Let there be light! No, let there be LED light!

CCrane introduced the first 60-watt direct replacement LED bulb about four years ago, the GeoBulb. It cost more than $100! But now the price has dropped to $39.99. (Don’t forget the first CFL bulbs were about $30!) The GeoBulb is the same size as a conventional incandescent bulb suitable for direct replacement in any indoor open fixture. It puts out more light than a standard 60-watt bulb but uses less than 8 watts. That’s about 45% less than even CFL bulbs. Also LED bulbs are instant on/off. They don’t take time to reach full brightness. The newest bulb, the GeoBulb3 is built for long lasting durability. It’s the first bulb built to last for about 50,000 hours! It just may be the last bulb you’ve ever have to buy. And you’ll be using just 8 watts of electric instead of 60. That can really offset the price of the bulb. As with CFL bulbs, as people start using them more and more, sales will increase and the prices will drop further and faster. Right now GeoBulbs are not dimmable. Part of the problem is that most dimmers don’t go down to zero watts. So while an incandescent bulb may appear to be off when totally dimmed, a super efficient LED bulb like the GeoBulb would stay on! Available in soft and warm white. Learn more here:

http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/geobulb-led-light-bulb.aspx?RefID=WS110401WSDG0100 

Monster Cable adds another gizmo to their Outlets to Go series.

It’s their Outlets To Go 3 Laptop. 

Whether you’re traveling across town, or to the other side of the world, there’s nothing worse than getting to your hotel or meeting room and not having enough power outlets for all your electronics. Outlets to Go 3 Laptop comes to the rescue. It easily fits in a small bag or laptop case. To help make it compact, it has a fold-out plug that can be used with 110 or 220 volt outlets. (But you’ll need to use your own adapter plug when using a 220 volt outlet.) Once plugged in you’ll have 3 AC outlets – 2 on one side of the device and 1 on the other side in case you have to plug in bulky transformer plugs. But wait, there’s more! There are also two built-in rapid-charging high-power USB port to charge your portable devices like cell phones, cameras, etc. Something else I like is that the Outlet To Go 3 Laptop also has a mini LED light which indicates the outlet you’ve plugged it into does have power. It's also great if you want to share that single outlet at the airport with friends or co-workers. The list price is $29.95.

 See or HEAR this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1171

Even if you can't play the guitar, you'll be able to "play" this one!

Paper Jamz from WowWee were a big hit at Toy Fair earlier this year and WowWee expects them to be a big hit for the holiday season. Paper Jamz are almost paper-thin musical instruments that provide kids with the thrill of being a rock star. What makes these guitars really unique; besides the fact they’re only about 1” thick, is that they’re string-less! Huh? Then how do you play them if they’re string-less? Turns out the printed design on guitar is touch-sensitive. Just strum or tap the circuit-embedded paper to get all the sounds a professional musician. Well, sort of the sounds of a professional musician. I managed to make it sound really awful. But in demo mode, you can play one of three actual rock hits. Here’s the scoop: There are six guitars and six drums sets to choose from. Each one offers 3 different songs. There’s also a cardboard amplifier so your kids can form their own rock band, hopefully in the basement or out in the garage. There are three play modes for the guitars and drums: Perfect Play lets you play perfect guitar to the three hits embedded in the guitar. Rhythm mode lets you control the guitar rhythm for each song. And Freestyle lets you play real chords or drum beats. WowWee says you can create your own songs – just like real instruments. And for the drums … well, you just bang away in time with the music. But wait, there’s more!! There’s also a karaoke function that allows players to mute the vocals, drums or backing tracks to really hear themselves “go off”! The instruments and amp are all battery-powered. Each guitar is $24.95 or under, while the drum set and amp each sell for $14.95. WowWee says the Paper Jamz are suitable for 8-12 year olds. But adults will play with them too. For a while anyway. 

http://www.paperjamz.com/ 

Hear or SEE this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1158

It's High Def -- it swivels and it's portable!

Leo loves the Logitech C910 that I use weekly to record the video version of the Daily Giz Wiz. TWiT often sends one of those C910 web cams to guests who are going to on shows often in order to ensure good video quality. But now if you need a webcam that can go wherever you go, Logitech introduces the HD Webcam C510. It has a neat fold-and-go design. But there’s more! It also a feature I love and really needed! The C510 features 360-degree rotation so you can swivel the webcam around to include more people in your video calls and recordings. This something I really need when I have guests at the Gizneyland Studio. Since this was the gadget of the day, I installed it and used it to record this episode. Leo thought the webcam picture looked even better than the C910, even though the higher end model has a Carl Zeiss lens. So the C510 is the webcam I’ll be using from now on. It features HD 720p video calls on Logitech Vid HD, or any service that supports HD video calling.  Something Logitech calls Right-Light and Right-Sound do a good job of making your picture and sound look even better. There’s one-click upload to Facebook, and YouTube so it’s real easy to record and share videos. In addition to HD video you can shoot 8-megapixel photos. Although the camera comes with software that only works on Windows machines, I’ve heard from MAC users that they can use this webcam with no problem. You just won’t have all the software features you can use on a Windows machine. List price $59.99, but do a web search. It’s on Amazon for about $55. And that price might drop as the webcam gets into more and more locations. 

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam-communications/webcams?sort=s4&filter=f1697 

Hear or SEE (using the Logitech C510 webcam) this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1166

Now you won't have to erase some of your favorite movies or TV shows because your DVR box is out of memory.

I love old movies! Every week I check the Turner Classic Movies Guide & record a half-dozen or so. Then I record ABC 90-minute World News Now daily. You can see how easy it is to fill up the memory on my DVR. That’s why I really use Western Digital’s My Book DVR Expander. It lets you stores lots of favorite movies and TV shows without having to erase favorites in order to record more. And now there’s a new version: The 1 TB My Book AV DVR expander allows customers to expand their DVR recording capacity even more! TiVo Verified, the new My Book AV DVR Expander can store up to 120 hours of high-definition (HD) television programming. It’s also been tested and is compatible with Dish Network and DirecTV DVRs1. I use mine with a Scientific Atlantic 8300 HD DVR and WD will be adding more DVR boxes as time goes on. Just connect one cable and you'll see a message on the screen asking if you want to use the additional storage found. Click “yes” and your new storage area becomes available. When I connected mine, my DVR storage was 98% full. Once the DVR Expander was connected, it went to down to 48% full. The new drives feature WD GreenPower Technology so they produce very little heat, great for cramped, gadget-crammed entertainment centers. But wait, there’s more! A camcorder storage companion allows users to transfer videos from compatible cameras to a My Book AV DVR Expander without a computer. USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces. $149.99 MSRP, but as low as $119.00 if you do a web search. That’s a low price for 1TB of storage! And yes, you can just use it as an additional hard drive for your computer. 

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=828 

Hear this Netcast: www.twit.tv/dgw1159