The Best Home Printers Reviewed

The demands of a home printer and those of an office are different in several key ways. In an office setting, a printer is typically supposed to handle dozens of printing tasks per day from multiple users. This also means that the office printer must be able to handle all the printing within tight deadlines, and hence, speed is a very key aspect. Secondly, since there is a lot of printing taking place, the printer must also be able to deal with lots of papers with sufficient ink capacity to prevent inconveniencies that could arise in the form of ink running out or having to replace papers or clear out printouts so frequently to keep the printer running. These are just but some of the necessities that an office printer must meet. It’s also due to such demands that most office printers will usually end up being quite expensive.

When it comes to home printers, things are quite different. Unless you are running a busy home office, you have no business spending too much cash on a powerful printer with an insane ppm (pages-per-minute). Perhaps you are better off paying more attention to what the printer has to offer. Ideally, a home printer should offer the necessities as far as printing, scanning, and copying of documents go. Also, you may want to check out one that can handle photo printing. This should help make beautiful and highly-detailed photos of all the memories you are making out there. An office printer can get away with cabling, but for a home one, cables can be an aesthetic nightmare. Therefore, the best home printers should support various wireless connectivity options, and the good news is that wireless printing has gone viral and hence, that shouldn’t be a problem. Finally, we can all use with a compact printer. One that can be stacked on the shelf or desk without taking up too much space.

With that in mind, let’s get down into the real business:

What’s the best home printer?

The best home printer at the moment is the HP Envy 5660 Wireless All-In-One printer. This printer has everything you’d ever need in a home setting. Whether it is printing, photocopying, or scanning your term papers, the Envy 5660 has you covered. If you are just coming from Santorini and you want the physical copies of the beautiful sandy beaches, Envy 5660 will get the job down while keeping your photos as colorful as they are. What else could you need? Wireless printing? The HP Envy 5660 has all of that too. Talk of Wi-Fi direct, AirPrint, and HP ePrint app they are all supported in this compact but highly versatile printer.

Let’s take a deeper dive into this and some of the other incredible home printers in the market.

HP Envy 5660 Wireless All-In-One Printer

The HP Envy 5660 is not just ideal because it carries all the features you’d need for the usual official functions like you know, printing, copying, and scanning. Yes, having all these functions in a single unit is very compelling, but do you know what’s better than that? Being capable of handling all these tasks efficiently, and this is where HP has the upper hand over the competition. With the Envy 5660, you can expect printing speeds of up to 14 ppm for black prints and 9ppm for colored ones. That’s more than enough for any typical home. You will also get borderless printing and auto-duplex printing.

Scanning, copying, and performing the other functions has become much easier thanks to the 2.65-inch touch display. This allows you to intuitively navigate through the various functions and features of the printer with ease. You can also create your photos from a memory card very easily through this screen. Yes, the printer has a memory card slot.

Speaking of photos, you can print 4 by 6-inches photos from this printer, and you won’t have to change any papers thanks to the built-in photo tray. There is also the option of printing borderless photos that utilize the entire paper to deliver stunning photos without any trimming. When it comes to document printing, the printers accommodate legal, letter, No. 10 envelopes, 4 by 6 inches, 5 by 7 inches and 8 by 10-inches paper sizes.

The HP Envy 5660 supports various mobile printing options ranging from the HP ePrint app, Wi-Fi direct to AirPrint. It’s fair to say that you can print from virtually any smartphone, tablet, and PC regardless of the operating system.

Other Features

• Dimensions: 17.87 x 16.14 x 6.34 inches
• Weight: 15.04 lbs.
• HP Instant Ink eligible
• Scan-to-email
• Optional high-yield cartridges
• Two-side printing
• 1 USB 2.0 port
• Paper Input: 125 sheets main tray and 15 sheets photo tray
• Paper Output: 25 sheets

HP Envy 5055 All-In-One Printer

The HP Envy 5055 All-In-One printer has so much going for it. Not only is it more compact and lighter than the Envy 5660, but it also offers excellent performance to make sure that you are not missing out on anything.

Take advantage of the fast Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity to print documents from your smartphone, Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox more conveniently. The printer also supports borderless photo printing. We took our time and tried this out, and we have to tell you that the detailing of the photos was astonishing. The text is extremely sharp, colors look natural and face look stunning without any unnecessary beautification.

Of all the printer we tested the Envy 5055 could possibly be the most convenient to use on a day-to-day basis. This is due to various factors one of which is the dual-band Wi-Fi and its superb compatibility with other devices and platforms allowing you to scan documents from a camera, print from cloud storage services, and even print from different social media platforms. Through the 2.2-inch mono touchscreen, scanning, copying, and performing all other tasks will now take less effort. This should improve your productivity significantly.

The HP Envy 5055 supports various paper sizes. These include; legal, letter, No. 10 envelopes, 4 by 6 inches, 5 by 7 inches and 8 by 10 inches.

Other Features

• Dimensions: 17.52 x 14.45 x 5.04 inches
• Weight: 11.93 lb
• HP Instant Ink eligible. You can also use Amazon dash replenishment
• Print speed: 20ppm for black and 7ppm for black documents
• Paper input; 100 sheets
• Paper output; 25 sheets
• Auto two-sided printing

Canon TS5120 Wireless All-In-One Printer

The Canon TS5120 is yet another all-round printer capable of handling different tasks ranging from scanning, copying to the printing of documents, concert tickets, photos, and forms. This versatile printer harnesses the latest technology to provide different modes of printing for a more effortless experience. You can print wirelessly through AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, or Wi-Fi. The Canon Print App allows you to print more conveniently from your smartphone. Meanwhile, the Bluetooth connectivity isn’t just helpful in printing but in scanning as well. There is also the option of printing directly from the cloud as it is compatible with various cloud storage clients, including Google Drive. You could also go the old fashion way and utilize the USB port.

We’d like to take a moment and point out the FINE Hybrid Ink System used here. This technology has significantly improved the details of the documents and photos printed without affecting the performance of the printer and while keeping the costs down.

With the Canon TS5120, you can print 4 x 6-inches, 5 x 7-inches or square borderless photos at 5” by 5”. You can also print documents at different sizes from legal, letter to 8 by 10 inches.

The TS5120 also features two-sided auto printing, document removal reminder, versatile paper support, auto power on and off to save on power consumption, auto-scan mode, and attach to an email.

Other Features

• Dimensions: 16.8 x 14.2 x 5.8 inches
• Weight: 14.3 lbs.
• 2.5-inch LCD
• Mopria Device Printing
• PIXMA Cloud Link
• Quiet Mode
• Web template Print
• Hi-Speed USB port
• PictBridge or Wireless LAN

How to pick the Best Mesh Wi-Fi

Is your Wi-Fi router powerful enough to match with your home needs? The answer here is usually no. Most routers, especially the ones supplied by ISP, are generally not powerful enough. They will leave numerous dead zones in your house, and this can be very frustrating. I mean, why would you have to stream content from your smartphone at a specific part of your bedroom simply because most of the other space has poor reception yet you are paying so much for the internet? Secondly, the internet of things is in full force at the moment. So, how exactly are you supposed to build a proper smart home if certain parts of your house have poor reception?

There are several ways of dealing with a weak Wi-Fi signal. This includes the use of Wi-Fi extenders or repeaters. These usually work just fine, but they are not exactly the best if you are trying to enhance connection in a multi-story house. In such an instance, Mesh Wi-Fi gets the job done a lot better. In addition to that, mesh Wi-Fi are very easy to set up, and most of them are very good looking, and hence they can comfortably sit at any part of the room and add some beauty to your décor while ensuring that your internet speeds are kept as high as possible.

What’s the best Mesh Wi-Fi?

The best mesh Wi-Fi is the Netgear Orbi, and it’s very easy to see why. This system looks stunning; it connects seamlessly from one room to the next and one floor to another making sure that every inch in your house doesn’t just have Wi-Fi coverage for the sake of it but at high speeds. What’s more, is that the Wi-Fi system is developed with superb protection against malware and hackers, thus protecting your privacy at home. If you have around $300 to spend on a mesh Wi-Fi, then this is definitely the one you should get.

