By Gregg Ellman
@greggellman

The best part about the Colby CSMP95 Soundbar speaker system should be the great room-filling sound it puts out.

But after connecting and hearing it, you’ll be equally impressed with the easy the setup and the great low price.

The amplified soundbar comes with a wireless subwoofer to extend the sound from your TV.

You have a few different connection options (cables included) for the plug-and-play speaker but the 40W Subwoofer is wireless (2.4GHz) so it can be placed anywhere in the room.

Front-facing 20W speakers broadcast the sound from the slim constructed Soundbar, which has four presets for different sound modes.

It has a high-gloss piano lacquer finish and front-facing LED indicators.

Volume controls and your sound source are also front facing with the connections on the back.

The CSMP95 is only 2.17-inches thick, so it’s thin enough to be wall-mounted with the included brackets to complement any wall-mounted TV.

A remote control is included.

www.cobyusa.com $112.85

 

G-Technology’s G-RAID hard drive is now available with a Thunderbolt connection to give you one of some of fastest data transfer speeds available.

After using the drive on my new Mac MIni it’s obvious it’s fast. G-Raid rates it double the speed of USB 3.0 and over 12 times faster than my preferred choice of Firewire 800.

A pair of Thunderbolt ports allows multiple connections or even daisy-chaining up to six Thunderbolt-compatible devices.

Inside the 4TB unit I tested is a pair of Hitachi 7200 RPM drives, running RAID 0 to back up the digital files across both drives.

For those not familiar with the RAID system, it’s designed to give you a storage across multiple disks for added security for the digital files.

Right out of the box the desktop sized (9.25 x 5.125 x 3.374-inches) G-Raid is Time Machine-ready and the chassis is constructed to mirror the Apple look.

It runs on the included AC power adapter but you’ll have to get your own Thunderbolt cable.

A Kensington security slot is also built in the back (cable not included) for attaching a security lock to keep the hard drive from walking away.

www.g-technology.com 4TB $599.95, 8TB $799.95

 

It’s common to see someone sitting on the floor in airports or shopping malls charging a portable electronic gadget but if you had one of the myCharge devices you can avoid the filth of the floor.

They come in a choice of pocket-sized and lightweight rechargeable batteries with built- in connectors for most devices.

The built-in cords are designed for Apple iDevices, Android and Blackberry’s among others with the 30-pin, microUSB and USB port connections.

Depending on the battery and the gadget needing a charge, you can get up to 4 times the running time for the device.

The Peak 6000 is the biggest, with a 6000mAh Lithium Polymer battery inside good for up to 27 hours of talking on a 3G network.

www.myCharge.com prices range from $24.99 for the Sojourn 1000 up to $79.99 for the Peak 6000.

 

SMS Audio Sync by 50 over-the-ear headphones give you the big sound from a big set of headphones but without a cord.

All you do is connect the 3.5 mm 2.4GHz wireless transmitter (included) into your device’s headphone port, pair it with the headphones and the setup is done.

The headband is made of a custom polymer plastic so it’s flexible and the ear cups are made with a soft leather memory foam, which combine to make it simple to to get a comfortable fit.

Controls for volume and song selections are built into the left earcup along with a microUSB port for charging and 3.5mm input for the audio cable if you don’t want to go wireless.

The audio cable has an in-line mic for cellular use and a zippered travel case is included.

As for the sound, I’m not one for big sets of headphones but in this case bigger is better. Crank up the sound and you really get into your own world.

http://smsby50.com $122

Contact Gregg Ellman at greggellman@mac.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @greggellman.
2012, Gregg Ellman.