Ryan and Ken
Ryan
Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game
Call me crazy but as I get older I find myself more interested in the world of tabletop games. And with the pending release of the seventh full length Star Wars film, this one caught my eye as I was walking through Target recently. X-Wing Miniatures Game has been around since 2012 but it has a recent update to include figures from The Force Awakens. The kit linked above is a starter kit for the game and includes all the essentials to get you and up and running for your first rounds of tabletop dogfighting. But there are plenty of expansions as well, including new fighters, new abilities and of course, the Millennium Falcon. Hell, I'm even debating doing a couple of gaming live streams as I beat up on Ken and Allyn! (Interested?)
Escort Max 360 Radar Detector
Every time I start looking at cars I tend to find myself perusing the list of newly updated radar detectors to help keep me out of trouble. The new Escort Max 360 was just released this week and though mine is still on the way, the technology included in it looks to be pretty impressive. Like many other detectors on the market it includes front and rear antenna for 360 degree monitoring but it also can connect to the Escort Live app through Bluetooth to including real-world data from your own use and other Escort users' crowd-sourced data. Speed cameras are added across the US each week so make sure you keep yours updated! Is just an enablement to promote bad behavior? Maybe. But if you want a solid radar detector, all signs point to the new Escort Max 360 being one of the best.
Brainwavz Hengja – The Headphone Desk Hanger
If you have headphones for your gaming PC, be they wireless or wired, chances are good you have them sitting on your desk when they aren't on your head. And chances are they are in the way when you aren't wearing them. So how do you fix it? A headphone stand or hanger is the option and I have this particular hanger attached to the side of my desk at the office holding my Logitech G933 headset. This little guy is well built and can be adjusted to mount to either a vertical or a horizontal surface. For $14, this is a must-have item and makes a great gift for any gamer on your list! (Even you.)
Ken
Amazon Echo
Looking back at the initial, limited release of the Amazon Echo last November, it's amazing how far it has come. While the initial software release essentially gave the Echo the functionality of a glorified bluetooth speaker with some Google Now-like features, today the Echo does so much more.
Through continued software updates, Amazon has essentially turned the Echo into a center for home automation. Integration with Belkin WeMo, Philips Hue, SmartThings, Insteon, and Wink, means the Echo can fit into just about any home automation workflow you might be setting up. The release of the Alexa Skills SDK, as well as IFTTT support mean even if Amazon doesn't natively support the device or service you want to hook into, someone in the community is probably already working on it.
This holiday season we have been seeing some price drops, settling as low as $149.99. For a device that is getting better constantly, you might want to let Alexa into your life.
Leatherman Squirt ES4
While I've never been the type of person to carry a pocket knife, I came across the Leatherman Squirt ES4 earlier this year, and thought I would give it a try. What drew me to this particular model was the introduction of wire strippers/cutters where you would generally find pliers on this type of tool. Considering the type of situations we run into at the office with having to wire things, as well as hobby utlities, carrying around wire strippers has proven very useful. As a point of note though, you aren't entirely replacing the pliers, they can still be found on the tip.
As it turns out, I'm a total convert to carrying this type of multitool daily. While I mainly use the knife for opening packages and boxes, I use the wirestrippers often as well as the scissors, screwdrivers, and of course bottle opener.
For around $25 or so, it's worth a shot if you're on the fence as to if you want to carry this type of tool with you ever day. I think you might be surprised as how often you or the people around you will be able to utlize a multitool. The lifetime warranty from Leatherman doesn't hurt either.
I can build an entire system
I can build an entire system for what ONE intel chip costs.
Wellll if you wanna play that
Wellll if you wanna play that game, I can get an entire system for $5
Well played. (Too bad it’s
Well played. (Too bad it's sold out everywhere.)
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-zero/
except it wasn’t sarcasm.
except it wasn’t sarcasm.
The AMD Athlon X4 860K (quad
The AMD Athlon X4 860K (quad core Kaveri sans graphics) is indeed a great budget choice. It has not let me down yet when it comes to budget builds, and when paired with an SSD system performance is plenty fast for more tasks — even gaming with a dedicated GPU.
TRUTH! Great chip, killer
TRUTH! Great chip, killer price, can’t go wrong on a budget box with the 860k.
but…….. you must use a dedicated GPU, the 860 has no video.
Yup, some may think this
Yup, some may think this blasphemy but I've used a GeForce 750 Ti in both those 860K-based systems ;).
oh yea, who cares whatever
oh yea, who cares whatever good graphics you can grab for the $$$ I mix match nvidia cards in my AMD builds all day long haah.
860k and a 750Ti sound like a perfect match perf wise.
I could use a new tablet to
I could use a new tablet to use about the house. I haven’t seen the ASUS’ ZenPad S 8 in person. I would wonder about the build quality. Can you easily find protective cases for it or is it relatively impact resistant from the start? People make a big deal about phones being made of glass and aluminum, but if I didn’t have my iPhone in a strong plastic case, it would have been broken shortly after I got it and probably several times since.
I was thinking of a dell venue tablet, since the main thing I care about is the quality of the screen, and I have seen several reports saying that the screen is excellent. Some of the other features are lacking though. The AMOLED screens kind of worry me though. I was looking at some Samsung phones a while ago at Best Buy. They had been left in some kind of demo mode, and it looked like they had some screen burn in.
The Zenpad S 8 is a nice
The Zenpad S 8 is a nice peice of tech. Screen looks nice, fits in the palm of your hand (well, mine at least), and seems to have a bit of power. The 64GB version has the upgraded CPU, but I opted for the 32GB because of the price. I was able to find quite a few cases for it off of Amazon as well…
It’s a good job folks. I
It’s a good job folks. I like these sort of things.
You did great with many of the products like the 850 EVO. I’m not in love with 3 figure headsets, but it’s nice to know.
Can I make a suggestion?
Could you expand the list to address budgets and product fans? There are many that are stuck on Apple, AMD and $$$. Perhaps you can expand the list to include those as items rather than waffle on some of them in the narratives. I know it might make the article too long, but maybe have multiple articles?
Well, just some ideas.
Whats the minimum dollar
Whats the minimum dollar value video card / video card combo to feed a 4K TV at 30 FPS?
Just 4K video or gaming?
Just 4K video or gaming?
Gaming.
Gaming.
I think an AMD 390X or NV 980
I think an AMD 390X or NV 980 Ti would be minimums from newer gen. You might be able to get away with an older gen dual gpu single card but eh it would depend on how well the games you play support multu gpu.
Thanks!
Thanks!
I find my GTX 980 fares
I find my GTX 980 fares pretty well at 4K. I play on a 4Ktv from my Ultra HTPC. Personally I prefer to either play at 1440p at 60 max graphics on the 980, or 4k 60 at slightly reduced settings. A great example is Metal gear Solid 5. It runs great at 4k at medium to high settings and still ooks leagues better than the consoles.
I recently bought the S710
I recently bought the S710 and have been happy with it. Of course up here it costs double what it does in the USA.
That SanDisk Ultra II is a
That SanDisk Ultra II is a screaming deal in any of its available capacities. Decent (if not remarkable) as an OS drive, but really comes into its own as a place to install Steam and enjoy SSD load times on the cheap.
Am I the only one that thinks
Am I the only one that thinks that GPUs are WAY overpriced these days? I see no compelling upgrade to my “old” Sapphire Tri-X R9 290X I bought online slightly used for $275…
What is the better $200
What is the better $200 tablet the shield or the zenpad
Gaming isn’t a factor