Here is a deeper dive into what the Netgear Orbi has to offer:

NETGEAR Orbi

Netgear Orbi is an award-winning mesh Wi-Fi offering unparalleled performance. The Wi-Fi is rated at 5000 square foot coverage. This is more than capable of handling even the biggest of homes – in most cases – and if your upstairs is filled with dead zones, the Orbi will blanket them completely. Should you move into a million-dollar palatial, you can extend the coverage of the network by simply buying more Orbi Satellites.

The Netgear Orbi is also one of the most consistent mesh Wi-Fi we’ve ever tested. The manufacturer says that the speeds can go as high as 30GBPS. In real sense, you won’t achieve such speeds, but in our tests, the speeds were consistently high. We streamed 4k content and play games very smoothly. And here is the thing; in most cases, internet speeds suffer greatly as you increase the number of connected devices. Also, when one device is say streaming high-res content or gaming online, most of the connection to other devices gets slow. Netgear Orbi has solved this through patented tri-band tech. Therefore, everyone in the house should be able to stream and do all their online business without interfering with other people’s connection. 

Everyone is conscious about privacy and internet connection. To give you the peace of mind, the Orbi is protected with Netgear Armor featuring ransomware and an antivirus protecting your network from malware and other cyber threats. The antivirus will block malicious links or sites that could potentially compromise your connection. The protection offers unlimited coverage for all the devices connected at home i.e., smartphones, TVs, gaming consoles, PCs and even smart home gadgets like your Ecobee Smart Thermostat, Arlo Pro 2 cameras, Amazon Eco Dot smart speakers and many more. You will never have to worry about someone or programs listening, watching, or collecting your data. The Smart Armor also comes with Bitdefender Total Security, Data Theft protection and will do vulnerability assessments frequently to ensure that your network and all connected devices are fully secure.

The Netgear Orbi comes with parental control function where you can control what content the children in the home can access. You can also adjust the time when certain devices, apps, or websites can access the internet. There is also the option of creating a Guest Network. This will securely create a separate network whose credentials you can share with your guests without exposing your main network at any dangers.

Other Features

• Works with both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa
• Receive notifications on security threats on your smartphone or computer
• View and customize the Wi-Fi trough Orbi App
• Each Orbi comes with 4 LAN Gigabit Ethernet ports

Google Wi-Fi System 3-Pack

The Google Wi-Fi system is another impressive mesh Wi-Fi system that can effectively replace your router. The Wi-Fi system is developed to work with all the major ISPs giving you a strong signal from any part of the room or house.

This system comes with three packs. A single Google point is rated at coverage of up to 1500 square feet. Therefore, the three points will extend your Wi-Fi coverage to 4500 square feet. This is more than enough to cover most homes and even offices. But in case it isn’t, you can buy more points and increase the coverage even further.

The Google Wi-Fi system does an impressive job in delivering strong signals, but there is more smart tech taking place in the backgrounds to keep your internet speeds fast consistently. Through Network Assist, the system will make sure that your devices are always connected to the fastest band and clearest channel, thus keeping your internet speeds high.

You can conveniently control the Wi-Fi from your smartphone. The app allows you to prioritize the devices connected, share the Wi-Fi credentials with your guests, see which devices are connected, pause the Wi-Fi for your kid’s gadgets, and so on. This should give you overall control of the Wi-Fi system, allowing you to see what’s going on and customizing it to align with your needs.

One major issue with the Google Wi-Fi system is that security has not been prioritized as much as we would have loved it to be. The system is even known for collecting analytical data. If you can live with the compromise, then Google Wi-Fi is definitely a great option for you.

Other Features

• Each point is fitted with two Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Requires internet connection to set up
• Customize the Wi-Fi system conveniently through Google Wi-Fi App

Eero Wi-Fi System

The second generation of Eero Wi-Fi System is twice as fast as the previous one. The system features smart TrueMesh technology delivering strong signals to cover up to a 4-bedroom home with ease. Through this tech, the system can route traffic between the beacons to reduce drop-offs and to buffer, thus allowing you to binge-watch without any issues at all.

The Eero Wi-Fi System comes with three packs; the Eero Pro and two Eero Beacons. The Eero Pro is fitted with two Ethernet ports that you can use to connect your modem or other devices. It’s also developed with 5GHz radio, and hence you can also connect devices to it wirelessly. Meanwhile, Eero Beacons are plugged to your outlets, increasing the network coverage significantly. They are stylish and compact and hence can be used virtually anywhere. Whether it’s in the bedroom, hallway, or even basement, the Eero Beacons will do so effectively without drawing too much attention.

Security has also been prioritized here. The Wi-Fi system features powerful encryption to keep your network and connected devices safe. The company also rolls out system updates frequently. These help to counter any vulnerabilities detected or emerging cyber threats. You could also get Eero plus, a commercial plan that comes with VPN, password management, ad blocking, and many other perks.

Setting up the Eero Wi-Fi System shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes, and neither do you require any technical skills to get it done. The whole process is super easy, thanks to the Eero App that will guide you through. You can also use the app to run speed tests, customize the Wi-Fi settings, pause the internet, set parental controls, share the network, etc.

Other Features

• Works with Alexa
• Supports both wired and wireless connections
• Bluetooth LE 4.2

How we rate the Best Power Banks

Power banks are not just crucial for all the digital creatives that are always on the road, but also for regular users who are trying to get the best out of their gadgets without having to deal with low battery issues. The good news is that power banks have gone mainstream and hence we have a lot of them. These come at different battery capacity with varying capabilities ranging from recharging a cell phone to digital cameras, and even laptops. Since they are designed to serve people on the go, a majority of them are compactly made to fit in a backpack while others are lightweight enough to slide into your pocket.

Here is the thing though, when you are going for the most lightweight and compact power bank, you usually end up compromising on battery capacity. This basically means that most super compact power banks will only give you a single round of charge. This may be enough for some guys, but if you have several gadgets to take care of or you’re out hiking for a couple of days, it probably won’t cut it. In as much as portability is vital, you must also make sure that your pursuit for a lightweight power bank doesn’t lead you into one that isn’t enough for your needs.

What’s the best power bank?

The Anker PowerCore 10000mAh is the best power bank you can buy today. Anker is one of the most successful companies when it comes to the production of power banks. In fact, all the products featured in this review are from Anker. With this particular item, Anker has utilized smart technology to deliver one of the most compact 10000mAh power banks in existence. What makes it an even better choice is the presence of a VoltageBoost and PowerIQ which facilitate fast charging while remaining very safe for you and your gadgets.

Here is everything you need to know about the Anker PowerCore 10000mAh:

Anker PowerCore 10000mAh

The Anker PowerCore 10000mAh power bank comes at 2.36” by 3.62” by 0.87” weighing around 6.3 ounces. This makes it a super lightweight power bank that you can comfortably carry around with you or slide it in the back pocket of your denim or in a handbag without feeling like it weighs you down.

Let’s put the 10000mAh capacity of this power bank into perspective. When it is fully charged, the power bank can charge a Samsung Galaxy S10 2.3 times, while an iPhone XR will be charged 2.1 times. A Samsung S9 will get 2.2 charges, 2.4 charges for the iPhone X and 3.6 charges for the iPhone 8. You can also use it to charge some tablets fully. For instance, you can charge the iPad mini 2019 almost one and a half times. Simply put, you can rely on this power bank for your numerous gadgets and even share with your friends.

We must also recognize the smart PowerIQ and VoltageBoost programmed into this power bank. Even though it does not support Qualcomm Quick Charge, it still plays a vital role in reducing how long your devices will be plugged into the power bank since it promotes fast charging.

Anker doesn’t mess around when it comes to build quality. The manufacturer has utilized high-quality chips and hardware materials not just for the sake of giving the power bank a long life span but also to make it safe for the users and all gadgets it will be used in. With this power bank, short circuit or power surge issues will never bother you. That’s why all Anker power banks, including this one, are backed with an 18-month warranty and with their good customer services, you shouldn’t have any problems reaching them should anything happen. 

