RC Bashers

Came across this when I logged off my hotmail:
http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/gadget-gift-guide/staticslideshowrs.aspx?cp-documentid=31239751

At first I thought that maybe this would be neat stuff, but after reading through it all I found much of it was either too expensive or had cheaper more-practical alternatives. Of course like some of you guys I'm a Techie, so when I look at this I think that MSN Lifestyle needs to make better use of its time.

P.S. Just so you guys know I'm right now at that point that we all hit, where we hit a mood that makes us wanna rant about things

Useless gizmos:
1) Jambox; little box connects to your computer and plays 3D sound. Price: $200
FAULT: for a little bit more you can set up a surround sound system that fills your whole room with sound!

2) Virtual lazer keyboard; tiny little cube projects a virtual keyboard that reacts to finger touches, eliminating the use of a space-taking conventional keyboard. Price: $170
FAULT: It only works for Iphones or Ipads, so for $170 it's very unpractical. If they expanded it to use on a basic computer then it'd actually be worth it.

3) Digits; little pads that attach to your gloves and let you work your phone without taking off your gloves. Price: $20 for 8 pads
FAULT: I'm a hunter/fisherman, so I know that for cheaper than that you can get neoprene gloves with slits that let you pop your individual fingers in & out easily. Plus neoprene holds in body heat much more efficiently than cotton or wool gloves.

4) LED hat; has LED's built into the brim so you can see. Price: $24
FAULT: You can just use your favorite hat and put a clip-on LED light for just $5

5) Iphone alarm clock; Acts as a charger for your Iphone, and when you plug your Iphone into it & set the alarm it makes it look like a vintage alarm clock. Price: $39
FAULT: Either buy a cheaper alarm clock or buy a cheaper Iphone charging station and set the alarm on it. $39 just to make your Iphone look like a vintage alarm?

6) The Genie; a digital watch that has an 8-ball feature that answers questions. Price: $120
FAULT: WTF!?!? Back when I was 7 I could get the exact same thing for $40, so unless it can answer any $80 questions you're just purposefully looking for ways to burn your cash!

7) Smartphone camera lenses; Improve camera quality on smartphones. Price: $49
Can't really fault this one, it may be the only worthwhile one in the group!

8) Iphone stencil kit; make draw-outs of your Iphone. Price: $27
FAULT: misleading, it's not even for use with the Iphone! It's just for paper-doodling!

9) Necono digital cat; cat statue takes still-photos or even video, possibly used for hidden security camera. Price: $180
FAULT: $180 for this!?!? Things like this usually go for $80 max! Legitimate security cameras can go for cheaper than this, and so can super-hidden spycams.

10) Video Swim Mask; Take digital pictures underwater, hands-free. Price: $100
FAULT: It's only waterproof to 15ft, so unless you're just light-snorkeling it's pretty much useless. There are waterproof cameras for cheaper that go actually o much deeper, so you might as well just buy one of those and mount em on your pair of goggles.

11) ipad nest stand; holds your ipad and has a cubby hole for spare items. Price: $15
Might as well just get a rubber pad and a holder dish!

Remember, no hate comments. This is just me ranting about useless consumerism.......

Yeah, I hate all those "Techie gift guides" written by some entry-level writer who's technical ability doesn't reach far past all the cool stuff they can do on their iPhone. Unfortunately, I have family members who actually believe a lot of that, so I've had to be the gracious recipient of some of that garbage. All I ever ask for is Cabela's or Newegg gift cards. Get it right!

I got one of those LED hats as a gift last year and surprisingly it's been very useful. I have the headband lights and all manner of other LED gadgets as well, so I probably wouldn't have bought it myself.

Yeah it's surprising how much garbage stuff is just accessories for the Iphone alone. What's sad is most of the people who own smartphones and pay all that money for em just use em for dumb things!

Cabelas? YOU TOO!?!? All us outdoorsman went nuts when the new Cabelas open out here!!!!!!

i havent seen much need for much of that stuff on there.

now a flying millenium falcon, or full size r2d2, sign me up.

Nerd


http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-10429248-250.html

the Parrot AR is actually something that's worth the money. And it'd be the ONLY reason I'd buy a smartphone. I'd be psyched if they opened it up to use with a regular controller or made a controller with it so we dont have to go out & buy an iphone or android just to play with it.

whats funny is in the comments section of that pages there's TONS of non-RC people talkin crap about it when they dont even know a thing about it. Much of their hate guesses were flat-out wrong. Somewhere in there the convo turned to Al Qaeda & Bin Laden, then to smartphone-brands superiority

ive got one of the hats with the leds in it. and i like it!! its great for taking my dogs out at night and avoiding land mines........lol..... its got a four function switch on it and the leds light up 3 different ways. and yes guys i bought it. fact at the pro bass shop when i was on vacation. did i spend my money on it. nope my b-day money ......lol..... but it was a great investment either way.

We have frequent power outages here, so mine get a lot of use for that. Also good for working on the electrical.

but im saying that they make the clip on things that you can clip on to your own hat. they're very cheap and really bright

I'll take a flying Falcon too. I wanna try my hand at making the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. Love me some YT-1300.

I got a couple of those also. I thought one might work as a light rack for an RC.

lol if i had the money or the time I'd try to recreate one of those heli's from avatar. It appears to actually be a do-able design



Make 2 shrouds each with: spokes meeting in the center, a heli motor mounted and a prop (1 regular rotation, 1 counter-rotating). make each shroud sit on a spindle on each side of the kit, attach a servo horn & turnbuckle rod attaching to a servo. You wont even have to do any tweaking, the servos will automatically be twisting the right way. just have em both splitting off from the same channel. Each motor hooked to a mini-esc, both hooked into a gyro.

haha
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i just watched that first one not 5 minutes ago. But that one looks a bit bulky on the top and doesnt look so much like the gunship ones in the pic i posted. my idea would have em more at the side, props closer to the frame and a bit lower profile.

the only thing i dont like about the AR drone is they made it just for smartphones. i mean c'mon Parrot, are you seriously trying to deprive your own customer base with a move like that?