Our editors' favorite gadgets
Our editors describe some of their favorite hardware and software tools and toys.
Staff -- EDN, December 15, 2011
During this time of year, shopping for the latest electronic gadgets is on many people's minds. Here, our editors reflect on some of the gadgets and gizmos that they personally find most useful, most fun, or most intriguing.If you have a favorite gadget you'd like to submit, feel free to comment below, or send a photo of your favorite gadget(s) and any comments to suzanne.deffree@ubm.com. Submissions will be highlighted in a future post on EDN.
Brian Bailey, Contributing Technical Editor
Adobe Lightroom:
Ariete Cafe Prestige coffee maker: Many years ago I bought an espresso maker from an unknown company. The model was called the Ariete Café Prestige. This thing does wonders, was dirt cheap (at the time – paid $80 for it) and is built to last.
Margery Conner, Technical Editor
Livescribe Pulse smartpen: I've owned one for about four years now, and find it invaluable for taking notes and syncing them to the live recording of what the presenter or interviewee said. Brilliant technology that does just what it says it will.
Arduino: When you need to control or communicate with an indicator or sensor or motion control device such as a motor, it's hard to beat an arduino for ease of use and programming.
It's likely that you can find existing code for almost any task you need your arduino to perform, and because it's all open-source, you have access to the original code and can modify or improve it and be on your way.
Power Station: This power backup system that I got at Costco for about $80 can run my laptop for several hours after the laptop battery is empty, along with the satellite modem for internet connection.
It also can jump-start a car, and comes with built-in jumper cables (which I have used to jump-start the garden tractor, but never a car), an integrated 140 PSI air compressor (never used) and two 12V dc power outlets (also never used).
Kindle (Fire & Keyboard): I love e-readers and the Fire does an excellent job of presenting the graphs and figures needed in non-fiction books.
The cheaper, e-ink versions of the Kindle such as the Kindle Keyboard are lighter than the Fire and have much longer battery life, and are fine for books that are exclusively text. Different horses for different courses.
Kill-A-Watt: The Kill-A-Watt was the first generally available power and power factor meter for the consumer market. While we're waiting for our smart meters to evolve to the point where they can tell us everything we could possibly want to know about our home energy consumption, the Kill-A-Watt does a fine job.
Rick Demeis, Editor, EE Times' Automotive Designline
The Photographer's Ephemeris: My pick is a software package (available in many formats) that provides data on sunrise and moonrise (phase, direction of rise and set, time of rise and set, etc.) for any spot in the world on a given date.
It allows photographers to plan shots to best capture desired natural lighting effects. While it is not always spot on regarding exact times when, say, the moon clears local terrain or the dead-on angle, it is close enough to be a useful (and fun) tool.
Janine Love, Editor, EE Times' RF/Microwave Designline
Apple iMac: I love my Apple iMac with 27-in. screen. With this powerful machine and huge display I can layout multiple projects side by side for comparison and data collection. I switched to this iMac and within minutes was completely hooked.
Apple Time Capsule: My second favorite gadget. The Apple "Time Machine" software automatically backs up my work several times a day to this 3TB external storage device.
In-car Bluetooth: My favorite on-the-go gadget is the in-car bluetooth feature in the Subaru that I bought last year. I can also plug my iPod into the radio by stashing it in the between the front seats storage compartment and plugging it into a jack there. Very nice for road trips.
Kristin Lewotsky, Editor, EE Times' Military & Aerospace Designline
My iCrack, er, iPhone with its Bluetooth earpiece: I remember an instrumentation manufacturer in the late '90s telling me about the time
At the time, we all felt pretty cute about the amount of computing power we had at our fingertips. Fast forward to today, when your average smartphone has about as much processing muscle and memory as one of the room-sized installations of the early '60s.
It can run a host of sophisticated engineering and modeling apps, let you troubleshoot factory-floor equipment while you're nibbling on appetizers at a restaurant, capture high-resolution images and let you send them to a colleague on the other side of the globe. And it can embarrass you in a meeting with a Justin Bieber ring tone if you make the mistake of leaving it around where your daughter can get to it.
Philips VoiceTracer digital recorder: The VoiceTracer lets me capture 20 hours of audio and port the files out to my computer over a USB cable. No more shoeboxes of cassette tapes sitting around. I get timestamps, I can see duration at a glance, and best of all, it's the size of two matchboxes put end to end.
Maverick wireless remote BBQ thermometer: Yes, pulled pork is delish, but I don't always want to be stuck by the side of the barbecue for five hours. This way, I can carry the remote throughout the house and get an alarm when the meat is done.
