Archive for February, 2005

Basic Stamp kit + other stuff

Thursday, February 17th, 2005
At the hot-deals forum at a website called “fatwallet” that is devoted to finding deals, is listed a deal entitled “Sumo-bot Robotics Kit $30 CompUsa In-Store Only”. This item made me very happy, and I quickly ordered one.

The reason for my glee is that I’ve wanted to experiment with Basic Stamp microcontrollers for a while, but Basic Stamp kits are pretty expensive. This kit includes a Basic Stamp chip on a board, with serial interface, and throws in a bunch of wheels and gears on a metal base for building the robot. Even if I don’t use the extra parts, $30 for a Basic Stamp kit is a much better price than $79 for a more rudimentary kit from Radio Shack. And if I slack off on making my own projects with the Basic Stamp included in the sumo-bot kit, at least it should be easy to build the kit’s bot.

Posted in Deals, Geeky | No Comments »

Plantronics MX150 cell phone headset

Tuesday, February 15th, 2005
I just got my new Plantronics MX150 headset for my cell phone, and am very happy with it. I’d previously used several Plantronics M145’s on my old phone, and they had the best audio quality of any of the headsets I’d tried (both for me and the person on the other end of the conversation). The MX150 seems to be the same speaker and noise-cancelling mic in a different housing, with a much improved mount that is comfortable, small, and really hugs the ear.

I’ve just noticed that someone on eBay is selling the MX150 for a surprisingly small amount of money (I’d expected to find them for $25 to $40, not $3.99):

The shipping charge is exorbitant if you only order 1, but even adding that to the cost this is a very good deal.

So if any of y’all are looking for a wired headset, and your phone has a universal 2.5mm headset jack, you might want to check this one out.

-Z

Posted in Deals, Geeky, Treo 600 | No Comments »

That’s a bright-ass screen!

Monday, February 7th, 2005
The Treo 600 screen is very bright. Good for use in direct sunlight, but becomes a flashlight at night. I’ve installed a little app that checks the ambient light using the Treo’s built-in camera, and adjusts the screen brightness accordingly. Very nice, happens every time I turn the treo on, and doesn’t cause a perceptible delay.

[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.hexlet.com/]

Posted in PalmOS, Treo 600 | No Comments »