GadgetReview

Nowadays, saving energy is quickly becoming common sense as opposed to forward thinking.  More and more tech consumers are aware of vampire power and and there are plenty of products out there to combat this unnecessary use of energy.

Having recently been introduced to the TrickleStar products, I have found them to be easy to use as well as being relatively easy on the wallet.  What I can say right away is that you are not going to see a noticeable difference in your electric bill.  Not unless you are using a ton of them.  You’d really have to have your whole residence outfitted in order to see your bill go down. …Continue reading: TrickleStar PC TrickleSaver And PC TrickleSwitch Review

Anytime the Apple page goes down it’s always a nice feeling knowing that new products will soon be displayed.  On sale now are fresh new 21.5″ and 27″ iMacs of various specifications and ranging in price from $1200-$2000 depending on what your needs are.

Now included with these new iMacs are wireless keyboards and the new wireless “Magic Mouse”.

Also new to the Apple website are new MacBooks and Mac Mini’s.  Buy on.

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Well, now I’m just plain old amazed.  We’ve all been here at one time or another and spilled something hot and flavorful–or maybe cold and flavorful–on our laptop keyboard.  And chances are, your laptop never behaved quite the same after that, even if you DID manage to keep it from complete laptop death.  Well, I just saw the new HP ProBook 6545b take incredible amounts of fluid damage and keep on ticking.

Everything about the HP ProBook is a fairly normal, plain vanilla sort of system (it’s an AMD system, even!) but what they’ve done is rejiggered the keyboard tray around so that liquid, rather than getting into the guts of the machine, merely spills out through the bottom without hitting any vital areas.

It’s not bulletproof, so don’t upend a can of Coke on this just to test it, but by all reports it handles small, occasional spills easily enough.  And since it costs just $798, about what a normal new laptop might cost, it’s definitely not out of line in terms of prices.

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Talk about a great idea.  Using what looks like “old” keyboard keys fashioned into a USB card reader, this is a totally useful device for those who want to forget their digital camera cord.  As long as you don’t lose it that is.

Capable of accepting: DHC, SD, micro SDHC, microSD, Sony M2, Memory Stick, and MS duo cards, this tiny reader also supports USB 2.0.  With measurements encompassing 75.5mm x 14mm, is also Mac and PC friendly and only costs $12!

Available in white or blue you can color me impressed.  All the small things right?

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I really don’t know what to think about this one, folks–if you’re a die-hard Star Trek fan and you’re desperately trying to get rid of seventy bucks, consider the Klingon Keyboard.

No, seriously.  Someone took what looks like a normal QWERTY keyboard, translated it all into Klingon and refaced the keys.  Even better, it actually connects with a PS/2 cable, and when’s the last time you saw that?

So now you can type your letter to Grandma in an approximation of Klingon.

Why stop there?  Hit on your cybercrushes in Klingon!  Get in a flame war and insist loudly that Hab SoSlI’ Quch (his mother has a smooth forehead–apparently an actual Klingon insult.  Oh, Google, what CAN’T you do?)

Better yet, for you more logical types, if the Klingon version sells well, the VULCAN version is next.  I don’t know whether to be amazed or horrified.  I like my Star Trek as much as the next guy, and really like my Next Gen and DS9, but come ON.  A Klingon Keyboard?  Might as well sell a Klingon key CHAIN.

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How’d you like to get back 1 week of your life every year?  Well, now you can.  The Optmizer keyboard features – drum roll please – and Optimize key.  Built for accountants, writers and engineers its designed to cut down the number of keystrokes so significantly that yes you can actually recoup some of that lost time, which mind will probably be frivolously used to compete in the office Foozball tournament.

So how does it work?  Hitting the optimize key engages 3 groups of shortcuts:

1. The number pad is turned into an arrow pad with some additional shortcut features
2. 1 through 5 (not the number pad), QWERT and Z through B are turned into dedicated cut, copy and paste keys respectively, yes all of them
3. The center portion of the keypad is turned into an arrow pad, which is designed for editing text all the faster.

I’m not sold, but then again I prefer my laptop’s keyboard to any external.  You can score one for about $35.

[via EverythingUSB]

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If a mouse ‘did’ Motorola’s Ming smartphone this is what the offspring would look like.  I’m not sure why the cover needs to be see through, but it certainly does add a cool factor to this handy mouse from Adesso.   It also features a 1000 dpi resolution optic and a scroll wheel.  You can grab one for $27.99.

[via Dornob]

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Remember the OCZ Sabre keyboard, you know, the one with the OLED keypad?  Well, we now know it retails for $170.  Zipzoomfly had it on sale yesterday for $135 and it’s already sold out.  It’s no Optimus keyboard, but since it goes for about a 20th of the cost why the hell not?!

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While it ain’t the Optimus Maximus keyboard, OCZ’s Sabre does strike a close resemblance thanks to the 9 programmable OLED keys located on the left most part of the keyboard.  Touted as the ‘world’s most intelligent gaming keyboard’, the Sabre also includes amber backlighting and blue sidelighting for those that prefer to game in the complete dark.  Additionally, the OLED keys can be programmed with a series of macros and using the included software display any text or image that your heart desires.  I just wish they chose a more slender/hipper profile.   Sorry, no word on price or release date.

[via TFTS]

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I can’t say there are too many times when my living room couch potato time calls for a wireless keyboard to be at hand, but if I owned some sort of home media center it might come in handy, but what about the mouse?  Cideko’s new Air Keyboard incorporates not only a full QWERTY keyboard and shoulder mouse buttons, but an air gyration mouse for navigating your favorite websites.  They spec it at a 50 hour battery life and a matching 50 meter range.  No word on price or a street date, but since it was on hand at Computex 2009 I’d say any day now.

[via Gizmowatch]

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