Geeky Traveller » Gadgets

Happy Thanksgiving to all the geeky travelers!

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 02:39:09 +0000

I’d like to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Geeky Traveller readers. I hope you have a wonderful holiday – and if you’re traveling as many people do during this season, please do so safely!

(image: sxc.hu

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Happy Thanksgiving to all the geeky travelers!

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 02:36:39 +0000

Post from: Geeky Traveller

Review: Epson Artisan 700 Printer

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:09:24 +0000

Not too long ago, I was able to give away an Epson Artisan 800 printer to one lucky winner. Even better, I was fortunate enough to receive the Epson Artisan 700 printer as well, to review. If you take photos when you travel, this printer is ideal for printing up your memories when you get back home.

The printer is an all-in-one system which allows you to copy, scan, and print – including ultra hi-def photo printing which is what you want if you’ve taken photos of special places on your trips. The Artisan 700 can print photos as quickly as ten seconds each, which is impressive to say the least – certainly better than the old days when you had to drop your film off and come back two days later for the prints!

There are plenty of bonus features on the Artisan 700 which make it a great printer. If you print directly from your camera card, you can use the large LCD to preview the photos and even do auto-correction basics directly at the printer, giving you the best possible images. And if you’d like to back up your photos to a CD, it allows for professional quality CD and DVD printing, so you can personalize the label.

I think my biggest pet peeve with electronics is all the wires tangling everywhere, so one of my favorite things about the Artisan 700 is the fact that it comes with built-in Wi-Fi. There’s one lone wire to plug it in for power, but that’s it – no annoying cables running from your computer to the printer.

While testing the printer out, I scanned some photos and was able to retouch them, fixing tiny tears and faded areas, and I printed out several new photos, all of which were very professional looking. I also printed some documents (handy if you need to print out an itinerary for everyone in your travel group!) and used the very eco-friendly two-sided printing to cut down on paper use.

It also came with software that allows you to play around with your photos before printing, allowing you to try out special effects to make them stand out. If you’re not familiar with Photoshop or don’t own it, you’ll be thrilled to know that you can still edit and personalize your photos this way.

Overall, I can only give this printer positive reviews. It’s extremely easy to set up and to get it connected to your network via Wi-Fi. It’s also simple to use and very fast. My husband printed several things from his office down the hall and by the time he made the short walk out to the living room where I work and keep the printer, his documents and photos were already waiting for him. As a nice bonus, this is not your ugly, awkward, and clunky printer of years ago – this printer is sleek and attractive and I don’t mind having it set up in my living room where visitors will see it. When we had a group of friends over for a party this past weekend I made sure to show them the Artisan 700 and when one mentioned needing to buy a new printer I immediately recommended this one.

For a suggested retail price of $199, you really can’t go wrong by choosing the Epson Artisan 700. If you’re in the market for a printer so that you can enjoy beautiful prints of your vacation photos as well as the general handiness of a good printer, I definitely recommend that you go check this one out at your local computer/electronics store. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Image: Epson

Post from: Geeky Traveller

HP Mini 100 is the perfect travel laptop

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:45:01 +0000

I’m reasonably happy at the moment with my Dell Inspiron laptop (though it definitely needs more memory and I do wish I could get a Mac), but as portable as laptops claim to be, they can still be big, clunky, and inconvenient for travel purposes.

HP has now released their HP Mini 1000 which you can get for $400. First of all, $400 is an excellent price for a laptop!

But better than that, what makes it so perfect for travelers is that the largest size is only 10.2″ diagonally, it has a nice tiny weight of just over two pounds, and it still manages to have a keyboard that is almost full sized.

I wouldn’t want this as my regular laptop because it’s a bit too small, and it might not work for you if you need a larger display for some reason, but for the average person it’s just right for using it on a bus or an airplane and for toting around with you.

Image: HP

(Source: Geeksugar)

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Take underwater photos with Digital Camera Swim Mask

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:34:34 +0000

Anyone who’s been reading this blog for awhile knows that I’m a big digital camera fan. I love photography and the advances in the digital world make it easier than ever.

If your next trip involves snorkeling or even just swimming, check out Hammacher Schlemmer’s Digital Camera Swim Mask , the first and only one of its kind so far.

Not only is it a swim mask it has a fully integrated waterproof camera on board. What makes it so convenient is that you are then free to swim as you normally would without having to carry around a bulky waterproof camera in one hand.

What really impresses me is that this isn’t just a little novelty camera attached to the side of a pair of goggles. The camera is 5 MP which is really nice, and it is waterproof up to a depth of 15 feet. Meanwhile the lenses on the mask contain crosshairs which can be used just like the focus features on a standard camera so that you can line your shot up. You can choose between still photos or video footage and you’ll actually see an LED in the mask telling you what mode you’re in.

The camera can later be hooked up to your computer via USB cable, and it contains 16 MB of internal memory with the ability to allow for microSD cards for more memory. The whole thing runs off 3 AAA batteries and will cost you $99.95 which is a really fantastic price.

(source – TrustyPony // image – Hammacher Schlemmer)

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Bloggy Giveaway: Epson Artisan 800 Printer

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:09:10 +0000

Now that just about everyone owns a digital camera, taking pictures of your travels is really easy. There’s no film to buy or develop, and depending on the size of your camera’s memory card, you might be all but unlimited in how many times you can take a shot of the Grand Canyon or the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

But what do you do when you get home? Do you want to keep them on your computer’s hard drive? Or do you want to have beautiful prints to put in an album to show friends and family?

