Therefore, this three-part series will examine some of the best hardware upgrades for your media storage. We are going to use a 2006 Mac Pro to demonstrate the upgrades, but you should be able to achieve similar results on any iMac or PC.

Kicking off this series is the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD (solid state drive) to improve the overall speed of our system.

Boot Drive – OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD

There are a quite a few drives when it comes to choosing the right SSD for your system. We decided to try out the Mercury Extreme Pro SSD from Other World Computing because it’s supposed to very fast while also being one of the most affordable drives out there. It also uses the highly acclaimed SandForce Processor which should help prevent write speed degradation commonly experienced by SSD’s.

Installation:

Installation of the SSD was a breeze. Its’ very similar to installing any other (mechanical) hard drive. The Extreme Pro comes in a 2.5″ form factor, however, so you’ll have to place it into an adapter to fit it into any of the 3.5″ Mac Pro slots. Other World Computing recommends the Icy Dock adapter. You can also install the SSD into the second optical drive bay if you own a Mac Pro 2008 or later. Unfortunately, this isn’t easily achievable on the 2006 model, since the optical bay isn’t wired with SATA connectors.

The Icy Dock adapter will convert any 2.5inch SSD into a 3.5inch compatible hard drive.

I actually recommend purchasing a 2.5″ SSD over an 3.5″ alternative, even if you’re planning on installing the drive into a desktop computer. A 2.5″ drive will give you the flexibility to also install it into a MacBook Pro down the road, for example. These drives aren’t cheap so flexibility is a good thing!

Performance:

Other World Computing promises “Ultra High-Performance” compared to mechanical hard drives. To test this claim we’ve set up an exact mirror image of our boot drive on the Extreme Pro SSD as well as on a 7200rpm drive from Seagate for a side by side comparison.

In our sequential, uncached speed test the Mercury Extreme Pro achieved write speeds of 155MB/s and read speeds of 199MB/s. That’s compared to 60MB/s write and 62/MB read speeds on our 7200 Barracuda drive. The difference was even more dramatic in our random, uncached speed test. 152MB/s write and 192MB/s read vs. 23MB/s write and 26MB/s read speeds. It even topped the SSD in the newly released MacBook Air which peaked at 126MB/s write and 113/MB/s read. The Mercury Extreme Pro’s overall Xbench score of 324 points destroyed the mechanical hard drive which only scored 38 points. The MacBook Air SSD was able to scoop up 248 points.

Those are the bare numbers, however, which I’m usually not a big fan of. I find it much more interesting to note how upgrades actually affect daily user operations. And let me tell you; the perceived speed enhancements from upgrading your boot drive to the Mercury Extreme Pro are amazing. Applications—even large ones such as Adobe After Effects and Apple’s Aperture—open almost instantaneously. No dock-bouning. No hard drive noise. No wait. The system boots within seconds—compared to minutes—while day to day operations simply feel snappier.

A quick boot tests demonstrates how dramatic the difference between SSD and mechanical hard drive will actually feel in a real world situation. For this test we booted OSX 10.6.5 with Photoshop CS5, Illustrator CS5, After Effects CS5, Microsoft Word 2011, Chrome 5, and Firefox 4 set to auto launch. Take a look at the video below for a side-by-side comparison:

If you couldn’t stand sitting through the above video (can’t blame you) here’s the quick and dirty summary: the Mercury Extreme Pro SSD booted in 27 seconds from start to finish compared to 3 minutes and 21 seconds for the mechanical drive. That’s a real life improvement by 7.5x!

I doubt that any graphics card update, that extra 0.13GHz of CPU power, or even an additional 2GB of RAM would be able to impact your system on such a dramatic scale;; at least not in terms of day-to-day usage. An SSD upgrade will be noticed even with the most common tasks.

File Management – Limited Storage

There’s no question that this drive is fast. Unfortunately, all SSD’s come with a caveat: limited storage space.

For our test we chose the 120GB model—minuscule compared to the latest drives in the mechanical hard drive world. And while OWC does offer drives with up to 480GB of storage the cost ($1579.99) is most likely prohibitive for all but the most extreme users out there. And even then, it still can’t compare to a Western Digital drive with two ($90) or three terabytes ($260).

Hence, we currently can’t recommend the Mercury Extreme Pro—or any SSD for that matter—as a storage solution. Instead we recommend using it exclusively as a boot drive while moving most of your media to external drives, or in the case of the Mac Pro, to one of its internal hard drives.

Many websites go as far as recommending you to move your entire user folder to a mechanical hard drive. And while there are many tutorials to make this change, I recommend against it. The reason is simple: only files that are stored on your SSD will actually benefit from the speed improvements. Therefore, you want to keep as many of your system files as possible on the SSD, while moving your large media files to a mechanical hard drive.

Here’s our recommendation for getting the most out of your Mercury Extreme Pro:

Keep your OSX installation files, user folders, and applications on the Mercury Extreme Pro. Snow Leopard’s footprint is fairly small, so this shouldn’t be a problem with a 120GB SSD. You can free up additional space by deselecting unneeded languages and printer drivers during the OSX installation.

You should definitely consider moving your iTunes, iPhoto, and Aperture libraries off of your SSD, however. Yes, this will prevent fast access to those media files, but let’s face it: you simply don’t have 3TB of SSD storage at your exposure. (We will take a look at speeding up your media drive in the second part of this series.)

Fortunately, moving your iTunes, iPhoto, and Aperture libraries couldn’t be easier. First, drag your iTunes media folder, as well as your iPhoto and Aperture libraries to a new location on your media drive. Then open iTunes, iPhoto, or Aperture—while holding down the option key—and point the programs to the new location. Done!

Option-click iPhoto to invoke this dialogue box.

In addition, I also recommend creating a ‘documents’ folder on your media drive with a shortcut placed in the finder sidebar. That way you’ll always have easy access to the new location.

In my opinion this workflow will offer you a healthy balance of disk speed and space utilization.

Conclusion – What Are You Waiting For?

After reading this review, it shouldn’t surprise you that I’m a big fan of OWC’s Mercury Extreme Pro SSD. It’s blazingly fast, easy to install, and competitively priced. At $259—for the 120GB model—this may be the single best upgrade you’ll ever make to your aging computer system. If you’re tired of spinning beach balls, and stalling launch times, you should definitely give the Mercury Extreme SSD a try. It was definitely love at first boot for me.

