Quick Review: Logitech Bluetooth Easy-Switch Keyboard K811

Today I am going to give a quick review of the Logitech Bluetooth Easy-Switch Keyboard  also known as the K811 keyboard. If you ever wanted the same illuminated glowing feature of the Macbook for your desktop, this is the keyboard to get. It retails for $99 but can be had for $60-80 when shopped aggressively.

This is a pretty slick keyboard. It is roughly the same size as the Apple wireless bluetooth keyboard.

Design wise, it is plastic with an real aluminum front plate finish. The aluminum is a nice touch and not some faux painted plastic. The black on silver is reminiscent of the current Macbook island keyboards.
It is pretty slim as well.

What makes this keyboard so great are:
- USB charging. No more replacing AA batteries. It uses standard micro-USB.

- 3 device Bluetooth pairing. I love this feature. With a switch of a key-press, you can toggle this between computers and devices. I have this paired with my iMac, 13" Macbook and iPad. It takes less than a second to switch over between the devices. I simply love this! This alone makes me want to replace all my keyboards at my various locations. It is so convenient to switch between my iPad and iMac at any given time.

- backlight keyboard. The thing glows at night! This alone is one of the key selling feature.



Overall, I dig this keyboard. The incurve keys are evenly space with some good tactile feel. It feels like a Macbook keyboard and is much better than Apple's own.

Here is a comparison picture to see how this would fit in with your Apple gear. I think they should have make it more subdued without the logo and black bar on top. Otherwise, it is a very handsome design.

And a few pictures at night where this device really shines.

Late night work on the iPad is a pleasure with this keyboard!

Link: http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/illuminated-keyboard-for-mac-ipad-iphone

Waiting for Chromebook refresh

Rumor has it that there will be a new, updated quad-core Exynos Samsung Chromebook announced at Google I/O in the next few weeks.

I've been really tempted to get the current one for tinkering. Why? Why not. I am not interesting in cheap x86 netbooks you can get for the same price. Sure, a few of you can point to some nice 11.6 ASUS touchscreen ones for a few bucks more. Moreover, I already have enough laptops lying around. What interests me is the ARM architecture; running anything but INTEL. I really just want a super light-weight, portable, long battery device to do some MySQL work locally. I'm currently using an iPad w/ keyboard SSH remotely. It works but I prefer to run something locally.

I don't know if I could deal with just Chrome OS. I've been playing with it under VM and I can't see myself using it full time even with developer mode and cruoton. I've also been paying attention to the latest Linux kernel support and running Linux on those books in general. Things are progressing to a point where full-time ARM linux desktop is viable.

Lets see! I may pop for one in the next few weeks. If the new one is compelling, I may get it. If not, I', heading over Best Buy to get the current one open-box at discount. They get a high return rate so there are plenty of open-box returns at great prices.

Short Review: Kanex DualRole portable Gigabit plus 3 port USB 3.0 hub

Here is an interesting little gadget for the road-warrior.

Kanex DualRole Gigabit Ethernet + 3-port USB 3.0 hub. Designed with Macbook users in mind, it is a small portable USB 3.0 hub with a VIA USB 3.0 controller and a fairly popular ASIX AX88179 USB 3.0 to Gigabit chipset. These are currently shipping for $50 on Amazon.

I've dealt with this type of hardware before in other hubs and USB 3.0 gigabit adapters. So the performance is pretty much standard fare if you ever used a VIA USB 3.0/ASIX gigabit adapter. What makes this device unique is the packaging and portability.

I previously toted a Thunderbolt Gigabit or another ASIX USB gigabit adapter along with several SSD drives in my backpack. I've been trying to slim my carry-on weight down so I've been investing in 64GB USB sticks to substitute for 2.5" SSD shuttle drives. Other four port USB 3.0 hubs I have tend to be bulky so this pretty much solves my problem. I figure this is something to have in the bag in the event I need it.

