Articles by Gear Diary Staff

How to Do It Yourself! January 16, 2007

Pimping my Mac (Aquarium)

This past August in Nashville, Tennessee it was too hot to be outside to do any yard work, so I decided to work on a project in the comfort of air conditioning. Everything I do or build is a mentally consuming exercise. I Google for ideas, pictures and documentation. Later I sketch, process and make the commitment to get it done. But I’m such a perfectionist when it comes to building things, so I have to manage my time. I’m taking a break from Legos and anything lumber related to try my hand on something totally different. I’ve got the…

Reviews January 15, 2007

The Multi-Color LED Flashlight Review

What a long way we have come, fire, torches, oil lanterns, and then the common everyday flashlights we all use. The flashlight to me is a neat human invention, a battery source running a bulb all mounted inside a portable casing so that you would never have to be stuck in the dark. The 21st century sure has brought us lots of cool new flashlights which no longer use ordinary filament bulbs, but now use low powered light-emitting diodes (LED’s) and one of the coolest newest flashlights is the Multi-color LED Flashlight sold by ThinkGeek. Sure there are other LED…

Reviews January 11, 2007

The Fujitsu T4215 Tablet PC Overview

My purpose here is not so much a review, but some thoughts and observations on what I really like about my new 4215 and what I don’t like. These are the things that as a new Tablet PC owner jumped out at me right away. I would like to begin by explaining how I came to purchase the Fujitsu 4215 in the first place. After years of owning (I still do, of course) Pocket PC devices I came to very much enjoy writing on my screen. It was and is however, a tiny screen. Much as I love handheld devices…

Reviews January 3, 2007

Creative Zen Vision W Unboxing

After my disappointing experience with the Cowon A2 –and yup, I did return it–but still determined to see if a personal media player (PMP) can be a good thing to have around, I decided to give the Creative Zen Vision W a try (I’m still on the waiting). Once again, the basic specs of the device are intriguing: Creative Zen Vision W (the widescreen version), available at various places for around $300 (30GB) or $375 (60GB) 9.7oz/276g (30GB); 10.5oz/297g (60GB) 4.3″, 480×272 pixel TFT screen (landscape mode, ‘natch) built-in FM radio personal info management (PIM) capability–according to the web site,…

How to Do It Yourself! December 30, 2006

Treo 650 Housing Replacement Do-It-Yourself Instructions

[Ed. note: Larry originally wrote this article for the Palm Is Life forum, but he has also translated it for posting here.] Around two weeks ago at “http://www.palmislife.com/“, we had a group purchase activity for buying complete set of Treo 650 Housing as replacement parts for those with “poor looking” Treos. These are “Genuine Replacement Housing For Treo 650” with a “Verizon” logo printed. They are not brand new housings, they are all used but in good condition.

Reviews December 21, 2006

The Logitech Harmony 890 Universal Remote Control Review

Well, I did it. I didn’t think I would, at least for a while, but I did it. I bought the big screen LCD TV, I bought the DVD player, I bought the AV receiver and home theater speakers, and I ordered digital cable. It was a sad day for my wallet, but a happy day for me. It’s something that I’ve always wanted – a top notch mini home theater of my own. I soon found out that there was an issue with controlling all of these devices. Four components makes four remotes. It’s not that four remotes is…

Reviews December 14, 2006

The Cowon A2 Personal Media Player Review

This has been a very, very difficult review for me to write. Most gadgets, I find I either like them, or dislike them, or just feel kind of “eh” about them. The Cowon A2, on the other hand, arouses some pretty powerful conflicting feelings in me. I’ll try to give you all a full idea why throughout the review, but the bottom line for me with this device is, I’m totally conflicted, and there is no bottom line. So read on, and decide for yourself. I’ve been playing with the Cowon A2 personal media player (PMP) for a few weeks…

Reviews December 11, 2006

The Belkin Clamp-On Surge Protector Review

As you are a reader of Gear Diary, it’s pretty likely that your house is something like mine–an impossible flood of electronic gizmos, gadgets, and geegaws, both portable, and not, but all requiring a simply astonishing amount of plug-in space for wall current.? Around our stereo area it can get bad, sure; the receiver, TV, VCR, DVD, TiVo box, satellite box, etc; you need some hefty power strippage to deal with it. But for me where it gets really bad is my desk.? I work from home, so in addition to all the “usual” computer equipment that I have maintain…

Reviews December 7, 2006

All About the Treo 680

[Ed. note: This unboxing with comments was written and translated by Michael Lin (“puttingdog”) and posted on the Palm is Life Forum. The original Chinese version with larger pictures may be seen here. Gear Diary would like to thank Michael for making his pictures and commentary available to an English Speaking audience and Larry for obtaining Michael’s permission to re-post in English.] The Palm Treo 680… My first impression: why does it take so long just to turn on the machine! It takes almost 50 seconds, dude! Appearance I assumed the coating on the front side and the back are…