You are advised to use the original Apple charger when charging Apple products with this power bank. Also, the Anker PowerCore 10000mAh is not compatible with devices using an input of 50mA or less.

What’s included in the box?

• 1 Anker PowerCore 10000mAh (Available in different colors)
• 1 travel pouch
• 1 Micro USB cable
• A welcome guide

Anker PowerCore 20100mAh

Coming at a very close second is the Anker PowerCore 20100mAh. It’s insane to imagine that you can fit a 20100mAh battery into a casing measuring 6.64” by 2.28” by 0.87” and the whole thing gets to weigh just about 12.6 ounces. Yes, it is not the lightest power bank you can get but then again how many other power banks out there give you a capacity of up to 20100mAh?

Do you know what you can do with 20100mAh of battery capacity? From this little beast, you can get 4.2 charges for the iPhone XR, 7 charges for the iPhone 7, 4.5 charges for the Samsung S10, 5 charges for the Samsung S6 and 2.4 charges for the iPad Mini 2019! Oh and with two USB charging ports and a massive 4.8A output, you can plug in your iPad Mini and your brand new Redmi K20 Pro simultaneously and get a full charge for each one of them and still have some juice left!

The power bank also comes with both PowerIQ and Voltage Boost. This facilitates fast charging, but you still won’t get Qualcomm Quick Charge. Charging the massive power bank can take up to 10 hours if you are using a 2Amp charger or 20 hours with a 1 Amp charger.

Being a big and costlier power bank, Anker was also keen to give the whole thing a premium touch. That’s why the power bank features a matte finishing which feels really good, offers a firmer grip and it doesn’t collect any fingerprints or smudges. Its overall construction is also certified safe thanks to a unique MultiProtect Safety System from Anker which safeguards the users and connected devices against short circuit and power surge among other issues. It’s also covered with an 18-month warranty.

For optimal use and safety, you should use the original cable for your gadgets, the cable included with this power bank or a certified one.

What’s included in the box?

• 1 PowerCore 20100 Power Bank (Available in various colors)
• 1 travel pouch
• 1 Micro USB cable
• A welcome guide

Anker PowerCore 5000mAh

If your main concern is stylish and extremely compact power bank, then the Anker PowerCore 5000mAh is your best bet. This power bank features an arc designing, which is both stylish and really compact. It can easily fit into your pocket and still leave lots of space for some of your other accessories. 

Other than the change in designing and battery capacity, everything else is pretty the same as what you get from the other two Anker power banks discussed above. Talk of PowerIQ, VoltageBoost technology, and Multi Protect Safety System, it’s all included here. 

But let’s talk about the 5000mAh capacity. As you can see, it’s not really as big as the other power banks discussed above. This will be an issue if you are camping, hiking, or in need of charging multiple gadgets. If you are okay with that compromise, the Anker PowerCore 5000mAh is definitely one of the best buys. It is ultra-compact, very stylish with four colors to choose from and at $18, it’s very reasonably priced.

What’s included in the box?

• 1 Anker PowerCore 5000 power bank
• 1 travel pouch
• 1 micro USB cable
• A welcome guide

A short intro to the 3 Best YouTube Downloaders

YouTube is the biggest video-hosting site in the world. More than a billion people use the site every day. It has grown to become a home to so many videos from random hilarious clips, some very informative guides and tutorials to groundbreaking documentaries. It’s almost like you can get a video on everything you need from YouTube. The problem, however, is that YouTube only permits streaming of content only. Therefore, they do not provide any tool that can allow you to download the videos to your drive. This is a problem because, in certain instances, you will always find yourself in need of viewing some videos from your system and not the website. Whether it’s due to a slow internet connection or it’s just the simple fact that you might be following a “how-to” guide, and you want to do so with more freedom or without using your internet connection; having the videos available to you even when you are offline can come very handy. So, how do you go about it?

What you need here is a YouTube Downloader. These are third-party software that is developed to grab and download content from YouTube. While there are dozens of this software, not all of them are as good as they may appear. When you are looking for an ideal YouTube Downloader, there are various key aspects that you need to consider. For instance, you need to check on how fast the software is. You’d be surprised at how slow some of the YouTube downloaders can get. You could easily find yourself downloading a 1080P video for hours while a 4K clip might take an eternity.

What’s the best YouTube Downloader?

WinX YouTube Downloader is the best Youtube Downloader you can use at the moment. This powerful software can have you downloading hundreds of videos at once without affecting the performance of your system. It’s also our top pick because it can download videos from different websites. This basically means that once you install the software, you probably won’t have to look for any other downloader when you want to download videos from Vimeo, Facebook, and over 600 other sites.

Here is a more detailed review of WinX YouTube Downloader:

WinX YouTube Downloader

According to the developers, WinX can download 1000+ videos at a go! That’s an insane figure, and you probably won’t ever find yourself downloading that many videos, but it is nice to see the option as it means that you can do batch downloads with no problems at all. It gets better; not only can you download so many videos at once, but you can also download a whole playlist at once or an entire channel! Just how convenient is that?

Using the WinX YouTube Downloader is also super easy. After installing the software, you’ll come across the intuitive interface. Everything is within your reach here with all the most used tools at your disposal. To download videos, all you have to do is paste the link or links and click “Analyze.” The next page will then show you the quality of videos available, extensions, and other details. WinX can download up to 8K videos, and hence video quality should be the least of your worries. You’re also given the option of the output format you want the video in. It can deliver MP3, MP4, FLV, and WebM videos. After choosing the video quality and some of the other options, you can go ahead and click the download option to get things started. Once the downloads are done, the videos will be saved in the WinX folder. Something else we really like about WinX is that when you are downloading a playlist, a folder will be created where all the videos from the playlist are saved. This is a nice touch as it saves you from all the hassle of having to sort the videos yourself. There is still an option of choosing where you want the videos to be saved.

The WinX YouTube Downloader also takes the crown for how clean and simple the software is. It is ad-free, and upon installation, you won’t be spammed with unnecessary notifications or browser extensions. All the software does is lie silently in the background, ready to download all the videos you want. There is also the option of signing in with your account e.g., YouTube, or Vimeo account, and the downloader will be keen to download videos from any channels you are interested in.

Other Features

• Can record live streams
• Network bandwidth consumption is kept at the minimum
• It can grab and capture snapshots at any point in the video
• Virus-free
• Compatible with 1000+ sites

4K Video Downloader

Coming at a very close second is the 4K Video Downloader. This is yet another free and easy-to-use tool that allows you to download high-quality videos at high speeds. Even though the name goes as 4K, you can still download 8K videos without compromising much on the download speeds. The software is also highly customizable, allowing you to get the videos in just the right quality and format.

The procedure of downloading videos using this tool is very similar to that of WinX. All you need to do is copy the YouTube video you want and click the “Paste URL” option. This will then scan the video from the URL before you can choose the output format and the quality of video you want to download. 4K Video Downloader supports MP4, M4A, MKV, FLV, 3GP, and MP3 formats. The software can also download 360-degree and 3D videos. Once you’ve selected the quality and format you want, you can choose the folder into which the videos will be saved, and then you can start your downloads. Take note that 4K Video Downloader can also be used to download a whole playlist at once. The problem, however, is that the playlist should not have more than 24 videos. If you want to download bigger playlists, you will have to buy a key for around $10 to get a lifetime license. This will also allow you to download playlists with captions. Having to pay to download a long playlist can come as a limitation for most people, but at $10, it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker especially if you are going to be using it for a long time.

You can also subscribe to different YouTube channels through the software. This will make sure that all the latest videos uploaded are downloaded automatically.

Other than downloading YouTube videos, 4K Video Downloader can also be used on other sites including Vimeo, Facebook, DailyMotion, Tumblr, Flickr, Soundcloud, and many others.