Carolyn Mathas, Editor, EE Times' Communications Designline
HTC Thunderbolt: My favorite gadgets include my HTC Thunderbolt phone that I bought to replace the iPhone that I lost at ESC Silicon Valley. The feature I particularly love is the mobile hotspot capability which I use often, living up here in the woods as I do.
iMac: Another is the iMac 27" computer that I bought this year when my other smaller one was full. I use it to have several documents open simultaneously while not having to shrink any of them. Using my laptop when traveling is a real challenge now that I'm so spoiled.
Kindle (original): Finally, my Kindle is right up there. Given how much I travel, and the tendency to take with me more weight in books than clothes, I love it. The non-glare screen is a welcome relief after staring at that 27" display I mentioned for hours on end.
Clive ("Max") Maxfield, Editor, Programmable Logic Designline
Oscium mixed-signal oscilloscope: The Oscium iMSO-104 is a mixed-signal oscilloscope designed specifically for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It's intuitive and easy to use. You can download iMSO from the App Store and test drive the software interface for free.
Oscium WiPry-Spectrum: The Oscium WiPry-Spectrum is a 2.4GHz ISM band spectrum analyzer designed specifically for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
It allows you to "Pry" into your Wi-Fi environment to detect and avoid noisy channels. You can download WiPry from the App Store and test drive the software interface for free.
iCircuit: This is an easy-to-use electronic circuit editor and simulator for the iPad and iPhone. Once you've placed components on the screen and wired them together, iCircuit's simulation engine can handle both analog, digital circuits, and mixed-signal circuits. iCircuit really is a perfect companion to students, hobbyists, and even practicing engineers.
Notes Plus: This iPad app is in a league of its own. With Notes Plus you can mix handwriting with your finger with typed-text input; it will automatically detect and neaten up drawn shapes (lines, circles, triangles, rectangles, and so forth).
You can also add multiple audio notes to each page. This is the sort of app that fully utilizes all of the iPad's capabilities and turns it into a tool rather than a toy.
Rich Pell, Editor, EE Times' Audio Designline
Logitech Squeezebox Touch: Who listens to CDs any more? They're so 20th century. The original Squeezebox was one of the first
The latest incarnation of the device is the Squeezebox Touch, which adds a color touch screen and, by all accounts, improved electronics over its predecessors. I've owned most of the previous Squeezebox devices, and the Touch appears to be a worthy addition to the line.
iPeng: The iPeng app ($9.99) is best known among Logitech Squeezebox owners for allowing them to remotely control their Squeezebox network audio player(s) from an iDevice - using
Vortexbox appliance: An increasingly important question for consumers as they continue to use more electronic media is, "where to store and access that content?" Using a PC has its drawbacks, not least of which are external noise and power consumption issues. Many are finding that a dedicated media server - which consumes little power, is small, makes little or no noise, and which can be kept powered on 24/7 - fits the bill. One such device is the Vortexbox appliance, which is simply a customized Intel Atom-based Linux computer/NAS that uses 25W at full power.
With basic storage of 1TB, a DVD writer for automatic CD ripping, and a plethora of installed applications to support many third-party devices - such as the Logitech Squeezebox players - the Vortexbox appliance offers a convenient all-in-one solution that will have you streaming your audio and video library over your home network in no time.
Objective2 (O2) DIY headphone amplifer: I do most of my music listening with headphones - both standard circumaural types as well as in-ear monitors - so getting the best performance from them is a high priority for me. That means ensuring they are being driven by as transparent and neutral a source as possible, which usually means using a headphone amplifier. The problem is that it's not easy finding a headphone amp that gets all the basics right (e.g., output impedance, distortion, noise and drive capability) and has fully tested specifications, at a reasonable cost.
Enter the Objective2. It was specifically designed in response to the high-end audio and DIY community's overwhelming bias toward subjectively designed and evaluated products - many of which use expensive and hard-to-find parts - that often don't measure up on the test bench. In contrast, the open source O2 headphone amp design uses inexpensive off-the-shelf parts readily available from Mouser etc., to deliver stellar objective performance at a fraction of the cost of typical audiophile products.
Paul Rako, Technical Editor
I walked around the Domicile of the Future to seek out some holiday gizmos that might inspire some gift ideas. In no particular order, here they are.
Countryman Associates Isomax E6 microphone: I had heard about how good Countryman mics were from some of my audio pals. Back in 2004, Andy Aronson, the producer of the Bob Pease show at National Semiconductor (now Texas Instruments) had us wear them for one of the shows. Andy said he would never use anything else. That is how much better the sound was.
Part of the quality is that the microphone is not clipped to your shirt, where the volume changes as you look around. The other factor is the design and parts used in the Countryman. Highly recommended.
Etymotic Research ER-4S in-ear earphones: I loved Etymotic Research musician's earplugs. They are designed to give a uniform reduction in sound across the frequency spectrum, so the mix will sound right even though you are wearing earplugs. They took the comfortable earplug design and made it into a headset.
