Misc Gear

The Targus 100W Auto Power Inverter Review

I just missed posting this review in time for Texas’ Spring Break, but it should still be timely for everyone who plans on traveling this summer. I’ll warn you now though, in order to use this product you’ll need to give up one of your vehicle’s cup-holders. Why would I ask for something so uncivilized? Because by giving up a cup-holder you might just gain the means to charge up to three devices at the same time, all from a single cigar lighter or power port. Intrigued? I was, which is how I came to be in possession of the…


The Litter-Robot Review: Never Sift Through Your Kitty’s Litter Again

Of all the gadgets I have ever reviewed, I think that the Litter-Robot would definitely win the title of most offbeat, but it was well worth doing. I unboxed the Litter-Robot in late January, set it up, and then sat back to see whether Avah would accept this “spaceship” as her litter box. It will have been two months tomorrow, and we have both lived to tell about it, so that should immediately tell you that things went well. But let’s go back to the beginning…


Review: USB AAA Battery Charger with Torch from USB Fever

Have you ever needed to give your cell phone a little bit of juice to get through a call? Were you near a socket when you needed to do it? If not, then you might wish that you had carried the USB AAA Battery Charger with Torch from USB Fever with you. It’s now become something I never leave home without. The charger holds 4 AAA NiMH batteries and is very compact. It will fit in your khaki pocket, purse or gear bag very easily.


Corsair Padlock Thumb Drive Review: Protecting Your Data Today, Tomorrow, and Every Day In Between

In today’s fast paced, spy vs. spy world, information is the most common currency. Protecting that information can mean the difference between wiping out an entire civilization and saving hundreds of millions of lives (not to mention getting the right kumquats at the grocery store). Until recently, information was stored on massive hard drives or servers, which took up entire rooms. Hardly portable. It was easy to store your important information in a locked room, secured behind heavy doors, and a phone booth elevator. Since then, however, storage spaces have grown both infinitely larger and infinitely smaller. What used to…


The Stereo Mini Portable Sound Box from USB Fever REVIEW

A couple of months back, I asked my LEGO friends Beetle and Maynard with their girlfriends Sunshine and Faith to check out the new Fingertip Mini Cube Speaker that Thomas at USB Fever sent from overseas. (see the review: Make Some Music) Sunshine: “We were looking for an upgrade to a dual speaker setup. It was then that Judie from GearDiary told us about the Stereo Mini Portable Sound Box from USB Fever. That Judie girl ROCKS, because it as exactly what we were looking for!” (L to R) Beetle, Maynard, Faith and Sunshine with the Stereo Mini Portable Sound…


Hava Gold Review

With the Hava Gold, you can watch your TV, anywhere you can get an Internet connection.  Does the Hava Gold give you what you want, or does it provide a gilded experience?  Let’s take a quick look and see how it goes… Software Installation Installing the software went about as you thought it would. However, there were a couple of interesting steps that I’d like to take you through.  Before anything else happened, after inserting the software CD into the drive and clicking on the software installation link, the following graphic appeared: Hava Driver installation The start of the device…


DYMO DiscPainter Review

CD Printing at home has been around for several years now, negating the need for sticky labels that make the disc so thick that it won’t fit in a laptop drive properly. Dymo, famous for their many label-making solutions, have entered the market with the DiscPainter, a stand-alone CD and DVD label printer that prints directly onto blank discs in around 60 seconds. In the box is the DiscPainter, a quick-start guide, registration card, ink cartridge, 3 blank printable discs, AC adapter (110-240V, works anywhere in the world) and surprisingly a USB cord. Seems these days the vital link between…


Money Honey – The ALL-ETT Women’s Pocket Wallet Review

A while back, I shared about a line of wallets made by ALL-ETT Billfolds. To this day, I’ve have really enjoyed the European Leather version and the various compliments received. Mrs. WonderDawg continues to use the Original “World’s Thinnest Wallet” for its bulk reducing features and quality of the Spinmaker cloth material. Adam Muscat from ALL-ETT recently provided samples of their new Women’s Pocket Wallet and the International Wallet.


The Sleeptracker Pro Watch Review

This review has been a struggle to write. Not because of a problem with the product so much, but because of my irregular sleep patterns and my less than regular schedule. Let me start by giving you an overview of how my typical day goes…never mind, I have no typical days. Instead of a routine of “up at 7 and to bed by 11?, I go to bed anywhere from 10pm to 4am – depending upon whether I need to get up early the next morning, or whether I am using the quiet late hours to work on a particular…


The Recon 400X Review

Have you ever dropped a PDA or cellphone and had the screen crack? Have you had it up to here with Windows Mobile’s quirks? Well maybe, just maybe, this PDA is for you. What PDA can withstand drops and use in the rain? What PDA doesn’t run Windows Mobile or Palm OS anymore?? The Recon 400X. Now you might say hey I thought this PDA ran Windows Mobile. Well, it does. However, now, via SDG Systems, you can get a Recon 400X that runs Linux!


Review: Zibra Open It! Will This Packaging Removal Tool Render Scissors Obsolete?

One thing I hate about Christmas morning is fighting the industrial strength “blister pack” around my kids’ toys. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. (Did I mention I don’t like it?). If I use a razor to open this industrial strength substance, I risk amputation of fingers. Since I have twins, the fun is doubled and somehow the kids don’t understand “it will take Dad a minute to get this open”. They want the toy opened (a) Now! and (b) Fast. Enter the Open-It! – a safer way to open almost any type of packaging known to mankind.


