Misc Gear | Gear Diary

Cocoon Innovations GRID-IT! Review

Travis recently wrote about some of the great products Cocoon Innovations was showing off at CES to help organize all the wonderful gear we tend to carry around. As soon as I saw their GRID-IT system in Travis’ post, I knew this was a product I could use. While I try to keep an organized gear bag, the daily wrangling of cords, chargers, etc. was beginning to wear on me. Sometimes I need to quickly transfer gear from one bag to another — say, during a short trip where trying to keep up with multiple bags is more trouble than…

News & Features

Quirky Cable Caps

Quirky, who use a community-driven process to determine which products to bring to market, and brings many products to market very quickly, have released their latest effort – Quirky Cable Caps. These caps, in 6 different styles, are designed to protect the (male) ends of USB cables and wrap up any excess cable as well. They each have a wild-looking head which slides over the cable end, and a rubber band type of body used to tie up the excess cable. The six styles available are: Printer Man, Phone Dude, Camera Gal, Eye Baller, Egg Man, and ‘Da Bulb. They are…

Reviews

The Wizcom Readingpen TS Reviewed; It Helps With The Hard Words

About a month ago, we were sent the Wizcom Readingpen TS to review. With two middle school children I had some curiosity about how it might help them read easier. The concept of the pen is simple – scan across a word or sentence. The pen converts the information to spoken words and if needed provides the definition, synonyms and Spanish version of the word. This is useful for anyone needing a little extra help with difficult words while reading a book. How does it work in practice?

News & Features

Is GPS Becoming Information Overload?

Do you have a GPS in your car? I do, and sometimes it gets to be too much in traffic; between stop and go, lights, construction, and the sound of my GPS droning away, it can become a bit overwhelming. I’ve even been known to threaten to throw the yappy thing out the window a few times when it all becomes too much. According to a Tech.view column in the Economist, it might not be me. Apparently, we can only process so much information at once, and beyond that, the brain simply cannot take it all in clearly. So as…

Reviews

ScoopFree Ultra Self-Cleaning Litter Box Review

Editor’s Note: This is a joint review between Adrian and Jessica. Adrian’s comments will be in black, and Jessica’s will be in blue italics Multi-tasking seems to be one of my strong points…work 40 plus hours a week, chase around a toddler, coach high school sports, have a small business, and have family priorities that put me in and out of Dr appointments and hospitals at least once a week…so honestly what else can I add? Oh … let’s throw in mowing the lawn, maintaining the house, and helping my wife with the everyday chores (ok so I duck as…

Reviews

Gboard Review: Gmail at lightening fast speeds

I recently made the move to making G-Mail my full time e-mail client. In conjunction with the move, I also stopped using the Mac OS Mail application and am strictly reading and writing my e-mail via the G-Mail web based client. The transition has take some getting used to. Reading and writing via the G-Mail site is a different experience than doing so via a regular mail application. Simply put, it takes a heck of a lot more mouse movements and clicks when using the web based G-Mail method. When I first spotted the Gboard I immediately knew it was…

News & Features

The UMID mbook Pink Edition for the Impossible-to-buy-for Girly Gadget Girl

You can stop staring now. Sure, the UMID mbook Pink Edition is only a little bit larger than a Nintendo DS, but this dainty morsel is running full Windows XP! I am completely intrigued by the Handheld PC form factor, and I can’t help but be interested. Starting at $449 (including a storage pouch and 4GB microSD), you get five hours of “actual (not theoretical)” use for surfing, editing, emailing, chatting …whatever. This would be the a perfect complement to the MiFi that I received as an early Christmas gift (thanks mom!), to boot! If the pink is too girly…

Reviews

iBend iPhone/iPod touch Stand Review

When Larry posted news about the iBend’s release, he hit the nail on the head with regard to the iPhone accessory’s main draw. As he put it “not everything in life has to be fancy”. He was right and no one could say the iBend is fancy. A few months after its initial release however, the iBend did get a bit fancier with the release of their new Artists Series. These added some artistic flair to the accessory and $1 to the $4.99 price of the “iBend Classic”. We got our hands on one of the iBend Artist Series stands;…

News & Features

The HeadBlade, solving the tough task of head shaving

I’ll just come right out and say it. Are you balding? Are you man enough to admit it and instead of trying to cover it up with hair replacement, comb overs or some other method you simply choose to do “manly” thing and just shave it all off? Or could you have a full head of hair but like the clean, smooth look of your bald head? Are you BBC (bald by choice?) If you answered yes to either of the above questions then the HeadBlade is for you. The HeadBlade, which is used by countless bald celebrities makes the…

Reviews

Amber Alert GPS Keeps an Eye on Your Child’s Location

Amber Alert GPS is a tiny matchbox sized GPS device used to track the movement of your child. According to the manufacturer you slip the GPS into your child’s backpack (or other article that stays with them) and can then track their location for up to 24 hours. There’s also several interesting features like speed, temperature and remote audio monitoring that are offered as well. For the last few weeks I’ve been putting this to the test and using it to track my kids. Here’s what I found. The normal pricing for this Amber Alert GPS is $279 though I…

