Latest Posts in From the Lab

Review: Canon Pixma MP480 multifunction device

The Pixma MP480 closes up into a tidy box to keep the dust out.

Canon’s Pixma MP480 is an inexpensive multifunction ink-jet printer with an integrated flatbed scanner and copier. This basic all-in-one unit doesn’t have all of the fancy features found on some of the MFPs we've tested recently, like integrated fax capabilities, an automatic document feeder, or wireless connectivity; but the MP480 proved to be a very capable device in all of its functions.

Easy to set up and install, the light gray and black MP480 is both compact and attractive. It connects to your Mac via USB 2.0 and uses two ink cartridges, one black and one tri-color (cyan, magenta, and yellow).

Review: HP Deskjet D2545 ink-jet printer

In a market where competition is fierce to create an affordable yet functional printer that can appeal to even the most casual user, HP has upped the ante by introducing the Deskjet D2545, an inexpensive ink-jet printer that’s also environmentally friendly.

The D2545 is comprised of 83 percent recycled plastic and costs $45. Considering how wasteful ink cartridges are, it’s also reassuring that the D2545’s cartridges are also made from recycled plastic resins. Replacing your ink will set you back $30, which is about average for printers like the D2545, but seems expensive when you realize that for another $15 you could just replace the printer itself—but that would sort of defeat the purpose of buying a printer made from mostly recycled material.

HP's DeskJet D2545

Review: FreeAgent Go for Mac portable hard drive

The FreeAgent Go for Mac is an external hard drive built by storage giant Seagate that promises fast FireWire 800 transfer speeds, spacious storage, and a stylish (if bulky) white and aluminum design meant to compliment the Mac.

The FreeAgent Go comes formatted for the Mac, is Time Machine-ready right out of the box, and is available at 250GB ($160) and 320GB ($190) capacities. We tested the 250GB FreeAgent Go Drive equipped with FireWire 800 and USB 2.0; while it lacks a FireWire 400 port, the FreeAgent Go does include an adapter cable for connecting the drive's FireWire 800 port to a FireWire 400 connector on your Mac.

Seagate's FreeAgent Go

Review: FreeAgent Desk for Mac external hard drive

Seagate’s FreeAgent Desk for Mac 1TB FireWire 800 external hard drive is designed to be a stylish storage solution for your desktop. Time Machine-ready and formatted for the Mac right out of the box, it’s ideal for backing up files, storing photos, or providing more storage space when your internal drive fills up.

While many drives ship formatted for Windows and need to be reformatted by the user for optimal performance on a Mac, the FreeAgent Desk drives are Mac-formatted out of the box. The FreeAgent Desk is available in 500GB, 1TB (tested), and 1.5TB capacities. Seagate also offers a portable FreeAgent Go that has the convenience of a compact drive and the ability to run without external power, but tops out at 250GB and provides slower performance than the FreeAgent Desk.

Seagate's FreeAgent Desk.

Designed to complement Apple’s aluminum design, the FreeAgent Desk looks like it fits right in on your desktop. In the back are multiple ports, including one for USB 2.0 and two for FireWire 800. The FreeAgent Desk also includes a FireWire 800-to-FireWire 400 cable, so you can connect to a FireWire 400 port on your Mac-a nice bonus. An LED indicates when the FreeAgent Desk is on, but doesn’t blink to denote drive activity.

Review: Sanyo Xacti HD1010

Sanyo Xacti HD1010

Sanyo’s Xacti VPC-HD1010 is a high-definition camcorder that’s much smaller than your typical HD model, making it ideal for carrying with you around town. In fact, I found the VPC-HD1010 to be an exciting little device, full of features and capable of capturing impressive videos and still photos.

When I picked up the VPC-HD1010, the first thing I noticed was its solid feel. It weighs 11 ounces with the battery, and you hold it as you would a pistol. The 2.7-inch LCD opens up and extends out like LCDs typically do on camcorders. It’s interesting to note that despite the VPC-HD1010’s small design, its LCD is just as large as those found on regular-sized HD camcorders like Canon’s Vixia HF10 ().

Review: Drobo with FireWire 800 storage system

When the original USB Drobo was released, it made a big splash, and even earned an Editors’ Choice Award. The sturdy little black box that quickly and efficiently organizes your hard drives to give you a continuous large pool of storage struck a chord. Now, the Drobo with FireWire 800 promises to do everything its predecessor promised, but faster. The Drobo is an easy-to-use device for anyone concerned about hard-drive failure and storage space. The device also works well for Time Machine backups, archiving, or storing large music, video, or picture collections.

