Archive for October, 2008
Portable Espresso Lets You Buy Once, Drink Everywhere
Handpresso; Buy Once, Drink Anywhere
Mobile phones, portable electronics and of course – portable Java. We love anything that lets us get our geek on – and our drink on – when away from home and Starbucks. So understandably this little beauty caught our eye. It’s a caffeine-serving portable gadget for crying out loud.
The Handpresso (ThinkGeek)
, also known as the Handpresso Wild, is a coffee press on steroids shot by a shrink ray. Or something. Whether camping, at work or geocaching this lets you take a quick break for a consistently good, professional-grade Espresso drink. Just the thing to keep you going in a harsh world.
This portable expresso machine weighs less than two and a half iPhones. How they did this is beyond us but we’re happy they did. Handpresso generates all the pressure – courtesy of a hand pump – to make a great shot of espresso. Add hot water, place an Espresso pod in the device and release the switch. Voila: Java Anywhere. Uses Gaggia Coffee Pods
(Sun Microsystems is still working on the portability of their implementation)
Quality Espresso
The build quality of the Handpresso is impressive. Make sure you have very hot water. An office water dispenser will suffice. Don’t expect oodles of crema (the brown foam on top of espresso) but we were very happy with the taste of the Gaggia coffee pods and the overall results are excellent.
More
Here’s some more info about our favorite drink (Espresso @ Wikipedia)
The Well-Traveled Barista
Handpresso
T-Mobile G1 at Wal-Mart for $149 TODAY
T-Mobile G1 - 3G + Android Goodness
Wal-Mart dropped the bomb – starting today you can get the T-Mobile G1 smartphone for $149 (compared with $179 from T-Mobile) from the omni-present peddler of inexpensive goods. This is certain to help uptake of the G1 due to the low price and also Wal-Mart’s wide retail reach. The G1 is a phone with lots of promise though certainly in its infancy. A 2-year contract is required.
In related news, at least one industry analyst is confident that Apple could get into the price-cutting game as well with the iPhone. How does a $99 iPhone sound ? We won’t hold our breath but this is an intriguing time in the smartphone space. And we cannot forget about the Blackberry Storm. Competition is always good.
Fallout 3 – The Gonzo Review
Fallout 3 Quick Review
Fallout 3
Your character must find his/her father who has left the safety of Vault 101 and wandered into a Washington D.C. ravaged by nuclear war. The game world is immense and detailed and populated by interesting, disturbing and wacky characters. Think of the rich dystopian film worlds seen in Mad Max, Escape from N.Y. and Blade Runner – and throw in some radiation-mutated enemies to contend with – and you get a good feeling for the setting of this game.
The deep character interactions with the denizens of this world, the exploration of a gigantic game environment, plenty of well-designed quests and excellent replayability will have you coming back for more even after you finish the main quest.
Quite simply: This is one of the best games of 2008. Note that several editions of the game are available – see “Where To Get It” below.
Summary
The Good
- stunning graphics show a vast and detailed post-apocalyptic Washington D.C.
- total freedom in exploring the world
- decisions in the game affect your karma – and karma matters
- lots of character customization with unique and interesting abilities
- variety of skills and abilities allow clever solutions to dilemmas
- build weapons from parts and use post-nuclear rubble as ammo
- V.A.T.S. pause-the-action mode offers spectacular – and quite useful – results in combat
- an epic main story with an excellent pay-off at the end
- seemingly endless side quests and play styles extend replayability
The Bad
- quirks in V.A.T.S. when dealing with line-of-site
- some camera problems (particularly with V.A.T.S. in tight situations and around corners)
- character animations are disappointing
- cannot play a “pacifist” as with previous Fallout games
- writing is not quite as satirical and over-the-top as previous Fallout games
- mature and dark themes means this one isn’t for the kiddies
Where To Get It
Available at most retailers or order online at Amazon (Fallout 3 Center)
Fans of the series and completists will want to check out the Fallout 3 Collector’s Edition
You can also download the Windows version directly from Direct2Drive.com.
