I purchased the BENRO TRAB069 Travel Angel TRAB a couple of months ago, and all in all I highly recommend the little tripod.

This Travel Angel tripod features individual leg angle adjustments, anti-rotation leg design, a reversible center column with spring loaded weight hook, anti dust and moisture rubber leg lock grips, and reversible 1/4″-20 to 3/8″ mounting threads. It has 5 leg sections and a maximum height of 54.3″ with a normal height of 47.8″ with the legs fully extended.

However, what makes it so special is that the folded height is a tiny 13.1″ while still maintaining a load capacity of 13.2 pounds! This makes it one of the most compact travel tripods around, while still being professional grade. Oh, and at just over $210, it competes with the Gitzo GT1541T Series 1 6X 4S G-Lock Traveler which is much bigger and costs $535!
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	johnpoz For those who've asked for my Review: Benro Travel Angel Tripod - The 13.1" Wonder! - http://onemansblog.com/benro
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I’ve got some really great photography gear, but I’ve decided that my hand-held shooting, even with a shoulder-pod and an image stabilized lens, is disappointing. I just can’t get the razor sharp images I want.

At the same time, I rarely have time to set up a tripod, even if I’m carrying my tiny little 2.5 pound Benro Travel Angel. So, I’m adding a Monopod setup to my photography arsenal. And the monopod setup I’ve chosen was recommended by professional photographer Yuri Arcurs (the world’s top selling stock photographer). The video that convinced me is below.

The main reason I am going with the Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod he recommends is because it’s the only one with a quick extension system. Watch and learn…
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Ok, I’m about to go on and on about how much I love the Brother MFC-9840CDW Color Laser Multifunction Center with Wireless Interface and Duplex, but before this turns into a giant love fest, let’s start with the bad news. Software installation is a bit of a nightmare.

Software Installation

I installed the printer to work on three different Windows machines and one MacBook laptop. The MacBook installation went best, but not without issues. However, the Windows installations were all three a nightmare.
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So, I got a Casio High-Speed Exilim EX-FC100 camera which is capable of up to 1,000 frames per second of video capture for a specific project that I’m working on which you guys will see pretty soon… But in the meantime I took a couple of sample videos just testing it out so far.

The bottom line on this camera is that if you shoot video for just about any reason, you should pick one of these up so that you can add high-speed captures to your bag of tricks. It’s cheap and easy and the results are worth it. The normal stills from the camera are also good (not great) and the features are adequate for a highly portable point and shoot camera.
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I recently purchased the Thermaltake BlacX eSATA Hard Drive USB Docking Station from Amazon so that I could use an external hard drive for backups and /or disk recovery needs.

This particular device is capable of either USB connectivity or eSATA, meaning that it can be hooked to your PC at the same speed as an internal drive, making for radically increased performance!

Well, all I have to say is that the BlaX docking station works like a charm, and its good looking too! So if you are in need of a USB hard drive docking station, i highly recommend that you go pick one up. Amazon’s currently got them for $29.99 after rebate, so you’re not going to do any better than that. Enjoy!

Ok. This post is going to get me in big trouble with Greg Lewis. I still owe him a piece of art from like 2 years ago. Yet Cali Lewis (no relation to Greg) asks me if I could cut the GeekBrief logo out on the PlasmaCAM for her and I do it in like 48 hours. Well Greg, I only have one thing to say… when you’re as hot as Cali, I’ll finish your art in 48 hours too!

All kidding aside though, Cali and Neal have been waiting patiently for months since they first saw my machine sitting in the garage, and I finally got off my lazy butt and decided to cut the GeekBrief.TV logo out in celebration of their 500th show! So, if any of you would like to watch a little video about cutting things out of steel with a giant robot, here you go.
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I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I’m in the shower it seems like I’m always coming up with good ideas – or at least thinking of things that I need to do. The problem is, I’ll think of five things… but by the time I’m done I can only remember two!

Well, I was watching a show with some divers in it when one wrote on a notepad to communicate with another and it hit me! That is how we can make notes in the shower! So, I ordered a large underwater dive slate from Amazon and gave it a try. Guess what… it’s perfect!

You can just use a normal pencil and eraser on the pad, which works out very nicely. I would also advise purchasing a small suction cup with a hook on it so that you can attach it to your shower wall and leave it hanging there.

So if you have this same problem, now you’ve got a solution for under $10. Enjoy! Oh, and please let me know how it works out for you if you actually buy one…

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You know, I’ve always been bothered by the fact that if I want to actually attach 10 sheets of paper together I need to spend like .001$ on a staple to make that happen. But now my dreams have been answered!

Someone has spent untold numbers of hours engineering this little plastic marvel which will apparently do away with all the inefficiency of an actual stapler and instead punch some sort of little slit out of a stack of pages and then fold it back over through it’s self. Surely this will save the environment, money, and probably mankind itself.

So long as you don’t need to attach more than about 6 pages. Then it’s right out. Here is a video that shows you exactly how it works. Enjoy.
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Today my love affair with Amazon.com diminished by a sizable notch. In one fell swoop they moved from my preferred shopping site to being on par with everyone else. It happened when I learned that Amazon.com offers customers no price protection whatsoever. And that makes it not such a good deal after all.

You see, after weeks of searching for a new printer I finally settled on the Brother MFC-9840cdw Color Laser Multi-Function Center with Wireless Interface. Basically everyone had it for $649-699, but I decided to get it from Amazon.com because they have been my favorite retailer for a while since I paid the $79 per year fee to become a member of Amazon Prime, which gives you free 2 day shipping on all your orders.

Well, even though the printer doesn’t arrive until Monday, I saw ads from two different major retailers this weekend that this printer has dropped to $549.99. Instead of being upset, I was actually glad because I figured that Amazon would match the price! But when I contacted them my joy turned to disappointment.
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Hey folks, this season there are going to be some serious deals to be had if you’ve got the spare cash to take advantage of them. But don’t run all over town hunting down those damned Black Friday deals! First of all, they never have the item you went for in stock, and secondly… just remember all those lines and whiny people!

Instead, prepare by doing your research online, and keep an eye on the following Web sites to see all the hottest deals being offered. The key is to act quickly, because a lot of these deals will disappear quickly.
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Two years ago I paid $2,000 for the predecessor to the Sharp 42″ HDTV that Dell currently has on sale for $799. If you’ve been waiting for a good deal to purchase a new TV for yourself, this is the best deal you’re going to find this season on a kick ass TV.

The Sharp 42″ AQUOS Model: LC42SB45U television features:

• 1920 x 1080 resolution – Full 1080p!
• 6.5ms response time
• 500 nits brightness
• 178-degree H/V viewing angle
• 8000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
• 3 HDMI Inputs

This TV is currently $1,000 on Amazon, and $1,099 at Best Buy.

So, head on over to Dell and pick one up now before they are all gone. Hey Pop! This means you!

EDIT: Just discovered that you can also get it from Costco Online for the same price, but a little more shipping. Might be worth it to have the abiltiy to return it to a local Costco if you’re a member. Plus for Executive members you’d get your 2% back at the end of the year…

Yeah, yesterday I got an e-mail from Best Buy welcoming me to their Premier Black membership level, presumably because of the amount of cold, hard, raw, green cash I give them on an annual basis. It read as follows:

Congratulations! We’d like to welcome you to the Best Buy® Reward Zone® program at our most elite membership level – Premier Black.

Premier Black is a pilot in select areas that rewards our best customers for shopping at Best Buy stores.

Your Reward Zone program member ID is: XXXXXXXXX

But then a few hours later they sent me another message telling me they had made a mistake, and apparently I’m not “Premier Black” quality:
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