The Smorgasbord

There’s been a lot said about Windows Vista, but even though many people don’t like all the different version choices many hail the Premium and Media Center versions of Vista for it’s capabilities. Linksys builds on that by creating a third part product, a “wireless media center” that you can access in your home from your Vista PC. Linksys was very smart by building the ability to have streaming movies, music, photos, and even 1080i upscaling to DVD quality by using the PVR features. It’s Wireless N (very fast!), and can send content to your surround sound and HDTV. If cable weren’t enough, since this is connected to the Internet – it can even access, stream, and download movies and TV from the web!

Access movies, your music library, family photos and HDTV programming from your Media Center PC and stream it all to your living room TV or home theater. New Linksys Media Center Extenders give you access to the entertainment content on your Microsoft Windows Vista Premium or Ultimate PC to enjoy in the comfort of your living room. Pause or rewind live TV, record sporting events or episodes of your favorite TV shows and save them for later viewing. Quickly naviga (more…)

You might be able to catch a good deal on eBay for a Linksys Wireless Media Center:

Linksys Dual-Band Wireless A/G Media Center Extender

US $65.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 14:17:05 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

Linksys Dual Band Wireless A/G Media Center Extender

US $59.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 19:30:22 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

Linksys WMCE54AG Wireless A/G Media Center Extender

US $19.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Tuesday Mar-16-2010 9:19:40 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

If you get a wireless Skype phone chances are you’ll ditch your landline for VOIP (if you haven’t already). A lot of people have switched over to Vonage already, and it appears that the idiot proof gadget the “magic jack” has sold millions as well. Skype started years back and you had to hook up a headset with microphone to use it. It caught on in droves because you could “call” anyone anywhere in the world using the service for FREE (as long as they also had a “skype” account). The ability to call anyone anywhere in the world for free was quite the incentive to sign up. Then Vonage came along and made it easy to just plugin a tiny box to your router and use a regular phone to make calls over the web unlimited for just $24.95 a month.

Now it appears that Skype has kind of caught up, because you can now buy a wireless skype phone – so not only do you not need the headset, but the phone works automatically over the Internet just like your land line! They’re pretty reasonable too, I’ve seen them for as little as $30-50. Skype has been growing in popularity, but in the last year it’s probably exploded due to the constant promotion of “Oprah” – every time she interviews guests now outside of the studio they’re shown on video “Skyping” in.

Here’s some wireless skype phones in auctions ending soon:

BLUETOOTH WIRELESS HEADSET 4 skype CELL PHONE PC G688

US $9.99 End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 14:05:08 PST Buy It Now for only: US $9.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

BLUETOOTH WIRELESS HEADSET 4 skype CELL PHONE PC G688

US $9.99 End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 18:31:19 PST Buy It Now for only: US $9.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

NEW Logitech Wireless Cordless Skype Phone

US $58.49 (1 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 19:26:52 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

NEW Linksys CIT300 Wireless Skype Phone Dual Phone Voip

US $54.99 End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 21:11:30 PST Buy It Now for only: US $54.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

New Skype VoIP USB Wireless Phone w/ Base Station

US $59.99 End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 1:10:14 PST Buy It Now for only: US $59.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

IPEVO S0-20 SO-20 Wireless Skype VOIP WiFi Phone

US $127.63 End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 4:24:53 PST Buy It Now for only: US $127.63 Buy it now | Add to watch list

BRAND NEW WIRELESS SKYPE Belkin F1PP000G Wi-Fi PHONE

US $263.98 End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 6:21:23 PST Buy It Now for only: US $263.98 Buy it now | Add to watch list

New ASUS Eee Video phone AiGuru SV1 Skype Wireless USB

US $309.99 End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 8:22:12 PST Buy It Now for only: US $309.99 Buy it 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

Here’s something you may not have seen – it’s the “Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card”. Most of us have SD cards lying around because that’s what we store all our precious pictures on in our digital cameras. How many times have you taken pictures, and then waited days (or weeks, or months) before uploading them to your PC or laptop? I can’t count the number of times that I have gotten out the camera and realized that it was full of pictures from a month back. Even worse, that meant fewer pictures I could take – because I couldn’t delete anything off the card yet.