The Mercury Extreme Pro SSD is available directly from Other World Computing. Available models range from 40GB for $99 up to 480GB for $1579.99. For the purpose of a boot-drive we can highly recommend the 120GB option for $295.99.

I have a strong feeling that I’m not alone with this experience. The recently unveiled MacBook Air seems to evoke a high range of emotions. It certainly is tempting, isn’t it?

That’s why this review won’t focus on technical specifications or benchmarks. You already know that the MacBook Air uses a past-generation processor, limited storage space, and virtually no opportunity to upgrade your machine down the line. Yet, we seem intrigued by this incredibly thin machine. Why? More importantly, though: will the initial satisfaction last beyond the initial buyers rush?

Know Your Expectations

Before we take a closer look, however, it is important that you know your expectations. Sit down for a moment and think about your daily usage scenarios. Also consider what type computers (and I’m counting the iPad here) you already own.

I’ve been using the 11″ MacBook Air (1.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB, 128GB) for just a few days but I can already tell you that this is by far the best portable computer I’ve ever used for writing, researching, blogging, and daily business correspondence. Yes, it’s just as portable as the iPad (as a matter of fact it even fits into the same bag) but offers all the flexibility and true multitasking capabilities of a full blown computer system. This doesn’t mean that it completely outshines the iPad in every possible way, however. In my opinion, the iPad still remains the best device for media consumption. The MacBook Air, however, beats it hands-down for light content creation.

Beyond simple text and image manipulation I also tried Photoshop CS5 to edit a full size, 21MP RAW image from my Canon 5D Mark II without experiencing any frustration, whatsoever. Was the experience as smooth or snappy as it would’ve been on a MacBook Pro? No, but at no point did I feel frustrated or restricted. Again, a far superior experience to manipulating images on iPad. The same goes for the videos in this review which I shot on the 5D (at 1080p) end edited on my MacBook Air using Final Cut Pro. Encoding may be slower, but the process isn’t painful. (One annoyance I experienced in both Photoshop and Final Cut Pro was that certain windows were too large for my screen. Hence, I wasn’t able to resize the RAW image editor window in Photoshop or the Canon E-1 plug-in in Final Cut Pro. Suddenly, that ‘any corner resizing‘ feature in OSX Lion makes a lot more sense!)

Final Cut runs adequate on the MacBook Air

Often resize corners aren't accessible on the small screen.

If you’re a creative professional, however, don’t expect the Air to replace your primary machine quite yet. Exporting the same 720p video, for example, took 11 minutes on the Air compared to 7:15 minutes on a 2.4GHz Core2 Duo, 2009 MacBook Pro and 5:45 minutes on a 2 x 2.66GHZ Dual-Core Xeon, 2006 Mac Pro. Also, remember that you’ll be limited to 4GB of RAM and that there’s no firewire for speedy data transfers. If push comes to shove, however, it’s reassuring to know that applications such as Final Cut Pro are still an option on the MacBook Air.

Hence, the 11″ MacBook Air strikes me as the perfect companion to a more powerful pro-machine. Would you be able to use it as your primary computer? Possibly. Especially if your main tasks involve writing, researching, blogging, as well as light iPhoto/iMovie usage. If that’s your plan, do yourself one favor and opt for the 128GB model. Your ever expanding iTunes library will thank you later.

My recommendation changes slightly if you’re considering the 13″ MacBook Air. I could definitely see how the 13″ model could be the primary machine for quite a few more people. Especially if you are willing to commit to the 4GB model with that 2.16 GHz processor upgrade. This configuration should be plenty powerful for most excluding creative professionals and gamers. At the same time, I don’t really see as many compelling reasons for the 13″ inch as a secondary computer.

MacBook Air – Killer Features

So far I’ve spent most of this review focusing on the Air’s appeal without actually mentioning most of its features. However, between the iPad, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air Apple hasn’t made the purchasing decision very easy so I feel this detour was appropriate. Now that we’ve set the expectations and come to understand the scope and general limitations of the MacBook air, however, I’d like to take a look at some of the features that I found most impressive.

Size/Design

After Apple introduced the iPad I was truly convinced that I’d never be able to fall in love with another laptop again. Sure, I’d have to keep using my Laptop for work, but write a 2,000 word review about one? Probably not. Leave it to the company that brought us the iPad to prove me wrong. The Air is just as portable as the iPad and the design just as sexy. The 11″ especially feels like something completely new and fresh. This is really hard to grasp unless you go see and feel it with your own eyes and hands. There’s absolutely nothing ‘cheap’ or ‘netbooky’ about the Air. This is a complete computer in an extremely compact, yet durable design. Everything about it feels just right. The MacBook Air truly brought sexy ‘back to the mac’.

Keyboard/Trackpad

Yes, it’s true. The MacBook Air features the same full sized keyboard and trackpad (even though a bit shallower on the 11″) that you’ve come to expect from Apple’s Pro machines. Writing is just as comfortable (if not slightly better) as it’s always been on a MacBook Pro and leaps and bounds better compared to the iPad.

Speakers

They’re not nearly as loud or clear as the build in speakers on the MacBook Pro, but the simple fact that Apple was able to integrate a pair of decent STEREO speakers into this thin design simply blows me away. Listen below for a direct comparison between MacBook Pro 15″ and MacBook Air 11″ at maximum volume. Surprisingly good for a computer this size, wouldn’t you say?

Instant On

Seeing is believing:

Display

Last but not least, the Air’s display truly took me by surprise. I had no idea how much better it would be compared to my MacBook Pro. The screen is so incredibly sharp that both iPad and MacBook Pro pale in comparison. No seriously, I can barely stand looking at my 15″ MacBook Pro Screen after working on the Air. It’s like the difference between iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. Once you see it there’s no turning back. It’s really that much better.

