Gadget Lust Thread

[Taosaur]

My gadget lust has been off the charts this past month, partly because my finances are a little less strained than they have been, partly because I've had to get pretty intimate with my PC to troubleshoot frequent lock-ups (BIOS update seems to have solved it, though I'll give it another day before I declare victory) and partly because my ancient iPod seems to have finally shit the bed. I'll define "gadget" broadly to include PC components, but some things I've been lusting after: 1) Nook Color: this device is looking like a very nice replacement for both my stolen netbook and the dead (though perhaps recoverable) iPod. It runs Android 2.1 natively, and there are stable ROMs of 2.2, 2.3, and even a 2.3/3.0 hybrid, as well as a less stable 3.0 build, many of which can boot from a SD card without so much as rooting the factory install. With a 32GB SD card, I would have room for a generous music selection, as many ebooks as I'd like, some comic books, a movie or two, and plenty of apps. I'm also interested to play with Android a bit, but prefer to stick to a data-capable dumbphone, and don't really want to use my phone for books and music. 2) Any 100GB+ SSD for my OS(es) and core programs. It's hard to justify in terms of storage, given that you could have 3-4TB of HDD storage for the cost of a 120GB SSD, but my HDD is my system's weakest link, and decent SSDs are just getting within a quasi-reasonable price range. Based on reviews, I expect I'd see noticeably improved start-up and load times for my OS and any programs housed on the SSD. 3) Bigscreen, baby! My PC is my entertainment center, and while my 22" is perfectly adequate at PC distance, it's a bit underwhelming from across the room. It would be nice to bump it up to a 32" or 42" with my current monitor as a secondary display. 4) PS3. I'm not much of a console gamer, though it is my preferred format for racing and martial arts fight games, and better for some RPG/adventure hybrids. I do, however, know several complete non-gamers who use the PS3 as the hub of their home theater system. It seems like a device that would add considerable flexibility to any set-up. So what are you lusting after? iWhatnots are noticeably absent from my list, and I'm not a complete hater--my iPod Video was great for what it was--I'm just not a fan of the way they've approached their app and content markets, and as someone with at least the dimmest understanding of what my devices do, I can get a lot more value out of hardware configurations intended for the Android and/or PC market.

[Puffin]

The Intuos4... Slightly out of my price range, though! And then I want a simple 3Tb external hard drive for my mbp.

[Taosaur]

A wacom tablet is appealing, but I just can't see enough utility in it to justify the cost. I could also use more storage, but the SSD would take a little pressure off--if I restrict my installed programs to what would fit on the SSD (basically cut out 50-75% of the games), it would free up my 500GB HDD for storage. I'm having a lot of trouble deciding what's the first priority, Nook or SSD, and I'm still not 100% on the Nook being my best mp3/e-book solution. Obviously it's less portable and more power hungry than a dedicated mp3 player or e-ink reader, but it's still pretty damned portable, and it doesn't take much to make it a fully functional Android tablet at half the cost of any comparable device--plus, it's optimized for reading, unlike most tablets or netbooks. Starting next month, a.k.a. next week, they'll have them at Staples, which means it's just a matter of having the money in my hot little hand and walking down the street--for better or worse, I do see this impulse buy in my future.

[reci]

Taosaur, how much faster do you think your system will boot up if your OS and programs were on a SSD. I've been curious about them. I've heard they're a lot quieter and faster, but is the speed increase worth the price increase? I guess it's personal preference. As for me, I found a 320GB external HDD in a dumpster (don't ask). No wires were with it and I've been wanting to know if it actually works, so I bought another enclosure and it should be shipping to my place soon. I hope the HDD works so that I didn't waste $20 for nothing! I also want to upgrade my sound system some day... Edit: I did some research and found The typical access time for a Flash based SSD is about 35 – 100 micro-seconds Whereas that of a rotating disk is around 5,000 – 10,000 micro-seconds. That makes a Flash-based SSD approximately 100 times faster than a rotating disk. HDD data transfer rate at the rate of 80 megabytes per second typically. SSD data transfer rate at the rate of 170 megabytes per second typically. Although SSD are slow when to compared to small file writes, they have a constant read and write rate. At Cebit 2009, OCZ demonstrated a 1 TB flash SSD using a PCI Express x8 interface. It achieves a maximum write speed of 654MB/s and maximum read speed of 712MB/s Wow!

