Gadgets Archives - Page 21 of 78

5 Geeky Gifts Under $50

As the clock winds down on holiday shopping, here are a few more gift ideas for the geek in your life. And if your loved ones don’t like them, they can always take the return money and buy the latest whiz bang thing after CES in January. (Dave and I are both going, by the way.) Just keep in mind that half the products announced at CES never make it to market, so maybe these gifts are their best bet after all. At $50 or less, they shouldn’t be too hard on your wallet.

Winegard FreeVision FV-30BB HDTV Antenna

Winegard FreeVision FV-30BB HDTV antenna

Now that OTA TV is making a comeback, it may be time to invest in that HD antenna. The Winegard FreeVision FV-30BB gets good reviews from users on Amazon, and it rings in at a manageable $37.84. Some locations will have a hard time getting OTA signals no matter how good the antenna, but this should boost the chances of a decent signal, and some high-quality, freebie television watching.

iPod Building Block Speakers

iPod Building Block Speakers

Shaped like Legos, but apparently without the commercial naming rights, these iPod docks are a cute, kitschy way to broadcast tunes locally. The iPod Building Block speakers are reportedly compatible with the iPod®mini, iPod®Touch (1st Generation), iPod®nano (1-4th generation), iPod® (3-5th generation), and iPod® Classic. Pick a color (no red or blue in stock, unfortunately), and the speaker dock is yours for only $21.99.

Gamestop Offers $50 Console Trade-In Bonus

As my most recent Xbox 360 (4GB model) has been collecting dust, given its noise pollution and annual tax, I’ve been contemplating switching the hardware up for another PS3 or handheld PS Vista ($250). And that was my plan when I arrived at Gamestop to redeem their $50 PS3 or Xbox 360 console credit bonus. While Gamestop rarely offers great trade-in values, it’s always extremely efficient. But the extra 50 bucks brought my $200 console up to $125 — which is quite reasonable considering how long I’ve had it, including the last year it’s been banished to storage. Yet, before the helpful clerk could bring my new PS Vita Assassin’s Creed bundle out from the back, I noticed Gamestop now offers a healthy selection of tablets including the 32GB Nexus 7 and entire range of Kindle Fires.

amazon kindle fire hd

My current iPad 3 hasn’t been able to replace a laptop and I find it too bulky to comfortably use on the couch, so my plan has been

Cyber Monday Streaming Deals

streaming-boxes

Ah yes, it’s that time of year again where we give thanks for deeply discounted gear. Fortunately, Cyber Monday online sales provide relief from the Black Friday mall riots and we’ve spotted bargains on some of our favorite streaming boxes.

Roku HD
Roku, one of our perennial favorites in this category, sees a $10-$20 discount across its line. Despite a much-needed UI refresh and lack of YouTube, Roku retains the broadest selection of streaming content -including staples such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and Pandora. I’d say the best bang for the buck is the Roku HD, which caps out at 720p but clocks in at a mere $40. For comparison, the competing Apple TV runs $99 and adding streaming services to an Xbox runs $60/year.

Refurbished Apple TV
Let’s say you’re deep into Apple’s ecosystem and would appreciate streaming your iTunes collection and beaming content from your iPhone to your television. And maybe you’d like one of the more polished appearing interfaces and YouTube to go along with Netflix and movie rentals. Well, the refurbished 1080p Apple TV is 15% off list at $85. Gifting a refurb might be a bit tacky, despite Apple’s full warranty and pristine hardware, so this would be best for close relatives… or yourself.

Hands On The Netgear NeoTV Max Streamer

Another week, another streamer? A year after introducing their Roku competitor, Netgear expands the NeoTV streaming line with “Pro” and “Max” models. And, as we’re wont to do, we picked up Netgear’s latest. Similar in form factor to that aforementioned Roku, I was prepared to dislike the NeoTV MAX ($60-70) given it’s sluggish response and pixelated … Read more

A bird in the hand…

Right on schedule, Apple unveiled the iPad Mini ($329). And, I suppose, there’s really not much to say. It’s a smaller iPad. Or, maybe, a larger iPhone. With a lesser DPI than either. But thinner than my recently returned Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. Brian Lam, of The Wirecutter, was hopeful that folks attending Apple’s event might go beyond the press release verbiage in their coverage… to which PC Mag‘s Sascha Segan responded with allusions to the inevitable “in the hand” descriptions. My colleagues were only happy to oblige with nearly universal iPad Mini hand praise:

Boxee TV vs. Simple.TV (vs. TiVo)

boxee-tv-cloud-dvr

In what’s shaping up to be a fall battle of over-the-air DVRs, highly touted Simple.TV has started shipping while Boxee pivots away from local content aggregation into broadcast television archival. Yet, Simple.TV is anything but… by incorporating just a single OTA tuner and requiring owners supply their own USB storage, this remains the provence of geeks. Simple.TV hardware runs $149, but to fully unlock its recording and placeshifting capabilities (to devices like Roku and iPad) will require an annual $50-$60 subscription fee. Potentially more interesting is Boxee TV, which clocks in at a mere $99 for hardware… but similarly requires a subscription for full-on DVR and placeshifting functionality at $15/month in this case. While that may seem steep at first blush, the dual tuner Boxee TV is positioning itself as a cloud DVR and the fee includes unlimited online storage. Bonus: With or without that subscription, Boxee TV incorporates Apple TV-esque features like Netflix and YouTube apps while remaining on Input 1.

Questions about both devices remain. For example, what sort of quality and encoding are we talking about in terms of resolution and audio channels. Also, while Boxee positions itself as a potential cord cutting device, it’s often the cable “television” companies providing our Internet pipe… and associated bandwidth cap, which might limit the usefulness of a cloud-based DVR. Lastly, both Simple.TV and Boxee TV tout the ability to record unencrypted digital cable (aka clear QAM). Well, good luck with that now that the FCC has granted cable operators to right to encrypt basic cable.

Logitech To Intro Wireless Mac Webcam

It’s been some time since Logitech has produced dedicated Mac video conferencing solutions. While several recent cameras actually work on Mac OS X, it happens via universal driver and they don’t leverage any of the Logitech value add… which I discovered the hard way when trying to repurpose the Google TV Revue camera. However, based on this unannounced … Read more

The Kindle Paperwhite's Uneven Lighting

kindle-paperwhite-crosshatch

I’ve spent significant time with a wide array of e-reading devices over the years and was pretty stoked to see Amazon take on the Nook Simple Touch Glowlight with the new front-lit Kindle Paperwhite ($119 and up). Unfortunately, while the display bests B&N’s offering, it doesn’t live up to Amazon’s marketing hype (or imagery). From Amazon’s product page:

Perfectly Balanced Whiteness
We worked on Kindle Paperwhite for over two years to perfect the uniformity of the built-in light, flattening out a fiber optic cable into a sheet, and nanoimprinting to ensure perfectly even distribution of light. Our design uses nanoscale optical diffractive patterns to enable tight control over the direction of the light. Enjoy reading with exceptional lighting uniformity and evenly balanced whiteness across the entire display.

Even though I’ve only possessed my new Kindle a few short hours, it’s clear that Amazon’s claims of “perfectly balanced,” “uniformity,” and “even distribution” are overblown. Unless I, and several other customers, received units from a bad lot (which I kinda doubt). Light appears to emanate from four points at the bottom of the screen — these elements are not visible during normal reading, and only seen when inspecting the Paperwhite at a severe angle. However, proof of their existence is clear via darker smudges and some sort of crosshatch pattern covering the lower inch or so of the Kindle. Which is definitely noticeable, and currently distracting, while reading.