Over the Labor Day Holiday Weekend, I had the chance to visit the county fair. And allow me the opportunity to set a mental landscape before entering this review full steam. Imagine the smells of cotton candy filling the air, funnel cakes, the unfortunate waft of an elephant (ew!) and popcorn by the ton. Visualize the brightly painted and extremely lit signs announcing oddball tests of strength and dexterity that you will probably never encounter in real life.

That is, not unless you get the 2K Games Carnival for your Apple iPhone or Apple iPod Touch. Best part, there’s no elephant smell either.

Carnival Games has the typical odd assortment of games from a test of strength, bumper boats, shooting galleries (shoot out the center of a star, shoot the ducks with the targets on their sides and a Wild West shooting game) and even a milk bottle game that you can actually win – much unlike in the real life cheating gosh darn game.

The graphics are great, simple, extremely clean and bright and in good looking 3D. Upon your first start up, you will create a character, I decided to make mine look like me… sorta. You can unlock many items and add them to the look of your character. In fact, my little cherub like avatar is now sporting a pair of x-ray glasses that I won by ringing the bell in the test of strength three times. And speaking of which, 2K Games actually worked it out where if you have to slide your finger up and down in order to build your strength for the test of strength, you actually have to rub your finger up and down – staying in one place won’t suffice. I found that actually cool that they used the iPhone’s touch screen in that manner.

You move around the screen using an virtual joystick and while it’s easy to get around, you cannot control the camera at all. The way the game is laid out, you have to walk around from place to place to where the carnival games are located. While I don’t mind the controls in that aspect, you can find yourself walking into corners or behind the game stands. Just walk around them and you’ll be fine.

I was one of the few that did encounter some random crashes; however since the 1.01 update in the last few days, I can easily state that I’ve been crash-free and enjoying this game to the point of having to charge my battery multiple times in a day. Easy to pick up, totally fun to play with, 100% addictive. I’ll have to give the Nintendo Wii version a spin later on too.

A definite must-buy in my book: 5 out of 5 (Highly Addictive)

[ Link: Carnival Games on iTunes, Carnival Games ]

Last year, I reviewed the Eos Wireless iPod Speakers and Dock and came away impressed at the build quality, sound (from such small speakers) and the rather impressive wireless range. In fact, they gathered RTL’s very first 5 out of 5 score.

This summer, Eos Wireless sent their newer Eos Converge system that will connect a PC/Mac as well as just about any other music source. So for the 175 or so Microsoft Zune fans out there – I count myself as one of them – you can actually connect via the auxiliary input and share your tunes throughout the house without having to drill once. Just add music and power and you’re good to go.

Of course… I like to test things differently.

For my long-term test, I played with these things outside on my acre of so immediate backyard and used them to entertain folks during my July 4th weekend outside and during my recent birthday celebration last weekend. And each time, I’d plug into either my Zune, my Mac or once my own stereo without issue. Just take one of the black plastic wireless transmitters, plug in your audio source, and pair it with a wireless receiver, attach some speakers and play your music however you wish. With an effective range of 150 feet, I didn’t anticipate any problem given that I was limiting my area to one acre – which is 212 feet by 212 feet.

The setup… well, there isn’t really any. If you ever conquered the whole square peg toy when you were a kid, well you can handle this too. It’s simple enough to where this is the kind of gift that works well even with a luddite. On the back of the wireless transmitter, there’s an miniUSB connector, an audio in/out connector. On the back of the powered wireless receiver, there’s an RCA connector for some speakers and a power plug input alongside the power switch. Again, it’s so gosh darn easy to set up. And this time, Eos Wireless sent along their Eos loudspeakers that have a black ash finish and are made of solid wood with a 1 inch dome tweeter and 5.5 inch ported woofer. And the speakers do not feel cheap and light by no means. They’re solid enough to where you do not want to drop them on your foot – I did once, my toe still hurts.

