It’s the most wonderful time of the year unless you get your loved one this “Netbook” on Black Friday.  Kmart is offering what they call a netbook for $119.99.  The only problem is this “netbook” has a 7 inch screen, 400 MHz ARM processor, 2 GB of storage and 128 MB of ram — and NO CHANCE of viewing a modern web site thanks to the ever crappy Pocket IE. Unless they have pre-installed Skyfire or anything else, this computer is useless.  As for running your favorite Windows apps?  No way.  The only thing you may have a chance of doing is hacking it, and putting Linux… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

This is a pizza cutter that Tim the “Tool Guy” would totally want — it’s the Pizza Boss 3000 — “built from tough engineering-grade plastics and the laser-etched stainless blade has a removable shield for easy clean-up.” There’s no need to be embarrassed by a wimpy looking pizza cutter when you’re having poker night in your man cave.; you can stick a Pizza Boss 3000 in your tool belt for $14.99… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I stopped by my local Best Buy yesterday to make a return and the demo unit of the new Nokia Booklet 3G caught my eye. I was impressed. The device is small and has gracious curves. It is thin and has almost no breaks in its super-clean lines. And it is solid. And I mean SOLID! Like the uni-body MacBook Pro, it is carved from a solid piece of aluminum. This gives it a high-end feel and makes it stand out from the rest of the netbook crowd. I thought I might want to get one once they were released. That thought left me a few seconds later.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Now we begin the ‘post MW2 period of the season. But while many games were moved to get out of the way of the big release, we still have good stuff, most notably Left 4 Dead 2. This game was the subject of a big boycott effort because some felt not enough DLC was released and the sequel came too soon. Have they never played Madden? Anyway, the game looks great and personally I can’t wait for an excuse to get back to more zombie-killing madness!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I see dozens, even hundreds, of people every day. I have a compromised immune system. It is flu season. Handshaking is not my friend. “The handshake is thought by some to have originated as a gesture of peace by demonstrating that the hand holds no weapon.” From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I picked up a Toshiba NB205 netbook shortly after Windows 7 launched and have been enjoying it every since. The netbook shipped with an Intel® Atom™ processor N280 running at 1.66GHz, 1GB DDR2 memory, a 10.1″ WSVGA LED-backlit widescreen display at 1024 x 600 resolution, a 160GB 5400 rpm drive and more. It weighs in at only 2.9 lbs. and is 1.3″ high. The battery offers up to 9 hours of run time. Over all it is a pretty standard package, but at a current price of $399.99 at Best Buy it is a nice machine. Not content to leave well enough alone, I did three simple mods that have it running better and doing more. I upped the RAM to 2GB, swapped out the spinning platter for an SSD drive and did a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium. The result is a netbook that is quick, quiet and cool… and runs for a long, long time.… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I was a big fan of SCOTTEVEST’s technology enabled clothing long before I began writing for tech sites. It just appealed to my inner geek. I got one of their classic vests, as well as their mid-weight jackets, long before most people had heard of the company and wore them for years. Those jackets were among some of the earlier designs Scott and Co. offered but were already highly functional. I had not, however, seen any of the more recent designs other than through occasionally browsing the online catalog and posting news on Gear Diary. Judie was sent one of their more current jackets, the Evolution Travel Jacket in a Small, but she thought it was a little snug. I had long had my eye on this design, but unfortunately I am a size medium. Fortunately Elana (my wife) is a size small, and while she doesn’t carry a lot of gear, she usually has enough with her that this seemed like it might be a good fit for her. Judie was kind enough to send it to Elana, and it arrived today. While Elana hasn’t seen it yet, I have no doubt she is going to like it… a [...]

