Happy New Year & Hello 2007!

Posted on 31 December 2006 by


Happy New Year 2007

2006 went by all too quickly. It was a year full of making new friends, renewing past relationships, unbelievable offers, epiphanies, exciting transitions, new partnerships, and with the exception of one major let-down – it was a supremely wonderful year. :-D

There’s no telling what will happen in 2007, but here are a few things you can look forward to…

- There will be even more reviews posted on even more interesting things – whatever those things may happen to be…

I’ve been writing an average of two to three reviews each week along with daily blurbs since starting this site, and thanks to Gear Diary’s wonderful and diverse group of contributors, we are able to post at least one review or article a day – sometimes more. Yes, Gear Diary contributors rock!! :-D

As you’ve probably noticed, we have featured a regular mix of mobile devices, software, accessories and gadgets sprinkled with coverage on everything from furniture to toys. That’s not going to stop, but it is going to expand. If there are certain things you would like to see more (or less) coverage of, feel free to speak up.

In the same vein, if you have something that you would like to personally write about, and if it fits within the w-i-d-e scope of this site, then I would be happy to welcome you as a contributor. Send me an email and let’s talk.

- 2007 will have even more contests and give-aways. I get to keep a fair amount of the items that I personally review, so while I could put on a big show about how I need to sell these items to pay for my “costs”, the truth is…I would rather not.

Through the unbelievable generosity of a friend who has asked to remain nameless, Gear Diary currently enjoys free hosting on his set of dedicated servers. He tells me he will never charge, no matter how big and bandwidth hungry this site grows. I mean, how can I even begin to let him know how much I appreciate this generous gesture…other than respect his wish to remain anonymous.

That means that my main expenses on this site are the enormous amount of time I spend working on it, trips that I make to cover gadget related events, and the money I spend buying items which are not donated. Well…I get the gadgets because I am interested in them, I travel to these events because they cover subjects that are near and dear to my interests, and I write about these experiences because it feels as natural as breathing.

I am not comfortable selling a “donated for review” or “gifted” item to cover those expenses – that’s actually what I hope the ads on the site will accomplish – and there’s my not very subtle request that you support the site by checking out its advertisers and sponsors. So I think that the best solution for what to do with past-reviewed gear – things that I won’t be personally using – will be to pass them on to GD readers through even more contests and give-aways.

And guess what? That stack is growing… :-)

- On a personal gadget note: I will probably break down and purchase a Fujitsu T4215 Tablet PC based on Jerry‘s recommendation; he is the devil and he will not let up about how wonderful his is. He IM’s me in handwritten text and brags about how versatile his Fuji tablet is, and after looking at its specs, I completely agree. I’ve always wanted a tablet, but until now I have managed to resist the pull. I wish Fujitsu would let me use one for a month so I could see if the T4215 is all that and a bag of chips. ;-)

Come to find out there’s a “six months no interest” promotion going on if I purchase the Fuji before January 31st, and they will even throw in free shipping and my choice of a case (which I don’t need) or a 512MB MP3 player (which I don’t need, either), and Jerry says the upgrade to Vista is included in the purchase price. Hmmmm!

Ya know, I just bought a Toshiba that I was perfectly happy with before he showed me his toy…and now he is trying to get me to look at DSLR cameras, too. Gahhhhhh!!!

Get behind me Satan, errrr Jerry!

Jerry is the Devil

Realistically, if I do decide to spring for one I’ll probably raise the funds by selling my still quite functional Fujitsu P2110, my HTC Universal, and maybe (maybe!!) my DualCor cPC. I’m debating…

Thanks for making 2006 so wonderful, and here’s hoping for an even better 2007.
What will 2007 hold? There’s only one way to find out – stick around and see! :-)

This post was written by:

- who has written 1699 posts on Gear Diary.

I started Gear Diary on September 30, 2006, and my goal was that this not be an easily labeled site. We all have gear that we use daily – some of it electronic and some of it organic. I think it is fascinating to explore the equipment that makes our lives easier, more entertaining, more productive, and more manageable. My hope is that Gear Diary visitors will find this site to be a comfortable and friendly place to discuss interesting topics – and not only those that are tech related, as well as a location to discover various types of gear – whatever that term may end up implying – that they never knew existed. My specialty is in-depth reviews written in a layman’s terms, because everyone can understand technology, sometimes it just takes a little translating. +Judie Stanford

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  • http://www.jerryraia.com Jerry Raia

    You captured my good side there too. :)

  • MitchellO

    Happy New Year to you too Judie!! You have done an amazing job getting Gear Diary started, and I’m sure it will just continue to rise in prominence as the months and years pass.

    I’d also like to thank you for the opportunity to contribute to your site. It is great fun, and lets me write about things that I have a great interest in.

    Cheers!! Mitchell Oke

  • Allen Hong

    Happy New Year everyone!

    Wow, that Fujitsu tablet PC looks very nice… another computer for me to lust after, lol.

  • ctmagnus

    You captured my good side there too.

    Hmm… If I had to guess, I’d say it’s your less-evil side. ;-)

    42 minutes left to go here (GMT-7). Happy New Year, everyone!

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie

    I did it! I just bit the bullet and bought the T4215 – no snickering Jerry! ;-)

    I bet I won’t have it in time for CES, though. :-P

    Here are the specs: LIFEBOOK T4215,INTEL CORE2 DUO T7400,XP TABLET PC,1 YEAR,DUAL-LAYER MULTI-FORMAT DVD WRITER,2GB (1GBX2),120GB (5400RPM) SATA HDD,MODEM,GIGALAN,INTEL WLAN(ABG),BLUETOOTH,12.1 XGA INDOOR/OUTDOOR,MODULAR BATTERY (AE5DJ1E627550001), One-Year International Limited Warranty (Included)

    Time to do a happy dance! :-D

  • http://www.jerryraia.com Jerry Raia

    I’ll just quietly beat my chest! :lol:

  • runningman

    Judie, I’ve read your material for over a year and made the transition to GearDiary with many of your readers this past year. I have a sister and brother-in-law (on staff at ASU) in San Angelo, and have so enjoyed (read: laughed out loud) your stories, including your trials and tribulations about traveling from San Angelo via Dallas to almost anywhere (we live in Dallas and can totally relate to the weather here).

