My new favourite gadget

[squirrel]

This is probably old news to most of you but i'm giddy! Since i recently got a Xbox 360 and i have a bunch of other stuff hooked up to my HDTV  (digital setop box, HTPC, receiver) i decided it was time to figure out a way out of the remote control hell i have been living in. Up till now i've had 1 remote for the TV box, 1 for the TV, 1 for the DVD player (now Xbox), 1 for the receiver and a mouse and keyboard for when the pc is displayed on the TV.

I realized there was a problem when my mum was sitting my son for a couple days and it took me longer to write out instructions for the home theater than for caring for a 3 year old and dog.

I've always liked the concept of a universal remote but my last attempt years ago was rife with hair pulliing discrete codes and maddening interfaces. However, on an impulse buy today i picked up this:


Logitech Harmony remote for 360

My god remotes have changed! I hooked this sucker up to my PC, told it what devices i want to control and i was done. Not only does it control everything painlessly but it automatically created "Activities" such as Play 360 or Watch TV. These are 1 button settings that switch all the devices over to the right settings and inputs for each task.

Better yet the remote supports Windows Media Center - which i won't use, but it allows me to control my basic HTPC functions.

I've had this for a day and i can't imagine not having it now - my old setup seems archaic. Guess i've been living in a cave, but im really impressed with this.

[schild]

I always liked the Sony Remote Commander series. I should really get around to setting mine up.

[Sky]

I'm doomed to the remote hustle forever. There are so many things on the list in that price range that come before a remote.

Besides, I've got my girl trained on them now, I used to chuckle when I was in the kitchen and she'd try to get the tv working. I've got 7 remotes if you count my keyboard (for the htpc media keys).

[jinxer]

What sort of damage did that remote do to you?   It's pretty nifty.

[squirrel]

Cost me $149.00 CDN. I think it's about $120 USD. Not cheap but not absurdly overpriced either. And i  it more every day.

[WayAbvPar]

My favorite new gadget is the car adapter for my iPod shuffle. Fuck commercial radio in its ear.

[schild]

My favorite new gadget is probably my Samsung A900 cell phone.

[Strazos]

My new favorite gadget is the RF adapter I bought for my Xbox so that I could play it at work.

Yes, really.

[Paelos]

My new favorite gadget is my coffeemaker that actually grinds the beans inside and dumps them into the filter before the brewing cycle.

[MrHat]

I'm pretty sure I win.

[schild]

I'm pretty sure I win.

You obviously haven't seen the sleek black metal that is the Samsung A900.

[MrHat]

Wait till I find myself a 25' DVI-HDMI cable.

[Sky]

You obviously haven't seen the sleek black metal

[schild]

Touche. Ya bastid.

[Signe]

My new favorite gadget is my coffeemaker that actually grinds the beans inside and dumps them into the filter before the brewing cycle.

I have one of those, too!  I love it.  It makes great coffee and frees up my grinder for more important grinding tasks.

[schild]

My new favorite gadget is my coffeemaker that actually grinds the beans inside and dumps them into the filter before the brewing cycle.

I have one of those, too!  I love it.  It makes great coffee and frees up my grinder for more important grinding tasks.

You use yours for those nubbly bits on human bone also? Who knew we were so alike!

[Sky]

Touche. Ya bastid.

I'm a touchebag.

[Hanzii]

You obviously haven't seen the sleek black metal that is the Samsung A900.

It looks damn nice, but my new but more ordinary looking Sony Eruícsson W800i beats it hands down featurewise.

My best new gadget this year would be my Roomba.
My Solio solar charger would also be on the list, if they got round to making an adapter for my new phone as well as the PSP... right now it's just uselessly sucking at the sun.

[Viin]

My best new gadget this year would be my Roomba.

So does your Roomba actually work? On carpet or just hard floors? Do you have cats/dogs/other animals? Do they eat it?

I always thought it was just a gimmick, but since we have to sweep up dog and cat hair every day it might be nice. I wonder if Costco sells them...

[Righ]

You obviously haven't seen the sleek black metal

I have that album from when it was released. Venom were diabolical in more ways than one. Their performance was dire.

[Hanzii]

My best new gadget this year would be my Roomba.

So does your Roomba actually work? On carpet or just hard floors? Do you have cats/dogs/other animals? Do they eat it?

I always thought it was just a gimmick, but since we have to sweep up dog and cat hair every day it might be nice. I wonder if Costco sells them...