MacBook Air – What’s Missing

Besides the obvious three (raw computing power, limited disk space, and virtually no upgrade path) there were a few other things that irked me. Let’s have a look:

3G Modem

As previously mentioned, the MacBook Air is just as portable as the iPad, yet it’s missing the iPad’s killer feature: an integrated 3G modem. You simply can’t slide the Air out of your bag and immediately start surfing the net unless you are in reach of a WiFi Hotspot. While the Air may be an ‘instant-on’ machine, it’s not an ‘instant-on-the-web’ machine. Of course you could always tether, or get a USB modem, but that’s neither as sexy or convenient as the integrated 3G experience on iPad. It’s time for Apple and the cell phone providers to work out some data arrangements that can be shared among all of our portable devices without having to rely on external hardware. I am not holding my breath, but the Air yearns for mobile connectivity. Perhaps Apple is waiting for the rumored ‘open sim’?

For 3G access you have to tether the MacBook Air to a wireless modem. (Demonstrated here on a jail-broken iPad)

USB 3

Sure, as of this writing, not even Apple’s pro line features the vastly superior USB standard, but with firewire MIA and storage space at a premium, the faster USB standard would’ve been a truly welcoming addition. At least Apple had the hindsight to hook up the existing USB ports with enough juice to power a portable USB drive without the need for an external power supply. I’ll take what I can get at this point, but the next revision better bring USB 3 to the table!

Backlit keyboard

On my MacBook Pro the backlit keyboard has always just kinda been there for me without me truly taking notice. And I have to admit that I’ve never really regarded it as an essential feature. Until I took the Air into my bedroom and turned of the lights. I guess you don’t really know what you’ll be missing until it’s taken from you. Also, I had apparently forgotten how hard it is to type in the dark. Bummer!

Power Supply

Okay, now I’m really nitpicking here, but I was a little disappointed that Apple hasn’t managed to shrink the included power supply even further. The MacBook Air consumes very little power, so for some reason I fully expected Apple to blow me away—yet again—with another ‘oh my god, I cant believe how small they have become’ power supply. They didn’t. It’s not large, by any means, but it’s no iPad charger either. I wish it were.

From left to right: power supplies for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iPad.

Bottom Line

The new MacBook Air allows us a glimpse into the future of mobile computing. Flash Storage, slimmer designs, increased portability, and minuscule power draw. If the time’s right for you to jump on board, however, depends on how you use your computer. If you’re a writer on the go, this should be a no-brainer: buy. The same goes for power-users: stay away. If funds are limited (second computer isn’t an option), and you do a little bit of everything, the decision becomes more difficult.

Ultimately, if you are of the patient kind, holding out a little longer may be worth your while. I would be shocked, if not at least some of the Air’s standout features will make their way into the next refresh of the MacBook Pro line. While we may not see an all-out SSD MacBook Pro anytime soon, I think it’d be reasonable to at least expect some sort of hybrid drive before OSX Lion is released next summer. The same goes for USB 3.

Either way, the Air proves that the Mac may still have its best years ahead of itself, even in pre-iPad times. So burn your obituaries; the Mac’s here to stay and I have a feeling that this is just the beginning. Welcome back, buddy. We missed you.

The MacBook Air is now available on Amazon. No tax. No shipping. You’ll also support our site if you order from the links below:

Apple MacBook Air MC505LL/A 11.6-Inch, 1.4 GHz, 64GB – $994

Apple MacBook Air MC506LL/A 11.6-Inch, 1.4 GHz, 128GB – $1194

Apple MacBook Air MC503LL/A 13.3-Inch, 1.86 GHz, 128GB – $1294

Apple MacBook Air MC504LL/A 13.3-Inch, 1.86 GHz, 256 GB – $1594

PS: I wrote this article on the 11″ MacBook Air. I also edited all images and videos on the machine. Not once did I wish for access to a more ‘powerful’ computer.

Pro Tip: Utilize the ‘software reinstall drive‘ when you first receive your MacBook Air to re-instal OSX from scratch. This can save you a few GB’s of space. During install choose ‘customize’ and deselect all optional languages.Then install only the iLife applications which you’ll be truly using on a regular basis (in my case: iPhoto and iMovie). This will only take 25 minutes of your time but free up 2.5GB of storage. Of course you could also use ‘Monolingual‘ and ‘Appzapper‘ but then you wouldn’t have an excuse to utilize that slick USB installation drive!

Pro Tip #2: Quicktime 7 is no longer an installable option from the ‘software reinstall drive’. Follow this tutorial to get it back.

“Must be a problem with my camera” I kept telling myself for months, too lazy to actually look into the problem even though it always bothered me. Too lazy to do something, until I received an email from the folks at Datacolor, writing me about their latest product: SpyderLensCal.

According to Datacolor, almost all autofocus systems in DSLR cameras and lenses are manufactured within certain allowed tolerances. If lucky, your camera body and lens have the same tolerance data and work fine together. If not, the only professional solution is to send the camera body and lens to the manufacturer to have them calibrated together (which can be both time-consuming and costly). Datacolor’s SpyderLensCal instead attempts to provide a fast and reliable method to measure and adjust the focus performance of your camera and lens combinations.

Sounds almost to good to be true, right? Well, we got ourselves a unit and put it through a quick test for you.

The Spyder LensCal System

The SpyderLensCal is actually a very simple product. It’s not much more than a flat piece of plastic that folds up to be either mounted on a tripod or set up on a flat surface. Once set up, it basically looks like a black and white square with a diagonal ruler attached to the side. No cables, no processing power, no magic. So how is this system supposed to work?

The little quick start guide basically asks you to align your camera and lens to the center of the target area, set your lens to AutoFocus and take a picture in Aperture Priority mode with your lens wide open for a shallow depth of field. You then view the image on the camera LCD and zoom to maximum magnification, navigating to the intersection of the target and the ruler. If your camera/lens combination are calibrated correctly, the the line at “0″ should be in sharp focus. If it isn’t, you’re either suffering from front or back focusing issues and should adjust your camera’s lens calibration (more on that below).

Sound easy enough. But does it work?

SpyderLensCal Practice Test

To test the SpyderLensCal system I put it to the test with my Canon EF-135mm 2.0 USM, the same lens that has been giving me focus issues for months. So, how did the lens do? Shockingly bad, actually! As you can see in the picture below my lens had major focusing issues. The lines behind the “0″ mark were much more in focus than the ones in front. So I wasn’t imagining my focus problems after all!

