Small laptops can be great, but they also offer "small" sound.

When you get a small laptop, you won’t get big, decent sound. There’s really no way around that because tiny laptop cases have no room for decent speakers. The way around it is of course is to just add optional speakers. That’s okay desktop use, but not for the road. Enter the folks at Edifier. They have an easy solution to getting decent sound in a tiny package. It’s their Sound To Go micro speaker system. Well maybe it’s a touch bigger than micro at 10 ½ inches wide, 1 ½” inches high and 1 ¾” deep. It’s USB powered and has a 3.5mm auxiliary input port for listening to music from non-computer device like your MP3 player. Sound To Go has no power source of it’s own, so even if you use to play your MP3 tunes it either has to be plugged into an operating USB port, or as I’ve used it – via one of the those AC/USB adapters you plug into an outlet. If you’re using with your computer, the single USB connection provides both power and the audio. It’s just plug-and-play, the software loads automatically. There’s only one button on the speaker and that’s to control the volume. It takes a few tries to get used to. You hold the button steady to reduce the volume, and press quickly and let go to raise the volume. Inside the high tech aluminum case are two 1-1/4-inch mid range drivers, two 1-1/4inch tweeters and a single 3 x 1-1/4-inch oval subwoofer. It also has a built-in amplifier, which can provide very decent volume. The single blue LED light signals when the device has power. The wedge shaped design fits perfectly at the hinge of an open laptop and looks good too. With five speakers, the sound quality is really good, especially for its size. Compared to your laptop’s built in speakers, you’ll really be impressed with the improvement. It comes with two cables and a travel bag. It’s about $50 at the Apple Store and online. 

http://www.edifier-international.com/products/edifier-image/sound-go

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1301

A cordless headset telephone from the past with a couple of problems.

Friday, March 4th, 2011, Netcast 1300 – Yes, we made it to 1300 Netcasts!

Image from Ebay shows IBM logo, not Bell Sonecar like mine.My Bell Sonecor 900MHz Cordless Headset Telephone came out in 1999. Back then 900MHz analog operation was considered high tech. It’s a two-piece system. There’s a base-unit speakerphone, and a cordless headset. There are dialing pads on both. The base unit was probably one of the first to also allow the phone to be connected to a computer via speaker and microphone jacks on the back on the unit. I found two problems with the headset unit. I expected to hear the caller’s voice in both the right and left ear, but it turns out the foam pad on the left earpiece is merely there to cushion the headset. Only the right earpiece has sound. Plus you really can’t use the keypad on the headset because you can’t see it when you’re wearing the unit. Perhaps you could dial it looking in the mirror, or as Leo suggested, you could ask a friend to dial a number for you while you were wearing it. And you do look quite dorky wearing it. As I recall the voice quality was okay, but it really wasn’t very comfortable. I didn’t use it long before it found its way into Dick’s Gadget Warehouse. Checking on Ebay it looks like this same device is available with the IBM brand logo on it.

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1300

Every worry you might drop your keys, camera or cell phone overboard?

Thursday, March 3^nd, 2011, Netcast 1299

Back on Daily Giz Wiz 149 for Thursday 14 September 2006 Leo and I had a lot of fun with the Key Buoy. You attach it your keys and if they dropped into the water, Key buoy will automatically open, expand and eject an upright 14" bright orange air tube straight up into air. It didn’t work as planned and looked pretty funny. Today there’s a different, more feature laden device called Waterbuoy. (It’s from a different company too.) It not only can prevent your keys from sinking, but you can use one to float any of your valuables up to 2.2 pounds. If you need to protect something heavier, just attach multiple Waterbuoys. Before I tried it for the very first time, I waited until we were recording this episode of the Daily Giz Wiz. After I dropped it into a large tube of water it looked like it wasn’t going to do anything. But then the water activated trigger responded, inflating a special balloon that floated my keys to the top of the water-filled glass container. Waterbuoy reacts after submersion in normal temperatures, but the company says it won't accidentally activate if it gets splashed or rained on. Once the special balloon inflates, it should float your stuff to the surface and keep it there for up to 24 hours. A great feature is a built in flashing LED light to help you items dropped overboard at night! Once activated, Waterbuoy has done it job and has to be replaced. At the company website it sells for $12.95

www.water-buoy.net

At www.thinkgeek.com it’s sells for $9.99

Hear or see this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1299

Bet you’ve never seen or heard about an alarm system like this one.

Wednesday, March 2^nd, 2011, Netcast 1298

The company, GOST that markets this security system says that most property loss occurs in the initial minutes of a break-in. Thieves grab valuables and leave before police or security teams respond. Every if an alarm sounds then can still grab valuables and run. But what is the thieves couldn’t see the valuables? That’s where the GOST Cloak System comes into play. When it’s triggered by a break-in it fills the protected area with an impenetrable cloud of smoke almost instantly. No only will it confuse the thieves, but they won’t be able to see valuables to run off with. And it will most likely be scary, so I suspect they’ll flee the premises quickly. I had a demo inside a small trailer when I was at the Miami Boat Show. Before they closed the trailer door they asked if anyone was claustrophobic. I am, but I wanted to see the demo, so I stayed. When the alarm was triggered, dense fog vapor filled the trailer and it was just about impossible to see anything. We were told the specially formulated glycol solution is classified as a foodstuff and not harmful. For a few seconds I thought I was going to have trouble breathing, but I was fine. I could see that where this cloud-producing device could be an effective theft deterrent. But it’s not cheap. It costs about $4,000, so it for those who have really expensive equipment, jewelry, etc. to protect. It’s designed homes, offices, yachts, workshops, maybe even TV studios!  As I mentioned to Leo on this Netcast I had a disco aboard my 50’ houseboat years ago with two fog machines. Who knew I also had the makings of a great alarm system! 

You can see a demo at the company website: www.gostglobal.com.

I posted my video from inside the trailer on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahHukLnoUFA

See or hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1298