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Turn your attic room into your personal balcony with the Velux Cabrio balcony

NEWS – Do you have a room in your attic?  Is it dark? Did you find it impossible to add natural light because of the pitch of the roof?  Velux can add light, and add a balcony with their innovative Cabrio roof window and balcony combination.

The Cabrio installs like a skylight but can be opened to produce a personal balcony, allowing you to enjoy your morning coffee with a view.  The upper section is top-hung and opens outward. The bottom section unfolds into a glazed balcony with side railings. Cabrio adds to your outdoor living space while also being able to provide filtered fresh air to your attic space when closed.

 

Cabrio comes with a clear coated pine interior finish, multiple exterior frame colors and in one size:

Outside frame (W” x H”) 37-1/16 x 99-1/4
Rough opening/ Finished frame (W” x H”) 39-3/8 x 101

Velux estimates completed installed costs to range from $4,450-$4,850 to replace a skylight with a Cabrio and $5,350-$5,950 for a new installation.

For more information and to find Velux certified installers, visit Velux.

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Turn your attic room into your personal balcony with the Velux Cabrio balcony originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 23, 2019 at 12:00 pm.

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How to Decide If It’s Time for a New Computer

Is your computer beginning to get on your nerves? You are fed up with the frequent crashes, strange noises, or issues with accessing your files or folders. You have seen the “blue screen of death” more times than you can count. Perhaps your computer randomly shuts down while you are working, and you wonder if what you are experiencing is a sign that the computer is on its last legs. It’s possible it is dying, but it’s also very possible that it isn’t, and you might be able to repair the issue for less than the cost of a new laptop. Your whole computer… Read more

RHA TrueConnect true wireless in-ear headphones review

REVIEW – Last September, I reviewed the RHA (Reid Heath Ltd.) wireless MA750 in-ear headphones (earphones). I said, “… if you’re a fan of accuracy, wireless and durability, the MA750s may be what you’re looking for. While that’s still true, RHA has since come out with the RHA TrueConnect earbuds, a truly wireless earbud that rivals and bests the MA750s and even Apple’s own AirPods in some areas. 

What is it?

The RHA TrueConnect true wireless earbuds are just that—earbuds that are wireless—as in, no wires. It’s interesting that the difference between any brand’s truly wireless earphones vs regular wireless earphones is that the latter are connected to each other by—a wire. Go figure.

Even though they are officially called earbuds on the RHA website, the retail box states that the TrueConnect are in-ear headphones. Actually, the box is more accurate as the TrueConnect are an in-your-ear design, as opposed to a bud that rests just outside the ear—like Apple’s AirPods. Confused yet? That’s what I thought—so for the remainder of this review, I am using the term earphones.

Specs

  • Sweat/splash resistance: IPX5
  • Driver: 6mm dynamic
  • Frequency range: 20-20,000 Hz
  • Range (unobstructed): 30+ ft.
  • Weight (earbuds): 13g
  • Charging: 1.6 hours to 100%
  • Manufacturer’s Warranty: 3 years

What’s in the box

  • TrueConnect true wireless earphones
  • Charging case
  • USB C charging cable
  • Silicone ear tips: S (2), M (3), 2XL (2)
  • Comply Foam ear tips: S, M, L
  • Stainless steel ear tip holder

Design and features

Even though this is a review of the TrueConnect earphones only, it’s hard not to compare them to Apple’s AirPods, so I will try to keep comparisons to a minimum (I may not succeed).

TrueConnect earphones are a bit unusual because while they mimic the design idea of the AirPods with their dangling mic, the similarity stops there. Two years ago, these elongated mics were considered weird and ugly, but the look is now accepted and an extended mic has a better chance at producing clearer sound when talking on the phone.

TrueConnect earphones come in a “soft-touch” black exterior with a matching soft-touch and aluminum charging case. They are more subtle looking than white and stay in the ear quite well. They’re thicker and heavier than AirPods but more comfortable over longer listening periods. Since they are in-ear, they offer good passive isolation. Plus, the added sweat-proof IPX5 moisture rating makes them perfect for using with noisy mowers and other tools for hot and sweaty summer yard work.

There are buttons on both the left and right earphone that perform both similar and different functions depending on how they are pressed or tapped and whether you are taking a call or listening to music. Here’s an example: If you press the right ear button twice while music is playing, the volume goes up. Press it twice while talking on the phone and it disconnects the call. It can get fairly confusing, but it becomes easier to remember once you get past the learning curve.

TrueConnect earphones come with a great selection of differently-sized silicone and foam ear tips—typical for RHA. The largest silicone ear tip works best for me. Foam isolates best, but requires more effort to insert and remove, so I generally ignore them.

