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Toffee slim leather MacBook or iPad sleeve review

As a gadgeteer, I love computers and gear, but I also love carrying those gadgets in nice cases to protect them. Toffee is no stranger as a brand to the site, so I was finally able to get my hands on a nice looking leather sleeve for my MacBook Pro.  The Toffee slim leather sleeve is sleek, sophisticated, and can be purchased for the MacBook Air, 13/15 in MacBook Pro, or 12.9″ iPad Pro. Let’s take a look!Note: Images can be clicked on to view a larger size.
The Slim Leather sleeve is a beautiful and sleek laptop case.  The sleeve I was sent is made with supple genuine leather in a tan color. The dimensions from the website for the 13″ Slim Leather Sleeve & iPad Pro is 13.8 in x 9.8 in x 0.4 in, and for the 15″ Slim Leather Sleeve is 15.2 in x 10.6 in x 0.4 in.

The hardware for the zipper and pull has a lovely leather tab so it’s easy to unzip the sleeve. I find it’s important to have a good zipper, especially one that doesn’t touch the notebook and leave scratches.

The corner of the sleeve is rounded so it doesn’t poke out at an odd angle when slipping into another bag or backpack. You can see the detailed stitching is really nicely done and well made. I also enjoy that it has a little bit of padding for protection, but not so much to make it bulky.


The inside of the sleeve is a really nice cotton striped pattern, that has an inside pocket that’s good for holding a phone or cards with space for some personal information in case the sleeve is lost.

The sleeve I was sent was supposed to be for my 13″ Retina MacBook Pro (2014 model) but sadly didn’t fit. I think this particular sleeve was made for the MacBook Air, but it ended up not being a problem. My mother’s 13″ Samsung Chromebook fit perfectly into it!

The Toffee slim leather sleeve is an absolute joy to hold in the hands. It’s a handsome addition to anyone with a notebook for work or if you’d like to add a bit of swankiness to your EDC (every day carry). With it’s naturally milled leather and smooth finish, I think it’ll last a very long time and will only look better with handling and age. It’s great as a gift for the upcoming holiday season; or let’s face it, a gift for yourself!

Source: The sample used in this review was provided by Toffee. Please visit their website for more information and you can order through Amazon.

 

Product Information

Price: $99.95 – $112.42
Manufacturer: Toffee Cases
Retailer: Amazon
Requirements:
  • 13" notebook or iPad Pro
Pros:
  • Beautiful leather
  • classic colors
  • well made zipper
  • well made interior padding
Cons:
  • A bit pricey but worth it

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Toffee slim leather MacBook or iPad sleeve review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 30, 2017 at 4:33 pm.

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Gift Guide: Toys, games, and other fun things

If you’ve been scratching your head trying to figure out what to get your uncle, brother, father, mother, sister, aunt, or mailman for the holidays, here’s a list of completely non-useful items to consider, unless you think having fun is useful, then this list is awesome!

Mebo 2.0 Robot

This is the all-new & improved MEBO robot that features all-terrain tank track treads for more speed and “off-road” robot fun.

You can control MEBO with your phone or tablet and see through MEBO’s HD live streaming eyeball and you maneuver the robot around your home. The 5-way claw has a built-in LED light so you can see what you’re grabbing.

You can also talk through MEBO and disguise your voice and play sounds from an expanded sound effect library.

Price: $149.99
Where you can buy one: Amazon

ZEISS VR One Plus Virtual Reality Headset

If you still haven’t tried a virtual reality headset, what the heck are you waiting for? They are a fun way to experience gaming and you can even learn something by visiting (virtually) far away lands, museums, and more, all while wearing your pajamas on the couch! The ZEISS VR One Plus is a VR headset with premium optics from ZEISS that is compatible with iOS and Android smartphones that have a display size that is between 4.7 and 5.5 inches. This headset has a removable headband and you can even use it if you wear glasses.

Price: $69.99
Where you can buy one: Best Buy

Creation Crates

For the budding maker on your holiday shopping list, consider Creation Crates which are monthly subscription boxes that have a surprise electronics project inside with all the components and parts needed to build the project including instructions. Each kit includes a UNO R3 (Arduino-compatible) microcontroller, which is basically a small computer that you use to program and power the projects that you’ll build like the mood light kit that you see above. These kits are for ages 12-120 and help teach electronics, programming, and problem-solving skills.

Price: $29.99 for one box or subscribe to receive a box each month. Subscriptions range from $26.99 a box for a 3-month subscription, down to $22.49 a box for a 12-month subscription
Where you can buy one: creationcrate.com

Fly Blocks Drone Kit

The Fly Blocks build and fly drone kit lets you build your own drone using 72 LEGO compatible plastic construction bricks. Each kit can build 4 different drones that are controlled by the included handheld controller (no smartphone needed).

This is a STEM-focused kit for kids ages 14 and up, so they can have fun while learning.

Price: $59.95
Where you can buy one: flyblocks.com

Augmented Reality Blaster Gun

Connect your Android or iOS smartphone to this wooden holder and enjoy up to 40hrs (AA batteries not included) of crime fighting, alien invader fighting, and other augmented reality blasting fun with this gaming accessory.

Price: $28.00
Where you can buy one: PressyBox

Vituali-Tee

Have you ever wanted X-ray vision like Superman? Now you can have the power to see your organs with this augmented reality T-shirt from Curioscope. Just slip on the shirt, and install the app on your smartphone. When you hold the phone in front of the shirt, you will see inside the human body. The t-shirt’s design is picked up by the camera function on the app, allowing users to see the pumping heart. Or you can put your phone into a Google Cardboard or other VR headset to immerse yourself in an anatomical adventure. The experience can be enjoyed with others or alone through the ‘selfie mode’.

