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The Filco Camo Majestouch-2 Mechanical Keyboard is a tribute to the original 85-key IBM Space Saving keyboard the company bundled with its industrial computing platforms in the mid-1980s. Filco draws inspiration from that compact design with its own 87-key model brushed with a camouflage paint job, clicky Cherry Blue MX key switches, and rugged details like a braided USB cord and steel base plate. Its $165 retail price will likely induce sticker shock for those who relegate keyboards as simple peripherals, but typing enthusiasts, geek hackers, and anyone else looking to upgrade to a mechanical keyboard with a custom paint job will find the Filco Camo Majestouch-2 Mechanical Keyboard well worth the cost.

The folks at the Keyboard Companysent me the Majestouch-2 unit used in this review, and you can also find the full 104-key model in its Web store; it includes a number pad on the right side.

The keypad-less version, however, offers space-saving benefits to users who don’t input numbers often, since it requires less distance for a controlling hand to travel between the mouse and keyboard. To make up for the cutoff, the underside of the Function keys double as secondary controls for your media with volume adjustment buttons on the F1 through F3 keys, and track navigation actions on the F5 through F8 keys. The compact layout also reroutes the single Windows button to the right of the space bar with the left housing the standard Ctrl, Fn, and Alt keys.

The black keys offer a pleasant contrast to the olive drab, beige, and brown forest camouflage covering the case. Filco also includes a keycap extractor and an alternate set of olive W, A, S, and D caps that give visual cues to touch typists looking for the home keys along with the raised F and J nubs.

The only Filco branding you’ll find on the keyboard is located on the lower-right lip below the four-way direction arrows, and two rubber-coated feet on the bottom pop up to give your hands an alternate angle to type. Finally, Filco generously provides an ample 5-foot olive-colored cable tightly wrapped in coated nylon that terminates in a matching USB plug that should have no problem reaching your computer wherever it rests.

The keycaps themselves are Filco’s proprietary design with a less concave invert than the competing Das Keyboard’s keys, and a glossier sheen thanks to a light clear coating on the surface. I can’t be sure since I haven’t used the Filco for more than a month, but I suspect the Das’ laser-etched labels are less prone to fading than the Filco’s “pad printed,” or painted-on lettering.

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Consider Lenovo’s 21.5-inch IdeaCentre B320 all-in-one the smaller, more affordable counterpart to the well-reviewed B520 from last fall. The B320 does not have a 3D-capable display like the 23-inch B520, but the core features–a touch screen, a discrete graphics card, and a fast CPU for its price range–help the $949 IdeaCentre B320 retain some of the higher-end model’s character.

The problem is HP’s nontouch $999 Omni 220. Yes, that system costs $50 more, but it offers a larger screen, a Blu-ray drive, and better performance. The IdeaCentre B320′s massive 2TB hard drive might offset those differences for data hoarders. For everyone else, the IdeaCentre B320 doesn’t offer enough to overcome the HP’s advantages.

The design of the IdeaCentre B320 hews closely to that of the B520. On both systems, a piano-black bezel frames the display, which sits on top of a cleft, angular speaker bar. Unlike the B520′s edge-to-edge glass, the B320′s display is recessed into the bezel. Aesthetically the look isn’t that different, but functionally the recessed display makes it a bit harder to fit your finger in the B320′s corners for touch input.

Touch input is one feature that distinguishes the B320 from HP’s Omni 220. I still don’t find touch a crucial desktop feature, but you might if you intend to use one of these PCs as a home entertainment kiosk. The Lenovo uses surface acoustic wave touch (SAW) technology, the same as that in Samsung’s Series 7 all-in-one. It requires you to press down a bit harder than with resistive or capacitive touch screens, but the accuracy is good once the screen registers your input.

Lenovo’s touch software suite is a piecemeal assortment of programs. You get VeriTouch, which uses pattern drawing for system authentication, the App Space media player, and QuickNotes note-taking program, among others. They’re all fine, but they exist mostly as accessory applications. You might use them on occasion, but for better or for worse, Lenovo has no full-fledged touch operating environment like HP’s TouchSmart software.

The benefits of the TouchSmart software aren’t a factor against the B320, given that that Omni 220 has no touch screen. You could try to configure a TouchSmart 420 to match the B320, but squaring up the features between the two systems pushes the 420′s price above $1,000.