Pairing TrueConnect earphones is easy. Once paired, smart devices remember the connection for almost instant re-pairing. Note that I said almost. It doesn’t always re-pair as quickly as I wish—especially when taking a call.

Placing and receiving phone calls worked well on my iPhone. I like to use only one earphone when making calls , but only the right earphone can be used solo. Using the left earphone (my preferred and stronger ear) did not work. By contrast, Apple’s AirPods are left/right agnostic, so either one works the same for calls.

One of the strengths of the TrueConnect earphones is how they sound. Granted, they are no match for quality wired earphones or headphones, but then again, no wireless earphones will sonically match wired. One day they will, but not yet. However, convenience more than makes up for any minor audio quality difference. 

Audio leans a bit towards a warmer, more forgiving sound, vs an analytical approach. Warmer and forgiving simply means that music is easy to listen to, whether it’s from a lower resolution MP3 or higher resolution file. More detailed earphones can and do sound better—unless the file is lower resolution. 

It doesn’t seem to matter what genre of music I play on the TrueConnect earphones. I recently fell in love with the soundtrack to the new Apollo 11 documentary. The soundtrack musician insisted on using only 50+ year-old analog electronic instruments that had to be available in 1969—the year Apollo 11 went to the moon. The result is an amazing piece of music. The TrueConnect earphones handled this soundtrack admirably—but again, when compared directly to a pair of good wired earphones, the TrueConnect earphones come up short.

The TrueConnect case is a handsome, well-made case. It will charge the earphones 4 times with a battery life of 5 hours per charge. That’s 25 hours—not bad at all! The case has the prerequisite lights to signal how much life is left in the case’s battery. The earphones can be brought to 50% charge in only 15 minutes. The design of the case is flat on the bottom for easy access. However, it’s kinda upside down. When the case is opened towards you, the right earphone is in the left space and vice versa. Plus, the printed logo on the top of the case is upside down. Only when the case faces away from you is everything in the right place. Weird. The case is charged via a USB-C to USB cord—a welcome change from the inferior and much slower mini USB.

What I like

 TrueConnect earphones are comfortable for longer periods—not as common as you might think. They sound better than most wireless earphones available—especially when listening to less-than-perfect music files. TrueConnect earphones have RHA’s now well-known quality built into their DNA and are backed by a three-year warranty. 

What needs to be improved

TrueConnect earphones could pair a bit quicker when taking a call. They sound better and offer improved isolation over Apple’s AirPods, but is it enough to justify its high price—$11 higher than the overpriced AirPods?

Final Thoughts

It’s becoming a cliche, but RHA has hit it out of the park with the TrueConnect earphones. They sound good for music listening, are comfortable, well made, have great battery life and don’t look dorky. You can’t ask much more than that if you have the budget.

Price: $169.95 US
Where to buy: RHA and Amazon
Source: The sample for this product was provided by RHA.

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RHA TrueConnect true wireless in-ear headphones review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 23, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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Airtame 2 screen sharing system review


REVIEW – Carrying around your info in your various devices is great, but sometimes, you need to share information with a group. Sometimes it’s a large group, and sometimes it’s just a small team that grabs an impromptu room to meet together. There are several ways to do this, but the issue usually comes down to power, a dongle and your large screen. (Just like the rest of your Gadgeteer existence, Amiright?) Airtame came out with an easy way to connect your devices to the large, flat screens that have joined whiteboards all across the world’s conference rooms and classrooms. With the Airtame 2, they have upped the ante, by not only giving you more power and RAM, but with digital signage, an online sharing space, and better performance.

What is it?

A black box that feeds video from screens over your local network to HDMI screens.

What’s in the box?

  • The Airtame itself
  • USB-A charger with international plugs
  • The Aircord – a proprietary power/network/video hook-up cable
  • Magnetic puck for mounting
  • User guide and other paperwork

Design and features

A proprietary cable, a power brick, and a disc the size of a pre-cooked hamburger. The Airtame 2 comes with a well-made USB-A charging block that, with the adapters included, will work with any power outlet in the major countries of the world. This powers a black disc about 3″ in diameter by 0.5″ thick. There are three ports on the edge of the disc – USB-C, microUSB, and a standard Kensington security lock port. The cable that comes in the box connects to your monitor’s HDMI port, the USB charger, and the USB-C port of the disc. (The microUSB is for the optional $20 ethernet adapter you can add on. Both networks can be active at once.)


