I picked up this little guy (aka the Toaster) recently after seeing Peter’s success with it.
It’s a network connected storage device. What does that mean? It means that you can put two SATA hard drives inside it, plug it into your network and access those drives anywhere on your local network.
Until recently, I had two 500gb SATA drives inside my PowerMac G5 tower that I was using as a file server. Unfortunately, the videocard (among other things) seems to be dying and a replacement is pretty expensive. I can’t even remote into the box anymore. Actually the replacement seems to be about the price of the DNS-323 (around $150 Cdn which doesn’t include any drives) so it seemed like a sensible way to upgrade. You can setup the drives to work as one giant drive or in a number of other Raid configurations. I’m currently only using one drive in there until I get a chance to clean off the other 500gb drive I have. I haven’t read any limitations on drive size but I’m sure they exist.
The main (big) selling point for me is the fact that it has a built in bit torrent client with a web based interface that you can interact with from any device on your network. This completely replaces the PowerMac for me - at least how I was using that machine as primarily a file server and bit torrent client box.
Unfortunately, the downsides I’ve come across so far include crappy Safari support so I have to use Firefox to initiate torrents. Also, the firmware likes to forget some settings when you reboot the device. Fortunately, the firmware seems to be actively updated and the settings bug is an acknowledged issue that will be addressed soon. The initial setup also required a PC to configure. I did this via VMWare but had to tweak my network settings so that the bridged connection could actually see the DNS-323.
Once it was all setup though, it worked like a charm. It just pops up as a network server on all my Macs and fully accessible. I’m not currently using it as my Time Machine backup system but I could easily set it up to do it.
The device also has a USB port but that’s reserved to function as a wireless printer port only so you can’t plug the toaster into your computer and access files via USB.
I haven’t set it up yet, but it also can run as an iTunes server which might be handy for those with multiple computers and one giant library.
Overall, I’m very happy with the DNS-323. It does what it says it will do and after a little setup, can literally be left alone like a toaster. Check out the manual, driver and firmware details on the D-Link support site.
I’ve been thinking about upgrading my clock radio for awhile now and have been looking at the various units with iPod docks built in. I knew that the iPhone had issues with many third party docks/clock radios because of the interference the GSM radio puts out. Not to mention the issue of incompatible docks meant for iPods that could fry your iPhone.
I came across the Sony Speaker Dock/Clock Radio at both London Drugs and Future Shop. The fact that the box specifically states that is made for the iPhone (complete with official logo) seemed like a good thing:
I also came across a similar unit at Costco but there is a very subtle difference in that the model at Costco (and the display model at Future Shop) are the older version that isn’t certified for the iPhone so make sure you get this model number: ICF-C1iPMK2 (MK2 = Mark 2).
Here’s a couple of points about the device:
Pro:
- very nice sounding and can go very loud without distortion - almost too much for a clock radio
- comes with a small remote that lets you easily navigate your iPod/iPhone menus, choose playlists, etc as well as control volume.
- iPhone playback works through speaker dock regardless of whether or not the mute switch is on or off the iPhone
- you can set independent volume levels for each of the two alarms. You can have the radio alarm volume at one level and the iPod/iPhone level at another when used as an alarm
- you can play the iPod at night and put a sleep timer on it and everything shuts down nicely when specified
- it’s cheap! I got my unit for $79 during a weekend sale. Regular price is $99 everywhere which is still cheaper than other similar units with less features
- the dock can even accommodate my iPhone in it’s Speck Pixel case which is probably one of the bulkiest covers you can get
- it has an AUX In so it can be used with my Zune ;)
Cons:
- the clock display is too bright - despite having three brightness options, the lowest is too much in a dark room
- the snooze button is behind the iPhone - not a huge deal but a little awkward to reach while half asleep
As you can see, there is a lot to like about this dock. It would make a decent kitchen radio as well and comes in black or white too.
I was wondering how you use the iPhone with the alarm feature. Previous iPod’s had a wake/sleep to music option but the iPhone, strangely, does not. If you don’t already have something selected, the alarm will simply play the first song in your library. If you select a playlist the night before, the alarm will start up on whichever song/playlist you left off at which is pretty slick.
Check out the full specs on the Apple Store as well as the positive reviews.
A few people have been asking me about car chargers for the iPhone 3G so I thought I’d post a quick note about what I’m using.
First of all, be careful what you plug your shiny new iPhone into! Plenty of things are meant for iPods only and can actually fry your iPhone. Many iPod accessories do work with iPhones but unless you want to try out the warranty replacement program, do a quick google search about whatever device you are hoping is compatible. You’ve been warned!
Secondly, many old iPod accessories (and some 1st gen iPhone ones) use firewire as their method of powering/charging. Apple switched to USB power fairly recently so this is why many of these older devices won’t work with a newer iPod or iPhone. You will most likely get some variation on this message “This accessory is not compatible with your iPhone”.
You should be able to use any USB based car charging device - basically it’s a cigarette adaptor that has a USB port on the end. These tend to come with many gadgets these days - one came with a kit for my Nintendo DS, another with my GPS, etc. Simply plug in the USB cable that came with your iPhone 3G and you should be good to go. I didn’t want to have to lug that cable around so I simply picked up the Griffin PowerJolt (version 2) on my last trip to the Apple Store for $20. It comes with the USB plug and a black USB to Dock cable.
The ring around the USB port lights up green when powered.
and red when charging.
and here it’s connected in the car to my iPhone which is sporting my new green Speck PixelSkin cover and sitting in my Palm ‘Universal PDA holder’ which previously held my Treo 650.
So far so good…it completely charged my iPhone while driving home tonight.
