The Gadgets Page

Another game I’ve been playing a lot of lately is SSX 3 for the Xbox. It’s a snowboarding game. I bought it because I thought I could play it with the DDR dance pad. The truth is, you pretty much can. You don’t need trigger buttons, so you can play this game as long as your dance pad has the arrow keys and the letter keys (A, B, X, Y). One of my dance pads only has A and B, but you need the X button to recover.

I haven’t been playing it with the dance pad, however. I’ve just been playing with the normal controller. It’s not an aerobic workout by any stretch of the imagination to play SSX 3 with the dance pad, so I thought I would make it easier on myself and just play with the controller. You can’t do some of the tricks (like sliding on the poles) if you only have the arrow keys.

This game allows you to race for speed or compete by doing tricks. I like the speed racing right now because I haven’t mastered the tricks yet, but I’m sure the longer I play, the more interested I will be in the more technical things.

The funniest thing I’ve noticed about this game is that it makes me want to learn how to snowboard in real life. I realize I won’t be able to snowboard with such aggression as the game shows, but I really enjoy the pretty scenery and learning how to master the board. I imagine learning to snowboard would be the same, except it would be cold. So many people blame video games for childhood obesity, but I think they actually promote the idea of learning a sport in real life. For me, this game has been enjoyable and made me want to expand my real life experiences.

I’ve been playing Lord of the Rings: Return of the King on my Xbox for the last couple of days. I’m not finished with the game like some hardcore players could do in as much time. I usually don’t like fighting games, but this one was enjoyable somehow.

I tried to play some Star Wars games and I really hated them because one joystick controlled me and another controlled what I could see. Somehow my two hands weren’t able to get in sync and I was never able to see what I needed to see. Plus, I kept chopping C3PO’s leg off and he was hobbling around, nearly useless to me. I don’t want to have to worry about friendly fire when I’m trying to have fun.

With LOTR: Return of the King, I don’t have to worry about accidentally chopping Legolas or Gimli in half. I can just fight my hardest. The fact that I can’t control my view is bothersome at times because the game will have my character running straight toward the screen and I can’t see where I’m going, but that’s the exception more than the rule.

I have failed the missions MANY times. I’m new at computer fighting games, so it is taking me a while to get through this game. The worst part of failing is that I need to hear the whole story over again. I haven’t figured out a way to skip it, so I’ve seen the tree people pick up the hobbits so many times that I don’t ever want to hear about the Ents again. With all the repetition, you would think that I would hate the game, but I just get a drink of water while it replays. It’s bothersome, but not enough to make me hate the game.

I don’t like first-person shooters and I would classify this game as that except the only projectiles I shoot are arrows and super magic power stuff when I’m Gandolf. Somehow, I enjoy this game. Part of it is because of the story. I’m not much of a Tolkien fan. I’m not much of a fan of fantasy, either. Somehow, this game has roped me in and I’m liking it more than anything I’ve played in a while.

The cool thing is that it’s a pretty old game now, so you can get it used for a lot less than the poor saps who bought it when it was new.

One of these days, Microsoft will release a product with a simple, catchy one-word name like “Penguin” or “Albatross.” In the meantime, I’ve spent the last few months testing Microsoft’s top-of-the-line ergonomic keyboard, the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. (previously)

This is a nice keyboard with a good feel. Along with the ergonomic split, it has a very comfortable non-removable wrist rest. The keys and layout have a slightly odd curved shape that caused a few typos the first week, but works perfectly for me now. The keys have a good tactile feel.

Like my previous Microsoft keyboard, this one surrounds the alphanumeric keys with an assortment of extras:

• The function keys have alternate names, like Undo, Open, and Close, which can be reprogrammed via the Control Panel. An “F Lock” button forces them to act as normal function keys, which I’ve set as the default.
• Web, Search, and Mail buttons that open the application of your choice
• Five numbered “Favorite” keys plus a “Favorites” button that lists their contents. These can open any web page, file, or folder.
• Media buttons: Mute, volume up/down, play/pause.
• My favorite, the Calculator button.
• A useless “Zoom” slider that doesn’t work in Firefox, and I wouldn’t be likely to use it regardless
• Web Back/Forward buttons that hide under the spacebar.

As usual, all of the extra keys are mostly for decoration, but I do find Mute, Volume, Back/Forward, and Calculator handy, and the rest stay out of my way. I programmed five web sites I use constantly into the five Favorite buttons, but haven’t used them as much as I expected. I was able to get the Play/Pause key to work in WinAMP, and I’ve had no problems with the configuration.