Other Features

• Available for Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu
• Extracts YouTube subtitles in .srt
• Downloads videos directly to iTunes library
• Smart mode offers fast and easy downloads
• Built-in proxy setup

Free YouTube Download

Free YouTube Download is a very summarized tool that’s free from distractions to get you downloading your videos in a few clicks. Just copy the link of the video you want, click the paste function on then and click “Download” to get started. You can also check the Auto Download option. This will make sure that all the video URLs copied are downloaded as soon as the software grabs it. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

Free YouTube Download can grab and download several videos at once. You are also given the option of deciding the format that you want your video in. This could be MP4, MKV, WEBM, AIV, and MP3. In terms of video quality, this software can download videos of up to 8K UHD, but this may be limited to the MKV format only.

Free YouTube Download is available on multiple platforms, including Windows and macOS. The software also allows you to automatically transfer all the videos you are downloading to your iTunes library. You should then be able to enjoy your videos directly from your iPod, iPad, or iPhone.

Other Features

• Download subtitles
• Regular updates
• Very easy to use
• Supports batch downloads
• Fast speeds

The Best Email Service for your business

Email services are nothing new. You’ve probably used one or more of the different email clients out there. But do you really know which one is the best? Let’s take a step back; do you even know what constitutes of the best email service client?

Other than sending and receiving emails, there is so much more that you need to look for in an email service provider. Whether you are in the market looking for a personal or business email client, you need to make sure that you are getting more than just the basic functions. First, how secure is it? Can you rely on the client to keep your emails and data in general private? Security is the one aspect that you cannot afford to compromise. If the data in your emails leak, how long do you think it will take before vital personal information, including your credit card and other financial details, end up in the wrong hands?

An email service provider should also block spam and virus. The best email services usually employ encryptions and other security protocols to keep you free from spams and virus attachments. This is vital because your antivirus might not always protect you from infected file attachments and hence having a provider that prevents the infected attachments from getting into your inbox in the first place is paramount.

Available storage is another key factor, especially if you are looking for the best email service for business. How big of a file attachment can you send in the email and is it in line with your expected needs? What’s the overall size of data storage provided and is sustainable in your unique situation?

Most email services have free plans, but these usually come with some limitations like small available storage and ads. If you were to upgrade for better services and an ad-free experience, how much will you have to pay?

Finally, you can go ahead and look for several other factors like ease of use, customer support, and the email service’s integration with other apps. 

After checking out the email services against the above guide, identifying the best service should become a bit easier.

What’s the best email service?

Microsoft Outlook is the best email service in the market. The service packs so much in terms of features, yet it still remains very user-friendly. Keeping your stuff organized here is easy, and using the email daily is effortless with numerous options such as auto-reply at your disposal.  It’s integration with the host system, and third-party apps are also seamless, and hence, your everyday interaction with this service should be smooth.

The following is a deeper dive into Microsoft Outlook and two other incredible email services:

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook has millions of users worldwide. This extremely popular email client has so much going for it. Its interface is friendly and looks amazing with several beautiful themes to choose from. It does take some time getting used to the UI though. Its integration with other apps and software will make your work very easy. The client can be synced with Office Online, Skype, PayPal, Uber, Evernote, Yelp, and other apps helping you to access most of your details from a single platform. Being a Microsoft product, you can also expect to access documents and spreadsheets much easier from the client. Microsoft Outlook also allows you to connect up to 20 other email accounts. This gives you access to all the emails coming in from the other accounts via your outlook account.

If you are using the standard Microsoft Outlook through your browser, you will get 15GB of storage. This allows you to send emails with attachments as big as 50MB. Oh and you can attach files directly from your cloud storage accounts such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. That’s a lot more than what other web-clients are offering. You could also download office 365 – which is available on both Windows and Mac – and get 50GB of storage space and 1TB OneDrive storage. Through Office 365, you will also get an ad-free Outlook account and lots of other tools including the latest Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, professional message formatting, file recovery after a malware attack, Offline Working and many more. There is a catch though; the Office 365 can be quite expensive with the cheapest plan starting at $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year.

The Microsoft Outlook also performs really well in terms of security. Other than the basic password protection, you will also get protection against spam, ransomware, and other malicious issues. The Office 365 users will also enjoy free file recovery should their mailbox be corrupted with ransomware or other malware issues.

 Some of the additional features of Microsoft Outlook include:

• Inserting a signature is super easy
• Manage your appointments through a calendar, and you can even share it with your family
• Create tasks
• The social connector will keep you in touch with your social life
• Voice mail transcripts
• Zoom slider
• Quick view
• Spell checks
• Archive your files in .OST and .PST either manually or automatically
• Third-party support

Drawbacks

• Using Microsoft Outlook through office 365 offers vast features, but it is expensive

Gmail

Google’s Gmail is the most popular email client in the world. It has millions of users, and part of the reason for its popularity is how easy it is to use. The service can classify your emails for you, or you can decide to do it yourself. You could categorize the emails into various groups such as Social, Forums, Promotions, Updates, and Primary. This makes organization a lot simpler plus you’ll never have to deal with the issue of a crucial email getting lost in the midst of non-vital promotional or social mails.

Other than being very organized, Gmail also allows you to customize how most of the stuff should be laid out. You can choose to have a panel view with horizontal or vertical split, or you can go for a list view. It all comes down to your preferences. You can personalize the interface even further with the numerous Gmail themes available to keep things looking interesting.

When it comes to security, Gmail is one of the best around. Its spam blocking capabilities are very powerful. Gmail can automatically block spam emails and contacts. You can also dig into the customization section and red flag any contacts you want to block manually or unblock contacts that might be blocked by mistake. Gmail also offers excellent protection against phishing websites and viruses. The two-factor authentication should also keep unauthorized people from accessing your mailbox.

You can use Gmail for free utilizing the company’s domain, and you will receive 15GB of storage space. In case you need more in space, you’ll need to subscribe for their paid plans that start for as low as $1.99 per month which offers 100GB in storage or up to $300 per month for 30TB of data!

Advanced users and business can get even more from Gmail through G-suite. The G-Suite plans offer so much more. Other than the business email, you will also get video and voice conferencing, shared calendars, secure team messaging, Create spreadsheets, documents and presentations, 24/7 customer support, security and admin controls and so much more. G-Suite plans start at $6 per month per user for the Basic plan, $12 per month per user for Business Plan and $25 per month per user for the Enterprise option. Of course, the more you pay, the more the features you’ll receive.

Other Features

• Built-in language translator
• You can import contacts directly from social media
• Attach files as big as 25MB
• Powerful search engine
• Frequent updates
• Reliable
• You can set vacation responders
• Sync with other Gmail accounts and receive your emails from one place

Drawbacks

• Although it still offers Google Sheets and Google Docs, they’re no match to Microsoft’s

ProtonMail

ProtonMail is nowhere as popular as Outlook, Gmail, and other email clients, but surprisingly, it is hands down the most secure client in the market. This makes it an appealing option for everyone who is security or privacy-conscious. ProtonMail offers end-to-end encryption to all the emails you send. This essentially means that no one – not even the client – can intercept the mails you are sending. Security leak can only happen on either end. The privacy of this client is boosted even further by the fact that their servers are found in Switzerland where privacy laws are very clear and strict. This is one of the reasons why the email client is recognized by popular print media outlets, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, and even Forbes.

ProtonMail won’t require any of your personal information to set up an account for you. Therefore, you can create an email anonymously, and you will still enjoy end-to-end encryption, and no records on your IP logs are retained.

Other than being a security-tight client, ProtonMail is also quite easy to use. The interface is unique, but it shouldn’t take more than a couple of moments to get the hang of it. The layout and customization options also make it easier to stay organized. You can sync the client with other email accounts from other providers to check all your emails from one place.

ProtonMail is an Open Source and community software that relies on its commercial plans to generate revenue and stay afloat. You can, therefore, rest easy knowing that none of your private data will be sold to any third parties, and neither will you have to deal with any ads.

With that in mind, it reasonable to see that the free version doesn’t offer as much as what you can get from other clients in the market. For instance, the storage space here is just 500MB, and you will have to subscribe to get more. Their first commercial package – Plus – starts at $5 per month or $48 per year, Professional Plan goes for $8 per month per user or $75 per year while the ultimate Visionary plan is going for $30 per month or $288 per year.

