Specialty online store JetPens sent me a couple of their products to check out. Yes, pens, but they import many of their products from Japan and Germany, so you’ll be hard-pressed to find most of these stateside. And yes, even when it comes to something as mundane as writing, the Japanese and Europeans have some different ideas than we do.

I received 2 products, the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto 5 Color Multi Pen and the Tombow AirPress.

The Tombow AirPress

First, let me hit the Tombow AirPress. The geek factor in this one is that it injects air pressure into the ink cartridge every time you press the cap to keep the pen writing even on dirty or wet surfaces. Of course, I had to test out the ‘wet’ claim. I splashed water onto a sheet of paper, and before it was absorbed completely by the paper started writing. Well there was some ink bleeding of course (can’t help that), but sure enough, the pen wrote. Impressed. On the other hand, I can’t imagine having to write on wet surfaces too often.

The Tombow also wrote pretty nicely, although not as smooth as a felt tip pen, but then again a felt tip wouldn’t do well in water. I also found it a little short, but that’s personal preference that is heavily influenced by the way I hold my pen.

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto 5 Color Multi Pen

The next pen took me back to my high school days when I had a similar, but much cheaper version ‘multi pen’ made by Bic. That one had 4 colors and they were pre-set. The Coleto takes 5 ink cartridges and you get to pick the colors that go into it, and you can replace the cartridges as needed. Love it. This one will stay on my desk, as I’m always looking for a black, red, blue or green pen, and now I won’t have to keep 4 or 5 of them around.

I found the writing to be a little scratchy, but that’s due to the smaller nib on these pens. I’m not about to write my next bestseller with it, so I can live with that in exchange for the convenience. Oh, also cool is that you can also insert a mechanical pencil or stylus as well. Take a look at the video to see how the 5 carts fit into the body.

While you’re persuing JetPens, you may also want to check out the Uni-Ball Kuru Toga that keeps the pencil lead constantly sharp. The Monteverde One Touch Ballpoint is a pen, but flip it over and you have a touchscreen stylus. Apart from pens and pencils and of course refills, they also stock specialty paper, journals and notebooks.

(Disclaimer: Gizmos for Geeks received a complimentary review copy of this product.)

This is one product category that has tons of nondescript entrants, and for the most part, they all do the trick more or less, and that’s to wipe your gadget’s screen. Kimberly-Clark decided to try something a little different – make them dry, disposable and inexpensive.

The KIMTECH Touchscreen Cleaning Wipe are made especially for touchscreens, which we all seem to be adopting at a rapid rate. I tried out a sample and wasn’t disappointed. These come 10 to a pack, and while dry, they are soft, and had no fear of using it to wipe the screen on my iPad or smartphone.

It got rid of my fingerprints and smudges. Now if you have the kind of grime that has built up over weeks, you may need a liquid cleaner, but if you’re good about keeping your screens clean, the KIMTECHs should usually do the trick.

A 10-pack is only $3 and you can get them in dollar-stores and at Amazon; actually, Amazon has a 2-pack (so 20 wipes) for $5. Even at $3 for a 10-pack, it’s a good deal, and that way you can have a wipe everywhere you need it – in the car, in your bag, on your desk at home and in the office, with some to spare.

(Disclaimer: Gizmos for Geeks received a complimentary review copy of this product.)

During the holiday season, many tech-oriented shoppers will be scrutinizing the market for the best valued tablet. While most analysts point to the iPad as the pinnacle of current tablet design and functionality, consumers have one big beef with the product: its price. The iPad 2 starts at a whopping $499, a price that most consumers simply can’t afford in this economy. So let’s set aside the iPad 2 and consider some of the more economical tablet options for the holiday shopping season. Of course there are the other most talked about tablets to consider, Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet and Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Now that both tablets have been released, analysts expect the competition between the two to be fierce since they come in at similar price points and offer comparable features. But which of these tablets would work best for you, dear consumer?

Amazon’s Kindle Fire

Amazon and tech bloggers did a good job of building up the hype behind the Kindle Fire prior to it’s release in mid November. Even before its formal release, millions of people had pre-ordered the tablet without ever personally seeing it work in real time, and for good reason—the tablet starts at $199.