Which Version Should I Get?
The 360, PS3 and PC deliver Fallout 3 with full gameplay. The noticeable differences are:
- PC is by far the best graphically, followed by 360 which has only a slight edge on the PS3
- PC offers mouse/keyboard control – a classic FPS control scheme – this is mainly personal preference
- 360 & PC will offer downloadable content in the future – PS3 will not
- 360 & PC offer trophy support – PS3 will not
- PC has load times significantly faster (about half) when compared to 360 & PS3
What Others Are Saying
Game Rankings (Fallout 3 XBOX 360, Fallout 3 PC, Fallout 3 PS3) confirms that Bethesda has delivered on the promise of this storied game franchise. The game has garnered 9/10 averages from review sites on all three launch platforms.
Favorite Halloween Gadgets 2008
We’ve scoured a ton of Halloween decorations and gear and hand-picked a few that really stand out from the crowd. We’ve got the perfectly creepy decorations for your cubicle, Halloween party and … your iPhone. Read on!
Horror Halloween Handrest
Do monsters get full right before finishing the last bite or is it that you simply can’t be a member of the clean plate club when you wait for your victims in pitch black? Whatever the case, this clever handrest is certain to amuse and possibly disgust your coworkers and family. Designed to be the perfect ergonomic size for using a mouse or keyboard, it can also double as a Halloween prop. But you really want to get a reaction at work don’t you? See Horror Halloween Handrest.
Spooky Shadow Light
Not earth-shattering but we’re a sucker for anything that reminds us of Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. You’ll definitely want a dark room for this as the light is not too powerful. But it’s great to watch as the ghosts, spiders and other nightmares go spinning across the walls. Just don’t get this mixed up with Junior’s usual revolving lights with all the friendly animals, ok? See Spooky Shadow Light
Halloween Lighted Spider Garland
These are great because they’re unusual. Instead of the usual pumpkins or just regular christmas-lights-turned-orange, this swarm of creepy arachnids are lit by the included 50 orange lights on a 9′ string. They’re happy to scare visitors and children both indoors and outdoors. See Halloween Spider Garland Light Set
Webcaster Gun
Ever wanted to fill your home with professional-looking cobwebs? The Shadows Edge has you – and your household – covered with the Webcaster Gun. Aided by Webcaster Stick refills and a typical air compressor, the Webcaster Gun will throw realistic spiderweb strands wherever you point it. Up to 12 feet away! The Sticks come in 6 varieties. Unfortunately this appears only to be available at retail in select states. Watch the video this thing is very cool. From what we can tell this is not yet available online but in this case don’t let that deter you. Guests will never have seen anything like what this can provide. See Webcaster Gun.
USB Pumpkin Light String
Brando peddles a lot of useless crap but these are worth checking out. A string of 8 glowing (ok, blinking) pumpkins that will plug easily into your computer and instantly provide a spooky vibe. Anything that gets friendly with the computer always has a place in our heart, especially for Halloween. Available only from Brando online.
Coffin Fogger
This skeleton is boiling mad and pushing his way out of a 10″ coffin. Perfect size for a serving table or countertop to add a bit of Halloween flair to the festivities. Just add water and the mist will start pouring from the coffin while also changing colors from underneath. See Coffin Fogger Skeleton
online, also available at Target (if you can still find any).
Just One More: Crazy Pumpkin App (Free App for iPhone and iPod Touch)
This is a popular and fun free application on iTunes. It shows a glowing pumpkin. OK, no surprise there. The look is very nice with an effective animated glow. Swipe the screen and ‘carve’ new eyes, nose and mouth. Shake it and get a random scary sound effect and change the color. This app looks even better in the dark – make sure you have it on hand for halloween parties! Get Crazy Pumpkin (iTunes).
Fallout 3: Wasteland of Time
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 is one of the most anticipated games of 2008 and launches Oct. 28th on Xbox 360, PS3 and Windows PC’s. This page will be updated with our review as soon as we have a copy.