Some of the features that you can get from the paid ProtonMail plans include:

• 10 Custom domains
• ProtonVPN
• Catch-All Email
• Autoresponders
• Email filters
• Multi-user support
• Priority customer support
• Unlimited messages per day
• Up to 50 addresses

Drawbacks

• Can be expensive
• The free ProtonMail limits you to just 500MB in space which is small and 150 messages per day

The Best Apple Watch App for your needs

The Apple Watch Series 4 is one of the best smartwatches you can buy today. The smartwatch is stylish, and it comes with one of the most brilliant displays we’ve ever seen in a smartwatch. But, what are some of the best apps that can help you get the best out of this or any other Apple Smartwatches?

The good news is that the Apple Watch has arguably the most apps of any other smartwatch in the market. The best news is that with the highly awaited watchOS 6 expected to roll out sometime this year, the introduction of an App Store in your wristwatch will definitely compel app developers to make even more exciting apps for this watch. All that is in the near future, though, but what about right now? What are some of the current apps that can improve your everyday interaction with your apple watch? Are there any apps that can enhance your fitness and health?

In this review, we have compiled some of the best apps that have proven to be very useful in a typical day-to-day basis.

So, What’s the best Apple Watch App?

The best apple watch app you can get today is Things. You are probably familiar with this app, which is also available on iPhones. It’s an introduction to the Apple Watch is highly welcomed as it has improved task management significantly. You can view and check off different tasks right from your wrist. This should help you stay organized and on top of all your duties. Let’s take a closer look at this and some of the other useful apps you can get for your apple watch:

Things

Things make task management an easy task. As it should be. The app looks attractive, yet it is still neat and very simple. Using it is, therefore, a very straightforward experience. You can jot down all the stuff you need to get done with ease. And here is something else I really like about Things; while noting down your tasks, the app will allow you to include additional details regarding the task making sure that you don’t miss out any vital details.  Once everything is noted down, the app will stay out of your way, allowing you to get down into executing the tasks. Once you’ve finally achieved a task, you can pop up Things again and clear the activity. There is something very satisfying about clearing stuff from your task manager, and you’ll definitely get that feeling while using this application.

Through the Siri watch face, Things will also remind you of your daily tasks. No longer will you have to deal with the issue of forgetting to make an appointment with your dentist, a book that restaurant for a family dinner and so on. You can also move some of the tasks to the next day without having to rewrite the entire thing again.

As far as I can tell, the main pitfall with Things is the price. For around $10, it is quite a costly app, and one may wonder where it is worth it. Yes, the app is very useful, well-built and all that but for $10, it comes off a bit too expensive for most people. However, if you do not mind spending $10 on an app, then Things is definitely a good place to splash the cash on.

Start with Yoga

Ironically, certain Yoga apps require you to stare at your phone screens during training constantly. How in the world are you supposed to do that and still get the training, right? Furthermore, what are the chances that you may go out in your backyard for some Yoga, take out your phone to go through the app only to find yourself deep inside your Instagram doing some irrelevant stuff?

The Start with Yoga Apple Watch App tries to solve this issue. It brings you routines right at your wrist where you can easily see what positions you need to switch between without exposing you to the potential distractions that come with a smartphone.

Start with Yoga comes with several rep-defined routines. This will get you started as soon as you install the application. You can use your iPhone to create other routines, and this is really easy since there are clear illustrations to guide you. With all your routines set and ready, you can speak to the app and adjust how long you should stick in each position. The app will guide and instruct you on when you should switch positions.

The main drawback with this app is that it doesn’t really feature the most advanced Yoga routines. This shouldn’t be an issue for beginners or anyone who is just using the app to complement their main Yoga sessions, though.

Tag Heuer Golf

For all the golfers in the house, this one is for you. Tag Hauer is a popular name among golfers. The company has some incredible watches, and this app is one of the ways of accessing the various services Tag Hauer is so popular for.

What services are these? Through this app, you will get maps of almost 40,000 courses from across the world! The apps also provide details on shot distance measurements, hazard locations, and even real-time statistics.

The Tag Heuer Golf apple watch app will then share the data collected with the iPhone app to give you rather comprehensive information on your performance and progress. You’ll be able to see how well you performed not just on that day but also in the last few rounds or all the time. You will also see the longest shot you’ve made, the best score to par, putts per hole and so on.

If you thought $10 for a mere Things app is expensive, then the Tag Heuer Golf will definitely shock you. Tag Heuer timepieces are known to be really expensive, and the same premium price tag is also placed on this app as it goes for around $40 per year!

Clue

The watchOS 6 is expected to provide cycle tracking for all female Apple Watch users, but you don’t have to wait until then to gain control over your periods.

Through the Clue application, ladies will gain better insight into their cycles with accurate tracking. The app is in fact approved by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists magazine known as the Journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. It claims to be interested in all the facts regarding your cycles and not any of the butterflies, flowers and other irrelevant colorful stuff that most inaccurate cycle tracking apps are so popular for. This is a claim that they live up to.

With Clue, monitoring your cycle becomes super easy, you will receive other notifications on your health, including changes on your hair and skin, and emotions. It can also predict not just your next cycle but all the three upcoming cycles!

Clue also stands out on how well it presents all this information. It does so privately and in a simple manner to ensure that you don’t misinterpret or miss out on something crucial.

A short intro to the Best External Hard Drive for Mac

Apple is well known for constructing their devices in a manner that discourages guys from interacting with the internal components. We’ve seen this in the latest iPhones, iPads and even in Macs. As a result, opening up these devices becomes really difficult or even impossible to do without damaging some of the internal pieces or the entire device. A few experts have come up with ways of getting inside MacBook and iPads, but then the charges are usually too steep, making one question the feasibility of the entire project. All these issues may never affect you until such a day when you realize that you need more space for your Mac. As the size of digital files continues to increase significantly, it is becoming evident that not even the best cloud storage clients are enough. At some point, you will have to look for additional storage where you can conveniently store all your vital data without having to worry about security or data loss and since you upgrading Macs is difficult or outright expensive, you’ll have to get a solution from somewhere else. This is where you require external hard drives.

With the best external hard drives, you get to store all your massive 4K videos, high-res photos, sensitive files, and so on in a highly secured gadget. Some of these hard drives are designed in a compact and lightweight manner giving you constant access to your files even when you are out traveling or when you are working between your office and home. Since you are trying to empty huge files from your Mac to create space and improve overall performance, data transfer speeds are definitely going to be crucial. To make sure that you don’t spend an eternity transferring files, the best hard drives are usually programmed to work at high speeds even when you are copying enormous files.

What’s the best external hard drive for Mac?

The Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2Tb is perhaps the best external hard drive for Mac in the market at the moment. This hard drive has so much going for it, making it an ideal accessory that you can use in the office, at home or on the go. That’s because it has a sleek modern design plus it’s lightweight, and hence it can easily slide into your laptop bag without weighing you down. The transfer speeds are decent enough for standard use and the fact that it is available in different sizes ranging from 1Tb all the way to 5Tb means that everyone can get one that is in line with their everyday tasks or within their budget.

Let’s take a look at what the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2Tb external hard drive has to offer:

Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2Tb External Hard Drive

Seagate is a company that needs no introduction when it comes to external hard drives. Over the years, they have given us incredible hard drives, and the Backup Plus Slim 2Tb is part of that culture. This particular hard drive is designed to meet the constantly changing needs of modern users. It’s for that reason that Seagate was keen to ensure that other than providing you with space you desperately need, that they also make the hard drive lightweight enough to bring convenience into your life.

Weighing just 4.8 ounces and measuring 4.47” by 2.99” by 0.48” the hard drive is compact enough to grab into your palm and slide it inside one of the small compartments of the fantastic Peak Design Everyday Backpack or any other backpack for that matter. To put it into perspective, at 4.8 ounces, the Backup Plus Slim 2Tb is lighter than the iPhone XS, XS Max, and the Galaxy S10 Plus.

