to unveil the new phone next week at its Nokia World conference in London. 

The global launch timing isn't an issue with business partners, Elop stressed. 

"We're very pleased with the degree of operator support, with early signs of commitment, and all those other factors," he said. 

The Windows Phone deal is indeed a profound change for the company. It's shucked its two main smartphone operating systems, Symbian and MeeGo, and instead will pay licensing royalties to Microsoft. But Microsoft will pay Nokia directly for activities such as marketing, and Nokia will benefit indirectly as well, Elop said. 

Specifically, Microsoft plans next year to release Windows 8--what Elop called "big Windows." 

"We will over time see that on hundreds of millions of PCs and tablets. That accrues to the overall power Microsoft will have in the marketplace [and to] ourselves as a lead vendor" of Windows Phone devices, he said. 

Nokia's new alliance has a big drawback, though. iOS and Android are designed for tablets, a fast-growing new market, but Windows Phone 7 isn't. So, one analyst asked, will Nokia offer a Windows 8 tablet, too? 

Elop wouldn't commit. 

"From an ecosystem perspective, there are beneftis and synergies that exist between Windows and Windows Phone," Elop said. "We see that opportunity. We'll certainly consider those opportunities going forward." 

Windows Phone gives Nokia an "ability to differentiate," with its own hardware designs, apps, and services, and differentiation means a higher gross margin--a key measure of profitability. 

"This is our first entree into the Windows Phone space," Elop said. "Our ability to differentiate with software increases over time as we work with our partners at Microsoft." 

Nokia's first Windows Phone model will be a higher-end product, but of course more are planned--a "cascading series of devices that span the price bands, both up and down," he said. 

Although Nokia isn't the only Windows Phone player, the company is more concerned about the incumbent forces in smartphone market. 

"As you see our first products launch, you will see the first signs of differentiation relative to Android and iPhone and relative to other players in the Windows Phone ecosystem. The former is more important to us than the latter," Elop said.

Add 16GB RAM to your MacBook Pro

RAM is a high-speed memory workspace that the system uses for running programs, loading operating system components, and performing most of its computing tasks.

If you use programs that take up a lot of RAM, you may see the system slow down while the system makes use of the slow hard drive to manage memory contents, to the point where it may sometimes crawl to a near standstill while tasks are running.

As a result, having ample RAM is great for system performance, so I always recommend to go with as much RAM as you can afford to put in your system. Even if you don't need it now, increasing the amount of RAM in your system will prepare your system for when it eventually will be used. These days 4GB of RAM is a standard configuration, but soon that will jump to 8GB or higher as programs and operating systems get more complex.

RAM you can put in your system. These days all of Apple's Macs are 64-bit machines, which means that theoretically they can access terabytes upon terabytes of memory; however, despite this there is a physical hardware limit on the amount of RAM a system can contain. This is true both in terms of physical capability but also in a built-in limit in the system's memory controllers on how much RAM it can recognize. As a result, despite having 64-bit capability, many systems are built with limitations that allow them to hold a maximum of 4 or 8GB of RAM.

Even though they are 64-bit capable, Apple's MacBook Pro systems have been offered with 8GB RAM as the maximum configuration. More recent models, including those released in 2011, have been built with a higher RAM limit, so even though Apple only offers 8GB RAM and mentions this as the maximum amount of RAM the systems can hold, in reality they can recognize up to 16GB if you add it.

These systems are the ones with the model number series of MacBookPro8,x or later, which include the following:

• MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
• MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
• MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 13-inch 2.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• MacBook Pro 17-inch 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

If you have one of these systems, then you should be able to install up to 16GB of memory if needed, which can be purchased from vendors such as Crucial or Other World Computing. 

While this upgrade is possible, do keep in mind that it will not be cheap. Even though memory prices are very low these days because low PC demand has resulted in a surplus of components, the low prices are only for relatively common RAM modules, which include the 4GB and 8GB upgrades (two pairs of 2GB or 4GB modules, respectively). The 16GB upgrades are not as common for laptop systems, so expect to pay around $600 if you want 16GB of RAM in a laptop system.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich versus iOS 5: Killer features

What I'm about to attempt--comparing Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Apple iOS 5--is a little like tiptoeing through a minefield. Most of you won't be happy and somebody could get hurt.

Yet, this comparison must be done. For one thing, Google and Apple have both recently unveiled huge changes that respectively make their mobile operating systems far more powerful, and in some ways more similar to each other. For another thing, weighing the pros and cons of each platform against the other is a scenario that's played out daily among many people who are deciding which phone to buy.

Just a few parameters before diving in. First, I'm overwhelmingly looking at software, not hardware, but I'll point out where hardware does factor in. iOS 5 runs on multiple devices, but is the most powerful right now on the iPhone 4S. Ditto Ice Cream Sandwich. The unreleased Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the one phone that can currently show off the OS update's full spectrum of features, since it was purpose-built to be compatible with them all. That will change for both operating systems as additional future devices are built with the hardware to support the new software.