After a few months’ use, I’m happy with this keyboard. If you spend lots of time typing and don’t mind paying a bit more for a good-quality keyboard, this one is a good choice.

I’ve been using the Hewlett-Packard f1905 LCD Monitor as my primary monitor for about 6 months, and realized I haven’t written about it. Monitors are simple devices, and easy to take for granted, but I’ve been very happy with this one.

• Native Resolution: 1280 x 1024
• Interface: XVI digital / analog
• Size: 19″
• Matching external speakers are included (not reviewed here)

I’m using the analog connection, which is non-optimal, since I have an older video card, but I’ve found that it works just fine. Unlike my previous LCD monitor, it rarely needs calibrating. This monitor has a nice anti-glare matte finish and is very pleasant to stare at all day. The colors are rich and vibrant, and video playback looks great on it.

One feature of the f1905 that is surprisingly lacking in most other LCD monitors is an adjustable-height stand, which lets you choose the exact height and angle you find most comfortable. The stand and case are silver in color, which nicely match my HP computer.

My only issue with the f1905 is that the lightweight stand vibrated a bit on my highly unstable desk, making the monitor shake as I typed. Moving the monitor to a shelf above the desk solved the problem. In conclusion, this is a great monitor and I highly recommend it.

ColdHeat bills the Freestyle glue gun as the first true rechargeable cordless glue gun. While that’s technically true because they used the word rechargeable, other cordless glue guns are on the market. Disposable battery glue guns are hawked on TV, but they burn through batteries at a prodigious rate. Butane glue guns also exist, but they’ve got serious convenience problems and are rather more dangerous than the ColdHeat gun.

The gun arrived with a sample pack of low-temp mini glue sticks and a rechargeable battery, charger, and idea book. The gun is designed just like a miniature cordless drill, with the removable battery attached to the bottom of the gun handle, a two-finger trigger, and a horizontal glue chamber with a clear window to indicate when you should add another stick (which is easy to tell anyway when the trigger stops releasing glue). My first impression was that the device was both well designed and rather high-tech looking compared to a traditional glue gun. The battery attaches and detaches easily, and fits into the external charger with no trouble whatsoever.

Charging the battery took three hours exactly, and charging is indicated when the charge light stops flashing and remains solid. The first time I squeezed the trigger, I pinched the skin on my third finger between the trigger bottom and the trigger guard, which was too short to protect my large fingers. It’s easy to avoid the problem by positioning your fingers correctly once you know about it, but with the current design, everyone would eventually pinch their finger at least once. Cold Heat has assured me that they’ve already redesigned the trigger to protect against this.

When you turn the gun on (there’s a low and high temp setting, but I couldn’t discern any significant difference between them and the manual indicates that they’re essentially the same), a white LED below the nozzle indicates that the gun is on and provides spot illumination for the work area. It’s actually handier than it might seem, and is an idea they brought over from their soldering iron. Two LEDs on the back of the gun indicate sleep mode and low battery. The gun goes to sleep and begins cooling off after 10 minutes of inactivity, and immediately begins reheating when moved.

The gun heats up and is ready to use in about a minute—considerably faster than any other glue gun I’ve used, and so fast that it’s basically ready as soon as you’re prepared to use it—a major convenience. It uses standard low-temp or multi-temp mini glue sticks, and as with any low-temp gun, the working temperature is a tradeoff—it heats quickly, cures quickly, and can’t burn you, but it doesn’t flow as smoothly as high-temp glue, and you’ll deal with spider-webbing quite a bit more than you will with a high-temp gun. And you’ll go through mini sticks much faster than you would with the standard size—a typical shoe repair for example will probably take an entire stick, for example. These tradeoffs are typical of all low-temp mini glue guns.

The gun works really well, but it doesn’t heat the glue quite as quickly as a traditional corded gun. This makes for slightly harder triggering and slightly slower dispensing, but it’s not enough to be annoying or problematic. You wouldn’t notice if you didn’t have a corded gun to compare it to, but you can’t burn yourself with this gun the way you will with a high-temp gun.

The battery lasts about 45 minutes on a charge, which is more than long enough for typical around-the-house hobby and repair work. Unfortunately, it takes longer to charge a battery than the battery lasts, so you can’t work continuously by swapping batteries between the gun and charger. If you need to work longer than 40 minutes at a time, you’re better off with a corded glue gun.

