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Dress up your Instant Pot to look like R2-D2 because why not?

NEWS – The popular Instant Pot is one of my most used and favorite products that I’ve ever reviewed. Others must feel the same because there’s an Etsy shop called InstantWraps that offers skins to turn your Instant Pot pressure cooker into something that looks more fun than just a cooking appliance. The InstantWraps shop offers wraps that will turn various Instant Pot models into R2-D2 (shown above and below), BB-8, Wonder Woman, and a variety of other patterns.

The wraps are made of non-adhesive waterproof high-quality plastic that wraps around the cooker and attaches in the back with magnets. That means you can easily change out the look of your Instant Pot to match your mood or party theme. Each wrap is priced at $11 and you can see them all by visiting InstantWraps on Etsy.

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Dress up your Instant Pot to look like R2-D2 because why not? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 28, 2019 at 12:00 pm.

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What to Look Out for When Selecting a VPS

There’s certainly no shortage of companies that provide virtual private servers (VPS). In fact, the market abounds with all kinds of offers. While it’s nice to have so many choices, it also makes it harder to pick the best of the bunch. If you are looking to get a virtual private server, here are the things you should look out for. 1. Pricing As usual, price is a good indicator of quality. Fierce competition has driven all prices down to the lowest point where the businesses can still be profitable. What Are… Read more

Brightech Madison Wireless Charging Table & LED Lamp review

REVIEW – I feel like I’m integrating my house with more technology every time I review a product and today is no different with a review of the Brightech Madison Wireless Charging Table & LED Lamp. Now I have a great looking side table with some great charging capabilities. Lets take a closer look!

What is it?

This is a designer side table with an LED lamp, Qi charging area, standard electrical outlet and USB port.

What’s in the box?

All of the parts and pieces needed to assemble the table, including an LED light bulb.

Design and features

The table has a Qi charging pad on the top shelf, with a green indicator light on the front next to the electrical outlet and USB port. Constructed with light weight components, the table is easy to move but still very sturdy. There is a low and middle shelf for storage and then the upper table top.

Setup

Pretty straight forward, you assemble the table per the instructions and plug it into the wall. Putting it together was extremely easy and the pieces are all labeled by a letter that is easily referenced in the instruction manual.

Performance

The light provided emits a good amount of light and the various methods to charge all work well. It’s very convenient and great to be able to charge without having to plug in. With the additional USB, we are able to charge our iPad via lightning cord as well. The stylish design makes it a nice fit in the room as well. Additionally, it is available in two different colors: classic black and havana brown. Finally, the lamp arm swings from side to side if you need to give yourself more light.

What I like

  • Three different ways to charge
  • Quality design and sturdy construction
  • Very stylish and sleek
  • Excellent price point

What I would change

  • I think I would pay more to have two Qi charging spots on the top, but that’s just a personal preference since we both have iPhones that allow for Qi charging.

Final thoughts

I really like the Madison charging table, it fits great into our theater room providing light, charging and a convenient storage option in our busy room. For anyone looking for a new side table with great features, I’d definitely recommend this table.

Price: $89.99
Where to buy: Brightech and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Brightech.

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Brightech Madison Wireless Charging Table & LED Lamp review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 28, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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Finally…someone put Alexa into a light switch

NEWS – I admit it I’m a sucker for smart speakers and home products. I like having the ability to control things like my lights and locks, using my voice. I own four Alexa enabled devices, and I use them all the time. Now, iDevices has taken Alexa and put her into the Instinct Smart Light Switch. 

With Instinct, you get all the Alexa goodness without the clutter of cords or hubs. Instinct’s sophisticated design completely hides the technology.  Alexa remains completely hidden until she’s needed. When you say the wake word (Alexa), the familiar Echo-style blue light ring will light up from behind the switches paddle switch. From there, you can ask Alexa to do things like set a timer, add to your shopping list, or get the latest news and weather updates. You can even configure the ring in the Alexa app and use it as a night light.

Instinct features a seamless modern finish and installs just like any other light switch. And it connects to your homes WiFi network.

You can even use Instinct to listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks. Instinct features premium SOEN Audio technology that delivers big sound from inside the small light switch.  Small openings on the Instinct’s paddle switch disperse the sound. The speaker is orientated to amplify sound by taking advantage of the space within your walls, giving you a fuller, rich sound. 

If you like Alexa like I like Alexa, then this is a product and solution worth checking out.

The iDevice Instinct Smart Light Switch is $99 and is available now from iDevices or Amazon.

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Finally…someone put Alexa into a light switch originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 28, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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Aukey 60W and Dual-Port 36W PD Wall Charger review

REVIEW – Charging your devices is a necessary evil and usually rears its head at the most inopportune times. The best plan is plug in and steal a few minutes of charging when we can. There are multiple solutions for charging out there and we’re going to take a look at two specific USB-C chargers from Aukey that are optimized for efficiency in two unique ways. They are the 60W PD Wall Charger with GaN Power Tech and the Dual-Port 36W PD Wall Charger with Dynamic Detect. Long names aside, there’s some cool here.

What are they?

The 60W PD Wall Charger with GaN Power Tech is a wall charger that uses advanced gallium nitride technology to reduce weight and size for the same output. The Dual-Port 36W PD Wall Charger with Dynamic Detect is a wall charger that is able to tell if one or two devices is connected and intelligently adjust output for both devices to be as efficient as possible. Both chargers utilize the ‘Power Delivery’ charging standard that enables compatible devices to charge at a higher power and therefore faster speed than normal which helps in those quick charge scenarios. Check the stats on your device if you’re unsure of your compatibility.

What’s in the box?

Each of these are sold separately, so the bullets below are per product.

  • 60W Wall Charger, Manual, Warranty Sticker
  • 36W Dual-Port Wall Charger, Manual, Warranty Sticker

Hardware specs

60W PD Wall Charger with GaN Power Tech

  • Model Number: PA-D4
  • Input: AC 100–240V 50/60Hz
  • USB-C Output (Power Delivery 3.0): DC 5V 3A, 9V 3A, 12V 3A, 15V 3A, 20V 3A
  • Max Power Output: 60W
  • Dimensions: 64 x 60 x 29mm / 2.52” x 2.36” x 1.14”
  • Weight: 122g / 4.3oz

Dual-Port 36W PD Wall Charger with Dynamic Detect

  • Model Number: PA-D2
  • Input: AC 100–240V 50/60Hz
  • USB-C Output 1/2 (Power Delivery 3.0): DC 5V 3A, 9V 3A, 12V 2.5A, 15V 2A, 20V 1.5A
  • Max Power Output: 36W
  • Dimensions: 64 x 60 x 29mm / 2.52” x 2.36” x 1.14”
  • Weight: 115g / 4.1oz

Design and features

The first thing you’ll notice is what these two wall chargers have in common.
They share the exact same enclosure design and size.

The share the same folding prongs which fold back with a satisfactory ‘SNAP’.

The faceplates share a power indicator logo and LED, but the 60W has a single USB-C port while the 36W has two.

Setup

Both of these wall chargers are BYOC or Bring Your Own Cable. So grab your favorite cable and make sure it’s got a USB-C end for connecting to one of these two chargers. I used the Apple USB-C cable that came with my devices for my review.

Performance

Charge time is a pretty good metric for measuring performance. I used Netflix on my iPad Pro until it flat shut off. Killing the battery on my work laptop is never all that hard as there’s always more work to do. I ran that down to 1%, then killed all the apps and let it blackout in a non-sleep setting. I then plugged both of them in and started a timer on my phone.

Using Aukey’s 36W charger, it took 129 minutes to charge my iPad Pro 11″ from zero to full (above right). This is about an hour faster than using the adapter that came with my iPad. After reading through some of the info on their website, this charger is set to max out at 30w when using a single port. If you’re using two, each will top out at 18w, so just note that the charge times will vary depending on what and how many devices you’re connecting. It may be bigger than my iPad charger, but it’s smaller and faster than both my iPad and iPhone chargers together. I call that a win.

The 60W charger (above left) from Aukey took about 90 seconds to get my MacBook Pro 15″ (2017) to a grey screen and recover, and then 123 minutes to charge from zero to full (leaving it alone). This is slightly slower than the larger (87w) power brick that came with my Mac, but not enough to outweigh the size and weight reduction. Take a look at the size difference.

There’s not all that much else to know. The LEDs are super low key which I appreciate. You’ll need to rely on the devices themselves to tell you if they’re charged which is simple enough. The prong orientation makes it block the second position in a standard wall outlet, but if you use the lower position, you can still squeeze a regular cord in. That’s about it.

What I like

  • The diminutive size of the 60W charger
  • USB-C positive cable connection
  • Charging speeds
  • The fact that they’re both the same size makes packing/traveling easier

What I’d change

  • Need a power strip if you want to plug more than one of these into a single wall outlet

Final thoughts

These chargers are fast, small and priced well. Whether you’re looking to reduce the size of your laptop charger or carry less chargers all together, these are a solid bet if you have PD compatible devices.

Price: $39.99 (60W PD), $35.99 (Dual-Port 36W PD)
Where to buy: Aukey and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Aukey.

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Aukey 60W and Dual-Port 36W PD Wall Charger review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 28, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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