Second, I'm not just talking about new additions, but trying to look at the OS in its entirety.

Third, I'm looking at what each OS can do natively. Yes, there are scores of third-party apps you can download to do just about anything to satisfy something that one OS lacks that another has, but what we're looking at here is what Apple and Google have decided to bestow, not clever external developers. And I'm not talking about anything you can achieve only by jailbreaking or rooting. Official, but optional apps created by Apple and Google are OK--like Find My Friends and Google Voice.

Third, I'm throwing in two "fun" features for each (these will be the last two). I wouldn't recommend buying an iOS 5 or Ice Cream Sandwich device solely because of them, but they're pleasantly show-offy conversation pieces unique to each platform.

Got all that? Let's go.

Want to unlock that phone? Smile.

(Credit: Google)

You can still use third-party apps to edit; but you won't need to.(Credit: Google)

ICE CREAM SANDWICH

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Bold, powerful UI

For those who already use it, there's nothing hard about Android. Yeah, you have to know that sometimes you need to access the menu or long press for more options, and there are some extras you can get by swiping in certain places on the screen. But no other major OS can top Android's flexibility in terms of customizing the multiple home screens with stills or moving animations; widgets galore; and apps, apps, and more apps. Ice Cream Sandwich ups the ante by making widgets resizable, too.

And iOS 5?: Apple takes the opposite philosophy and opts for simplicity. There's customization in arranging apps the way you want them and in choosing which items you want in your notifications pull-down and how you take your notifications in general.

Turn-by-turn voice navigation

For many people, this is the platform's ace-in-the-hole. Broken out from maps, Google's turn-by-turn voice navigation for driving directions can effectively replace your in-car dash or GPS navigator--and possibly save you hundreds of dollars.

And iOS 5?: Integrated Google maps are great, but there's no voice readout.

Google services

After logging in with your Google account, the instant account-based access you get to Gmail, Google Maps, the contacts, the calendar, Latitude, and chat are great. I personally rely on Google Voice as well.

And iOS 5?: Gmail is integrated into iOS, you can sync the calendar as well, and Google maps are a de-facto part of the OS (minus voice navigation.) You can download Google apps from the App Store, too. The Google Voice app has a better layout for iOS, in my daily experience, but it's also slower and much less stable.

Camera tools

Ice Cream Sandwich brings on a whole lot of new photo tools, the most significant of which are the photo-editing tools in the image gallery. They include red-eye reduction, straightening, and "hipster filters," whatever those are. The camera app itself adds a useful panorama mode that seamlessly creates a landscape still.

And iOS 5?: Here's one of those places where it's hard to separate the software from the hardware because iOS 5 has great software image rendering, but photo quality also requires the image sensor and camera lens. The app itself lets you switch between the camera and camcorder modes, and between the front and rear cameras. You can adjust the flash level and turn on a grid or HDR mode, but that's about it. In the camera roll, you can create a slideshow, plus crop, rotate, remove red-eye, and auto-enhance, but from the looks of it Ice Cream Sandwich will have more features. We'll know more about those and their quality soon.

NFC

This won't appeal to everyone right now, but NFC (near-field communications) is becoming a big deal in mobile. If you have an NFC-compatible phone (this is where hardware comes in), you'll be able to use the on-board Google Wallet software right away to pay for purchases by tapping or waving your phone near a compatible terminal (MasterCard users can get going.)

Yes, there are still a lot of requirements, and Android isn't the only NFC-capable OS (Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Symbian already support it). But Google's partnerships and software put it in a good position to be immediately useful as the technology ramps up in the U.S.

And iOS 5?: No NFC for iOS 5 yet; it's one of the features we were collectively hoping to see in the update.

Openness
The benefit Android's openness to other manufacturers' custom interface designs is debatable depending on which side of the conversation you're on, but it gives cell phone-makers and carriers the opportunity to offer new features and visual experiences that are variations on the Android theme.

Some people prefer stock Android, just as Google designed it. Others appreciate accessing tools and information in ways that Google didn't envision. The company has clearly borrowed some innovations from these custom UIs, like bring able to open a specific app in conjunction with unlocking the phone (rather than unlcoking to the hom page, then opening your app.)

And iOS 5?: iOS is a famously closed ecosystem, and whether you love it or hate it is a matter of personal opinion. There's also something to be said for uniformity in terms of your expectations of how a phone will behave, and in offering consistent customer support.

Facial unlocking
Android Beam is fun too, but I think facial unlocking is even more novel, fun, and interactive because it (optionally) uses the front-facing camera to recognize your features and let your into your phone. So smile! It's also wholly unnecessary, but a harmless party trick.

And iOS 5?: It'll be the boring power-swipe combo for iPhone, every time.

Android Beam
Right now the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be the only compatible device, but put two of them together and they can transfer content like contact information, maps, and details of running apps (the app you've got open will trigger your friend's phone to open the product page for that app in the Android Market.

And iOS 5?: The closest you can get is a third-party app, but this isn't native.