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The Electronic Mailbox's Gadget Page
Some really cool electronics items to stuff your stocking with!!
Our gadget guy Rich has uncovered some really neat products for you to play with. All of the items on this page have been fully field tested by Rich and they all get his GadgetGuy seal of approval!! |
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Gadget Guys New Years Picks!!
Pocketmail
Get your email no matter where you are!!
Now you can communicate by e-mail - without your computer -
from almost anywhere in the world. There is finally a practical
alternative to hunting for telephone jacks or relying on
expensive wireless services.
Portable. Affordable. Reliable.
On Sale $99.95
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Kenwood UBZLF14
Advanced Wireless Communication for event videographers, travel, business and more!!
Zero-wait satisfaction: Kenwood's UBZ-LF14 can be used straight out of the box. Since it's classified as an FRS (Family Radio Service) no license is needed! Whether you're driving, shopping, sightseeing, or skiing, this compact FM transceiver is the perfect choice for communications convenience.
Complete4 system includes 2 UBZLF14
$199.95
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Rich's Hot Corner
Not all Videoguys are created equal. Gary and Jon take home and play with all of our new computer equipment. They are both into computers and enjoy pushing technology to it's fullest. Phil, is our microphone and analog editing expert. He has an awesome editing suite that he produces all of his videos on. He does not use the computer at all. Instead he uses Sima, Ambico, and Datavideo equipment. I get to play with the gadgets, the consumer electronics that we all love and need to have. Here is a review of some of the latest cool stuff.
JVC has come up with an affordable, useable , necessary piece of equipment. This unit has an easy to use address book, You load in the E-Mail address, phone and fax numbers. You dial a 1-800 # from anywhere in the WORLD, place the phone on top of the pocketmail, and hit the button. It then sebds and receives your e-mails and or faxes. The unit gives you a clear tone to tell you that the transmission was successful. A light on the side of the unit signals that you have mail. This unit has been written up in magazines and shown on ZDTV. At $99.95 for the unit and $9.99 a month for the service this unit has become a permanent addition to my briefcase. I have brought this unit with me on vacation ( to keep up with my fantasy football team) and bring it with me on the road when making sales calls. I give this product a 9 out of 10. The technology flat out works. In the future I would like to see an appointment book or schedule feature.
All you need:
PocketMail Service -just $9.95 per month for unlimited
e-mail via toll free 800 number (first month free)
PocketMail Device - pocket-sized device made by JVC
Access to a phone - cordless, cellular, pbx extension,
payphone, etc. - no phone jack required
I recently took these with me on our family vacation. We went to a beach house with 5 other families. At any given time there were babies napping, needing diapers changed, or needing to be fed. We had one radio at the beach and the other one at the house. They definitely came in handy, "your baby is up", "can you bring down some drinks" were the most popular transmissions. We also had a chance to check out the range. We were able to get almost two miles before fading out of range. These units are very versatile boating, skiiing, shopping, sporting events and vacations are just a few of the uses I can think of. If you are out with a group that can get seperated, these are a must. They come in yellow or black and have some nice add on accessories. Kenwood offers a headset mic with VOX activated technology that works from the sound of your voice, a lapel mic or a shoulder microphone(just like the one's the police use on the TV show COPS). This product out features it's competitors, with 14 channels and 38 frequencies per channel, scramblr and privacy modes. It blows away the competition, I also loved that the antenna has a swivel arm so that it can be tucked away neatly not always sticking up.These are also a useful tool for the event videographer. Now you can communicate with your crew , discretely and professionally. I give thes a 10 out of 10. In a very competitive market Kenwood offers a great price $199.95 a pair, a sleek design and quite frankly a lot more features. What ever your use might be you will definitely want to give these a try.
What is FRS?
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized
Family Radio Service in 1996 as a short distance, unlicensed, two-way
voice radio service for general purpose use. Family Radio Service is
meant to be used for direct, personal voice communications among two
or more people.
FRS radios are personal two-way (send/receive) radios which conform
to the FCC FRS specifications. In brief, they're an inexpensive and easy
way to communicate with family and friends over short distances
(under 2 miles). They can be used within a neighborhood or while at a
shopping mall, ball game, amusement park, etc. FRS radios can be used
by groups engaged in activities that take people out of sight or earshot
of each other while remaining in the same general area, such as while
hiking, hunting, camping, bicycling, or caravanning. FRS radios are
small, rugged, and easy to use so they can be used by children as well as adults.
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14 Channels
38 Talk Groups
Scramble Mode (Kenwood EXCLUSIVE)
Call Tones
Back-lit Liquid Crystal Display
Key Lock
Compact and Lightweight
Swivel Mount
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Extended Operation with Battery Save and Alert
Auto Power Off
Time-out Timer
Beep Tone Control
Auto Channel Select
Versatile Options
Available in black & yellow |
Third, the Wavecom SR from Rflink.
"you gotta love this gadget" says it all. Send your video and audio signal (VCR, satellite dish, etc…) wireless to anywhere in the house. The 2.4 GHZ frequency is wide open. This unit produces a clear signal that can be transmitted up to 100 feet away. The signal I get from my dish sent through the wavecom is clearer than the cable signal in the same room. With the IR sender I can change the channels on my dish from the bedroom. The unit takes some tweaking to lock in. The transmitter and the receiver need to be accurately lined up to get the clearest signal. With four switchable channels it takes some time to get it performing at it's best. You can go through walls , floors, and pretty much anything else. The only thing that gives this unit trouble is people. When a person crosses "line of site" between the units you might experience some drop outs. The Wavecom SR sells for $159.95. I use this at home, my alternative was a second satellite receiver, wires everywhere and a lot more money. Give this a try, I gave it an 8.5 out of 10. You have be pretty precise lining everything up. But if you maintain a clear line of site between the transmitter and the receiver, and stay out of the path you will be fine. This is a huge improvement on the older 900 MHZ products. The 2.4 GHZ frequency is not cluttered up with cordless phones and other devices that could interfere with performance.
Fourth, the JVC LTV18U color monitor.
JVC has a 1.8 inch active matrix monitor with speaker and volume control. If you own a camcorder with a black and white viewfinder then this is the product for you. With the TFT active matrix technology you no longer have to worry about use in sunlight and shadows. No sunshade or housing is needed to view what you are shooting clearly. This 1.8 inch monitor has more pixels (pieces of information that make up the picture) than competitive units that are twice the size. Now not only is the image in color, but you actually can pick up on details in the picture. Now you can turn any camcorder into a high quality viewcam. It also can be used for playback as well. Shoot your vacation footage and have fun watching it on the plane ride home. You will be blown away by the quality of this monitor. People will come up to and ask "how is that picture so clear". At $99.95 you can't go wrong. However, I only give this product an 8 out of 10. The 1.8 inches is good enough but I would have liked to see a 3 inch version.( this reminds me of the age old question, Does size matter?). Unfortunately I am not impressed with what JVC has done for a bracket solution. They took a universal mounting bracket and crippled it so it would only work on a JVC camcorder. We remedied this by making an adapter. The AB1 is a $10 device that will let you mount the monitor on anything with a mounting shoe. With our AB1 bracket I give the LTV18U a 9.5 out of 10.
These are 4 cool products that have many applications. now you know how I am using them. If you have any interesting uses or want to compare notes Email me at RICH@VIDEOGUYS.COM I apologize for all grammatical and spelling errors. Amy, the videoguys resident English expert was on vacation when I wrote this.
