Wednesday, April 19, 2006

iPod,DAP: FM remotes

Okay, I picked up the Griffin iFM as well as Apple's Radio Remote for use with my iPod nano. Here's a quick rundown comparing the two.

Griffin iFM vs. Apple Radio Remote

iFM Pros:
++ arrangement of buttons makes operation by touch a cinch
+ (cosmetic) available in black (only)

iFM Cons:
- Lowest volume setting is still a little too loud for certain circumstances/environments
- clip is somewhat flimsy

Radio Remote Pros:
++ iPod integration is great
+ volume can be adjusted in much finer detail compared to iFM (64 vs. 16 levels)
+ clip appears more sturdy and usable
+ includes a set of Apple earbuds which a shorter cord

Radio Remote Cons:
- arrangement of buttons makes operation by touch not as convenient as iFM
- (cosmetic) available in white (only)

Both seem about equal as far as FM radio performance is concerned.

While the Apple Radio Remote seems like the better of the two, I use the iFM (with the shorter Apple earbuds) when skiing because the button layout is much easier to use on the slopes while wearing gloves.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

iPod,DAP: Late to the iPod party

Better late than never, picked up a few 2GB iPod nanos, two black and one white. Finally, I have the incentive to properly tag and organize my music collection.

Went ahead and picked up the Apple iPod nano Tubes as well, and left the protective sheets on the nanos.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

hardware: New keyboard

I've been a fan of the Microsoft Natural keyboards since they made their debut. However, I've been disappointed in all the keyboards released by Microsoft the past few years because they keep messing with the key layout and sizes. (e.g. large backspace, misplaced backslash, non-standard arrangement of insert/delete/home/end/page up/page dn, and gasp the cross-shaped cursor keys on the Natural Keyboard Elite.) Thus, my Natural Keyboard Pro has been working overtime the past few years.

So, I was pleased to discover the Microsoft Naural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. Finally, another ergonomic split design keyboard with all the keys where I expect them.

Picked one up this week from CompUSA, since it is on sale for $29.99 after rebates.

Friday, January 27, 2006

skiing: New skis

I picked up some new skis on Black Friday 2005. They are the K2 Escape Cruiser, which is apparently an exclusive model for The Sports Authority. According to K2, they are an intermediate all-mountain ski similar to the 04/05 K2 Omni 3.5.

I went with the Marker M1000 Contact Control binding (si?); looking forward to giving them a try.

So, my ski history looks something like:
  • K2 Escape Cruiser, 167cm 107/68/97 17mm sidecut 15m radius w/ Marker M1000 Contact Control Nov 2005/Jan 2006
  • K2 X-15, 183cm 106/70/94 15mm (?) w/ Look TX 8.0 RL Sep/Oct 1998
  • (used) Dynastar ??

Monday, January 23, 2006

sunglasses: Ray-Bans

Back on November 6, I picked up a new pair of polarized sunglasses to replace my broken Maui Jims. They are the Ray-Ban New Sleek, with gunmetal frames and polar grey polarized lenses. Here's the info from the Ray-Ban website:

Ray-Ban
SUN Collection -- Sun Collection
HIGHSTREET -- Highstreet
RB3198 New Sleek
004/81

FRAME Gunmetal
LENSES Polycarbonate Polar Grey Polarized

Thursday, January 19, 2006

DVR,TiVo: New TiVo added

We added another TiVo to our household in Oct 2005, so the DVR stable looks like
  • Humax DRT800F DVD Recorder with TiVo (refurbished)
    Oct 2005
  • Comcast Motorola DCT-6412 Dual-Tuner DVR High-Definition Set-Top box
    ??? 2005
  • TiVo TCD240040 Series 2 40 hour (factory renewed)
    Jun 2004
  • TiVo TCD140060 Series 2 60 hour (factory renewed)
    Jan 2003 (replaced by TiVo with a TiVo TCD240080 Series 2 80 hour, out of warranty, Feb 2005)

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Mobile Phones: Motorola USB data cables

I've delved into the world of Motorola USB data cables:

SKN6311 / SKN6311B == "Retail" cable with charging port
AAKN4011A == "OEM" cable w/o charging port

Mobile Phones: My Mobile Phone History

Mobile phones I've owned or used, from newest to oldest.
  • Cingular-branded Sony Ericsson Z520a [GSM] w/ "Cingular Blue" Jan 2006
  • Cingular-branded Motorola V551 [GSM] Jan 2006
  • Verizon Wireless-branded Motorola E815 [CDMA] w/ Verizon Wireless Jan 2006
  • AT&T Wireless-branded Audiovox SMT 5600 [GSM] w/ "Cingular Blue" Feb 2005
  • AT&T Wireless-branded Motorola V600 [GSM] w/ AT&T Wireless
  • AT&T Wireless-branded Nokia 6010 [GSM] w/ "Cingular Blue" Aug 2005
  • AT&T Wireless-branded Nokia 3120 [GSM] w/ AT&T Wireless
  • T-Mobile-branded Motorola T720i (GSM) w/ T-Mobile Jan/Feb 2003
  • AT&T Wireless-branded Sony Ericsson T616 [GSM] w/ AT&T Wireless
  • AT&T Wireless-branded Panasonic Allure [TDMA] w/ AT&T Wireless
  • AT&T Wireless-branded Nokia 8260 [TDMA] w/ AT&T Wireless
  • AT&T Wireless-branded Ericsson R280LX [TDMA] w/ AT&T Wireless
  • Pacific Bell-branded Nokia 5190 [GSM] w/ Pacific Bell
  • AT&T Wireless-branded Nokia 6160 [TDMA] w/ AT&T Wireless
  • Ericsson DF388 [TDMA] w/ Cellular One
  • Motorola Digital Personal Communicator [TDMA] w/ Cellular One