Gadget Sleuth » USB

Port O’ Many: The 24-Port USB Hub

Derek — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:48:12 +0000

Some of us have 1 or 2 USB gadgets, but then there are those people who have many gadgets that either require or work better with USB connections, and the standard desktop/laptop just doesn’t have enough ports for those fortunate individuals. For those folks, this hub would be a godsend, as its shape and 24 ports should be more than enough for anyone, no matter how addicted they are to USB gadgets.

The design is pretty basic here; no flashing neon lights or cartoon characters, so for those who favor aesthetics, look elsewhere. This is strictly for the heavy-duty USB user; just plug it into your system and you’re all set. It’s compatible with USB 2.0 or 1.1 devices.

It isn’t cheap either: it’ll run you $69.99 at USB Fever. A USB junkie would consider that a bargain, no doubt.

Fool Around: The USB PC Prankster

Derek — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:19:35 +0000

Sometimes we like to blow off a little steam and have some fun…even if its at anothers expense (all in good clean fun of course). For the jokester in all of us, there’s the PC Prankster, a cool (and not cheap) joke to play on an unsuspecting co-worker or friend.

It plugs into a USB port, and you can set a time delay before the computer starts going wild: random mouse movements, random garbage being typed out on the screen, the whole nine yards. Your poor victim won’t know what hit him (until you tell him, waiting enough time for the cold sweats to start).

Now, you’d have to invest a little money in this bit of evilness: The USB PC Prankster sells for £19.99 or $32 USD.

Mini Major Gadget: The Mimo Mini USB Monitor

Derek — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:27:08 +0000

Need just a bit of extra screen space, but don’t want to bother with setting up a whole other monitor with all of its needs (extra video memory, video card, etc)? This is right up your alley: The Mimo Mini USB Monitor.

The Mimo Mini USB Monitor offers a very low-maintenance, low setup way to get an extra display, of sorts.

Just a USB connection from your computer gets you an instant high-resolution secondary display, albeit a smaller one than your usual display. This is great for an IM client, email, spreadsheet, or how about video as well.

It only weighs 1.3 pounds, so its very portable, and since it only connects with a USB cable, there’s almost no setup. We love it, and it starts at $129.99 at ThinkGeek.

The Warmth of USB: The Whirl Wind Cup

Derek — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:47:05 +0000

Sometimes Brando, one of our favorite cheesy USB gadget companies, come up with some very neat stuff. This is a pretty cool little gadget: the Whirl Wind Cup, which keeps your coffee or whatever warm using only USB power, and it even stirs the drink lightly for you as well.

It keeps the drink around 80 degrees or so, and since winter is coming, it’s perfect for your favorite tea, coffee or drink to enjoy this holiday season.

You can get ahold of this neato gadget for $37 each, which isn’t cheap for them, but very cool (or warm as the case may be) for someone who spends a lot of time in front of a computer.

Smile! The IPEVO P2V USB Camera

Derek — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:19:11 +0000

Internet filmmakers out there rejoice: here’s the IPEVO camera with a very flexible “head”, to allow easy shooting in all kinds of situations and angles. It adjusts easily and simply, to create all kinds of creepy videos.

The 2MP camera includes a macro mode to give better closeups, and a handheld grip and monitor clip that fits nearly any size monitor to allow vidcam shooting. Other features: a handy one-touch snapshot mode and autofocus in any available mode as well.

This will work fine on a PC or Mac, according to the company. You can grab the IPEVO P2V USB Camera for $69 via the IPEVO website.

Flit To The USB Tune: The Butterfly USB Hub

Derek — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:11:01 +0000

If you’re a nerdy girl (or insect loving guy nerd we suppose), but still like your useful gadgets not too stereotypically bright pink, this might be the perfect gadget for you: The Butterfly USB Hub.

Instead these come in red and blue, and they’re tasteful tones of the two colors. The hub features 4 USB ports for all your different gadgets to plug into.

Plus the hubs are placed along the sides, so they won’t take away from the attractiveness of the butterfly form. And best of all, it’s affordable as well; you can grab this for $10.99 from USB Fever, a site specialzing in cool USB gadgets.

Magnetic Personality: The Elecom Magnetic Card Reader

Derek — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:44:59 +0000

Sometimes function is important, and sometimes form factor becomes more important for the basic functions. This card reader from Elecom demonstrates both principles in action, taking a basic PC function and making it stylish and fit into small places to keep things out of the way and streamlined.

The Magnetic Memory Card Reader sticks anywhere where there’s metal and plugs into a USB port, to eliminate clutter and also it comes in lots of bright colors too, for style points, which are more important to some than others. It also supports many different types of cards, including XD, MicroSD and more.

Yes, its also $27, which may seems a bit steep for strictly style type devices, but that’s your decision, of course.

Old-School New School Device: The ‘Keyboard Keys’ USB Card Reader

Derek — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:00:10 +0000

This is a neat little device that made me instantly think “why didn’t I think of that?”. It’s shaped like a keyboard key, and it’s a little USB dongle thing that you can put SD/Micro SD and other memory cards into, and they read off of that once plugged into your system’s USB drive. It’s compact and simple, and we love it.

The Keyboard Keys USB Card Reader works with USB 2.0 and supports SDHC, SD, micro SDHC, microSD, Sony M2, Memory Stick, and MS duo cards (that’s a lot of cards!).

It’s fully compatible with Windows and Mac OS, and you have a choice of white and blue. The Keyboard Keys USB Card Reader sells for $12 each from USB Geek, one of our favorite vendors.

Old Done New: The Ion USB Portable Turntable

Derek — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:06:39 +0000

We do love us some vinyl tunes every once in awhile, but turntables are usually big, bulky devices that take up a lot of room and can’t be moved around very easily. Now that’s changed with the bright red Ion USB Portable Turntable.

It will work with a Mac or PC and all it needs is a USB connection to power up and work, so it saves electricity too. Vinyl has always been popular among the audiophiles, and with this new gadget, you can carry that joy easily with you anywhere you like.

Its small, measuring about 20” long by about 17 inches wide by about 6 inches high. It is not cheap though; you can grab it for $140 from Urban Outfitters.

Motion Storage: The VTube Hard Drive Media Player

Derek — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:44:01 +0000

There’s a market for slick HDs with video playing features built in apparently, so we introduce: The VTube HD Media Player.

Chinese maker Spark has announced out a new media player with a built-in hard drive that looks like a big egg in design.

Called the VTube as a code name, the gadget has a 2.5-inch hard drive platter inside of it, and plays back most types of video files including DAT, MPG, VOB, TS, AVI, DIVX and XVID, among others.

It’s quite small too, measuring 212mm x 150mm x 56mm, so it can travel easily as well. It connects via USB2.0 port, and also includes an AV port, HDMI port, and Wi-Fi connectivity as well.

The VTube HD hard drive media player is available for 899 Yuan (or $132 USD). It’s a Chinese website, so a translation thing like Google might be necessary.