Gadgets « The House of Husar

Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

Acer Aspire One Netbook

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

I wanted to pick up one of these on Black Friday but did not want to get up a 4:00 AM to wait in a line at Office Max. Call me lazy I guess. But we lucked out anyway. A friend of ours in KC did manage to get one on Black Friday. Then her brother bought her a Dell netbook. So being the good friend she is offered it to us at the same low 199.00 price she paid for it. Score!

When I opened the box today I was not expecting much. I have seen the Acer Aspire on display at Best Buy but I couldn’t pick it up to see how it felt. After opening our new unit and playing with it a little I have to say I am impressed. It is a sold netbook that doesn’t feel cheap at all. The keyboard is a nice size with what appears to be full size keys. Works well with my big hands.

It has Intel Atom processor N270, 1GB RAM,160gb hard drive, web cam, 10.1 inch LED LCD, Card Reader, Wifi 802.11b/g and 3-cell Li-on batter. All in a sparkled blue 1 inch thin case. It has a video out, wired network connection, and 3 USB ports as well all on the sides.

The Aspire One ships with Windows XP. My disgust for anything Windows is making me look up how to install Ubuntu on this little blue baby. After a quick look it appears everything works under Ubuntu right out of the box. Web cam, WiFi, microphone, Java, and Flash player are all covered. So I don’t see any reason to keep Windows on the Aspire One. I am going to install it right now and will post an update tonight.

Here are a few grainy photo from my iPhone.

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Tags: acer, aspire one, netbook
Posted in Gadgets, Technology | No Comments »

Pint Tracker Monitor Updates

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Tonight my USB extension cables came from MonoPrice. I was a little skeptical if they would work or not. If you did not know USB has a 16 foot range. If I wanted to mount a monitor by the tap I had to find a way to get way more than 16 feet away from my Mac Mini. The MonoPrice 33′ active USB cable had really good reviews so I ordered three of them. At a price of $10.20 each it is a steal. These could cost you $50 each at a place like Best Buy. But you can’t even find them any place. These are a monoprice brand not a third part brand.

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There was a waiting list for them a few weeks ago so I signed up for their email notification. They sent me an email last week and I ordered three of them withing 30 minutes of getting the email. A few hours more and they were totally sold out. I will get into the setup in a few days when I get everything mounted correctly. Until then you will have to setting for a few iPhone photos.

I have to redesign the Pint Tracker UI now that I have this sweet little monitor. The new version will take up the entire screen unlike the photos above.

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Tags: bar, Beer, Phidgets, PintTracker, pub, Tap
Posted in AIR, Development, Flash, Gadgets, Phidgets, Technology, projects | 1 Comment »

DoubleSight DS-90UC 9” Monitor

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

A two weeks ago I ordered a DoubleSight DS-90UC 9” Monitor for my Pint Tracker setup. The monitor arrived a week ago but at first I was not happy with it.

For starters the drivers were still in beta. In fact they flat out did not work on the Mac. All I could get was a black screen. It was only after countless uninstall and installs of the drivers that I was able to get a picture on it all all. Even then was wacky. When I booted my Mac Mini I had to log in and then log out and back in again just to get anything to show up on the display. Even then the drivers did not give the correct resolution option. The only option was something like 1280×1024. The correct resolution is 1200×600. At 1280×1024 you couldn’t read any text and it warped anything you put on it. Pint Tracker looked terrible. I was about to give up on it.

I debated if I should send it back or wait for better drivers. I decided to wait and I am now very happy I did. Yesterday new drivers were released and it fixed all the problems I was having. I am now 100% satisfied with the display. I will give a video review of the monitor very soon.

It really is a hot little monitor that is going to work great for my special application. It is well made and looks great. It also has a 2MP camera I can attach to it. For now here is the unboxing photos that I took last week.

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Tags: Display, DoubleSight, Gadget, monitor, PintTracker
Posted in Gadgets, Reviews, Technology | No Comments »

Flip UltraHD Wide Angle Mod Complete

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

The path to mod my Flip UltraHD continues. I picked up a 30mm to 28mm step down ring off ebay last week. It cost me a whopping $6 and that included free shipping. It arrived over the weekend but I was not sure about super gluing it to my Flip. I finally manned up and went for it late last night much to Terra’s dismay, “If you wreck the camera by dripping super glue on the lens…”.

I have to say I am more than pleased with the outcome. I think I am the first to mount a Nikon WC-E63 to a Flip. The other videos I have seen were done with cheap Sunpak lenses. The Flip UltraHD takes such great HD video for the price and size that I did not want to downgrade the quality by modding the Flip to take a $30 lens. I got real lucky when I found the left over Nikon wide angle lens in my basement. The lens today costs as much as the Flip UltraHD does, maybe more. Pretty funny!

I practiced putting the step-down ring on straight. I even debated taking out my contacts so I could see (near sighted) better. The basement doesn’t have the best light. I finally went up stairs and used Terra’s sewing lamp for ultimate bright (white) light. I practiced a few more times. The posts and videos I have seen from other modders said you have a few seconds to move the right around before it sets. That was not the case. As soon as I put the ring on the Flip was rock solid. Couldn’t adjust it at all. Ah, the wonders of super glue! Maybe because my ring was metal and not plastic but I am not sure. It freaked me out a little that it took so fast because I was worried about it being on straight. But in the end it went on just fine and was is not coming off. Practice makes perfect I guess.

Here are the photos. The step down ring looks like it belongs on the Flip don’t you think? I shot some video of our tree in the front yard this morning walking out the door to work. The tree is so orange and red it looks like it is on fire. As soon as I get a chance I will get that online. For now enjoy the photos.

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Tags: Flip, HD, Lens, Mod, Nikon, UltraHD
Posted in Gadgets, projects, video | 9 Comments »

Flip UltraHD Wide Angle Lens Mod

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

I am working on a mod to my Flip UltraHD. This will be great as soon as I get my hands on the setup/down ring I need to make it happen. This is also my first time in front of the camera giving you come commentary.