Consumer Electronics Archives - Page 4 of 5

June 1, 2017May 31, 2017

Poor WiFi Signal At Home? A WiFi Extender Can Help!

Most homes don’t have network cables running to each room, so many of us rely on WiFi to connect our devices while at home. The problems begin when the ISP installs our router / WiFi box in a less than optimal location, and usually it can not be easily moved. This is where a simple WiFi extender can augment your existing signal and extend the reach of your home network to every corner of your house even the back yard.

How WiFi Extenders Work?

In its simplest form a WiFi extender is just a repeater. The extender is listing for a signal from your home WiFi router and repeats that signal “LOUDER” in an area of your home that is not hearing your main WiFi signal. Basically just relaying the information between your device and the main router. Think of the extender as a “man in the middle”

Where Do I Place My Extender?

The first step to installing a WiFi Extender is obviously setup. Some models have a touch screen to allow for a quick and easy setup. Others can be connected to your PC via USB to input settings or can be connected over WiFi. Once the setup has been completed it is important to select the proper location. You need to find Continue reading “Poor WiFi Signal At Home? A WiFi Extender Can Help!”

May 31, 2017May 20, 2017

10 Great Father’s Day Gifts Under $100

Father’s Day is just a few days away, and if your like me spending time with my family is the best gift of all. However if you choose to pickup some gifts for Dad, maybe my list of inexpensive ideas will spark your interest.

NES Controller Clock for the Geek Dad $24.99 @ www.GeekGearStore.com

NES CLOCK — $24.99 @ www.GeekGearStore.com

This cool retro NES controller clock is perfect for the geeky dad that has everything. Laser cut 10″ x 4 ½” out of hard wood and wall mountable. I can almost guarantee your Dad does not have one. Perfect for Father’s Day.

Automobile Dashboard Camera $50 and up

There are hundreds of dash cams on the market, and I believe that they are a great investment, not only for safety but for security as well. I personally own the KDLINKS X1 Camera $170 and purchased it specifically because it is designed to take extreme heat and cold. There are other lower cost cameras starting at around $50. The average price for a decent unit is around $100. Be sure to read the reviews before you make a purchase Continue reading “10 Great Father’s Day Gifts Under $100”

May 26, 2017May 26, 2017

Top Secret Apple Products For 2017

Apple attempts to be super secretive regarding their new and upcoming products, however leaks do occur. Some of the leaks are true and others just hype. This year is no different, and the “Apple Products” rumor mill has churned out quite a few. It will be fun looking back at this post in 2018 to see which products and predictions came true.

The Siri Home Assistant / Smart Speaker

Why let Amazon and Google have all the fun? The Amazon Echo was the first smart speaker to the market back in June of 2015, followed by The Google Home in November 2016. Apple has been catching up for almost 2 years. Will their version of the home assistant be superior to the competition? The rumors state that it will come with a screen, face recognition and emphasize sound quality.

Love retro gaming? This new NES console can play every game!

Do you love retro gaming? Maybe a big fan of the original Nintendo Entertainment System? (NES) This new console may interest you.

Back in the fall around the holidays Nintendo released the NES Mini Classic Edition console with about 30 included games. The units sold out from Amazon in about 10 minutes. The demand was so high it crashed Amazon’s web servers.

Then to make matters worse, Nintendo announced that they have discontinued this wildly popular product! If you wish to buy one they are still available on Amazon albeit at a premium price $160!

There’s a new player in town! The Retron HD NES Console

Maybe the crazy demand for a retro Nintendo was a good thing. Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the Hyperkin RetroN 1 HD Gaming Console. At only $40 this little retro console looks like a great performer. It has the capability to play every Nintendo NES game ever released, and is compatible with both NTSC and PAL games. Continue reading “Love retro gaming? This new NES console can play every game!”

May 23, 2017May 18, 2017

Don’t believe the hype – MP3 is NOT Dead!

What did we do before MP3? I remember the early years using my Dolby high speed dubbing tape decks to make copies of the tapes my friends and I used to share. Not too soon after came the Compact Disc, and I ran out to buy a Pentium 60mhz with a 2x CD-Recorder to make my mix CD’s.

I was amazed that we could “rip” huge wav files off the CD’s and play them back on the PC. But disk space was at a premium in the 90’s, due to the limited capacity of hard drives.

