Short Sharp Reviews of 1337 Tech
So I was shopping in Aldi. I get up to the counter and see they have a 4 Pack of 2500mAH NIMH batteries for $9.99…….
Now I’ve dabbled with cheap Chinese batteries before. At $9.99 for a 4 Pack they were cheap, but not suspiciously so. Also Aldi has a very liberal returns policy. On top of that my battery review seems very popular and above all, I needed more batteries. I took my chances and dropped a pack on the conveyor.
So I went away with friends for Australia day. I came up with the idea that it might be cool to take a projector along with the Xbox 360, Wii, PS3 and laptop full of movies that will be going. I check out what’s on EBay and find I’m not overly impressed with the specification:price ratio. Sadly I mentioned in an email that I would try to get my hands on a projector and my friends got very enthusiastic. I was locked in. (more…)
All my goodies have arrived from EBay. In the end I got myself a proper light tent (75cm³), a remote shutter release, a 3-Way spirit level flash attachment and a “GorillaPod” style tripod (small).
3-Way Flash Mount Spirit Level:
While it looks bad arse, I haven’t found much use for it yet - I imagine it will be handy for portrait shots or landscape shots where the horizon might embarrass me if I’m not perfectly horizontal while shooting. Obviously completely useless without a tripod, but if you have a tripod and want one, I say go the 3 way since it will cover you for portrait mode shots as well. Cheap ($10AU shipped), looks very cool on or off the camera, fun to play with, choking hazard for small children. Recommended.
While DrVJ’s main present of the Pentax K200D has gotten a lot of coverage my supplementary Christmas gift of a nice gaming headset has had none.
Today, we rectify this.
Sennheiser PC 350 Gaming Headset:
Well it’s sturdy, comfortable and works. Good start. Inline volume control for the headphones. Inline mute switch for the mic. Soft padding on the ear cups and the head band. Thick, solid plastic for the boom mic. Reasonably thick cable. All good.
Since they’re closed headphones they sound good with solid bass. They block out most outside noises and don’t let more than a whisper sneak out around the seals even at (very) high volume levels. Excellent for games (my CS and TF skills have definitely gone up). They also sound great for music, loud or soft, and general computer use such as movies, TV etc.
Their only real weaknesses are the fact that they are closed headphones and the price. Virtually useless in a co-operative environment as you can’t hear your buddies. Still this is only an issue with co-operative setups at LAN events, which is a reasonably small portion of gaming, if they were open they would have many more drawbacks. The price on the other hand is a bit different. If you’re gainfully employed or you have a generous partner, they can be found for anywhere between $200AU-$300AU. If you’re a kid or on a budget just grab a cheap headset and be done with it - One caveat. I would avoid Logitech headsets. As much as I like their keyboards (G15) and their mice (G7) their headsets have always been very flimsy. Every set I’ve ever owned I have broken in some way.
If you’ve got the cash, get some.
I picked up a Powerex WizardOne MH-C9000 Battery charger about a month ago as I had decided it was time to make an effort to stop using so many disposable batteries. What with remotes, a Wii, Xbox 360 (with GH:WT Instruments), wireless keyboards and mice I had been chewing through alkaline AAs at a pretty decent pace.
I picked up the WizardOne along with two packs of 4xAA Imedion 2100mAh LSD batteries from servaas.com.au which seems to be the best place to get them in Australia (I believe they’re the local distributor). I paid $89.95 for the charger and $42.00 for the Imedions.
For my first review I will be looking at the MSI Wind U100.
Many netbooks have cropped up since the original Asus 7″ eeePC was launched earlier this year. When it came to choosing a netbook to replace my dear girlfriend’s aging “Dusk and Dawn” Shuttle I had to sift through the many choices before settling on the MSI Wind.
As this machine was to serve as a primary computer anything that was built around 8GB or even 16GB of flash was out. We needed a real computer in netbook clothing. I went down to see the boys at PC Market who I have been dealing with in my professional capacity for many years now.
After some discussions, the serious contenders were:
In my work life and my personal life I come across all sorts of cool tech. There’s a lot of review sites out there but they’re often too technical or irrelevant for everyday use. Here’s one where a guy who likes tech gives you quick and dirty reviews about interesting things.
I’m happy to take requests for reviews of anything that’s cool, mildly 1337, uberpro or anywhere in between. I’m also happy to take samples for review.