Amazon was true to their word about the Kindle being a new kind of tablet. Shoppers should note that the Kindle Fire is unlike an iPad in a number of ways. For one, its specs are much more limited than those on the Apple tablet: the Kindle Fire has a 1GHz dual core processor with 512MB of RAM, and 8GB for storage of music, movies, etc. It’s the perfect tablet for consuming mass quantities of digital media—the tablet it built around the user’s ability to download songs, films, or books on Amazon—without too much effort. Silk, Amazon’s newly minted browser for the Kindle Fire, helps users surf the web without taking too much of a toll on the tablet’s functionality. And you’ll need Silk for all the tasks you put to the Kindle Fire. For instance, if you purchase Amazon Prime, you get access to unlimited streaming of the latest television shows, movies, and music for duration of your subscription. You’ll be able to toggle between watching the latest blockbuster, reading your favorite fantasy novel, and listening to a blues album with just a few simple taps. And rest assured, the interface on the Kindle Fire is very simple to understand.

On the downside, the Kindle Fire has been criticized as being too limited for tablet. True, you can’t do all the things on it that you can do on an iPad, but what do you expect in a $199 tablet? Maintenance on the Kindle Fire is another issue, as there isn’t a physical store where you can have your tablet serviced. Theoretically you’d have to ship the tablet to Amazon if you need it fixed. The device has also been cited as being a little bulky and aesthetically rougher than the iPad.

Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet

If you’re not sold by the Kindle Fire but you still want to save money on your tablet purchase, definitely consider the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet. At $249 it’s a slightly more expensive machine, but you get more for your money. For starters, the specs are better than the Kindle’s; it has the same processor, but boasts 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space. What’s more, the Nook Tablet has a slot for portable memory cards up the 32GB in size, something lacking on the Kindle Fire.

On the hardware and functionality side of things, the Nook Tablet certainly has loads to offer. It features two screens, a large LCD screen for displaying content and a much smaller touch screen to interface with the tablet. This setup stands in contrast to the Kindle Fire’s all-in-one touch screen interface, but fans of the Nook Tablet don’t seem fazed by the difference in design.

The Nook Tablet similarly gobbles up eBooks, video content and music files with the same voracity as the Kindle Fire, but the dual screen feature may entice consumers looking for a more dynamic device. The Nook Tablet will also have the advantage in customer service, since people can go to their local Barnes and Noble store whenever they have a question about their tablet. Some analysts even speculate that the stores will install a type of Apple Genius Bar for Nook Tablet customers, built solely to accommodate their concerns.
While the Nook Tablet has plenty of enjoyable features, consumers won’t be able to tell much difference between it and the Kindle Fire after a quick comparison. It certainly stands alone as its own tablet, but the $50 price differential may sway more consumers to Amazon.

Unlike the FoneStand which does not fold up, the next gadget, the Mobile Multi-Stand 360, is a portable smartphone stand that folds flat and slips into your pocket/bag, etc.

The MMS360 as it’s known for short, requires a little installation. You first need to take one of the 3 included self-adhesive foam dots and stick it to the back of your phone. These protrude perhaps 1/8″ and have a lip that allows it to slip inside the stand itself.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but a video is worth what, a million? Take 45 seconds to watch how the stand works including how it rotates, and then I’ll tell you more about what you can’t really see in the video.

First of all, you do have to spend more than 10 seconds up front to ensure you stick the other half (the dot) on your phone, or you won’t be able to use all 3 of the positions on the MMS360 without your phone tipping over. Unfortunately, repositioning the lip means getting some adhesive remover to take it off as it’s a fairly strong bond.

Unlike the FoneStand, the MMS360 has more than just 2 possible positions and angles – although you can rotate the stand 360 degrees, it practically only has 2 angles – the 2nd being 90 degrees out of phase with the first. So with the 3 angles, you really have 6 positions, which is nice depending on your preference (from almost vertically standing to almost flat).

