Be a freeloader! Harness the free energy of the sun.

The Freeloader is shown in the photo.

Meet The Freeloader and the Freeloader Pro.

The Freeloader Portable Solar Charger can be used to power almost any hand held device when you're outdoors. It can charge via the sun or a USB cable. Once charged, the internal 1000mAh Li-ion battery can power an iPod for 18hours, a mobile phone for 44 hours, PSP for 2.5 hours and much more. It has a tough, but stylish aluminum center panel with solar panels at each side. The kit includes a USB charging cable and a power master cable with 9 adapter tips and a travel pouch. Freeloader's solar panels can charge its internal battery in as little as 8 hours or 3 hours when using the supplied USB charging cable. Think Geek says the Freeloader can store a battery charge for up to 3 months. But you should note that the Li-ion rechargeable battery requires 3-4 full charges before optimum capacity is reached. They suggest you initially charge it via USB. The higher end model, the Freeloader Pro with Cam CaddyFreeloader Pro has solar panels that slide closed for travel and ships with a "cam caddy" adapter that lets you charge batteries that normally can't be charged via a USB cable. You put batteries from your digital camera in the special "cam caddy" and that lets them charge from the Freeloader Pro. Being able to charge digital camera batteries that you have to remove from the camera is a feature I’ve never seen on solar chargers before. The Pro model also has a larger 1600 mAh battery, so you can add about 50% more run time to those listed for the low-end model. Right now the lower-end Freeloader is on sale at Think Geek for $39.99 at the link below. The Freeloader Pro, which has the Cam Caddy, is at its normal price, $79.99. (There's a separate link below for the Pro model.)

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/b1a6/

Here's the direct link for the Freeloader Pro:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/beb8/

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1321

Video the week --- Instant Coleman Tent

I was set to record my own "Coleman Instant Tent" Video when I learned something important. It's really a two-man job. So I left this week's video to the professionals. The product managers at Coleman. They came up with the "Coleman Instant Tent -- quite a feat of engineering:

Coleman Instant Tents - $137/Up – Coleman makes Instant Tents designed for four, six or eight people. , so they’re big. Set up takes 1 minute. The Coleman 4-Person Instant Tent is of course the easiest to set up. The tents feature an innovative one-piece design: the poles are pre-attached to the tent, so there's no assembly and no parts to lose. Just unfold the tent, spread out the fabric, extend the poles, and click and lock. The 4-Person Instant Tent has a footprint of 8'x7', with a center height of 4'11". It's made of heavy-duty 150D polyester taffeta. Coleman says that that's twice as thick as standard tent material. Every seam is fully sealed, so you don't need a rain fly. Campers who reviewed this tent said that is a big time saver. The 16mm and 20mm steel poles are durable and strong. There are also six and eight person tents available. There are a lot of videos of people setting up their Coleman Tents on YouTube. From watching many videos and doing a little experimenting of my own I've learned that you really need two people to set it up quickly. If you know what you’re doing, a minute set is possible, but heck - even it takes 4 minutes, that’s pretty quick! MSRP for the four person tent is about $140. But I found it Amazon for $110 with free Super Saver shipping here:

 http://tinyurl.com/5shwzgd  (I have not purchased anything at this e-tailer)

An excellent video to watch is the two Coleman product managers setting up one of their tents and explaining each step:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BkPQqBJzYJI

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1321

Easily locate your tent site, your car, even your hotel.

reTrace Lite from Celestron is a small hand held GPS device that helps you re-tracing your steps. If you don’t feel like fussing with a full-featured GPS you’ll find the reTrace devices (they are two of them) are simple and easy to use. Both run on 2 AAA batteries. The reTrace Lite can help you find your car in one of those huge parking lots or stadiums. You can give one to the kids to find there way back to the campsite if they decide to hike on their own. It can remember up to five locations such as your hotel, a restaurant you want to return to, or museum, visitor’s center, etc. in an unfamiliar city. (The Deluxe color version can remember 20 locations.) It can also guide you back to the dock or pier when go boating. The reTrace Lite has a suggested retail price of $59.95, but you can find it cheaper if you do a web search. The Deluxe version can be found on the web for about $100.  The link below is to the company website reTrace Lite page:

 http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?CatID=128&ProdID=790

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1321

And now it's time for Leo's Turn The Table Turkey!

Leo finds a nice device for this week’s Turn The Table Turkey. It was send to him by the folks at NewerTech.  It’s their new NuMount device, an easy way to hold your iPhone. With a large suction cup it can be used in the car, boat, or as I thought – on your snack table during a flight so you could watch a movie. Its mount is flexible and can bend in several different directions and twist into portrait or landscape orientation. Leo showed two versions of the NuMount. One is designed for the iPhone 3G, 3Gs, and the iPhone 4. It comes with two attachments, one for the iPhone 4 and one for the older models. If you have a different device, like a Droid phone, Newer Tech offers the NuCradle - the second device Leo showed. It connects to the NuMount and lets you attach a wide variety of phones. (Up to 4.75″ wide.) Leo said the note from NuMount said: This device retails for just $19.99 and at that price, don’t bother returning it. The NuCradle also retails for $19.95. So non-iPhone users are in for $40. In my opinion that's still reasonable for such a versatile device. If you do a web search you can probably find it at a lower price.

http://www.newertech.com/products/iphnumount.php

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1321

Back to Dick’s Gadget Warehouse for the 'harmless' bug zapper.

About ten years ago there was a great chain of stores in NYC called “Job Lots”. They sold all sorts of merchandise from brand new appliances to one-of-a-kind gadgets. Sometimes they would sell merchandise bearing a famous name which turned out to be not famous enough so that people would buy their products. Sometime I would buy an off-brand item just for the heck for it. One of them was the under $10 bug zapper light in the photo. One of the fun things about the “boxes of crap” from Dick’s Gadget Warehouse I’ve been selling, is that I’m finding stuff I forgot I bought. Like that bug light. It was never used, just stored on a back shelf, hidden from view. We had a very, very wet spring in NYC and so there are plenty of flying insects in my backyard. I have a heavy-duty bug zapper, but it must make a sound that I can’t hear, but it makes Fairway uncomfortable and she goes indoors. So I don’t use it much. When I found this bug zapper, I figured it was small and maybe wouldn’t make the same sound as the industrial one. I tried it and it doesn’t bother Fairway at all. Probably because it doesn’t work at all, either. After three days there was no bugs in the cup at the bottom. After five days there was a single fly in there. When I tried the cup upside down to empty it, the fly flew away. He was just resting in there, maybe getting a tan. It was good for a laugh, and good enough to be this week’s Dick’s Gadget Warehouse Pick.

If you’re interested in a Box Of Crap from Dick’s Gadget Warehouse, send an email with BOC in the subject line. I’ll send you all the info. dick@gizwiz.biz

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1321