Fallout 3 comes from an impressive line of games, starting with Wasteland in 1988. The post-apolocyptic theme has remained the same up to today as has the excellent writing and game design. Way back then Wasteland was a fresh hybrid between two titans of the computer role-playing genre: The Bard’s Tale’s first-person view and Ultima’s overland travel map. Mix in a sometimes-grim, sometimes wacky world of Vaults, a war-ravaged wasteland, dangerous mutants and some fun speculative science fiction and there was easily enough juice to fuel 3 classics of computer gaming.
Fast forward 20 years to 2008. Fallout 3 is set in a bombed-out Washington D.C. in the year 2277. Perfect for election season!
Can this classic series make the leap from 8 bit color to 512MB accelerated 3D graphics? Stay tuned for our impressions of Fallout 3 soon after October 28th.
- huge game with hundreds of hours of gameplay
- state-of-the-art graphics engine
- VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) lets you pause real-time combat to execute tactics against difficult enemies
- customize your characters skills and talents
- enhance your abilities with Perks as you gain experience
- control a party of up to 3 characters, including Dogmeat a vicious, but highly valuable, ally
- character karma – the game tracks your evil and good behaviors – your choices affect the dialog, areas and options available throughout the game (you can change your leaning by behaving differently)
Comparison of Harmony Universal Remotes
Compared: Harmony One vs. Harmony 880
You know the beautiful Harmony universal remotes crafted by Logitech. Once relegated mostly to the home theater “haves” these have become downright affordable. We’re ready to share our research on two top contenders: Harmony One and the Harmony 880.
Admit it. You’ve got a couch-load of universal remotes. That’s because these days every device in your entertainment center came with a universal remote. You know the type. Chock full of tiny non-descript buttons that you can’t remember or find in the dark.
Happily Logitech perfected the universal remote by embedding bright, colorful LCD screens and making easy-to-use PC/Mac software to tailor that bright screen to provide control of your home theater by function rather than device. Even better, you can add icons to your favorite channels, features, etc.
The newer Harmony One and venerable Harmony 880are both great remotes. They are both a snap to configure on the computer with the easy software that knows every home theater device known to man. The biggest difference? The Harmony One boasts a super-slick touch screen but also has a little less polish being the newer of the two. But they both more than get the job done.
| Harmony One | Harmony 880 |
|---|---|
| $199 | $139 |
| ✓ Recommended | ✓ Recommended |
Blu-ray Revisited – Is HD Video (finally) right for the Home?
We dream of a Blu-ray Christmas
Blu-ray is nearing 3 years old, and getting toward a year past the demise of its only competition – HD-DVD. HD-DVD called it quits early 2008 but few homes have made room for the HD Blu-ray format in the living room. While high-quality LCD’s and Plasma’s continue to get snapped up at record pace ahead of the holidays, most homes lack a true HD-quality video source. We take close a look at the Blu-ray landscape and find a lot of things to like as well as some recommended products if you’re looking to get started.
Blu-Ray Format
Blu-Ray has a number of strong capabilities and it has also become quite a bit more affordable. A few years ago you could expect to pay $600 or up for a player. Today you can get a good one for just over $200. (There are options under $200 but come with too many issues for us to recommend at this time.) Here are some of the top benefits of Blu-Ray:
- Only HD optical format supported industry-wide
- Markedly improved resolution and video quality compared to DVD
- 50 GB per Disc
- Over 9 hours of HD video per disc
- Wide range of popular video and audio formats (Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, etc.)
- Support for downloading additional dynamic content if internet connection available
- Blu-ray readers and burners can be purchased inexpensively for PC’s and Mac’s (See popular Blu-ray Drives for PC/Mac)
It once was the case that Blu-ray discs were hard to find, but today popular video services like NetFlix and Blockbuster Online will send a growing number of Blu-ray titles right to your house and of course the local video store is likely to have them as well.