Before Calibration (click image for high resolution)

After Calibration (click image for high resolution)

To correct the issue I entered the “AutoFocus/Drive AF Microadjustment” menu on my Canon 5D Mark II and selected the “adjust by lens” sub-menu. Since the numbers on the Spyder LensCal ruler and the AutoFocus adjustment numbers in Canon’s menu don’t correlate, I was conservative with my adjustment, at first, and set it to “-5″. I then went ahead and took another picture. The focus was still off. Turns out, that in my specific case, I had to set the AutoFocus adjustment to “-20″ (which coincidentally is also the maximum amount of adjustment that Canon allows) to get fairly good results. If I could have set it at “-25″, I probably would have.

The Microadjustment Focus Menu on the Canon 5D Mark II	The default setting for the EF-135mm lens
Adjusting the Focus to -20	Adjusted Lens Setting

Either way, the SypderLensCal calibration system, not only confirmed my suspicion that I had focus issues, it also helped me correct them. As a matter of fact, I will contact Canon in the morning to request free service on my lens to offset this major focus problem. I will use the calibration pictures to make my case.

The other Canon lenses that I tested were either in perfect focus or off by just a few units. All together, I tested and corrected a total of 4 lenses in under 30 minutes. The SpyderLensCal may be simple in concept, but the results are powerful. Set your camera to aperture priority mode, open up up your lens, focus on the target, and shoot. Then zoom into the resulting image, check the ruler, and make corrections if necessary. It the picture isn’t sharp at “0″, your camera/lens combination is off! Simple as that. End of discussion!

SpyderLensCal Review Conclusion

If you’re experiencing focus problems with your camera/lens set-up I can strongly recommend the Datacolor SpyderLensCal system, even if it may be a bit pricey at $59 for basically a piece of plastic. It’s still cheaper, and definitely much quicker, than professional calibration service and may be all you need to get your camera/lens combination back in focus. I’ll be definitely using mine with each new lens I purchase for my 5D Mark II.

Keep in mind, however, that the SpyderLensCal can only visualize focus issues, not fix them. To actually fix the focus issue you’ll need a camera that has a “lens micro calibration” feature. Fortunately most professional DSLR cameras, such as my Canon 5D Mark II, do. Other camera’s that will work include: Canon 50D, 7D, 1D MkIII, 1D MkIV, 1Ds MKIII, 1DIV; Nikon D300, D300s, D700, D3, D3s, D3x; Sony A850, A900; Olympus E-30, E-620; Pentax K7, K20. If your camera isn’t on the list, check your manual before you purchase this system.

You can pre-order the SypderLensCal calibration system directly from Datacolor. Pre-orders will ship on September 30th. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions.

The ZAGGsparq 2.0 is a compact, black, box, similar in size and shape to a MacBook Pro charger (3.50″ Height x 3.50″ Width x 1″ Depth). On the inside, however, it’s all battery. 6,000 mAh worth of Lithium Polymer battery to be precise. That’s enough juice to re-charge your iPhone 3-4 times and top of your iPad from 0% all the way back to 60%. Put in perspective, that’s an additional 5 to 6 hours of video playback on your iPad.

All Battery in a Simple Design

Most battery packs we’ve come across are designed to fit snuggly around the iPhone. While that approach is obviously convenient, it also adds extra bulk and weight to the phone itself; even after you have fully depleted the external battery. You’ll also have to purchase a separate battery for each device you own. And what about your Bluetooth headset?

Hence, the flexibility of not having to physically wrap an external battery around your iPhone is exactly what makes the Sparq such an enticing product. It’s one hefty battery pack, in a compact design, that can charge a multitude of USB powered devices with absolute ease of use. You can keep the Sparq in your backpack, gym locker, or the front pocket of your airline seat.

Once you run low on power, simply plug your iPhone, iPad, or any other USB powered device in one of the two USB ports and you’re ready to go. The simplicity of the design is also its most stunning feature.

Charge Multiple Devices at Once

As mentioned above, the Sparq offers not one, but two USB ports for charging up to two USB devices at same time. The top USB port is optimized for devices that can take advantage of optimized charging (max 2000mA @ 5V) such as the iPhone and iPad. The bottom port uses the standard USB specification and is great for general use devices such as bluetooth headsets or book readers.

Best of all: I confirmed ZAGG’s claims, that the optimized USB port re-charges an iPhone 4 at almost the same speed as Apple’s power adapter plugged straight into an outlet. (1h:33m vs. 1h:26min from ~50% to full charge.)

To re-charge the Sparq itself, it simply plugs into a standard outlet. No cables required.

You can also continue to charge your devices while the Sparq is plugged into an outlet. This will allow you to leave your separate wall chargers at home while traveling. Just keep in mind that the Sparq’s internal battery may charge a bit slower while other devices are charging of the unit at the same time.

While charging, 4 battery indicator lights, on the back of the unit, will illuminate one by one. Once all lights are lit the device is fully charged again. You can also press a small button below the indicator lights to see the current battery level during usage.

Moody Indicator Lights

One abnormality we’ve noticed is that the indicator lights don’t always seem to be 100% accurate. Sometimes the unit dropped down to 2 remaining lights within the first hour of charging. This doesn’t seem to affect performance in any way, however. The Sparq also seems to drain some juice on its own if left unused for a couple of days days. Once again, this could be simply related to the inaccuracy of the indicator lights. Either way, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue if you use the device on a regular basis.

ZAGGsparq 2.0 Recommendation

After reading this review it shouldn’t surprise you that we are rather charmed by the ZAGGsparq 2.0. It is pure power in a portable, compact design, that isn’t limited to charging just one device at a time.

If you are yearning for that quick, mid-day, re-charge for your iPhone, iPad, or USB powered accessories—without permanently attaching a separate battery pack to each—we can strongly recommend the ZAGGsparq 2.0. Simply keep one in your purse, backpack, or car and it’ll keep you powered throughout the day.

You can purchase the ZAGGsparq 2.0 for $99 directly with ZAGG. It is currently on sale for $71.86 on Buy.com.¹

Let us know in the comments if you have any questions.