Stay within the sub-$1,000 price point, and you’ll see that the IdeaCentre B320 offers a competitive system for $899, but the head-to-head matchup against the Omni 220 isn’t so cut and dry.

The Lenovo’s advantages are its lower price, more RAM, and a larger hard drive. The HP costs more, but it has a faster CPU, a larger display, and a Blu-ray drive. For an extra $50, you can also add HDMI input to the HP, which significantly improves its utility as a home entertainment hub.

The Lenovo is actually a pretty good deal compared with the Acer Z5571 and other $899 all-in-ones, but with the likes of HP’s Omni 220 out there, you can spend just a little bit more for a more capable alternative. The Lenovo’s primary draw may be its capacious 2TB of hard drive storage space.

If your primary interest is an all-in-one PC that’s fast enough and offers a lot of local media storage, Lenovo has a pretty good deal here. As long as the Omni 220 stays within reasonable price range of the Lenovo, HP’s unit with its larger display and Blu-ray drive is a better deal if you want an all-in-one to act as a home media hub.

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The Dell Latitude E6220 probably isn’t for you, unless you’re a business traveler who needs something more rugged than a MacBook Air, has a nearly infinite budget, and requires TPM or vPro.

I don’t mean to be dismissive, but this admittedly powerful 12.5-inch Dell laptop, while having impressive performance and battery life, tops the charts at a whopping $1,663 starting price for specs that are really no different than you’d find on a laptop that costs half as much. The Latitude E6220 dates from the end of 2011, but even so, it seems like a device that’s out of step with the thin ultrabook trend in laptops, despite having a handful of military-spec rugged features.

If the Latitude E6220 started at a reasonable price–$700, for instance–I’d be more inclined to recommend it. After all, while it’s thick and not entirely attractive, it’s well-featured and gets the job done in a reasonably compact package. Still, when a laptop makes the MacBook Air look like a bargain, you know you’re in for a tough sell…even for a rugged business laptop. If you’re not working on a construction site or in the desert, the HP Folio 13 is a far better alternative bet–or, wait for the soon-to-be-released Dell XPS 13, but if you need hard-core protection, be prepared to pay through the nose for it.

The Dell Latitude E6220 is solidly built and meant to take a beating somewhere between a ThinkPad and a ToughBook, but from a distance it looks like a plastic-clad, inferior version of Dell’s Vostro series. It’s actually the other way around: this Latitude is the high-end cousin to the Vostro.

A “Tri-Metal” design refers to an anodized aluminum back lid, magnesium alloy corners, and a powder-coated magnesium base. The rear hinges are steel; the keyboard is spill-resistant. You get the picture: this is a laptop that can take a beating. It’s also pretty lightweight: ours weighed in at 3.7 pounds. That’s more than an ultrabook like the HP Folio 13, but less than a standard laptop. It feels thick and chunky, though, for two reasons: while the Latitude E6220 is actually 0.97 inch thick, the 12.5-inch laptop has a small footprint, accentuating the thickness. Plus, a rear lip behind the lid adds secret chunkiness to the back end, even more so if you’re clipping on the six-cell battery. The whole package is thicker than any 12-inch laptop we’ve seen in recent memory. Yet, this Latitude lacks an optical drive. There doesn’t seem to be any advantage for the extra thickness besides shock absorption, although there’s, except that there’s a dock port on the base.

The backlit keyboard has a semi-raised design like recent Dell laptops, but it feels comfortable to type on. The wide but small touch pad is similarly quite responsive, but it’s too small for multitouch gestures. Discrete buttons lie underneath. A few dedicated volume control buttons above the keyboard are appreciated.

A 12.5-inch matte screen protects against glare, but the picture, while bright, wasn’t especially vivid when watching movies on Netflix. It’s better suited for office work: the 1,366×768-pixel resolution matches anything normally seen on a 13-incher. Stereo speakers seated on the underside of the Latitude’s front edge offer fair sound at middling volume; you’ll need to put on headphones in a moderately noisy room.

The included Webcam takes 1,280×720-pixel pictures and has a fair image quality, nothing impressive.

Business users will appreciate the sensible ports on the Latitude E6220: eSATA, ExpressCard, HDMI, VGA. Ethernet and the power jack are on the rear lip. Dell offers a ton of extra add-ons, everything from Bluetooth to fingerprint reader, light-sensitive Webcam upgrade and WiMax antenna, but they’ll cost you: $20 here, $30 there. It adds up. A Gobi 3000 wireless broadband card in any major carrier flavor costs $125.

