One Man's Blog » Gadgets

Review: Benro Travel Angel Tripod – The 13.1″ Wonder!

John P. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:50:15 +0000

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!

Video Demonstration

Here is a little video that demonstrates the versatility and operation of this tripod.

The Link on Amazon

With any luck, the link below should show you the current price and stuff on Amazon. Let me know if it’s broken.

My Experience

I highly recommend this tripod. It feels solid and sturdy, though when fully extended I recommend weighing it down a bit with the included hook to keep the tripod steady. It’s very, very light and comes with a nice carry case. In fact, it’s so light that I actually left one in a cab because I forgot I had it with me! Don’t make the same mistake!

The legs fold up easily, and to extend them you simply twist the rubber joints to lock and unlock them. Operation is simple, and should be usable even for people with weaker grips or arthritis who might otherwise have difficulty with latches on cheaper tripods.

I also recommend a simple modification to it as well. You see my other tripods, my new monopod, and most importantly the heads for my tripods are all Manfrottos. More specifically, the heads for my Manfrotto tripods all have a very specific quick connect called the RC2 Rapid Connect Mounting Plate. This is very important.

Now, the Benro comes with it’s own little ball head (someone please let me know if you figure out how to buy these specific legs without the head!!!!), but it uses a completely different quick connect plate. That means that you have to continually be changing the quick connect on your camera to move between the travel tripod and the larger studio tripod you might have for non-travel use.

To make matters worse, unlike the Manfrotto RC2’s finger tightening grip, the Benro plate requires an allen wrench to install or remove (someone please shoot the engineer responsible). This is a major pain in the ass for traveling!

The Recommendations

So, the bottom line is that I recommend that you switch the head out for one that will match whatever your main tripod is. If you don’t have another tripod, but you want to future proof yourself, or if you just want the quick disconnect feature so you can interchange cameras, camcorders, etc from the tripod, I recommend one of these options to you. Also, remember that when you are not traveling you can move any of these heads to another tripod or monopod.

Manfrotto 486RC2 Compact Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System – ~$60. This compact yet sturdy ball head allows you to rotate, swivel and position your camera at any angle you want, then lock it in with a simple twist of a knob. It’s small, light and the least expensive high quality ball head you should consider. Plus it uses the RC2 plate.
Manfrotto 488RC2 Midi Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System (3157N) – ~$90. This is like the head above, except that it has an additional knob which controls side to side rotation. This is great when you want to mount the camera and then be able to pan from side to side. Without this adjustment you simply can’t do that, so I recommend you spend the extra $30 or whatever and get this one.
Manfrotto 700RC2 Mini Video Head w/RC2 Rapid Connect Plate – $85. This is your standard traditional video recording head. It has a nice long arm and smooth action for swiveling and panning to follow the action. It can also be locked in place for still photography. It’s by far the most versatile of these heads, but the biggest and heaviest too. It’s not practical to take this with a tiny travel tripod unless you are looking to do video. But if so, it will work just fine.
Manfrotto 322RC2 Horizontal Grip Action Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect Plate (3157N) – $120. This is a ball head with a big grip that makes it easier to tighten and release the angle, but also allows you to use the grip a bit like the handle on a traditional head like the one above. However, this grip is primary meant to be stationary, so you can’t really use it with a camcorder for panning and stuff. It’s designed to unlock, position, an lock.

The Head Images

My New Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod Setup

John P. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:37:31 +0000

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…

The Parts

Heres everything you need to duplicate the setup demonstrated in the video:

Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod Deluxe with Safety Lock

This monopod is actually pretty long, which I consider the major downfall. It’s 30″ long when closed, so at 2.5′ it’s not going to fit in any backpacks or carry on bags. This means I’ll be carrying it from start to finish on every trip. I hope it is worth it!

Manfrotto 486RC2 Compact Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System

Personally, I’m going with the Manfrotto 488RC2 Midi Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System (3157N) which is just slightly larger, but has two controls on it. One for rotation, and the other for the ball movement. This is totally unnecessary for a monopod, but I’ll use the head on a tripod as well, so I’m killing two birds with one stone.