The Drobo uses a simplified RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) technology to protect against drive failure. The device has slots for up to four Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives. Unlike with other RAID systems, the capacities of the drives do not have to match. Just plug in any four SATA drives, and Drobo will automatically set them up into what appears to you as a single, large volume on your desktop. Drobo performs data redundancy that allows you to upgrade a drive or install a replacement drive effortlessly.

An easy-to-understand light system (green, yellow, red) tells you the status of each drive, while a blue LED display tells you in 10 percent increments how much storage space the Drobo has left. If you start to run out of space, you can simply pull out your lowest-capacity drive and replace it with a larger capacity disk. Drobo will recognize the increased storage capacity on-the-fly and start rebuilding your volume in the background while you continue to have access to your data. Likewise, if a drive were to fail, you can swap in a new drive without losing any data. 

Review: Oki C6150dn color printer

Oki's C6150dn color printer.

Oki’s C6150dn is a workgroup color printer ideal for churning out fast prints in an office setting. The C6150dn comes with built-in 10/100 Ethernet for easy office network connectivity. Alternatively, you can connect through a USB 2.0 port to make the C6150dn a personal desktop printer, though at a bulky 57 pounds, you’ll need to have a pretty big desk.

Instead of conventional laser printing, the C6150dn uses a light emitting diode (LED) printhead. While laser printers rely on combinations of mirrors and lenses and many moving parts, LED printheads employ a solid-state setup that remains stationary. Both laser and LED printers use toner, and if you compare the output, you won’t recognize any differences. Oki offers a five-year warranty for the printhead.

Review: Epson Stylus NX400 multifunction printer

Epson’s Stylus NX400 is an inexpensive ink-jet multifunction device that can print, scan, and copy documents and photos. It attaches to your Mac via USB 2.0, though many of the NX400’s features can be used without a computer thanks to its flash memory card slots and PictBridge USB port.

The NX400 uses four pigment-based inks, each housed in an individual ink tank; you can replace the individual empty cartridges as needed. The inks dry instantly, and prints can be handled as soon as they exit the printer. The prints are smudge, water, and fade resistant. The only downside is that printed photos have a prominent glare when viewed off-angle. The photos look fine when viewed straight on.

Epson's Stylus NX400.

Though not billed as a professional-quality photo printer, the NX400 received a Very Good rating from our panel of editors who judged the image quality. The prints had bright and pleasing colors that tended to be a little on the red side. Under close inspection, photos had some visible dots in some light areas of the prints, but nothing out of the ordinary for this class of printer. Our graphics and fine line test prints, as well as text tests, earned the NX400 Very Good ratings as well.

Review: Canon Selphy CP770 portable photo printer

The Selphy CP770 sits atop a bucket-like container to store cables, paper, and more.

Sporting a clever bucket design that allows for easy packing of cords and extra media, Canon's Selphy CP770 is a streamlined portable photo printer with an optional battery that can print with or without being connected to a computer. You can easily print directly from SD, Memory Stick, or CompactFlash memory cards and cameras, or connect a USB cable and print from your Mac.

The CP770 is a dye sublimation printer, using a printing process that's different than what you get with a typical desktop printer. An ink-jet cartridge's page yield will vary depending on your prints, but a dye-sub printer employs cassettes that contain a specific amount of colored cellophane ribbon to print a set number of prints per roll. For $30, Canon sells a 108-photo roll and paper pack, which means you'll pay about $0.28 per print. To get an idea of how that fares against an ink-jet photo printer, Epson's $149 PictureMate Dash PM 260 uses an ink-jet cartridge system, and its glossy Print Pack, which includes paper and ink, costs $38 for 150 prints, about $0.26 per print. Online photo processing can be much cheaper, if less convenient; Snapfish, for example charges just $0.09 per 4-by-6-inch photo.

Review: OWC Mercury Pro Dual Layer disc burner

The DVD burners in the iMac (8X write speed for DVD±R) and the Mac Pro (16X write speed for DVD±R) aren’t the fastest on the market. There’s actually a mechanism created by Samsung that can write DVD±R at 20X, and it’s found in OWC’s Mercury Pro DVD-/+RW Samsung Super Writemaster 20X External DVD burner.

While 20X DVD media isn’t readily available, the Mercury Pro can burn certain 16X DVD±R media at 20X; not all 16X DVD±R media can handle the 20X speed. The Mercury Pro also adds LightScribe to the mix, a feature that allows you to etch a monochrome label onto your discs. The catch is that it can take some time to complete the etching process—up to half an hour—and you can only etch labels onto LightScribe-compatible media. According to OWC, LightScribe in the Mercury Pro works only when the drive is connected to your Mac via USB.

OWC's Mercury Pro Dual Layer DVD-/+RW Samsung Super Writemaster 20X.