Wednesday, August 21, 2013

changes to the gadget family

So last week two new devices joined the collection, and 1 was retired :-(

I've been looking at portable backup batteries for ages and well last week's woot was worth trying. I grabbed the iGo BN00315-003.So far I've had it two days and will keep people posted on how well it works out. Some quick pros:
  • can with a standard usb charging cable with a 30pin iP* adapter (so I can charge my wife's iPhone4s too)
  • small and compact enough to fit in the pocket
  • built in wall outlet makes very convenient for travel
cons:
  • feels a bit cheap

secondly, my Uniden DCT646-3 cordless phone set of 10 years was retired. 10 years ago I rented a 2 bedroom POS duplex which amazingly only had 1 phone jack (plus the fact that we used Vonage at the time) so I picked up a cheap cordless phone solution at Costco. That phone set lasted nearly 10 years and I only replaced the batteries once.  But its age finally started to catch up with it. The microphones died on 2 of the 3 handsets so it was time to say good-bye... so based on a tip from Leo Laporte on his Tech Guy show, I decided to go Panasonic (actually I had been looking at them for a while since I figured after ten years the Unidens were counting down). I picked up another 3 phone set: Panasonic KX-TG7643M with dect 6.0 Link-to-Cell Bluetooth. The neat part about this phone is that it can be used as a bluetooth device for up to 2 cellphones, plus has a power backup so unlike most my old phone I can use it for a while when/if power goes out. My only complaint is the 'ringtones' they are a bit annoying, that plus the form factor is very different from my old phones, so it will take some getting used to.

No comments: