Gadgets

[Icequeen]

Neat geiger counter.

I played with one of the old civil defense ones when I was younger. They're cool.   

Gadgets.

I have a collection of "useless" kitchen gadgets.
Then there are the "tools I HAD to have and will probably never use".
Stuff that lights up.
Vacuums.

I love playing with my metal detector, even though I've never found anything really good.

My downfall is small engines. Curb crawled another mower last night. My shed is full.

[garmonbozia]

Just remembered another one that lurks on my shelves and that I had almost forgotten about.  I've got an old oscilloscope that used to be my great-uncle's.  (brand name Knight, model KG-635)  It has a circular CRT with a green grid overlay and is based on tube technology (not just the display but all the other innards, too).  It will show you the waveform but is not very accurate.  The waveform jumps all over the screen as you're trying to measure it.  Haven't used it in years, but it's still an interesting collectible.  If I ever get back into electronics and find myself in actual need of an oscilloscope, I'd still have to invest in a modern one.

Also, in addition to both a Blu-Ray player and an HD-DVD player, I've got an old Pioneer LaserDisc player that somebody once gave me.  It doesn't work.  You can put a disk in it and it still shows "no disc" on its VFD display.  I've got some LaserDiscs, so if I ever want to be able to watch them, I'll have to get on eBay and buy a working player there.  (If you're not familiar with LaserDiscs, they're an early precursor to the DVD.  They look like a CD but they're the size of a vinyl LP record and are packaged in a big sleeve like an LP.)

Then there's the UPS battery backup for my computers.  It's the Geek Squad brand (one of Best Buy's house brands).  When I bought it, I was sure to pick out one with an LCD display on the front.  When I hooked it up, I discovered to my dismay that the display is only on for a minute and then it goes dark.  You have to push the "display" button to see it again for another minute.  (Now where's the fun in that?)  I don't think it has an override to leave the display on all the time. 

I have a similar one at work, made by APC, that also has such a display.  I trust that one with a $25,000 piece of equipment.  Unlike the Geek Squad one, you can set the APC to leave its display on all the time.  These UPS displays have several modes, and I like to keep them on the wattmeter mode.  If I need any more UPS units, at work or at home, I'm paying a little extra and going with the APC.

[garmonbozia]

Also worthy of mention.  I've got some of those weather monitors with wireless temperature/humidity sensors.  The receivers have clock as well as indoor/outdoor temperature/humidity displays.  Some of the clocks get updates via shortwave radio from the national atomic clock.

Then there are my three air purifiers (Bionaire Galileo).  They only cost me $50 each early last year.  (Gotta love Big Lots.)  They each use up about $50 worth of filters each year, too.  What's interesting about them is they are all controlled by a wireless air quality sensor.  The sensor, which I keep on my desk, looks like an alarm clock and lights up like Xmas.  Any time I cook, spray anything in the air, or scoop the litterboxes, all the air purifiers rev up automatically as soon as the particulates hit the sensor.

[WolFish]

the one i use most would be my HP tablet PC.

don't like my gps, like my mp3 players (iriver, creative zen V(4)), my vitamix, my ice cream maker, my rotary too (with drill press), my solar powered atomic watch, my PDA...more later.

[odeon]

My MP3 player is another gadget I couldn't live without.

[DirtDawg]

My MP3 player is another gadget I couldn't live without.

The one I found a few weeks back has become my wife's favorite toy and a valuable tool to help her through the boring parts of her job.

[odeon]

And I'd like to mention my Koss Porta Pro headphones. Terrific sound for very little money.

[DirtDawg]

I am not familiar with that particular model, but I have had several sets of Koss 'phones over the years and most were quite respectable. All of mine were the dynamic variety, though. I have never owned their high dollar condenser designs. My Sennheiser condensers are really cool, but those aren't really gadgets, they are more like tools, so nevermind.

My headphone gadget is made by Sony and they are fairly well transparent and FM wireless and battery life is amazing and they work all over my property and I have come to really love them and depend upon them. One piece (the transmitter) sits behind my computer and I have a charger station near there where I park the 'phones when not in use.
When I want to bump around, I grab the 'phones, set free a Winamp queue and just go with the flow.

[Frolic_Fun]

My top gadgets:

Nokia N95 (it does everything, even GPS! )
Canon 40D/400D/EOS 3 cameras and lenses (might buy a nice compact camera too for when i'm going into dodgy places or generally too paranoid to take my bigger cameras)
Aspire One netbook (broken at the moment... sigh)
Synths: Doepfer A100 modular, MFB Synth II, Microkorg
PC
MP3 player, plays video and other shite like that.
Neat little charger that can virtually charge ANY kind of rechargable battery once you put the appropriate plate on it, from my battery on my camcorder to my DSLR batteries.
Stylophone, currently have it routed through my A100 to make weird sounds.

Might get a solar charger for my phone and a new netbook if I can't get my current one fixed.

[odeon]

My top gadgets:

Nokia N95 (it does everything, even GPS! )

Do you have the 8GB model? I have one of those and it's the best mobile phone I've ever owned.