As I mentioned back in December, I received a pocked HD camcorder for Christmas and decided to try it out against another comparable camera that was out on the market to make sure that when all was said and done that I had the better of the two units.
The two cameras that I tested were the Flip Video MinoHD Camcorder
Here’s a breakdown of what I felt were the pros and cons for each model:
| Camera | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Flip MinoHD |
|
|
| Kodak Zi6 |
|
|
So which one did I keep? The Kodak.
As I mentioned last month I was considering getting an Apple 24″ LED Cinema Display to compliment my Macbook Pro. A few weeks ago when I finally got my fantasy football winnings for this year I pulled the trigger and ordered it from PC Connection. After checking around with a few places I was pretty happy with the deal I got from PC Connection. Due to them not charging for any taxes I was able to get a better deal there than I could have gotten through my neighbor who gets discounts from Apple through his work.
Considering that I work with dual 19″ monitors at work daily I didn’t think I’d be too impressed with a 24″ and was really actually kind of bummed that a decent 30″ like a Samsung 305T or a Dell UltraSharp 3008WF was so expensive. I must say that I am more than blown away after using the 24″ Apple display. At first I was really considering not getting the Apple since it didn’t have any HDMI or DVI inputs (for watching HDTV, etc). But after I realized that I really wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) be using this monitor to watch TV and the fact that without this monitor I would have to buy a Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter ($99 – to hook up a different monitor) and an extra power adapter ($79 – for convenience) the decision got much easier.
What really stands out the most with this display is just how bright the thing is. With the LED display it goes from off to maximum brightness in an instant. Also since it’s LED based the power it uses is much less than a comporable LCD display. Having both LED displays in the laptop and the monitor really make you realize how crappy older flat panel monitors are. Once you use an LCD display, you won’t want to go back. In addition to the power savings that the LCD offers this monitor boasts the same environmental (“green”) changes that Apple made to the Macbook. Everybody’s “going green”!
Overall I’ve been very happy so far with the display. Unfortunately the room that I’m turning into my office here at the house is a work in progress so I haven’t been using it daily, but when I have used it I have really been sad when I’ve put it away. As much as I may like to, having it sitting on the dining room table with a family of 5 just isn’t practical 
Once the office is done and I get it mounted (I picked up the VESA compatible mount too) I’ll definitely post more about it and how well the dual setup with the Macbook Pro works.
At this year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show) a company demoed a device called Powermat. What this does for you is basically allow you to have a mat that you would lay your cell phone, your iPod, etc. on to have it get charged. You wouldn’t have to worry about having 2 cell phone chargers and an iPod charger plugged in creating that nice wire rat’s nest we all know and love. A small scale version doing what was described here should be on sale later this year.
Future products could be “hotspot” areas on you kitchen counter for appliances, areas on your bedroom wall for your LCD TV, etc. Pretty cool, huh?
Santa gave me a very geeky Christmas this year! I got all kinds of cool tech gadgets (and many other kick ass non-techie things too). I am definitely looking forward to putting them all to use in 2009 and look forward to sharing my thoughts about each of them. Coming up you’ll hear more specifically about these 4 things Santa dropped off:
Obviously I don’t need both of the HD camcorders so I’ll need to evaluate both to determine which is getting sent back. Once I get them both and get a chance to play with them I’ll post a detailed review and what my final choice was, and why.
© 2013 Don Kitchen · Proudly powered by WordPress & Green Park 2 by Cordobo.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional | Valid CSS 3