Custom Brackets Digital PRO M Rotating Camera Bracket Kit

You’ll notice that this rotating camera kit costs more than both of the other pieces combined. It’s a serious piece of professional gear, and personally I’m going to hold off on this one for now. The benefit of being able to quickly swap from landscape to portrait mode is very useful when you need to quickly change with precision. But at this point I don’t need that. I may invest in it later when I start shooting models or something like that.

The Alternatives

If you’re thinking that is just too much of a setup and would like to start with something more economical, smaller, and simpler, then I recommend you take a look at the Benro monopods.

I really like the 1.2 pound Benro MC-91M8 Carbon Monopod which currently goes for about $130, but you can also do the 2 pound Benro MP-98M8 ALUMINUM MONOPOD for only about $85.

They both have built in feet which allow you to turn them into mini tripods if you need to. They can also be extremely useful when combined with a remote flash (i.e.- use them as an off camera flash stand in conjunction with a Pocket Wizard). Here’s a one minute to demonstrate:

Review: Brother MFC-9840CDW Multi-Function Color Laser Printer / Scanner / Copier / Fax

John P. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:00:37 +0000

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.

On two laptops the installation completed successfully and during the setup I was able to see the printer and select it. The problem is, even though the software can easily and routinely find the printer… it could never connect to it using the printer name. I had to go in and manually configure the printer port to use the printer’s IP address. This was the case regardless of if I used the wired Ethernet or WiFi to connect the printer to the network.

On the desktop Windows machine, the install failed mid-way through and gave a cryptic error message that was less than helpful. I had to fully uninstall the software, and then I had to use an almost unnoticeable setting in the install CD to “repair” the installation. It at least allowed me to get the software installed, though I still had to make the manual modifications to the settings.

By the time I had wasted about 3 hours on the machine I was able to use all of the printer and scanner functionality except one thing. The machine has a “Scan to…” function which allows you to walk up to it, put in a document, and from the menu on the printer choose to scan the document and send it to one of your configured computers. I was able to get this to work on the Mac with no problem, but could not make it work on any of the Windows machines no matter what I tried.

If I compare this software installation process to the Canon multi-function printer’s software, I’d give this one a “D-”. It works… kind of. And only if you are a power user who is really good at solving networking problems.

Hardware Installation

Ok. Things start getting better here. With the exception of the fact that this printer is about 80 pounds, physically setting it up is actually pretty easy. You unbox it, put it where you want, and plug it in for power, and optionally ethernet or USB. Personally, I recommend the Ethernet route over the wireless, because wireless configuration can be a tad finicky at times.

Adding the toner cartridges is as simple, or more, than other color lasers. Open the front door, slide the tray out and insert the various color. You’re done! The only bad news is, the cartridges that come with it don’t seem to last very long. Either that, or I was doing a lot more printing than I thought I was doing!

Print Speed

You know, they claim that this printer can do 21ppm in either color or black and white. Guess what. They aren’t lying! I kid you not, this sucker is so fast you can print hundreds of pages in minutes! I LOVE it! Now, if you try and print them two sided, it will really slow things down because of the changing mechanism.

But then again, if you had to print a lot of two sided printouts of the same thing you could always feed the paper through on side one first, then on side two for a second pass.

Print Quality

The black and white text is fantastic. And in general, color printing is quite good. However, this laser doesn’t seem up to the task of printing realistic photo quality prints. I’m not complaining because I’ve never seen a color laser printer print a photo I like. Inkjets are far better at this task, or if you really want to do it right, get a dye sublimation printer like a Xerox Phaser. Solid wax printing is truly amazing!

Scanning

One thing that I really love about this machine is that it makes a great scanner. Everyone in the household can share it because it works right through the wired or wireless network. It has an auto page feeder, and will scan stacks of documents that are either one sided or two sided. It’s quite fast, and the scan quality is excellent!

Copying

Yes. It makes copies. Black and white, color, whatever! It will do them one sided or two. And it will enlarge or reduce things if you want it to as well.

