Rocketfish portable power source: B
This is a nice little gadget. It's like a mini-generator for small electronics. It gives 40 hours to an I-Pod, 4 hours to a DVD player, and 2 hours to a laptop.
It worked really well, and because of this little gadget, Jody and I were able to watch the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy on my laptop during our trip. It has US power and USB hookups.
The only problem, is it doesn't work really well in small intervals You have to charge it all night. . and it works great. If you use it a bit, turn it off and then come back. . etc. . . . it seemed to not have alot of juice left.
Sony Extended Life Battery: A -
This battery gives you about 3 1/2 hours of power on your laptop. If you're a non-Mac user (and not an elitist :) ) It's the best thing for your PC. As stated earlier, we watched some pretty long movies via Windows Media Center (not wmplayer. . . it's way nicer).
It does get pretty hot. . .thus the A -
Canon PowerShot A 590: A +
This is a ridiculous camera. We bought it with an 8 gig memory card and it takes video up to like 5 or 6 minutes at a time, has a vast array of photo presets, and the batteries seem to last a long time.
I actually like shorter videos better than going the traditional camcorder/dad/annoying birthday party route :). It's good accountability to have to limit your video length :)
I obviously can't take a picture of the camera or memory card. . .but check it out, it's great!
Monster Headphone splitter: A ++
If you're like me, you've tried to jerry-rig headphone inputs for years. . stereo to mono, pulling the plug half way out, 1/8-1/4 adapters, shorting out cables. . . .etc
This does all the work for you, there's independent volume control for both sides. Both sides are in stereo, and Monster connections are the best in the business. ( I have them for all my guitar stuff).
It's great if you're traveling with someone else because of the different volume controls and flexibility of the cable.
Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate: A -
This is a little free trial video compressor/converter. It makes putting videos on facebook/blogger/wordpress/youtube, etc. . . very easy by compressing your videos for you. It works very fast, and you set the quality and size perameters before it converts. It literally takes 5 minutes to upload a video all the way to blogger from your camera.
The only bummer is that your free trial version cuts every video in half. But, if you have a nice camera you can just film what you want and then point the camera towards the floor until you've doubled the length of your video. . . then it cuts the video perfectly! (I'm all about rednecking the video compression :) )
Ok, enough of my evaluations. . I'll stop boring all of you. . . here's a video of Malachi (and Eden) working on the quads. Enjoy!
2 comments:
I 2nd the 590, especially because it takes AA batteries, as it is often easier to buy new batteries than find a place to recharge.
Also excellent is the Canon SD800, and its current replacement, the 870.
I also agree about the Powershot (and so do a handful of people we know). We are very impressed with the video quality, picture quality, and the simplicity of the camera (and the size).
Also excellent is the Canon SD750
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