TechStyle

Back from Blogging Hiatus!

loretta — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:21:31 +0000

Hey there blog land! I just wanted to take a few minutes to let you know where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing. My husband has been ill and off work for some time now. This is the second time he’s been seriously ill since back in November when he was in the hospital.

This lead me to take a bit of an unplanned hiatus from blogging and from a lot of internet things in general. But, he is doing better. We’ve got a great team of doctors and specialists and he is back to work this week. Yay! I am happy to return to my blogging ways and I’ve got some great techy gizmos to blog about for you!

Sty tuned for lots of fun tech things, and don’t forget to subscribe to our blog feed.

Say Goodbye to the Dell Mini 9″ Netbook

loretta — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:28:09 +0000

Dell announced that the Mini 9 Netbook was officially discontinued after about 9 months on the market. (Hmm.. did they plan that?)

Netbooks are quickly becoming very popular! And why shouldn’t they? They’re great for travel, perfect for bloggers, and an excellent computer option for kids. So, why is Dell discontinuing?

The good news is that Dell did expand their Mini line and they have a few 10 inch options available for you to choose from if Dell is your preferred computer manufacturer. The Dell Mini 10v (pictured here in green) has a starting price of $299.

If you’re still on the fence or undecided you can always refer back to the video comparison of some of the most popular netbooks around.

10 Cool Gadgets Under $100 - Recap

loretta — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:44:00 +0000

So, over the past few days we’ve been looking at cool gadgets you can grab for yourself or as great gifts for Father’s Day (or any day) for under $100. The economy has us thinking more and more about the family budget, but it’s nice to be able to splurge on a cool gadget now and then!

There you have it folks. 10 super awesome gizmos, gadgets, and must have items that are all under 100 dollars. I hope you enjoyed going through this list of 10 with me! I might have to do this list making thing more often, it was kind of fun! If you have any suggestions for fun lists that we can build together just drop me a comment here! I’d love to hear from you.

10 Cool Gadgets Under $100 - #10 - Illuminated Keyboard

loretta — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:32:28 +0000

I have to confess that I love this thing. This is actually my keyboard. I came across it browsing cool stuff last year and had to have it. It now resides on my desk and I get comments on it from anyone that happens to walk by my workstation at home.

With the Saitek Eclipse II keyboard you can choose from 3 background lighting colors, red, purple, or blue to suit your mood. Mine is usually set to blue or purple most of the time, except when my son is playing World of Warcraft at my desk then he always changes it to red. He insists it makes him play better that way! -lol-

You can adjust the brightness or turn the backlighting off if you need to. If you’re nightowl like me, it’s nice to have the keys illuminated when you look down to get your bearings between sips of coffee!

10 Cool Gadgets Under $100 - #9 - Portable DVD Player

loretta — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:22:40 +0000

Whether it’s to entertain the kids on a long trip or to while away the hours on that long business trip flight, nothing knocks out boredom like a portable DVD player! These were once a high ticket luxury item, now they come standard in most new vehicles and are easy enough to pick up for well under $100. My how fast times change.

Just pop in your favorite DVD, sit back and relax. You can also enjoy your favorite MP3-CD and CD music, or admire your JPEG photos anytime, anyplace on this brilliant 7 inch screen display.

Built-in stereo speakers for great sound quality, and weighing just 1.56 pounds for go anywhere style. The batteries are rechargeable and the package includes a car kit so you’re ready to go right out of the box.

10 Cool Gadgets Under $100 - #8 - a New Kodak Camera!

loretta — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:05:02 +0000

You can grab a Kodak EasyShare camera within our price range and have enough money left in the budget to grab a memory card or two for all the great pictures you’re going to snap with it, and probably even enough left over for a nice carrying case as well!

Everyone wants an easy to use camera that is portable, lightweight, and makes their pictures look great. This is a great point and shoot digital camera for the price. It packs a lot of features into a tiny, affordable package.

8.1 MP for prints up to 30 × 40 in.
3X optical zoom lens
Image stabilization and blur reduction technology
HD still capture
Face detection technology
…. and more! All the value you’d expect from a name like Kodak in the photography industry.