Playing The Blu’s
Blu-ray can make your favorite movies (our current faves on Blu-ray are The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
or The Ultimate Matrix Collection
There are two paths – either gets you to the best video and audio playback to take advantage of your LCD or Plasma.
First, you can get a standard player. Many people prefer this method as it’s traditional, fits well into existing home theater cabinets and is “plug and play” (put the disc in, it plays, done). Prices have dropped incredibly and now some pro-quality Blu-ray players can be had under $300. In our research, we have identified two to consider:
Panasonic DMP-BD30K Player
Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player
One additional player option is worth considering, especially those with children in the house (or children-at-heart). The Playstation 3 Console
The major downside of the PS3 comes right from one of its benefits. For the non-gaming home or the traditionalist set, all those extra features could make simpler activities like watching a Blu-ray movie Friday night an exercise in frustration. Although the PS3 auto-plays Blu-ray discs on startup, there are a number of menus and a traditional remote control must be purchased extra (you can of course remote-control the PS3 with the included gaming controller).
Summary
The home theater format war over – at least for now. Tons of Blu-ray titles are available at retail and from rental services. But perhaps as importantly, Blu-ray players are finally getting to be a sensible choice for those looking to make the most of their home theater investment. If you have already purchased great speakers and a crystal clear LCD/Plasma, do yourself a favor and spend a few hundred more so you can get the most of it. Blu-ray is the uncontested king of video formats today. Many will continue to be satisfied with DVD and it’s not going anywhere of course. But the home theater enthusiast/fence-sitter should seriously consider if this holiday season there’s going to be a Blu-Christmas.
T-Mobile G1 Review Roundup
T-Mobile G1 - 3G + Android Goodness
The T-Mobile G1 has had a long run-up of interest and press. The G1 is the first fruit of Google’s efforts to build a modern open-source touchscreen phone operating system. Now that actual units are in consumers hands – how does it fare? We’re collecting the best reviews here and will continue to update this post as new insights come along. Check it out:
- T-Mobile G1 Review @ Engadget
- Review of the T-Mobile G1 Android Device @ ZDNet
- Walt Mossberg’s Wall Street Journal Review of T-Mobile G1 – “… consider it a worthy competitor to the iPhone”
- MSNBC’s T-Mobile G1 Review – “Android phone is a good iPhone alternative”
Summary of Research:
The T-Mobile G1 shows tons of potential. Excellent ease of setup and use. Hardware is solid (not going to oust the iPhone from teh sexy title). The Android OS was a winner and can be improved further with more polish. The proprietary headphone jack is an annoyance but not a deal-breaker. Some basic apps are missing – Google is clearly counting on the open-source community to ramp up and release killer apps.
End of the Day:
The T-Mobile G1 is an impressive new device that should be around for a long time. Once the Android developer community gets going the competition may truly have something to worry about. For now, a very solid and interesting offering whose value should increase quickly as apps are released.
Elmo Live is Alive! Available Nov. 1st
Elmo Live
Remember the days spent cradling a woodcraft figure with straw for hair? Yeah, that time is long over. The hottest toy for the kids this holiday season will without a doubt be Elmo Live. The only school kids not bouncing up and down for this one are attending the Ayn Rand School for Tots.
And Elmo Live is an impressive item indeed – melding the warmth of the Muppet characters with technical wizardry to create a highly interactive fun and funny toy for Jill or Bobby. Elmo is covered with sensors too – so almost anywhere you touch him – including his nose – he’ll notice and conjure one of a vast number of responses and actions. They clearly put a lot of thought into this. We love the replay value this is sure to offer.
Elmo Live is out November 1st. Plenty of time for the holidays right? But good luck trying to find one! May we suggest pre-ordering online? Make sure you check the video after the break too – Elmo Live is truly gonzo!