The hub has 3 ports instead on the usual four but I would often end up using the fourth port for Gigabit anyways.  Since I already have four other ASIX gigabit dongles, this one was a plug-n-plug for me. If this is your first USB 3.0 Gigabit adapter, you will need to install thew pre-requisite ASIX 88179  drivers.

Overall, I really like it. I wish it had an aluminum finish instead of the mid-2000s iMac/White iBook white finish.  The ports are fairly evenly space and you will be able to add some thick USB devices. Still, I wish the ports were a little further spread apart like some of the cheap 4 port Anker USB 3.0 hubs. For example, in the picture below, I could not add two Patriot XT sticks side by side. With different arrangements, I can still all use three ports.

There is no extra USB cable to plug in which is nice. The short cable folds in when not in use. I've read some complaints about the length of the short cable. If you are using this mobile as pictured above, it shouldn't be a problem. However, if you use this in a docked desk environments, I can see where people can complain. Below is a picture of how it dangles when connected to a Macbook on a desk stand like the mStand.

Next, it does not come with an aux power adapter. It does have a hole for an AC power adapter if you plan to power something that requires a little more juice like some 2.5" 7200 rpm drives. This is fine with me since I would only be using this as a mobile gadget.

Conclusion:

I think this is a fair price item. Most USB 3.0 four port hubs cost as little as $30 and a USB 3.0 gigabit adapter will run you $20-$30 on how aggressively you discount shop. The lack of a fourth port is made up with the Gigabit adapter. It uses the standard VIA and ASIX controller IC which works well with other products. I personally love the small footprint and short cable for portability reasons. However, I can see where people would prefer a longer cable in a docked desk environment.

The current competitors are SIIG and Startech. They cost a bit more ($60-$90) and are not as portable as the Kanex. They also use bulky longer USB cable which makes them more suited for a permanent docked desk environment. The SIIG and Startech USB3.0 combo Gigabit hub below. Another alternative are the DisplayLink PC USB 3.0 docking stations. They run $150 and up and provide USB 3.0 video which I don't need.

Windows RT Firesale

Looks like Windows RT devices are hitting firesale pricing.
$99. Not a bad price.

Original thread on Slickdeals.

Running ESXi5 as a VM guests inside a Macbook

I really didn't think this was possible - running a VM hosting another VM.

Yep. That is a few layers deep.

I was able to run VMware ESXi 5.0 Hypervisor server inside my Mac via VMware Fusion. Virtualized ESXi was able to host and run an Ubuntu LAMP server. I managed the ESXi server from a VM Windows XP. Under XP, I could easily load up and deploy my OVA provisioned guests in a virtual network.

Impressive.
If this is all greek to you, I am running a Virtual data-center off my Macbook. ESXi is an popular Hypervisor server that hosts VM (Virtual machines).  I can do all my development on a Mac platform and test my provisioning virtually. The VM runs fairly responsive due to the fast SSD and Thunderbolt.

A portable data-center and development environment right here folks! I am making use of that 2880x1800 resolution screen as you can see below!

From the loo no less.

Running OS 9 on a 15 inch Macbook Retina Pro at 2880x1800

Yes, it is possible to run Mac OS 9 Classic via Sheepshaver on a retina Macbook Pro. In fact, you can run it at 2880x1800. Nerdy indeed!

LapDock 100 update

A few weeks ago, I  got a Motorola LapDock 100 in the hopes of using it as an external HDMI monitor like the original Atrix lapdock. Apparently, the newer ones (100 & 500) have some electronic authentication that Motorola implemented. The older Atrix docks were great as dumb monitors.

These new ones are a bit more complicated.

After getting a bunch of cables and adapters, I came to same conclusion a few people had. The unit only powers up for 8 seconds and shuts down. 

Pictured here below, I was able to get a signal from the HDMI output of my Macbook Pro. Then it shuts off.

Fortunately, I was able to sell mine on craigslist and found a willing buyer very quickly. Good luck to those who want to use the LapDock 100 for their hacking causes.

I'll be getting an original Atrix LapDock.