So how does it sound? After connecting up everything, the transmitters, receivers and speakers all combine for an expandable – up to four wireless receivers – and spread your music to all around you with a solid, good sound that doesn’t sound out of balance and does not bottom out on bass-heavy music nor too bright on the highs. The Eos loudspeakers are studio grade in build and sound; balanced and nearly good enough to sit alongside my much more expensive Polk Audio and Paradigm speakers that I tend to us in the house. And that’s a good thing.

Are there any cons? Yes. The build quality, while great does leave a bit to be desired in the looks department. They’re functional, non-obtrusive, but are not as smooth or “cool” as the Sonos multi-room offerings. The speakers are $99.95 per pair – you can purchase Polk Audio studio speakers for cheaper if you’re watching websites like Dealnews.com or so. Beyond that, the system does what it says it will do and without fuss. And the cool part… I was using my Apple iPhone to connect and control my iTunes library from the patio via the Apple Remote app.

During the festivities, all of my guests asked where they could buy the Eos Converge system and how much it cost. The Eos Wireless Transmitter and Receiver sells for $99.95 each, while the powered version of the Eos Wireless Receiver costs $149.95. The Eos Loudspeakers are $99.95 for a pair. It sounds a bit expensive, but the fact that you can move, connect and never have to drill or worry about making holes in your walls. To me, that’s worth the level of entry. You can still order then from the Eos Wireless website and they’re still offering free shipping – which is a good thing, the speakers are heavy.

Yet again, Eos Wireless receives a 5 out of 5 (Highly Recommended) from Remove The Labels. Just sad that I have to send back the review system after using for so long. It works very well and I’m sure I inspired a few purchases.

[ Links: Eos Wireless, Eos Converge System ]

I’ve been a tablet user since Adobe Photoshop 3.0.4, Painter 2.0 and the days of Wacom and CalComp used to connect to your computer via the serial connector (read: way back before USB, mid-1990′s or so) and I’m always looking for what’s new in regards to the tablet scene. Adesso, a brand I’ve talked about here quite a few times also makes graphic tablets too.

I got my hands on their CyberTablet Z7, a 5.5 inch by 4 inch graphics tablet. Time to see if their offerings are as well put together as their keyboards.

Made out of shiny, silver but quality plastic, the design of the Z7 reminded me a lot of my older Wacom Graphire 2, a 4 inch by 5 inch tablet that I’ve kept for travel since it’s rather small and doesn’t get in the way. As does the Z7… it’s a smaller tablet that I could easily see throwing into my laptop bag and carrying around with me. The base of the plastic Z7 does have metal with some rubber feet, so it’ll stay put on the table without moving around. I’d say that the build quality easily compares to what I’ve come to expect from Adesso.

The best part about the Adesso CyberTablet Z7 is that it was immediately recognized in Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. The drivers that come with it do install a few other applications to assist you in other applications, namely Microsoft Office for Windows XP users and the ability to add real signatures into e-mails and other documents. The only problem though is that I found the software to be a bit more crude than I’d rather allow to stay on my machine. So almost out of the box, you could actually use the tablet with your existing programs and not include more than just the necessary drivers.

The CyberTablet Z7 does include 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity, something I got a chance to fully test out in the newly released Adobe Illustrator CS5. While playing around, I couldn’t tell a difference between my Wacom Graphire and the Adesso CyberTablet Z7 to be honest. The $69 Z7 actually compared well against my way more expensive Wacom Intuos 3 and did even better than my Wacom Bamboo Touch – which, I’m honestly still coming to grips with while using graphic apps.

The Z7 does come with a bigger – almost grip pen size in regards to the Wacom line – pen than the Graphire and Intuos 3 (out of the box) and fits into my larger sized hands rather well. It fits just like an oversized Cross pen that I carry around with me in my briefcase. However, I won’t say that it is a good size for everybody, if you have bigger hands or like the pen to have a bit of heft to it… go for the Z7. Unlike the Wacom pen offerings, there’s one AAA battery that goes into the pen, giving it that aforesaid heft. To the average geek, or the mobile geek, that will sooner than later become just another battery to possibly replace at the worst times. This part, I disagree with how Adesso designed their pen. I love the heft, the replaceable pen tips, the activity light(s) and the even the almost too-flush but not as easily breakable eraser. About the eraser though, I didn’t find it as easy to use as the Wacom offerings – it was too flush to get any idea of how hard I was pressing down and in some cases where I was trying to erase in Corel Painter IX just a small section, I pressed down too hard and removed a much bigger section than intended.