[Taosaur]

In my current system, a decent sized SSD would almost certainly net the most noticeable performance increase of any single upgrade. I'm looking at this bad boy: Newegg.com - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) With that, my system would be good for probably another year, year-and-a-half, until more games and other software would really take advantage of a CPU/MoBo upgrade. I'm definitely leaning toward the Nook as a higher priority, though, which puts the SSD on the back burner for at least a month or two.

[no-Name]

Prepare yourself. Spoiler for imageheavy headphone drool list: ridiculous Sony Qualia 010 Audio-Technica Import ATH-EW9 AKG 272 Sony MDR-R10. yes, they're wood. AKG K701 Sennheiser HD800 and to finish K240s this thread is now infinity times more sexy

[Marvo]

My friend has a one of those K240s. It's sweet, but it's absolutely shit for gaming.

[LikesToTrip]

The OpenPandora. I actually just ordered mine and it should be shipped sometime next week! And I've actually had dreams about it the past few nights... I can't freakin' wait! OpenPandora Everyone should buy one of these! Tao you should totally get this rather than that lame nook .

[Taosaur]

The OpenPandora. I actually just ordered mine and it should be shipped sometime next week! And I've actually had dreams about it the past few nights... I can't freakin' wait! OpenPandora Everyone should buy one of these! Tao you should totally get this rather than that lame nook . Awesooooooooooome, it's only twice the price for slower hardware, half the screen real-estate and a higher-maintenance OS! And it's all optimized for gaming, perhaps my lowest priority in a portable device! I actually have enough money in my hot little hand for the Nook right now, and I've confirmed that it is available right down the street, but I would leave myself strapped for cash on the road for a few days if I got it now...

[LikesToTrip]

Of course it costs more. It's being made by a small group of people rather than a large corporation, but it's completely open source so you won't spend another penny on it unlike apps for the nook. And the hardware is almost exactly the same. OMAP 3530 in the pandora and OMAP 3621 in the nook. And the Pandora can easily be overclocked past 800mhz. I'd much rather have a full keyboard and top notch gamepad over a larger screen. And the maintenance is half the fun! Having every system up to N64/PSX in my pocket is awesome enough, but having a full linux desktop also! It's orgasmic! But yea, the Pandora definitely isn't for everyone. You do have to have a pretty good knowledge of computers to get the most out of it. It's target audience is us nerds who love retro games.

[WinRic]

The fleshlight.

[LikesToTrip]

Does that qualify as a gadget? I've pondered buying one, but I highly doubt I ever would. Seems like a waste of money.

[WinRic]

I just had to say it, "lust" was in the title and someone would say it eventually. I just googled it, and a gadget has to be mechanical (i thought a gadget was just a small tool) It's unfair, there is nothing for a guy that is mechanical... Well not for a straight guy.

[Taosaur]

I pulled the trigger on the Nook today--yeah, no self-discipline I won't get a chance to charge it up and play with it until I get off the road tonight, and possibly not until tomorrow or Sunday, but even without turning it on, it's awful purdy... The NC actually overclocks easily and stably to 1-1.1Ghz, and has a very active modding community on the Cyanogen Mod boards, and I'm much more interested in Android than any other Linux OS. There's plenty of opportunity to get my hands dirty if I'm so inclined. The fleshlight. Someone's taking the thread title way too literally.

[OldNutter]

The Acer Iconia Tablet with Android We had it here at the store for like 2 days now, and I still dunno the price. I should go look now, but meh. All I know its is awesome, I want it, but I don't need it.

[LikesToTrip]

Why does everybody love tablets so much? Blech...

[Taosaur]

Why does everybody love tablets so much? Blech... Because they're highly portable and generally faster to access documents, media and the web. Touch also provides a more direct, if less detailed interface than keyboard and mouse, making it ideal for tasks that only require a handful of commands.

