New Consumer Electronics and Informational Technologies Articles

The Lowe Alpine Ophir M/1 60 Backpack is a comfortable, internal frame backpack ideal for short to medium trips. Large compartments make packing easy, but it can be difficult to access things without unloading other items to get to them. A wealth of straps, carabineer attachments, and elastic bands make it easy to attach extra items on the outside. The Ophir is an excellent backpack for a beginning or casual backpacker. (more…)

Not up to facing those eager faces that study your every move from the moment you pull into the showroom parking lot? Well, haggling by email is the way to go, folks. Everything you need to know about buying or leasing a new car or truck is available to you online. Sure, you will still end up at the dealer to sign the final paperwork. No getting around that, unless you are hiring a car broker to do all the work for you. The main advantage of the online process, however, is this medium allows you to be much better informed—with far fewer surprises—prior to your ultimate trip to the dealer…where most of us are going to finalize the deal, regardless of the preliminary work anyhow. (more…)

The LL Bean Microlight tent is a good, lightweight, and compact backpacking tent that fits two people, although space is cramped, especially with larger individuals. The vestibule is large enough to fit a small amount of equipment, although it can still get wet in the rain if the tent is on sloped or uneven ground. Setup is simple and easy with the tent clipping to the two poles. The design is relatively sturdy, although it is not recommended for high winds. (more…)

Plasma tv’s are filling showroom floors and homes. Consumers are attracted to their great clarity, color and brightness. In addition, plasma tv’s come in screen sizes much larger than traditional cathode-ray tube televisions and allow you to enjoy a theater-like experience in the comforts of your own home. Major plasma television manufacturers include Fujitsu and Pioneer Electronics, as well as Panasonic, Sony and others. (more…)

This stylish Leatherman is a very useful tool to have. It’s four blades, a short wood saw, a serrated knife, a clip-point knife, and a file, all lock and are easily accessible. They can be opened without opening the rest of the tool, and with a little practice can all be opened one handed. On the file, one side is crosscut and the other side is diamond coated. Once the Wave is opened, it features needle nose pliers, which also double up as regular pliers, and wire cutters. (more…)

The Apple G4 PowerBook packs a lot of punch into a surprisingly small package. It features a PowerPC G4 processor at speeds up to1 GHz (translates into about 2 GHz for a PC). Its 15.2-inch screen provides a crisp, clear image and the SuperDrive featured on the high-end model allows the user to read and burn both CDs and DVDs. A hard drive of up to 60 GB and 512 Mb RAM upgradeable to 1 GB make the PowerBook G4 one of the most powerful laptops on the market. All this power is packed into a 1-inch thick titanium body that weighs only 5.3 pounds. However, all these features come at a price: the high-end model will put you out $3,000, much more than most laptops. (more…)

As a guy who likes to try a variety of brews, I enjoy the wonderful spectrum of flavors and colors of beer. Whenever I go out for dinner, I often order a beer that I have never tasted before, although in Mexican Food restaurants I usually have Dos Equis or Corona. In Chinese restaurants, it’s Tsing Tao, in order to keep with the “spirit of things.” Besides, these are good beers. (more…)

Apple’s new milky-white iBook has been out since late spring. But I really think it’s the perfect back to school laptop for the fall — provided you’re willing to consider a portable that doesn’t run Microsoft Windows. (more…)

Sick of fumbling around with compact discs and jewel cases while you’re driving? If you’ve already got an extensive collection of digital music on your computer, you might consider upgrading your car stereo so it can play MP3 tracks too. (more…)