NEWS – As photographers and filmmakers, we always want and need to “push the envelope” to get the next photo or footage that is better than anything we previously shot. In many cases, we seek locations that are “off the grid” and away from any power source. These locations usually offer scenery and beauty that would even captivate some of the most disinterested people.
The problem that we constantly face, is trying to carry all of the equipment that we think we would need and having the ability to power and recharge much of it.
Enter the RIVER Bank power module. According to the manufacturer, the main module coupled with one of their stackable booster modules can provide an impressive number of charges as well as useful continuous power. The main module comes with a 99.16Wh battery, 2 USB ports, 2 USB-C ports and a QI wireless charging pad. Depending on with booster module you pair it with, you can add even greater capabilities. The Car Booster module adds an additional 44.4Wh along with a USB-C port and a Jump Start port. The AC Booster adds an additional 99.16Wh, a USB-C port, and a 100W AC port. The charging capabilities include charging a laptop 2 to 4 times, a cell phone 18 to 30 times, jump-starting a car up to 10 times, running a projector for over 5 hours, etc.
The River Bank module seems to be a really innovative device and if the specifications are true, it would be a great asset in the field. If you are interested in purchasing one, you can pre-order on the Ecoflow website. The main module sells for $199 and the additional modules for $295 each, with a bundle package of all 3 available for $390.
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REVIEW – The classic leather briefcase never goes out of style, does it? Today we’re checking out the Burkley Leather Business Briefcase, a classy leather brief for the business minimalist. How does it do in our testing? Let’s go to work!
What is it?
It’s a minimalist leather briefcase sized for tablets and laptops up to 13”.
Dimensions : 14.5″ x 11″ x 2.75″
Weight: 15 ounces
Material : Top Grain Burnished Tan Genuine Leather, felt interior
Removable adjustable shoulder strap
Leather handles
Reinforced corners and metal feet
Gunmetal finish hardware
Design and features
The design of the Burkley Leather Business Briefcase is simple, elegant, and focused. It’s a good looking piece of gear that will dress up your business look, even if you’re going a bit more casual:
There’s some lovely detail work in the assembly of this briefcase. The primary material a lightweight vegetable tanned leather with a light grey felt interior. The trim work and finishing is tight, and the stitching looks good from all angles. Gunmetal hardware used throughout the bag pairs nicely with the burnished tan leather in my tester. Reinforced corners, and metal studs on the base round out the body work. Toss in the (tastefully sized) embossed buffalo Burkley logo, and you have a very attractive package. Check out some of the detail work:
The form factor is that of a top loading brief, with the zips that travel 8” down the sides of the bag for easy access to the interior. All of your storage is in the main compartment, which features matching 14” x 9” x 1.25” laptop/tablet pockets, a pair of 6” by 6” thin pockets, and two pen loops sized for thin writing utensils (like the Apple Pencil). Here’s are pics of the interior faces. Note that the nice finishing work carries through to the felt pockets:
Two carry options round out the design of the Burkley Leather Business Briefcase. A pair of substantial leather carry handles are used for briefcase-style carry. The detachable shoulder strap is made from a copper-colored nylon weave with a generous 52” adjustable length. There’s no shoulder pad, but the 1.5” wide strap is more than comfortable given the weight of the bag (15 ounces unloaded). Attachment points are offset with one on each side of the zip, which aids in keeping the bag closer to your body in over-the-shoulder or cross-body carry maneuvers.
In Use
If you’re looking to make an impression when you walk into the boardroom, this bag will do the job. The timeless silhouette is all class, and you won’t look like a wandering Sherpa hauling your massive gear bag into that meeting. It’s also got great usability. Everything is simple, easily accessible, and functions flawlessly. The pockets are just the right size and texture to slide items in and out easily without a lot of fumbling. I especially like the twin (and equal sized) laptop/tablet pockets on the interior. Specialty pockets in a small bag like this would limit my options. With this setup, I can run with a laptop and my big ol’ iPad Pro, or swap either out for a smaller iPad and/or notebooks as needed without compromising the remaining available space. This is good.