The gun has a swing-out wire stand similar to all glue guns, and like all glue guns, it’s a bit drippy from the nozzle when it sits on the stand. It would be nice if the bottom of the battery were flat so the gun could stand on it reliably, but there’s a strength member on the outside plastic that makes the gun somewhat wobbly when standing on the handle. That’s too bad, because the gun doesn’t drip when the nozzle is pointing up the way it can when it’s on the swing-out wire front stand. I put sticky rubber feet on the bottom, which worked well to stabilize the gun while standing on the handle.

Overall, this is an excellent glue gun. The cordless portability and useful battery life provides far more utility than a typical glue gun. You’ll start finding uses for it well beyond what you typically use a glue gun for because it doesn’t have the setup and warm-up time hassles that you have with a traditional glue gun. It’s basically carefree. The only thing that could make it better are a run time equal to or longer than the charge time so that you could work continuously by swapping batteries, and a flat-bottomed battery to support the gun on the handle. It’s a great product.

At your typical electronics or department store it’s easy to find all kinds of headphones—in-the-ear types, tiny earbuds, and various strange shapes that don’t fit anyone’s ears. (Are you listening, Nike?) It’s becoming harder to find cheap headphones that are shaped like plain old headphones, but fortunately Sony still makes some nice ones.

Sony’s MDR-V750 headphones are a low-end “studio” model, which means they’re not really pocket-sized. They’re still small and portable compared to my MDR-7506 studio monitor headphones, and much cheaper ($30).

Design and Fit

These are shaped like a smaller version of the larger studio phones, but still fit my ears nicely. The vinyl cushions are circular, with a hole in the middle, which prevents them from being too warm, although they’re still warmer on the ears than lightweight models.

The V250 headphones won’t be winning any design awards, since they’re the same shape as HAM radio operators were using 50 years ago, but it’s a tried and true design that works. The headband is wide and sturdy, and adjusts in size for a good fit.

The earpads can fold 180 degrees away from your ear, which is nice for temporarily opening an ear to listen to what’s going on. Unfortunately, unlike the larger 7506’s, the headphones don’t fold into a more portable shape.

Sound Quality

They may not be as portable as some, or look great with your tiny iPod, but these headphones do sound great. The bass response is very good, and with the closed design, ambient sounds are blocked very well. The high end also sounds great, and there’s none of the mushy midrange tones I associate with cheap headphones. It’s very easy to isolate different parts of complex music.

I’m not an expert nor have I hooked them up to a spectrum analyzer, but the frequency response curve sounds realistic and pretty close to neutral—nothing exaggerated, which is important when you’re using them to monitor music you’re producing yourself.

Features

These headphones have a nice bonus feature: a built-in volume control. Unlike many inline controls, it seems quite sturdy, and the sound is great both at low and high volume. There’s also a stereo/mono switch, which comes in handy when you’re mastering your own music and want to test different listening conditions. It’s also a fun toy to fiddle with while you’re listening to music with a strong stereo separation.

The supplied cord is not detachable, as is standard for cheap headphones, but it is long and unusually thick, and looks like it can take a beating. A 1/8″ standard headphone plug is attached, and a 1/4″ adapter is supplied for plugging into non-portable equipment.

Conclusion

Sony’s MDR-V250 is a great set of low-priced headphones for studio use or casual music listening. The volume control is a nice feature, the sound quality is about the best I’ve heard on headphones under $100, and you can’t beat the price.

I expect quite a bit from a digital watch. I’m a regular user of features like countdown timer and stopwatch, and when I find a full-featured watch that actually looks good, I jump at the chance to buy it. Nike’s Oregon Digital has all of the features I need and a good design, and aside from a couple of minor inconveniences it’s a great watch. Read on for the full review.

(Continue Reading…)

The minute I found out this game existed, I called my local video game shop to see if they had it in stock. Karaoke Revolution Party for the Xbox is a surprising combination between Karaoke Revolution, a Konami game where your signing is judged based on timing and pitch, and Dance Dance Revolution, another Konami game where your dancing is judged based on timing and steps. I couldn’t wait to get this game home.

Anyone who has ever seen Madonna perform knows that singing while dancing are very difficult to do at the same time. That’s why Britney Spears and Ashley Simpson lipsync at important performances like the MTV Video Awards and SNL appearances. If you are busting your butt well enough to dance, there is hardly any breath left to sing.

