December 28, 2008

Top 3 Gadget buys in 2008

Here's my next installment of "best of 2008" lists:  Gadgets. 

I'm an electronic gadget kind-of guy. I love how a gadget can solve a problem. I'm a traveling man also, so gadgets are pretty important to me. I'll buy over a dozen a year. Some rock, others sputter. 

Here are 3 gadgets that changed my life this year: 


Att_usbconnect881_l USBConnect 881 (ATT-3G)

This handy gadget changed my life. I'd be the first to admit that the internet connection speeds can be slow, but more often than not, I online in two minutes anytime/anywhere (with no login and no reconfiguring my outgoing email, etc.) Oh yeah, and it's got better mobile security too!  

It saves money on hotel internet. My only complaint is that sometimes I have to unplug and reinsert the antenna for it to find reception in hard to reach areas (like airports).







41FGtYnxCJL._SL500_AA280_ Korg MM1 MetroGnome 
If you like to keep good time while playing an instrument, this is a fabulous solution! 

This fits neatly into your ear and gives you metronome clicks for the full tempo range. I use it while playing acoustic guitar. It keeps the click private and improves your playing at the same time. 

My only beef is that you only get every 2 or 4 beats to choose from (no 92BPM for example). 

A great gift for your favorite musician friend!






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Panasonic SFR-S7 Video Recorder
This is hands down, the top gadget of the year for me. This is the smallest camera you can get that maintains good picture, image stabilization and great sound. 

You'd be shocked how good the video turns out on YouTube (check out this interview and this one from Hawaii). It also takes decent pictures. Buy a mini tripod and BOOM, you can video blog all you want. It fits in the palm of your hand, because it uses SD memory cards instead of MiniDV tapes.   
Buy one for yourself!
Posted at 4:08 PM in Gift Ideas  |  Permalink  |  Comments (7)  |  TrackBack (0)

Comments

Commentor

Nice! The USB connect is such an awesome idea for a gift to my older sister! Nice. Thanks.

Posted by: gift registry  |  December 02, 2009 at 02:47 PM

Commentor

These items amazed me. I never could have guessed. Thanks for sharing.

Great post.

Posted by: Bridal Registry  |  November 20, 2009 at 11:44 PM

Commentor

Great post, I wonder what the must have item for this Christmas is?!

Posted by: DSTT  |  November 17, 2009 at 06:02 AM

Commentor

I just got one of those AT&T connect cards, and I am totally blown away at how fast my connection actually is! It was so fast I actually dumped the DSL in my office!

Posted by: Jason Tench  |  December 30, 2008 at 03:28 PM

Commentor

Great Post! Another fun gadget for 2009 is the Flip Video Recorder...

http://www.theflip.com/products_flip_mino.shtml#scene=sceneDesignable

Thanks again Tim!

~Elizabeth

Posted by: Elizabeth  |  December 29, 2008 at 10:03 AM

Commentor

Livescribe -- Yes!

Jeff Payne
www.ascendworks.com

Posted by: Jeff Payne  |  December 28, 2008 at 11:47 PM

Commentor

Tim,

I thought that you and your readers might like a techno-gadget that my wife got me for Christmas. I am a nut for pens, especially cool ones like the youropen (http://www.yoropen.com/) which has been my primary pen since April of 07.

Now, thanks to my wonderful wife, I have the 2 GB version ($199) of the Pulse Smartpen by LIvescribe (http://www.livescribe.com/). This Pen is the heart and Brains of a paper-based mobile computing platform. This pen has a computer at its core and is an audio recorder. Additionally it has an infrared camera for capturing your writing on special paper (reasonably priced pre-printed paper or print your own at home assuming your printer is color and 600 DPI or better). By way of the computer, the camera and the paper, it links your wrting to the audio it captures while you are writing (if you choose to record audio). Later one can tap thier notes and it will play back the audio recorded at the time of the writing. The captured date can then be linked to your computer via Desktop software. Check it out - its WAY COOL!

Posted by: David Nottingham  |  December 28, 2008 at 05:55 PM

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