Processor-wise, the Latitude E6220 starts with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2520M CPU; at the top end, you can upgrade all the way to a 2.8 GHz Core i7-2640M for an extra $120. Our configuration had the middle-level 2.6 GHz Core i5-2540M CPU, which served up zippy speeds comparable to the HP Pavilion dm4-3090se (both have the same CPU). This Dell Latitude outperformed the HP Folio 13, which used, like all ultrabooks, a lower-speed Core i5 CPU. This Latitude only has Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics: that’s more than enough for a business traveler, but it’s not sufficient for a power graphics user.

The base Latitude E6220 comes with 4GB of RAM and a 250GB, 5400rpm hard drive. RAM can be expanded up to 8GB on Dell’s Web site for an extra $175, while users can shift over to a solid-state 128GB SSD for an extra $230, or 256GB for $580. Thus it comes as no surprise that we added up our 128GB SSD-equipped model and rang up a total of $2,016. For matters of reference, consider that you could get a 256GB SSD-equipped MacBook Air for $1,599.

Sure, the MacBook Air isn’t vPro-enabled. It lacks a fingerprint reader option, and it doesn’t come with a three-year warranty, which the Latitude E6220 includes standard (AppleCare costs an extra $300). Still, what Dell’s asking for this Latitude is quite a lot to swallow, durability or no.

Juice box
Dell Latitude E6220
Average watts per hour
Off (60 percent)
0.69
Sleep (10 percent)
0.77
Idle (25 percent)
6.01
Load (5 percent)
43.49
Raw kWh
36.51
Annual energy cost
$4.14

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If powerful, inexpensive consoles such as the PS3 and the Xbox 360 turned the once-popular gaming PC into a niche product, then by comparison a rash of cheap set-top boxes have crushed the need for the already-niche Home Theater PC (HTPC).

Yet, despite the proliferation of Apple TVs and Roku boxes, many people still want to watch TV on their PCs–whether they’re hooked up to a separate TV or not. In fact, a recent survey suggests PC users spend an hour and a half a day watching video content on their devices.

If you’re serious about using your PC to watch TV, eventually you might want the flexibility of filling its screen with (legal) free, live TV channels from an over-the-air HDTV tuner. While USB tuners like the Elgato Eye-TV Hybrid are available, they can only be used on the PC they’re plugged into, and are not mobile-device-friendly. To the rescue comes Elgato with its product, the HDHomeRun Dual.

Design and features
The HDHome Dual is a twin tuner box that connects to your home network and can serve over-the-air to your PC, Mac or mobile device while in the home. It with EyeTV software on Macs and by extension iPhone/iPad (via the $4.99 EyeTV app), MythTV for Linux, and a number of different PC clients, of which the most well-known is Windows Media Center.

There are two versions of the HDHomeRun: the tuner itself ($99), and the tuner with Elgato EyeTV for Mac bundled ($179.99). We reviewed the latter version, but if you’re a PC user you can save yourself some dough and get the tuner only.

The box itself is quite small–about the size of a pack of cigarettes–with just a power light at the front and an Ethernet port and RF cable connector for the antenna on the back.

The dual tuners enable both SD and HD programs to be watched and recorded and the software also includes a Program Guide to enable DVR functionality.

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It’s no secret that I’m a zombie enthusiast–it’s right there at the top of my Twitter profile. So, I tend to see things a bit differently. When tossed the keys to a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4×4, many would see a low-tech dinosaur, some would see a vehicle that has been only incrementally updated every year of its 71-year existence, and still others would see the ultimate weekender vehicle for frat boys, bros, and outdoorsy junior execs. A strong contingency of true-blue off-roading fans would see years of history, tradition, and a simple purity in a world where cars get more complex by the minute. I, on the other hand, saw the ultimate vehicle for keeping myself un-undead when society falls.

Think about it. The Wrangler is rugged. It can traverse almost any type of terrain, but it’s still small enough to creep through some fairly tight spots. The simple chassis and power train are easy enough to modify and maintain. And while it’s far from being the thriftiest vehicle that we’ve tested, it’s definitely more economical than many of the larger trucks that boast off-roading cred–which is a good thing, because you’ll probably be scavenging your own fuel after the zombie apocalypse.