Using the hard drive is as easy as it is to carry. It comes with a mac driver, and you won’t need any technical skills to install it. After installing the driver, you can get down to backing up your files through the fast USB 3.0 cable.

With the Backup Plus Slim 2Tb, you can do backups on-demand with a single click, and you can also schedule automatic backups as frequently as you’d like. Whether it’s daily, weekly, or monthly, it’ll all come down to your preferences or needs.

Upon purchasing the Backup Plus Slim 2Tb, you will get a membership to the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography for free for two months. This will give you access to amazing video and photo editing tools, including Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, and many others.

Other features

• Works out of the with Windows PC
• NTFS file system
• USB 3.0
• Available in Silber, Blue, Black and my personal favorite red
• You can also get it with 1Tb, 4Tb or 5Tb capacity

Toshiba Canvio Basics 1Tb Portable External Hard Drive

There are so many serious reasons to like the Toshiba Canvio Basics, but weirdly enough, I loved it the most for its matte finishing. This gives it a very elegant appearance, and that’s why I always enjoy seeing it seated on my white work station. What’s more, with a matte finishing, I’m never bothered about smudges or fingerprints getting stuck on the hard drive.

The Canvipo Basics has more than just the looks though. It is a very reasonably priced hard drive with the 1Tb capacity starting at around $50 which is a lot cheaper than what you’d typically pay for if it were a Seagate or Western Digital hard drive. There are some tradeoffs, though, and we’ll highlight them in a bit.

The Canvio Basics is compatible with both Windows and Macs. For Windows, the Canvio Basics is pretty much plug-and-play, but for the Mac, you will need to carry out some reformatting before you can get started.

The Toshiba Canvio Basics is also a good choice for its fast transfer rate. Speeds can go as high as 5Gb/s. The hard drive uses the fast USB 3.0, and it is also backward compatible with USB 2.0, but speeds will suffer if you are transferring through the latter.

Like I pointed out earlier on, the Canvio Basics has a few drawbacks, and this is the absence of auto back up and password protection software. Therefore, if you are dealing with sensitive data, then this might not be the hard drive for you.

Other Features

• Dimensions: 4.3” by 3.1” by 0.55”
• Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Available in different capacities. Take note that the weight and dimensions will vary depending on the capacity chosen.

WD My Passport for Mac Portable External Hard Drive

If you are looking for a plug-and-play external hard drive for your Mac, then this is the drive for you. This item from Western Digital allows you to hit the ground running as soon as you receive it. No software installation or any form of reformatting is required to get it started.

Using it is also just as simple. Since it is Time Machine-ready, backing up files is a matter of dragging and dropping the files with Finder. Moving the files from the hard drive to your Mac is just as easy.

Security has also been prioritized here. The hard drive uses 256-bit AES encryption and WD Security software to protect all the files inside.

The build quality of My Passport for Mac is quite remarkable. Western Digital has taken keen steps in making sure that the interior components are just as well built as the external housing. This is crucial because the hard drive is designed to be portable. This makes the hard drive a very reliable and durable tool that can survive the tough on-the-road life.

Other Features

• Dimensions: 3.21” by 4.33” by 0.85”
• Weight: 8.6 ounces
• Available with up to 4Tb capacity
• Compatible with both USB 3.0 and 2.0

A short intro to the Best MP3 Players

MP3 players are not as popular as they were a decade ago. There is no doubt about that. But do you know what else is undebatable? The MP3 players available in the market today offer the best features we’ve ever seen in an MP3 player. It doesn’t matter whether you already have a 32GB+ smartphone or not but having an MP3 as your primary or even a secondary entertainment gadget can come in very handy. The fact that smartphones are getting bigger with every passing day doesn’t help either. How so? Say for instance you’re going out for a jog or intensive workouts, would you rather carry a compact $40 3.74 ounces MP3 player or the $800 5.82 ounces Huawei P30? What if something went wrong and the gadget falls off; which of the two would you rather break? You get where I’m coming from, right?

An MP3 player could also be very useful if you are trying to get away from all the annoying business notifications hitting your smartphone. With one of these incredible devices, you can get the full music experience without the annoying distractions. What’s more, an MP3 player can help you save your battery and internal storage especially if you are going on a long trip and you don’t plan to stay starring at other people and around you like a weirdo.

Therefore, MP3s are still relevant in so many ways, and that’s why there’s a lot of them in the market. In this review, we are going to highlight the best MP3 players in respect to build and sound quality, storage capacity, battery life, portability, files supported, and many other factors. 

What’s the Best MP3 Player?

The Soulcker D16 16GB Lossless MP3 Player has to be the best MP3 player in the market. This versatile player utilizes Bluetooth 4.0 delivering consistent transmission making sure that nothing is standing in the way of you and your music. It is also a highly compact device and very lightweight, and hence it’s ideal for an active lifestyle where you want to have your music on the go from a gadget that is not weighing you down. The best part? The player pumps high-res music with mind-blowing clarity, noise reduction and an amazing equalizer allowing you to personalize it into your liking.

Here is a detailed review of the player and some of the other remarkable alternatives:

Soulcker D16 16GB Lossless MP3 Player

The Soulcker D16 is not your ordinary MP3 player, and that’s because it employs advanced technology to ensure that you are getting the best value for your money. Other than being a music player, it also has a built-in FM radio (must plug in earphones to use the radio), it also supports picture browsing, voice recording, and file browser. What captured my attention the most is the fact that it supports txt format, which essentially means that you can also utilize the player to read e-books. It is, however, not compatible with audiobooks and iTunes.

For all fitness enthusiasts, the Soulcker D16 is also packed with a Pedometer function. This can measure steps taken and distance covered. Even though it is not as comprehensive and effective as the best fitness trackers, it still does a decent job and can be used to complement a tracker.

The Soulcker D16 produces high fidelity sounds that we found very impressive. It can play different music genres with utmost clarity, and the presence of an equalizer is a huge plus as it allows you to edit the output depending on music genres i.e., hip hop, Funk, Rock, Techno, Jazz, Classical and Custom EQ. This pretty much covers everyone’s music taste.

You can play all the popular audio formats with this MP3 player. FLAC, MP3, WMA, AAC, APE and WAV files should all play in this player without any loss of quality.

The Soulcker D16 features a 2.4” LCD screen from which you can read your e-books and preview pictures. Below the screen are seven buttons giving you access to the basic functions of the player. You can also light up the buttons from the settings to make them visible even in the dark. There is also a keyboard lock function that will prevent accidental pressing of buttons. To lock or unlock the keyboard, you need to long-press the menu button.

Other Features

• Dimensions 4.17” by 1.96” by 0.35”
• Weight: 3.68 ounces
• Built-in speaker
• 55-hours battery life. It takes 2 hours to charge the player
• 16 GB internal memory with a 128GB Micro SD HC card slot
• Pedometer and stopwatch support
• Supports OTG (on-the-go) function
• Compatible with Bluetooth headphones or speakers
• A-B repeat

BERENNIS MP3 Player with Bluetooth

The BERENNIS MP3 player is yet another incredible MP3 player retailing at a very affordable price. It’s very easy to assume that since it is cheap that it also poor in build and sound quality, but that would be very wrong. The player comes with a digital audio signal processor, audio decoding IC, and dual DAC decoding. This produces rich sounds full of details making sure that nothing is taken away from your experience.

Through Bluetooth 4.2, the player offers consistent transmission for the stable performance without any loss in sound quality. We must also mention that Bluetooth 4.2 helps to keep power consumption on the low giving you longer battery life. Even then, the 30-hours battery life of this player is no match to that of the Soulcker D16, but it’s still good enough.

The BERENNIS MP3 player comes with 16GB internal memory and supports up to 128GB of TF card. It can play different audio formats ranging from MP3, APE, WAV, FLAC, OGG, and many others. It’s also packed with an equalizer with preset Pop, Rock, Jazz, Electronic, Classic and Custom EQ.

With the built-in speaker, you will never require your headphones to enjoy your music or listen to podcasts. However, the speaker quality is not really the best, and hence you are better off just using your Bluetooth earbuds or headphones.

