Misc Gear

GD Quickie: Pay No Attention to the ’60 Minutes’ On Your Flip Mino HD

I love my Flip Mino HD, I really do. Since getting it I have used it extensively, capturing tons of our kids’ activities and so on easily and without any fuss. There are no accessible settings – you just record and use the digital zoom. But until last week I never really pushed it. Sure I have had it run out of time on me, but that is after capturing a bunch of different clips, usually during the holiday school concert season. But last week both of my kids had lead roles in the middle school play. Based on last…


SCOTTEVEST Women’s Trench Review

When done correctly, a woman’s trench coat is the perfect jacket. A trench keeps its wearer warm, but it isn’t too heavy; trench coats are belted, so the woman wearing one gains an instant hourglass figure — whether she has one or not! The right trench coat can add instant sophistication to even the most basic outfit; but best of all, a well-cut trench coat can hide a multitude of figure flaws while taking an outfit from day to night. Scott Jordan let us know last October that SCOTTEVEST would be coming out with a women’s trench coat, and the…


Bluetooth Vibrating Bracelet Buzzband MB20 Review

Sometimes you might have your phone in a pocket or in your gear bag.  That’s not too bad if you have the phone’s ringer on, but what if you forgot to turn it on?  That’s where the Buzzband MB20 comes in. The Buzzband MB20 looks like a fairly simple device that can help you keep that ringer off but still be notified when you get a call.  To get started, the first thing you have to do is pair it up.  To do that, all you have to do is press the only button on the band until its LED…


Valentine’s Day Gift Idea: Stylish Flip Video CamCorder

Even in a sea of sea of HD-recording smartphones the Flip line of video cameras still reigns supreme as the easy-to-use, affordable pocket camcorder. The cameras shoot high quality video, make editing easy and, perhaps best of all, let you capture memories without running down your phone’s battery. Over the last few years the Flip line of cameras has added something else: STYLE. You can now get the cameras with a variety of designs… All of which makes them a great gift for the person you love this coming Valentines Day. It gets even better though. You can now give…


CES: Oakley 3D Glasses

CES Day 1: Dan to Judie “3D TV is one of the big things this year… I just don’t get it.” Judie to Dan “I KNOW, me either…” Kevin (thinks, but does not say) “Phew, one less new gadget this year…” CES Day 2, Morning: Judie, Dan and Kevin spend time with Oakley to learn about, and experience 3D TV using their passive 3D glasses. CES Day 2, Afternoon: Dan to Judie “WOW, I take back what I said about 3D TV yesterday.” Judie to Dan  “I was JUST saying the same thing to Kev… I WANT!” Kevin (thinks but…


The BulletTrain Express Keyboard Platform; Thankfully Someone Was Listening

I have been using a Mac laptop of some kind for a relatively short amount of time — only since March 2008, but since then there has always been a MacBook nearby, whether it was the 15″ MacBook Pro, a first generation MacBook Air, a second generation MacBook Air, a 17″ MacBook Pro, or more recently an 11″ MacBook Air. I’ve been pretty vocal stating my opinion that Mac makes some of the best hardware available, even if I am pretty agnostic about whether their operating system is better than Windows or not. Beyond the all metal bodies and slimmer…


TikTok Creates an Evolved “iPod nano as Watch”

The TikTok Multi-Touch Watch Band that took-off on Kickstarter.com is now shipping. The goal was to raise $15,00 in pre-production pledges and, in the end, they raised over $940,000. With that kind of money and press it would have been kinda rotten if the actual product was … well, rotten. Well mine came today and it is anything but. This band actually makes the iPod nano look and feel LIKE a watch. It is easy to pop the mp3 player in, and it doesn’t feel all that bulky. The actual watch band is sturdy but soft and the hardware is…


CES Snippets: Jadu iPad Stand

I did a full review of the Skadoosh iPad stand from Jadu Industries a short while ago. At $69.99 it is on the pricey side for an iPad stand but the build quality, ease of use and awesome industrial design make it one of the most desirable iPad stands I have seen. It is, in fact, the stand I personally use at home now. While we were at CES I passed by the Jadu Industries booth and stopped to chat with the owners/reps for a bit. They are some great people who are committed to bringing thoughtful quality products to…


CES: Meeting with Timbuk2

At CES we met with one of our favorite gadget bag companies, Timbuk2. While with them, we got to see some of the bags and accessories they’ll be introducing this year. Not surprisingly, we were impressed with the continuing evolution and utility of their designs. We have reviewed several of Timbuk2’s bags over the years, and we were impressed anew by the design and quality of the bags being shown. Among the bags they will have coming out this year is the upcoming Command ($130, shown above). The Command won a CES Innovation award, and it is TSA-compliant so that…


CES: SanDisk Meeting

By now you have likely seen that at CES, SanDisk announced their amazing new 128GB Compact Flash Card, a size that still boggles my mind. Available later this quarter for a MSRP of $1499.99, this card isn’t for the feint-hearted. But when you consider that it wasn’t too long ago that a 5GB PCMCIA card retailed for $500 plus, the realization is staggering that this amount of memory is available in something so small. While meeting with SanDisk, I had the opportunity to take a look at their new CRUZER Slider which along with other features also has “error-proof insertion”,…


IoSafe Has Got My Back; Do They Have Yours?