Design: Looks like a brick, flies like one too
The Wrangler shows the “two-box” design language at its most simplistic. It looks that way for two reasons.

It’s designed to be simple and rugged. The doors are held on by little more than a pair of simple hinges and a visible wire harness. The forward portion of what Jeep embarrassingly calls the Freedom Top roof pops off with two hand screws and a handful of toggles–great for a bit of extra sun, ventilation, or gaining the high ground when zombie-shooting! If you’d like, two adults can take off the entire hardtop to reveal a functional roll cage with the removal of just under a dozen bolts and a half hour’s time.

Short overhangs give the Wrangler Rubicon unbelievably steep approach and departure angles and the massive ground clearance keeps the Jeep from high-centering over all but the most extreme terrain. Integrated rails on the underside of the vehicle keep drivers from damaging the body if the chassis does come into contact with obstructions, and metal skid plates protect the vehicle’s underbelly from damage.

Things get really interesting when you start customizing the Jeep Wrangler’s body. With the hardtop removed, you can install one of two different soft tops: the Sunrider, which offers full coverage, or the Bikini, for a more open-air setup. The full metal doors, with their power locks and power windows, can be removed in a few minutes for even more openness or replaced with half-doors with manual locks and windows. There’s an assortment of off-road bumpers, winches, auxiliary lights, and more robust spare-tire mounts. No other vehicle that I’ve ever driven is as configurable as the Wrangler.

To my mind, however, the most obvious reason the Jeep Wrangler looks the way it does is because Jeep Wrangler enthusiasts want it to. There’s no real off-roading advantage to the Wrangler’s vertical windshield or squared-off edges. There’s really nothing keeping the Wrangler from adopting a modern aesthetic a la the Range Rover Evoque, but without these rugged elements (the upright grille, the round lights that ape the sealed beam units of old, the chunky wide fenders) the vehicle wouldn’t look like a Wrangler.

Consequently, many of the same design elements that are pros when off-road become cons for daily driving on-road. Jeep’s promotional materials refer to the Wrangler as “refined” and “aerodynamic,” but it’s only either of those things in comparison with, well, older Jeep Wranglers.

The high ride height means that drivers under 6 feet tall will need a running start and a hop to reach the driver’s seat without the optional side step and Mopar Grab Handle (both of which are available at extra cost). The knobby tires and pliable suspension make the vehicle a noisy, bouncy mess on city streets. The boxy aerodynamic profile makes the Wrangler feel squirmy and unstable at highway speeds. A good crosswind at 50-plus mph is a truly terrifying thing, and I could almost feel the Jeep’s body rotating and rocking about as I traversed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on a windy day.

I should also note that the Wrangler has a second row of seats, but it only really seats two people. The back seat is nigh-impossible to get into thanks to a smallish door opening and front-row seats that don’t really articulate very much. Perhaps it’s an easier task with the Freedom Top removed, but I doubt it. Thankfully, that rear row does fold and flip forward to increase the rear storage area, which is accessible through the rear, side-hinged hatch.

Performance: A power train that keeps it simple, stupid
The Jeep Wrangler’s power train features everything you need and nothing that you don’t for off-roading, but while it’s basically a low-tech extravaganza, there are a few high-tech touches.

The Wrangler lacks the advanced terrain management profiles of, for example, the Land Rover LR4 or Ford Explorer, but that doesn’t make it any less capable. The Wrangler just does things the old-fashioned way: with a torque-y engine, a simple 4×4 transfer system with user-selectable 2WD, and 4WD low-high ratios, and big knobby tires.

Under the Wrangler’s hood, which is held in place by a pair of rubber latches and flips back to rest on the windshield, is the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine. This grunty mill outputs 285 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. When combined with the flexible power train, which we’ll discuss shortly, this engine offer lots of low-end grunt. It’s also pretty loud, but only relative to, for example, a Toyota Camry. Frankly, a bit of noise is par for the course when you’re talking about a rough-and-tumble vehicle like the Wrangler. Most importantly, the engine feels bulletproof–and it needs to be because the Wrangler Rubicon can find itself pretty far from your local auto parts store.

Power leaves the engine by way of either a six-speed manual transmission or, as in our tester, a five-speed automatic gearbox before being split between the front and rear axles via a center transfer case. The automatic provided smooth shifts and was generally unobtrusive.

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