A cool gadget thread

We picked up one for our daughter this Christmas for her Wii, found it at Toys-R-Us for $14.99

 

You know, I've been looking for more information about those mats (specifically performance characteristics)... There has to be some amount of power loss involved with inductive charging that you don't experience with normal conductive charging (aka plugging it in). I just haven't been able to find out how much power is lost with these specific pads.

 

A cool gadget I found not too long ago is a manual coffee grinder. It's got a ceramic burr that doesn't burn the coffee, and produces a very fine grind. It's no Zassenhaus (also pictured), but it works great for camping, backpacking, and power outages. I use it all the time now at home - better coffee, more arm strength - it's all good.

 

My favorite cool gadget is my Nook.

Currently, I have about 450 books on it. This means that I can lift, transport, and choose from all these books, wherever I go! Plus, I'm getting some of my bookshelf space back (some shelves were layered two deep, and then stacked on top as well...) :thumb:

 

I got myself one of these babies. For reals.

 

I've used my Prius during a power failure. I carried my electric burr grinder out to the garage, plugged in the inverter, and ground the coffee.

Tom

 

There was a time when I'd've bought half a dozen of those; one for each room where pizza would be likely to get consumed (basically, all the rooms in the house). I'm happy to say I'm not that same person today; today a mere half dozen would not be nearly enough!

Too cool!

 

I just got a MagicJack VOIP USB device. Stick it into a computer which is connected to high speed internet, wired or wireless will do. Connect a phone line between the MagicJack & any phone plug, and I got a phone # of any area code in North America including Canada, and I got unlimited local + long distance free, well, actually $20 per year ($30 for Canadian area code).

That's 20 bucks PER YEAR folks. It also comes with voice mail and caller id shown on the computer.

I then ported my old home phone # my new Blackberry Torch, set the Torch to forward calls to the MagicJack # when it's turned off. With this setting, I eliminated the monthly payments of the landline, and still get the home phone and cell phone services. The savings pays for the cost of the Blackberry in 6 months. SWEET!

 

Question for you, Rae:

I was looking at the nookColor for a combination of e-reader and light duty tablet computer. Which version do you have?

Thanks!

 

I have the Nook WiFi - standard e-ink ebook reader. While the Nook color looks interesting, part of the appeal of the Nook, for me, is the non-eye-strain factor of e-ink. The Nook color strikes me as being too much like a computer/netbook/iPad thing that won't help with my vision in the long run.

 

Thanks Rae,

My problem is that I have trouble focusing on the e-ink screen (with or without my glasses). I guess that I need more contrast (or a larger screen)

 

Dan,

Have you looked at the e-ink nook since the last firmware update (came out about a week ago)? The screen is much crisper than before and you have several font styles and sizes to choose from. E-ink really is much easier on the eyes, especially if you read for long periods at a time. I have the original nook with WiFi and 3G and I still think it's the best on the market!

 

A few sweet gadgets I like
CLAP Camera
LED Bike Lights

 

Altec Lansing iMT810 Digital Boombox...
Bought this model last fall- I use it with my Sansa Fuse mp3 player. Awesome sound- plenty of bass, plenty of treble, runs on AC (adapter included) or 20+ hrs on 8 "D" batts and includes remote.
I tried and returned the ($399) Bose Bose SoundDock Portable Digital Music System because the Altec Lansing iMT810 sounded better and was literally half the price.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants really good sound from their "i" device or any mp3 player with 3.5mm output.
Amazon.com: Altec Lansing iMT810 Digital Boombox: Electronics