Getting back from holiday vacation is always a bit odd… So to start the Gadget Dose machine again, I picked something practical. I’ll bet almost everyone got stuff that plugs in for Christmas…
This Power block is cool for its corner styling - and yes - you can plug stuff into it too.
Its only $12.99 and you can find it HERE
Now this is a game I’ve had my eye on for several years, lately it has come down in price to make it affordable. So much so in fact its one of the gifts I got my lad this year. ( Don’t worry, he does not read Gadget Dose yet)
Egyptian themed pieces with one, two, or no mirrored surfaces move about the game board in any number of directions, including rotation by 1/4 twists. Each turn ends by firing a laser beam built into the board which bounces from mirror to mirror on a series of pieces.
When the beam finally lands on a non-mirrored surface, that piece is removed from play. In maneuvering each piece, the aim is to illuminate your opponent’s pharaoh and eliminate them from the game, while shielding your own pharaoh from harm.
So its like Chess - with Lasers! You can’t get much cooler than that.
The game comes with the required batteries ( button type ) which should last quite a while as long as you don’t take the laser pointers and start zapping spaceships from your lego collection.
One small note - even the low powered red lasers can damage the eye so I’d say the ages 9 and up is a good call unless you plan to supervise the use of the game.
They retail for $44.95 and you can find it HERE
As the holiday gets closer I’m finding it hard to spotlight serious gadgets, so heres a goofy one that fits the mood.
Its a digital voice recorder built into a light switch cover. When you turn on a light the message you recorded will play.
Surprise your friends, family, or co-workers with a “special” message when they turn on the light switch!
This Digital Messaging Switch Plate is easy to attach to a wall and lets you record a short message and hear it back via its built-in speaker. Flip either switch and your message plays back!
Space for two (2) flip switches
Built-in speaker
Operates on four (4) “AAA” batteries (included and pre-installed)
One-touch record mode up to 20 seconds
Easy to install (no wiring, replaces existing light switch cover)
Parrot Lock (lock or change your message as often as you want)
LED light
Cool - and mostly goofy - you can find them HERE for only $12.97
(Click on the image to enlarge)
If you’ve been reading Gadget Dose for a while you know I have a special love for lights, and this one fits right in. The details on it are really skimpy - heres the description from the site.
In the clouds or underwater…..there are no limits to the powers of imagination. This new lamp projects on walls or ceilings and creates a relaxing, waving effect simulating being under water in a crystal blue sea and looking up into the sunlight.
Perfect for creating a romantic mood, or simply relaxing in bed or any comfortable place.
They do say the device uses AA batteries but not how many - Id figure 3 or 4.
With some mood music (or underwater sounds) this could create a really relaxing atmosphere. Sure- theres no lasers included, but then it wouldn’t be as relaxing then would it?
You can find em HERE for $69.00
How cool is this? Got a young one that does not like to take a bath? Put this bad boy in the water and you will have a hard time getting ‘em out.
Both the duck and the remote are waterproof so no worries about breaking anything. On a full charge you get 15 whole minutes of duck driving goodness. (Any more and your young on would be coming out of the water looking like a wrinkled prune.)
About $30.00 Product Page
add some fear into your banking routine with the Bomb Bank and you’ll never forget to save your change again. Why? Because if you do . . . if you dare have the nerve not to put money into your Bomb Bank on a regular basis, it will erupt and spill your savings all over the place.
Just set how sensitive you want your bank to be (i.e. how many days it will let go by before getting mad), and start saving. If you return to find coins all over your room, you’ll know you need to save more. And an exploding bank is cool, but the fun doesn’t stop there. The Bomb Bank also has a “Party” mode, which is a sudden death type game. After you adjust the sensitivity, each person takes turns putting in a coin. If you are the lucky person who puts in the coin that “explodes” the bank, you win all the coins!