This post of part of The Smorgasbord Tech Reviews series!

Enter the “Eye-Fi”. Inside this flash memory card are some tiny electronics that will astound you. This SD memory card can connect to your WiFi network, without cables, or cradles – or anything! It can automatically upload all your pics to any PC on your network OR even upload them to Flickr, Fotki, Shutterfly, Webshots, Photobucket, Kodak Gallery, Sharpcast, Wal-mart, Snapfish, Phanfare, Picase Web Albums, TypePad, VOX, Smugmug, or Facebook! It can even resize photos before submission if you wish! What an unbelievably handy gadget to have!

This could possibly be one of the coolest gift ideas for just about anyone! Imagine giving this to Mom or Grandma – or anyone that hates having to get the cable or usb adapter out just to transfer the pictures every time!

Eye-Fi Wireless 2GB Secure Digital Memory Card SD
Price: $99.99
Photos should not be trapped in your camera. Set them free effortlessly and wirelessly. The Eye-Fi Card is a wireless SD memory card for your digital camera. It stores pictures like a standard SD memory card, but also uses your home Wi-Fi network to automatically transfer images from inside your camera to your PC or Mac and to your favorite photo or social networking website for sharing or printing. No cables, no cradles, no fuss.

You might be able to find a really good new or used eye-fi in one of these auctions as well:

Eye Fi Explore 2GB Wi-Fi SD Card for Digital Cameras

US $44.99 End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 14:59:44 PST Buy It Now for only: US $44.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Eye-Fi 4GB WiFi Aniversary Ed SD Card + Reader Mint!

US $39.01 (8 Bids) End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 15:21:14 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Eye-Fi EYE-FI-4EV Explore Video Wireless 4GB SD Card

US $113.99 End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 20:43:54 PST Buy It Now for only: US $113.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

New Eye Fi 4GB SD SDHC WiFi wireless share photo video

US $59.60 End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 20:56:37 PST Buy It Now for only: US $59.60 Buy it now | Add to watch list

SDHC SD to CF CFII Adapter 8GB 16GB Card Eye-Fi Tyep II

US $13.25 End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 9:11:43 PST Buy It Now for only: US $13.25 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Connect your cell phone or PDA to your PC via wireless usb bluetooth transceiver adapter dongle and transfer ringtones, mp3’s, and 3gp videos!

This is a pretty quick tip, a neat little “bluetooth usb adaptor gadget” I came across the other day. I’ve still not come across many computers with built-in bluetooth connectivity, but nearly every cell phone has it. In our house people always want to get ringtones, mp3 songs, and cell phone mobile formatted 3gp videos from the laptop or one of our PC’s to their cell phone or PDA. Seems like we have a bunch of USB connection cords for these cell phones lying around – and we can never find the right one at the right time.

As I said – every cell phone we own has bluetooth built in, so the best solution would be to connect all the mobile devies via bluetooth. I found that you can get a “USB Bluetooth Tranceiver” dongle for a reasonable price, and the fact that it’s USB is great for us because we can move it to any system in the house. With gadgets, quicker, faster, and more efficient is the name of the game, and one of these is going to work great for us! Now I can throw all those USB connection cables away for good! You don’t have to buy a Belkin – there are many different brands that are affordable and work well with all cell phones (including Motorola, Nokia, etc.). I recommend the “MSI bluetooth dongle”. Most of them look just like a flash drive, in fact you may as well just call it a “bluetooth USB stick”! You shouldn’t need a bluetooth usb driver either, for most systems it should be plug and play.

The best prices I’ve seen for these are on eBay, and there are gobs of them <$10 including shipping.

USB 2.0 Bluetooth V2.0 Mini Dongle Wireless Adapter

US $0.90 (0 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 13:37:12 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Tiny USB 2.0 Bluetooth V2.0 EDR Dongle Phone PC Adapter

US $0.89 (0 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 13:38:07 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Tiny USB 2.0 Bluetooth V2.0 EDR Dongle Wireless Adapter

US $0.99 (1 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 13:38:21 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Bluetooth Dongle Adapter 100M & Antenna USB 2.0 EDR

US $5.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 13:38:24 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Tiny USB 2.0 Bluetooth EDR Dongle Wireless Adapter

US $0.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 13:41:41 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

USB 2.0 Bluetooth V2.0 Mini Dongle Wireless Adapter,U35

US $0.01 (0 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 13:43:11 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Need external storage that’s extremely portable? I’ve wished for an external hard drive enclosure that’s wireless, and my wireless hdd guide will show you the in’s and out’s of what’s currently available!

