gadget zone
 

Hey guys happy new year!

Just thought i'd create a gadget thread since something cropped up.

The first thing is I am today posting from a new netbook I bought over christmas it is a samsung NC10
http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=itbusiness&type=notebookcomputers& subtype=nseries&model_cd=NC10RH/XEU

This is a great netbook for me because its small and has a long battery life, it means I can use the internet and report any incidents/delays/cancellations while i am on the move.

Is anyone here the owner of a netbook of any sort, what do you think of them? Will notebooks overtake the notebooks as most popular? FYI a netbook is a small notebook that does not have a internal CD/DVD drive.

The other thing is that at a recent drinks session I heard one of my mates be called a geek because of his fondness for gadgets and the whole tech wars aspect etc, I had to laugh though on the basis that the person who was jokingly slagging him off was the owner of a mobile phone, an ipod and a laptop which all would require some sort of "technical" knowledge to work them surely?

I'd say there are not many people who can boast not to own a gadget of any sort Iam sure that some of you would have been the owners of new gadgets over christmas whether it being a games console down to a music player so the questions I am wondering:

- Should an owner of many gadgets be called a geek?

- What is your favourite and most important gadgets?

- Could you live without gadgets?

I know that these are not the greatest of questions given RUI is an online website but these could be directed at nearly everyone- male, female, young and old

i think it depends on how obsessed you are with the gadgets and how useful they are and what stage in the development cycle the gadget is

for example - i bought an mp3 player in 1999 - relatively complicated to work and small memory - so that's geeky

but someone buying an ipod today -not geeky at all

same applies to netbooks - i got the original eeePC back in February 08 - small screen, not enough memory and linux OS - that's geeky

but buying one of the proper ones now with XP and 80GB etc - very useful machine that

i am very excited about the iphone i am getting soon though!!!

PS this is the worse sales pitch ever but I am looking to sell my eee 701 - apart from the faults above it is still a cool machine - so tiny! - especially if you can work linux - i can't be arsed -I'd take €150 (bought for €320)

I own a macbook Air and an Advent 4211 (msi Wind) I'm currently running os x on both of them. My personal experience on netbooks is I bought the cheapest for what I wanted... i consider the Advent quite useful for throwing into the hold of an airplane or for use on a packed train where space is at a minimum, with a 3g modem, quite useful! you wouldn't type the works of shakespeare on it but its grand for the commute! I note a lot more of them recently on the northern line.

My wife would consider me a gadget freak, though I doubt she would call me a geek because of it, more a disease of the trade :) I use an iphone on the train alot, for entertainment and for the quick msg to here too. Replaced the apple earphones with sennheiser ones(at least no buzzing music to annoy other passengers)

oh and to answer your questions

- Should an owner of many gadgets be called a geek?

Nope

- What is your favourite and most important gadgets?

Hmmmm decisions, decisions... Is a leatherman a gadget? If not, then my Tissot Touch, until the battery runs out..


- Could you live without gadgets?

Yes... wouldn't be happy about it but I can and have done so, well again except my leatherman?

Now here's me being geeky. :o Well, its my job to be one.

There is a slight confusion with the difference between a 'notebook' and a 'netbook'
Thomas's Samsung NC10 (which I own one myself) is actually a 'mini-notebook'. It has a 160gb HD storage and 1gb Ram memory. Files are stored and retrieved from the HD.

However Donal's ASUS eee 701 is a proper 'netbook'. Its doesn't have a internal hard drive hence it has very little storage and is designed to retrieve files from another PC/Server on a network/Internet (or from a external USB storage device). So if you want to watch videos or listen to music, it is streamed to you over a network instead of reading the file that would normally be stored on your hard drive. This is the way PC's are heading.

Now my Fav gadget is a Hi-Def Audio/Video Jukebox. All my CD's DVD's and Bluray disc are stored here (so all my discs are now stored in a box in the attic out of the way). You can put any size 3.5" hard drive in it (I went for the 1 tb or 1000 gb). Its so handy having all your stuff in one place.

Now here's my most geeky thing. A LCD touch-screen universal remote

hmmm i suppose if you want to be geeky... psion have the original netbook and netpad back in the early naughties, ran a version of epoc R5... Slightly biggier than the psion5 that i still have! Used Compact Flash for memory... not ssd...

I do like the Hi-Def Audio/Video Jukebox :D beats my MediaGiantPro :( I might have to do an upgrade..

Nintendo DS is the bizz for those boring commutes...

Digital TV tuner usb stick http://www.elgato.com/elgato/int/mai...oduct1.en.html yes we have digital TV on the west coast only 4 channels but perfect picture even where you normally get a snowy picture

Use the program guide (a bit like the sky plus) and with a bit of voodoo you can record two, or in theory all four channels at once

Encode to iPod settings, dock iPod touch or iPhone and you have the good bits of last nights telly the next morning, legend

the DS is very popular on the northern route :) see loads of them and more today than ever... must have been the xmas pressie for the discerning commuter

slingbox
 

have a slingbox connected to my sky digital receiver at home. Slingplayer on my laptop and 3G usb stick allow me to watch sky tv on the train in the morning and evening.
Network jumpy in a few spots between Mullingar and connolly but mostly ok.
Looking forward to Slinplayer version from iphone 3G.

am hooked on it! Am gonna use the. Brain and maths training on the way into work

Gone are the days of the commodore 64! Imagine dragging that into work everyday!

Rumour has it that an tablet/miniPC-size Apple Touch might be in the works. Having played with my brother's touch over chrimbo that's an attractive prospect.

Having had the iphone for 3-4 months I have to say i am not the biggest fan of it! I miss the nokia phones and i reckon it will be march/april when i have a N95 8GB or N96.

Don't get me wrong the iphone is not a bad phone but the onscreen text pad is tiny compared to the buttons on the nokia phones, the battery may be a bit better than the nokia phones but with the nokia phones if your battery goes dead you can bring a replacement battery with you. As for the internet give me opera mini on a nokia any day! on the iphone the safari closes while im on the internet it happens three times while i was posting replies it closed while i was writing responses and as expected the information was not saved. Also if you are on the RUI website and want to zoom in you have to click on the space below the username its so awkward.

The ipod and itunes on the iphone is not bad but nokia has their own music player and nokiamusicstore for the n96 so I am edging slowly towards a N96!

Gf got me an Archos media player Christmas before last. It's brilliant for the DART every day, or on flights. Finally got to watch all those DVDs I had at building up at home (after ripping them to mpegs). It's also saved me a small fortune in books, I was probably going through a couple a week. On the downside, I'm now praktikly ilitorut.

I'd hold tough myself for the DSi, due out next month...

After only three months i replaced my iphone with a nokia n85 and i love it! Although it is sim free not on the irish market yet it has the best keypad i ever used in a phone

Have just replaced my phone with a nokia 5800 and having had an iphone before i know what i prefer!

Also on it i have been enjoying o2s new mobile tv on it! Good reception !

Apologies for the blatant advertising!

so with all this talk of internet on trains, all this hype of the ipad 3g has me wondering....

Could we see many people on trains using this oversized ipod/iphone?

My gadget of the month is a set of Sony noise-cancelling headphones. They have made a huge difference to my comfort level on the commute from Edgeworthstown to Connolly.

You can ignore screaming children and it eliminates the noise level on the 29Ks to a tolerable level. 22Ks are almost completely silent.

I already am. Though my gadget of the month is actually my mifi modem :)