The Smorgasbord

Since I’ve been looking at Netbooks, the HP Mini-Note should definitely not be overlooked since it was one of the first to be classified in this category as an ultra subcompact laptop gadget. I like the fact that it’s not Intel, and that you can configure the hard drive and memory to your liking, in addition to both Windows and Linux flavors. It can be a little more pricey than the others depending on how it’s configured, but it was one of the only ones to pack a 1280×768 resolution into the tiny 7.8″ screen! What more could you ask for though – you get Wi-fi, a webcam, and both express and SD card slots – in addition to the normal USB connects. All in a little 2.8lb case!

Here’s a video review:

You can find the HP Mini-Note for pretty reasonable new and used prices on ebay, here are some ending soon:

US $202.50 (35 Bids) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 13:43:43 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $200.00 (23 Bids) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 14:11:12 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $314.99 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 17:17:15 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $314.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $77.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 21:03:57 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $85.00 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $189.00 End Date: Monday Mar-15-2010 0:29:21 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $189.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $150.00 (1 Bid) End Date: Monday Mar-15-2010 5:13:05 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $349.00 End Date: Monday Mar-15-2010 7:51:30 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $349.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $125.00 (1 Bid) End Date: Monday Mar-15-2010 9:32:52 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

I’ve recently discovered the wonder of the “netbook” that everybody seems to be clamoring about. Basically the sub-compact or “mini-notebook” is very popular and this category is now dubbed the “netbook”. Probably because it’s small, about the size of a book, and primarily used do do things on the ‘net.

I’ve reviewed one before, but at the time the phrase “netbook” wasn’t yet coined. I posted twice about the original Asus eee PC review (linux), and the Asus eee PC Windows XP review.

Although there seems to be quite a few “netbooks” out on the market now, the one that every seems to know other than the eee is the Asus Aspire One netbook. I can only imagine what kind of problems this is going to cause for the tech clueless since the names are so darn similar (Acer, Asus).

If you’re in a hurry and want the short version, here’s a video review you can watch of the Acer Aspire One:

The Acer Aspire one is a 2 lb wonder. Depending on model screen size varies from 7-10″, same for HDD size 120-160GB+ (unless you get one with a SSD, which would probably be 8GB or less). Most units seem to have 1GB Ram, and I’ve seen a few claiming to be able to run Vista Ultimate. They all seem to come with a webcam (although crappy .3 megapixel), and a headphone jack. You also get 3 USB jacks, a microphone jack, and even a monitor out if you need to hookup to a projector. You get of course a LAN jack and Wireless b/g, speakers, a card reader, and usually Windows XP loaded on the system. There is of course a Linux version too. Supposedly the new Windows 7 is designed to run on portable netbooks as well (without the hardware constraints of Vista).

You’re probably wondering – what do people that bought the Acer Aspire one really think of it? Well I can tell you that PCWorld gave it a damn near 5 star review. The same goes for nearly all the reviews on Amazon. Boot time is just over 20 seconds, and normal tasks like Facebook, Myspace, watching video on YouTube, using Firefox, and copying over your favorite album are all quick and easy.

If you’re up for one of these little wonders, I would definitely check out some of the latest auctions for both new and used ones on eBay right now:

US $212.50 (16 Bids) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 12:27:13 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $16.90 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 12:34:33 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $16.90 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $19.99 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 12:39:45 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $19.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $19.99 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 12:40:11 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $19.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $13.49 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 12:42:20 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $13.49 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $18.90 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 12:57:31 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $18.90 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $177.50 (8 Bids) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 13:22:39 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $50.00 (7 Bids) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 13:25:31 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

The LG BH200 Blu-Ray HD-DVD Combo Player is now much more affordable than ever before, and even though Blu-Ray is now pretty much decided on as the standard for surpassing regular DVD’s in HD format – having the “HD-DVD” format option available is a bonus! If you’re wondering what the big deal is about a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD disc versus a traditional DVD movie – all you really have to know is that it’s displayed at nearly TWICE the resolution! If you thought a traditional or progressive scan DVD movie was a pretty good picture – if you own a flat screen LCD or Plasma television, you OWE it to yourself to upgrade your DVD player to Blu-Ray and HD-DVD!

