Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

Gadget WEEKENDS

<< < (73/122) > >>

mouser:
Ok here's a post I didn't want to have to make, because I already have a good expensive blender that i bought used and repaired.
However, it needs to be done.  This $40 blender and mini-chopper combo actually is quite the bargain, isn't too loud, outperforms most blenders (it does pretty incredibly on ice), does a bunch of things, is super easy to clean up, and stores wonderfully.

Ninja Master Prep Professional


$40 on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ninja-QB900B-Master-Prep/dp/B003XU3C7M

There are a million Youtube reviews of it:



It excels with ice and quick things like smoothies.

It has only a couple of drawbacks that I can see:

* You have to hold button down while it blends, you can't just turn it on and leave room; its so fast that this doesn't seem to be much of an issue.
* It doesn't really create a vortex, so it might be an issue for making very large mixtures; it has multiple blades up the spine though, so it tends to blend everything quickly.
Since I am a nut about saving space in the kitchen, one thing I love is that i can leave the little base plugged in and out of the way on a little shelf, and just bring over the jar when i want to blend something.

mouser:
Ok a quick car-related gadget today, some unusual jack stands for those who do maintenance under their cars.

These are expensive, at $63 (compares to standard jack stands which might be half that cost), but the consensus seems to be that they feel much more secure.
I can't compare but I can say that I was very impressed with their stability, size, secureness, and weight:

Torin T43004 3 Ton Aluminum Jack Stands


http://www.amazon.com/Torin-T43004-Aluminum-Jack-Stands/dp/B0007XTGCI/

ayryq:
Does this count as a gadget? I always have a pencil or two in my pocket, and I get holes in my pockets. This is a cap for a pencil, with a built-in sharpener.
It works on any pencil, but it's best on a shorter one. My plan is to find another solution for multiple pencils (bic pen cap, maybe?), but having the sharpener along is sure handy.

They make beautiful metal versions; I bought the $12.99 plastic one.



http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QUWXYSC/

mouser:
It certainly counts. Welcome to the thread  :up:

Renegade:
I've had a particular post in the back of my mind for, oh... let's see... Around about 2.5 years now. Here's the snippet that's been stored in the long term renegade archive:

Basically they just vibrate at high speeds and can accept different saw-like heads.  They are very similar in spirit to the ubiquitous dremel (rotary tool), in that there a million different little tasks that they can make quick work of.

Note: A Dremel is as essential, if not more so, than an oscillating tool -- so start with one of those if you don't own one already.
-mouser (April 14, 2013, 09:05 PM)
--- End quote ---

And tonight I finally got one:

Gadget WEEKENDS

I'd been looking for one for a month or so, and finally managed to pick up one second-hand (used once) for less than 1/3rd the retail price.

My first little project was to drill holes in the PCB at the tip of the Dremel and then solder on a 12VDC power jack that I ripped out of an old Netgear router.

Other gadgets in the picture there are some "magic hands" or "helping hands" -- the thing with the soldering iron in it and the magnifying glass, and a set of 4 eye loupes from 2.5x to 10x magnifying power - great for reading the text on small chips or the +/- symbols on little LEDs like the ones beside the Dremel (the symbols are about 1mm wide).

I'm trying to shift my development away from the desktop world into the embedded/device world. I'm not interested in doing mobile applications as the markets have just become stupid for any small developer. (For every success story, there's a trail of blood & tears across a wasteland littered with indie corpses.)

I have sooo many more gadgets that I've recently bought, but many aren't remotely interesting to a wider audience, though I'm sure some of the developers in here would be. Maybe another time... after I get the damn card reader on my NEW Dell working... grrr...

 8)

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page