That’s what makes the Dance and Singing challenge so difficult on this game. You have to watch the screen for arrows (which run along the bottom of the screen instead of scrolling up like DDR) AND watch the screen for the words of the song. I was unable to really do well on the songs that I hadn’t memorized the words for. It wasn’t too hard for me to play, but I knew most of the songs by heart and I’ve been playing DDR for years. Once I was able to get used to the sideways scrolling, I was able to play pretty well, but I still haven’t earned a Gold or Platinum on any of the songs.

In addition to the Song and Dance mode, there are One Microphone and Two Microphone Party options that add more variation to the game. They allow people to sing duets and “true” duets, where the parts are different from each other. The fact that they allow two microphones on this game makes it so much more fun than the previous Karaoke Revolution for the Xbox was.

One thing I miss from the old game was the game mode that allowed you to have a singing career. You had to earn at least a gold medal in each arena in order to complete the “career.” I played karaoke all by myself for hours until I got a gold or platinum on every single song in the list. I miss that mode on the new game, but I like being able to sing with someone else using two microphones.

Both games allow for customization of your avatar, although the newer game, Karaoke Revolution Party, has far more customization, including making your avatar fat, which is something that not even Yahoo! Avatars has figured out yet.

Like many other Xbox games, there is a lot of content available for download on Xbox Live. There is currently one song pack that is free to download and approximately twenty others available for $5 a piece. I haven’t gotten sick of the songs that are on the game yet, but when that happens, I’m going to download them all.

I’m loving this game right now and I’ve been trying to convince people to play it with me on the duet modes. Not too many people are willing, so I guess I’m just going to stay at home, earning Gold and Platinum records on all of the songs. Alone or with friends, it’s a fun game.

I love to have a docking cradle for my PDA. I don’t know if it’s because I’m an old-school Palm Pilot fan or if I am just lazy, but I prefer to have a spot to place my phone easily. Fussing with cords is a pain in the butt for me. Half the time, the cord would fall behind the desk when I removed it from my phone and when I finally got a cord manager to prevent losing the cord, it made it difficult to have the phone facing the right direction.

A cradle stores my phone face up and angled perfectly for me to see while it’s charging or syncing. This particular cradle is a little nicer than the one I had for my Zodiac. There is an extra compartment to charge an additional battery and the sync button is a real one, not just a mechanical work around that indirectly presses the sync button on the original sync cable.

Another additional feature is that you have a choice whether it will be a charging station or a syncing station for you. If you want a cradle where you charge your phone, but prefer to sync at the computer with your original cable, you can do that. The same is true if you want to sync with the cradle and charge elsewhere. You don’t need to have both cords connected for it to work.

I don’t know why they don’t include cradles with the Palms anymore. Maybe there are some people who didn’t really like them. Now, there are several cradles from different peripheral providers to choose from, but this one works like a dream.

Palm’s Treo Docking Cradle is $39 for the version linked here, which includes the AC power adapter and USB data connector. A cheaper version, which includes only the cradle and works with your existing cables, is also available.

When Nintendo released the DS (Dual Screen) as a response to the PSP, I thought: “They’ve lost it. They don’t understand that their core market is ten year olds who need a cheap, small, rugged game player, not 30 year olds who can afford a delicate $300 toy.” Well, the Game Boy micro shows that they’ve figured that out. After struggling to attract developers and sell the DS for six months, Nintendo has switched tracks and come out with what may be the perfect casual game playing device for grown ups.

At $99, it’s cheap enough for a casual purchase. About the size of an iPod Nano (but twice as thick), the GBA Micro is literally as small as a device could be and still allow me to play it. It’s the same hardware as the Game Boy Advance SP and plays all Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color games. The only difference is that it’s about 1/3 the size and weight. GBA cartridges fit entirely inside the device (the slot occupies about 1/3 of the volume of the device). Battery life is about as good as a GBA SP, surprisingly. The replaceable faceplates are a brilliant idea—no more worry about scratches ruining your device. If the iPod nano had replaceable faceplates, Apple wouldn’t have egg on their face right now over the scratching problem.

My wife instantly adopted the micro—it fits in her purse and pocket easily. While the kids like it, the form factor isn’t nearly as important to them, and frankly the GBA SP is quite a bit sturdier. So I’d consider the Game Boy Micro to be the player for the kid in every adult. It’s small enough to carry with you and play without attracting too much attention.