Home and Kitchen

News, reviews and articles about home and kitchen products.

chumby Internet Appliance / Clock

My never ending quest to find the world’s coolest and most feature loaded clock recently led me to the chumby. What the heck is a chumby you ask? It’s a small touch screen device that functions as a clock and also displays information from the web such as news, stocks, photos and more by connecting to the internet via WiFi. At the time of this writing, the chumby is not yet selling to the public. I was lucky enough to get on a list to buy one of the first 50 units that were available. That means that it is possible that some features and hardware details may change in the production version of this product that should be available before the end of the year. With that said, let’s take a look at this cool little device.

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Coast LED Lenser LED Lantern (TT7105CP)

Although I’ve never been camping in my life, I seem to have an unnatural fetish for outdoor gear like pocket knives, compasses and flashlights. I enjoy going into stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods and spending time looking at all their gear. If you prefer online browsing, a store that specializes in knives and flashlights is Discount LED Lights and Knives. In the past, they have sent me several LED flashlights to review and the most recent product that I’ve had the opportunity to try out is the Coast LED Lenser TT7105 LED Lantern. While I didn’t get a chance to test this product on an actual camping trip, I did test it a couple of times during my version of a ‘roughing it’ activity… power failures at home ;o)

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Nellie’s Dryerballs

A new marketing trend is to promote organic, natural, or green-friendly products. I don’t know if you have noticed, but these items can be pricey. I am not a slave to overpriced trends, but I do believe in making eco-friendly decisions that are within my budget. If there is a product that will prevent my kids’ exposure to chemicals, then I am willing to use it. Nellie’s Laundry Products are touted as providing natural solutions to consumers and saving time & money. When I saw these dog-looking-chew-toys being promoted, I wanted to see if they would work. Julie asked for a sample and Nellie’s quickly sent two sets to The Gadgeteer Team.

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Swann Digital Private Eye

A security system for your home can be very expensive to install and difficult to operate. For those of you that have a do-it-yourself attitude, you can buy kits and wire the system on your own, to save a lot of money. But, if you just want a quick and dirty method of monitoring an area, one solution to consider is the Swann Digital Private Eye.

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DailyCare ReadMyHeart 100 Handheld ECG

When it comes to your health, I’m a firm believer that it’s very important to be proactive. It’s a lesson that I learned due to the fact that my mother died at a young age (56) because she didn’t take her diabetes as seriously as she should have. As a kid, I remember numerous occasions finding her during a low sugar episode. During these scary times, I would have to mix sugar with orange juice and coax her to drink it. Not happy memories for sure… As a result, it was not hard for me to make drastic changes in my own life, when I learned almost 3 years ago that I was also a diabetic. I keep a close eye on my glucose levels using a inexpensive glucose monitor so that hopefully I will never require medication to control my disease. Besides health monitors for diabetes, there are home use devices for measuring blood pressure, cholesterol and today I’m going to tell you about The ReadMyHeart 100. This handheld device from DailyCare BioMedical can measure your heart’s electrical activity.

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SmartShopper Grocery List Organizer

Do you still write your weekly grocery shopping and errands lists on scraps of paper, only to lose them before it’s actually grocery day? Or maybe you keep your lists on a PDA or Smartphone, which requires time for formatting and sorting? If you would like an easier solution than those two methods, I have something really cool to show you today. It’s the SmartShopper Grocery List Organizer from SmartShopper Electronics, Inc.

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Oral-B Triumph with SmartGuide ProfessionalCare 9910 Electric Toothbrush

I hate going to the dentist. I joke around and say that I’m still dealing with post traumatic stress from when I was a kid. It seemed like every time my sister and I went to the dentist, we had a cavity. The hygienist used to yell at us saying that if we didn’t open our mouthes wider, she’d have to start all over again. Yikes, I get goose bumps just thinking about it. These days you practically have to drag me to go to my annual cleanings. I usually make them biannual just because I don’t want to go. I must be doing something right though because I haven’t had a cavity since I was a teenager and my dentist never yells at me for waiting so long in between visits.

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VTech 6042 Two Handset Cordless Phone System

I’m sure you’ve all heard of 900MHz and 2.4GHz cordless phone systems. Maybe you’ve even heard of 5.8GHz phones, but have you heard of DECT 6.0 phones? I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of them until VTech asked if I might like to review their model 6042 two handset cordless phone system. I then came to learn that DECT 6.0 is a newly available frequency band (WiFi-friendly 1.9GHz) that provides improved range without needing to boost the power. It also has better protection against eavesdropping, that the older frequency models do not.

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Kill-A-Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor

You can’t turn on the television, open a magazine or read a newspaper these days without hearing stories about global warming and hearing terms like carbon neutral and green power. Whether or not you subscribe to the belief that we humans are accelerating our damage to this planet, I think we can all agree that the more power we use, the more we have to pay. Unless you live off the grid (another term we often hear…), you most likely have to pay a monthly bill to your electric company. If you would like to lower your electric bills and maybe even help save the planet a little bit, I have a product that can help you do just that.

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One Click Butter Cutter

I remember this episode of “Roseanne” from years ago. The Connors were sitting at the breakfast able and Dan was yelling at Roseanne. The reason being, she was double dipping into the butter and leaving food crumbs in the bowl. I remember laughing and going, “I know, I hate it when someone does that!” May sound strange, but hey, I get annoyed by seeing someone’s food crumbs in my butter. Here to possibly save “Dan” and me from the crumbs is the One Click Butter Cutter.

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Hivox SnoreStopper

Looking for a solution to stop the rattle-your-windows-snorer sleeping next to you? Do you need a Father’s Day gift that also rewards your Mom? Then, you might want to take a look at Hivox’ SnoreStopper. This innovative device is worn like a watch. When you start to snore, it produces a 5-second electronic impulse on your wrist, resulting in the snorer to reposition and stop snoring. The distributor claims that within 3 weeks, the SnoreStopper naturally coaches your body to snore less. To test this claim, Hivox graciously sent me a sample to review.

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RiteAlarm Clock

This might seem odd, but I’m as picky about my alarm clocks as I am about my gear bags and smart phones! I’m the kind of person that likes flexibility and for the most part, the typical alarm clock does not offer that feature. Usually you get 1 alarm and if you’re really lucky, you might get 2. Today I’m going to show you the RiteAlarm Clock from Rayna Creations Inc. which has 3 alarms. One for weekdays, one for Saturdays and one for Sundays.

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FlareSafe

Are you the type of person that prides themselves as always being prepared for any situation? You know the type, they pack 5 pairs of socks and underwear for an overnight trip. They carry a first aid kit in their car, stow extra house keys at work, etc. Well, if you fall into this category, then I think you will be very interested in the FlareSafe flashlight from FlareBrands Limited. What’s that? You say you already carry a flashlight with you? Ok, I knew that… But does your flashlight double as a smoke detector and a distress alarm? I didn’t think so!

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