With the Epson Artisan 800, you can create beautiful, physical memories of your favorite parts of all your vacations. Epson’s own description says:

It has a 7.8” smart touch panel and 3.5” LCD that lights up only the buttons necessary to the user, making it effortless to select, copy, enlarge, rotate, crop, and print photos without a computer. It also uses Epson’s Ultra Hi-Definition Claria ink for vivid, true-to-life photos that are smudge, scratch and water resistant.

As a nice bonus, the wireless feature allows you to print pictures without a computer, you can play with different layouts, and you can even turn your pictures into coloring book pages – if you take your kids to Disney World, imagine how thrilled they’ll be to color in a picture of themselves meeting Mickey Mouse or Cinderella!

Here’s the best part of all – Epson has offered up one Artisan 800 to one lucky reader here at Geeky Traveller. To win, all you have to do is leave a comment below and tell me the one place you would love to visit that you haven’t had the chance to see yet. That’s it! Please note you may only enter once and I do check to make sure! The contest runs from right now until Friday at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

Good luck!

Photo used with permission: Espon Artisan 800

Edit: Please note, this giveaway is now closed! Please check in to Geeky Traveller this weekend for the lucky winner!

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Malibu Beach Inn uses iPod Touch for guests

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:54:14 +0000

Now this is totally my kind of hotel! The Malibu Beach Inn has gone tech-crazy and when they hand you over access to your room, they also give you (on loan!) an IPod Touch. However, it’s not so their guests can rock out to MP3s. The Touch is loaded with Hotel Evolution which is a multi-application service that allows users to order in some room service, set up a dinner reservation, book a massage in the spa, send out dry cleaning, contact the concierge, request house keeping, set a wake up call, look up night life entertainment, and so much more.

You do it all from your iPod Touch screen, no more phone calls or running down to the front desk to quiz someone on a good bar recommendation.

I love the idea! What do you think?

Source: Geeksugar // Photo: Flickr

Post from: Geeky Traveller

Ila Dusk Personal Alarm does the screaming for you

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:13:15 +0000

Traveling is fun and a great way to gain experience and understanding of other cultures and countries. However, traveling alone can be a little risky, depending on your destination. The Ila Personal Alarm is a device that will let out a sound much like a woman screaming to help you out if you get into trouble. Shaped much like a cell phone, it has a pin that you pull out the same way you would with a grenade (not that I have any experience with grenades!). When you do and then press the button, the screaming starts. The idea is that, at 130 decibels, it will either bring about help or at least scare off the would-be attacker.

What’s interesting to me – and more than a little sad – is that a woman from Guardian.co.uk tested it out on the streets. Check out the video! Not only did no one try to help her or see what was wrong, people generally ignored it the way we all do when someone’s car alarm goes off. A few people looked around to see where the noise might be coming from, but no one ran over. That says a lot about society these days.

Still, a screaming device that loud might just discourage a mugger (or worse) and make them run off in search of someone a little quieter to bother. Not available yet, the Ila will be available at Marks & Spencer for £19.50.

What’s your favorite safety device when you travel solo?

Source: Chip Chick // Photo: flickr

Post from: Geeky Traveller

Flashback to the 80s with KITT-like GPS device

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:06:43 +0000

At first glance, the Mio Knight Rider GPS device seems like it’s not particularly different from any other GPS system. It gives you your usual CPS maps of Canada and the United States, with speech capabilities and step by step directions.

However, what sets it apart from your average GPS device is that the voice for the system is done by William Daniels who voiced K.I.T.T. on the hit show Knight Rider between 1982 and 1986.

Will it work any better than any other device? No, there’s nothing else mind-blowing about it. But it sure makes it cool, at least for a geek like me. Growing up, I lamented the fact that my family’s station wagon was nowhere near as awesome as K.I.T.T. was and now, with the Mio Knight Rider GPS, my current car could be almost as great!

Pick one up at Radio Shack for $269.99.

(Thanks to Rita for the tip // photo: RadioShack.com)

Post from: Geeky Traveller

Keep from falling asleep at the wheel with the Anti Sleep Driving Alarm

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:43:58 +0000

Have you ever been driving and suddenly realized you can’t remember passing a certain landmark or that you don’t recall the past five minutes of driving? Falling asleep at the wheel happens more often than you think and it’s dangerous. It’s also not difficult to imagine it happening when you’re driving on a long road trip, especially in the wee hours – or even if you’re driving in the daylight but six time zones away from home.

Originally designed for long distance truck drivers, the Anti Sleep Driving Alarm is a device that fits on your head, sitting behind your ear. The second your head tilts at a 30 degree angle, you will be jolted awake with a high pitched alarm.

On the one hand, if you do nod off, I wonder if there’s a risk of driving straight into a ditch from the fright caused by a loud alarm directly behind your ear. On the other hand, it’s an interesting option for staying awake.

When my family has to go on a long drive, especially at night, I try to stay awake as a passenger to keep my husband awake, but that can be hard too. Once I’m in a car, if I’m tired, the sensation of rolling down the road just puts me straight to sleep. This could be a good back-up for our next trip out East.

You can get one from ThinkGeek for $14.99.

(photo: ThinkGeek.com)

Post from: Geeky Traveller