Cool New Product Reviews

2/14/2005

Dyson DC14 Cyclone Animal Vacuum

Filed under: — product reviews @ 5:39 pm

This is the first ever cyclonic bagless vacuum cleaner. Bag or bagless systems can lose suction power from the dirt that clogs the bag or filter. With this machine there is nothing in the way to congest the airflow. It uses a transparent collection canister to catch everything it picks up. To empty it, you just pop off this portion of the unit, hold it over a trash can and pull the release handle. (more…)

2/15/2005

T-Mobile Sidekick II

Filed under: — product reviews @ 4:25 pm

This device is a camera, internet browser, personal assistant and cell phone all in one. It’s like a Swiss army blade style communication appliance. You can stay in touch with friends and family using email, voice or pictures. The phone opens up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard making it easy to type unlike other similar devices.

There are a few complaints on the service that accompanies the phone. (more…)

2/16/2005

iRobot Roomba Robotic Vacuum

Filed under: — product reviews @ 1:59 am

Back when I watched cartoons as a kid there was a robot maid (Rosie the Robot) that vacuumed the floors of the Jetsons. It made me wish I had a robot to clean my room. Now my wish may come true. Instead of a life size robot, the Roomba is a frisbee sized appliance that scoots across floors picking up dust, dirt, hair and other debris on its way. It runs on a rechargeable battery and can be set to cover different sized rooms. You do have to empty the robotic vacuum yourself and sometimes use things called virtual walls and smart sensors to keep it from wandering into unwanted areas. (more…)

2/17/2005

Makita Impact Driver Drill Kit

Filed under: — product reviews @ 2:56 pm

This is no ordinary cordless drill. This is a cordless impact driver drill. Meaning it’s industrial strength. Not some wimpy drill that will strip your screw head. It’s specially manufactured to prevent screws from being stripped. In fact this drill is so powerful, it dosen’t even have one of the torque dials like on other cordless drills. An impact driver will send the screw straight through a board if you want it to. (more…)

2/18/2005

Canon PowerShot A510 Digital Camera

Filed under: — product reviews @ 2:21 pm

In electronics, things seem to be just getting smaller and more powerful all the time. This holds true for Canon’s new digital camera which is lighter than previous versions and features many improvements as well. Several shooting modes allow for the best possible picture to be taken for those who like to fine tune or you can just go full auto and let the built in smarts do all the thinking for you. (more…)

2/19/2005

Motorola V600 Phone

Filed under: — product reviews @ 5:10 pm

In intention, this is a wonderful phone. The reception is first-class, the camera takes pictures as reliable as one can expect on a camera phone. The phonebook has groups (or classes) that you can collect your contacts in, but it is a little awkward accessing them. The only minor problem is bug vulnerability. Periodically, the screen will freeze up and you will be obligated to dispose of and replace the battery to fix it. It seems irritating, and it is, but once you get used to it you can do it in 5 seconds and it isn’t a big problem, and it doesn’t occur very much. (more…)

2/20/2005

Calphalon One Infused Anodized Saucier

Filed under: — product reviews @ 8:48 pm

Do you need a big pan that can cook anything? If so, this is the pan for you. It will boil the spaghetti noodles, simmer the sauce and even put a nice brown and bubbly topping of cheese across the top for you in one quick move to the oven. But almost any pan can boil water and simmer sauce. The question that really needs to be asked is do you need it to go in the oven? And the next question is how much room do you have to store this? Or even more important, how large is your stove stop? This is a large diameter pan and will not work very efficiently on your average stove. (more…)

2/21/2005

Wusthof Grand Prix 7-Piece Knives Block Set

Filed under: — product reviews @ 8:59 pm

If you’ve been looking for a new set of knives, you will be very happy with this set. There is nothing more unsettling than an unsharpened knife in your hand. And having a dull or cheap knife in your hand could also easily lead to a nasty injury. Contrary to popular belief, a sharp knife is a safer knife. These knives are sharp and stay sharp. (more…)

2/22/2005

Sony DCRHC21 MiniDV Handycam Camcorder 20x Optical Zoom

Filed under: — product reviews @ 10:54 am

This little handy cam is a great buy. There are lots of fun features with the benefit of easy use. It has a multitude of options. Depending on your needs you may or may not use a lot of them, but several are fun to play with at the very least. The zoom is the one you’ll probably use first. It’s a 20x zoom and offers a good picture at any distance. It also has a great stabilization system. (more…)

2/23/2005

Rousseau 3002 Router Lift LS

Filed under: — product reviews @ 11:43 am

This machine is for some great precision work. It has a dial that is marked every 1/16â€? and is accurate to the dial. You can imagine that this is more than most people need, but if you do, this one will do it. I it also really simple to change the bit. The machine simply lifts up and you switch the bits. This is heads and tails above other machines that you have to half way assembly the machine to change the bit. The only thing I found wrong with this is that the dial is around the wrench opening. (more…)

2/24/2005

Bissell 5200 Flip-It Bare Floor Cleaner

Filed under: — product reviews @ 11:27 am

The opinions about this machine vary widely. But I think some people just like gadgets of any kind. This machine will vacuum, wash and dry a hard floor, kind of. The floor can’t have too much dirt on it because the vacuum is a low suction and the machine blows back out clean air on to the surface your trying to vacuum. So there is a lot of blowing around and chasing dirt. For little stuff, it works fine. But for getting under the counter you still have to get something else. (more…)

2/25/2005

Motorola i860 Phone (Nextel)

Filed under: — product reviews @ 11:38 am

There are so many cell phones out there. This one is pretty similar to the others out there of comparable service. It is the first iDEN phone with a built in camera. But the camera is pretty typical of others on the market, it has a self timer, and LED flash, and video recording. It also has the speaker phone option. Most new phones on the market have this feature, but if you don’t have it, you’ll miss it once you’ve used it. It also has a full color screen, which is pretty much mandatory for a camera phone. (more…)

2/26/2005

iRiver H10 5 GB Charcoal Audio Jukebox

Filed under: — product reviews @ 11:35 am

This iRiver multimedia player does all the great things you want you a multi media player to do. It holds up to 75 hours of MP3s, 150 hours of WMA files and will let you store and review your jpeg photos on the full color LCD screen. It also features an integrated voice recorder and a digital FM tuner with FM recording capabilities. It offers a USB 2.0 connection for transferring files between the device and your PC. This is where the only major problem I have heard of comes into play. (more…)

2/27/2005

Epson Perfection 2480 Limited Edition Photo Flatbed Scanner

Filed under: — product reviews @ 11:51 am

This is a great scanner. Remember all those pictures you took before digital was around? Now you can easily feed them in to this scanner, it will quickly draw it in, scan the photo and eject on the other side. Once you have it in digital form you can improve it, crop it, whatever. It’s a lot better than taking it up to the local photo shop and using one of those machines, but works just as well. You can even take a picture of you grandparents when they were kids and make them look better and clearer and then have them on a digital file forever. (more…)

2/28/2005

Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker

Filed under: — product reviews @ 1:55 pm

Do you remember the days when you would sit out on the back porch with your grandparents and everyone would take turns churning the ice cream maker? And when it was ready it was like heaven in a spoon. Well, this machine does all that and more. But minus the back breaking labor and mess that was required back than. I know there have been lots of electric ice cream machines around for years, but I always found they made a ton of noise and leaked water all over the counter. (more…)