Faxing

Faxing? Um. This is 2009. I don’t do faxes. But I’m sure it works. You can probably use it for that right after you answer your pager.

Summary

Yes, you should buy this machine! If you can in any way afford it, it will spoil you rotten and you won’t want another machine for years! That is all. Buy it. Now.

What are you waiting for?…

Sample High Speed Video from the Casio EX-FC100

John P. — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:13:22 +0000

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.

So, the first couple here are videos I grabbed, and then I found a few others folks had loaded up as well. Enjoy!

Lightning Captured with Casio EX-FC100

This high speed video was taken with a Casio EX-FC100 digital camera at 210 frames per second. It is a brief clip of only a couple of seconds from a lightning storm, but the high speed recording was stretched out to about 30 seconds to slow it down. Now you can actually see the lightning for a few seconds per flash, even though it happened faster than the blink of an eye in real life.

High Speed Seagull Flight

Close up video taken with the Casio EX-FC100 to demonstrate the 210 fps video mode of a bird in flight.

Hi-speed Match Strike

Ceiling Fan with Switch Between Normal and Hi-Speed

Firing a Hand Gun

Stirring Coffee

Miscellaneous Shots

Here is a 6 minute video compilation of a bunch of shots taken outdoors on a sunny day. Looks very good. Fish, frogs, dogs, ping pong, bicycles, you name it!

“High Definition” Normal Video

The high speed video above is kind of small because the camera doesn’t record in full High Definition mode. However, here is a sample of what the camera can do in the high def mode. If you go over to the YouTube site to watch this one you can see it in 873×525 resolution. Just click on the little HD icon down in the bottom bar of the video player. Keep in mind the video is also compressed, so it would look even better straight out of the camera.

REVIEW: Thermaltake BlacX eSATA Hard Drive USB Docking Station

John P. — Sat, 02 May 2009 06:06:58 +0000

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!

Plasma Cutting the GeekBrief Logo

John P. — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:12:36 +0000

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.

Use A Diver’s Pad in the Shower to Make Notes!

John P. — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:04:46 +0000

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…

New Staple-less Staplers!

John P. — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:52:20 +0000

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.

Get em here.

Beware – Amazon.com Offers NO Price Protection!

John P. — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:56:37 +0000

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.

At first I sent in the following e-mail request to their customer service department:

—————
11/30/08 09:55:23
Your Name:John Pozadzides
Order Id: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
ITEMS: Brother MFC-9840cdw Color Laser Multi-Function Center

Comments:I have not yet received this printer, but I now find that it is on sale for $100 less than I purchased it for at both Costco and Office Depot. For example, you can verify the price ($549.99) on Office Depot’s site:

http://www.officedepot.com/catalog/txtSearchDD.do?jopa=X9VGHKxyebJtOj7bXUOeWw8&norefinement=true&searchTxt=470975

I would like to know if you have a price matching policy that protects me, or if I need to return the printer and purchase it elsewhere.

Thank you.
—————

The cryptic response that came back appeared as though they either didn’t read my message correctly, or didn’t understand what I was talking about. As if I was dealing with someone in a country like India which doesn’t have any such thing as a “low price guarantee”.

Greetings from Amazon.com.

I would like to sincerely apologize for any disappointment this may have caused.

However we are not responsible for prices or savings posted without our permission on other websites.

As you may know, the price and availability of items at Amazon.com are subject to change. Please note that placing an item in your shopping cart or finding the item on another website does not reserve the price of that item. It also will not reserve your copy of that item.

Prices of items at Amazon.com will necessarily change on occasion, as the discount we are able to offer for any item can also depend on availability.

Also, there may be times when Amazon.com runs out of stock of an item that is also offered by one of our partner merchants. You may see it displayed on our website as available, but from a different merchant and with a different price than you saw previously. Our merchants set their own prices.

If you have further questions, please visit our online Help pages:

http://www.amazon.com/help

Again, we are very sorry for any inconvenience you have experienced.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We value your business and hope to see you again at Amazon.com.

Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:

If yes, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=XXXXXXXXXXXXX
If not, click here:
http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.

To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.

Best regards,

Vikram Loganathan
Amazon.com Customer Service
==============================

So, when I selected the link that I was NOT satisfied, it gave me the option to receive a call back – which I did, and I was promptly speaking with a customer service agent. An American one by the way.

I explained the situation, at which time he informed me that Amazon has no price match guarantee. He went on to tell me that not only did they not match other stores prices, but they do not even protect purchases made on Amazon.com against price drops.

He told me that up until September of this year, they did have a policy that if you bought something from Amazon and the price decreased, they would refund the difference. But that even that policy had been removed.

So, although I have not received the printer yet I informed him that I wanted to cancel the order and I’d purchase it elsewhere and save the $100. The guy I talked to did some research and then told me that he was making a note for the returns department and that they would get back to me once they figured out how to accomplish the return. The tricky part is apparently based on the fact that the printer is being shipped via a special carrier or something…

Oh well. I guess that everyone should be cautious about purchasing any high dollar ticket from Amazon, because if the price has a significant drop you are going to be SOL. This makes BestBuy, Costco, and other retailers a much, much better alternative. For this reason, I will be buying a LOT less from Amazon until they decide to modify this archaic policy. The only business I suppose they’ll be getting from me will be when I see an unbeatable deal. But that won’t do their margins any good…

EDIT 12/2/2008: So, the saga actually continues.

As I stated previously, the guy who I last talked to was supposed to have someone get back to me about canceling the order. However, no one ever had the courtesy to do so. As a result of not hearing from them, I haven’t ordered the printer elsewhere because I didn’t want to get stuck with two of them somehow.

In the meantime one day after the guy refused to give me a price match, Amazon actually dropped their price on this printer to $599! AND they have someone selling brand new ones including free shipping for $530! But again, no one contacted me about price adjustment or canceling the order, and meanwhile I’ve been checking the delivery date in my Amazon account every single day. It has been due to arrive on December 2 for well over a week now.

So I come home tonight and guess what. No printer! But, and here’s the kicker, when I log into the site it now says that the printer was delivered yesterday – 12/1!

So I call the Amazon customer service department (the number is 866-216-1072 since they make it impossible to even freakin find now), tell my whole morbid story all over again to a nice young lady, who eventually informs me that she really doesn’t know if it was delivered, or if it was canceled! Meanwhile, she says that the guy who I previously talked to only put the following note on my order: “Customer wants to cancel.” That’s it! Nothing else!

But wait, it gets better… you see, after all of that, she apologizes and then informs me that she can’t help me. You see, I have to call back tomorrow and speak to someone in the “hard lines” department about the order. And they only work till 5pm CST.

(And for the record, I have not been issued a credit on my credit card though I disputed the charge now and Citibank will take care of me).

This is the worst experience I’ve ever had with Amazon, and is second in “badness” only to my miserable experience with Abe’s of Maine.

Oh well, I will take solace in the fact that this article now ranks number 10 or 11 on Google searches for “Amazon Price Protection“. At least I’ll spare some other shoppers from the headache.

Holiday Season Deal Watching Web Sites

John P. — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:45:56 +0000

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.

First of all, if you absolutely insist on participating in Black Friday, here are a couple of sites that will show you all of the ads that retailers are putting out. This can at least help you plan your attack, even if you have to get up at 4am to do it.

In addition to Black Friday, you can shop the online equivalent, Cyber Monday:

In addition to all of those sites, here are a few to keep an eye out for on Cyber Monday. It’s like these guys are giving free money!

Newegg Cyber Monday Deals

20% Cashback when you pay with Paypal

Best Buy Cyber Monday Deals

12% off in-store coupon

Circuit City Cyber Monday Deals

Extra 10% off $249

Overstock Cyber Monday Deals

13% off any order + Free shipping

Google Checkout

Just create an account, pay with it, and get cash!

$10 off on orders over $30
$20 off $50
$10 sign up Bonus

If anyone finds any really killer deals please drop a comment below because I’m always on the lookout myself!

