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| Gadgets We Like (and dislike) Addict Confession: Hi, my name is Les McCarter and I am a gadget addict. I like playing with new technology and have had some great success and failures. Over time, I'll be updating some of the cool stuff that works, and things I recommend staying away from. Favorite Gadgets
Rhapsody music service is the one we love and hate. Coupled with the Sonos home music system (see below) it is a joy to have access to any artist, song or album legally. While there is a monthly fee (about the same as buying an album a month) we can have the freedom to choose what we want to listen to based off our moods or tips from friends on new music. However the software can be flakey at times. Sonos house music system. Nothing better to bring music to the house and every room togther or indepently. While a little expensive, it has followed from several houses and provides an excellent way to tap Rhapsody anywhere and everywhere in the house; plus the bonus of brining secure, fast, easy to deploy wireless ethernet/Internet to any room. Now with support for Pandora and FM.Radio
Cool "gadgets"
TVIX home video/multimedia "device". more on this later.
Homeseer - The "intelligent" automation system, runs on the PC to automate lights, montion sensors, security, turn on/off water heaters and more.
WiLife - Internet based video monitoring system.
Telular - Drop your phone land line and go all celluar. This device accepts our AT&T SIM card and now our home phone system is part of our "family plan." It then plugs into our home phone system and we can use regular phone handsets to make calls through our cellular carrier. A upfront cost, but no more monthly charges from HaTel.
Cell phone? Nokia N95-4 8GB. While it is not as "pretty" as a iPhone, it is much more capable both as a phone (its primary use) plus a great camera (5 mb), a real GPS, Rhapsody on the go player, Internet connected podcasts, email, web pages and a tiny game machine. With a REMOVABLE battery
Winter 2009: At the office we are converting from AT&T to Verizon, and so I will have to put my Nokia into a drawer. I'm still amazed how this Nokia phone was ahead of its time.
Gone through a slew of phones to test: Droid, HTC Omnia, HTC TouchPro2, SamSung. The Windows mobile phones are very servicable as office phones. Loved the Droid, but still a bit quirky and no good Exchange syncing (unless you can cope with 3rd party tools).
And to complete the picture and better understand the hoopla; I got a iTouch for Christmas 2009. Mostly so that I can play my "Teaching Company" videos (currently I'm studying astronomy), but I also go hooked on the app store and the way it handles podcosts (TWIT, Planet Money, CNET Buzz Out, and of course, This American Life). Ok, ok, even as a life long Microsoft user, I see the elegance of the iPhone/iTouch. And can also see how the Android will make a legitimate attempt to compete, but with an open environment.
While not a gadget, the Google Voice app is slick service <?>, app <?>, web site <?>. I've now got a Washington state phone number and the ability to give out a single number, no matter what other phone number I might change in the future.
As a long time Microsoft guy, I hate to admit it, but I've fallen in love with my Apple iPad. This is a radically different device that takes me away from my desk and let me enjoy reading, prowling the Internet or even playing games in the living room. It is most definately a 1st generation device, but it is slick and a new breed of computing (or more accurately entertaining). The last two weeks, I've taken it into the office as a work tool to take notes, keep track of Exchange email and am using http://www.toodledo.com to manage tasks. To see what is currently on my iPad, take a look at: On my iPad
Interesting, but dead
FlipStart Great handheld computer that had a price drop from around $2,000 to $699. Currently Les and Jenna are co-owners and we take turns (fight) over who gets to use it during the day. (Update: Jenna uses it almost all the time, unless goes out of town for a business trip or needs to work on his inbox while at a cross-country meet.) UPDATE: this has met it death as it just got too slow to run. Replaced with an Acer One netbook from Costco, and then a mod to increase the ram to 2 GB and a full Windows 7. Great battery life (9+ real hours). Only downside is that Les rarely sees it because Jenna is always taking it to school.
Replay TV rocks and is dead. Always preferred this over TIVO, but the company has a limited future. Still it keeps on recording (although no high def) and is a mainstream for what little TV we do watch.
Sansa Rhapsody - It looks like my favorite MP3 player is a Sansa specifically designed to work with Rhapsody so that I can take the music from my Rhapsody music service where ever I go on the road. No additional cost, cause I'm already paying to have access to the music for our Sonos. Gavin and I both have seperate ones and can load up daily/week/monthly with new music of our own liking. Looks like this product is at the end of the line. (Dec 2008: switching over my Rhapsody music player to my Nokia cell phone. Update Dec 2009: the Rhasody continue to tick and I keep updating my music; although I now use my new iTouch for podcasts.)
Cool, but a dead end
Interesting, but not sure Insteon Light management system. More later . . .
This page was last modified on Thursday, August 12, 2010 07:43:06 PM | |
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