In tough economic times there’s a special need for gifts that come at a cheap price but that feel expensive. So here are 10 items with a low cost and high WOW factor. As with our other gift guides, friends and family of Spot Cool Stuff are advised to read no further lest you ruin the surprise of your gift this holiday season. The rest of you, carry on . . .
Spot Cool Stuff does not understand why most of the world’s alarm clocks wake their owners with a jarring buzz or annoying beep. We can imagine some worse ways to be awoken—eg. via cobra bite, bucket of cold water or missile attack—but not many.
Imagine instead being woken by the sound of birds chirping, wind chiming, jungles jungling (or by the radio playing or whatever tune you wish from your iPod) as a soft bedside light gradually brightens over a period of several minutes. That’s how one starts one’s day with the Philips HF3490 iPod clock radio.
In a previous review we put to the test two of the most popular high-end noise reducing headphones—the Sennheiser PXC 450 and the Bose QuietComfort 3. Our verdict: the PXC 450 was the better.
Since that review Bose introduced a new member of its noise reducing headphone lineup: The QuietComfort 15. So how does it compare?
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You’ve just burned a mix CD of music to impress that special some one (or prospective special some one). Or maybe you’ve burned a DVD of your videos. How can you wow the recipients of your CD or DVD creations before they even hear or see your work? Instead of having your disc say Sony or Maxwell on the top, print your own personal design with the Dymo DiscPainter.
Most audiophiles know the value of noise canceling headphones, which shut out large portions of the background sounds leaving the headphone wearer to experience the purity of their music.
Airplane travelers who have used noise canceling headphones know of their benefits too. The loud drone of the airplane engines is one of the major factors leading to flight stress and jet lag. Noise canceling headphones (even without playing any tunes through them) shut out most of the harmful aircraft noises thus helping travelers land at their destination feeling more relaxed and awake.
But what most of those people don’t know is that the best noise canceling headphones are not made by Bose, contrary to what their marketing campaign would have you believe. The Bose Quiet Comfort 3 are very good headphones. An even better pair of noise canceling headphones is. . .
You have a great HD television set. And you have all sorts of great hi-def videos and photos on your computer. But how to link the two up?
Most people either set up a complex home networking system, cope with constant plugging and unplugging of cables and drivers, or burn their videos onto a disc and play them on a DVD player. But there’s a more elegant, and surprisingly inexpensive solution: Western Digital’s HD Media Player.
In the United States, nearly 60% of computer-owning households have more than one computer. The figure is even higher in Sweden and South Korea, and nearly as high in Germany, Canada and England. For all those multi-computer households—especially households with a mix of laptops and desktops or a mix of Mac and PC—the HP MediaSmart Server is a very cool, and wise, investment.
Here’s a product we’re sure to be writing a full review for after it comes out in late May or early June: The Asus Eee Keyboard PC. As in, a keyboard that’s also a PC. Not a keyboard for a PC.
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