MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I'm an epic geek, and as such get occasional gadget lust. I love shiny new tech.
Strange urge to get a new "toy" to play with, what have you got recently?
Budget?
Helicopters / quadcopters seem to be popular amongst the STW Massive at the mo.
Most recent gadgery-nadgery purchases;
Canon flippy outy screen DSLR
Olympus TG1 bombproof compact digital camera
Samsung Ickle Tablet
All very good so far! 🙂
Apple TV?
FIIO E6 headphone amp?
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Doodle pen?
Some lego technic, preferably old stuff.
I'm not a gadget nerd, but I'm sat with a couple of quid spare and have been looking at one of the kindle hd fire things, and now I am followed around by them thanks to google ads and the like on every website I visit.
I think I might treat myself to a new toy for my holiday this year which will involve lying reading in the sun
My next gadget is going to be a sound bar
Raspberry PI ? ( depending on your definition of shiny )
Just turned a non-smart TV into a fairly clever one with RaspBMC and a dinky wireless keyboard.
I like the samsung tab2 I got the other day. Easier to hold than my ipad therefore better.
Raspberry pi would be a great choice!
One of these would be awesome.
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Budget?
Dunno, might spend £100 on a whim? depends really.
Helicopters / quadcopters
Slightly intrigued, but then the interest for me would be controlling them with a computer/phone/whatever...and then that becomes a bit too much like work for me...
Canon flippy outy screen DSLR
Olympus TG1 bombproof compact digital camera
Samsung Ickle Tablet
Have a couple m4/3 cameras, and an iPad. Strangely tempted by a nexus 7 but absolutely no need for one!
[quote> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android
If I could buy a pebble today, I probably would. But you can't buy them just now!
Apple TV
Have a mythbox setup (have done for years) so no real need. I can airplay through it, and rarely need/want to.
FiiO
Good idea, but I use fairly cheap headphones at work anyhow, and proper stereo at home.
3doodler
That's quite cool...
Lego technic
Reminds me, I've a crane to re-build..
kindle hd fire ...reading in the sun
You don't want a fire to read in the sun - lcd so will be crap.
My next gadget is going to be a sound bar
Tv is hooked up through my hifi anyhow.
Raspberry PI
Yeah, I keep thinking about one. But not sure what I'd *do* with it. RasBMC is pointless - I have a mythbox hooked to TV and Amp. Playing with linux etc. - well as I said I have an always-on linux box anyhow. I could hook it to some other hardware...but what? Hmmm.
I like the samsung tab2 I got the other day. Easier to hold than my ipad therefore better.
I'd buy a N7 over a samsung...but then I've had android tablets before (for work) and in general, prefer my ipad (Lets not get into the whys etc. here!)
Suunto Ambit GPS Watch
http://www.suunto.com/gb/en/collections/suunto-ambit
Great battery life (15 hours, 50 hours or 30 days depending on use)
100m water proof
fully customisable screens for different activities
Compass
Barometer/altimeter
Navigation functionality
all the usual watch stuff
Just about wearable as an everyday watch
great gadget.
Suunto Ambit GPS Watch
Now that's a nice gadget... not cheap mind!
It's why I like the idea of a pebble though...the watch is just a display then you implement all the functionality on a phone which sits in your bag (and is easily replaced/updated etc etc)
My next gadget is going to be a sound bar[i]Tv is hooked up through my hifi anyhow.[/i]
So is mine (but just basic stereo through a 'good' amp). Fancied some clarity on dialogue that seems to be lacking in the set-up I have. Fine when it is loud, but when the kids are asleep upstairs it would be good to be able to hear dialogue without pumping the volume up.
Looking at this one http://www.whathifi.com/review/nb3520a
At PC World for £200 now.
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Solar panel to charge your current gadgets, just got one that charges my I pad.
Ooh, I know. Arduino starter kit and a project ideas book.
parkesie - Member
Solar panel to charge your current gadgets, just got one that charges my I pad.
