Wacom Bamboo Pad Review

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 In the end, the Wacom Wireless Bamboo Touch-Pad with Digital Stylus (CTH300K) was a disappointment for me.  I really had high expectations for it since I love Wacom products.  The Apple Magic Pad is a much better touch accessory, and you're much better off spending some extra dough for a bigger Wacom tablet like the Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Small Tablet.

Bose Solo TV Sound System Review and Audio Samples

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Bose® Solo TV Sound System is Bose's answer to horrible sound from your flat screen TV.  Its clean, simple, elegant, and does its job all without making your living room look like a home theatre.  To be clear - this is no substitute for a home theatre system setup, or even a 2.1 system for that matter.  The sound is crisp though and really brings out what is most lacking in flat screen TVs sold now - the speech and center channel sound quality.

Is it worth the $399 price tag?  Hopefully a listen to my sound samples below will help you answer that question.

I did a personal comparison (not recorded) between the sound system and a  Samsung DA-E750 2.1 Channel 100-Watt Dual Audio Dock and the Samsung had deeper bass and richer sound overall.  (But not substantially so.)

Nomad ChargeKey Lightning Cable Review

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I'm always looking for a charge cable for my smartphones.  For my Apple iPhone 5S, its something that I have to find and plug at least twice a day depending on the amount of usage I get.  Sometimes I forget my cable somewhere and then I have to limit the use of my smartphone till I'm sure I can get safely to a charger.

Things I use a lot which eat up a lot of energy are the GPS, camera, wifi tethering, and speakerphone - particularly in areas of poor cellular reception.  

So having a cable or means to charge regularly is a high priority for me, which is why I carry a variety of battery packs to go and a solar charger just in case in the car.  It's all fine until I forget my lightning cable.

Enter the Nomad Chargekey - its a tiny little dongle sized cable with all the right parts of the USB A port, and a licensed certified lightning head on the other side.  It fits on the keychain, and I love it - if anything for the assurance that I can always charge up and its always with me.

 

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Canon Vixia Mini X

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Canon VIXIA mini X is the upgraded version of the Canon VIXIA Mini, featuring quite a few improvements - most notably the audio portion with much better mics and external mic jack input.  I also caught image stabilization, and remote pan-head capabilities with the Canon Pan Table CT-V1.  It also features a bigger battery too.

Read my review of the Canon Vixia mini here. (not the new X)

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Tenergy TN160 12 Bay NiMH Battery Charger Review

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The new Tenergy TN160 battery charger is a god-send for strobists and battery hungry mobile devices that run on AA or AAA NiMH or NiCd batteries.  It features 12 independent charging bays which allow users to charge anywhere from 1 to 12 batteries of the NiMH / NiCd variety.  (Most chargers charge them in pairs, and don't monitor batteries individually for maximum charge.)
The The Tenergy TN160 12-Bay AA/AAA NIMH/NICD LCD Smart Battery Charger is a great deal for around $30 USD.  I recommend getting some Sanyo Eneloop batteries to go with your charger.

Tenergy TN160 features 12 bays of independent charging power.
Video review portion goes over the charger in further detail.
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Garmin HUD Review

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Garmin Head-Up Display (HUD) Dashboard Mounted Windshield Projector video review:

This is really only recommended if you already use NAVIGON North America - Garmin Wuerzburg GmbH on your iOS device or NAVIGON on Android.  It currently only works with Garmin's applications on your smart phones.  

My GPS application of choice in Los Angeles County is Waze social GPS, maps & traffic, so this HUD is of limited use to me.  Watch my video for more details.

Soundmatters foxL Dash A Review

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As if there weren't enought bluetooth speakers on the market, foxL is yet another one that you should consider if you desire portability, decent sound quality, and usable speakerphone all in one.

foxL pioneered the portable small in your hand quality bluetooth speaker years ago before anybody else had a clue on how to engineer one properly.  Jawbone smartly licensed their technology for use in their own Jawbone Jambox and shortly after the entire small portable bluetooth speaker market exploded.

So now, foxL has shrunk their technology into something extra slim, and even more portable than before.  The foxL Dash A is their slimmest, and cheapest now in their lineup.

How does it perform?

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Samsung DA-F61 Portable NFC Bluetooth Speaker Review

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First a confession - I expected more out of these speakers given the $250 price and the fact that I have been listening to the awesome Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker this past month.  Not only are the Samsungs physically bigger, they claim 20 watts of power, and APT-X capability (which I did not test) - but they didn't super impress me.

Here's an audio sample:

It sure does look cool and slick though right?  

Pros:

  • Looks really nice
  • Fantastic battery life
  • NFC makes it really easy to pair with NFC capable phones
  • Good sound quality, fairly well balanced (with bass boost off)
  • Vocals sound good
  • Strong bluetooth connection with no dropouts during testing
  • USB charging port for your music player or phone

Cons:

  • The black cover is only for speaker transport - leave it on and you have one cheap sounding speaker
  • No USB charging option, in a portable speaker
  • Manual says you should should not keep it plugged into the charger, it will shorten battery life
  • Sounds somewhat muddy compared to Big Jambox; missing some detail playing rock music
  • Lacks lower level bass that Bose Soundlink Mini seems to boom out of nowhere
  • Should be priced around $179.99 retail

Overall I give this speaker a 7 out of 10.

So here are my rankings given portable bluetooth speakers of this class/size:

  1. Jawbone BIG JAMBOX (Better sound, speakerphone, louder)
  2. Sony SRS-BTX500 (40 watts of power)
  3. Samsung DA-F60 
  4. Sony SRS-BTX300 (less clarity)

If you want portability, get the Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker.

 

 

Quirky Cordies Executive Organizer

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Quirky Cordies Executive Desk Organizer and Cord Management System is the least quirky of the Quirky line of products that I've seen.  The pitch is simple - this desktop organizer will help you organize your cables, phones, paper pads, and anything else that's small that you can fit in one of the variable sized slots - 8 total.

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Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker, Best Portable Speaker?

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Bose took a long time to come up with this speaker system to compete with the other small bluetooth speakers out there.  So far all the reviews I've read or heard from say its simply awesome, and worthy of the crown as the best bluetooth speaker out there.
Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker, Upto 30 ft Wireless Range, Silver
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