But that’s not the real value in this – it’s super light; put it in your pocket and you’ll forget it’s there, so it’s one more gadget accessory you can carry around without a weight worry.

Given how light it is, I really would have liked it to be wider, because I found that with my somewhat heavy phone, if I didn’t take an extra second (yes, I’m impatient sometimes!), the phone would tip over. A wider stand would be a quicker balance.

The MMS360 is only $5-6, and you can get it directly from the vendor, Amazon or eBay.

Now that memory cards are no longer the tiny, pricey luxury enjoyed by the few, manufacturers are looking for new ways to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. Samsung thinks it has found a way – create SD-type cards that are supposedly waterproof, shock and shatterproof and magnetic proof.

I took an 8GB microSDHC card for a spin, and really only cared about one test in particular – whether or not it’s water proof. In case you’re wondering, I figured that the risk from magnetism-caused data loss was pretty low, and as for being able to survive being run over by a car, if I’m in a situation where I pull out my memory card and it gets run over by a car soon after, I’m doing something wrong and have more to worry about than the survival of my SD card.

So my test was pretty straightforward – I loaded up the card with a bunch of data – photos, files, etc., then I dunked it in a cup of water and let it sit for an hour, which I thought was more than enough time for water saturation. Incidentally, this card is supposed to handle up to 24 hours in sea water which has to be more damaging than mere fresh water.

I let the card sit overnight to dry out after yanking it out of the water. (No, I didn’t expect to just plug it back in and get it working!)

And what do you know? My data was still there. I’m usually wary of things advertised as waterproof or worse, water-resistant, so it was nice to see something like this work well.

These Samsung SDHC cards come in sizes 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32GB. The 2 and 4GB models are class 4 devices; the 8 and 16GB can be found in either class 6 or class 10 models; and the 32GB is a class 10.

One other very nice feature is the that it comes with a microSD adapter and a clear plastic case. You can find these cards at Amazon and lots of other retailers starting at under $13.

Our thanks to MemoryCardZoo.com for the review sample.

(Disclaimer: Gizmos for Geeks received a complimentary review copy of this product.)

Hatch & Company released an iPad 2 Keyboard Case called SKINNY. The keyboard case is only 0.6 inches thick and connects to your iPad via Bluetooth.

The thin but functional SKINNY comes in white or black.

Buy now!
Price: $89.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Throughout my life I’ve been a short-term memory gadget lover (luh-vah). When I first get my hands on a new gadget I act like Lenny Small from Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men as I love and hug my new gadget almost to the point of killing it (how many mice did Lenny go through by the way?). The initial excitement of the new gadget tends to wane as time progresses to the point I typically run across the gadget a year after purchasing wondering what the hell I was thinking when I thought the gadget would be useful in my life. With that said, I’ve run across a few winners that coincidentally tend to winners in the overall consumer market but I would venture to guess for every 25 gadgets I buy, I may have 1 gadget winner that I’ll still be using a year after purchase. I might have a gadget problem.

Apparently, sometime in the past year and a half I managed to become totally dependent on my iPad. How did this happen? Sure, the iPad is cool but a coolness factor alone won’t hold my attention for a year and a half – I’m slightly immune to cool, after all I’m a geek. So why did I become addicted to the iPad?

Friday night I was flying home from a business trip where I enjoyed the extended legroom of an exit row. The segment is a popular segment so I missed the upgrade to first class by one spot – I digress but it still bothers me that I was so close to the promise land on that flight. In any case, I had enough room to pull out my massively bulky, weighty but ultra performing Lenovo W510 due to the extended legroom but I decided to throw the laptop bag into storage above the seat and stick with just the iPad. After using the iPad for as much as the flight I could I placed the iPad back into the seat pocket in front of me for the landing and apparently due to the drugs I have been prescribed to eradicate a nasty extended cold I forgot to secure my iPad in my messenger bag. Finally, after unpacking and settling in my home office around midnight I realized I did not have the iPad and surmised I must have left the iPad in the seat pocket.

