Brad Moon

One of the key features of your laptop is its compact, portable form factor. Open it up and you have a fully functional, self-contained PC, complete with a built-in monitor. Snap the lid closed and you can scoop it up and take it anywhere. So why would you want to add a second display? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? Actually, an external monitor is one of the best additions you can make to any laptop, and it’s a useful addition to a desktop PC as well.

IP cameras are best known for home security, or for installation in a baby’s nursery. I recently found another use for the connected cameras we have as part of our security system: I repurposed them to monitor our injured dog. Because of the real-time feed from the cameras, we are able to leave her for short periods of time, the vet has video proof of her recovery process and our household is much closer to normal than it would have been otherwise. In fact, I’m not sure how we could have pulled this off without remote camera access.

Who wouldn’t want to get HD TV content for free? That’s the promise of three HD antennas from Antennas Direct, the ClearStream C1, ClearStream C4 and ClearStream Amplified Indoor Digital TV antenna. Hook one of these up to your TV and you can cut the cord, getting uncompressed high definition TV channels without paying cable or satellite fees. Here’s how I made out on my quest for free (and legal) HD television.  

After a few years where tablet makers raced to get smaller products such as the Nexus 7 and iPad Mini out the door, these days the industry seems focused on getting bigger. Microsoft has been making waves with the Surface Pro and one of the big announcements Apple made in September was the arrival of a long-rumoured—and very large—iPad Pro. But if the appeal of tablets is their portability, why would anyone want a super-sized version of the device? I’ve had the opportunity use many of these big tablets over the past year or so and I can see why they’re growing in popularity.

It’s official: class is in session. Summer vacation is over. Millions of students across Canada are getting back into the groove, determined to do better than ever this year. To help achieve those lofty academic goals, I’ve put together a collection of some of the best back to school tips from Plug-in writers. Elementary, high school, college or university, keep these in mind to use your high tech gear to stay organized and meet your goals for the 2015 school year.

The Seagate Wireless Plus hard drive collected Best of CES hardware at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show and it’s easy to see why. Plenty of storage (2TB or enough for up to 1,000 movies), USB 3.0 speed and a compact size are all good to haves. But the Plus in this case is actually two pluses: Wi-Fi access (with its own Wi-Fi network) and a built-in battery for up to 10 hours of completely wire-free use. If you travel and wish you could take your media with you, the Seagate Wireless Plus hard drive may just be the perfect solution.

While video game consoles continue to get better, try telling the large number of diehard gamers that they should give up their gaming PC. Why settle for the 1080p graphics dished up by consoles when you can enjoy higher quality video effects at 4K resolution? And, with PC gaming you can go mobile, thanks to gaming laptops. Just don’t think you can pull off a graphically demanding title like Battlefield 4 on any old laptop or PC. You need a specialized gaming rig in order to make the most of what PC games have to offer.

Seagate is one of those brand names that pops up repeatedly when you talk about PCs. As a hard drive pioneer, Seagate’s products have a reputation for providing innovative storage solutions to meet any need, whether that’s size, capacity, speed or ease of use. The Seagate Backup Plus portable hard drive I’ve been testing offers a very high 4TB capacity in a very compact form factor. It has sufficient space to back up everything from your entire PC to your digital movie library, in a package that’s small enough to scoop up and slip in a jacket pocket to take with you.

In a world where we can print virtually anything on demand using the inkjet printer sitting on the desk beside us, what the heck is Instant Ink? The Answer, according to Hewlett-Packard is: “Original HP Ink ordered by your printer, delivered to your door.” Sounds convenient, but according to HP, by signing up for its Instant Ink replacement service, you can also save up to 50 percent compared to what you have been paying to keep your inkjet printer running. Now we’re going from convenient to very interesting. Let’s have a look at the details.

I had the chance to use a Surface Pro 3 at a launch event, but I haven’t spent any extended time with any of Microsoft’s tablets since a Surface 2 back in 2013. Microsoft recently sent me a new Surface 3 to try out for a long term review and I came away impressed with how these devices are evolving. And the experience got even better once I’d updated the loaner to Windows 10.