Desktop - The Gadgeteer

Pertelian X2040

By Rob Tillotson / October 30, 2006 / Uncategorized / Computer Gear, Desktop, Gaming Gear / 3 Comments

Updated with information about new software release.

One of the more annoying things about PC gaming is that it is
hard to keep up with e-mail, instant messaging, and other
background applications while a game is using the entire display.
The Pertelian X2040 is an answer to that
problem, in the form of an external LCD
display that lets you see important information and interact with
background applications like your instant messenger and Teamspeak
while a full-screen game is running.

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Brando USB Rota-Rota Hub

By Julie Strietelmeier / August 10, 2006 / Uncategorized / Computer Gear, Desktop, Gear, Laptop, Laptops and Gear / 3 Comments

Here at The Gadgeteer, we love to discover good things that come in small packages. If it’s tiny, designed well and useful, we’re as happy as geeks at a HamFest. That’s why I performed an internal happy dance when the USB Rota-Rota 4 port hub showed up in my mailbox the other day, all the way from Brando’s shop in Hong Kong. One of these days, I hope to visit Hong Kong and Brando’s shop, but until then, I will just have to settle for testing out his products.

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Saitek Pro Gamer Command Unit

By Rob Tillotson / July 24, 2006 / Uncategorized / Computer Gear, Desktop, Keyboard / 21 Comments

If you play PC games, you probably know how important keyboard
control is to many of them, especially in the real-time strategy,
roleplaying, and shooter genres. But keyboards are designed for two
hands, and in most games you’ll always have one hand on the mouse.
The Saitek
Pro Gamer Command Unit is a USB controller that aims to improve
your control of keyboard-driven games with programmable action
buttons located directly under your fingertips for quick access,
plus a thumb-operated joystick.

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Chimei CMV 938D 19 inch Widescreen LCD

By Mitchell Oke / July 10, 2006 / Uncategorized / A/V, Audio gear, Audio, Video, TV, Desktop, Device, Video / 2 Comments

About a month ago I decided that I wanted to build a MCE PC. I
had built one for my dad out of an old PC we had laying around,
adding two HDTV tuners and a 7.1 audio card, and was so impressed
with it that I set out to build my own. Originally I started
specing it together to build from scratch, but I found it was
cheaper to buy the PC pre-built. Included with my order was a 19″
Widescreen LCD, perfect for displaying some high-def TV.

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Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Edition

By Judie Stanford / June 9, 2006 / Uncategorized / Computer Gear, Desktop, Laptop, Laptops and Gear / 58 Comments

For the longest time, I was the person that didn’t back up any of the files stored on my computer. Important emails, Money files, passwords, pictures, MP3s, programs I had paid for, Word documents, Excel Spreadsheets, years and years worth of ranch data and documents, reviews I had written – I was blissfully ignorant about

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Walletex Wallet Flash 128MB Flash Drive

By Judie Stanford / April 25, 2006 / Reviews / Computer Gear, Desktop, Laptop, Laptops and Gear, Wallets / Leave a Comment

USB Flash based memory drives come in so many shapes and styles these days, it’s almost hard to remember the time when every computer didn’t have a USB port and a floppy disk was the most convenient way to transfer files between computers. Considering that USB ports are the only type port common to every

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USB Brando 32-in-1 Card Reader Combo

By Judie Stanford / February 28, 2006 / Uncategorized / Computer Gear, Desktop, Laptop / 1 Comment

There seems to be no shortage of memory card readers that will handle Compact Flash and SD/MMC. But when a few of the more specialized memory cards get thrown in the mix, buying the right reader can get a little trickier. Today I am going to take a look at the USB Brando 32-in-1 Card

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Wireless Garden StashCard

By Judie Stanford / February 10, 2006 / Reviews / Desktop, Gear, Laptop / Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but the PCMCIA slot on my laptop is the last place I would ever think of to hide anything, so I guess that it makes sense this there is now a product which utilizes this easily overlooked area. Wireless Garden has introduced the StashCard, billed as “a secret drawer for

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The Ball Bluetooth Wireless Trackball

By Julie Strietelmeier / January 19, 2006 / Uncategorized / Bluetooth, Desktop, Laptop, Wireless / 24 Comments

I have reviewed four different Bluetooth mice in the last couple of years. First there was Bluetake’s BT500. Next it was the Mouse BT from MacMice, then ThinkOutside’s Stowaway Travel Mouse and finally Bluetake’s BT510. At the end of each of my reviews I always had the same complaint regarding the fact that there wasn’t

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Saitek Audio A-250 Wireless 2.1 Speaker System

By Judie Stanford / January 10, 2006 / Uncategorized / Audio, Video, TV, Computer Gear, Desktop, Laptop, Laptops and Gear, Wireless / 3 Comments

The house that we live in was built in 1928, but it had a major remodel in 1995. One of the many selling points when I purchased it in 1997 was the built-in stereo speaker system throughout, which was controlled by a multi-knobbed box which was attached to the wall by a bundle of cables.