The near $300 price may shock you, but they are worth every penny. They are far superior to anything Apple could even imagine. I wear them in the airplane. They attenuate ambient noise far better than noise-canceling headsets. I can have a baby crying and screaming in the row behind me and I will be dozing off listening to Lightnin' Hopkins.
RME Fireface 800 Firewire audio recording system: This was designed years ago and it still has the best signal-to-noise and lowest latency. They used an FPGA to handle the bits and Analog Devices ADCs to get the low noise. The Fireface 800 is still the best audio recorder on the market.
Garrity KE800 LED rechargeable flashlight: I don't think Garrity makes this model anymore and that is a real shame. The LED flashlight uses 3 AAA batteries, so when they wear out on few years you can just open the unit with a screwdriver and replace them.
You can turn it on and when you plug it in the wall the light goes out. That way, when you lose power at your house, the flashlights come on as a safety light. It is just barely small enough so I can hold it in my mouth so I can work with both hands free. I bought eight of them used on eBay. Good luck finding yours.
Dekapot Kelvin-Varley divider: This is a coaxial precision potentiometer you use in your test bench. Beautifully made, and very accurate. Look for them on eBay, Craigslist, and they are even available new from IET Labs. Originally made by TEGAM.
McAfee MP3 player: This was given to me by Martin DeLateur, the International Man of Mystery. It holds maybe 10 songs. It has been knocked around and abused in my jacket pocket for 5 years. If it gets lost I don't care.It is every bit as useful as an iPod, just infinitely less expensive. I use it to power my $200+ Etymotic headphones.
Unlike the Philips player I bought in the Singapore airport, this one does not need to be charged up thought the USB port. It has a single AA battery. If the player is dead, I can stop at the airport gift shop and have it working in 2 minutes. Make sure your audio recorders and players have replaceable standard batteries, AA, AAA or 9-volt.
Oregon Scientific RMR500A 4-channel temperature and humidity station: I would like it if this thing logged its temperatures and humidity but is was 80 bucks including the two extra sensor modules you need to buy to get all four channels. I monitor outdoor temperature, the temp in the attic, the temperature in the garage, and the base unit has its own temperature/humidly sensor.
Sometimes the units lose sync, and once the unit in the attic had the battery die, I replaced all the batteries in the three transmitters and base station. The transmitters are AA and the base is AAA if I remember, or vice versa, pretty annoying in any event. It helps me know when to close the windows in the morning after the house cools down in the chilly Sunnyvale night. I learned to coolo f the house so well I only used the central air twice last summer.
Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor, Test & Measurement World
Brother printer: My Brother MFC-8500 printer/scanner/fax because it's old enough to have both USB and parallel ports. That means I can connect two PCs to it without networking.
Digital clock: A perennial favorite is my home-made digital clock.
Audacity audio editor: For software applications, Audacity tops my list. I use it to record interviews and online audio streams. I also used it to record multitrack versions of my songs.
Bill Schweber, Editor, EE Times' Planet Analog
Digital Sliding T-Bevel: The Digital Sliding T-bevel takes guesswork and errors out of dealing with unusual angles in woodworking and constructing.
It's a clear example of how high-accuracy, low-power low-cost position and angle sensors are changing the basic "hand tool" world, tools that have been unchanged for decades and even centuries. The company also makes digital angle finders and protractors, using the same underlying technology.
B-Squares: The B-Squares electronic modules let you build interesting basic projects without soldering, a real challenge with our tiny ICs and passives. They may help spark the EE interest in a student.
It includes Arduino microcontroller, power (including solar-power), LED, interconnect, and I/O modules.
Steve Taranovich, Contributing Editor
SONY DVD recorder: My number one pick is the SONY VRD-MC6 Multi-function DVD recorder that my wife bought me last Christmas. It takes input from a VHS system and allows copy to a DVD without the need of a PC - just click a couple of buttons and walk away until it's done. I have ton's of VHS tapes that I am easily converting.
HP Photosmart A646 Compact printer: Touch screen with generally well-designed menus. Prints 5-by-7s, 4-by-6s, and panoramas up to 4 by 12 inches. Handy for needing a few quick prints from digital cameras.
Samsung SMX-C10 digital camcorder: Small, compact, easy to use and has a feature to record memories and share them over the Internet - in one touch. It has a 16 GB built-in memory plus I keep a 16 GB SDHC flash memory card in it for 4 extra hours of HD video recording room (a spare battery is good for video buffs).
Talkback
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@Brian Bailey: here you can find the maker of your coffee machine: www.ariete.net/catalog/Cafe
made in Italy :)
regards
giacomo schieppati - 2011-22-12 09:37:27 PST
