Exclusive! The Factory JCW will be getting the burble exhaust sound back as was on late R53 models. This is great news and you can see and hear for yourself at your local dealer starting July 14.

If you have the chance to test drive the MINI JCW you must take the opportunity but if you are a fan of the JCW you better get your order in now. Starting July 14 MINI will begin delivering the MINI JCW to U.S. dealers for some eager early adopters. The MINI JCW will be making appearances at the remaining MTTS events in Chicago and LA in late July and early August.

You can read the full Zune review here, the iPod review here and the comparison review of the two here.

Brad also has a few Zune covers to give away if you have a Zune! Click over to the Tech Lounge Zune review, leave a comment and be sure to mention WRR in the comment and email Brad and he’ll hook you up!

Gadget Review #4: Microsoft Zune Download audio file (gadget4.mp3)

Download | Subscribe | 24:44 | 11.4MB

Another great perspective of what is obviously a great car!

Robert and Dwayne drive the R56: Download audio file (WRR_Dwaynes_R56.mp3)

Download | 15:00 | 13.8MB

He has a great time driving it and managed to put quite a bit of kilometers on it.

Awesome review. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you are looking at an R56 Cooper!

Robert drives an R56 Cooper: Download audio file (WRR_R56_6_Spd_Auto_Review.mp3)

Download | 9:47 | 9MB

Overall, he really thinks this MINI does the R50/R53 justice. If you are one who is ordered, or is still on the fence, you definitely are going to want to listen to this!

Download audio file (GabeR56.mp3)

Download | 23:34 | 10.9MB

The Sansa e260’s proprietary connection port is located along the bottom of the unit. The headphone port and hold button are found on the top edge. The back of the player is constructed from a material called “Liquidmetal.” Sandisk claims this material, that feels pretty much like hard, matte-finish plastic, is durable and scratch resistant.

You can read the full review here.

WRR Gadget #2: Download audio file (gadget02.mp3)

Download | 18:11 | 8.4MB

We spend 20 minutes talking about the phone plus Patricia was kind enough to include some notes.

I’m not the cutting edge tech girl, when it comes to many things, including phones. If you are looking for the indepth review of all the features and functions, I think Cnet will meet your needs more than me. However, I am a user of a phone and I have opinions, which I think gives me as much ability to review as anyone else — but keep in mind I’m not pushing phones to their limits and as I mention often, I don’t like to fiddle so I tend to ignore features that require any fiddling or become frustrating quickly.

That said, I think there are a few things of note that DB and I missed on our quick review. I think in bullet points, thus I write in bullet points.

• This morning I found a super neat feature of the phone. It has (like my old Blackberry) profiles that define the rings, alerts, and such so you can quickly jump between normal and silent. Well, the BlackJack took this feature and expanded it. There is an “Outdoor” setting that makes everything louder and my favorite new feature “Automatic.” This automatically switches from default mode to ‘meeting’ when the calendar reads ‘busy.’ No more forgetting to throw the phone in silent. You can even tailor each profile as you would like, but it is a great guide for polite behavior during meetings ( or the movies).


• I mentioned that I had a problem entering my password into a site because tabbing didn’t highlight the right fields. What I forgot to mention is that this phone has no ‘joystick’ or ‘mousing’ capabilities. Hence a new found respect for accessible sites.


• Speaking of navigation, one of the things that makes me like this phone so much is that it has the same side button configuration as my old Blackberry (a scroll wheel, esc/back button, and volume controls). They work well and with the slim design of the phone, the scroll wheel works well for getting around


• There is additional memory slot. It takes a micro-SD card and those are SERIOUSLY small. I would say smaller than a Chicklet and not nearly as thick. In fact, I don’t know how well it works as the small size makes me SURE I’ll loose it in seconds.


• One of the more disappointing things about the phone is that it doesn’t have a mini-USB plug like so many phones these days. It has a proprietary plug for both charging AND headphones (which I was shocked to find that there were no headphones in the box). There are stylish covers for all the plug locations, and I’ll be interested to see how long they last with normal use.


• You can get the unlocked version of the phone and put it up on T-mobile’s network — if you wish.


• The phone is capable of going on the 3G network, but it is unavailable where I live right now, so I don’t know how well that works. I’ll report back once I get a chance to play with it.


• My current biggest disappointment is the lack of cases available. I’m sure it all is because it is SO new, but thus far I’ve not found one I like.

Ok, so there’s my review. Hope you enjoy and let me know if you have any questions. I do promise to keep and eye out and I’ll be happy to answer whatever you want — best I can.

I’m working with some other people right now to make this a once or twice a month happening. Of course, your feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Download | Subscribe | 11.2MB | 24:21

Samsung Blackjack Audio Review: Download audio file (blackjackreview.mp3)

We used to have some great photos of this kit, but they were lost to the great server outage of aught six.

If you are wondering what this sounds like, or what a modded MINI Cooper sounds like, this is your chance. Todd did an awesome job and I think you should all enjoy it!

Todd did the hard part
R50 JCW Sound kit review: Download audio file (JCWSKReview.mp3)
Download || Download Zip || 6:22 || 2.94MB