Having said that – the LG BH200 is the one we picked because it not only plays in full 1080p output, but this player upscales the picture of traditional DVD’s to Full HD as well! It’s already setup to handle the “BD-Live” features touted ahead for Blu-Ray discs, but the LG “Super Blu Player” will also do MPEG’s, H.264 Quicktime, and DTS-HD audio as well. Oh, of course it has HDMI 1.3 out too. It also has S-Video and Component outs, but who would want to use those?

Guess what – it has USB “media host” too so you can set it up to access digital pics and MP3’s. Plugin your external hard drives, portable drives, or flash sticks for quick access and review of your multimedia files. The one thing we noticed was that this thing was practically silent when playing discs. It even has a network ethernet jack!

This would be a good treat for yourself and the old home entertainment center before you have to start saving to buy other people Christmas presents! Or, you could even put it away as an early present for that special someone.

Here are the best prices you can get on the LG BH200 Blu-Ray HD-DVD Combo Player:

[amtap amazon:asin=B000YB2IPK]

US $61.00 (6 Bids) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 21:45:11 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $325.00 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $274.99 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 22:28:30 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $274.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $48.12 (5 Bids) End Date: Monday Mar-15-2010 12:18:30 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Monday Mar-15-2010 12:20:36 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $1.09 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $999.99 End Date: Monday Mar-15-2010 15:10:02 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $999.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $389.99 End Date: Tuesday Mar-16-2010 9:17:49 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $389.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $329.00 End Date: Tuesday Mar-16-2010 18:25:43 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $329.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $150.00 (4 Bids) End Date: Wednesday Mar-17-2010 15:26:21 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $600.00 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

This “Sata HDD Dock” is one of the coolest things ever! I purchased some cables a long time ago where you can hook up a hard drive via USB, and I thought that was pretty cool. But you still have to deal with the cable. If you have hard drives laying around, or you repair PC’s for family and friends this is just the must have geek gadget tool! It’s a hot-swappable dock, and all you have to do is just plugin your drive in! That’s it! You can get them in Sata and eSata, and most will take 2.5″ AND 3.5″ drives – that means notebook drives too! The ones I looked at even had an eSata cable port on the back of the dock for even faster data transmissions! Who needs a flash drive when you have a port for an entire hard drive!

US $19.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 12:24:01 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $14.99 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 14:46:46 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $14.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $30.09 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 17:06:37 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $30.09 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $37.95 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 17:26:10 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $37.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $19.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 18:18:37 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $34.50 (7 Bids) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 19:54:40 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $62.23 End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 20:00:31 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $62.23 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $16.60 (9 Bids) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 21:41:55 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

Ziotek Wireless Night Vision Kit

I came across the Ziotek Wireless Night Vision kit ZT-812C2 the other day, and it’s the first kit I’ve seen with “night vision”. I reviwed some wireless and IP cameras awhile back, but the Ziotek bundle has high quality picture and sound – and it’s weather resistant, meaning you can mount them outdoors. The range of the wireless cameras is over 350 feet, and the system can be used with a TV, VCR, or other monitors or recording devices. You can switch between the two monitors with the push of a button. If you monitor your home or business, this can be a great way – but I love the fact that these are wireless. That’s such an advent of technology – the ability install security without running camera wires all over!

With this two camera set you can literally see in the dark. These compact cameras provide excellent color video with sound and are weather resistant for use outdoors. The desktop receiver has an adjus With this two camera set you can literally see in the dark. These compact cameras provide excellent color video with sound and are weather resistant for use outdoors. The desktop receiver has an adjustable antenna for fine-tuning reception and a remote control so you can switch monitor channels at the push of a button. The cameras can be powered using 9V battery with battery clip or with 110VAC (battery, clip and AC adapter included).

Click to check prices of the Ziotek Night Vision Camera Kit

We need to find some “floating shelves” after the post about our new surround sound system the other day. You know, the kind that look like they’re just floating on the wall. Since we have a flat screen hanging on the wall – what the heck do we need a TV stand for? I want to get that audio equipment off the TV stand, take it out, mount it on the wall and free up room in my living room!

