Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

Grace: My dad recently went through a photo revitalization craze, where he scanned all our old slides using a digital converter and retouched them using Photoshop.  I thought the project was a little ambitious because we have so many slides, but in the end, it was a great idea because now we have those pictures digitally saved and revitalized.

However, not all our photos are slides and I know my dad would loves to find a way to preserve them too.  I found this great Digital Photo Converter that scans photos and uploads them onto your computer at a very high quality.  Of course, it’s possible just to take your regular scanner and scan photos, but they won’t be at the same quality.  This is a great gift for photo enthusiast or just someone who is determined to preserve the past in a digital form.

Dan: Hey Grace!  I would have to say that last year my parents went through the same revilatization process that your Dad did.  It took them an extremely long time to scan onto the computer and then re-touch everything using a photo program.  In the end they were not very happy with the quality and ended up buying something extremely similar to your gift recommendation to do the job over.  I would also look into converting your old videos, because those will also get destroyed the longer you let the tapes stand.

Dan: How many of you were hollered at when they were younger because they were reading in the dark?  When I was little (and still today) I prefer reading in the dark instead of under a bright halogen lamp, but the act is extremely hard on your eyes.  Or so you may think…according to WebMD, reading in the dark, just like sitting too close to the television is a myth about your eyesight.  You may get a headache from it but it does not cause any imposing threat to your vision or your health.

Even still, it might be a great idea (gift idea) to have something in order to aid you.  If you read at home, in the office, or in a crowded living space like a dorm room or apartment, then you need your own persona light.  Levenger has many different makes and types of reading lights to offer.  If you know someone who reads in an uptown office they have a light to appropriately accomodate that situation.  Also, if you know someone who has many roommates, a bed reading light would be much better suited.  Check out these great reading light gifts!

Grace: As someone who loves to read, I think this is a great gift idea!  I always end up reading right before I go to bed, and I’m too lazy to turn the lights on again when I’m just going to to turn them off in another hour, so I end up reading in very dim lighting.  I think that the clip-on light is a great gift for someone who likes to read in bed because it doesn’t take up much room like a floor lamp or a desk lamp on a nightstand would, and you can travel with it, which is very convenient.  If you know someone who loves to read, instead of getting them a book they might enjoy or a gift certificate to a bookstore, why not buy them one of these reading lights?

Dan: During the summer before entering into my freshman year in college, my parents took me to Staples to find an appropriate printer for my dorm.  Today, there are even more printing and copying choices and it has only been a little over two full calendar years.  However, the two biggest distinctions between printers are whether or not they use ink or are laser printers.  We ended up buying a laser printer due to their cost effective nature; however, if you have a more creative major or career and need color, than a printer using ink would be the better choice.

My samsung ML series printer was a great gift to me from my parents.  My printer has never, let me repeat that, never let me down.  It has never had a paper jam, software problems, etc and has always been trustworthy and most importantly reliable.  The printer itself was between forty and fifty dollars with the toner cartridges costing around sixty dollars.  Sixty dollars might sound terrible, but when one cartridge lasts for more than a year it is actually a steal than having to replace ink cartridges.  If you have a child entering into college or are considering helping out a friend at home or at work then consider a Samsung printer.  It is a necessity in today’s busy world and makes a wonderful and useful gift.

Grace: As someone who does not have a printer at school, I cannot even begin to tell you how useful they are and what a great gift one would be for someone who doesn’t have one, especially if they’re in college.  Finding a reliable printer is incredibly difficult these days and nobody wants to giving someone a gift that will cause them endless stress and grief, so it’s definitely worthwhile to do your research first.  Samsung printers are known for their reliability and good quality, so I, too, would recommend giving one as a gift.

Grace: One thing I noticed that many of my friends have is, in addition to their laptop, a nice, LCD monitor.  At first, I didn’t see the point of having both a computer and a monitor, but now that I think of it, the monitor is quite useful.  I think an LCD monitor makes a great gift for someone who loves technology and doesn’t mind looking a little geeky at times.

