Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Xmas Loot

Christmas is over and I gotta say, I got some pretty cool gifts this year. Here's what I got!

Garmin Forerunner 405 Heart Rate Monitor
I've been wanting a heart rate monitor for a good while now so this Xmas my g/f got me the Garmin 405. I plan on using it every time I run, which is about 2x to 3x week. So far I've used it 3x. I love it! The target heart rate for my age is 185. I can hit 177, but I avg 164 during a workout. (I'm totally into the whole heart rate thing as you can see.) The watch itself has an insane amount features, so if you're a technophobe, this isn't for you. To be honest, I still find it a bit overwhelming, and that says a lot. But I think that'll pass once I get comfortable with all of the watch's features. So far, I love it.


iRobot Roomba 500 Series
I've been curious about the Roomba for awhile now, so for Xmas Santa (aka my parents) got me a Roomba 500 Series vacuum. (Maybe they're trying to give me a hint re: my apt's cleanliness or lackthereof?) I've only used it once so far, but it's pretty cool and does a damn good job cleaning up. This one works on carpets, tile, and hardwood floors. It's a lot quieter than my Dirt Devil and it moves pretty fast. I don't have a large apt, but aside from a few pieces of furniture, there isn't much for the Roomba to bump into, so it actually works with my space. I haven't done a "full" cleaning yet so I don't know how long the Roomba can go for (I think it claims 40 minutes).

Overall, I'm psyched about my new toys. They're both pretty tech-heavy, which I was surprised about. I guess I'm not used to receiving gadgets as gifts, but I certainly don't mind!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Pine Trail

So the next-gen Intel Atom processor finally made its debut. The new 1.66GHz Atom N450, which replaces the ubiquitous N270 and N280, is making its way inside next-gen Dell Minis, MSI Wind laptops, HP Mini 210s, and of course it's made its way into the new Asus Eee PC 1005PE.

I didn't buy a netbook over the holidays so I'm tempted to get this, especially with the amazing 10+ hour battery life that the 1005PE is now clocking, but I'm still a bit underwhelmed by the rest of the Asus' specs. Aside from the awesome battery life, here's what CNET said:

"Beyond that, the 1005PE eschews most of the recent trends in Netbook design, sticking with a 10-inch 1,024x600 pixel display, 1GB of RAM, and Windows 7 Starter."

1024x600?? Seriously?! So it's the same old meh with a new processor. I'm thinking if I should just wait for the next MacBook Air to come out and get a refurb Air. All I want is a nice, super light, ultraportable laptop that lets me stream Netflix.

Xmas Shopping

Every year I leave my Xmas shopping for the last minute and every year I either have to pay through the teeth for next-day shipping or I get lucky and get free shipping from all the last-minute shipping deals. This year was no different, altho I did manage to get free shipping from most of the sites.

So a few of the things I bought: I got the Samsung SMX-C10 camcorder for my uncle. I got Broadway tickets for my parents. And that's probably all I should disclose for now (I don't want to leak my Xmas gifts to anyone!)

So again, here are the stores that can still ship in time for Xmas Eve and here's a bucket-load of last-minute shipping deals.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Nook in the Wild

On my way home from dinner tonite, I saw someone reading from a Nook on the train. Like I said before, I really don't want an eBook reader (at least I wouldn't spend my money on one), but man do I want one! I'm still not sure if I'd want a Nook or a Kindle though, considering the Nook has gotten panned in most reviews. I think I'm just drawn to the gadgety-ness of an eBook reader. In reality, I prob wouldn't last a week reading from one. I think.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

iMac Problems

So apparently the 27" iMac that I wanted to buy has been having some serious screen issues. I'm kinda glad I didn't buy it 'cause if this video here is leggit, it seems like the iMac is almost unusable. It's a little sad that Apple — who's making billions in profit — can't even get its most popular computer straight. I might just wait for gen2 before I buy. Early adopters once again get screwed.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Droid Update

The Droid update has yet to push its way onto the review unit I have. So while I wait for that, I figured I'd mention a few nitpicks I've run into in the past few weeks.

*When you're on a call and the phone is next to your face, the screen dims itself to save battery life. Now let's say you take the phone off your face because you need to dial a number (like for example if you're drilling your way through an automated call) the screen is supposed to come "back to life" so you can press those numbers. That works 70% of the time. The other 30% it remains dark, so I have to quickly put the phone back on my face and remove it again till it finally realizes what I'm doing.