Other than being an impeccable MP3 player, this device from BERENNIS also offers FM radio, video play, photo browsing, clock, file transfers, and e-books but for TXT format only. It’s also fitted with seven touch-sensitive buttons. Just tap lightly on the buttons to navigate through the various functions of the player. Just like our top picks, this player also comes with a one-key lock screen allowing you to enjoy your music without mistakenly pressing any of the sensitive buttons.

Other Features

• Dimensions: 3.5” by 1.5” by 0.3”
• Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Hi-Fi Lossless Sound
• Over 110dB SNR
• 30-hours battery life. It takes 2.5 hours to charge fully

SanDisk 8GB Clip Jam MP3 Player

If you are less obsessed with screen size but more into portability, then this SanDisk MP3 player is your best pick. It is very simple, compact, and lightweight, yet it still packs remarkable performance. It even allows you to import songs from the iTunes library in their original format thanks to the AAC file compatibility. Speaking of formats, it can play almost any audio format in existence. This includes MP3, WAV, Audible DRM only WMA, and many others.

The SanDisk 8GB MP3 player also performs really well when it comes to sound quality. We tested the player with different music genres, and it did okay for the most part.

Being such a small player, there was always going to be compromises and other than the screen size, battery life was the other factor that was affected. The battery here can only last you 18 hours. Although it is not as much as the other two MP3 players on this list, it’s still not a big deal-breaker.

The SanDisk 8GB Clip Jam MP3 Player has a built-in FM radio. It’s also a plug and play since it is shipped with earphone, but their quality is not very compelling.

Other Features

• Dimensions: 0.63” by 1.6” by 2.6”
• Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Available in various vibrant colors
• Micro-SD slot

A short intro to the Best Photo Scanners In 2019

They say pictures can paint a thousand words, that pictures are moments forever immortalized in time on a digital frame. Both of these statements are very much true. In 2019, we all have the capabilities of capturing any and every moment with just a single press of a button.

We can capture that legendary performance on stage with our favorite artist, record the moment our child makes that first touchdown on the field. We can capture these moments and more with just our phones now.

However, as precious as it is to look back on those memories with just a single swipe, technology is fragile. Our phones and devices can break, along with those precious photos that we hold near-and-dear to our hearts.

However, just like our phones, technology has been improving with each passing year, including the ability to preserve these memories on new formats and mediums, including our computers.

That is why today, we will explore three of the best photo scanners on Amazon to ensure that our digital memories can find new ways of being always preserved.

Product 1: Epson Perfection V600 Scanner

One of the best-selling scanners on Amazon, the V600 offers a wide range of versatility and substances for men and women to use. If there were a word to describe the range and function of the V600, it would be “dependable.” The V600 is one of those photo scanners that not only looks the part, being big, bold, and impressive, but it most certainly plays the part.

However, talk is always cheap, so let us get down to business and talk about the V600 in depth.

Features:

• Capable of creating large, beautiful images with 6400X9600 DPI.
• It is the perfect tool to use for removing dust and other stains from film via its digital ICE. Same with tears, creases, and other destructive matter.
• Capable of completing any scanning task in a rapid motion.
• The V600 unit is efficient; thus, with LED lighting, there is practically no warm-up like older models and brands.
• The device can restore faded copies of photos at the same time if needed.

Pros:

• As mentioned above, the V600 is efficient and fast, capable of starting up with little to no wait time.
• It is also user-friendly to not only set-up but installs, especially if someone chooses to go with the rather pricey installation option.
• Sleek and beautiful, the V600 will look amazing in an office or industrial setting.
• The V600 is capable of scanning practically anything, slides, negatives, film photographs, pictures, documents and anything else that is thin and nimble is scannable, copyable and saveable.
• Moreover, plus the device itself is USB-powered.

Cons:

No cons to report on the V600, it is just flawless in terms of what it can offer people.

Pricing

The device itself, if purchased today, will set a person or company back by 190 dollars. However, if that person is not that tech-savvy or rather not mess with installation by themselves, that customer can purchase the additional 200-dollar installation service by professionals. They will unpack and set it up for the customer and ensure everything is ready if they want it.  The service is optional, but it is there for people who want it.

Reviews

However, do not take our word for the V600 alone; here are some reviews by other individuals on the product.

“After losing all of my photos on my SD card for my camera, I knew it was time to buy a photo scanner. I am so happy with Epson. I highly recommend not only this particular model but its brand as a whole.”

“What a wonderful gift to receive from my father. As a photographer, I am so happy to have something so reliable in my office to work with every day. It works like a dream.”

“There is no competition; this is easily the best photo scanner I have used.”

Conclusion

The V600 might be a bit daunting when it comes to that price point, but the versatility and the amount of use a person will get from this product quickly outshine that 190-dollar price tag.

Product 2: Fujitsu ScanSnap IX1500 Color Duplex Scanner

Overview

When it comes to a more traditional-looking scanner, some people might point to the IX1500 given its great and bulky-looking shape and figure; however, this is farthest from the truth as the IX1500 is a powerhouse of a scanner.  The device is capable of handling a wide assortment of tasks while also offering it is owners a wide variety of options and luxuries when it comes to handling their duties and needs.

Features

• Very sophisticated scanning technology. There is no need to have to do two scans for a single document anymore.        
• The device has an easy-to-read, large 4.3-inch screen, capable of selecting where and how a person wants their documents. Whether it is to Dropbox, Google Drive, a specific folder, or wherever the owner wants.
• The device has both Wi-Fi capabilities and can connect to a personal computer.
• The IX1500 has built-in software that can clean and organize files innately. Such as automatic cropping, deletion, new page set-up, and so, so much more.

Pros:

• The IX1500 has a sleek and straightforward design to it, especially compared to older or other models from years past.
• The device is capable of saving a person personal profile and settings, thus making it more convenient for future uses.
• Works for both Mac and Windows users.
• The device is capable of scanning and reading a myriad of different mediums like pictures, drawings, receipts, promotional cards along with many other documents and files.
• Perfect for offices and industrial settings alike.

Cons:

There are no cons to report. 

Pricing

The IX1500 has a few different models available, nearly all of which cost more than the regular version does at 419 dollars. However, the other models, while more expensive, do have their own benefits and wonders to explore next to the regular IX1500 model.

However, at the same time, just like the V600 unit, Amazon offers a professional installation service for 200 dollars more.

Reviews

However, like before, do not take our word alone, let us hear some paraphrased statements made by other individuals.

“My family and I love this device. I can ensure all of the photos I take of my kids at their games are safe and sound on my PC.”

“I cannot express how glad I am to have this scanner in my office.”

“After losing my previous scanner from old age, I was pointed to this one by my friends… my God am I glad they did. I am livid with this scanner. I am glad to have this one in my office.”

Conclusion

The IX1500 might look bland or uninteresting, especially in comparison to the V600 model from above. However, the IX1500 is easily one of the best photo scanners available on Amazon as of writing this article.

Doxie Go SE-The Intuitive Portable Scanner

Overview

However, what if someone is limited on space and does not have the room or availability to have something like the V600 or IX1500 to place in their office? What if someone does not want something that big or cumbersome? Is there perhaps something more sleek and lighter to carry around? Yes, there is.

Doxie brings the Go SE scanner, a single light bar sensor that a person can place down anywhere they want. Just pop in a memory card and that person is golden.

Features:

• With modern engineering, the Go SE does not require a PC to function. Just pop in a memory card and the customer is good to go.
• Capable of scanning and reading papers in less than eight seconds.
• Capable of scanning up to 400 pages per charge and 4000 pages before needing to sync with a PC or device.
• Award-winning ABBYY OCR technology.

Pros

• Capable of reading various forms of pages such as papers, bills, receipts, recipes, photos, and so much more that it is not even funny.
• Capable of reading full colour pages and up to 600 DPI.
• Extremely small and portable, slip into a bag, and off it goes.
• Includes software for the needs of the customer.
• The device is compatible with all sorts of digital organization tools such as Dropbox, OneNote, Evernote, and iCloud.

The Go SE comes with a rechargeable battery.