I do have dual screens, but tend to only draw on one at a time. I also have wide screen LCD’s and the almost 4:3 aspect ratio of the Adesso Z7 does mean that on some up to bottom type of strokes, I might have to be careful not stroke too long because there is (in ratio) more room on the tablet than on the screen. It’s slight, but most of my tests in Adobe Illustrator CS5 and in Corel Painter IX went swimmingly.

Pros:

• Cheaper priced
• Works just as well in professional design apps as more expensive tablets
• Manufactured out of quality plastic with a solid metal base
• See-through flap to place smaller drawings under and trace
• Really responsive, up to Wacom Bamboo level

Cons:

• Some flex when pressed down on hard
• Single AAA battery in pen adds more heft than other offerings and would have to be replaced
• Pen base is non-replaceable, unlike the Wacom offerings
• Software (beyond drivers) does not support Windows Vista or Windows 7

All in all, I give the Adesso CyberTablet Z7 3.5 out of 5 (Pretty Darn Good) where it was a great performer inside of professional level apps like the entire Adobe Creative Suite 5 as well as my natural media favorite Corel Painter but the inclusion of the battery, the lack of software that integrated well with systems above Windows XP being the biggest cons. If you’re in the market and cannot afford the Wacom offerings, you might want to keep the Adesso offerings in mind.

[ Links: Adesso, Adesso CyberTablet Z7 ]

There’s something about me and printers. Same thing with fax machines. I need them, I use them… they just don’t like me. They run out of ink at the wrong time, they don’t work like I think they should, sometimes I think they steal the change from my pocket. Don’t quote me on that last part, but let’s just say that a printer has to be very special for me to use it, let alone like it.

The last printer that won me over was the Epson WorkForce 600, which now has been replaced by the Epson WorkForce 610. And in that review, I took my time, installed the drivers, saw how much ink I’d use over a couple of months… and found myself actually depending on the WorkForce 600 to the point that I considered it a part of the family and not furniture. But despite the impressive quality of the WorkForce 600, I found myself needing the ability to sometimes print bigger than 8.5 inches by 11 inches.

Enter the Epson WorkForce 1100.

Thanks to the kind folks at Epson, they sent along a WorkForce 1100 and granted me a long amount of time to test their printer.

For the WorkForce 1100 review, I upped the ante and even updated my machines from Windows Vista Business to Windows 7 as well as tested on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to 10.6 Snow Leopard and went through over 300 pages of prints, tested different types of papers and really put the printer through its paces. And guess what? Epson has produced another printer that I actually like. From the drivers that actually tell you exact percentages of how much ink is left in the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black inkjet cartridges – which oddly enough, requires two black ink cartridges at all times, but the rest are single cartridges and tend to last very long. How long? I’m 3 months deep into this long-term review process and I’ve yet to replace my cartridges – they’re cruising at 62% full. Yep… I can tell you the exact percentage via the Epson drivers.

Note: Mac owners using 10.6.x, it’s best to download the newest drivers from Epson.com instead of using the CD-ROM that’s packaged alongside the Epson WorkForce 1100.

Since the WorkForce 1100 does not utilize ethernet or wi-fi connections, but via Windows Vista and Windows 7, it’s about three clicks worth of time to set up printer sharing within a workgroup or domain and using the attached computer as the print server. I attached the Epson WorkForce 1100 to a Windows Vista Business edition machine that’s connected to my network workgroup via wi-fi only, and proceeded to add the printer to a Windows 7 Ultimate edition machine in another room without incident. I then went to my Mac OS X 10.6.2 machine and found the printer via the machine that acted like a print server IP address. Again, about three mouseclicks worth of time. A total cinch to set up.