*The keyboard is a little slow at learning my vocabulary. When I txt, I write in shorthand a lot and every time I write "shld" the Droid fills in "Sheldon." Eventually it will learn what I'm trying to type, but it can be a little slow at times.

*The speaker sometimes stutters. I have the Droid set to chime every time I get a tweet or e-mail. 90% of the time it chimes fine. 10% of the time, the chime stutters for no apparent reason. This only happens with alerts (like tweets, Gmail) and not with music, alarms, or phone calls.

Ok, now some awesome things:

*I've gotten used to the virtual keyboard in portrait mode, which is shocking to me considering I preferred the landscape mode. I can't type as fast as I would on say a Blackberry Curve, but I can move pretty darn fast. Interestingly enough, I hardly use the Droid in landscape mode (only when using Maps or an app.)

*Some apps that are paid-only in the Apple Store are free in Android Market.

*All of the apps I've downloaded are awesome. I actually *use* them! I cannot emphasize this enough. The apps are awesome and I actually use them. On my iPod touch I find myself purging apps more often than I add. (I'll do a post later on my fave Android apps.)

*Push Gmail is great. Some people have commented that there's a delay, but I've only experienced that when reception falls (like if I'm walking into a train station.) I did notice that if you mess around with the system settings (like I did), it's very easy to disable the push Gmail feature without even realizing it. That forces you to manually refresh. So be careful not to shut off background apps that the Droid needs.

*3G is awesome. Since I got this review unit back in late October, I have been 3G-less only once, and it quickly came back up.

*The Droid has changed the way I use my cell phone. I used to shut down my phone every night, but now I find myself leaving it on 24/7. Kind of like I do with my iPod touch. I feel very connected with the Droid. It's like having a mini computer with me all the time, which is probably the best compliment one can give the Droid.

So how does Android stack up to the iPhone OS? IMO, Apple has the better interface. It's not perfect, but it's smoother. So if this were a race, Android would be 2 steps behind the iPhone OS. You hear that, Apple. Android is very close to catching up to you. It's younger. Fresher. And so close you can feel its breath down your neck. When's the last time any company did that?

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Saving on vitamins

Growing up I was always the fat kid in class. I wasn't into sports, I hated gym class, and I preferred spending my weekend indoors playing Super Mario Bros. than outside playing baseball. Freshman year in college I snapped out of it, lost 140 lbs., and got into a daily workout routine, which I still follow today.

For awhile, I was into the supplements scene, buying whey protein powder and post-workout shakes, but I quickly got off them. It doesn't hit you at first, but eventually you realize — "holy crap, I spent how much on protein shakes this month?!"

Earlier this year I got this juicer, which is a million times healthier and more natural. But one thing I've never stopped taking are vitamins. It's the one item I don't go budget on. This story by the New York Times is pretty interesting, in that it says you don't have to spend a lot of money on vitamins — if you need them in the first place. Check it out.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Want

Man, I'm so tempted by this. Nintendo DSi with 5 pre-installed games for $134 with $6 for shipping. The only thing stopping me is that I already have a DS. Granted, it's the old, bulky DS. But I seriously have to stop Xmas shopping for myself and actually get other people gifts. Still, it's very tempting.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Loot

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are finally over. And while I bought a few things, I didn't really buy any of the stuff on my Xmas list. I bailed on the iMac. MacMall's sale was awesome (hands down the best Apple sale I saw), but in the end the fact that the 27" iMac can't push a 30" LCD killed the deal for me. (I have a 30" Dell that I wanted to pair with the iMac.) That and the fact that even on sale the iMac was still $2,000 turned me off! But here's what I did buy (all deals are dead now):

*On Cyber Monday I got some PBS DVDs I've been wanting to buy from the Shop PBS Sale. 30% off + free shipping. My DVD (Latin Music USA — a documentary on Latin jazz) came out to $23 (from $40).

*Also on Cyber Monday I got two bottles of Quinta Da Cortezia Touriga Nacional wine. Excellent and very cheap Portuguese wine. Free shipping from Wine Library.

*Subscription to National Geographic for $10.

*APC Back-UPS Green UPS Battery Backup from Staples for $20 (more than 50% off).

*12-month Xbox Live Gold Card for $30 from Buy.com.

I wish I had jumped on the Scribblenauts deal, but hopefully it'll come around again. Still more shopping to do. Esp since everything I bought was for me!