It’s been over four years since I got my 3D printer, and while I’ve had some success producing the parts that I’ve needed, it hasn’t always been a consistent process. I count myself lucky that I haven’t had the myriad problems with getting prints to stick to the print bed […]
Category: gadgets
Reviews of things I’ve bought
Sweet Dreams
Let me start by saying that bed warmers always seemed like a unnecessary luxury to me. That was until we got one 10 years ago and started using it in the winter to pre-heat our bed before we retired for the evening. Once you become accustomed to sliding into warm […]
Synology DiskStation DS920+
After six years of storing files on my DS412+, it wasn’t even half full, and Synology hasn’t yet pulled the trick I now expect from all hardware manufacturers – forced obsolescence through software updates. The old Intel processor is from 2012, but it still runs the latest DSM. We’ll see […]
reMarkable 2 Tablet
It’s been almost exactly a year since I bought my original reMarkable tablet used off of eBay. It served me well, but it had a few undesirable quirks that I couldn’t get past. Chief among these was its pitiful battery life (usually only a day or two before it had […]
Hubitat Elevation
In 2013, I received a SmartThings hub (1st Generation) as a gift for Christmas. Several months later I made the decision to begin the transition from my ancient X10 home automation devices to the “new hotness” of Z-Wave and Zigbee (I still have a tote full of over $1000 of […]
Wolverine 8mm Film Scanner
I am part of the generation that spanned the digital revolution which means I have dozens of reels full of my parents’ Super 8mm film going back to the mid-60s. I have made one previous attempt to convert these old home movies to DVD, with moderate success. The quality of […]
reMarkable Paper Tablet
I have been intrigued with this gadget for over a year now when I first learned of it. It certainly seemed too good to be true, and for that reason alone I shied away from it. The retail price made it even easier to avoid any serious consideration. But because […]
Linksys MR8300 Mesh Router
I wasn’t completely happy with the Netgear X4S router – it was missing a few essential features – but then I really wasn’t happy when it started factory resetting itself in the middle of the night. Luckily, it happened within 30 days of purchase, so Amazon took it back. After […]
Netgear Nighthawk X4S
The time had come to upgrade my old router (D-Link DIR-825). It had been a good performer, with excellent stability, but it didn’t have quite the necessary range (since I keep it in the basement) for our house. I also wanted to add some parental controls, and the D-Link firmware […]
Ring Video Doorbell
I received the Ring video doorbell as a Christmas gift this year. Overall, I like it. However, I have a few reservations about recommending it to others. First, the price. I would never spend $200 on a doorbell, and I would not recommend anyone else do so either, no matter […]
FlashForge Creator Pro 3D Printer
Santa was kind to me this year and brought me a new 3D printer, so I’ve been learning how to use it. If you spend any time researching these you quickly learn the importance of leveling the build platform. It took me several failed print jobs to fully appreciate this. […]
Acu-Rite Weather Station
For my birthday, I had this weather station on my wishlist. It’s one of those items I would probably never buy for myself, because it’s definitely a want, not a need. But my wife got it for me and I installed it on the roof this weekend. The installation of […]
Synology DiskStation DS412+
I think I’ve solved my storage problems once and for all. It’s taken me a while to pull the trigger on this purchase, but my previous NAS and its 2TB drive was almost full. The Synology unit is obviously way more expensive, but it does so much more, it’s not […]
CCD Barcode Scanner
Are you tired of spending hours manually entering book titles into your own personal database? (Well, okay, if you’re not a home-schooler, maybe you’re not, but work with me here.) If you’re like us, you spend a lot of time going to the library to pick out books for your […]
Eee PC Reboot
I’ve had an Asus Eee PC netbook for a few years. I was initially impressed with its speed and the Xandros linux load that came pre-installed. After about a year, however, I concluded that a 7″ screen is just a bit too small for me, and I discovered that the […]
IOGEAR Wireless Keyboard
Last year, I wrote about the Lenovo Keyboard I bought, and that I wasn’t a fan. It has its good points, but overall the lack of backlighting is a deal breaker. But I’ve found a keyboard that I can definitely recommend for the Home Theater PC enthusiast. This IOGEAR wireless […]
Netopia 3347 DSL Modem/Router
At the suggestion of an AT&T technician, I upgraded my old router and DSL modem to this Netopia 3347 combination unit, and I am very glad I did. He notified me that my old DSL modem, a Slipstream 4100 B that I purchased at Best Buy about a year ago, […]
Quest For A Good Antenna
An integral part of my Home Theater PC build is the antenna, and when I first wrote about the hardware, I wasn’t even aware how complicated things would become in this area. The RCA ANT1251, which is little more than a pair of glorified rabbit ears, did not perform well […]
Lenovo Wireless Keyboard
The Lenovo N5901 wireless keyboard is a small handheld remote with a full QWERTY keyboard and built-in trackball. It seems well suited for home theater (HTPC) applications, however, it has a number of drawbacks. The first, and most noticeable, is that in the home theater environment, there is a desire […]
Memory Foam Mattress
It’s been about six months since we bought this memory foam mattress at Sam’s. At the time, I read every single comment on the page, left by dozens (if not hundreds) of people who had purchased the same mattress. They all expressed the same apprehension about buying a mattress online, […]
HTPC Install
[This is Part IV of a series on building your own HTPC] Once you’ve assembled the hardware, and collected the software, it is time to begin your install. You can expect this entire process to take between one and two hours to complete. Please follow these instructions: Install Windows It […]
HTPC Software
[This is Part III of a series on building your own HTPC] I started out thinking this would be a Linux-based PC, but two things changed my mind. First, I’ve written before about my travails with Linux. I want to like Linux, I really do. But I can’t. Mabye I’m […]
HTPC Hardware
[This is Part II of a series on building your own HTPC] Let me start by saying that I did not compile this entire list of hardware through trial and error. Most of it came from Jay Taylor’s excellent blog over at AMD, and a big thanks to him for […]