Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

What is it?

• Coosh is a pair of headphones with a microphone that works with your iPhone or Blackberry.

What’s cool:

• The headphones are comfortable.
• Built-in microphone does an okay job.
• Built-in cord management is a good idea.

What’s not:

• Audio quality is not too great.

The Crux:

• For $30, the Coosh headset is a good idea that needs some revisions.  Wait for a second version.

Keep reading for an in-depth review of the Coosh headset.

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Quick Review

What is it?

• Slingbox Pro-HD place shifts your television content to where ever you have an Internet connection.

What’s Cool:

• Easy setup if you have the right connections available.
• Stylish device.
• Does what it says it does.

What’s Not:

• HD streaming does not support Mac yet.

The Crux:

• This is a terrific device that works.  The Slingbox Pro-HD may be a little intense for certain people.  Streaming your television around your network or through the Internet is easy thanks to the Slingbox Pro-HD.

Keep reading for an in-depth look at the Slingbox Pro-HD.

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There are two parts to any Player system for an acoustical piano.  First there’s the piano itself, and then there the player mechanism.  And they are not necessarily mutually exclusive.  Continued after the break.

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Check out the gallery: Gadgetell Review: Piano Disk iQ

Quick Review

What is it?

• The Goodyear GY-145 GPS SAT-NAV is an OEM GPS unit for your car.

What’s Cool:

• The wide 4” screen display and most of the graphics were very good.
• The rubber casing not only provided some impact resistance, but it also felt good in your hand.

What’s Not:

• The unit would shut off when you restarted the engine and required a reboot (i.e. toggling the off/on switch on the back of the unit).
• The suction cup kept popping off the windshield glass.

The Crux:

• The GY 145 portable navigation system aka GPS or Sat-NAV, or whatever you may call it received less than stellar reviews from other reviewers.  You are better off buying another product.

Keep reading for an in-depth review of the Goodyear GY-145 GPS.

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Quick Review

What is it?

• The Flip Mino HD is a tiny, pocketable, HD camcorder by PureDigital.

What’s Cool:

• Very easy to use.
• Form factor makes it easy to carry around.
• HD video quality is okay.

What’s Not:

• Shiny surface is a fingerprint magnet.
• Low light performance is not as good as the Kodak Zi6.
• Limited to built-in memory / No port for SD or microSD card.

The Crux:

• The Flip Mino HD is fine for what it is, a pocket HD camcorder.  The Kodak Zi6 may be a better value, but the Mino HD is smaller and a slicker looking device with decent quality footage.

Keep reading for an in-depth review after the break.

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Quick Review

What is it? 

• The Pioneer XMP3 (Model: GEX-XMP3) is a portable XM radio that costs $279.99

What’s cool:

• Wide variety of channels
• Superior sound quality when compared to FM radio
• Intuitive menus
• Simple design
• Recording and bookmark features

What’s not cool:

• Internal antenna is weak
• Poorly designed layout on remote control

The Crux:

• XM is to your radio what cable is to your TV.  The service offers lots of very specialized channels and the sound quality is much better than your standard FM radio.  Pair the XM Radio service with this portable XM unit and you’ve got a nice office or home radio provided you can get a signal.

Keep reading for a more in-depth review. 

This is a guest post by Merlyn Akhtar.  Merlyn Akhtar is a tech-savvy person who isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty with hardware.  One of the first upgrades she performed was installing a 2X CD-ROM drive in a PC in her early teens back when Prodigy was an awesome ISP.

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We all know how important it is to back up your data, and what can happen if you don’t.  Twice this year, I’ve had computer failures, first a dead hard drive, and then a fried motherboard.  Fortunately, since I back up my data regularly, the damage was minimal.  So yes, backing up your data is crucial, but it can also be a hassle. 

Microsoft Vista has a built in back up tool, but it doesn’t always do the job well.  It doesn’t allow you to really pick and choose what you want to back up, and it backs up a lot of junk you really don’t need, like all the built in software that came with your system, which no one needs a back up of! 

Fortunately Siber Systems has come to the rescue with GoodSync.  This marvelous program automatically backs up your data and syncs it between laptops, servers, desktops, and portable drives, all with just a few clicks!  Continued after the break.

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Gadgetell Quick Review

Pros:   Small form factor, does HD video capture.  Macro mode is welcome for close up shots.
Cons: Low light performance is not great.  No lens cover.
The Crux:  If you’re looking to shoot a couple of things really quickly and want it in HD, this is a terrific device.  It’s not going to replace a real HD camcorder, but is very good for a pocket HD cam.

Full, in-depth review with video samples after the break.

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Gadgetell Quick Review: Navigon 2200T

Cool:

• Low Price(about 200 bucks)
• Good mounting hardware
• Reality view and Lane Assistant Pro feature is really helpful
• Speed warning
• Small size
• Lifetime traffic service

Uncool:

• Sometimes difficult to navigate the screens
• Traffic alerts not factored into initial route plans, but instead notifies you there is a problem and gives rerouting options
• Limited voice selections

The Crux:

Overall, if you can get past some quirks, the 2200T is a very good GPS and the lifetime traffic service makes it a stand out device for the low price.

This is a guest review by Robert Borgesi.  Rob co-hosts the website review program, “ChannelFlip Web” with Iyaz Akhtar on ChannelFlip.com.  Additionally, Rob is a tech enthusiast with years of computer building experience.

Keep reading for the full, in-depth review.

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Gadgetell Quick Review:

What is it?

The TeleNav Shotgun is the first stand alone GPS unit from TeleNav, known for their on-phone GPS

Pros:

Connected search, superior POI, smart traffic updates,  beautiful screen, Best mounting I’ve seen in some time, future possibilities

Cons:

No ETA, only time to destination and quarterly updates on POI information.

Will I finally find the GPS standalone device for me?  Follow to find out.

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