Freshly arrived back from CES, I found waiting for me an IoSafe 1TB fireproof, waterproof, and — as has been demonstrated multiple times by this site (and many others) — a virtually indestructible SoloPRO Desktop External Hard Drive. I’m looking forward to setting up this beast and putting it to work protecting my data. Knowing that any files, pictures, movies and music stored on it will be kept safe — even if something unimaginable and catastrophic should happen to Kev’s and my home — gives me a peace of mind that is hard to describe. Check out the IoSafe site,…


Gear Review: SCOTTeVEST / SeV Expedition 37 Pocket Jacket

To my mind there are four qualities I care about in a jacket: appearance, build quality, useful temperature range and functionality. When you talk about a SCOTTeVEST jacket ‘functionality’ suddenly transforms into ‘massive amounts of usable space’. The Hype: Imagine that you were about to embark on a long journey to a far-off land, and you could carry nothing but what you could fit in your pockets. For this grand expedition, you would need the appropriately named SeV Expedition. 37 pockets – yes, blink a few times and re-read that – 37 pockets in one jacket, the most ever on…


Spice Up Your New Year with Fyre TV’s FyreBoXXX

Are you one of those people who orders adult movies when you stay in hotel rooms? Oh, don’t worry … I’m not here to judge you! But if adult entertainment is your thing, and you hate getting raised eyebrows from nosy hotel staff, then you might want to take a look at Fyre TV’s new FyreBoXXX.


SCOTTEVEST Carry-On Coat Review and Giveaway

SCOTTEVEST recently rolled out another neat travel product. In this case, it is a coat specifically designed for travel. The SeV CARRY-ON COAT has 33 pockets (33!!!!!) and can actually replace a carry-on. Here’s how Scott describes the jacket on the site. Sometimes when going on a trip, people choose to “pack light,” and this usually means carrying a small bag or two. The Carry-On Coat redefines packing light by allowing you to replace the contents of a typical carry-on bag with a precisely engineered structure of pockets and compartments built into the coat. No more extra bag fees, carry-on…


Gear Review: VTech LS6245 DECT 6.0 Touch-Sensitive Bluetooth Cordless Phone System

A home telephone is just a home telephone right? Of course not. That hasn’t been the case for years. While we used to rent our telephones from “Ma Bell” and could have our phone in any color and style so long as we liked black rotary phones we now have a wide range of options with regard to both look and functionality. Most recently many people have even gone so far as to get rid of their home phone entirely and rely only on their cell phone. We happen to have two lines coming into our house but both use…


Wrap-A-Nap Lets You Sleep Anywhere, and I Do Mean Anywhere

I have long admired people who could nap anywhere, even when they weren’t sick and half-doped up on cough syrup. My problem is that if the room is too lighted, too noisy, too cold or too hot, or if I am thinking about all the other things I need to be doing, it doesn’t matter how sleepy I am, a nap isn’t happening. But let’s say that I am able to overcome all of that, perhaps because I’m the passenger on the world’s longest car ride … there is no comfortable position to get into, because no matter how far…


Speck Product’s A-Line Bag for Netbooks May Be the Best Looking Gear Bag Yet!

This is going to sound jaded and awful, but I am going to say it anyway: One of the absolute best things about being a product reviewer is that sometimes companies surprise you with packages containing items you didn’t know existed and you certainly didn’t expect to receive … and that you can’t wait to try out. But on the other hand, one of the absolute worst things about being a product reviewer is that sometimes companies surprise you with packages containing items you didn’t know existed and you certainly didn’t expect to receive … and you don’t necessarily even…


Shape-Up Shoes Shocker: They Don’t Work!

Here’s a news flash for everyone who’s looking for a quick fitness fix: there isn’t one. There is no magic equipment, no special pill, and definitely no pair of super sneakers that are going to get you in shape or zap away the weight. It takes watching what you eat and getting your butt moving! Of course, if you look around your local mall, every athletics store is touting some form of “toning shoe” that promises better muscle tone in your legs and back, and all you have to do is wear them! The first time I saw the shoes…



Gear Review: Sewell Minideck USB to DVI/VGA Display Adapter

I work with some awesome people day in and day out. They are smart, creative, dedicated to their community and a great team with whom to work. They are also, for the most part, tech-phobic or, to be gentler, not the most technically savvy crew around. For example, when I moved my entire staff over to Gmail from Outlook a few years ago, you would have thought I was repeatedly poking them in the eye with a sharp object. The kicking and screaming that went on was painful. Then, one day … bam! … I heard the words “I actually…


Gear Must-Have: Gadget Genie Moisture Removal System

Judie knows gadgets. She’s been blogging for years and has tried out hundred and hundreds of different items and accessories. Many of them get “ooos and ahhs” from her, but rarely have I seen a product draw such immediate enthusiasm as this one. No, this product received an “OMG Great Idea!!! I need some to keep on hand!!” What product caught her eye in such a big way? Is it a phone? Nope. Is it a tablet? Nope. Is it a new computer? Nope. So what is it? It is a bag. And no, it is not one of her…