My 3 DIY kits arrived yesterday, and after watching the instructional video, I put them together. They were easy to assemble and I think that they’re going to work well as they make it easier to pull out the cable, but not strain the cord. The only problem I had is that the glue dots that were included were rubbery, so the aluminum cover started moving around and while the video said to use some silicone to secure it, I know that silicone is flexible and wouldn’t do exactly what I wanted. I put a few drops of superglue on the connector and presto, I now have very solid connection.

Pros

• Solves a real need.
• Easy to “install”.
• Looks neat.

Cons

• A little expensive.
• Required a modification to make it work.
• If installed on 2 USB cables, they both can’t be plugged into a MacBook Pro as one blocks the second USB port.

Summary

I love the concept of extending the life of my iPhone/iPad cables as I use them all the time for my collection of devices (I always have 2 iPhones, 1 iPad, and 1 iPod Touch on my desk) that I use for development. While I just got this, I believe that this is going to be the solution to worn cables. Time, of course, will tell if this lives up to my expectations.

If you have worn iPod/iPhone cables and a few extra dollars, this is a unique solution that I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it again.

Not being deterred by this setback, I started poking around Amazon and found a Viewcon USB Active Extension. This is a USB to Cat5 adapter that can transmit a signal up to 150′. I was a bit skeptical at first as I knew that adding latency to the connection could degrade the signal. However, for $19 it was worth the risk. I chose this connector (there are a number of them) as it came with a power adapter which could come in handy to boost the signal.

Setup of this was quite simple. Since I already had Cat5 running from our TV room (where the Ooma is and is the center of my network) to my office, I just plugged the adapter into the Ooma, ran Cat5 to the wall and then Cat5 from the wall to the Bluetooth adapter. I did a few tests and was absolutely amazed that it worked without problems. Luckily the Bluetooth adapter was USB 1.1, so high speed transmission wasn’t a problem.

If you need to run a USB device from a different room or a long distance, this adapter is a dream.

Pros

• Easy to setup.
• Inexpensive.

Cons

• None.

Summary

This device easily solved my problem at a reasonable price. There are lots of options out there and I just got lucky that on my first try, I got one that worked. The reviews for this and similar devices were very mixed, probably because people had much higher expectations; my needs were quite simple and this adapter met them.

All the updates sounded promising as the makers were testing different suction cups and designs.

After many delays and lack of communication, my product finally arrived. I set it on my desk, put my phone on it (my phone has no case or screen protector, so the suction cup was attached to the bare phone) and within a few minutes, my phone slid off the suction cup. I kept trying to get it to work and finally gave up. I wasn’t even going to attempt to use it in a place where my phone was more than a few inches off a surface as I don’t trust it.

The product had promise, but is a complete failure. I saw a deal come across for a plastic stand called The Jack and bought it. It was far cheaper than The Oona and actually works.

Pros
None

Cons

• Expensive
• Doesn’t work

Summary
Don’t buy it. This product is a complete waste and isn’t useful at all. The designers need to go back to the drawing board and work on the suction cups.

This past weekend, I discovered that the motion sensor in an outside light wasn’t working, so I needed to fix it. The problem was that since it wasn’t working, I didn’t know which circuit breaker to turn off and just relying on the light switch was potentially dangerous. While the switch was in a box with 2 other switches, I could hope that they were all on the same circuit, but given my luck, someone probably went against code and wired it such that 2 circuit breakers controlled the box.

I remembered that I had the Klein tool and pulled it out. With the breaker on, waving the tool over the switch showed electricity flowing. While I went outside to the breaker box, my wife, used the tool and let me know when I hit the right breaker. I was pretty confident that I wasn’t going to get shocked, so I took the light off the wall, used the tool again and verified that I wasn’t going to get zapped.

This tool is absolutely a tool that should be in every handyman’s (or handywoman’s) toolbox. It’s relatively inexpensive and saves you the trouble of getting knocked on your rear when you touch the live wires.

Pros

• Relatively inexpensive.
• Uses standard batteries.
• Easy to use.

Cons

• After changing the batteries the button gets stuck a lot requiring some wiggling to get it to work.

