Articles by Gear Diary Staff

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…


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…


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,…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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…