A Useful Home Office Gadgets & A Way To Improve Dialogue On Old Movies On TV.

8. Chad Discoveres The LapGear Lap Desk.

Here’s what the company says about their LapGear Home Office Lap Desk with Device Ledge, Mouse Pad, and Phone Holder in Black Carbon. Step away from the traditional desk and experience the home office Lap Desk. The 21. 1″X 12″ Work surface Fits most 15. 6″ Laptops and includes a device ledge to secure your laptop in place. With the built-in mouse pad and phone slot, The home office Lap Desk is designed to make work feel effortless. The innovative Dual-bolster cushions not only create a stable work surface, but also reduces heat in your lap.

And Chad’s take? Chad liked this lap desk a lot. (So did I.) It’s very handsome looking and Chad loved the holder that puts your smartphone at the perfect angle to read emails. Although the company says it fits most 15.6” laptops, Chad had no problem using it with his 17” laptop. It’s available in many finishes and that makes the price vary, but they average about $35 to $49. 

Amazon link:  https://amzn.to/3t8Lzik    As an Amazon Associate Giz Wiz Biz earns from qualifying Amazon purchases. You pay no more.

7. I Can Hear The Dialogue In Old Movies Again!

–I love old movies, and by old movies I’m talking about black & white murder mysteries from the 40’s & 50’s. There are a ton of them on YouTube and although I can put up with some of the faded images, it’s the horrible sound on many that make them almost impossible to understand. Then, at a virtual press event, I found ZVOX. The CEO of ZVOX, Tom Hannaher, told me their system called AccuVoice makes dialogue in old movie understandable again. It’s different from other voice boosting systems which focus on equalization. AccuVoice combines compression, consonant-range boost, formant enhancement, minimization of bass output — plus other proprietary techniques they prefer not to divulge. The AV157 which I have, uses 12 levels of dialogue boost – 6 stages of AccuVoice boost plus 6 stages of their new SuperVoice technology. SuperVoice takes dialogue clarity to a new level by dramatically reducing non-vocal background sounds. Also helpful is a bright, easy to read alphanumeric display that shines through the speaker grill for a few seconds as you make adjustments. Inside the unit are three 2″x3” high-output full-range speakers powered by a 24 watt Class D digital amplifier with Dolby™ Digital decoding. The unit is small, just 17″w x 3 3/8″d x 2 7/8″h. There are three connection options: a minijack for analog hookups to older TVs (cable included), an optical digital port (cable included), and a minijack output for use with your headphones or subwoofer. MSRP is $299.99, but Tom said it’s always available at some retailer for $199.99. As of 5/1/21 it was $199.99 on Amazon. The ZVOX Mini is under $100. (6 levels of adjustment vs. 12 levels for the AV157.)

Company video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8EV3dpahfQ    

ZVOX AV 157 – Amazon: https://amzn.to/3GeP1M3  

ZVOX Mini https://amzn.to/3taIAGb  Under $100 – As an Amazon Associate Giz Wiz Biz earns from qualifying Amazon purchases. You pay no more.