This post of part of The Smorgasbord Tech Reviews series!

I’ve blogged a lot off an on about making your home entertainment network more user friend, and the gadgets that can help you get it done. Yesterday we were talking at home about the value of maybe getting a big external hard drive and hooking it up (wired) to one PC so the entire household could store their media on it. We’d maybe start it off with one big USB 2.0 external 500GB disk. You can get one new for around $120. I’ve written about the wireless USB hub and how you could connect multiple external hard drives or enclosures that way, and I’ve also posted about the value of a good network storage drive. But now they’re coming out with wireless hard drives that may start to change all of that…

What is a Wireless Hard Drive?

You have to be very careful when you’re shopping for a wireless hard drive, because devices that may appear to do the same thing may not. There are many, many flavors that may do many many different things – pay attention to what your needs are, the price, and value for the money. I’m going to show you some different kinds of wireless hard drives and enclosures:

The Iomega 33349 StorCenter has 1 Terabyte (1,000 GB) of storage and is a “Network Storage Device” – meaning you can plug it into your router or switch on your home or business network for everyone to share (without having it hooked to one dedicated computer). The StorCenter is “wireless” as well as wired, so all laptops and mobile devices can access it. Imagine having one device that could be accessed by PC’s, laptops, cell phones, PDA, iPhone, iTouch, or even your PSP or other mobile devices. There’s a price to be paid for all this technology, and it’s a little under $500 (as of this writing). You can get the latest price by following these links.

Iomega 33349 StorCenter 1 TB Wireless Gigabit Ethernet Network Storage

You have some products that proclaim to be a “Wireless Media Player” like the MG-350HD HD Wireless 802.11G Media Player by Mediagate. This is just fancy hard drive enclosure – since the device comes sans hard drive. It does proclaim so pretty boasty features, like the ability to stream HD video via wireless up to 1920 x 1080p. It’s got all kinds of fancy connections, like L/R stereo out, and composite, component, and S-video out. This particular unit can stream video from an internal hard drive or a PC on the network and even has a remote control. So you can see that this unit (as a wireless hard drive) is very different in that it can be a set-top box OR a media gateway to access (from networked PC’s). Follow these links to find more out about this device.

MG-350HD HD Wireless 802.11G Media Player. By Mediagate

You might be interested in an Asus Wireless Storage Router which has an internal 250GB hard drive. It has a USB connector so you can connect other (wired) storage devices to it for sharing, and it even has the ability to download files from the Internet when your PC is turned off. The specs say you can download up to 7 bitTorrent files or 10 FTP/HTTP files simultaneously. For what it does, this wireless hard drive is a pretty good at half the price (and storage) as the StorCenter. You can get the wireless storage router through these links:

Wireless Storage Router

If you a have a hard drive lying around, you might be able to stick in a wireless hard drive enclosure box and put it on your network (wirelessly) that way. You can get one pretty reasonably, but the two I found were only for 2.5″ drives. I hope we see more (and a 3.5″ version) on eBay soon:

2 wireless controlers and hard drive for x box 360

US $30.00 (13 Bids) End Date: Friday Mar-12-2010 7:51:24 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

You can actually make any external hard drive enclosure wireless by using the Linksys Storage Link for USB Disk Drives. Just like many other devices Linksys makes to connect computer hardware to your home or business network, they make a Storage Link that will connect any 2 USB storage devices to your wireless local network. The thing that’s always sucked about external hard drives is that they have to be attached to a physical computer via USB to work, and then you have to access them through that computer on the network. If that computer is turned off or locked up – you can’t access those drives. With a Linksys Storage Link, you can put up to 2 USB storage devices on your network independant of all your PC’s. Just plug it into your router or hub (or switch) to work. Oh – you can even stick a flash memory stick or drive into one of the USB slots to share it on the network as well. This is not only great for file sharing, but an easy way to connect with many mobile devices!