[LikesToTrip]

Highly portable? No... A smartphone is highly portable. It may be "ideal for ... a handful of commands" but it's definitely not ideal for typing anything longer than a domain name.

[Taosaur]

I hit a few stumbling blocks, but the Nook is good to go--the stock OS was underwhelming, so I set up CyanogenMod 7 (Android 2.3 Gingerbread) to boot from a 16GB MicroSD. Originally, booting from SD was just to try out the OS, but I suspect the SD I picked up actually gets faster small-block writes than the Nook's on-board flash. In any case, CM7 is running way faster than the stock OS even without overclocks, so I'm leaving it as-is. ...not ideal for typing... Yes, exactly Hence you purchase one if typing is a low priority, or at least you'd prefer not to have a keyboard hanging off the thing at all times--I may pick up a bluetooth keyboard at some point for travel, but anyone who texts will have no trouble taking notes or making short comments on a 7" device.

[Marvo]

Apart from viewing pornography, I can't imagine anything you'd do on a portable computer that wouldn't involve a lot of commands. The iPad tablets are a fucking joke, at least in their current form. In the movie Avatar, tablets serve as a kind of extension to the main computer. Basically extra screens you can carry around, but they also work as input of course. I really liked that application, and I can certainly see something like that happening in real life. Using for example iPads as extra monitors for a computer would even be possible right now, I imagine.

[Taosaur]

That's pretty much how current tablets function, Marvo. It's an access point first and foremost, and a "portable computer" as an afterthought. Most of the things people do on them involve approximately two commands: play/pause, forward/back, turn page (only one there). You use it to access data stores and information networks in the cloud and to carry a selection of your personal media, and if you like it can also play games or perform tasks. You wouldn't use it to produce a manuscript, but I could see the touch interface actually being faster and more intuitive for editing one. Hell, if you hunt-and-peck on a mechanical keyboard, predictive on-screen keyboards are probably faster for typing, too. Most of the people using these devices are using them on the way from one place with a computer (home) to another place with a computer (work/school) and may be carrying an additional computer (laptop) that would just be too awkward to whip out under the circumstances. Alternately, they're using them for things like reading where a handheld device with a simple interface is preferable for a number of reasons, and the relevant files and controls are probably nearer at hand than on any of your 'real computers.'

[Marvo]

I meant literally extra screens. You can pull stuff directly from one screen over to the other. When tablets reach that kind of functionality, I will be impressed and want one. Right now, they are just laptops without keyboards and less functionality. I don't see how pulling out a laptop is particularly more difficult or inconvenient than a tablet. The idea that tablets are "better at turning pages" is absolutely ludicrous.

[Taosaur]

Even an ultra-light laptop weighs two pounds and has a hinge. Now, if you have a more average 5-6lb, 15" laptop, are you really going to pull it out on a train or curl up on the couch with it to read a book? There's no comparison. Also, cloud storage means that tablets are, for most intents and purposes (certainly for the average casual computer user's purposes) "extra screens"--for your data, and for the network. I'm sure we could make a tablet that does nothing but sync with one 'workhorse' machine and maintain positional awareness of other tablets synced with that machine so that you can make fancy hand-motions instead of logging into dropbox, but it would be a much more limited device than my Nook Color, much less a real tablet. Any PTA or bookclub can run a meeting out of a shared dropbox folder and update files in real time from screen to screen. People who can't see the utility in current-gen tablets are stuck in a paradigm ten years out of date, seeing them as a "laptop without a keyboard" or a "portable computer." You apparently missed the appearance of the smart-phone and the accompanying explosion in network saturation and diversification of usage patterns. If mobile-OS tablets were laptops, they would replace laptops; they don't, unless you didn't need a laptop in the first place (*raises hand). They don't replace anything. They add another layer of access and another mode of interface.

[Artelis]

Saving up for this puppy right now:

[Taosaur]

Heh, my roommate would cream over that thing if he doesn't already have one. He's got half a recording studio overflowing out of his bedroom into the living room right now, and more equipment scattered over the tri-state area.