The benefit of having an LCD monitor in addition to a laptop, I’ve found, is that you not only have a nicer screen to watch movies on, but you can also multi-task.  My friends who have a set up like this actually are more efficient with their time since they can organize windows on two screens.  This is a great technological gift if you don’t mind spending a little money.

Dan: An additional LCD monitor would make a great gift.  When having major assignments to do on the computer any need to have more than three windows open space is a commodity on a small laptop screen.  In this scenario, an extra LCD monitor would be extremely helpful.  If you know someone that needs the extra space an extra monitor would be a great gift.

Grace: Although I love my iPod, sometimes I wish it had a wireless music sharing feature similar to the Zune.  It’s always frustrating to hear a song you like on your friend’s iPod and then have to search everywhere for it or beg your friend to send it to you.  However, I found this nifty little gadget that solves this problem!

The miShare allows files and playlists to be shared between two iPods, making it a great gift for music lovers.  Although it is a bit pricey, it’s certainly easier than frantically searching iTunes for a song you heard on your friend’s iPod or impatiently waiting for them to send you the song.  In addition to being really useful, it seems to transfer files fairly quickly; songs transfer in about 10 seconds while a short video transfers in about 30 seconds.  This is a great gift for anyone who loves both music and techy gadgets.

Dan: I never knew that a gadget such as the miShare even existed!  I am a music lover, how did I not know about this!  After doing some research of my own, this is truly a spectacular gift idea.  This would make a great gift idea for anyone who loves music like Grace and I or someone who has an iPod and knows a lot of other people with one as well.

Dan: I used to always be told to shave all the time.  As a guy, shaving your face every single day can become extremely tedious, and frankly, annoying.  Therefore, in order to avoid having to lather everyday and waste a lot of money on razors and replacement blades, my mom gave me an electric shaver as a gift.  I have a Braun, and it was pretty expensive, around $100, but it is worth the money.  No lathering, no water from the sink, no dulling blades.  All you have to do with the electric shaver is make sure it’s charged, turn it on, and shave off any unwanted facial (or other) hair.

You do have to be very careful as to which electric shaver you have.  My father had one that only lasted a month and it too was $100.  Convenience comes at a cost so make sure that you make a wise choice.  I have noticed though that many electric shavers do not do a very good job at shaving the neck.  For whatever the reason it cannot reach that far, so keeping an extra blade on hand is a good thing, or just simply making sure you have a great electric shaver.  Save yourself time and long term expenses with an electric shaver!

Grace: Although I am not very experienced on this subject matter, I do think that an expensive electric shaver is a good gift idea because it’s something that almost every man uses on a daily basis but may not want to splurge on.  Keeping a good, clean personal apperance is important in many different ways, and an electric shaver helps with this.

Dan: Hey everyone I am back at school and loving it! I am back online tonight thanks to my mom rush delivering my power cord to my laptop down to school for me. School is for studying but it is also about having a good time too. A couple posts ago I recommended an Ipod for a gift idea. Now I will continue that gift idea by recommending an i-home. They are really handy for anything from relaxing to having a party or get together.

I personally do not have one but one of my roommates does and I am so jealous! An i-home would be a really excellent gift for anyone. They are hip and young and sleek and classy at the same time. They fit in any corner or can be displayed and flaunted in the middle of the room. Some i-homes even have built in alarm clocks!

Grace: Growing up, I was never really allowed to watch television and video games were completely, 100% off limits.  When my dad finally bought “himself” (aka me and my sister) a gaming system for Christmas it was probably one of the most exciting moments of my life.  In the end I didn’t turn into the jello-brained video game fiend my mom expected every gaming child to turn into, so I think even now she would have to admit that it was a good gift.

