Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Delock's 61971, a second generation of high-performance Thunderbolt to SATA device

Delock 61971 Thunderbolt to SATA 6Gbps HDD/SSD Drive Adaptor + AC AdapterSynchrotech is now taking pre-orders on the versatile Delock 61971 Thunderbolt to SATA 6Gbps HDD/SSD Drive Adaptor + AC Adapter. I can't wait. The device straddles the functionality of the two Seagate Thunderbolt to SATA adapters, with a good price point.

If you're like me with Macs that have Thunderbolt with no USB 3.0, the 61971 is the perfect solution for 7200RPM 3.5 inch drive backups, and running a MacBook Pro off an external SSD. The portability of the 61971 is great for 2.5" HDD/SSD on the road, but it's power supply makes it useful when in a fixed location for backups to spacious 3.5" HDD. Be sure to keep an eye on this space for a future review!


Just got mine today. Let the testing begin!

Delock 61971 Thunderbolt to SATA 6Gbps HDD/SSD Drive Adaptor + AC Adapter

It's Time Machine compatible. The Delock Thunderbolt to SATA adapter making backups painless. Now I need some speedy 6Gbps drives and SSDs.!

Delock 61971 Thunderbolt to SATA 6Gbps HDD/SSD Drive Adaptor + AC Adapter

Monday, July 29, 2013

Connecting an iPhone to the M-510 Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver

Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver M-510Got a loaner M-510 Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver to test out over the weekend. We plugged it into a Bose Wave II Radio using the included double male 3.5mm stereo audio cable. Our test devices were an iPhone 3GS and an iPad with Retina display (4th generation). Both devices were running iOS 6.1.3. Getting the M-510 to work with iOS devices was a snap, and the sound quality was surprisingly good for typical mobile device playback.

The M-510 Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver supports the Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) utilizing Low Complexity Subband Coding (SBC). SBC is applied to existing audio CODECs, in other words transcoding on the fly. This is fine for typical medium to higher quality AAC and MP3 stored on portable devices like iPods, iPhones, and iPads. However, if you're expecting lossless formats like FLAC, ALAC, or even high quality lossy formats like lame --preset insane encoded files to sound the same, they won't. Highest quality audio is better served over WiFi with AirTunes/AirPlay enabled audio equipment. That said, the M-510's quality is acceptable for 256 kbps or lower quality iTunes AACs or MP3 files, which is what most people have on iDevices and other portable players. Overall the M-510 is an inexpensive way to add wireless playback ability to devices without that capability. If you're looking for really high fidelity, you're not shopping the under $40 devices market to begin with.

The M-510 Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver's other big plus is that it provides the choice between an AC adapter and running off a single AAA battery. That last option provides a lot of flexibility when you think of portable scenarios. Don't want to lug your expensive audio equipment outside, but have an old boombox with a 3.5mm line in? Add the M-510 and now that boombox becomes remote speakers for your iPhone 5.

Pairing the M-510 with the iOS devices is a simple as visiting Settings > Bluetooth" and then finding Music Receiver in the list of devices

Connecting an iPhone to the M-510 Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver

Tap on Music Receiver and it will then read as Connected.

Connecting an iPhone to the M-510 Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver

Later if you choose to remove the saved connection by clicking arrow to the right of the word Music Receiver and then tapping Forget this Device.

Connecting an iPhone to the M-510 Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver

During playback, clicking the AirPlay icon on the bottom right of the screen (in orange next to the volume control) allows choice of where the audio signal is to be sent.

Connecting an iPhone to the M-510 Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver

Here the M-510 is selected. We can easily switch to the iPhone's internal speakers by clicking the iPhone button.

Connecting an iPhone to the M-510 Portable Bluetooth A2DP Music Receiver