Short version: Western Digital’s refreshed My Book Essential external hard drive provides a simple, unobtrusive, and relatively inexpensive home backup solution. With an enormous 2TB capacity, built-in WD SmartWare software, 256-bit built-in encryption with password protection, an “illuminated capacity gauge,” and a MSRP of $249.99, there is very little not to like here.

I like inovative products and after spending some time with the Seagate FreeAgent DockStar, I think it’s just that. This thing is cool. The concept is simple and thankfully, so is the product. All you do is insert a Seagate FreeAgent Go hard drive in the dock – or use a USB flash drive – and then the dock becomes not only a local network share, but also an Internet-connected storage device through Pogoplug. I’m pleased to report that it works without any hassle, but I still don’t think you should buy it.

There is a code to which a cowboy cleaves. He never shoots first, he’s always kind to ladies, and he never buys more printer than he can handle. While I can’t speak for those out on the lone prairie, I can report that the 52-pound ImageClass MF8050Cn by Canon may be the heaviest printer I’ve had in my office to date.

This isn’t a printer for scrap-booking or creating beautiful photomontages of your grandmother. The color printing is delightfully sharp but the speed and on-board features – the lack of a picture preview screen, for example – makes this an office printer through and through. It also has a built-in copier and fax machine if you’re into that stuff. It also scans from PCs or Macs.

Because we’re basically talking about a large job printer here you won’t be printing many photos on this printer. However, it has excellent color reproduction and is just fine for color prints. A slight concern: the “media capacity” is 150 sheets on this puppy, which means you’ll have to refill it every few if you’re doing a few dozen pages per day.

Short Version: For the last seven or so years I’ve been using a ghetto old shaver kit from Walgreens to trim my beard and cut my hair. (I don’t cut my hair anymore; that was just in college when I was a little less poor than now.) I don’t recall the last time I actually shaved with a razor and the ghetto one that I have now not only rips the hairs off my baby face, it never gives me an even trim. Norelco’s stubble trimmer alleviates both annoyances and never gets clogged or requires the blades to be sharpened. So, if you’re like me and you never shave then $40 isn’t too much to fork over for the Philips Norelco Stubble Trimmer.

Of all the watches that I’ve reviewed this week, the Raven Diablo has to be my favorite. The styling really works for me. It’s not as traditional as the Atlas or the Millenia, but it’s also not as far out there as the Centurion. I like the silver accent points, and the carbon fiber layer really makes it work for me. Like the other watches from Stuhrling, this one is made from surgical steel, and a real sense of quality about it.

The Stuhrling Millenia XT uses the same movement at the Centurion, but that’s where the similarities end. Where the Centurion was blocky, square and sharp edged, the Millenia has a very graceful curve, an almost elegant feel to it. Obviously based off of the classic “tank” style timepieces of the 1920’s, the Millenia brings that concept up to date in a big way.

When Stuhrling first contacted us to do a review, they sent a Centurion. When it arrived, I’ll admit, the design threw me off for a bit. The unique font, the extremely sharp and square case – this didn’t reflect the type of watch I typically wear. To be fair, I didn’t care for it all that much. I was determined to give the watch a fair chance however, and wore it on a daily basis for a while, just to collect some opinions.

This week we have a special treat for you, we were sent four of Stuhrling’s most popular watches for review, and we’re going to be doing a week long feature on their products. While you might not have heard from Stuhrling before, you should have. Their products are extremely well built and fashionably designed, but still designed for the more, shall we say, frugal buyer like myself.

Come back tomorrow, and we’ll start our week long roundup with the Stuhrling Centurion.

John already gave you his “quick look” on the 8520, but a second look never hurt. Take into account the fact that my main phone is the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and you can see why I’m anxious to give you my thoughts on the latest Curve to hit the streets.

It’s a budget BlackBerry that skimps on aesthetics, but manages to offer a lot of “must have” features that BlackBerry users have become accustomed to from other devices. Compared to the 8900, the 8520 is sans GPS and the 3.2-megapixel AF camera that’s on the 8900 is now a 2-megapixel variant on the baby Curve. Here are a few sample images taken side-by-side with the 8900. Video quality is somewhat similar, but the 8900 does a better job with color than the 8520. Check out the screengrab after the sample photos.

We actually have two reviews in one in this case; the Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom, and the optional ballhead mount. Do I recommend you trust your expensive camera gear to this device? Simply put, yes. I have a Nikon D300, and I put my precious on the Gorillapod with it’s 18-200mm lens on it, and it didn’t buckle.

Panasonic approached us a few weeks ago offering a Toughbook CF-30 to test in any way we saw fit. Rather than a lot of fancy lab tested, we decided to run over the laptop with a Toyota RAV4.

The laptop, surprisingly, survived almost unscathed.

These laptops are huge. The model we received is built like a tank. All of the ports are protected by waterproof flaps and the case itself locks with an affirming click when you slap it shut. This is a touchscreen model and comes with a small pen but also works with a tap of your finger.