I travel every now and again with work. When I do, I tend to take a fairly large bookbag with way too much electronic equipment. Check out my setup last time I was in the Jungle Disk Atlanta office.
January 9th, 2010
Can you beat my remote work setup?
April 3rd, 2009
Review: Harmony One Remote
The Harmony One is easily the best buy of the past 6 months for me (even though someone bought it for me). For anyone with more than 1 home theater device, get this remote. Since I bought this remote, I have lost all my other remotes, and it is a good thing.
It is a universal remote that focuses more on user actions that devices and inputs. For example, you can create a Watch TV action that turns on the TV, Receiver, and cable box together, and sets everything to the right input. Very simple and easy to use.
But enough of my gushing over the device…let’s get objective/subjective.
Why is it sweet?
On the instructions, it warns you that setup will probably take about 30 minutes of the remote. It was exactly 30 minutes for me to get everything working. After this configuration, I haven’t had to update anything in 3 months.
I like it because it just works. I press Watch TV or Watch DVD and all my devices get turned on and set to the right inputs. But, what’s even better is the Help button, which tries to fix any problems, in case you accidentally pointed the remote at your toaster instead of your TV. I probably use the help button once a week, and every other time everything works perfectly anyways.
And don’t let me forget, it has a beautiful design. From the body to the touch screen, its sweet (for some reason I felt dirty saying that).
But these are all tangent to the real reason this remote is amazing. My girlfriend doesn’t call me asking how to watch a DVD on the XBOX anymore. You don’t have to play the role of tech support for your home theater.
Any bad thoughts?
None. My only word of warning would be this remote is for making things work, not adjusting the rotary girder of your Killer Audio Receiver 3000. Very detailed settings like independent speaker volumes and such may be hidden in menus or non-existent.
November 18th, 2008
Review: Quickcam Pro for Notebooks
My dad was early adopter of webcams. I was not. Looking back on it, he understood their power to bring people together that aren’t geographically close at all. During that time, he experienced the pain of bad internet connections, terrible drivers, and installation hell. I waited until all that disappeared.
I bought the Quickcam Pro for Notebooks because I have an increasingly growing number of people I want to talk to that aren’t anywhere close to me. This model caught my eye because it works for notebooks, but has an awesome stand for desktops. Not to mention it is super sleek and small.
Aesthetics are always important, but the quality is where the substance is and this camera has amazing quality. Skype HQ video is really awesome and I use it all the time.
Most importantly, the installation is super easy and lightweight. Pop in the CD, install, and it works. No problems, at least for me.
I highly recommend buying this webcam to anyone out there, you won’t regret it. Unlike the Arc mouse, I have had this camera longer and would buy another one if it broke tomorrow.
Not only do I recommend this webcam, but I recommend video conferencing for anyone that needs to talk to people remotely, but that’s a different story for a different day.
November 3rd, 2008
Re: Microsoft got something right, the Arc Mouse
Three weeks since I purchased it, and a broken scroll wheel. My Amazon review has changed from 5 stars to 2 stars. I would not recommend this mouse to a friend.
Back to Logitech mice for me. And I was so happy when I got this mouse… I guess aesthetics only go so far when a device’s functionality is what really matters.
October 19th, 2008
Microsoft got something right, the Arc Mouse
Update: Scroll wheel broken in 3 weeks time.
Today, on an impulse, I bought the Arc mouse. I needed a cordless mouse for my notebook, since unwinding my current mouse cord was losing nerd points for me. After walking through Best Buy, I saw the Arc. A beautiful, simplistic mouse that was the size of a regular mouse, yet small enough to be a notebook mouse at the same time.
It doesn’t have bells and whistles, but it works. It is exactly what I was looking for.
Like any new mouse, it took some time getting used to. It is very sensitive and can be frustrating for the first few minutes.