On the flip side, minimal means leaving all of your extra junk at home. Lean and mean is the packing style for this bag. It will accommodate a 13” MacBook and/or a tablet (up to an IPad Pro with the Apple keyboard and case), plus a notebook… but there’s not much room to spare after that. I have a think organizer pouch in there for little bits. You could toss some little items in there in the remaining space (like a smaller power brick), but that’s about it.
Here’s the thing: at a mere 15 ounces and a small carry volume, it’s ridiculously easy to toss about. It’s great for being on the go, provided you don’t need all of your extra stuff with you.
If there’s one area of concern for me, it’s in the potential durability of the leather. I’m already starting to see some wear in one of the corners, just a few weeks in:
See that light color starting to show through? That means that the leather (and the dye job) is really thin. While the bag is beautifully finished and assembled, I’m concerned that the leather doesn’t match up to the $299 retail price on this bag. The 90-day warranty (manufacturer’s defects only) is also pretty light. If this was a cheaper bag I’d be less concerned… but you have many, many buying options at the $300 price point. I’ll also do some more extensive durability test in the coming weeks to see how it holds up!
What I like
Elegant style and classic good looks
Super lightweight
Great finishing touches
Minimalist design with excellent day-to-day usability
What needs to be improved
The thin leather may lead to long-term wear issues
Concerns about value relative to the selling price
Final thoughts
The Burkley Leather Business Briefcase is a beautiful, well-executed brief that will fit the bill if you’re looking to upscale your business style. You can’t go wrong on the classic looks and excellent usability of this bag. The thin leather, however, raises some durability concerns for me if you beat your bags up. We’ll see how it holds up under long-term testing!
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NEWS – When you think of technology, you probably don’t think ballpoint pens. That is up until now. The Beyond Ink Pen will make you rethink the way you look at ballpoint pens.
As you may have guessed the Beyond Ink Pen isn’t your run of the mill ballpoint pen. Yes, it’s a luxurious pen made of brass and stainless steel that uses a high-end Lamy ballpoint pen tip for clear and attractive writing, but that’s where the similarities between it and a typical ballpoint pen end.
The Beyond Ink Pen is a multi-functional smartpen that contains all the features you need in a typical workday, right at your fingertips.
You can use it as a normal ballpoint pen for writing on paper or can switch it in seconds to a state-of-the-art stylus tip, for use on tablets and touchscreens.
Abuilt-in 1,000mAh battery and nicely concealed Lightning Cable allow you to charge your iPhone on-the-go. There’s also a model for Android users that replaces the Lightning cable with a Micro USB cable.
Last, but certainly not least, the top of the pen comes off revealing a built-in USB flash drive that has 16GB of memory storage.
The Beyond Ink Pen is available in Android or IOS models in your choice of black or white.
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NEWS – Are you interested in buying some Apple AirPods but don’t want the same white that everyone else has? If so, ColorWare has the product you’re looking for. They take various electronic devices and paint them to give you the unique device you want. They add color to game controllers, microphones, computer mice, headphones, and AirPods. If changing the color isn’t enough to pique your interest, ColorWare is offering two special, limited-time finishes for the AirPods.
The first finish is the AirPods Retro seen above. The rainbow colored power button, faux vents, and the putty color harken back to the Apple IIe. Changing the color doesn’t affect the functions of the AirPods – it just gives this set a cool 1980s vibe. The AirPods Retro are $399.00.
If you want to match your AirPods to your Space Gray iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, you’ll need the AirPods Space Gray for $349.00.
And if you just want a change from white, you can choose from a variety of bright colors. You can even choose different colors for the left and right pods and a third color for the case itself. Custom ColorWare AirPods are $339.00.
Learn more about custom AirPods and the other products offered at the ColorWare site.
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REVIEW – Ever since the famous GoPro Action Camera was launched, many companies have tried to follow that model by creating a similar product with similar features, but for a lower cost. I recently got the opportunity to test and review just such a product. Here are the results:
What is it?
The Apeman Trawo Action Camera is a GoPro style action camera, with 4K capability and a host of similar GoPro features for capturing action and movement footage in all types of environments and scenarios.
