In the fickle world of the tech enthusiast, where favourite gadgets come and go, the test of time is the only sure way for a device to prove its mettle. So we asked real gadget lovers to show us the products they can't live without.
Name
Simon Steward
Occupation
CIO of video production house
Location
London, England
WHY I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MY
Iomega NAS A300U
Why did you buy it?
I needed a network storage device. This thing is completely self-contained and lets you serve files across a network without a dedicated computer. It uses four separate 120GB disks set up in a RAID array. That means copies of every file are written to every drive -- even if one fails, your data still survives.
What does it do for you?
It lets me backup photos and other important data. Two of my laptop hard disks have broken in the last year so I backup everything. I've been taking digital photos since 1992, but I've only ever lost one picture!
Would you recommend it to others? Why?
It's perfect for home networks, but I'd recommend one of the newer models because they have print servers and USB sockets which suck the data off and onto the internal disks. I've heard good things about the new Iomega and Dell servers..jpg)
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Name
Simon Steward
What I do
CIO of video production house
Where I live
London, England
Outside Interests
Video editing
If you could design and create your ultimate product, what would it be?
A system that can track the location of all my physical possessions, such as car keys.
What tech insider secret do you find most useful?
Backup everything
Do you have three you can't live without? Click here
