GADGET REVIEW: 5 Cool Geek Items

Geeks.com were very kind to send us over some of their best multi-platform gadgets that encompass quality and low prices. We get to review a cool VoIP USB phone, an IrDA USB adapter, a PCMCIA USB+Firewire card, a tiny USB sound card and a Bluetooth v2.0 dongle.

- USB SE-U1K VoIP LCD Memory Phone w/128MB Flash Memory ($44)

From the bunch, this is my favorite gadget. I am using Skype, IM voice and SIP/Gizmo very regularly, and so this USB headset has saved the day. You see, when using normal speakers and external microphone on a voice chat, there is a lot of echo generated from the speakers. Using this headset is eliminating the problem. The headset rings and has a keypad to dial VoIP numbers in it, but unfortunately that part only works with Windows as it requires a special driver. However, the basic operation of the headset, worked with Linux without any problems (using the CornfedSIP client). On Mac OS X the OS was able to load the right driver for the headset's internal sound card, and you could use it as external headphone, but the microphone part didn't work (I used my Powerbook's internal microphone instead). Except the echo cancellation there is noise reduction and full duplex support. Under Windows only is a selection of ringer styles, a caller ID function of VoIP calls and memory for 199 incoming calls and 199 dialed numbers. But there is one more amazing feature on this product. It includes a 128 MB internal flash storage space, so you can use the phone as a... USB stick to transfer data! If you are into VoIP, this is the phone to get. The only thing missing from this USB phone are the Line-In and Line-Out jacks.

- 2-Port USB 2.0 and 2-Port FireWire CardBus Adapter ($20)

This PCMCIA TypeII adapter includes a 2-Port USB 2.0 (full size usb ports) and 2-Port FireWire (one full size port and one small size). The 480 Mbps USB ports are fully backwards compatible with USB 1.1 and support up to 127 devices though the usage of hubs. The IEEE 1394 Firewire ports support up to 400 Mbps data transfer rate (1394A, OCHI 1.0 Rev 2.1) and you can connect up to 63 devices though the usage of hubs. The package includes a driver CD for Windows. The card worked perfectly also with our Linux laptop. Linux automatically identified the card and Hotplug loaded automatically the right drivers for it. Apparently the card is using the VIA chipsets internally, which are supported well by Linux, FreeBSD and Windows, but not by Mac OS X. As a conclusion, if you have an old x86 laptop that has very few high-speed ports, this PCMCIA card is a steal for just $20.

- USB to IrDA Adapter ($13)

This is a great little USB 2.0 to IrDA adapter. It supports both MIR and SIR speeds (up to 100 KB/sec or so when in MIR mode). You can use the adapter to send and receive information with PDAs, phones, printers and more. I successfully used the product with Linux, Mac OS and Windows. Under Linux, I was even able to use the stir4200 module to make the Sony Ericsson K300i dial out and route the connection back to the Linux laptop. The little box it comes with also includes a usb extension cable, a small manual and a driver CD. If you need infrared functionality and you need a usb to irda adapter that works with many operating systems, this is the one to get. Most IrDA adapters out there are not very compatible with OSX or Linux, so this offering is a good buy for multi-OS geeks.

- USB 2.0 to Audio Adapter w/Microphone Jack ($12)

This is a plug-and-play USB 2.0 sound card. It is using the C-Media chipset internally and it supports stereo 5.1-channel sound effects. The miniature sound card has a speaker/headphone jack and a microphone jack. Looking at the small size of the card I kept thinking that if the original Sound Blaster engineers had a glimpse of this 15 years ago, they would start crying. That's how small this sound card is! Sound quality is very good and again, the card is fully supported by Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X. The only minor problem we found with it is the fact that there is no Line-In jack.

- Bluetooth Class 1 V2.0 USB Adapter ($19)

Yet another multi-operating system workable piece of hardware. This Bluetooth USB Adapter is Bluetooth V2.0 compliant (v1.1 and v1.2 backwards compatible) and it is in fact one of the very few dongles that is v2.0. V2.0 brings faster speeds to Bluetooth file exchange and a few new HID profiles. Also, this is a Class 1 dongle, which means that it can send and receive information up to 100 meters away! I used this dongle with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X and it was supported without problems by all operating systems. There are certainly other, Bluetooth dongles in the market, but not Class 1 and version 2.0 and at this low price.