Nice idea! Linky please! Especially if it will charge other (betterer) products! 😉
[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PortaPow-Premium-Solar-USB-Charger-Panel-Battery-Pack-5V-5W-satnav-garmin-iphone-/221028289122?pt=UK_MobilePhones_MobilePhoneAccessories_MobilePhoneChargers&hash=item3376500a62 ]Solar panel[/url]. They do them without the battery pack and slightly less powerful panels. Will charge just about anything that charges via USB.
solar panel
Meh, I use a usb battery pack thingy when I need this. Solar panels aren't really good/efficient enough. Unless they're really big, then that's not practical.
Arduino
Vaguely tempting, though maybe more tempted to go the route of GPIO on a raspberry Pi..... but then I think what would I want to control (for either of them)? Any suggestions? Some ideas...
Home automation - I'd love to control my lighting/heating, but I'm in rented accomodation so I don't think they'd appreciate me messing about with the wiring! When I get my own place though...
Maybe some sort of clock, projecting the time (or other info) on a wall somehow...but with what? lasers? Hmmm.... how? Raster scan simple stuff? But raster how? Motors? Noisy...etc.
Arduino with a quadrocopter. See how long it takes you to make it able to fly itself. Then add some object recognition and get it to follow you down trails whilst carrying a gopro.
Arduino with a quadrocopter. See how long it takes you to make it able to fly itself
As I said, a bit too close to the day job...it'd be fun but I need to do something different some of the time!
Would need a bit more cpu power than an arduino to track/follow, but I could implement that I think. Would probably use a cheap android phone.
Tempting project idea, but as I say a bit too much like work and I've visions of me piling a quadcopter into someone/thing.. not cheap either!
Shiny, new and more than a little cool. I've got mine on preorder.
[url= https://www.leapmotion.com/ ]Leap Motion[/url]
also got a Leap on pre-order.
But also tempted to pre-order one of these too:
FFS, why are my videos not embedding today?
MOD: Because you are using the short code rather than full URL
Just put in an order for this ... 😀
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After I bought this two weeks ago from STW member ... 
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This what I really really want ... 😆
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On budget get this ... 🙄
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How about a fitbit or withings scale?
[nsfw] fleshlight? [/nsfw]
PCM M10
Sounds like you need a [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta ]Curta[/url] mechanical calculator, utterly pointless in this day n' age but very tactile and once you play with one you'll forever be attempting to justify the price to yourself as they are a strangely desirable gadget that serves no possible use thus rendering them even more alluring.
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Stages Power Crank Meter (ultegra flavour) and a head unit to show how unpowerful I am. It's great, does exactly what it's meant to. I'm no kettle-boiler, that's for certain, even climbing over the Surrey hills 😉
Some good suggestions here. Bit worried about Chewkw 😉
Those Curta calculators bring out the inner geek in me, but the price 😯
A Gadget you say? How about this:
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[url= http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Trinity.html ]Trinity[/url]
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Chewkw - I've got a strider folder which I'm toying with selling. Interested?
birky - Nevero proboscis moto-moto bicyle!
sockpuppet - as I mentioned I'm letting my flat and I don't think they allow me to store my nuclear arsenal there?
chewkw My old man has 2 hand me down Ghurka Kukri one ex service one ceremonial. He has said I can have the ex-service one, I cant wait to get my hands on it.
Dammit, still find myself pondering gadgets...
any new suggestions?
How about one of these?
Think I might build one out of Lego Mindstorms.
Buy a lathe. You can never go wrong buying machine tools. I just bought this:
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8093/8538318721_8cdcc86b68_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/cycleologist/8538318721/ ]New lathe...[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/cycleologist/ ]Ben Cooper[/url], on Flickr
I rather like that Sunnto Ambit... justifiable by lots of dog walking possibly?
Delivery man dropped off an Apple Trackpad the other day. Quite enjoying that at the moment. Also replaced my old NAS with a Lacie 2big NAS, nicely designed bit of kit even though it's not quite as fiddleable with as my old QNAP...
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Also got a Transcend Wifi SD card. Stick it in the camera and I can access photos from an app on the Pad or a web page on the PC. Pretty cool gadge. 32gb and class 10 too, better than the Sandisk ones.
Whole family's had some good fun with this 😀
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8229/8538462331_ae52d798a3_b.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/davesport/8538462331/ ]Aquascooter2[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/davesport/ ]Davesport62[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8387/8538462873_f05d63c0f8_b.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/davesport/8538462873/ ]Aquascooter1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/davesport/ ]Davesport62[/url], on Flickr
Transcend Wifi SD card
How's that compare to an eye-fi? This intrigues me... Does it need to be on a access point to work, or will it do peer-2-peer on a phone/ipad?