Sharp 42″ 1080p HDTV is $799 at Dell With Free Shipping!

John P. — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:12:43 +0000

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…

Welcome to Best Buy’s Premier Black Membership… PSYCH!

John P. — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:22:16 +0000

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:

The Best Buy® Reward Zone® program is always looking at ways to make our program even better for our members. Today, you may have inadvertently and inaccurately received the below message during an initial email testing process. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or confusion. You continue to maintain your current membership status. If you are eligible for the Reward Zone program Premier Black test that will run in a limited number of select markets, we will notify you by a separate email. If you have any questions about this or the Reward Zone program, please visit www.MyRewardZone.com or contact our Customer Service Center at 1-888-237-8289. Thank you.

Sincerely,
The Best Buy Reward Zone program team

What do you want to bet that their explanation is a bunch of crap and was just a nice way of telling a bunch of people (like me) that they made a mistake and weren’t supposed to be letting them in? Oh well… the funny thing is, how long do you think it will take before this post is at the top of all Google searches for Best Buy Black Membership?

Apple, That’s a Poor Way to Treat a Customer

John P. — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:09:48 +0000

This is one of those times I’m gonna vent. So get ready…

Yesterday I was at Costco to get meat to make my world famous Souvlaki when I decided on a whim to purchase an Apple iPod Touch. This thing sells for $489, so right off the bat it had better be good.

Now, I don’t know jack about iPods or iPhones, but the signs in Costco all said something about coming with the latest greatest software functionality and they tell you all these things you can do with it… surf the web, watch movies, etc. So, I left the store happy and went home to give it a try.

The first thing I did was plug it into my laptop which was already running iTunes (required for iPods), and iTunes started syncing up with it. Meanwhile it prompted me to register my new device. So, I’m thinking, “Ok, cool. I’ll give you my details and all since you are about to entertain me”.

Now, get this. After I finish registering the first thing that happens is I get this huge notification that there is “a new software version 2.0″ available, and just click here to get it! So, now I’m excited. Yippee! I’m gonna get the brand new software for my brand new iPod! So, I click on the link and Apple tells me, we’re so glad you decided to upgrade! That’ll be $9.99 please.

WTF? $10?!? I just unboxed the device and you’re telling me you want me to purchase an upgrade or I can’t have all of it’s functionality?!? I mean seriously, I haven’t even used it once! The headphones have not even been plugged in! And, it’s a $500 product.

Excuse me Apple – but that is F-ed Up. Creative would never do that to me (and the Zen kicks ass too by the way).

There is nothing I hate more than nickel and dimeing people, and this is the biggest complaint I’ve heard from all of my friends with Apple products. “You’re gonna love it, but be prepared to pay!”

Free Themes and Apps for Blackberry Curve

John P. — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 07:40:54 +0000

I just had to give up my Sprint powered PPC8800 for a Blackberry Curve 8310 so I could be on the communal rate plan and also have real-time Exchange access for e-mail at work. After doing so it forced me to do a lot of research on applications and ways to better my Curve.

I figured some other people are going to go looking for this info as well, so I’ve compiled what I learned here. Its not my most organized post, but there is a lot of information and I didn’t want to spend forever getting the post out. Hopefully if anyone knows of other cool, free stuff for the BB you’ll drop a comment below and let me know.

Free Themes for BlackBerry

If you want to change the look and feel of your BB you need to swap themes. But I found it was very hard to discover the free ones because so many people were trying to sell you themes! The absolutely most comprehensive and easy to search list of Free themes can be found on the BerryReview.com site. Each theme review is listed and is clearly labeled as FREE.

Personally, I’m only looking for themes which will provide the most information and best make use of screen real estate. I did find the following theme’s interesting:

New Freebies from Mobile.Blackberry.com
Jason Calhoun’s Titanium Today theme and Calix ATT Today theme.
Want your BlackBerry to look like an iPhone? Here you go.