Summary

I definitely recommend this product. I’m sure I can resolve the hiccup with the switch by rubbing a little bar soap on the places that the button rubs. I wish I had gotten this years ago as I’ve gotten zapped at least twice because I wasn’t careful enough; I do test every outlet, but made assumptions because outlets in the same room were out, but not the ones that zapped me. This tool would have immediately told me to stop; it’s easier to use than a standard 3 prong tester or a regular test meter.

Normally when I work, I forget to turn on music and only sometimes wear headphones (it depends on if my son is running around making a lot of noise). So, I use the earbuds when I travel. I don’t travel all that often, but this year, I’ve traveled 7 times (most of them after I bought the ear buds). Once I put the earbuds in my ears during a flight and turn them on, the airplane noise immediately is drowned out and the flight becomes a lot more comfortable. I’ve found that with the Comply tips that come with it, the earbuds are quite comfortable.

I always keep the earbuds in my bag and am not sure I would want to fly without them.

Pros

• Comfortable.
• Inexpensive (they’re now down to less than $40.
• Good noise cancellation.
• Good pasive noise isolation.
• Compact.

Cons

• No microphone or volume buttons like the iPhone (it has a manual volume control).

Summary

My only real complaint for these earbuds is that I bought them for $75 less than 6 months ago and they’re now down to $39 on Amazon. I found that these were almost as good as the $250 Senneiser earbuds my wife gave me. If you can wear earbuds (earbuds don’t fit in some people’s ears), these are a no brainer for anyone that occasionally travels or wants some quiet when working.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about the power strips. If you can arrange your components to turn off for long periods, they can pay for themselves pretty quickly and then some.

Pros

• Easy to setup.
• Pays for itself quickly.

Cons

• More expensive than regular surge protectors.
• Battery life for timer is unknown.
• Timer LCD is not easy to read.

Summary

If you’re looking for a way to save some money and reduce electricity, the APC SurgeArrest devices are a great addition to any media center or computer workstation. Once you setup the timers, you can forget about them and start saving money. There is no downside to getting this surge protectors.

I had read about the SiliconDust HDHomeRun dual tuner device. My hesitation with the device was that it only handled HD channels; however, I realized that we’ve pretty much only watched HD channels in the last 2 years.

I bought the HD HomeRun to give it a try as it was fairly inexpensive. Hooking it up was easy and setup wasn’t difficult either. Plugged it in, connected the coax and the Ethernet cable. Silicon Dust shipped the software on a mini CD which, of course, wouldn’t work on my Mac or any Mac I’ve had in the last 10 years. I downloaded the software from the web and did the basic configuration; the software was pretty basic and awful looking, but good enough to get the job done and I’d never have to see it again. The box has been working flawlessly and even better, I was able to disconnect the coax amplifier and still get a very clear picture. This also let me go from 3 power bricks to 1 power brick.

The only downside to the box and not really a flaw in the box itself is that I went from using the EyeTV remote with over 50 separate buttons to using an Apple remote with far fewer controls. (I programmed my Logitech Harmony 880 remote for the commands I needed.) This means that I lost some of the skip features and a few other functions; however, it’s working pretty well.

Pros

• Inexpensive.
• Easy to setup.
• Good picture quality.
• Reliable.

Cons

• Is not a standalone device; requires a computer to view TV or record.

Summary

The HD HomeRun was a very nice replacement for the EyeTV 250 Plus devices. If I was looking to setup a Mac Mini again, I would have gone with the box as it was significantly cheaper ($100 vs $320 for the 2 EyeTV 250 Plus boxes). I’m very pleased with my purchase and would definitely recommend it to anyone setting up a DVR. I’m still not ready to drop regular TV (we still have basic cable as I haven’t made the leap to an antenna), so this is a great solution to keep us loaded up with content.

The tiltpod is quite simple in that it is a magnetic base with a numb that screws into the camera. I really like the concept and had high hopes for it. I’m going to keep the base hooked onto the strap and use it every once in awhile; if I can get the auto focus working better, then the tiltpod will be immensely useful. As of now, it is kind of an interesting product, but has limited utility for me.

Pros

• Easy to use.
• Convenient.
• Stable.

Cons

• Hard to put head behind camera when on flat surface.
• Potentially limited utility.