Whole family's had some good fun with this
More jealous of what appears to be a well equipped garage complete with an airline?
I [i]need[/i] a Curta mechanical calculator.
Buying a lathe is also a great idea.
I need a Curta mechanical calculator.
Ever tried using one? You think you need one now, wait until you try cranking some numbers through it 😉
Mine cost more than that lathe, though...
[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4153/4949209583_fc8ac00f5a_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/cycleologist/4949209583/ ]Curta Dismantled[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/cycleologist/ ]Ben Cooper[/url], on Flickr
No - but as a result of this thread I am watching two auctions on ebay...Ever tried using one?
Do you mean they are really hard to use? Or a pleasure to use? (I assume the latter.)You think you need one now, wait until you try cranking some numbers through it
How's that compare to an eye-fi? This intrigues me... Does it need to be on a access point to work, or will it do peer-2-peer on a phone/ipad?
Went for the Transcend as it was class 10 which is a lot better than the current Eye-fi. Use it by connecting to the access point it generates at the moment. You can configure it with up to 5 networks for it to join automatically but I've not given that a go yet. I would assume if the iPad/iPhone is on the same network as the card then the app would just connect, but I may be wrong!
Do you mean they are really hard to use? Or a pleasure to use? (I assume the latter.)
You know the feeling when you wind up a really, really good mechanical watch or clock? Like that, but much better.
It's an astounding piece of engineering - I read somewhere that to make one nowadays would cost you millions, there's so many tiny custom precision parts.
Slight hijack ...
IA - MemberSome good suggestions here. Bit worried about Chewkw
As a kid I used to go into the jungle with a machete (sometimes with an axe) with my friends to chop trees etc for whatever reasons. Managed to convince my mum to buy me a bowie knife only for it to be stolen 😡
I then got interested in Jap Chef knives for normal cooking because I wanted traditional carbon steel blade for edge retention etc ... most are big cleavers.
Now, I want to go camping in some remote "forest" so using a Chinese cleaver might be out of the question. I want a proper machete (traditional parang machete) but they expensive (my mate is making one for me using metal from car spring apparently) so I am looking around. Somehow I am turning into some sort of knife hoarder ...
infidel - MemberChewkw - I've got a [b]strider folder[/b] which I'm toying with selling. Interested?
Which strider is that? GB or AR? They are expensive as far as I know ...
How much do want to sell it for? 😀
I_Ache - Memberchewkw My old man has 2 hand me down Ghurka Kukri one ex service one ceremonial. He has said I can have the ex-service one, I cant wait to get my hands on it.
Go for the ex service one as the ceremonial one is merely for look. The ones I listed from Cold Steel seem fine but not very traditional in design. The cheaper of the Cold Steel Kukri should do the job if you are messing about as you don't have to worry about damage to it. The expensive one from Cold Steel ... that's for the Zombies head chop. 😆 I was going to order from Nepal but just have to postpone that idea for now as I might get the cheaper Cold Steel Kukri first ...
A laser has to be well up there on the list of gadgets - I just bought this one for doing frame alignment:
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Is it a sign of my age that when offered a choice of colour I went for anodised red?
Depends if purple was an option you turned down or not?
Lasers are cool.
It was a toss-up between the red or blue - they do black or grey too, but no.
Just spent a happy half hour calibrating it...
Do you have to buy a calibrating laser?
And then another laser to calibrate the calibrating laser?
No - I put it on a big steel bar and drew lines on a cardboard box on the other side of the shop 😉
have you got a speedbump in your workshop?
I'm contemplating [url= http://www.cloudsto.com/new-mk802iiis/new-rikomagic-dual-core-mk802-iiis-8gb-flash-bluetooth-dhl-express-shipping-detail.html ]this little gadget.[/url] Andoid OS to plug into your TV, potential for running SNES etc emulators and using a PS/XBOX controller.
have you got a speedbump in your workshop?
Yes 🙂
I want a 3D mouse.
All mice are 3D. Apart from trackpads.
This one's not:
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