Travel Tools

If you do a lot of traveling, you might want to take a look at WorldMate. WorldMate Live pieces together your travel itinerary details – including flight, hotel, car rental and meeting information – creating a complete schedule available for immediate inspection on your mobile phone screen.

Here is a cute little video that demonstrates what it does because it’s too much to describe.

Starry Night is an application that lets you enter your location and see what constellations are in the sky around you from that geographic position.

There is a free GPS Navigation service from Nav4All, but it got a really bad review from BerryReview.com. I tried it out and although it’s not perfect, it’s better than nothing! And it is free…

bbLocal: Free Maping and Local Directory for the Blackberry!
What started as a regular Google Maps viewer for the Blackberry has now turned into a full fledge City Guide, with the ability to locate businesses and tourists spots.

Features include:

Full featured mapping program
Business directory
Get information on business and tourist spots
Find the hottest tourists spots
Satellite view

Earthcomber also offers a BlackBerry application that:

Itâ€™s the free way to find all the things you care about nearby Ã¢â‚¬â€œ instead of tapping, tapping, tapping in a search box. You can use Earthcomber as-is, anonymously, to find the most popular things in the most common situations. But, you can also personalize Earthcomber to look for the special things and people you like, wherever you go in the US.

Superpages Mobile
Features include:

Get Movie Info Fast – Search by movie, theater or genre. See show times, read reviews and connect directly to driving directions from wherever you are.
Locate a Business – With millions of businesses available from the Superpages.com database, youâ€™re sure to find what you need, when you need it.
Map Your Way – With interactive maps and turn by turn directions, you can get where youâ€™re going quickly, easily and without the frustration of having to find that piece of paper on which you wrote directions.
Find a Person – The People Finder function allows you to find a friend, old neighbor or coworker across town, or across the country.
Track the Weather – Donâ€™t let the weather ruin your plans – your five day forecast is available whether you will be in town or far away.

Finance

MarketFilters quotes and analysis application puts stock quotes, charts and technical analysis right on your BlackBerry device. Just visit MarketFilters.com on your BlackBerry Web browser and look for the link to install the application. After you’ve installed the app you can load in your list of stocks to keep an eye on and it will give you up to date quotes every time you open the application. (I know Todd is going to love this one!)

MarketFilter Features include:

Stock and index quotes.
Charts of price and Market Filters scores.
MarketFilters scan results.
Light-weight and transfers significantly less data than a website.
Uses webservices provided by Market Filters for the scan and quote data.
Built for BlackBerry devices.

Google Apps

First things first. Point your Web browser to Google.com and scroll to the bottom of the page where you’ll be presented with the ability to download and install a bunch of apps. These will give you access to Google Maps complete with GPS integration, RSS Reader, GMail, Picasa, Search, and more. It’s the first download anyone should make.

GPSed
Record tracks of your trips anywhere on the Earth from your mobile device. Tracks are traced on Google Maps and stored in an online archive. All you need to start tracking is a mobile device with the internal or external GPS receiver. Here is a review.

Instant Messaging

WebMessenger Mobile lets you access AIM, Google, MSN, and Yahoo from your BlackBerry. Here is the announcement that the software just became free on 2/11/2008.

TwitterBerry is a great application for sending and reading your tweets on the BlackBerry as well.

Multimedia

CellSpin allows you to upload photos, videos, audio and text from your BlackBerry to a range of sites including YouTube, Flickr, Blogger, Facebook and more.

bbPlaces is another application designed for BlackBerryÂ® devices with which you can geoposition places associated with photos you take.

Miscellaneous

vTap adds a quick search that allows you to choose between WikiPedia, Wiktionary, News, Pronunciation, and a website if applicable.

The Wi-Fi-Detector Shirt

John P. — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 07:02:35 +0000

This is so completely off the hook geeky that it is wickedly cool… So, if anyone is looking for an excuse to get me a present, here is the number one idea. A shirt with animated bars that actually detect WiFi signals.

Better yet, it’s available for only $30 at ThinkGeek.com.

