Category: reviews

In a previous post, mentioned the CardTec CA4 Pro being one of two devices I go to whenever I need to be mobile with my laptop. The other device is the one I’ll be reviewing for this post: the Mofily Marble DCS1

While they both can charge my laptop (13″ MacBook Pro) in place of the stock power block, they have subtle differences that make it difficult for me to consider one as better than the other. Read More

Until this day, I’m not sure exactly what the relation of Mogics is to Card-Tec, so unless corrected, I’m going to assume they’re sister companies. Sister companies that make great practical products.

Mogics started it with their Power Donut/Bagel, which easily got into my KS Hall of Fame. Followed up with Card-Tec’s CS1-Pro and CG1

Now, the company with a really clever logo brings us the CA4 Pro Travel Adaptor / USB charging hub / power brick. Read More

Some people have data plans on their phones. Others, like me, have it on a pocket WiFi (which I’ll henceforth call pWF) device – because WiFi sucks batteries less than data. ¹ so you don’t end up with a phone that’s out of juice a few hours into the day The only problem of course is that the pWF itself uses cellphone data (and transmits via WiFi) – so the typical 1600mAh battery for such a device only lasts 6 hours – not nearly enough for a whole day’s use unless you have a powerbank handy.

While I do have a powerbank to use for both phone and pWF, our recent trip to Japan enlightened me to the fact that it can be cumbersome to have them both connected to it. So I prefer the powerbank to be used only for the phone if possible.

Another realization from our trip is that the pWF we rented can last a day – as it had a larger capacity battery (2600mAh). After a full day’s of normal use, ² Granted, we were walking and taking photos more than we were surfing I still had 40% left. Perhaps the unit was more efficient in battery use – or perhaps it has something to do with the signal being readily available, ³ I hear that searching for a signal uses juice more than anything, so it may be that our crappy telcos give pWFs a harder time in general or both.

Whatever the case may be, that Japanese pWF lasted a day easily, and so it was decided: My current pWF (a Huawei E5331) was due for an upgrade. The search for a unit that had enough juice and worked with our cellular networks was on.

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In a nutshell, Sesame is a BT smart lock that was meant to be mounted directly above your deadbolt’s turnpiece assembly. ¹ It’s basically an automatic mechanical turner What sets it apart from other smart lock systems is how easy it is to install and it was meant to work with whatever it is you already have installed, eliminating the need for any sort of tools or/for disassmbly. Your phone then becomes your key fob and you can control the sesame via its mobile app.

The idea is pretty solid and it’d be difficult to find anyone who didn’t like what these guys were trying to accomplish. The only issue was that, like any campaign, delays were inevitable, but the creators didn’t exactly make themselves easy to reach, nor did they offer regular updates to keep the backers appraised of the situation. Also they started selling it through other channels even when technically the campaign in KS hasn’t been completely fulfilled.

Long story short, the issue with a lot of backers is that of “goodwill” and trust more than the product living up to its promise or not. As for the latter – well that’s what this review is for 🙂 Read More