Unplggd: How Much Will You Pay?

“We were speaking with a friend last week about their recent iMac purchase. We had serious sticker shock when he revealed the price. He got a lot of bang for his buck, and had a legitimate argument for spending so much. It got us thinking though, how far are we willing to go with tech purchases?

Our friend spent over $2,000 on a new iMac. Of course it was top of the line, so the price was justified and his argument was certainly reasonable. The way he looked at the large purchase was this: if he got the absolute top of the line, each maxed out component adds extra years onto the life of the machine. There will be no reason for him to need a new computer for at least 5 or more years. There won’t be any extra little upgrades he’ll have to do here and there, because those have already been taken care of.

So, we got to thinking — do most people practice this method? Obviously having the funds available is extremely helpful in this situation, and not everyone does. Do you save your money until you are ready for the go-for-the-gusto purchase, or do you buy low and keep upgrading every few years? We know people that have kept their computers for over 10 years, but that required regular upgrades. When all of those upgrades are added up, we imagine the two different approaches equal out. So, how far are you willing to go? Are you a go big or go home, or an upgrade over time purchaser?

By Kristen Lubbe”

Unplggd: Clean that Keyboard

“My mom recently purchased an iMac — her first and only Apple product. She had a Dell laptop and was a little worried about a keyboard and mouse (they weren’t included in the purchase). She called to ask how much a keyboard and mouse would cost and I offered to send her our Apple white USB keyboard and mouse. There was only one problem..

We’ve had that white keyboard for over five years and it had been sitting in a box for quite some time (see my post about How Do You Discard Your Tech?). There was no way I was going to send my mother a dirty keyboard. Believe it or not, I’ve never cleaned a keyboard before so this was going to be my first time.

I turned to the internet and found some great suggestions. If I hadn’t promised to send it to her as soon as possible, I would have ordered the Cyber Clean Keyboard Cleaner. Instead, I turned to a video I found on YouTube and painstakingly removed each and every key, used a combination of Q-tips and mascara brushes to get that sucker back to its glory days.

If you’re in my position, instead of searching all over the internet — just reference these previous Unplggd posts:

• Cyber Clean Keyboard Cleaner
• How To: Clean Your Keyboard
• What Do You Do When Coffee Meets Computer Keyboard?
• Use a Mascara Brush to Clean Keyboards
• No More Crumbs with the Keyboard Napkin

Image from Leanda’s Flickr stream.

By Kristen Lubbe”

Unplggd: Desk Style

“Canadian designer Kitmen Keung sent us his newest design (we also are quite fond of his Long-D Dual Time Desktop Alarm Clock design), the A4 Mouse Pad. Made from siliconethe A4 is one part mouse pad and another part storage surface for a variety of home office supplies, such as clips, erasers and pens. The design offers a slightly inwards corrugated sloping edge surface which also happens to create a handsome minimal detail to any desktop.

Colors announced are platinum gray, charcoal gray and tangerine orange in a matte finish. We’re still awaiting word back about availability and pricing, but we hope to nab one ourselves, since we find ourselves in need of a mousepad ourselves…might as well be something as decor friendly as the A4.

By Gregory Han”

Unplggd: Colorful Keys for the Mac

“Inspired by Christopher Delorenzo’s cute as heck keyboard sticker set, Etsy user openandclose makes his sweet-tooth quite apparent when it comes to vinyls and keyboards with his very own variations of CMYK and alphabet animal stickers for the Macbook Pro.

Made from Avery MPI vinyls (which are supposedly easier to remove than your normal everyday stickers), these colorful laptop key customizers will surely garner of few looks of curiosity and make that beautiful Macbook design feel like it’s yours again.

Our main issue is for any recent MBP owner; you’ve got backlit keys. These (obviously) will make that feature moot. So unless you’ve got one of the older Macbooks without the feature, we suggest purchasing with caution.

Grab them for $15 per set over at Etsy.

[Via Technabob]

By Anthony.”

Unplggd: All Things Cork

I’m excited to share our first Unplggd post. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Lifework will be swapping stories with the team over at Apartment Therapy‘s Unplggd. They cover technology in a smart accessible way that I think you will really appreciate.

“Watch yourselves, green addicts, this one might make your heart stop. While we recently fell in love with Corky, the scrolling, clicking, and movement-powered mouse made from cork, there’s plenty more out there in the sea of cork gizmos and credenza mashups. Who said you couldn’t be cool going green?

1) Corky is a mouse powered by your movements rather than batteries. Unfortunately, looks like Corky is just a concept, but we can only hope that after the Greener Gadgets conference this wireless mouse, made from recycled cork and plastic, makes it to a store near you.
2) For those of you looking for an eco-conscious gadget and like their tech accessories to be made of sustainable materials, the JAVOedge’s 3G Cork iPhone Case seems to fit quite nicely.
3) Grab a fancy surge protector covered in cork seen at the Dutch design fair in Eindhoven.
4) Repurpose a media credenza and have it double as a place to put down movie lists, other productive things you should be doing – that sorta stuff.
5) Turn your cork into a USB drive. Or er… buy it for $51.
6) Use it as a laptop case (we probably suggest keeping hot laptops out of this one). Available for Macbook Pros 13-15-inches.
7) Or turn it into a laptop stand! Genius idea from the team at eGenius.”

By Anthony.

This Green Laptop Gets a Designer’s Touch

HP has partnered with designer Tord Boontje to create a lovely little laptop that’s environmentally friendly and beautifully designed – two things we treasure at Herman Miller. It is Tord’s first foray into the world of technology and he’s taken his signature floral cutout design and embedded it into the laptop’s exterior and interior. HP has managed to create a  10.1″ mercury-free LED screen and they printed the user guide using environmentally friendly soy inks. Certainly a step in the right direction. For all the info on this beauty go to HP’s site (make sure you’ve got your sound on – you’ll feel like you’re in the woods!)