If I were to receive a gaming console as a gift, I personally would want a PlayStation 3, or even a Wii, but in the end it really depends on the gift recepient’s taste in games.  I’m a sucker for graphics, so I really like the PS3, but I do have to admit that the Wii is a lot of fun, especially with friends.  I’ve never had much experience with an Xbox, but I do know a few people who can’t live without them.  In the end, I think it is important to think of how much you want to spend on a gaming console since they can range in price and what kind of games the recipient would enjoy playing.  Also, in the future you can buy video games as gifts, which is always easy in case you run out if ideas.

Dan: I have an Xbox and it is awesome.  Ever since I was younger I have had a gaming console all the way back to super Nintendo.  I cannot say that I ever turned into the child/young adult that was glued to the TV/computer screen because of playing too many games.  The gaming console that we had at the time was something that everyone could play and not just me.  We could play each other in multiplayer or just watch someone else race to the finish and set a record.  There is a danger of kids getting too attached to their gaming systems, but if done correctly this should not happen.  There is a fine line, if you do not have one as a child other kids can pick at you for not being with it, and if you do have one a child, you can become too attached.  A myth that bothers me about gaming consoles is that if you buy one for your child they will never be able to play sports, become violent, or start to do poorly at school.  Everything from playing sports to playing video games should be in moderation.  So go ahead and get that console or game for someone you appreciate as a really entertaining and great gift.

Dan: I have had an iPod nano for the last two years and unfortunately I have now lost it. I am the kind of person that lives and breathes music. I need it or else I can’t walk to class basically. My mom knows this about me and replaced it with an iPod shuffle. It was such a caring gift and I cannot get enough of it. It was only $50 and it puts my old nano to shame. It is tiny and has a clip so that you can attach it to your pants, which is really handy because a lot of work out clothes don’t have pockets. The basic one that I have has 1GB worth of space, which is approximately 240 songs. If you wanted more space you can spend $69 and have 2GB and approximately 500 songs.

I absolutely love my iPod shuffle and it goes everywhere with me so easily. The one and only downside to the shuffle is that it does not have a screen to display information about what you are listening to. It does not bother me at all but to some people it might. How you put music on it is through making play lists as if you were burning a CD for the car.

One thing that you must consider when getting an iPod shuffle or any Apple product is the battery life. Both Grace and I have had battery issues with our Apple laptops and the same can be true with any other Apple product. Make sure that for the first few uses (preferably all the time) you use it from full 100% charge down to 20% or below and then back to 100%. If you only use it a little bit and then recharge or have it recharging excessively once it is at 100% you are effectively draining the battery and killing its overall battery life. You want to make sure the iPod shuffle you give as a gift or get for yourself lasts as long as it can.

Grace: Dan, you beat me to this gift idea!  I currently own a video iPod and I love it so much!  However, it would be really nice to own an iPod shuffle because I only really listen to a few songs and it seems silly to bring my full sized iPod everywhere.  It’s not horribly expensive and is really useful!  Also, it’s a really great gift idea for an older adult who may have trouble using technology, like my grandmother.  She is not technologically savvy, but she has no trouble at all using her iPod shuffle.

Dan: When I am at home in Connecticut it is really easy for me to go online anywhere in the house because we have our own family wireless network. In contrast to wireless critics, the internet connection is not any slower than if you were wired through your ethernet connection. When I am at school I have to admit that the University wireless connection is not always the greatest, so I use the ethernet cord. However, a good quality wireless router should have you surfing the internet in no time.

A wireless router is a really great idea for someone who is still stretching out the ethernet cord every time they have to go on the internet. Having a wireless router also gets you away from the power adapter. Having the power adapter always plugged in is a really BAD idea, especially if you are on a laptop. Having the power adapter plugged in when the battery is at 100% charge drains the overall battery capacity. Before you know it your computer will only last 5-10 minutes on a full charge. Trust me, having the wireless router has saved my computer from my bad habit. There are lots of great companies that make wireless routers. Be careful where you purchase one though because prices vary a lot depending on supply.