Down with hip-pocket syndrome: The ALL-ETT Wallet REVIEW

The Almighty Wallet: Homers since the 14th century has used wallets to carry all kinds of stuff. Granted, back then they were called knapsacks (we call them laptop bags these days). With the invention of paper currency in the 1600’s, billfolds became popular. With the insatiable appetite for wads of currency preferable in rolled form, consumers embraced credit cards in a convenient stackable form. Wallets have become a staple for holiday gift giving and have changed little over the years, with the notable exception of the velcro wallet. The nice folks at ALL-ETT have designed a clever way to handle…


The FLY Fusion Pentop Computer Review

When I was a kid, computerized math tutoring came in the form of the Little Professor, an educational device made by Texas Instruments. While it was a fabulously geeky toy for my elementary school self, the Little Professor did have its shortcomings – all “he” could basically help with was addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Today, kids have it made. Companies like LeapFrog have made educational electronic toys available and accessible – even to toddlers. I am going to tell you about their new FLY Fusion Pentop Computer, which is marked as appropriate for ages 8 and up. Due to…


The DVD Stripper Review

You know how there are certain gadgets that you just don’t think you’ll ever need until someone shows you theirs? And then you catch yourself going, “hmm…that’s pretty cool!” Well, you’ll find that tonight’s review falls into that category. Think about all the times you’ve bought a DVD, and while unwrapping the clear outer plastic you wondered to yourself why, in addition to the outer wrapper, there had to be a heavy plastic sticker across the top and front of the DVD. I’ve gotten in a hurry before and accidentally broken fingernails while trying to peel back these heavy stickers;…


The Docupen RC800 Review

I have always wondered about these devices and wanted to give one a try. Personally I have no need for something like this, but I can see where such a portable scanner could come in very handy. This is the Planon DocuPen RC800 Portable Scanner. DocuPen RC800 Features: – Rechargeable lithium-Ion Batteries – The DocuPen RC800 uses rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that allows it to remain perpetually charged without utilizing a separate charging unit. Once a user plugs the DocuPen RC800 into a computer’s USB port to download the scanned information, the scanner’s batteries are automatically recharged – Expandable MicroSD memory…


Mood Wrapz: Groovy, Dudez.

Sometimes the best definition of a gadget is something cool that you never knew existed. But once you find out about it, you have to have it. Even though you don’t need it at all. Mood Wrapz are that kind if product. Known as “a mood ring for your iPod, MP3 player, or cell phone,” Mood Wrapz are a great flashback to the 70’s for those of us caught between the LP and iPod generations. Besides a some minimal scratch protection, they are just the sort of fun accessory that serve absolutely no purpose other than to draw attention to…


The ThermaClear Heat Enabled Acne Treatment Device Review

Well, here I go again…tripping merrily into “Too Much Information” land, so that I can tell you all about a product which most females over 21 wouldn’t want to admit needing, much less using. It’s okay though, I don’t embarrass easily. So the deal is that I occasionally get painful pimples which can best be described as “cystic”. They aren’t whiteheads because they don’t get that distinctive white tip common to that type acne, and they aren’t blackheads either. They consist of a raised red bump which is tender when touched; and if I were to be so impulsive as…


My First “Pocket” PC – A Tribute to Clinton Sr.

[Judie’s note: This article is also currently running on Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com!, and it can be viewed in the original format (with even larger pictures) there. If you haven’t already checked out the many Windows Mobile software reviews on Clinton’s site, then be sure to visit soon.] If you read my biographical information on the Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! Staff page, then you will see that I’ve been writing reviews of some type since the late 1990s. Likewise, if you read my blog entry over at Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine last month, then you read about how I…


Observing Nature Device: A Review

He rocks in the tree top all a day long Hoppin’ and a-boppin’ and a-singin’ the song All the little birds on J-Bird Street Love to hear the robin goin’ tweet tweet tweet – Rockin’ Robin (Bobby Day) Here is a fun device that will open up a whole new world of nature?s best ? the symphony of birds singing in the morning. Vavolo sent along a Nature Observing Recording & Playback Device.


Need a boost? The Tekkeon myPower Go MP1500 Review

It never fails at the airport… I always observe some frantic person with their cell phone on life support status ? the familiar beep ? beep ? beep of a dying battery. While not as frustrasting as a dead battery in a car, having power to spare is a good thing. Of course there are disposable battery boosters conveniently for sale at a healthy markup (regularly $7.00 for $19.95) at the airport gift shop! Tekkeon has a solution for those in dire straits ? the myPower Go MP1500. Using four AA batteries, the MP1500 provides the emergency power needed for…


The Don’t Bug Me All Natural Insect Repellent Patch Review

What smells like a vitamin supplement, sticks to you like glue, and may just keep you from becoming a human feast this summer? Well, the Don’t Bug Me Insect Repellent Patch – of course! 😉 According to their press release, the Don’t Bug Me Patch is “now available at major retailers nationwide, the effective and waterproof patch protects against bites from pesky, disease-carrying mosquitoes, gnats, ticks, chiggers, sand fleas and no seeums. The patch doesn’t contain DEET so it’s safe for children too.”