A really nifty and fun gift from Thinkgeek - price is $34.99 and you can find it HERE
Tv tuners on Pc’s are nothing new, in fact I think the first time I saw one was back in ‘94. Still, how many people have one? Not very many. Price may be a factor, possibly not many people can see a direct benefit to using one. Why would you want one ? Well, heres a few benefits.
1- (The obvious) - You can watch TV on your pc - computer monitors have always been high def, now I’m not saying that you’ll get HD programming with this thing, you’ll still need a tuner for that. Still - have you ever compared watching a DVD on your TV versus the PC? Try it.
2 - You can watch TV on your pc while working on something else. Sure, you could resize the TV picture to be a small box in the corner of your screen while doing your work. Great way to keep up on your favorite show while doing that work your boss wants you to finish.
3 - You can record TV/Video/DVD/VHS on your pc. Yup, want to have a digital copy you can play on your pc whenever you want? If you get a little fancy you could use even a basic software package to edit out commercials.
4 - You can convert your home videos to DVD- or if you have some older VHS movies you could convert those as well.
The unit comes with a TIVO like recording scheduler - so you can set it like a VCR to record at whatever time you want. It also includes a MPEG editor - with basic editing functions.
As you can see in the picture above it also comes with a remote control - which may be overkill unless you have a big enough monitor to be sitting that far away from the PC.
All in all its a pretty useful box - one thing to look out for though. - Make sure your USB port is a USB 2.0 port. I do not think a 1.0 port has the throughput to make this product worthwhile.
And now for the best part (drum roll please) - the price - $24.99 !!
You can grab one at Tiger Direct HERE
What says festive more than a tiny Santa flying a helicopter around your Christmas Tree?
This R/C chopper sports features similar to the pico copter and some others, The remote control is a super wide IR controller with the charger built in. Simply plug the copter into the charger when it needs a recharge.
Santa also has a flashing blue LED for night flying excursions. The copter is designed for indoor flying mostly, but will operate outside provided theres no breeze.
It also comes with spare parts just in case you go and drive Santa into a wall.
Heres the full spec.
# Product Features Rechargeable Mini RC Flying Santa Claus
# Built-in Li-Poly rechargeable batteries pack The Flying Santa can be recharged!
# Super Wide Infrared Remote Controller with Rechargeable Unit
# Super Light Size (only about 170mm from end-to-end)
# Super Light Weight (the Flying Santa is only about 10g)
# Easy to operate & control
# Miniature design for indoor flying
# Auto Stabel & Prescision Speed Control for steady lifting-up
# Tri-Band Technology
# FLASHING of the BLUE LED Lightwhile flying
# Rudder Trimmer
# Spare Tail Propeller, Cross Screwdriver, Instruction Manual - English
# Functions: decoration, collectable, home and office fun
# HxWxD(approx.): 40mm x 70mm x 170mm (Helicopter)
On sale for $ 25.00 over at Toys.Brando.com.hk
A super fun gadget from ThinkGeek - heres the scoop…
these precision ChoroQ Qsteer Mini R/C Racers imported from japan. Amazingly we were able to zoom these mini cars all over our desk with nary a fender bender.
They also have a turbo button for an extra boost of speed - Choose from cute versions of the Nissan 350Z or the Mazda RX-8. Remotes operate on different frequencies so you can race each other.
for $14.99 its a great deal! Product Page
Just what you need to scare the crap outa party goers at your next holiday bash. Once they are done with the shock and horror of the tree singing - then their in for hours of fun.
You tie this silly looking face into your tree - so it looks like its part of it. Its motion activated so it waits silently for an unsuspecting passerby and then either lets loose with some jokes or funny songs.
Know what the best part is ? You can use the included microphone to record your own messages!
Uses 4 AA batteries. And for only $19.98 how could anyone resist?
Motorola really went the extra mile on this one, (pun intended). This 2 way radio set can transmit up to 18 miles! 11 Weather channels with weather alert feature - handsfree communication mode and a vibrating alert will page you if someone is trying to reach you.