The pros go on and on with the Go SE.

Cons

• No cons to report with this device. Perfect for everyone.

Pricing

Doxie’s Go SE is currently on sale on Amazon for 178 dollars.

Reviews

Once more, do not take our word alone on the Go SE, here are what others are saying on the device.

“My grandmother loves the device, especially while working in her crafts room on the weekends.”

“I am getting this for my sister next time I see her.”

“Buy this scanner; you WILL NOT be disappointed.”

Conclusion

Doxie’s Go SE is the perfect scanner for newcomers alike. Not only is it merely affordable where other scanners can set people back by hundreds of dollars, but it is light-weight and portable, making it perfect for those who are always on the move throughout the week.

Final Thoughts and Opinions

When it comes down to it, the V600, IX1500 and the Go SE are three of the best photo scanners currently on Amazon. Yes, they are a bit pricey, especially with the installation service option, but all three of these scanners are worth the price given their versatility.

A short introduction to the Best Ethernet Switch    

Every now and again you’ll want to give up some of the flexibility that Wi-Fi offers in exchange for ridiculous performance, speed, and stability for your internet-connected devices – and that’s where the best ethernet switch options come into play.

Maybe you are an avid gamer looking for only the best speed, the lowest paying, and as little latency as humanly possible. That’s just not going to happen when you are connected through Wi-Fi.

Or maybe you want to connect multiple wired devices so that you aren’t clogging up your Wi-Fi network, causing all kinds of congestion and slowing everyone’s Wi-Fi down across the board just because there’s so much traffic moving on this wireless signal.

Regardless of the reasons you’re looking to take advantage of top ethernet hardware finding the right option is always going to be a little bit of a challenge.

Not all ethernet switches are created equally, not all are going to improve your performance, and not all are going to give you the most “bang for your buck”.

That’s why we have put together this quick guide!

Netgear GS 1088 Unmanaged Ethernet Switch

Overview

Universally considered to be one of the very best ethernet switch hardware options you can get your hands on, and maybe the easiest to use top-tier ethernet switch on the market today, this is about as close to “plug and play” as you are going to get with all kinds of extra power-user features and bells and whistles as well.

Those looking to split a single connection between numerous devices will fall head over heels in love with everything that this unmanaged ethernet switch brings to the table.

Features

Right out of the gate, this hardware feels a lot more premium than most of the other switches available. Sturdy metal construction materials are used throughout, and eight autosensing ports guarantee that you get a lot of power and performance out of this heavy-duty system as well.

Active speed monitoring, activity monitoring, and other analytics are built right in and effortlessly recognized thanks to the LED status lights you’ll find the top this switch. The auto uplink feature guarantees that you can use both crossover and straight-through cables with this system as well.

Pros

• Netgear has a reputation for “set it and forget it” performance right out of the box
• This switch has support for jumbo frames all the way up to 9KB
• Eight autosensing ports provide you with plenty of hardware flexibility

Cons

Active power draw measurements are not provided for every device connected

Pricing

For all of the top-tier performance you get out of this very impressive system you’ll be amazed at just how affordable this ethernet switch can be. It isn’t the least expensive option on the market today, but it isn’t going to blow holes in your bank account, either.

Reviews

“Absolutely effortless setup straight away even though I’ve never done any networking in the past”

“Stability skyrocketed across my network just as soon as I switched over to this ethernet hardware”

“Getting much better speeds, much better consistency, and overall improved performance thanks to this switch”

Conclusion

If you are serious about improving the quality of your network and want to use the latest and greatest ethernet hardware to do so, this ethernet switch from the folks at Netgear will have you covered.

TP Link TL-G105 Gigabit Ethernet Switch

Overview

If you do not need more than five ports for your hardware that you want to connect to the internet and can get away with less there’s almost no reason whatsoever to go with any other ethernet switch than this one.

Offering plug and play set up right out of the box with absolutely zero configuration necessary, it’s hard to imagine there being an easier ethernet switch to implement into your already existing network infrastructure than this one.

Combine that with traffic optimization, power-saving features, and the ability to mount this ethernet switch pretty much anywhere and everywhere without any degradation in overall performance or stability and you are looking at something really special.

Features

The active network monitoring features of this particular ethernet switch really helped to set it apart from the rest of the pack.

As we highlighted above, this unit only comes with five ethernet ports available (as opposed to the eight ethernet ports in the unit we just mentioned earlier) – but if you aren’t going to be hardwiring any more than five internet devices there’s absolutely no reason not to take advantage of this system.

Traffic prioritization enhanced QoS, and built-in optimized multimedia delivery so that your content streams effortlessly whether it’s local network media or streaming from a popular service like Netflix are really neat features, too.

This has to be considered one of the best ethernet switch options money can buy.

Pros

Plug and play set up right out of the box makes using this ethernet switch simple and straightforward

Power saving features help to conserve energy and prolong the longevity of this hardware

Traffic prioritization and optimize network features supercharge your connection without any fiddling

Cons

The actual switch IP itself cannot be restricted or turned off

Pricing

This is another really affordable ethernet switch considering the underlying technology and special features that help it to stand apart from the rest of the crowd. You won’t have to spend a mountain of money on this unit, that’s for sure.

Reviews

“As a serious gamer I need a dedicated, consistent, and stable hardwired connection and this ethernet switch definitely delivers”

“My streaming experience improved significantly just as soon as I switched from Wi-Fi to this ethernet switch”

“I was a little bit nervous about tinkering with my network as I’m not all that tech savvy. This was so easy to set up I don’t know what I was waiting for”.

Conclusion

A little bit limited when it comes to the overall amount of ports (though many people will find five ports to be more than enough), if you aren’t going to be connecting every device under the sun to your network via ethernet cable this is probably perfect for your needs.

D-Link DGS 1008G Ethernet Switch

Overview

When lightning-fast speeds are a priority – alongside the stability of that super pumped up bandwidth – then there is no other option better than this ethernet switch.

Designed from top to bottom with gamers in mind, the kinds of gamers that need as much speed as humanly possible with zero lag or latency (or as little as can reasonably be expected), this is an ethernet switch design for power users but easy enough to take advantage of and set up for folks that are anything but tech-savvy.

Features

Eight individual gigabit ports guarantee that you have plenty of connectivity options, with each individual switch enjoying a capacity of 16 gigabits per second. That means that you are going to have plenty of horsepower available just as soon as you tie this into your network.

A number of major Quality of Service features are switched on as default as soon as this ethernet switch has been attached to your network, helping to optimize online gaming, online streaming, and VoIP in specific.

A lot of other major improvements are implemented under the hood as well to give you the best possible internet experience straightaway.

Green Ethernet technology has been used throughout to help cut down on your overall energy demands, too. That means you get plenty of power without having to pay a premium when it comes to your electricity bills.

Pros

Blazing fast speeds and unparalleled stability straight out of the box

A number of key optimizations made already to improve your overall internet experience without any adjustments

Plenty of power user features with a clean, easy to manage, and appealing user interface to implement them through

Cons

Almost brand-new technology so longevity hasn’t been tested just yet

Pricing

A little bit more expensive than some of the other top ethernet switch options available, you definitely get everything you pay for when you invest in this hardware.

Reviews

“My internet absolutely SCREAMS after setting this switch up. Everything is lightning fast – boom, boom, boom – with almost zero lag or latency whatsoever”

“Can’t get over how easy this was to really optimize right after I opened it up and plug it into my network. Super simple to get rolling”

“Speed is up, stability is up, and I can’t get over just how much flexibility I have with this new ethernet switch. I love it”

Conclusion

Definitely, a premium piece of hardware to be sure, you get what you pay for when you move forward with this option. If a fast, stable and secure connection is important it doesn’t get a whole lot better than this.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, finding the best ethernet switch for your specific needs is going to encompass all kinds of different key criteria.

No one has the exact same network demands or requirements, no one has the same tech comfort level implementing a new ethernet switch into an existing network, and no one has the exact same budget.

But as long as you choose from the three top options we highlighted above you’ll have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to better optimize your internet life moving forward!