Oh yeah, it works!
We have no pets, but messy kids, but I know pethair is an alltogether different story.
One of our sister publications tested the Roomba against two other much more expensive makes. The conclusion was that the Electrolux Trilobite was the best vacuum, but no matter which of the three you picked, you'd still need a proper vacuum occassionally. Which prices three times that of the Roomba, picking the Electrolux didn't make any sense.
I just tested the Roomba and liked it. My wifes reaction was clear: "There's no way, you're sending that back," (her ususal reaction is, oh great, more crap, when do you send that back and where are you putting the box?) so we bought it.
Nowadays we just cycle the Roomba through the rooms of the house during daytime during the week (it's noisy, all over the place and doesn't go for more than 3 hours on a recharge) and max once a month do we break out the traditional vacuum for a particular troublesome spot or corner.

Our house is now cleaner. The Roomba isn't better than the traditional vacuum, but using it means we vacuum much more often and 10 vacuumings at 80% effictivity still beats one at 99%. We like it so much, that we don't buy new furniture if it doesn't have the needed Roomba-clearance underneath.

[Sky]

I have that album from when it was released. Venom were diabolical in more ways than one. Their performance was dire.

Record store import bins ftw. I had that on release, too, but I was always more of a Mercyful Fate/Slayer/Metallica guy.

I recently got a Venom compilation disc, I forgot how bad they were.

[Yegolev]

My Roomba is a new addition.  It works well enough, but it has a few places it likes to get jammed.  The important thing to note is that any vacuuming the robot does is vacuuming that I don't have to do.  It would be awesome if it could roll underneath all of my furniture, but I'll take what I can get.  Also, it is not quite as smart as the robot that Yosemite Sam was using to blow up Bugs Bunny, but it did manage to clean for to hours without choking on something and find its charger last time I ran it.

My son is terrified of the robot.

[Righ]

My son is terrified of the robot.

Program it to chase him around the house saying "Ack, ack. Ack. Ack-ack. Don't run we are your friends!" and sit back and have a beer.

[Sauced]

I was going to suggest teaching him to love it by having your pets stage elaborate reenactments with it, but your idea is probably better.

[Yegolev]

I know who to call next time I need a sitter.

[Furiously]

See - what I would do is hire both and see who showed up with liquor on their breath.

[Hanzii]

My son is terrified of the robot.

Yeah, it scares the shit out of my kids too.

On the other hand the oldest one is so used to the DVR, that she's completely baffled when she's in a house where you can't pause tv, when you need to go peepee....

Gadgets are cool.

[Morfiend]

I guess my "latest" gadget would be my Motorola DVR for my TV. This is my third fucking DVR from my cable company in 2 months. These things fucking SUCK SUCK SUCK. When it works its totally love, but 2 hard drive crashes in 2 months is not a good track record. My first one crashed the first day it was installed, my other one crashed a week ago. What sucks is that every time this happens, I lose all my saved shows. Not to mention that it has a HDMI port on the back, that if you use it, has about a 30% chance of frying the cable box, every time the TV is turned on. Great fucking design Motorola. Now my new one is already making wierd noises, and I doubt it will last two weeks. Gah.

[Righ]

They're prone to software crashes and hangs too. It doesnt help that there are about 300 versions of the software with the same version number all of which have been dicked around with by the cable company as well as Motorola. When they replace one that's crashing too often, there's a chance that you'll get less features due to earlier software with the same version number. It's pathetic really. Also their remote receiver is too picky about direction. We're also on the third HD DVR from Comcast, and while its not perfect, I'm scared of how bad the replacement would be, since this is the best of the bunch.

[Big Gulp]

frees up my grinder for more important grinding tasks.

Are you trying to make gravel again?

[jpark]

Ever-lasting-gobstopper.

[Sky]

I agree with the cable DVR blues. I hope my current box lives, it's got a lot of features enabled and DVI, not HDMI (a scientific atlanta box). My girlfriend is pretty accustomed to having to point the remote at the kitchen to change channels.

[Viin]

That sucks, I guess I won't be switching to Comcast anytime soon. My DirecTV branded TiVo works awesome. I see that DirecTV is now offering their own brand of DVR, so maybe they now have the same problems that Comcast's DVRs have.

Doesn't Comcast have "On demand" shows? What do you need a DVR for?

[Yegolev]

My son got angry at grandma yesterday because she couldn't replay a scene from Sesame Street over and over.  Grandma will probably buy a TiVo soon, can't have her grandson lacking.

I was waiting, because I just didn't know, for the combination DirecTV HD receiver/DVR.  This arrived last June and so far has been great, even without what I assume are features found in other units.  Such as an ethernet port.  Maybe there is one and I just missed it.

I think I might have casually mentioned to my son that he should pick up his balls so the robot wouldn't run over them.  That might explain the frantic grabbing and clutching of his tiny rubber balls and the accompanying screaming.  Hey, he's only just turned two.

I know how funny that sounds.  I could have said "toys" instead, but I was truthful.