Once these are all plugged in, the screen lights up, and displays the Airtame information for pairing. The display gives the IP address and the network name of the disc. This can be configured from a completely re-designed control application that is free to use, as well as placed into a SaaS application that will share your Airtame resources across all of your network. You can gather your Airtames into groups, name them, have them display various dashboards and data, play slideshows, or cycle through various pictures and charts. This is a tool for making every display on your campus a full-featured information portal, as well as an ad hoc or scheduled meeting screen. In the picture below, the management screen is on the left monitor, while the Airtame default screen is on the righthand one. (The background picture is a custom one from a local park.)


The Airtame 2 is a redesign and, for the backend support, a rethinking of the Airtame I reviewed last summer. The new model, rather than having an HDMI plug built in, has ports on the main body. This removes the need to plug the dongle itself into the display. You can actually carry one around with you and plug it into a display for remote presentation, if you have WiFi access. But if you have that, an HDMI adapter for your device is just as easy, unless you just like walking around while presenting.

Setup

This is possibly the hardest part of using Airtame, which is telling, because it’s really easy. It’s a nice size, and the cables have enough run-space to reach most displays (provided there’s power close by). The Aircord has an adhesive mounting pad on the junction where the power and HDMI and network meet, and there’s a similar pad on the back of the magnetic disc that holds the round main unit. If your monitors are on metal stands, it’s just a matter of finding the flattest place on the stand. If you’re needing to mount it on a wall, the sticky pad should be enough.
I was not sent the Ethernet adapter to test on the wired segment of my network, but it’s available for around $20. If you’re outfitting an entire campus, keep that in mind.

Performance

The Airtame performed well in my home WiFi environment. It displayed video from my iOS devices easily, and I could “send” the video to any display I hooked it up to. While it’s easy to hook up to a TV, it’s a bit fiddly (which is a British-ism for “complicated or detailed and awkward to use”), since you have to use the remote to go to the proper input, but any HDMI input works fine. Remotely displaying my Mac mini on the TV in the den was easy. If you’re worried about security or spoofing, you can have the screen show a 4-digit code to log into it.


They have still not fixed the issues with accessing your DropBox account from iOS. They are trying to use an old API, according to the error (above) I get when trying to connect my account. There is also still no screen mirroring for iOS. If you’re wanting to use this for user training, say, on a new custom app for iPads, you’ll need a different solution, or reduce your actual demo to screenshots. The unit still really runs hot. If these are expected to stay on 24/7 like most display signage does, they’re going to need to address this.

What I like

  • Easy to Use
  • All major platforms supported
  • Clean, modern design and performance
  • Support seems to be very on-the-ball

What needs to be improved

  • DropBox iOS connector needs to be updated
  • iOS needs mirroring
  • Unit gets quite warm

Final thoughts

I like these devices. If I were going from place to place presenting, I would take one with me to attach to the HDMI port invariably offered to presenters nowadays. I could then walk around with my iPad and change slides or pull up documents from anywhere in the room. It will be better when it’s more like an AppleTV, and, looking at a new purchase, that may be a better buy for a single user.
I love the new management features. I was able to change the background screen, display style, and location names on my device easily from any web browser. From the IT side, being able to update and monitor screens from a central location is fantastic. Someone from sales wants the SalesForce page for the department metrics displayed? Boom, done, in just the time it takes to call it up on one machine.

Price: $399
Where to buy: Airtame.com
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Airtame.

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Airtame 2 screen sharing system review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 23, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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The new Timbuk2 Especial series is made for weathering the storm

NEWS – Rain can be a drag if the wet gets into your gear, but Timbuk2 has you covered. The Especial Messenger was introduced a few years ago for the hardcore bike commuter, and 2019 brings us some new designs to protect your stuff from gnarly weather forecasts.

We’ve got three new bags in the series for 2019. The Especial Scope (shown in the picture) is a top-loading pack with a waterproof external admin panel that can expand from 24 to 36 liters of carrying capacity. The Especial Shelter is a monster roll-top pack with a 48 liter capacity. The Especial Stash is a new 20 liter messenger bag design with a beefed-up shoulder strap for comfortable carry. Each bag features extra waterproofing, magnetic clasps, reflective hits for biking, a padded and waterproof 15″ laptop compartment, and an external mesh pouch for your water bottle or U-lock. The color scheme is urban-cool black on black.

We have an assortment of Timbuk2 packs and messengers in my house; I’ve been a fan for a long time. I never got my hands on the original Especial Messenger but it gets consistently great reviews for its design and use of high-end hardware/materials. It looks like those elements have been carried through in the new series. Each bag in the lineup retails for under $200. Check them out on the Timbuk2 web site!

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The new Timbuk2 Especial series is made for weathering the storm originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 23, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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