    My favorite thing about your site is your honest reviews. I frequent another site that gets all its items ‘gifted’ to them, and without being specific, let’s say they are thematic. You, on the other hand, have it right!

    On another note, I have a good friend at a Fujitsu sub here in Dallas and they eat their own cooking, and you are right (and so is Jerry) – these computers will knock your socks off. Happy New Year!

    Bill

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie

    Thanks Bill, your comment was an awesome way to start the new year! I truly appreciate you, and everyone else that has either stuck with me from my Gadgeteer days or who has discovered this site since then. :-)

    In regards to the Fuji: I just wish they would ship it before the 15th…sheesh. That is a lifetime from now. :-( And I am sooooo impatient, once I’ve finally bit the bullet and bought something. :-P

  • runningman

    Judie, I know exactly what you mean! My wife says it’s an incurable disease . . . .

    So let’s make lemonade; use these two weeks as your time to clean up the Toshiba hard drive in preparation for saying ‘hasta la vista’ to it. You know that’s coming, even if you won’t admit it now. A couple of weeks with the Lifebook and it’s a goner.

    Just turned back my Treo 650 at work for a Samsung SGH-i607 (Blackjack). Very interesting device so far. I’ll let you know what I think after a bit. Very different, but I like it so far.

    Bill

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie

    Bill, I am supposed to pick up a loaner Blackjack at CES, and I am really looking forward to trying it out. I like Samsung products a lot, but I am steeling myself for the reported lame battery life. We shall see… :-P
    I look forward to hearing your thoughts. :-)

  • http://www.jerryraia.com Jerry Raia

    The BlackJack (I own one) is incredible. There is already an extended battery floating around for it out there which should cure the battery woes. I haven’t seen it on the Cingular or Samsung site yet. The BlackJack does, unfortunately, go through the battery quickly.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie

    “The BlackJack does, unfortunately, go through the battery quickly.”

    At least it comes with two, right? ;-)

  • http://www.jerryraia.com Jerry Raia

    Yes, it does come with two batteries and an external charger.

  • http://www.jerryraia.com Jerry Raia

    Just to update anyone interested; my Vista upgrade for my 4215, yes I typed 4215, will ship on 01/25/2007. So for those of you THAT ALREADY HAVE A 4215 be happy. Those that don’t yet have their 4215 I’m so sorry. :(

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie

    My 4215 ships on January 16th (yah, they moved the date back one! :-( ) and Vista ships the 25th. I think it might be better to wait until I get Vista to start loading anything…start fresh. It will be hard to wait, tho. :-P

  • http://www.jerryraia.com Jerry Raia

    Actually that might not be the best way to go Judie. Here is why. I have installed Vista on a couple of computers already (I get it through my MSDN membership). In a few cases some software would not install on Vista saying “wrong os”; but hang on. Some of those same applications would run if they had been installed on XP and then the OS upgraded to XP. A few glitches yes but they would run. I found the upgrade to Vista a much more solid experience than the upgrade to XP was (as opposed to a clean install).

    So aside from perhaps some driver issues, I would go ahead and install away. That’s what I have done. I anticipate few problems when I get the Vista upgrade for my 4215. In fact the only reason I haven’t upgraded yet is because I’m expecting Vista drivers from Fujitsu of which some are critical, like those that handle the screen orientation. On the 1510 I mentioned above, those things did not work due too incompatible drivers.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie

    That’s interesting! I had installed a Vista release candidate on my desktop (given to me at the last Mobius event), and while the installation was more or less a pleasant transition, I did find myself locked out of several files that I am now told I don’t have the administrative authority to access – such as my outlook file archives (!!!).

    I’m sure we’ll discuss this more as the time comes…but I wish Vista come have come pre-installed, actually. :-P

  • http://www.jerryraia.com Jerry Raia

    Some of the new Vista security features take some getting used to. The issue you had can be fixed as well. Sure you could have gotten it preinstalled, that would here meant waiting!

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie

    Yah, and we know how good I am at waiting… :-P

  • runningman

    Judie, Jerry, regarding the Blackjack battery life, the issue is the connection to the 3G network. While connected, it is a big battery drain. But honestly, the only reason to be on the 3G is as a tethered device – and then you have the two batteries ready to go. I have found a workaround that you can use with the phone (one of those ‘secret codes’) that forces the phone off of 3G to GSM until you change it back. With that done, the phone has pretty normal battery life and is still pretty fast on the EVDO network (I think that’s what Cingular’s is called, isn’t it?). I can get a day out of pretty heavy use on phone, email (Outlook) and web (nominal surfing).

    I really like the phone, but unlike the Treos, you can’t edit attachments (which I generally will do via laptop anyway). So far, I love the phone – and as my female friends say, it’s purse friendly.

    I’m in Las Vegas now, our company does work on the CES show – and it’s going to be big. You’ll love it!

  • drowe

    Judie,
    I love the new layout of the site! It makes it a lot easier to view. One minor complaint, it took me forever to figure out how to leave you a message saying this. Since it wasn’t a response to a review, I didn’t want to put it in one of those comments sections. I’d like to see a link on the front page just for leaving things like this.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Judie

    Thank you – and let me see what we can do about your request. I am compiling a list. :-)