What’s in the box
1 x Apeman Trawo Action Camera
1 x Waterproof Case
1 x Additional Rear case Cover
1 x Micro USB Cable
7 x Various Case Mounts
1 x Micro Fiber Cleaning Cloth
1 x Pack of Velcro Straps (Assorted Sizes)
4 x Plastic Ties
1 x Wire Strap with Double-Sided Tape
3 x Base Mounts (@ with ¼-20mm female mounts)
(I received a pre-release version of this camera, so no instruction booklet was included in the box)
Design and features
Much like other Action cameras available today, the Apeman Trawo Action Camera is a small compact action camera that without the waterproof case measures approximately 2 1/4″ x 1 3/4″ x 1″. When in the waterproof case, it measures approximately 3″ x 2 1/2″ x 1 1/2″ at the widest and longest sides. The LCD screen is approximately 1 1/2″ x 1 1/4″. It is well built and in my opinion, it does not feel cheap in any way.
The controls for the camera are on the sides. On the top of the camera, there are 2 buttons. With the camera facing forward, the top left button has 2 main functions on the button. The front of the button powers the camera on and off and the back of the button switches the camera mode between video, camera, viewing, settings modes. The button on the top right turns the record function on and off, works as the shutter button for taking pictures and also works as the selection button when in settings mode.
On the left side of the camera, there are 3 ports with a removable cover. These ports are the micro SD card slot, the micro USB port, and the micro HDMI port.
On the right side of the camera, are the up and down buttons for navigating.
At the bottom of the camera, there is the battery port and cover.
The waterproof case that comes with the camera has water-sealed buttons that mirror the buttons on the camera, but the sides with the ports and battery are sealed.
Settings
The Apeman Trawo has a large selection of settings that offer great customization. Navigating through the settings is very easy and every choice is very clear. The following is the list of settings located on the “settings” screen. I have provided details on the first 2 since many folks would want that preliminary information:
Video resolution – 720P@60fps 1280* 720 ~ 4K@30fps 3840*2160
Image size from – 3MP 2048*1536 ~ 20MP 5120*3840
Time-lapse, Loop Recording, Anti-Shake, Lens Angle, Shooting Timer, Burst, Mic, Exposure Compensation, ISO, AWB, Scene, Rotate, Light Frequency, Language, Date/Time, Date Stamp, Wi-Fi SSID, Screen Saver, Auto Shut Off, Delete, Format, Default Setting, Version. (See Settings Screens Below)
Performance
I used the action camera for daily activities to see how it would stand up to things I normally do. For the first test, I bought a windshield mount, and I tried it out as a dashcam.
The footage I got was very good and the stabilization worked well. However, the camera seemed to have some negative effects from the heat of the sun through the windshield. Let me first say that before each test, I charged the battery overnight to ensure that it was fully charged. Each time I used it, it either shut down at around an hour or so of use, or when it didn’t, the battery drained very quickly, or the sensors told the camera that it was drained. Each time the battery indicator was red, and when I removed the camera from the windshield mount and powered it off, waited a bit and powered it back on, the battery showed back in the white, but also on the low side. My conclusion is that there must be some effect from the heat.
Here is some footage from the dashcam: (Notice near the end of the video when I am driving on really rough roads, how well the Anti-shake works).
My next test was to see if the waterproof case was, in fact, waterproof and to see what kind of underwater footage I could get with the water thrashing up against the camera. For this test, I purchased a waterproof monopod with a 1/4″-20mm stud.
I then submerged the camera into the waves of the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean. I am not a diver so I am not sure what the depth threshold is, but the case is definitely waterproof. Here is some of the footage:
The Action Camera also takes wide and clear pictures. (You can choose the lens angle in the settings)
Hisi 4K CAM
What I like
I like the small form factor of the camera that mirrors that of the GoPro. I like that is records in 4K, and that the waterproof case really is waterproof. The footage is great.
What can be improved
Battery response to heat
Better battery life
Addition of a detailed instruction booklet
Final thoughts
When I first received the Apeman Trawo Action Camera for review, I was expecting a less than capable GoPro knockoff that like many similar products, would not do any one thing very well. I must say that I am quite surprised by the performance and capabilities of this action camera. It performs very well, albeit with a few issues that I am sure can be overcome. It offers great footage and great resolutions, and the stabilization actually works. When comparing the price to other action cameras that offer the same quality and features, in my opinion, this is a great choice.
Price: $139 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample for this review was provided by Apeman.
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