My first thought was panic because my wife mentioned she was having lunch with a friend on Saturday and her friend’s son wanted to play with the iPad. Then I started to freak out about the information on the iPad and remembered I had an 8 digit passcode protecting my iPad where the information will be wiped after 10 attempts. If you have an iPad and do not have a passcode setup, take a pause from this article and update the security on your iPad! The next thought hit me like a ton of bricks, what about the information on the iPad! As I started to think about my information I realized I only had a couple applications I use that only locally store on the iPad and most applications I use including email, contacts, calendar, Toodledo, Evernote, etc… all use syncing to or from the service. Alright, I started feeling good except for the loss of a $800 gadget. My next thought was that my life and work are too integrated with the iPad and that I would need to replace my loss immediately so I purchased a White 64GB iPad 2 WiFi version (I was going to purchase the 3G version but Best Buy did not have one in stock so I picked up a Cradlepoint to work with my U600 3G/4G USB to provide WiFi from 3G/4G signals. Additionally, a couple years ago I started purchasing AAPL stock when I purchase a product so I’ll need to execute a $1k order Monday (why do I do this?).

So obviously the iPad somehow got integrated into my life (and my family’s life). What was the tipping point that took the iPad from “cool” to “addictive” for me?

As it turns out, the answer is simple. There are two conditions that have contributed to this addiction… Steve Job’s vision and Apple’s execution to create an outstanding product combined with software from Apple’s iOS to the scores of apps. The iPad has become my center for personal and work information as I sync email, contacts, calendar, to do lists, notes and presentations. I now purchase and read all books and magazines using the iPad (with the minor frustration of not being able to read during takeoff and landing of aircraft) and connect to Comcast on-demand, HBO Go, Netflix streaming and Slingbox through the iPad so the bulk of the reading and video content are viewed through the iPad. I attend business meetings through Webex and GoToMeeting unless I’m hosting and I control my finances with various banking and investment apps including the much improved Mint app which was finally recently updated. While traveling I’ll pick up my news, weather, traffic and flight information from the iPad. At home, my 5 year old utilizes the iPad to have picnics with her dolls and daddy and play educational games and some non-educational games too (although I guess Angry Birds has physics built into it). In addition to all these add-on apps, the iOS provides simple access to WiFi networks and an incredible user experience not to mention a form factor to carry most places and use on a plane when I’m not in first class or an exit row.

I had to go purchase a new iPad in about twelve hours after losing because the device has inserted itself in my personal and business workflows by helping me become more mobile and efficient through a great mix of hardware and software. I’m happy to say that the iPad 2 has already been heavily used both by my 5 year old and myself after restoring from backups.

It’s summer 2011 and the battle for the king of tablets just got even more heated.  As announced back in February, HP has released their webOS based TouchPad tablet, bringing the popular underdog mobile OS platform to the tablet world.  This is great news for Pre and webOS fans everywhere as the platform gets a shot at making a comeback (although is it a comeback if you never technically left?).

HP TouchPad for webOS Fans

For the webOS loyalist, HP is offering a nice incentive to push along some early adopters for this newly released tablet.  Through the month of July, owners of a Palm Pre, Pre Plus, Pixi, and Pixi Plus gets a $50 rebate on the 32GB model of the HP TouchPad.  If you’re one of these owners in the U.S. and Canada, you’ve probably already received the email instruction on how to get your rebate.

The new TouchPad has slightly more attractive specs than most of the current generation tablets on the market.  Sporting a dual-core 1.2Ghz Snapdragon, the TouchPad comes equipped with a faster processor and a healthy 1GB of system RAM.  Beyond the beefy CPU, the TouchPad’s other highlights are HP’s Beat Audio namesake and the quality speakers that comes with the unit.  By far from most reviewers and user impressions, the TouchPad has one of the best external speakers in the tablet market.

Of course, beyond the hardware side of things, you get the beloved webOS 3.0, a great mobile OS solution with a cult-like following.  The popular card view of multitasking ability is of course built into the TouchPad.  Swiping from program to program works well and seamless, and whenever a new notification or additional windows appear for a program, they “stack” into the card slot, giving you easy ability to organize and multitask.

