Gonzo Gadgets

VholdR Wearable Camcorder

The VholdR Wearable Camcorder [VholdR.com] is a slick piece of high-end outdoor video gear suited to outdoor sports and activities in all kinds of conditions. We’ve covered some other outdoor active lifestyle favorites – specifically the Coosh Headset and Handpresso Portable Espresso maker. With snowflakes falling and winter in full swing, ones thoughts inevitably turn to snowboarding and skiing – and how are you going to capture those sick moments and perfect runs on video? Popular mini camcorders like the Flip are fine for memories at the mall, but aren’t ruggedized or mounted in a way suitable to outdoor shooting.

While you are booking your flight and condo at Telluride, Vail or Breckenridge, take a moment and check out the VholdR wearable camcorder. The VholdR is small and would look at home on the mountains in any weather – ride bike or ski. It boasts some impressive features:

• 640×480 resolution at 30 fps
• rotating lens with laser sights for easy aiming & calibration – it rotates in its housing to capture a level shot even when you aren’t level
• rugged design with brushed aluminum and baked fiberglass housing
• single, easy to use record/pause switch (big enough to work while wearing a glove)
• USB 2.0 transfers to PC/Mac
• video editing & sharing software included
• helmet mount included
• 2 hours battery life
• MicroSD removable memory  (1GB MicroSD included!)

What’s especially impressive is the video & audio quality – check sick move below, and see more samples here [VholdR.com].

Tags: active, bike, camcorder, camera, extreme sports, helmet, outdoors, ski, snowboard, vholdr, video

Ultimate Headset for Sports Workouts and … Breakdancing?

Your b-boy/b-girl craving for an active and music-based lifestyle has probably run you into the Extreme Sports Conundrum. Namely the difficulty keeping headphones in place while you’re mountain biking, snowboarding, running, skiing or just straight up breakin’ to the beat of Buffalo Gals by Malcom McLaren. Yeah you know who you are.

Along comes Coosh with special-built headsets, promising you can get your shred on and never miss a beat. Heck, you can even be on a call with your iPhone while catching some serious air. Coosh has a series of “crash test” videos showing the headsets in action:

Let’s Play Some Hoops

Coosh recruited industrial design wizards Pensa (Brooklyn, NY) and Astro Studios to create headsets designed specifically for the active lifestyle crowd. Together they researched the Extreme Sports Conundrum and designed a new style of headphones with a special “hoop” that encircles the base of the ear. The hoops are removable too so the ‘phones can be used in more ordinary situations. Like waiting for the doctor to reset your broken leg.

Knowing their audience well, Pensa & Coosh knew this was a non-starter if they couldn’t deliver good sound quality too. And of course they can get uncomfortable with all that motion. That’s a lot to deliver.

Reality Check – How Did They Do?

We found Coosh did a surprisingly good at their mission. When doing some rugged mountain biking we could not jar them loose. The ‘phones delivered strong audio for both music and phone calls. And most surprising to us, the hoops were comfortable because of they are made from a soft & flexible silcone material. We’ve had our share of problems getting comfortable normal headphones – the fact Coosh nailed comfort, sound quality and ear-stickiness is impressive. As a bonus these things are inexpensive too – less than $25.

• understated but hip look
• excellent sound quality, with good base and accurate overall sound
• 65 Hz to 20Hz frequency response
• built-in mic on handset with answer/mute buttons
• available in black, white and pink (pink not available for iPhone version)
• soft and flexible silicone hoop material
• hoops can be removed when not breaking

Where To Get Them

You buy from Coosh.com direct or smart shoppers should check out Coosh Products (Amazon) too where you usually can price breaks and free shipping deals.

If there’s any disappointment here it’s the fact Coosh didn’t see fit to include Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2 – Electric Boogaloo DVDs. But you probably have those already.

Tags: active, audio, bike, board, coosh, headphones, headset, outdoors, ski

Portable Espresso Lets You Buy Once, Drink Everywhere

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)

Tags: active, coffee, espresso, geocache, iphone, java, machine, portable, review