There had to be a better way to store music! That’s when a friend introduced me to the MP3 format. Full length songs at decent quality only 3mb – 5mb! WOW this was amazing, think of the possibilities. There were no portable MP3 players yet, I found myself taking a laptop in the car hooked to an FM transmitter to listen to my music.

I even marketed a CD on eBay for $10 that had plans for a car MP3 Player Just imagine putting a computer in a pizza box in the trunk of your car, running a PS/2 cable to a numeric keypad and mounting a 40 character display to your dash board with a parallel cable. It was good business until the portable MP3 players began to arrive about a year later.

A BRIEF TRIP DOWN THE PORTABLE MP3 PLAYER MEMORY LANE

Continue reading “Don’t believe the hype – MP3 is NOT Dead!”

May 19, 2017May 19, 2017

Weekend Project – Repairing & Emulating the Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 was not only one of my favorite computers it was my first computer. Over the life span of the C64 I broke quite a few of them due to the poor quality of early deigns. This may have been a good thing because it lead to taking them apart and attempting to repair the units insuring my life long love of computers and consumer electronics.

Sometimes I was successful at my repair endeavor and many times not so much. Repairing the Commodore 64 became as much a hobby as programming the computer.

If you still have one of these dinosaurs in your basement and want to fire it up to show the kids take a look at this great PDF file I found on the Internet. It could prove to be helpful.

Feel Free To Download The Service Manual PDF Here

The service manual is dated March 1992 and that was about the year the C64 went out of production. It is actually very complete with lots of hand drawn schematics and theory of circuit operation. Parts numbers and chip / port pin outs are also listed. Basically everything you need to troubleshoot and fix that old computer and fire up the BASIC V2 screen we all remember so well. Continue reading “Weekend Project – Repairing & Emulating the Commodore 64”

May 11, 2017May 10, 2017

Amazon adds a screen to Alexa – Calling it Echo Show

I guess this is the natural evolution for the Alexa digital assistant. Poor Alexa has been trapped in that cylinder all these years. Now with the latest version from Amazon, the Echo Show can see you and “show” you things. I have had the original Amazon Echo from day one. My family and I have found it very useful, weather we use her for homework help or to get the scores of the New York Ranger game or just to simply play Jeopardy.

Check out the new Echo Show At Amazon

What can Alexa Show – “Show You?”

The most interesting new feature is the access to video and voice calling. Basically this is a face time clone, however it takes it one step further with the new “Drop In” feature. This new feature is designed to auto accept a call giving you a 10-second window to reject. I can see this being useful if you want to check in on an elderly family member, or check in on the kids after school. Continue reading “Amazon adds a screen to Alexa – Calling it Echo Show”

May 10, 2017May 11, 2017

Build Your Own Google Home Assistant – Google AIY & Raspberry Pi

As a huge fan of the Raspberry Pi, I’m always looking for cool new projects to try. Google had released a free hardware kit with Issue 57 of the MagPi magazine. The kit included a Pi Voice Hat, a microphone board, speaker, a “traditional google” card board case and various bits to put it all together. Apparently this is Google’s answer the Raspberry Pi Amazon Echo that was released last year.

If you were lucky enough to get your hands on the kit, I hope you put it to good use. They were in limited supply and are sold out at this point. Maybe they will make another run and sell them in the Google store?

If you still want to try this project with out the kit you can! Google has published instructions.

Supplies you will need

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and power supply

Continue reading “Build Your Own Google Home Assistant – Google AIY & Raspberry Pi”

April 27, 2017April 27, 2017

Top 10 Unique Gifts for Mom this Mother’s Day 2017

Is your Mom into technology? Maybe a little on the geeky side? Well I tried to put together a list of 10 unique Mother’s day gifts that maybe your mom would enjoy. Scroll down and take a look. Don’t forget to check out the bonus gift. (I made it!)

Fitbit Alta Fitness Tracker

For the health conscience or Mom on the go, the Fitbit Alta makes a great gift. Starting at $129, its a gift Mom will surely enjoy. My wife picked one of these up last year and wears it every day.

Don’t forget the extra bands!

Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Give Mom a break and let the robot do the cleaning for her. Roomba has been around for quite a while and is my favorite robot vacuum. However so many other brands and styles have entered the market at various price ranges. The Roomba 650 pictured to the left is about $325. If you click through this LINK you will see robot cleaners from $60 on up. Just read the reviews before you make a purchase. Especially if you have pets.