Linksys Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives NSLU2

LINKSYS WRT160NL WIRELESS-N ROUTER W/STORAGE LINK NEW

US $99.95 End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 19:38:08 PST Buy It Now for only: US $99.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Linksys Network Storage Link NSLU2 USB 2.0 Disk Drive

US $85.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Mar-12-2010 7:58:52 PST Buy It Now for only: US $95.00 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Linksys by Cisco NSLU2 Network Storage Link USB

US $28.20 (5 Bids) End Date: Friday Mar-12-2010 11:04:25 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Linksys adds Network Storage Link - USB 2.0 - NR!

US $59.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Mar-12-2010 14:54:58 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Cisco Linksys NSLU2 NAS Network Storage Link USB

US $31.00 (4 Bids) End Date: Saturday Mar-13-2010 19:41:13 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

LINKSYS WRT350N Wireless N Gigabit Router Storage Link

US $89.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Mar-14-2010 13:01:15 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

Wireless Hard Drive Auctions

Products and listings change on eBay all the time, so here’s the lastest auctions for “wireless hard drive” on eBay right now!

Apple Time Capsule 500GB Wireless Hard Drive

US $174.99 End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 14:18:04 PST Buy It Now for only: US $174.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

USB Cradle base docking for hard drive or Wireless usb

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 0:08:08 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

USB Cradle base docking for hard drive or Wireless usb

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 0:08:24 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

USB Cradle base docking for hard drive or Wireless usb

US $0.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 0:08:38 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Apple MB764LL/A Time Capsule 500GB Wireless Hard Drive

US $58.06 (8 Bids) End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 5:00:57 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Apple Time Capsule 500GB Wireless Hard Drive

US $174.99 End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 13:18:15 PST Buy It Now for only: US $174.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

I’ve been on the lookout lately for some out of the ordinary gadgets and the wireless USB hub really caught my eye. Why? Well, USB gadgets and hardware are great, but sometimes you don’t have enough ports and there’s a zillion wires – but the thing that really is hard is when you have lots of devices and a laptop. We have a laptop in the living room, and it’s kind of the “community” lap top. Granted I use it most of the time, but everyone uses it every day. We have like four PC’s in the house, but there’s something about being able to get online when you’re watching TV that’s just so convenient. Anyway – I’ve been thinking about getting some external hard drives and setting up both a backup system and some mass storage for the laptop. Storage is cheap – a terabyte or two would be nice. But the laptop is in the living room, and the last thing we need is to have 3 or 4 hard drives in the corner or on a shelf or endtable.

This post of part of The Smorgasbord Tech Reviews series!

I saw a picture of this wireless usb hub and it hit me like a light bulb – that’s it! That’s exactly what I need! I could hook up 3 or 4 external drives in the closet, hook them up to this thing and then just put one usb stick in my laptop and be connected to all the drives! I just love cool gadgets and devices that solve quirky problems – and this is one of them. This would also be really cool for a scenario where you had a regular tower PC, and a USB printer and some external drives where you had a need to have them across the room (or in the next room) and you just couldn’t get cables long enough. Maybe all you really wanted to do was put a printer in a common area or room so everyone could use it. Problem fixed again!

Looks like both Iogear and Belkin make wireless USB hubs that have both the hub and the wireless usb dongle to connect. They mostly sell for around $150. But D-link makes one that you might like better – and it’s around $100. What makes the D-link different is that you can connect to it through the wireless card of your computer without needing the usb dongle. You can buy an additional usb dongle if you need one – but the distinct advantage I really see about the D-link is that you can connect from multiple computers! With the USB dongle version you can only connect from the computer with the dongle. Either way – you can get a good deal on one new, but you might be able to find a good deal on one used on eBay as well. I’m going to give you all the options I can find, and hopefully you get a great deal!