Summary

The tiltpod does everything it purports to do and does it well. While not a flaw in the product itself, putting a digital camera on a flat surface makes it almost impossible to put your head behind it if set on a rock, or something else that you can’t crouch behind. I did find it convenient when I set it on a metal chair and was able to easily get behind it.

The tiltpod is not that expensive and if you understand the limitations, I’d recommend getting it. If you expect it to completely replace a tripod, then you’ll be very disappointed with this.

The price for Ooma can’t be beat even if you pay the $120 a year for Ooma premier which I chose to do. The premier service got me a free number port, enhanced caller ID (without this you just get the number and it matches it with your phone book to show the name), a second phone number/line, voicemail sent to email and text, Google Voice extensions and ability to forward all calls to a cell phone if my Internet connection goes down.

The basic question is if the voice quality is good and is it reliable. So far voice quality has been much better than it was last time I tried. This could be due to newer hardware, a different router, or any other number of factors. We’ve had a few blips, but overall the quality is more than acceptable. Reliability is a little different story. Last week they had a major outage that lasted a few hours that was blamed on a power outage. It made me question my decision, but considering we have cell phones for backup, it wasn’t a hug concern.

Pretty much everything else is gravy to me. We had a basic answering machine, so voicemail that sends to email is a great feature, but takes the excitement out of coming home and seeing the light flashing on the answering machine!

I picked up a Telo handset a little over a week ago with the intention of using it as a work line. The phone would allow me to be on a call without tying up the home number. After a few missteps setting of Google Voice extensions, I managed to set it up such that the handset is my work line for both incoming and outgoing calls. When I call out, it shows my Google Voice number. The handset is mediocre in that it is slow in scrolling through the numbers and doesn’t have a headset jack. However, it is good enough for my needs. I’ve used the speakerphone for a number of conference calls without any problems.

The only gotcha with any VOIP solution is what happens when the power woes out. I plugged my router, cable modem, Ooma box, and cordless phone base station into a UPS. That should be good enough for a few minutes. With cell phones easily reachable, this isn’t a big concern.

Pros

• Inexpensive even with the premier service and $3.50 in monthly fees.
• Voicemail works well and sending messages to email is useful.
• Google Voice extensions makes it convenient to have a work phone.
• Decent voice quality.

Cons

• Recent outage is a little disconcerting.
• Steep initial cost, but cost recovery can happen in about 7 months.
• Telo Handset is a mediocre cordless phone.

Summary
For those looking to keep a home phone, but want to reduce cost, Ooma is currently a decent option. As long as Ooma stays in business and the voice quality remains good, I’ll be happy. With the initial cost of $180 + tax (from Costco), the $120 Premier service for the year and $3.50 per month the first year cost is around $350. I will be able to recoup the entire first year cost in less than 6 months. After the first year with the premier service, I’ll be paying about $14 a month which is $48 a month less than I was paying.

Alfred does basically the same thing as the other launchers, but the UI I find to be quite elegant. The free version of Alfred has handled just about all my launching needs as I’m primarily a keyboard person and the less I have to use the trackpad, the better (with some limitations). Just yesterday, I saw a new version of Alfred had come out and the PowerPack (£12) had some features that I found cool including entering Terminal commands and file navigation. I plunked down my ~$20 and have been happily using Alfred all day.

I really have no complaints about Alfred and find that it is easier to use and more visually appealing than its competitors.

Pros

• Easy to use.
• Clean user interface.
• Preferences are easy to understand.
• Quick Terminal command entry is slick. (PowerPack Only)
• File Navigation is a quick way to find files. (PowerPack Only)
• Clipboard history eliminates need for a separate app. (PowerPack Only)

Cons

• Searching for files could use a bit more narrowing down. For instance, I want results from my home folder, but not in my Library folder.

Summary

Without buying the PowerPack, Alfred is well worth using. The user interface is clean and the application works well. Adding the PowerPack, if you need the extra features, is worth the small cost. I find that without a launcher of any kind, I spend far too much time looking for applications; I don’t like a ton of applications on my dock, so a launcher is needed. Alfred, for me, is the best of the current crop of launchers.

Everyone has a favorite launcher and switching launchers is much like the debate about which is better, Mac or Windows. Giving the free version of Alfred a try is a no brainer. If you don’t like it, go back to using another launcher.