I’d been thinking about this for some time, and the floating shelf concept was one I had in the back of my head, but hadn’t seen anything even remotely like what I wanted at the store. I took 5 minutes to search Amazon today – and lo and behold they have exactly what I need!

This set of floating shelves is only $100, much cheaper than anything else I say, it’s quality and can hold heavy weights like a big audio video receiver, they are stylish, come in three colors, and very functional! It’s exactly what I wanted and they are on order now! You can check out the floating shelves here!

These audio rack shelves came in a close second, and if I had wanted something on the floor – this would have been exactly what I chose. Maybe when we put a system together for the basement family room this is what we’ll get!

We just bought an RCA RTD217 home theater for our living room. It was kind of unexpected, but I thought I would blog about it because it was such a good deal. I’m no audiophile by any means, and I’m pretty geeky when it comes to computers and gadgets – and I do have a flat screen LCD hanging on the living room wall. But for some reason we just never got any kind of surround sound or home theater system. Probably because I spent the money on an external hard drive or something else.

So I’m in the store and we see they have some display models on clearance – and I took a look. They had 2 DVD players and one was HDMI output that was pretty cool. But then I saw this RCA surround sound system for half off the retail. It was 250 watts (50 per speaker), a 5 disc DVD changer, AM/FM radio, but the thing that sold me was the fact that it would play CD and DVD data disks, Windows Media, DivX, PhotoCD’s – just about anything. The selling feature was the fact that it had a USB port on the front that said it would accept both USB flash drives or external hard drives!

So at half off we couldn’t resist – we snatched it up and took it home. I hooked it up to the 5 prong component cable to our flat screen, wired up the speakers, and fired it up! It has 4 levels of subwoofer, both surround and stereo modes, DVD’s were awesome (progressive scan), and we sent audio from the TV back to it so the cable could play through it on the AUX channel.

Then we brought in the external hard drive, and that’s when the surprise came in. We plugged in a 300GB Western Digital Mybook and brought up the menu on the TV. MP3’s played fine, pictures were great, but we couldn’t get it to play any video at all. Not Windows Media, DivX, MPG, anything! Arghh! We went back and read the manual and found out that the USB port only plays AUDIO!! Crap! All is not lost because we can still play data discs, but that means burning one every time. I guess we just have to get some rewritables. I still say that at half off it was a good deal. Let this be a lesson to you if you go shopping for a home theater with a USB input jack!

I am however, going to start searching for a stereo system that you can hook up external drives too and play video!! I’ve heard you can “hack” the menus of some DVD players too (through the firmware) and this is something that we’re certainly going to look into.

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 21:21:33 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $129.99 End Date: Tuesday Mar-16-2010 12:46:37 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $129.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $159.99 End Date: Tuesday Mar-16-2010 21:04:48 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $159.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $249.00 End Date: Tuesday Mar-16-2010 21:54:32 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $249.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $159.99 End Date: Tuesday Mar-16-2010 22:44:30 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $159.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Would you like to access the Internet 100 times faster than you do now? According to Roland’s Emerging Tech blog that reality isn’t too far off. I’ve been using the Internet the very beginning of dial-up and the 1200 baud modem. That’s probably 100 times slower than the broadband we have today. What if I told you that a new way to transfer data for the Internet has been developed and it’s 100 times faster than what we have now?

In Australia at the University of Sydney they created an optical chip based on plain glass that could transfer up to 640Gbps – yes “gigabytes per second”. That’s about a dozen and a half full DVD’s (per second). They say it could be up to 100 faster than what we have “at no additional cost to the consumer”. Well, that’s university people saying that – you sure can bet, even if it doesn’t cost your provider any more – because it’s 100 times faster they’ll jack up the price to who knows what. When I read this article the thing I wonder is if they can make computer parts based on this new glass switching technology and lessen the reliance on silicon. Exiting things are definitely to come.

My HPTouchSmart PC Review shows you how you can buy the PC of tomorrow – today!

You’re probably going to catch some ads on TV about this in the coming weeks (as I did today), but the HP TouchSmart PC is just all over the place now. It’s so sleek and cool, and when you see it you just can’t help want one. What am I talking about?

This post is part of our Tech Reviews series!

Just watch the video, and then you’ll know what I’m talking about…