If you’re a Facebook fanboy/girl, you’ll appreciate the dedicated custom Facebook app built by HP/Palm (with guiding hand and approval from Facebook).  This app is by far much better than those you’ll find in most mobile phones/tablets currently out in the market, the panels are intuitive to browse and status updates are easy to read and stream with.  All in all, a good alternative for those who’s looking for something different than an iPad.

Lenovo Y470 Gaming Laptop

The very popular Lenovo’s Y470 gaming laptop is on sale this week at the lowest price we’ve seen yet. One of the best perk in this 14-inch laptop is the surprisingly beefy GPU, in the form of the GeForce GT 550M.  The 550M comes with DDR3 video RAM with memory speed clocking in at 900 Mhz, core clock at 740 Mhz, and the shader core blazes along at 1.4 Ghz.

All-in-all, with the fast mid-range GT 550M and selections from the 2nd Gen i3 to i7 processor, the Y470 can power through any modern games without a sweat.  Crysis 2 at 720p settings can chug along just fine at high details setting and other similar graphically intensive games such as Bad Company 2.

Other perks from modern GPUs such as this is superb video hardware decode support via Nvidia’s PureVideo HD, letting your CPU off the hook so you can continue to multitask while multiple 1080p clips are streaming in the background. If you’re gamer and you’re looking for a relatively portable laptop (weighs in at 4.85 lb) that  can keep up with the software, the Y470 is a decent choice with its respectable configurations and options.

Computer Monitor Deals:

Hanns-G 27.5-inch LCD Monitor

This extremely popular Hanns-G 28″ class monitor is on a big sale at Newegg, being a very popular model among the cost conscious computer buyers that wants a big screen at a budget price.  With well over 200 positive reviews from buyers, this Hanns-G monitor has been dropping in price from its previous levels of around $300 to now at around $230.  Amazing price for a full 1920 x 1080 resolution monitor with fast response rate and a decent panel.

Asus 21.-5-inch 2ms Response Rate LCD Monitor

If size isn’t your concern and all you’re looking for is a decent monitor with full HD resolution at a good price, this Asus 21.-5inch can also be a great fit.  One of the most popular Asus model out there, you’ll find it for around $140 after rebate these days.  While it doesn’t have a gimmicky LED-backlit marketing, you still get a great panel with very high contrast ratio and great color output (for the price).

This Week’s Apps Deals:

Battle Zone 3D King of the Hill for iOS

Here’s a pretty rare deal.  The Battle Zone tank game usually goes for a steep $5.99 (funny how if an app cost more than 99 cents we all get so riled up), but you can snag it now for free at a limited time at the iTunes store.  The game looks to have okay review thus far, especially consider its previous price tag!

SUDOKU for iOS

Sudoku fans rejoice!  This latest iOS game joins the already crowded field of Sodoku apps.  But this particular version is light weight, easy to navigate, and its friendly and clean design makes playing the game a breeze.  Best of all, this Sodoku game is currently FREE for a limited time!

A while ago we covered DriveSafe.ly’s app for reading out your texts while you’re driving. Their apps initially covered BlackBerry and Android, but they’ve now extended their service to the iPhone and added some new exciting features…

When you receive a text while driving, the app will read it out to you and then ask you how you want to proceed. If you wish, you can choose to respond and the app’s speech recognition software will type out your message and send it back – cool! The app can also read out your Tweets and emails.

If you choose the ad-supported version you can get the apps for free, otherwise it will cost you $4/month (or $14/year) for a personal account, or to cover 4 phones on a family account $10/month (or $35/year). For business users it can work out how much you’ll save on car accidents by using the app.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: Free! (ad-supported)
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

We’ve been talking about tablets in great detail since about 2008, and 2010 saw the release of the first iPad – the release that sparked off the tablet generation. Apart from that, it’s easy to forget exactly how long tablets have been around. We saw the Samsung Q1 in 2006 even, but was there anything before that? You bet there was! The picture below details the history of tablets since the first proper tablet – the Z88 released in 1987! Enjoy.

Courtesy of Android Tablet Fanatic