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| ChiliPad Bed Heater/Cooler This is just geeky cool. I picked up one of thee for a King-sized bed earlier this year, and it has brought near harmony to our bedroom. The problem is my wife tends to run cold, where I tend to run hot at night, so I’m either sweating or she is shivering, and the right mix is hard to find. The ChiliPad uses circulating heated and cooled water to regulate temperature just like what is used for spacesuits and for some types of racing. The end result is I can chill my side of the bed down as cold as I like it, while she can heat her side up, and both of us are relatively happy. The wireless remote controls could have better range, and you do have to refill the water every couple of weeks, but this thing has been a dream come true for us and one of the highlights of the year. |
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| AMD Eyefinity 3 Monitor Gaming Rig with Radeon 6800 Series Card It took me about two months to get this set up so that it would work right. It wasn’t a software problem, but finding the right mix of monitors so I had enough size, but wasn’t driven nuts by the gaps between them. But I finally found the right mount, and the right set of three monitors (two Dell 24” monitors on the sides and a Gateway 24” monitor in the middle) all in portrait mode (the Gateway is a taller monitor, more square, and better for the middle). The end result is a great gaming rig that isn’t spinning my power meter like a top. |
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| Xbox 360 Kinect Speaking of staying alive, this product will probably kill me, but I’ll die with a smile on my face when I go. Once I got a mount for the bottom of my TV and didn’t have to adjust for the camera being off center, I retired my Wii and started moving around my living room like I was mad. I find I can get rather winded relatively fast, and that the pictures it takes of me in strange positions could likely be used as blackmail at some future date, but damned if I’m not having as much fun as I initially did with the Wii before it got old. This has been a huge treat at the end of the year, and I’m tickled to be having so much fun with it. Hey, and this week it was reported that Kinect is outselling the iPad two to one. It sold 2.5 million in 25 days, versus 2 million in two months for the iPad. |
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| Neato Robotic Vacuum I have 5 Roombas in various states of repair, and not a damn one of them vacuums very well. They also wonder around the floor like a blind, nose-less mouse. Basically they are stupid sweepers . The Neato uses a technology similar to what is being used in self-driving cars, and it is a real vacuum cleaner, so it actually vacuums up the dirt, it doesn’t just try to sweep it in. This means it looks around the room, figures out how to best cover the space, and then it executes a plan. Personally I think it is smarter than most politicians. If I could, I’d vote it into office. |
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| With a 1,000-watt motor and a frame that was based on a bike sold to the US military for paratroopers, this bike is my own personal dream come true. With substantial power for the hills, the ability to fold it up and put it in the back of my car, and stealth black finish, this has been a wonder to enjoy the California sun. It will go up most hills with only a little added work and can really put on the speed when you need that burst to get through a light. This is my second electric bicycle, and by far my favorite of the set. Electric cars may not yet make sense for most of us, but electric bikes have arrived and I love my M-750. |
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| Kindle DX I picked the Kindle DX up to review thinking it was too big, and that it would end up on my shelf unused after a couple of days. Instead I fell in love with it, and it goes with me wherever I go. The larger screen allows me to put more text on the page, so I’m not flipping as often, and allows me to use larger text so I’m not straining my eyes and can work in low light. While I do miss a cover with a built-in book light like the regular Kindle, I can’t give up the extra size, and for me, the iPad just hasn’t been a real alternative. I have the latest model in black, and it did cost $379 but I really don’t know what I’d do without my Kindle. It is the one product I don’t go anyplace without. |
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| Alienware M11X This laptop has been a real champ this year, and I now have two of them with one as a backup. This laptop has been a dream. No problems, Nvidia graphics when I want to play video games, embedded graphics when I need the battery life. It looks cool, and it is small enough to use in coach without sucking in my gut. The latest model switches between graphics chips automatically, and has an updated Intel processor, so it is even better now. Some folks carry what their company gives them, I carry what I want, and currently I want my Alienware M11X. |