1. Associate Account Link

Soon after Apple released the iPhone 4 a flood of complaints hit the mainstream media about — the now infamous — antennagate, as well as problems with the iPhone’s proximity sensor. Surprisingly, another widespread problem hasn’t received nearly the attention it deserves.

With the introduction of iOS 4 a serious bluetooth bug seems to be plaguing many iPhone owners. The Apple forums are flooded with complaints about unreliable A2DP bluetooth connections (Stereo Bluetooth Profile), as well as muffled or garbled audio while using the microphone of a handsfree bluetooth headset or car unit. Specifically, the outgoing audio is getting muffled, while the incoming audio sounds normal.

The brand or make of the bluetooth model seems to make little difference, as the problem has been reported with various manufacturers on the Apple user forums. Here are a few examples:

Bluetooth was always rock solid with my 2007 Mini Cooper (BMW Bluetooth) with both my iPhone 3GS and the original iPhone. Since the iPhone 4 I have been getting reports of a definite and severe decrease in audio quality from the people I talk to.

I’m using a Plantronics 925 and I bought a brand new Plantronics 975 just to confirm and it too had the exact muffled audio problems people are reporting.

Had the same, exact issue with both my Jawbones on my iPhone 4. Constantly disconnecting and reconnecting, same complaints of being told I sound like I’m in a tunnel.

Personally, I even received an email from a dear friend of mine who I had recently convinced to replace her old cell phone with an iPhone 4. Take a look at her first impression after a few days with the phone:

I am enjoying my new phone, however, my boss says when we talk on the phone I sound like I’m in a chamber or under water. It’s sort of garbled. That concerns me.

When I looked into her specific problem, I noticed that she makes phone calls using an Oticon Streamer bluetooth hearing aid. With all the commotion on the forums and a first hand report of the problem it was time to look into the issue ourselves and test the bluetooth connection issues on our own equipment.

To our surprise we were able to replicate the problem right away, using several iPhone 4′s as well as an iPhone 3GS both running on iOS 4.0.1. We weren’t able to replicate the issue on the same iPhone 3GS running on 3.1, however. It seems as if iOS 4 is the culprit here. Hopefully good news for a potential software fix!

To demonstrate the problem, we made a few phone calls via Sony’s MEX-BT3700 bluetooth car receiver and recorded the conversation straight from the receiving headset using professional audio equipment. Listen below for a quick demonstration:

Note, that the issue is intermittent. Both the 2nd and 3rd call were placed on the same iPhone 4, over the same bluetooth unit, within minutes from each other. Also note, that our test presents a best case scenario, as I was reading the poem loud and clear for demonstration purposes. It actually sounds much worse, to the point of being inaudible, during a regular conversation. Clearly, the outgoing audio is getting garbled/muffled over the bluetooth connection in example #3.

And while Apple support seems to be aware of the issue, they did not provide us with a timetable for a potential software fix. Here’s the most official word we were able to get from anyone at Apple:

I have been speaking with the Apple Engineers about the bluetooth issue that you have been having. Along with your issue, I have encountered other issues with bluetooth connections involving the caller’s vehicle bluetooth phone. The Apple Engineers are well aware of the issue and are currently working on the issue at this time. They have not given an accurate timetable on when that software update will be available for the public. – DeMarques Jamison (Apple Support)

To be honest, it’s a little surprising that this issue isn’t getting continued attention from the media, as many drivers rely on their handsfree bluetooth solutions for a safe driving experience. Even worse; the bug truly limits the iPhone for the hard of hearing who must rely on bluetooth hearing devices such as the Oticon Streamer to stay in touch with their families and work.

Rumor has it that iOS 4.1 may fix the problem, but no one really knows. Maybe if we’d pay as much attention to this problem as we did to “antennagate”, Apple would have an incentive to get a fix released rather sooner than later.

We will update this post accordingly as the story develops. In the meantime please let us know in the comments if you’re experiencing bluetooth connection issue with iOS 4 and which headsets you’re using.

PS: Compare the above to this fine demonstration of Thomas Edison recording “Mary Had A Little Lamb” from 1927.

Update [09/01/2010]: Steve Jobs just announced during the Apple Media event that various bluetooth issues will be fixed with iOS 4.1. Hopefully the above will be included. We will update this article as soon as we get our hands on the update. The update will be available next week.

Update [09/15/2010]: It seems that iOS 4.1 has fixed the issues with muffled sound over bluetooth. At least it did for us and one of our commenters (thanks Peter!). If you still have issues with muffled sound after updating to 4.1 (instead of restoring and setting up the phone from scratch — which will definitely fix the issue) you may want to try and “reset all settings” (Settings App -> General -> Reset), then “forget” all of your bluetooth devices one by one (Settings App -> General -> Bluetooth) and re-pair the devices with iOS 4.1. Good luck!

The Muzetto is a line of vertical, messenger bags that are available in sizes from 15.5″ x 11.75″ x 2.7″ for a 15″ Laptop down to 10.5″ x 8.5″ x 1.5″ for personal items. The 10″ Portable Muzetto measures 11.5″ x 9.3″ x 2.0″, which makes it the perfect match for the iPad with some room for additional accessories.

First Impression & Design

The first thing one notices about the Muzetto is how elegant the leather exterior looks and feels. The build is solid and the bag wears very comfortably. The padded shoulder strap is adjustable and should fit most sizes. Also, this bag does not feel like a purse. Quite the opposite. The Muzetto sports a professional, yet stylish, look that will work great with shorts, jeans, or even a suit.

To keep the bag closed WaterField Designs decided to rely solely on the weight of the flap instead of using magnets or zippers. This allows the bag’s contents to be accessible at a moments notice without comprising their safety. I was a bit weary of this concept at first but learned to love it rather quickly when being able to access my wallet from within the bag while riding my bike without having to fumble with any zippers. It’s rather genius, really.

Inside The Bag

The inside of the Muzetto is lined with a gorgoues, bright golden colored fabric, perfectly complementing the elegant exterior. The bag features two separate main compartments, each of which is divided into two smaller sub-spaces. The main compartment fits your iPad (with or without a case) as well as an Apple Bluetooth keyboard, for example. The pocket within this compartment features the bag’s only zipper, making it perfect for important documents such as passports or other travel documents.

