Jon L. JacobiFreelance contributor, PCWorld
Jon is a Juilliard-trained musician, former x86/6800 programmer, and long-time (late 70s) computer enthusiast living in the San Francisco bay area. jjacobi@pcworld.com
Aukey Mini Dash Cam review: Small, simple and amazingly affordable
If you're looking for an affordable dash cam to test the concept, there's nothing better than the Aukey Mini. It's inconspicuous, simple, effective, and costs less than $50.
WD Black AN1500 SSD review: Dual drives deliver double the performance
The WD Black AN1500 is a RAID 0 implementation on an x8 PCIe 3.0 card that delivers near PCIe 4 SSD performance on benchmarks. It's a decent and colorful (RGB) add for gamers and creators, although it's little faster than single drives on large file transfers.
WD My Passport SSD (2020) review: Light, stylish, and twice as fast
The WD My Passport SSD, redesigned and upgraded (SATA to NVMe), is fast, light, attractive, and affordable. That pretty much makes it best in class.
Dash cam reviews: Catch the maniacs and meteors of daily driving
We review the best 1080p and 4K dash cams. They record what's ahead (and sometimes what's behind), and ideally mark it with GPS, too. Exactly what you need on today's mean streets.
Nexar Beam dash cam review: Affordable, with unlimited cloud uploads
The Nexar Beam dash cam is inexpensive, takes great video, and has a boatload of features including free, unlimited cloud uploads. Some features require your phone.
Samsung 980 Pro NVMe SSD review: PCIe 4.0 for the win
Samsung's new 980 Pro sets performance records in end-user NVMe over PCIe 4. If you're rocking late-gen Ryzen, it'll haul the mail. With PCIe 3.0, it's just one of a crowd of top performers but at a bleeding edge price.
Asustor AS6602T (LockerStor 2) review: This NAS box is a super streamer
It provides fast network storage and a great feature set, but NVMe caching adds a lot to its price tag without delivering much in the way of hard benefits to the home user.
Best NAS drive for media streaming and backup
If you rip and library your own media, there's no better tool for storing and streaming it than a NAS box. These versatile storage devices also serve as the perfect personal, secure cloud for backing up your PCs and other devices.
Nextbase 622GW 4K UHD dash cam review: Fantastic 4K UHD captures (day and night)
Nextbase's 622GW is the best dash cam on the market—bar none. Stellar 4K UHD day and night captures, plus Alexa control and the ability to summon emergency response if you're incapacitated, are just a few of the perks. The ability to accommodate the company's rear camera modules seals the deal.
Hot-rod your home network with multi-gig wired ethernet—for far less coin than you might think
Falling prices for multi-gig (2.5/5/10GbE) equipment make upgrading your network to a faster standard very affordable.
Acronis True Image 2021 Premium review: Fully integrated backup and cyber security
Acronis True Image 2021 adds real-time malware protection to an already feature-laden backup and security solution. It's a unique and comprehensive safe computing solution.
SK Hynix Gold P31 SSD review: The first 128-layer NAND drive is fast and affordable too
The P31 NVMe SSD from SK Hynix performs like a top-tier drive even though it's priced much lower. It's also first out of the gate with 128-layer TLC.
Hisense H9G 4K UHD TV review: Excellent color and HDR performance for the price
Hisense's H9G 4K UHD TV offers an excellent picture for the price. It's available only in 55-inch and 65-inch flavors, but if that's what you're shopping for, it should be on your short-list.
Owl Car Cam review: 24-hour surveillance redefines the dash cam
The Owl Car Cam combines a clever, ground-breaking design with instant video uploads via LTE for 24-hour car security. However, the Android app, HDR for low-light video, and GPS video watermarking are key features it lacks.
Owl Car Cam review: The easiest, classiest, most phone-centric dash cam on the market
The Owlcam dash cam combines a clever design with instant video uploads via LTE. It's great for phone-centric users, but some features taken for granted with other dash cams are missing.
Articles by Jon L. Jacobi
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