NEWS – Do you know how Amazon has Prime Day once a year? Well, they aren’t the only online retailer that can have a big sale. For the next 36 hours Wayfair.com has just what you need (see what I did there?). Wayfair Way Day begins today at 12pm ET / 9am PT, with over 100k items on sale for up to 80% off and free shipping on most items too.
Wayfair sells a lot of homewares and furniture, but they also sell quite a few products that you see us review here on The Gadgeteer. For example, you can snag a robot vacuum for $170.62, which is a 74% savings.
The bObsweep PetHair Robotic Vacuum Cleaner and Mop is designed for families with furbabies. It features a giant 1100 mL dustbin and built-in filtration to trap harmful pathogens.
I also noticed that they have a large selection of solar lighting products for outdoors. With spring here, it’s the perfect time to update your lawn and deck with some lighting that is powered by the sun.
Visit Wayfair.com for all the details on this big 3-day sale and check out their flash sales which are happening throughout the days.
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There are plenty of reasons why you’d want to find out when your Linux computer shut down, restarted, or how long it’s been running. Most of the time this information is invaluable in debugging a problem that may have happened when no one was looking. Thankfully, Linux meticulously logs system events automatically on most distributions. Accessing that logged information from the command line is a breeze as well. Last Boot First, if you want to check when your computer last booted up, you can use the who command with the -b flag to get an exact date and time in your terminal. You don’t… Read more
NEWS – Remember back when fidget spinners were hot and everyone and their brother was spinning them between their thumb and index fingers? That was just the beginning of the whole fidget toy craze that appears to have no end in sight.
Fidget toys can help you concentrate and relieve stress and who doesn’t need more of both? So just in time for Easter comes the Thinking Egg from the Orijin Design Company.
Thinking Eggs are small marble sized eggs made of natural materials like stone, wood, brass, and even lava. They are like a holiday-inspired worry stone that you can roll between your fingers without the annoying distraction that traditional fidget spinners can have. Thinking stones are priced at $24.95. You can read more about them at theorijin.com and buy one from The Grommet.
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REVIEW – I know what you’re thinking… why would I need a wallet for my wetsuit? But the Reborn Rubber Wetsuit Wallet isn’t for diving, but is a durable, upcycled card carrier with an eco-friendly mission.
What is it?
Reborn Rubber’s Wetsuit Wallet is a slim, front pocket style wallet made from “upcycled” wetsuit neoprene and polyester.
What’s in the box?
Just the wallet.
Hardware specs
Made from 3MM wetsuit neoprene and polyester spun from recycled plastic bottles
Measures 4 1/2″ x 3″ and about 1/4″ thick
Floats in fresh or salt water even when fully loaded with cards
Two front pockets hold 5 cards each, rear pocket holds cash, receipts or a primary card
10% of your purchase will be donated to an ocean cleanup organization
Design and features
I’ve been a big fan of recycled or repurposed items for wallets and bags ever since I saw someone selling duct tape wallets at a craft fair some years ago. There are just so many things that get thrown away instead of reused, and apparently, diving wetsuit neoprene is a great material to use for wallets.
Slim, front pocket wallets are absolutely my jam.
The Reborn Wetsuit Wallet’s construction is simple and durable, as well as inexpensive. $20 gets you a slender wallet that easily fits right alongside your phone in a front or back pocket. Nearly every material used in the manufacturing of this wallet is recycled.
Since the center of the wallet is made from neoprene, it can float in fresh or salt water, even fully loaded. So it’s great for those trips to the lake or dock. And obviously, it’s waterproof.
The stitching looks to be rock solid, however, there is not a lot of flex in the top openings of the card pockets.
A detailed shot of that stitching.
I’m a bit dubious about their claim of fitting 5 cards in each pocket, plus one in the back. I think you could cram them in there (I didn’t have 10 cards laying around to test this out) but the stitching and material at the top of the pockets doesn’t have much give. Perhaps after a couple months of breaking in, they loosen up, but even then, any more than 3 cards in each pocket would be my max carry.
I’d say 5-8 cards is just about a perfect fit.
It’s difficult to remove any but the top card on the pockets because of this. You can easily slide all of the cards in a pocket out as a group. To me, the point of many slim wallets like this is to actively carry fewer cards, just the basics. For me, it’s my license, office door keycard, and three other cards. So I love wallets like this one. Actually, the only negative thing I could find to write about is their card-fitting claim. You could carry 11 cards, but I personally don’t think you should.