The smaller compartment on the front of the bag is lined with soft fleece and will hold various iPad accessories such as chargers, cables, and power adapters. In addition, there’s a square pocket that’s perfect for your wallet or iPhone. We only wish that WaterField Designs would’ve included two of these, so that we wouldn’t have to choose between them.

On the backside of the bag there’s an additional, document sized, slide-in compartment that can fit anything from business papers to travel documents, or a newspaper.

Overall the interior of the Muzetto is very compact while still fitting your most important documents and accessories. If you pack too many items, however, the bag will start to bulge unsightly.

Our biggest gripe with the interior may be the fact that you can’t separate Apple’s bluetooth keyboard from the iPad. Both items fit only into the bag’s main compartment, which could potentially lead to the keyboard scratching up an unprotected iPad. An additional divider would’ve been a nice addition.

If you keep your iPad in a case, or don’t use a separate keyboard, however, this won’t even be an issue for you. Also, WaterField Designs offers a matching, multi-layered ‘SmartCase’ to add an extra layer of protection for $59.

Even though both iPad and keyboard... ... fit, they must share the same compartment.

Comfort & Protection

I’ve seen other reviewers describe the Muzetto as heavy. I didn’t get that impression at all. Weighing in at just a little over 1lb the bag feels solid without compromising comfort. There’s no noticeable fatigue, even after wearing the bag for multiple hours.

In addition, the bag will offer generous iPad protection for light use and travel. If you’re into extreme off-road biking, or other hazardous activities, however, you may want to choose a bulkier bag with thicker protection. (Or get the matching SmartCase mentioned above.) In my opinion, the Muzetto is the perfect trade-off between size, comfort, and protection for the busy city traveler.

The busy city traveler can easily fit his iPad office into the Portable Muzetto.

Bottom Line – Our Recommendation

The 10″ Portable Muzetto is a compact messenger bag without frill or fuss, making it the perfect choice if mobility is a priority. The Muzetto will fit your iPad, iPhone, Keyboard, important accessories, as well as your most important documents for the day. In addition, the professional look & feel will also appeal to many guys out there.

The 10″ portable Muzetto will cost you $189 plus shipping and is currently available for pre-order in six different colors at sfbags.com. It’s not the cheapest iPad bag out there, but at least you know that you’ll be paying for quality. Go for it!

Pros:

• Elegant look & feel
• Compact, yet practical
• Contents are easily accessible
• Comfortable
• Sturdy
• Fits iPad, keyboard, documents, as well as a few accessories

Cons:

• Apple Keyboard and iPad must be placed within the same compartment
• Only one front pocket
• A bit pricey

The series will be broken down into four parts: “Going Paperless”, “Organizing Time”, “Keeping Track of Bills & Payments”, and “Accessing Screen/Files From Anywhere”. Each part will be a mix of workflow suggestions, as well as software & hardware review.

A fair warning: The series is written with a somewhat serious office warrior in mind. Hence, our focus isn’t as much on price but usability. If you’re running a business, however, these products will help you stay on top and you’ll be able to expense them at the end of the year. So keep your receipts!

For now, let’s dive right in. First up:

Going Paperless

You’ve probably known for a while, that digitizing all the paperwork in your drawers would make life a lot easier. Still you’ve never come around to actually implement a paperless workflow. The challenge seems to big. It doesn’t have to be! With the right tools you can digitize your entire paper office without much pain or fuss.

That being said, a sensible solution should offer the following:

• Quick & easy scanning to PDF
• Broad file format support
• Preserving original documents
• OCR (Optical Character Recognition) engine
• Multiple database support
• Folder, subfolder, & smart-folder support
• Mobile access/syncing
• Easy exporting
• Active development & user community

Also: Only a solid workflow that seamlessly integrates hardware and software will keep you going throughout the year. Therefore, we’re going to review a combination of DEVONthink Pro and Fujitsu’s ScanSnap S1300.¹

DEVONthink Pro

There are a few solutions for the Mac to organize your digital documents. DEVONthink, Paperless, and Evernote being just a few of the more well known contenders. In our opinion, however, all of them, beside DEVONthink Pro, fall short in one or more of our pre-requisites.

While Evernote can trump with a strong user interface, ease of use, OCR support, and syncing across all important devices (Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, and Android), it can’t replace a paper-workflow for anything but the smallest home-office. For one, Evernote doesn’t support sub-folders, which become crucial once your database grows. More serious, however, is the fact that Evernote imports all documents into its own proprietary file format making it almost impossible to migrate the documents to another solution in the future. Also, there may be privacy issues since all documents are saved on Evernote’s servers in the cloud. The basic version is free and easy to use, however, so I still recommend using it for quick documents on the go such as flight inteniaries and travel plans.

Evernote Screenshot

Paperless seemed liked a great solution a few years ago. Its simple user interface is easy to understand and all documents remain untouched. It also supports multiple databases so you can keep your personal documents separate from you business. However, Mariner Software has fallen behind both in terms of user interface and features. Paperless still doesn’t support subfolders, OCR (for anything but receipts), or syncing of any kind, for example. More serious: Paperless can’t search through anything  but titles and keywords. So even if you make your documents searchable with a third party solution, it won’t do you any good in Paperless.

Paperless Screenshot

Which leads us to DEVONthink. The software from DEVONtechnologies comes in three flavors: Personal ($49.95), Professional ($79.95), and Pro Office ($149.95). We tested the Pro Office version which adds OCR engine, Fujitsu SnapScan Support, and a web server. Depending on your needs you may get away with using the cheaper, professional version, however. (For your OCR needs you could use the SnapScan engine for example — more on that later.)

DEVONthink Screenshot

At first sight, DEVONthink can appear a little overwhelming due to its broad usage scenarios. It can be applied to note-taking, research, bibliographies, and document organization. The initial time investment is well worth it, however, as it will pay off with great flexibility in the years to come.

First of all, DEVONthink lets you manage multiple databases so you can keep your personal office separate from your business(es). Secondly, it’s the only program we tested that supports folders, sub-folders, and smart-folders. Let me illustrate why this is so important:

You’re a freelance web designer. You need to organize your invoices for tax purposes but also need a quick way to separate paid from outstanding invoices. For your tax records you can simply set up a yearly subfolder structure within your “Invoice” folder. To keep track of unpaid invoices you tag them with a keyword such as “due”. A smart-folder can now collect all invoices independently from the folder structure they reside in. Once the invoices have been paid, you simply remove the keyword and the invoices disappear from the smart-folder. Your specific usage scenarios may vary, but the example illustrates why having these options is important.