Reviews December 6, 2006

The High-Powered Green Laser 10mW Review

[Ed. Note: If you have one, be responsible when you play with your laser.] Powerful lasers, a thing that only used to be found in sci-fi movies and TV shows and in the arsenal of the military. Who would have known that in the early 21st century that ordinary citizens would be able to buy pocket sized powerful lasers capable of burning things and throwing a visible beam for great distances. Yes, the day has arrived that anyone can buy such lasers from internet vendors and have them delivered to your door. For almost a year I have been lusting…

Reviews December 4, 2006

The ThinkGeek USB Snowbot Review

Oh the winter holidays are here again. I was feeling festive this year and was planning on buying one of them light up USB Snowmen from ThinkGeek to bring some holiday cheer to my computer workstation. What? was my reaction when searching the ThinkGeek website, no USB Snowman to be found. Oh well, maybe they will have them again soon. Then a couple of days later… on the front page of their website was revealed the ThinkGeek exclusive USB Snowbot! What they call a hybrid of robot and snowman. WOW, they created a “Cylon” snowman, LOL! As a sci-fi junkie,…

How to Do It Yourself!, Reviews November 30, 2006

The Palm Treo 650 Speaker Fix

[Ed. note: Larry originally wrote this article for the Palm Is Life forum, but he has also translated it for posting here. To see this article in the original Chinese, click here. Happy Hacking!] When the Palm Treo 650 launched, it came with an earpiece issue; its speaker sound was too low for regular people to hear. How bad is it? Well, you could clearly hear the caller’s voice in a quiet room, but you probably couldn’t hear a honeybee flying around your ear while outdoors – even if you have turned your Treo 650 to the loudest level. Later…

Reviews November 29, 2006

Cowon A2 Unboxing

I recently got a “Thanks for all your good work!” bonus from one of my contracts as I was eased out the door, and couldn’t wait to spend it on something. So, being a gadget fiend, I had to spend some of it on a gadget, of course. As folks who read here regularly may know, I’m a totally obsessed fanatic about viewing movies on portable devices–Windows Mobile devices, Palm devices, what have you. Recently, there has been a lot of development in the portable media player (PMP) area, where the devices are getting more and more sophisticated, and there’s…

Reviews November 22, 2006

The Case Logic 6 Capacity USB Drive Shuttle Review

While I was at CompUSA one day… I came across the USB flash drive case made by Case Logic (model JDC6). Case Logic calls it the “Case Logic”. I thought what a neat idea. My USB flash drive collection is growing and carrying more than one is proving to be some what of a problem, so I bought the case. The case is 5.25″ x 3.75″ x 1″m and weighs in at 4 oz, which makes for easy carrying. As the product name implies, there are 6 pockets and are made of a mesh material with elastic edges to keep…

Reviews November 21, 2006

The Phantom EFX Reel Deal Casino High Roller Review

Reel Deal is a casino PC game. Specs include Windows 2000 or later, CD-Rom, 1.5 GB hard drive, DirectX 9.0b or later, DirectX compatible video card.? Money and VIP comp points are earned as you play slot machines, table games and enter tournaments.? The casino is easy to navigate and there is a menu board for the many games. I had to read the directions to get the game loaded and reinstall the second CD, but once it installed, it worked like a dream.? The graphics are good, animation flows well and it is a very enjoyable casino experience.? I…

Reviews November 13, 2006

The Sumo Lounge Omni Review

Furniture doesn’t evolve. A couch is a couch, a chair is a chair, and that’s it. The chairs of 2015 won’t be more technologically advanced than those of today. By default, furniture is basic, and often serves one purpose. A seat is for sitting, a desk is for working, and that’s the end of it. But that doesn’t mean that this paradigm can’t be changed. A relatively new company that goes by the name of Omni has created a product – let’s call it a piece of furniture – that changes shape and usage as much as you change your…

Reviews October 23, 2006

Unboxing the Universal — O2 Exec Version

The HTC Universal is the device-of-a-thousand-names: i-mate JasJar, O2 XDA Exec, QTek 9000, SPV M5000, and HAL 9000 for all I know. It’s a hefty (10.2 oz/290 g), big (5.2″ x 3.1″ x 0.93″), hi-res (640×480 VGA), versatile (3G/GRPS, wifi, bluetooth, 1.3 Mp camera, Window Mobile 5), expensive ($1000 retail–go to eBay!) SmartPhone/PDA/convergent device with a clamshell design that hides a decent-sized keyboard and an interesting open, spin, and fold screen that converts it from a sort of micro-laptop form factor to that of a regular PDA. Judie has already reviewed the Universal at The Gadgeteer, but poor Judie got…

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