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DocuPen R700 Handheld Scanner

By Julie Strietelmeier / January 2, 2006 / Uncategorized / Computer Gear, Desktop, Laptop, Laptops and Gear / 13 Comments

Being able to scan documents, magazine articles or pages from books is easy when you’re in the office with a flatbed scanner nearby. But doing that same action when you’re at a bookstore or library isn’t all that simple unless you plan to carry your laptop and a big flatbed scanner with you. The folks

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Plasticsmith’s Mac mini Stands

By Julie Strietelmeier / December 5, 2005 / Uncategorized / Computer Gear, Desktop / 7 Comments

If you are an Apple Mac mini owner, you already know that you have one of the smallest, quietest, and coolest desktop computers available on the market today. I really love mine! But the first thing that I realized after unpacking and setting it up was that I really didn’t want to set it beside

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BuddhaPad Mouse Pad

By Judie Stanford / December 5, 2005 / Reviews / Computer Gear, Desktop / Leave a Comment

“Rub Buddha’s belly for good luck,” haven’t we all heard that before? Well now a mouse pad is out that takes that old saying literally. Billed as “The only mouse pad to generate good fortune every time you use it,” the BuddhaPad is set to “make good things happen.” How does it work? Well, on

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I.R.I.S. IRISPen Express Text Recognition Pen Scanner

By Judie Stanford / November 22, 2005 / Reviews / Computer Gear, Desktop, Gear, Laptop, Laptops and Gear / 23 Comments

There have been so many times that I have needed to transpose written text from a document in hand to a document on my computer. When it is an entire document, such as a lease on which I am changing terms before returning, I’ll generally scan the entire document into Word using my desktop scanner/printer

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USB Geek Wireless Optical Liquid Mouse

By Judie Stanford / November 1, 2005 / Uncategorized / Computer Gear, Desktop, Laptop, Laptops and Gear / 2 Comments

Some days it seems as if my desktop is lit up like a veritable Christmas Tree, and I don’t see it getting any better anytime soon. I have green LEDs glowing for my desktop speakers, wireless mouse, PPC-6700 cradle and wireless router. Blue LEDs glow from my external hard drive, iPod charger / card reader

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Jetart Technology ThermoEye Instant Temperature Detector

By Judie Stanford / October 18, 2005 / Reviews / Computer Gear, Desktop, Gear, Laptop, Laptops and Gear / Leave a Comment

Today I am going to take a look a the Jetart Technology ThermoEye, a device with dual temperature sensors, which can be used to monitor the temperature of two separate locations – or two separate devices. Included in the packaging are the ThermoEye device, a CR2032 battery, a dual sensor cable, a Velcro mounting

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USB Geek USB Optical Car Mouse

By Judie Stanford / September 19, 2005 / Uncategorized / Computer Gear, Desktop / 2 Comments

When I was a kid, I could spend hours with my brother and his extensive collection of Matchbox cars. Mark had every cool racer from a 70s model Corvette to a tricked-out GTO. He had military jeeps, fire trucks and police cars, the gas station play set and a case that opened into a car

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StealthSurfer II

By Judie Stanford / July 12, 2005 / Reviews / Computer Gear, Desktop / 1 Comment

I really find it disturbing that even if you are completely fastidious about purging temporary files, personal information can still be harvested from a computer’s hard drive. What if you are on vacation and happen to use an internet cafe’s computer? Or what if you are a student using a PC in one of your

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Ideative easySD Card

By Julie Strietelmeier / June 10, 2005 / Uncategorized / Camera, Camera gear, Computer Gear, Desktop, Gear, Generic PDA related, Laptop, Laptops and Gear, Palm, Pocket PC / 2 Comments

Product Requirements: Device: Any device that can accommodate an SD card, or any USB port Ideative Inc., the company that brought us the FlexUSB doo-hickey, are now offering 128mb SD cards. These aren’t ordinary SD cards though… These cards have a built in USB connector, alleviating the need for a separate flash card reader. While

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Bluetake BT510 Bluetooth Mouse Review

By Julie Strietelmeier / May 26, 2005 / Uncategorized / Bluetooth, Computer Gear, Desktop, Laptop, Laptops and Gear, Wireless / 7 Comments

Product Requirements: Device: Windows XP,2000,ME,98SE Mac OS X 10.2.6 or higher After reviewing the Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless mouse about 8 months ago, I happily retired my run of the mill wired mouse to a drawer. I really love the MX1000, but I’m not so enamored that I won’t try something new when it comes

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