DEVONthink Pro can also OCR your documents during import. This will create searchable PDF documents so you are not constraint to title or keyword search. If you prefer to have your scanner (or Adobe Acrobat Pro) do all the OCR work for you (more on that later) it’s possible to disable this option in the settings.

A searchable PDF allows you to highlight, copy, and search text in scanned documents.

A genius little tool for your paperless workflow is the DEVONthink “Sorter”. Connect the Sorter to specific groups in your databases and drop documents or clippings to them even when DEVONthink is not running or hidden from view. Similarly, DEVONthink places a link to your main inbox into the Finder’s sidebar. Quickly drag and drop files onto this shortcut and sort the files into their specific folders whenever you have some time to spare.

The DEVONthink sorter DEVONthink script support

Once you’re ready to take your paperless office to the next level, DEVONthink also allows almost each aspect of the workflow to be automated via integrated Apple Script support. While this may not be your cup of tea, it’s nice to know that you could expand in that direction. The active and well moderated (great experience, actually!) user forum will help you to get started.

DEVONthink isn’t perfect, however, and there are a few shortcomings that we’d like to see addressed in a future release.

While you can access all of your documents — on the go — through DEVONthink’s integrated web-server (any device running Safari, including iPhone and iPad, works), the experience isn’t nearly as slick as Evernote’s synchronization service. First of all, the computer running your DEVONthink database must be turned on at all times to access the files. Secondly, novice users may find it difficult to set-up port forwarding on their routers. A static IP or a free service such as DynDNS is also strongly recommended. Lastly, there is no offline access to your database.

The DEVONthink web interface can be accessed from any computer running Safari. Above: A screenshot from the iPad.

Once the server is up and running, however, one can not only view and download, but also upload files from the easy-to-use web-interface. Still, it’s a far cry from optional cloud storage and native iPhone/iPad support. Eric Böhnisch-Volkmann, president of DEVONtechnologies assured us, however, that native iPhone/iPad support and some sort of MobileMe supported iDisk syncing will be forthcoming in a future update.

Another gripe with DEVONthink is the fact that there’s no easy way to change a document’s creation date once it has been imported into the database. This is a glaring shortcoming for anyone who needs to organize files by date and doesn’t always create PDF’s on the day the documents were issued or received. Only when you scan documents directly into DEVONthink do you get a chance to enter a custom date. Mr. Böhnisch-Volkmann states that this “omission” is actually a “feature” since some government agencies may not allow date-changes for paperless workflows.

Fortunately, there’s a nerdy workaround: Remember those action scripts? This is a perfect scenario for them. Download this small action script and place it into: YourUserFolder/Library/Application Support/DEVONthink Pro 2/Scripts/Dates/. Now highlight the document(s) you’d like to change and select Scripts/Date/Set Date from the DEVONthink menu bar. Enter a new date and you’re done.

Dates can be changed through apple script support.

Also, don’t rely on DEVONthink to password protect your database. Even though, you can enter a username and password for each database, this only takes effect through the DEVONthink user interface. A skilled individual could easily get to your documents through the finder with a simple “show package contents” command. According to Mr. Böhnisch-Volkmann the company is aware of this issue and they are working on an optional encryption solution. For now, important documents should be password protected through Adobe Acrobat Pro or Preview. Alternatively, one could create an encrypted DMG file (via Disk Utility) and place the database within this protected shell.

Even though DEVONthink isn’t perfect, it is among the best if you’re serious about eliminating every single piece of paper in your office. Fortunately, the team behind DEVONthink is very responsive to community concerns and seems to be working hard on improving an already strong solution.

DevonThink Professional Office can be purchased for $149.95 directly from the DEVONtechnologies website. A 30 day trial is available as well to get you started.

ScanSnap S1300

I can’t stress enough how much of the success of your paperless office will be based on an excellent document scanner. While you may be able to put up with a standard-mill “all-in-one” solution during your initial enthusiasm, you will catch yourself pushing paperwork to an ever growing “to-do” stack once daily routine kicks in. Unless the scanning and archiving process takes as little effort as possible, this WILL happen rather sooner than later.

And while we would love to receive all documents digitally, this unfortunately won’t be a reality for many years to come. Also: It’s probably a good idea to start archiving your existing paperwork. Hence, we need a quick and easy way to get all these pesky paper documents into our DEVONthink databases.

This is where the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 comes into play.

The ScanSnap S1300 is a small, lightweight paper-feed scanner that takes up very little space on your desk; perfect for any small office setup. Furthermore, it can be powered via USB so you can take it with you on the road. The ScanSnap S1300 is also a breeze to set up. Simply install the provided software, connect the scanner, and you’re ready to get scanning.

DEVONthink Pro will automatically recognize the scanner and offer to set-up a custom tailored profile for your ScanSnap. Simply select this profile, insert a stack of papers, and press the blue button. ScanSnap will immediately start to scan all the pages into a single PDF document and hand it off to DEVONthink Pro where it will run through the OCR engine and ask you to title, date, and file the document. Done!

The ScanSnap S1300 is a small, lightweight paper-feed scanner.

To take full advantage of the scanner, you can (and should) create additional custom profiles. A “receipt” profile which will turn every scanned page into its own PDF document turns out to be quite helpful for example. In addition, you can also set the software to omit empty pages (often the case with double sided scanning) automatically.

Another great option is to set the scanning resolution to “automatic” which will scan smaller documents at a higher resolution. This is important since the S1300 allows you to scan documents with different sizes in one batch.

Additional profiles can be created quickly in the ScanSnap Manager.

The scanner’s best feature, however, is its incredible speed and reliability. Not only does the ScanSnap S1300 support double sided scanning, it also scans documents at an approximate speed of 8-16 pages per minute. Even long documents (ever gotten a receipt from Ikea?) are no problem for the ScanSnap S1300. Simply press the blue button for three seconds and even long documents are scanned with ease.