D-Link Wireless USB 4-Port HubThe new D-Link Wireless USB 4-Port Hub (DUB-2240) enables you to attach USB devices* and wirelessly connect them to a Certified Wireless USB-enabled notebook or desktop PC. You can also enable Wireless USB connectivity to your PC using a Certified Wireless USB Adapter (DUB-1210, sold separately). Wireless USB technology provides the convenience of Plug-and-Play USB connectivity with the benefits of wireless. You can stay connected to USB devices* such as printers, scanners, digital cameras, external hard drives, and other USB devices without cable clutter around your PC. NO CABLES, NO CLUTTER The Wireless USB 4-Port Hub delivers fast wireless communication between attached USB devices and your Certified Wireless USB-enabled PC. It is designed for wirelessly connecting USB peripherals within a 30-foot** range of your PC. It unties you from USB cables, enabling wireless connection of multiple devices* for transmission of video, audio, and other high-bandwidth data. Additionally, a wireless frequency range of 3.1GHz to 4.8GHz is used to help avoid interference with Wi-Fi networks and wireless devices such as mobile phones and cordless home phones. CONVENIENT & EXPANDABLE The 4-Port Hub includes a Quick Setup Wizard so you can easily connect to your USB peripherals*. The DUB-2240 is also expandable. If you need to connect more than four USB devices*, you can attach a wired USB hub to the DUB-2240. If you have other USB devices* tucked away in another part of your room, you can simply add another Wireless USB 4-Port Hub (up to three Wireless USB Hubs to one Wireless USB Adapter), which can be purchased separately. The D-Link Wireless USB 4-Port Hub (DUB-2240) is ideal for both home and office users alike. Attach multiple USB devices* and print, transfer files, and stream audio or video content from across the room without the burden of USB cables attached to your PC.

IOGEAR Wireless USB Hub and AdapterIntroducing the one of the first USB-IF Certified Wireless USB solution, the IOGEAR Wireless USB Hub & Adapter kit (GUWH104Kit). The IOGEAR Wireless USB Hub & Adapter kit allows your desktop or laptop to wirelessly communicate with USB printers, scanners, cameras, game controllers, flash drives, external hard drives, and other USB devices. It complies with the Multi-band OFDM Ultra Wide Band (UWB) 1.0 specification, and provides users with transmission speeds of up to 480Mbps. At 480 Mbps the IOGEAR Wireless USB Hub is faster than all wireless technologies including 802.11n. Because it is Plug-and-Play, the IOGEAR Certified Wireless USB Hub takes almost no time to set up and get running. It is the perfect combination of convenient Plug-and-Play USB connectivity, blazing fast data transfers and the benefits of going wireless.

Belkin Wireless USB HubPrinters, cameras, MP3 players, hard drives-as the number of USB devices that connect to your computer continues to increase, so does cable clutter. Belkin’s Wireless USB Hub eliminates the hassle of searching, untangling, and plugging in the right cables each time you want to print, back up files, or listen to music. Now, you can easily connect up to four USB devices and access them wirelessly at any time.

Do you have experience with a wireless USB hub you own, or were you thinking about getting one? Comment now!

This All-in-one Car Adapter is an FM Transmitter that plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter, and it has a usb port and or sd slot in the back. Just plug in your flash drive, and voila – you’re listening to your mp3’s in the car! Some even have an input jack for mp3 player’s or cell phones! Pure Genius! Some of these come with play controls on the top and even include a wireless remote. The average cost is about $29.99 or less. Can you beat that? Every geek has a spare USB stick or SD card lying around. That’s the price you pay for a good car charger, and for about the same price you can get an car 12 volt adaptor that allows you to connect any device with an output jack, any sd flash memory card, or any usb stick or key – AND transmit them through your FM car stereo.

This post of part of The Smorgasbord Tech Reviews series!

For me, I always thought this thing was the coolest device because I carry my music and files to work on a USB key. Who needs an iPod when I have this thing? I keep some music on my phones SD card as well, and now I can connect either my phone (or the card) right in my car. If my son is in the car – we can connect his iPod to it, and if we’re on a long trip, we can connect the laptop if we want. You have all the options you want with one of these little devices. If you have trouble finding a good gift for that geek in your life – this would make an awesome gift idea for any geek, or for any gadget or music lover for that matter. Do you have a gadget that you love like this? Please share with us and add a comment below now!