USBFever is a great site with a wealth of USB devices for sale; pretty much everything that you could want that plugs into a USB port (and many items that don’t), from memory sticks to sync/charge cables to hubs.  But they go well beyond the “usual” USB gadgets into the well… odd.  I often shake my head at some of the items they have, which are mostly (but not always) USB-powered and often (but not always) utterly gratuitous.  Sure, they’re fun and could possibly be useful in a particular situation; they just don’t have the obvious usefulness of most USB items. — and maybe that’s the appeal.  You’d be hard pressed to truthfully say you need this stuff, but it’s easy to want it.  Take for example, some of their newest items: Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 will be out this week. With 3G, a high res screen and a 3.2 megapixel camera it look great. At $200 under contract it looks even better. The 9700 builds on the current Bold’s specs but has a smaller form-factor that many will appreciate. At the same time it retains the angled keyboard I have grown to love which makes it a solid consideration for anyone looking to get a BlackBerry. From my perspective, while the idea of a smaller device is certainly attractive (let’s face it the Bold 9000 is BIG), I would be hard-pressed to give up the spacious, easy-to-use keyboard I currently enjoy on the 9000… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Want to play Blue-Ray discs on your Mac Mini? It’s impossible to do without upgrading the Mini’s drive and now AMEX Digital makes it all possible with it’s Blue-Ray upgrade kit.  The kit, which sells for $199.99, makes it possible to covert the Mini’s drive and lets you play DVD and Blue-Ray discs via your Mac Mini. The drive supports the latest green ECO S.M.A.R.T which maximizes power efficiency and its SATA Drive has a 30% faster data transfer rate.  Quiet Drive technology reduces the noise level of audio and video recording or playback while also delivering increased writing reliability. You can read the full press release on… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Most people are familiar with the social networking site Twiiter which allows you to post updates to your followers about what you’re doing.  Twitter limits these update messages to only 140 characters. SMS Messaging is another popular form of communicating quickly with friends and family.  It also places a limit on the number of characters you can use for your message.  A text message is limited to 160 characters. Today I learned of a web site “12-Seconds” which allows you to record video updates to your friends and family but the catch is like the other methods of communication I’ve mentioned, 12-Seconds places… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Vestax, one of the industry leaders in professional DJ equipment has partnered up with djay to release a brand new controller called Spin that enables Mac users to use their own iTunes libraries to mix, scratch and play music just like a real DJ. The bundle is available exclusively in Apple stores nationwide, and delivers the entire DJ experience to any music lover, whether novice or professional. The package is available from Apple.com for a price of $249.99. You can watch a video demo of it in action below. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There is no question the Zune HD is a fine piece of hardware. Slim and well-built is seems a shame to hide it behind any case. Yet there are going to be times when you Zune owners REALLY want to give your devices some protection. That’s where Speck’s new PixelSkin for the Zune HD comes in. As the company explains… PixelSkin’s unique, soft yet grippy silicone material provides extra security against accidents while Zune fans everywhere ride to work or jam out at the gym. Custom cutouts for the screen, connector port and headphone jack make removal of this snugly form-fitting case unnecessary, either docked up or while on the move. Enjoy your new Zune HD’s Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today marks the start of Walmart’s Holiday Values Bundle Sales. Perhaps the most notable thing is the $100 Gift Card with the purchase of any BlackBerry and Service Plan. They’ve got BlackBerrys for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, but according to BFAds, “there are early reports though that the online sale is better than the advertised in-store sale.” Walmart has around 40 BlackBerry phones available including the newly released Verizon Storm 2 for $148 (not including the $100 gift-card) and the Sprint Tour 9630 for $99 (not including the $100 gift-card), you can see them all here. If you are in the market for a new smart-phone Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Attention foodies!  Our own Clinton Fitch is at it again with another great iPhone application review. This time it’s Zagat To Go, the iPhone application that gives you detailed information on restaurants in cities all over the world. The Zagat Guide, which has almost a cult following, has been the go-to choice for millions when it comes to finding and reading about local restaurants.  Its reviews cover the food, service, decor, price and more all in a compact, easy to read and follow format. How does the Guide port to the iPhone? … Continue reading on Gear Diary …