Take look at the short video below to see the ScanSnap S1300 and DEVONthink Pro in action:

It’s this effortless scanning experience that will keep you motivated to continuously digitize your paperwork.

And even though we were extremely impressed with the S1300 we did notice a few shortcomings worth mentioning:

You can’t scan Credit Cards, or similar plastic documents. These require a flatbed scanner. Also, the ScanSnap S1300 only supports 10 sheets at a time. Hardly enough if you’re running a large office, with rows of paper cabinets.  If that’s an issue for you, you may want to take a look at Fujitsu’s ScanSnap S1500M which can process up to 50 sheets at a time. We weren’t able to test the unit at this time, however, so proceed on your own risk.

Also, slim paper receipts often “jumped” over the adjustable side-sliders during scanning. This either jammed the paper feed or resulted in diagonal scans. More often than not the auto-rotation feature of the ScanSnap Manager was able to put everything back into perspective during post-processing, however. Still, a more rugged pair of side-sliders would have been a nice addition.

The side-sliders are a little to shallow to hold slim receipts in place.

The OCR engine for both the ScanSnap and DEVONthink seemed to perform equally well in our test, by the way. Still, I found that Adobe Acrobat Pro tended to do a slightly better job at smaller file sizes. Hence, if you already own Acrobat Pro you may want to include this handy little script in your workflow as well. Simply drag and drop multiple PDF files onto this script and Acrobat will not only OCR, but also compress the files automatically. This is an additional step, but may be well worth your time if file size and marginally higher OCR accuracy are important to you. For me the DEVONthink Pro engine was good enough, however.

In conclusion, the results of the quick and reliable ScanSnap S1300 in combination with the feature-laden DEVONthink Professional Office are hard to beat. Once set up and configured to your liking it is possible and — perhaps even more importantly — fun to maintain a paperless office with minimal effort.

Unlike paper documents, which are only accessible in one place at a time, you now have access to every single document right at your fingertips on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, no matter when and where you may need them.

So, do yourself a favor and get rid of the paper!

The ScanSnap S1300 is available on Amazon for $264.99

Questions, thoughts, or comments? Contact me on Twitter @eierund and I’ll be in touch.

Next up: Part II: Organizing Your Time [Things for Mac/iPhone/iPad Review]

1. Link to Amazon Associate Account

As most of the country is still drowning in a blanket of snow, riding your bike is probably a far distant memory for you (unless you live in California of course). But soon enough the first rays of sunshine will break the dark skies and you’ll be joyfully riding down the street, listening to music on your iPhone, until:

*DING*

Text message alert! Should you check? Overcome by curiosity you’ll probably wiggle your iPhone out of that tight jeans pocket, almost losing balance, as a car whooshes right by your side. Even though you know better, this is probably a familiar scenario if you’re an avid bike rider with an iPhone.

What you need is a mount — right in sight — on the handle bar of your bicycle. Surprisingly, however, there aren’t many great choices out there. So, we’ll be taking a look at one of the newest contestants: Dahon’s Biologic Bike Mount for iPhone.

The Dahon bike mount ships with two parts: A snap-on iPhone case and a matching mount that you’ll have to install on your bike’s handle bar. Installation is fairly easy with the included allen wrench, even though the instructions aren’t very well detailed. Once the mount is installed, however, all you have to do is place your iPhone into the case, close the lid, lock the latch, and snap the enclosure in and out of the mount as you get on and off your bike.

The case itself encloses the iPhone entirely in a weatherproof case leaving the touch screen operable through a clear, touch sensitive plastic window. Don’t expect to write a novel with the lid closed, however, as you do loose some precision through the plastic, needing to press substantially harder for the iPhone to recognize your inputs. Basic operations such as unlocking the screen, changing a song, or switching to another application, work just fine, however.

In addition the case provides full (weatherproof) access to the headphone jack, home button, on/off switch, and the camera. You can’t, however, operate the mute switch or volume controls. You’ll need to resort to your headset’s volume control buttons instead.

The designers also allowed a little bit of extra “chin” on the bottom of the case, so you can connect the iPhone via USB cable to a battery pack (such as the ZAGGsparq) for extended rides.

The case exterior is plastic, with the inside lined in a thin blanket of rubber for weather isolation and shock absorption. While the design feels mostly solid, the case latch, as well as the headphone jack cover seem a bit flimsy. And while the latch hasn’t given us any problems yet, the little headphone-cover-stub tore off just a few weeks into testing the unit.

What’s really terrific about this enclosure, however, is that your precious iPhone feels absolutely safe during every ride — even on the toughest of terrains. Unlike our experience with most open-case mounts we weren’t even worried once that the phone might go uncontrollably flying off the handle bar. In addition, you can rotate the phone between vertical and horizontal orientation on the fly.

Unfortunately, the designers overlooked to include a plastic window in place of the iPhone’s ambient light sensor. Because this sensor is blocked with the lid closed, the iPhone will dim the screen brightness as if it were in complete darkness, making the screen hard to read in direct sunlight. As a workaround you can disable “Auto-Brightness” on the iPhone.

All taken into consideration, Dahon’s Biologic Bike Mount is the best solution we’ve come across so far. While it’s definitely got some first generation flaws — with a price too steep for a few inches of plastic — it’s absolutely worth the money if you’re an avid biker in need of quick access to your iPhone. And while $50 is in fact a little more expensive than most bike-mount solutions out there, the Biologic mount is the only one we feel comfortable recommending for your iPhone’s safety.

Combined with an application such as Cyclemeter ($4.99 – iTunes link), the Biologic Bike Mount makes for a powerful and versatile bike computer.

You can order the Biologic Bike Mount on Amazon for $49.99.

Pros:

• Solid protection
• Weather proof design
• Touch screen access
• Access to most ports and buttons
• Supports charging cable
• Camera access

Cons:

• Price
• Headphone jack cover tears off easily
• Limited touch screen precision
• Case blocks ambient light sensor

Questions or comments? Let me know: @eierund on twitter.

PS: We’re giving away three download codes for Cyclemeter (iTunes link) courtesy of Abvio. Comment below which bicycle you’ll be riding this summer to enter the competition. (US-Store only. Ends 02/25/2010. Be sure to include your email.)

Order Biologic Bike Mount for Iphone