So, this makes my third annual update to my Geeky Gadgets, Gizmos, & Toys addiction. There have been changes in hardware and mindset, so read on.
First let me say that I continue to “love, love, love” my Kindle (oh, I said that last year didn’t I). I told myself that whenever my original (first generation) Kindle quit working that I would replace it with the latest (generation 3) device. Well, it just wouldn’t break no matter how I abused it and my geeky impatience drove me to just buy the Kindle LG. Kay continues to use the second generation Kindle, loves it also and uses it every day.
The Sonos home music distribution system is still in place and continues to one of my favorite and often-used gadgets. WAV (wife acceptance value) also continues to be high and i get no resistance from that front when I talk about expansion. Sonos just announced the Play 3 unit, their latest addon to the system.
It’s a smaller, more affordable powered zone player and it is ideal as a portable unit to move to any room or the patio as needed. It is very cool and I 
just had to have one – go figure!
Interest in DSLRs has waned for the time being, but I did purchase a Nikon P300 point-and-shoot camera. It’s a 12 mega-pixel camera and weighs just 6.7 ounces, takes beautiful pictures and does absolutely awesome 1080P video. It fits in my pocket and I’m loving it! 
As always, my gadget-bent brain is chasing something new – So what might that be? Until this last week, my highest interest level has been in the area of Tablet pcs. I continue to hang on to my irrational Apple-hate, but have to admit it’s weakening slightly.
They really do produce creative, innovative, and functional devices. But for now I will not bend to those evil Apple temptations.
Windows 7 tablets – probably not; Windows 8 tables – who knows. Android is where it’s at for me, especially in tablets. My current front-runner is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and it is really sweet! The 4G version just released by Verizon is a temtation for sure. There are others worth a look from Acer, ASUS, Toshiba, Motorola, Dell, and HP.
Wait a minute – I said my interest priority changed in the last week – so whatever for, and what’s the new priority?
My son called me to tell me about this sweet new smartphone that he had seen – the HTC Sensation, an awesome Android phone that among other features allows you to text using voice input via the Google Speech-recognition service. He said he will definitely be getting one when his current contract is up in August.
For me, a cell phone has always been just a phone and I’ve never had any interest in anything more. But, I did start researching the HTC Sensation which led me to comparing it to the Samsung Galaxy S II (it’s closest rival, soon to be released in the US). The Sensation is available only on the T-Mobil network while the Galaxy S will be available from AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon.
I have never had a smartphone or a mobil broadband service, so I had to research that also and have concluded that the best alternative for me is Verizon – which means the Samsung Galaxy S II.
So why all of a sudden do I have such an interest in a smartphone when just a week ago I couldnt care less? I already have a mobil phone and it works and it’s cheap.
It was the research that turned me totally around and totally upside down — hey this thing is not a phone (yeah ok, it does that) it’s a gadget, it’s a gizmo, and oh-boy it’s a toy – oh boy! Now it’s my top priority – I gotta have one – it has just become a necessity – that’s how us old geeks roll!
*Day-later Update* I keep looking at that HTC Sensation and it is really, really sweet — aannndd it’s available right now! T-Mobil can’t be that bad – can it? — Stay tuned for a possible further update.
Posted by DRHamp as Gadgets & Stuff, Hmmmm! at 12:13 PM GMT-0500
We did follow through on our “Netbook” interest and indeed purchased an Acer machine, but not the Aspire One. The Keyboard and screen were just a little too small for our old eyes and fingers. We settled on the Acer 1810TZ which is classified as a sub-notebook and is slightly larger than the standard netbook. It has an 11.6″, 1024×768 display, standard sized keyboard, and runs Window 7 and weighs in at 3 pounds with the battery installed. The battery has better than acceptable life, providing 8+ hours of continuous operation. It is perfect for us older folks and is great to travel with.
“Two For” Tuesday – where you get two of the listed items for the stated price. Approximately once monthly they hold a “Woot-Off” where an item goes up for sale for a period of time(usually about an hour) or until the item sells out. This is likely their way of moving stale or low stock items from their inventory.
One on my major complaints with the original Kindle was the “Next Page” / “Prev Page” button placement. Almost the whole right and left sides of the original Kindle were “Next Page” and “Prev Page” buttons which made it difficult to hold without inadvertently turning the page. It took me several weeks, but I did adapt to in and eventually learned to hold it with the random page turns. The Kindle 2 has smaller descreet buttons on each side and it should be much easier to hold without the unwanted page turns.
First of all, let me say: “I Love-love-love my Kindle”. I use it each and every day. Well, there is talk of a second generation Kindle — the Kindle II which is rumored to be released in February 2009? I don’t know how they could make it better (actually I do have a few ideas in that area), but I’m very anxious and excited to see what they do with the Kindle II.
r version is un-amplified, for connecting directly to your stereo HiFi system or to a pair of powered speakers. The music, in most any format you prefer, is stored on a pc or network-attached storage device on your home network. You select the music to play, using the hand-held controller, on zone/room players in multiple zones or rooms. Using the controller, you can opt to play the same music in all zones or different music in each zone simultaneously. That is very, very cool. When Christmas and birthday come around and family members are asking what I would like to receive, I always opt for an Amazon gift card. That way, I can feed my gadget/gizmo addiction and I haven’t found anything that I couldn’t buy from Amazon – and at a good price to boot. So this year, when the family came through with some nice gift cards(thank you family) — I knew where to head.