Product Features

Glowing animated shirt dynamically displays the current wi-fi signal strength.
Shows signal strength for 802.11b or 802.11g
Black 100% Cotton T-Shirt
Animated Decal is Removable (with hook and loop fasteners) for Easy Washing
Battery Pack is Concealed in a Small Pocket Sewn Inside the Shirt
Runs for hours off three AAA Batteries (not included)

Washing Instructions

Carefully peel animated decal from front of T-Shirt
Unplug ribbon connector behind decal and remove decal
Unplug battery pack and remove it
You can leave the ribbon cable inside the shirt
Machine wash gentle cycle on cold
Hang to dry

And here is a video showing the shirt in action. I know it’s boring at first, so just skip towards the end to see it in action.

Butterscotch the Robotic Pony

John P. — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 07:22:13 +0000

This toy is ridiculous. It’s like taking the Furby entirely to the next level.

I was at Sam’s Club (the warehouse equivalent of Wal-Mart) when I came across this miniature robotic pony, and I whipped out my cell phone and took the attached video.

I can’t believe these things even exist, and it just shows how close we are to having little robots walking around playing with our kids.

Review: Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 Waterproof Camcorder

John P. — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 06:21:14 +0000

I recently purchased and tested out the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 (I love Amazon’s Free Shipping!) waterproof camcorder to determine if it was going to be a workable solution for snorkeling around a coral reef on an upcoming trip to Hawaii.

In playing with the camera at home I determined that the video quality was much better than I expected, and photos were decent quality for a 6.37 MP camera. I guess I had been expecting to give up some quality in order to gain a waterproof form factor, but apparently Sanyo didn’t think that was necessary!

Before we move on, there are two other waterproof cameras which are the Xacti’s main competitors. The Pentax Optio W30, and the Olympus Stylus 770 W. Here is what the Globe and Mail had to say about those two:

The other two drenchable devices are both 7-megapixel digital still cameras. Pentax’s Optio W30 ($237) and Olympus’ Stylus 770 SW ($270) are both the third-generation attempts by those companies to create waterproof cameras.

It’s not clear what specific aspect of making a camera waterproof requires some companies to use cheaper, lower-quality components â€” but both Pentax and Olympus have done exactly that. They take pretty poor photos, at least compared with other $300 cameras.

The Pentax’s colors are off, the Olympus’ details are soft; both cameras are slow to fire and almost useless in dim light. The burst modes are very slow, too â€” the Pentax’s is measured not in frames per second, but in seconds per frame (1.2); the Olympus’ speed is only slightly better.

So, both of these were out of the running for me from the start.

Now, the Sanyo Xacti has several excellent features which initially caught my eye. Although I’m not sure if I’m a fan of the trigger grip style of camera, that gut feeling is only due to the fact that I have no experience with them whatsoever. What the camera does have that caught my eye are:

Shoot 640 x 480-pixel video clips and 6-megapixel still images simultaneously
5x optical zoom; 2.5-inch LCD screen
Built-in image stabilization
Up to 80 minutes recording time per 1GB memory card (not included) @ 30 Frames per second.
Records in the excellent MPEG4 video format.

Now, C-Net has a full review of this camera and gave it fairly mixed reviews. Their opening comment is:

The bottom line: If underwater YouTubing were a market segment, the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 would be the camera to get. But the awkward design and slow performance make it hard to recommend for landlubbers.

Still, despite what they had to say, after playing with it for only about 30 minutes I shot the following sample video of Murmur the Cat:

I actually found that the form factor of this camera was not so bad. It’s different, but in a way it was actually much easier to hold it and shoot the video than if I were trying to do it with a standard rectangular digital camera. Plus, with the screen folded out to the side, it made the unit a little wider and gave me a better hand hold to stabilize the unit.

Before I go any farther, I must give credit to Ryanne Hodson (check out her awesome video blog) for her excellent video review of the Xacti a few months ago. Honestly, without this review I would never have chosen this oddly shaped little camcorder. So its fitting to share her review with you right here and now:

Also, there are some really nice sample photos and video over at the Sanyo site.