I really like the color-match stitching. Nice touch.
One of my favorite features of this wallet isn’t even the wallet itself. Reborn Rubber is a part of a growing group of companies who use upcycled materials in their products. Not only that, but they give back a portion of their profits toward cleaning up the oceans.
Plus, if you’ve got a used wetsuit laying around, you can donate it to Reborn Rubber to convert into wallets and provide up to $110 in ocean cleanup efforts, and they’ll even send you a free wallet for donating.
What I like
Slim, simple front-pocket style
Supports ocean cleanup
Wallet floats even when loaded
What needs to be improved
Cards can be a little hard to remove when it’s packed full
Final thoughts
If you’re looking for an inexpensive, slim, waterproof, floating, super durable wallet that gives back to the planet, the Wetsuit Wallet is just lovely.
Price: $19.99 Where to buy: You can get your own Wetsuit Wallet in a multitude of colors directly from Reborn Rubber’s website. Source: The sample of this product was provided by Reborn Rubber.
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REVIEW – No real Gadgeteer has only one power bank in 2019. There are high-capacity ones for long-term travel, lighter ones for your EDC top-ups, and mid-range ones that you can share with a friend and still have some juice for your own devices. The Xcentz xWingman 10000mAh fits perfectly into this third category.
What is it?
The xWingman is a small powerbank about the size of a deck of cards, with a USB-A port on one short side, and a USB-C port on the other. It can charge at up to 18W output.
What’s in the box?
10000mAh PD Portable Charger (Model: PB-34011)
30 cm / 1ft USB-C Cable
Paperwork
Hardware specs
Power for All – With USB-C power delivery port (18W) and quick charge 3.0, high-speed charging for both USB devices and USB-C devices. Power iPhone X to 50% battery in 35 minutes with USB-C to lightning. (USB-C to lightning charging cable not included)
Recharge 2x faster – With USB-C power delivery input, time for a full recharge is reduced to 3.5 hours, save up to 3 hours than a standard micro charger. USB-A to USB-C charging cable is included but USB-C wall charger is not included.
Huge Charging Power – 10000mAh of power charge iPhone 8 up to 3.5 times, iPhone X up to 2.5 times, Galaxy S9 up to 2.3 times, Galaxy S8 up to 2.3 times, iPad Air2 up to 1 time.
Safety First – LG 21700 battery for over 500 charge/recharge cycles and still holds over 90% juice. UL certified and Xcentz’s exclusive xSmart technology to protect your devices against overcharge, short circuit, and overheat. Last 3x longer for use.
Astonishing Size – Xcentz xWingMan Dual 10000 is small as 1/2 iPhone 7 and lightweight as a baseball. Incredibly smallest portable charger slides easily next to your phone in any pocket or purse. Best choice for traveler and those who don’t like bulky battery charger.
Design and features
This tiny box is almost too thin for a USB port to fit on the side. It’s also available in Black (sort of shiny looking), blue (really Aqua, which is the one I was sent), Pink, Sandstone Black, and Sandstone Grey. The sandstone colors look to have a bit more texture. The xWingman is only 3.125″ x 2.375″ x 1.125″, so it will fit into many small spaces where more traditional 10000mAh battery packs will not. And at 6.5 ounces, you’ll barely know it’s there.
On one end is a traditional USB-A port that delivers PD charging to devices that have that feature. The other end has a USB-C port for power in (with the included USB-A to USB-C cable) and as high as 18W output.
On one of the large surfaces, there is a black window with the Xcentz logo and a power meter, alongside a single button, which will show you the amount of power remaining.
Performance
The xWingman takes a charge quickly and holds it a good long while if you don’t use it. I treat it like it’s a regular USB outlet plug since it so rarely needs to be recharged. I never had it go beyond 2 dots on the “gas gauge.”
What I like
USB-C!
Fast recharge and slow discharge
Really tiny for a 10Ah battery
What needs to be improved
Can’t think of a thing
Final thoughts
We’re still in the state of battery technology where you’re constantly fighting to keep the devices you want to use powered up. This can only be done by stashing reserve power elsewhere. The xWingman is a great way to house a wealth of potential energy in a small space for a long time. And it’s at a great price.
Price: $49.99 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample of this product was provided by Xcentz.
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