There are many times when these would come in handy, for instance finding your wife in the mall - (thats my favorite). You could use these hiking or camping, or just to stay in touch while your out walking the dogs.
* Delivers a range of up to 18 miles (under optimum conditions)
* 22 channels, each with 121 privacy codes for 2,662 combinations for clear, uninterrupted connections
* Dual power, works with 3 AA batteries (not included) and rechargeable NiMH batteries (included)
* Approximately 32 hr. alkaline or 11 hr. NiMH estimated talk time
* iVOX for speech-activated, hands-free communication
* 7 NOAA/Environment Canada weather channels and 4 marine weather channels
* QT (Quiet Talk) interruption feature helps eliminate interference
* Backlit display for readability in low lighting conditions
* Companding technology to help filter out static between words
* LCD battery meter for charge indication
* Digital Signal Processing to help provide consistent sound quality
* VibraCall vibrating alert Other features include: audible low battery alert, battery save feature, keypad lock, time-out timer and a choice of 10 unique call tones.
Wow - these are awesome! - Another really nice Christmas gift for the gadget lover in your life.
They retail for $69.99 and the product page is HERE
Ok this has got to be way up there in terms of gadgety holiday decorations. - First off yes, its a snowman. Second - it makes snow! Third - it has a remote control. So you’ve got guests coming over and you want to make an impression - wait till they pull up and hit the remote. The snowman makes up to 5 hours of snow per bottle of solution - and 4 bottles are included. Voila -Festive!
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snowman generates realistic snowflakes that emanate from its upturned tophat and drift up to 20′ away, allowing you to greet guests with your own snow flurries using the included wireless remote. Its patented snow solution is turned into evaporate snow by a quiet fan that works in cold or warm weather. Includes four bottles of snow making solution that each provide five hours of snow making (snow evaporates in 90 seconds), and leaves no residue. Made of durable polyethylene with a nylon cover, the snowman plugs into AC
Woot - on sale now - was $149.95 now $99.95
There must be a good many people like myself when it comes to putting something down and losing it immediately. Wait, I just had it 10 seconds ago! This gadget pairing is made to help us folks with too much on our minds. (or too little?).
It comes with a thin pager you can fit into your wallet and pagers you can tack onto remote controls, keys, your dog, heck anything that might get misplaced.
whenever you need to locate an object, just hit its number and the respective pager will beep.
Its also got a proximity detect mode - so if a pager is buried under a load of laundry and you can’t hear it - it will tell you the device is in range.
Radio Frequency location means the devices can be paged even if they are in the next room and you have cement walls.
Another nice bonus is that every pager is also a remote so each device can find all the others.
Prices range from $24 for a set of two keyfobs - and $12 for the flat wallet style.
Batteries are the ever popular CR2032 type ( the staple of every motherboard on the planet ) Easily found at your local Radio Shak.
If you or someone you know misplace things, this is a wonderfully inexpensive Christmas gift sure to make any gadget lover smile.
Heres the product page -
Some other nifty Christmas ideas (and you have less than 3 weeks left ya know!)
We’ll be ramping up the Christmas ideas for you over the next weeks - Happy Shopping!
Create your own custom neon sign on the spot with these snap-together 2” X 3” neon letters. You buy the power supply for $29.99 and each letter you order costs $6.99
Basically they all link together and then you plug the power supply into the lot.
You can make whatever message you want, From Toms Room to Eat at Joes. Perfect for your home bar or playroom.
# Sealed blue neon letter blocks
# Low heat generation
# Choose from letters, numbers, and special characters
# Push button control for blinking or steady-on
# Up to 22 neon letters can be connected to a single Power Supply unit
Cheapest neon sign you’ll find! - and you can change it anytime you want.
Gadget Dose - your daily dose of gadgets.
Spotlighting technology that helps you live, learn, and enjoy. From work saving gadgets to toys for both kids and adults.Differing from most gadget sites, we feature products you can actually use.
Stop by often as we update every day, and if you have a suggestion for a gadget for us.
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