Short Version: Samsung’s SyncMaster XL2370 is a 23-inch LED backlit monitor that retails for around $300. At under eight pounds and less than two inches thick, there’s a lot to like here. → Read More
Review: The Yeti from Blue Microphones is a $150 USB microphone with four recording settings, zero-latency audio monitoring via a built-in headphone jack, and a 48 kHz sampling rate at 16 bits. The mic itself is solidly built – and by “solid” I mean that the combined weight of the microphone and stand is almost 3.5 pounds and the entire getup stands about 12 inches high. → Read More
Short Version: It’s got an Atom CPU and it starts at $1300. That being said, Sony’s X Series is one of the coolest computers I’ve ever used. → Read More
http://media.techpodcasts.com/techvi/http://p.castfire.com/YfgYq/video/224809_2010-01-08-193608.flv Here’s a recent TechVi segment from CES wherein yours truly and John Falcone from CNet talk about strange and wonderful technology products. Enjoy. CES 2010: Interview with Doug Aamoth and John Falcone [TechVi.com] → Read More
The 1.5-pound, half-inch thick Sony VAIO X Series notebook is easily one of the most impressive portable computers I’ve seen in quite some time. I can’t convey how light it is. It seems to defy logic. My brain doesn’t understand that it’s seeing my hand hold up an 11.1-inch notebook that weighs less than half of what most other notebooks its size weigh. → Read More
This is an iron that promises to increase your ironing speed by up to 25% thanks to a symmetrical titanium soleplate, which allows you to iron forwards, backwards, left, and right with ease. It doesn’t make ironing any more exciting but with a street price of around $40, it’s a solidly-built and attractive iron if you’re in the market for one. → Read More
I’m toying with the idea of doing ten-minute episodic reviews videos where I can showcase several gadgets in one fell swoop and throw in some nonsense for good measure. So here it is, the first episode of Time For Gadgets! That exclamation point is part of the title since gadgets should be exciting and whimsical. Here’s a list of the items featured in this episode… → Read More
The 7-inch 800×480 Mimo monitor is a portable USB-powered display that’s easy to set up and use and ought to fit neatly in most laptop bags. At $130, it’s not outrageously priced, either, considering you’re getting a pretty capable second monitor that weighs just 1.3 pounds and requires only a single cable in order to operate. → Read More
EurekaFest is a yearly event held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that showcases the prototype inventions of high school students from around the country. The inventions consist of various gadgets and devices aimed at helping solve real-world problems. → Read More
Got an old sack o’ crap laptop or desktop gathering dust? Sugar Labs has just made its OLPC-friendly “Sugar” operating system into a USB-bootable version called Sugar on a Stick. You’ll need a one-gigabyte thumb drive and about twenty minutes of spare time. → Read More
Short Version: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 with the Wii MotionPlus accessory is the closest you can get to a true golf simulation for $60. The already-great series gets a nice boost this year with true one-to-one motion sensing, addictive online play, and a bevy of other new features that easily justify the purchase. → Read More
New to Tiger Woods PGA Tour on the Wii this year is the “Disc Golf” feature, which allows you to play all of the in-game courses as a disc golfer. I figured it’d be gimmicky at best. Well, I was wrong. It’s fun, and it’s a great use of the MotionPlus add-on. If you’ve ever played disc golf before, you’ll probably enjoy playing it in the game. If you’ve never played, it’s not rocket science: throw Frisbee at target, repeat. Check out the above video for a gameplay demo. I get a triple bogey on the 1st hole at St. Andrews, then follow up with a birdie on the famous 17th hole island green at TPC Sawgrass. Like this video? View more here… → Read More
As a longtime fan of the Tiger Woods series of golf games from EA Sports, I was quite disappointed with last year’s effort. You can read the review and yell at me if you’re so inclined, but I stand by the review. I took issue with what I called an “atrocious” putting system, the lack of realistic motion sensing for half and three-quarter approach shots, and really bad voice commentary from Kelly Tilghman and Sam Torrance. Thankfully, this year’s version of Tiger is already lightyears beyond last year’s. → Read More
Jeff Victor of STARFLEET, the International Star Trek Fan Association, recently showed me around the 12,500-foot Star Trek exhibit at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute. We laughed, we cried, we played a little Dabo. Good times indeed. → Read More
The Ford GT40 Series Car Mouse from RoadMice.com is a $50 wireless mouse stuffed in a replica Ford GT. This is definitely a mouse for car lovers and there’s apparently quite a market for car mice, as RoadMice.com offers about a skillion different models of wired and wireless mice that look just like real-life cars. → Read More
The Vestalife Butterfly is an $80 iPod dock with no remote control and so-so sound quality. The build quality is okay, but the whole getup looks like it should be hanging over a baby’s crib. If it cost $30 or $40 it’d be a whole different story, but at $80 this one’s truly for butterfly enthusiasts and family members of Vestalife employees only. → Read More
I took a deep personal interest in Batter Blaster when I first covered it way back in October of 2007. At that time it was only available in the San Francisco area and, after what seemed like eons, I finally saw Batter Blaster in a grocery store here in Boston last night. Hit the jump to check out a video review of the Batter Blaster pancakes in a can. → Read More
I’ve been playing golf off and on for about 20 years now and as a mid-handicapper, I’m prone to shooting in the low nineties thanks, in large part, to inconsistent tee shots. It’s no surprise that hitting your second shot from the middle of the fairway is a lot easier than hitting it from underneath a tree that’s located behind several other trees. And so we dance.
I took the train from Boston to New York in early February to test out Callaway’s new Diablo driver – a golf club based on the simple idea that a LOT of golfers tend to slice the ball off the tee, and that a simple way to correct that would be to slant the club’s face ever so slightly to the left – one degree, to be exact — in order to compensate. So does it work? → Read More
Short Version: Promising to stay in better, sound better, and feel better than the earpieces on your standard inexpensive headphones, Acoustibuds do indeed work as advertised. → Read More