Kodak EasyShare M893 IS Digital Camera is available in these stylish colors:

~ the purple shade is my favorite ~

10 Cool Gadgets Under $100 - #7 - iPassion Rose Colored Flash Drive

loretta — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:56:02 +0000

This little gadget has both form and function for carrying your data around. Our list of 10 Cool Gadgets wouldn’t be complete without a flash drive of some kind thrown into the mix!

But, this isn’t just any flash drive. The Cyanics 2GB i-Passion U22 USB Flash Drive features elegant design and is decorated with rose colored Swarovski crystals. It is compact, lightweight and it has fast data transfer. Supports USB 2.0 and Compatible with Window (2000 or after), Mac and Linux

You can wear it around your neck, on your wrist, on your keyring, or carry it discretely in your bag until you need it. You’re going to carry data anyway, you might as well carry it in style!

10 Cool Gadgets Under $100 - #6 - Logitech Premium Headset

loretta — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:11:35 +0000

This is actually my Logitech headset that I use at my desk! It works great for both listening and chatting. I use this during webinars, chat sessions on Skype, playing World of Warcraft, and listening to audio files to transcribe. It also comes in pretty handy when I want to make a screencasting tutorial using CamStudio.

If you need a headset for any reason I highly recommend just about anything from Logitech. This is one area where they really excel and produce a high quality item. I’ve been using their headsets and microphones exclusively for several years now.

I only hadto replace my last headset because the puppy chewed through the cord! It was still working perfectly after 2 years ofuse for transcription and daily use.

10 Cool Gadgets Under $100 - #5 - Dymo Label Maker

loretta — Fri, 15 May 2009 07:25:39 +0000

Just about everyone could use a little more organization in their lives. Having a label maker handy can make even the disorganized seem organized again. To keep you even more on top of things, this label maker uses direct thermal print technology, which means no messy ink cartridges to handle.

The ergonomic design of this handy gadget from Dymo makes it easy to hold in one hand, while wrangling kids and gathering supplies with the other hand. With a little practice you can actually use this unit one handed if you need to. Get out those text messaging thumbs and type away on the keypad, hit print, and you’re off and running with everything properly labeled.

The uses of a label maker in general are unending. I purchased ours right before we moved, and it came in extremely handy for labeling just about everything. The kid’s lunch containers and school supplies were all labeled quickly and easily using the Dymo label maker this year. I just entered their name and student ID number, gave it a fun border, changed the font and hit the print button.

You print, cut, peel, and stick with no fuss. In the 8 months I’ve been using our label maker I’ve gotten a perfect label every single time. It’s completely fool proof. The kids have even used it to print off their own labels for extra school supplies, cd’s, toys, and all the little things kids tend to carry around with them (and fight over! LOL)

Think boring labels are all you can do with this shiny little printer? Think again. There’s a wide variety of label tape available to go with your Dymo Letratag Plus, allowing you to expand from typical label making into something new and fun. Mix and match your label tapes, fonts, and text styles to create unique labels with a personal touch.

10 Cool Gadgets Under $100 - #4 - Small Pen Tablet

loretta — Thu, 14 May 2009 07:17:19 +0000

Okay this might not be a must-have for everybody, but it is definitely a lot of fun to play around with! One of the best features of this little gizmo is that it works with both MAC and PC - no special add ons needed if you’re MAC user!

You can use the Small Pen Tablet to edit, retouch, and enhance your digital photographs. Create a collage with your favorite pictures, design your own unique borders, or write directly on your photos in your own handwriting.

Of course, drawing, sketching, and illustrating are a breeze with this little gizmo at your side. I love being able to hand write things and include them in my graphics, and my kids like to draw and watch it appear on the screen. Price tag is just under $100.

Supports widescreen displays and has a textured work surface for a natural pen-on-paper feel. Now there’s a simple, easy, and fun way to harness your creativity. Bamboo Fun makes your computer your canvas, allowing you to freely express yourself by simply touching the pen tip to the tablet.