Nikon D60 vs. D90
The Nikon D-90 DSLR is out and it is a stunner by all accounts. But here’s a question noone is asking: Is it better to get the Nikon D60 (the previous generation) or the D90 ? This may sound like a no-brainer until you realize that these cameras are $600 apart in price! Both Nikons are excellent cameras, considered to be at the top of the prosumer camera category. So with that context, here are the key differences:
| Feature | D60 | D90 | Analysis Nikon D60 vs D90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Megapixels | 10.2 | 12.3 | Edge D90 – but due to better optics rather than more megapixels |
| Optics (w/ Kit Lens) |
Great | Great | The D90’s image sensor and greater MP count will get more oomph from the solid kit lens offered with both models.
The D90’s kit lens has the edge with greater zoom capability and slightly better optics than the D60’s (the D90’s is bulkier too however!) |
| ISO Sensitivity | 100- 1600 |
200- 3200 |
The D-90’s 3200 ISO and analysis of bright light / dark shots show that the D90 will offer more flexibility shooting in all light conditions and offer less noise. |
| Usability | Good | Great | With the D90 Nikon greatly improved the LCD viewfinder quality and added Live View functionality. It also has expanded in-camera editing features and rearrange buttons. However, both cameras manage to make taking great photos very easily for all levels of photographer. |
| Accessories | Good | Great | D90-only accessories include a ton of flash options and an intriguing GPS module (not included). The D60 is well supported having an extra lead on the market; all the basics and more are covered but the D60 lacks an available GPS module. |
| Movie Mode | None | Yes! | The D90 is the first DSLR ever to offer movie mode. Know that the maximum movie duration is limited and – the biggest drawback – it requires MANUAL FOCUS while shooting. Couple that with the size of this camera compared to modern camcorders and most will not have the skill and patience for this mode. |
| Price | $525 | $1,145 | Full kit price (per Amazon as of 2/10/2009) |
Gonzo Recommendation: Nikon D60 Learn More about Nikon D-60
Summary: The Nikon D60 may be missing some bells-and-whistles offered by the new kid on the block, but the Nikon D60 is a rock solid DSLR camera available now from folks like Amazon at unheard of prices while (or because) the Nikon D90 grabs all the headlines.
Those who can afford to join the state-of-the-art will find the Nikon D90 is a step up from the D60 in nearly every respect. It offers incredible photo quality and usability, as well as the all-new movie mode, next-gen accessories, better optics and additional megapixels. Learn More about the Nikon D-90.
In this economy many consumer will side with the D60, choosing to avoid the additional expense of joining the latest generation of digital camera technology. Those who opt for the D90 will be very pleased. We feel the Nikon D60 is the best overall value but this is one of those cases where either choice is a good choice, provided you are aware of your budget.
Read More Information & User Reviews: Nikon D60 w/ Kit Lens
Read More Information & User Reviews: Nikon D90 w/ Kit Lens
Jellyfish Mood Lamp
Aquariums are long renowned for their calming and mesmerizing effect on the human psyche .. but it’s harder to get that where you need it – AT WORK. Maybe you’re familiar with the USB aquarium concept or just really into your Sea Monkeys (pointy haired boss does not approve). For those of us not yet invested in a aquatic solution, much less one at the office, may we suggest this one. The motion, ever-changing lighting and size of this is just amazing. Check the video after the break and impress your stressed-out non-centered friends around the office!
Jellyfish Mood Lamp (Best Price @ Think Geek)
iPod Touch Review
iPod Touch - Digital Media Player Supremo
The iPod Touch is the world’s best digital media player. While the iPhone is an amazing piece of kit it’s also way more than many need in an age where everyone already has a mobile phone. To get the iPhone’s GPS voice and wireless data features you’ll pay $200-$300 for starters plus 2 years of voice+data from Cingular for a total cost of nearly $2,000 ! The iPod Touch has all the iPhone’s best features – the same crisp 3.5″ screen, the butter interface and the awesome web/media capabilities at a fraction of the cost. And with a nearby WiFi connection you can use all Mobile Safari and the growing number of iTunes App Store data features too.
Browse iPod Touch Models & Learn More
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