Reviews

PowerCurl Keeps MacBook Cords Organized- Review

When this item arrived for review I thought to myself “dump dumb dumb”. I tried it and then thought… “I wish I had thought of that.” Seriously, if you use a Mac this is something that is worth a look past Judie’s initial post announcing that they were being made. So let’s take one…

Reviews

Oregon Scientific Marathon Walker Measures Your Progress Step By Step

The Marathon Walker from Oregon Scientific is a pedometer that measures the distance (steps or KM/Miles) you walk or run. Unlike other more basic pedometers the Marathon Walker uses accelerometer technology. This means you’ll obtain a reading whether you clip it to your belt or slip it into a pocket. I’m an avid walker so when the company sent us one to test I jumped at the chance.

Reviews

Coghlan’s Magnesium Firestarter Review

I really liked the Flint Striker from Coghlan’s I reviewed in September. It works really well but sometimes you need a little more. The Magnesium Firestarter from Coghlan’s not only gets the spark you need, but also provides you some tinder that burns a little hotter than dryer lint.

News & Features

The Rolling Razor Looks Tricky

I’m not too sure that the Rolling Razor is that much safer to use: after all, nicks and scratches are common with even the most basic stick styles, and I can only imagine the damage I could inflict with something like this. But according to the Rolling Razor site, using one helps to eliminate irritation, nicks, cuts, razor bumps and burn.

Reviews

Voiis Stereo Wireless Music Gateway Review

Stereo Bluetooth is a great innovation for the freedom it grants from cables. I was quite pleased when Apple finally added stereo Bluetooth functionality to the iPhone. Not that being connected to a headphone cable is a huge problem, but it’s nice to be able to set my iPhone on my desk while listening to music, and still be able to move around my office without needing to pick up the iPhone and carry it with me if I’m just moving a few steps to get something off a shelf. Mobile Action understands the appeal of eliminating wires. Their new Voiis Stereo Wireless Music Gateway…

Gear Bits

Walmart Selling Caskets Online

Wal-Mart has started offering caskets and urns at prices that are probably cheaper than what you’d pay at your local funeral home. Online casket sales are not a totally new concept as Amazon offers them and so does Costco. But somehow a Wal-Mart casket seems, well, cheap. Take comfort knowing that you didn’t overpay for Mom or Dad to be laid to rest in a specially designed $999 “Dad Remembered” or “Mom Remembered” casket. Wal-Mart even ships coffins directly (embalming sold separately) to the funeral home which I’m sure will cause your local funeral director to be really friendly when…

News & Features

Cordless Charging with the Powermat Wireless Charging System

We’ve mentioned WildCharge – the company that allows you to use inductive charging with nearly any mobile phone or other power hungry gadget – before on Gear Diary, but tonight I realized we hadn’t given any coverage to Powermat, another company with a similar premise (but a better looking design). What premise would that be? Why the one that says plugging your devices in to charge them is so passé; the idea that all you should have to do is lay your gadget on a mat to charge it, even if the trade-off is having to keep your phone in…

Reviews

Novatel Mifi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot Review

I get asked an awful lot to name my favorite mobile device. My answer is usually the same. Well, I like this device for these things, or another device for those other things, but favorite device really depends upon what you want to do. I never found a device which was perfect for all things. Until now. Today, I am ready to name my favorite mobile device, and it is probably not what you expect. This one does not have a screen or a keyboard. It does not make phone calls. It does not access the Internet. What it does…

Reviews

Altec Lansing Orbit USB iML237 Speaker Review

Last year Judie reviewed the Altec Lansing Orbit speaker. It was an interesting speaker that can be used with any device sporting a normal 3.5 mm headphone jack. The downside to using such a speaker with a laptop is that the internal sound card in most laptops can be a bit noisy. Altec Lansing recently sent me a sample of their Orbit USB iML237 speaker. It solves the sound card issue perfectly.

Reviews

Techlasers Infiniti II 95mW 532nm Green Laser Pointer Review

Back in late June Judie reviewed the SKYlasers 125mW green laser pointer, providing a fun look at some of the interesting things you can do with a laser such as that. Soon thereafter, TechLasers provided us with one of their 95mW Infinity II 532nm Green Laser Pointers to evaluate for review. Judie also sent me the SKYlasers pointer, so I could do a bit of comparing. I will also attempt to answer a slightly more serious question – why the heck does someone need a 95mW laser pointer?

Reviews

Dymo LabelWriter 450 Twin Turbo Review

If you have to send large numbers of snail-mail, a dedicated label printer may be just the thing for you. If you want speed and flexibility in your label printer, then the Dymo 450 Twin Turbo is definitely worth a look. While having a dedicated label printer with two different bays that hold two different sizes and types of labels may sound like overkill, it isn’t. In fact, it makes life even simpler by allowing a degree of flexibility that can save the time of switching from one type of label to another. For example, one side can have address…