Now, with setup aside, what about the print quality? Epson boasts some impressive numbers on the widescreen format Epson WorkForce 1100:

Laser quality up to 2x faster
Large prints up to 13″ x 19″
Maximum 30 ppm black/17 ppm color
Laser quality 13 ppm/5.5 ppm

Yep, you read that right… 13 inches by 19 inches of bad boy printing ability up to 5760 by 1440 dpi. Let’s just say that my son will have some awesome new posters on his wall that I actually either have designed or approve at a moments notice – the larger prints also print quite fast too. Enough to satisfy an impatient 8 year old waiting on a print to come out. That’s fast enough for me.

Warm up time on the WorkForce 1100 is a bit long, but once it’s ready, you’ll be printing 8.5 inch by 11 inch print up to 30 pages per minute, or a page per two seconds. I was able to maintain that speed on paragraph and normal designed pages, but heavy art and/or layouts in Adobe InDesign that use clipping paths around photo objects and I was printing about 20 pages or so per minute. Not bad, but not spitting them out like a normal Microsoft Word document.

Now, the best part of Epson WorkForce 1100 has to be how fast it slips into “sleep mode”. Once you finish printing, it’s back to its slumber, saving you precious money from your energy bill per month. It’s already 70% less energy hungry than a laser printer, but it goes to standby which uses considerably less energy than while in use.

Sounding like I found another printer I like yet?

As a person that made the transition from a full-blown office worker to a small office/home office (SOHO) worker in the last year or so for the most part – I still have to travel for some clients – I found myself able to print large format prints, labels, impressive looking color images that would look just as good as a print as it does in Adobe Photoshop. I can print quickly, from any machine – I’ve walked in, powered up my laptop, joined my network and started printing in under 5 minutes – and in 3 months I’ve not had one paper jam. I do like how the WorkForce 600/610 do have ethernet and wi-fi capabilities, the large format printing capability and overall size of the WorkForce 1100 means that you will invariably find a place for it that’s not in the way and it’s going to stay there. So with that, I can overlook the lack of ethernet/wi-fi connectivity because it’s mated with a computer that I’ll be using and nearby usually for designs and prints. And if not, I can do as I’ve stated above and set up printer sharing in just a few moments.

Ok, ok… I really like the Epson WorkForce 1100. There, I said it.

The bad? Printers follow the modern day razor and razor blades analogy. For under $200 you can get the Epson WorkForce 1100, but within a year, you will have to purchase the black cartridges – which requires two of them – and the cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges. But Epson has made that part quite friendly since their printer drivers are real efficient. And to be honest, I truly recommend buying only Epson Durabrite brand cartridges if you want to keep up with accurate amounts of prints per cycle, how much ink is left in each cartridge, et al. That’s a nitpick that’s a necessary evil though. The printer cartridges do last quite a while though.

I’d recommend the Epson WorkForce 1100 to those folks that have found themselves needing large print formats. I’ve also print 4 x 5 photos, I’ve print many legal (8.5 inch by 14 inch) documents and switched up to the larger 13 inch by 19 inch and the WorkForce 1100 didn’t have a problem keeping up. By the way, the print in the picture is from Michel Keck’s awesome artwork [ view here ] – go buy some of his art. She’s awesome.

I know, I know. Two printers in two years that I’ve somehow began to like. Who knows… maybe my dislike for printers might be going away thanks to Epson – they’re helping forget my prior HP printer that was pure demonic. Due to the impressive print speed, quality and honestly, the drivers, the WorkForce 1100 is another quality Epson product, easily a 5 out of 5 (Highly Recommended for SOHO)

Update: Office Depot has a coupon that reduces the Epson WorkForce 1100 down from $200 to $130 via this coupon or $149 via the Epson website. Thought I’d pass along the savings!

[ Links: Epson, Epson 1100 Product Page, Epson 600 RTL Recommendation, Epson 310 AIO Announcement ]