There were two things that I didn’t like about the Xacti VPC-E1:

There is absolutely no lens cover. This really worries me. You do NOT want a scratch on that lens, or you’ve just ruined the unit. So it will have to be stored in the holster all the time. This is just sad. It should have a built in retractable lens cover.
The image stabilization is only digital, not optical. This means that hand shake is not actually stabilized, but digitally altered, and this is sub-optimal.

All in all, if you want a digital camera that can also take very good video footage, I’m not aware of many that can do a better job than the little Xacti E1. The fact that it’s the only possible choice for underwater shooting is just a really big bonus.

Other References:

Sanyo’s page on the VPC-CA65, which I believe is the exact same model with a different number for some reason.
Laptop Magazine’s Xacti E1 Review
Swim with the fishes from the Globe and Mail

The Mini Beer Keg Dispenser

John P. — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 06:21:28 +0000

OK. I’m man enough to admit that I don’t really like beer. But I know that most of my friends do, and if you are reading this article I suppose there is a good chance you, or someone you know does too!

So, everyone knows that the best beer comes straight out of a keg. But who has the room to stick one of those in their kitchen? Especially complete with a full sized keg refrigerator! Well, fret not my little cheeky-monkeys – you don’t have to! Now there is the Mini Beer Keg Dispenser which you can pick up for about $229 and leave permanently displayed on your kitchen counter.

It features a digital display that allows for easy adjustment and monitoring of temperature settings, and a thermoelectric system which provides ultra-quiet cooling.

So really, what are you waiting for?

Supercharge your Linksys Wireless Router

John P. — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 06:48:48 +0000

Greg, this one’s for you!

Ok, so months ago I was talking to my buddy Greg about wireless routers, and I mentioned that you can get this upgraded firmware which will drastically improve your range and add features. Then, I totally forgot to send that information to him. But don’t worry, it’s not the only thing he’s waiting on. I still haven’t delivered a piece of art he ordered like a year ago! (Sorry Kim!)

Anyway, now that I’m done admitting my inadequacies, it’s time to redeem myself – at least partially. So, if you are the owner of a Linksys WRT54G series router (only like THE most popular router ever sold), then follow along to change it into something almost unrecognizably better than what you currently have!

First, start out by reading the Open Source WRT54G Story
Next, go get the Hyper WRT firmware and upgrade your router. This should handle the needs of 95% of the population.
Finally, if you require ultimate tweakability, go get DD WRT. And you’re probably going to need their tutorials.

After you’ve done all that, report back here and let me know how it went! That is all.

The Google Phone – Coming Soon!

John P. — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 06:22:03 +0000

I’ve been holding off on sharing this information, which is really mostly rumor and speculation, up to this point – but Google is supposedly readying the launch of a new cellular phone which will come GPS and have built in access to Google Maps, Gmail, Calendar and Docs.

Google previously bid for the FCC’s 700MHz wireless spectrum, one which could be used to operate a new Google cellular phone service, and as I previously reported they acquired GrandCentral (I handed out around 75 invites to the beta service), a unified messaging platform which provides “find-me, follow-me” service, voice mail, and other goodies.

If you think about it, with the convergence of Voice into IP and the ubiquity of the Web it makes perfect sense for Google to play in this game and disrupt all of the natural players. And a well integrated Web / phone device would be a great starting point.

The latest fuel to the fire comes from Mark Hopkins who claims to have an inside source at Google that is confirming that Google will announce their new phone device by early to mid September 2007. His source is also claiming that the device will be:

Cheap.
Linux based.
GPS enabled.
Demo’ed in 2 weeks with a general US release to follow a little later.

If all of this turns out to be true, and I could surf the web, write articles on my blog, and watch online videos on this device – in addition to all of the cellular phone features we are already accustomed to (syncing with Outlook, etc.) then I’d be tempted to buy one. Otherwise I’ll just stick with my PPC-6700 which already does all of this.

Here are a few other people reporting the same story:

Rediff India Abroad
Wired Magazine
Mobile Magazine
CrunchGear
Google News stories on the Google Phone.