Price: $29.95
Where you can buy one: Curioscope

3dRudder Foot Controller

The 3dRudder is just what you think it is. It’s a 4 axis motion controller for video games that is controlled by your feet. It provides 360° of movement. That’s right, you can sit down and keep your hands free for other hand controllers, while you use your feet to travel around the VR gaming environment.

The 3dRudder can be used with PC, Windows 8/10, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and VR/PC games.

Price: $139.00
Where you can buy one: Amazon

Nanodots Magnetic Constructors

Forget about fidget spinners, magnets are the ultimate fidget toy because you can actually make something cool with them. The new Nanodots Magnetic Constructors are sets of 216 small 5mm sized Neodynium-Iron-Boron magnetic spheres. Each tube is a key that unlocks instructions on Dotpedia.com, the world’s largest collection of Nanodot creations. The more Nanodots you have, the more creations you can unlock. Learn how to build a Tie Fighter, a Hexagonal Cluster Cube, and more.  Nanodots are available in several colors to make your models look even more interesting. Just don’t swallow them!

Price:$39.95 – $49.95
Where you can buy one: nanodots.com

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Gift Guide: Toys, games, and other fun things originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 30, 2017 at 12:00 pm.

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Eagle Creek Pack-It Structured Cube review

When it comes to travel, whoever said “half the fun is getting there” quite obviously did not have to pack his own bag.  If you are anything like me – and I sense you are – you have a tendency to pack more than you need just in case you…well, need it.  To compensate, you have to learn how to pack efficiently or accept the fact you will need a small army to carry your bags.  Eagle Creek’s Pack-It cube system intends to help you with the first one, but the question is – can it?  Read on to find out…

The Eagle Creek Pack-It Structured Cube starter set (lucky I don’t get paid by the word) is a set of nylon compression cubes designed to make whatever you put inside them, within reason, smaller.  The set comes with one small cube, one medium cube and a second medium cube with a structured panel.  More on the function of the panel in a moment.  The medium-sized cubes are perfect for shirts but the structured cube is too small for most man-sized pants.  For example, I wear a 38×32 pant – not a small size, to be sure, but not overly large either.  With some creative folding, I was able to get 1 pair of pants into the medium structured cube, so clearly you would need a larger size structured or an unstructured to handle your pants.  Not a fault by any means, just something to keep in mind.

The structured panel, I assume, is intended to help you properly fold clothing like shirts to fit in the medium structured cube.  After folding, you can pack the panel at the bottom of the cube to help retain its shape.  Personally, I would have preferred both medium cubes in this set to have that panel – it would have made this a very valuable travel companion starter set.  Instead, only one of the cubes comes with this panel, an odd oversight.

Because I travel a lot for my day job and because I spend a lot of time in front of clients, I pack long-sleeve, button-down dress shirts.  The medium structured cube will hold 3 of my XL-sized shirts along with the panel.  The small cube will hold either a week’s worth of underwear or socks (not both).

As you can see, the medium structured cube is something of a tight fit with the 3 dress shirts packed along with the panel.  Question is, does the compression actually yield any space savings in your bag?

And the answer: yes, it does.  That is certainly less room than the 3 XL shirts on their own would take.  I would guess that 2 of the medium structured cubes, 2 of the unstructured medium cubes to hold rolled up pants and two small cubes would handle a week’s travel and would allow me to downsize to a smaller suitcase.

The solution comes at a potential cost, though.  I mentioned repeatedly that I pack dress shirts, and any system like this that relies on compression will wrinkly your clothing.  On the 3 trips I have taken using the cubes I have had to iron my shirts every morning.  Sure, that happens on occasion when free-packed in my bag, but there are times when I can get around that by hanging my shirt in the bathroom and letting the steam from the shower take care of minor wrinkling.  Not so with this system.  If I could wear t-shirts or a more casual shirt, this would not be an issue.  Nor should it be something that deters you unless you are actually allergic to irons.

All in all, the system does what it says.  My recommendation, however, would be to assess the kinds of packing cubes you might need and purchase accordingly rather than buying a one size fits some solution.  For example, the medium unstructured cube holds 2 pairs of rolled-up pants.  Two medium unstructured, two medium structured and two small unstructured would take me from a 25-inch checked bag to a 21-inch carry-on.  One trip and I’ve made back the investment in the system.  And that’s a good value in my book.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Eagle Creek.  Please visit their site for more information or visit Amazon to order.

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Eagle Creek Pack-It Structured Cube review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 30, 2017 at 11:00 am.

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That’s no moon! That’s a Death Star Dome Tent!

ThinkGeek follows its grand tradition of providing us with great Star Wars collectibles and gear with the Death Star Dome Tent.  With a 7-foot diameter, the tent can sleep three Galactic Empire members.  It weighs only 11 pounds, so you won’t need an AT-AT walker to carry it.  It has a fast-click assembly frame with joints, not poles, which allows quick and easy setup and take down.  The interior waterproof compartment is pre-attached to the frame, and it has pockets and a central hook to hang a light.  The door has a fly sheet for ventilation.  The tent has an Oxford polyester outer shell with 1k HH (Hydrostatic Head) waterproofing.  For $249.99, you’ll get the tent cover, inner compartment, guy ropes, pegs, and a lightweight, waterproof carry bag.  The officially-licensed Death Star Dome Tent is a ThinkGeek exclusive.

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That’s no moon! That’s a Death Star Dome Tent! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 30, 2017 at 10:00 am.

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Look casually sharp (or sharply casual) in an UNTUCKit shirt

Ever tried to leave your smart-looking dress shirt casually untucked? Yeah, for most dress shirts, it looks sloppy because their tails are just too long. The folks at UNTUCKit wanted to solve that, so they did a ton of customer research to determine exactly how long an untucked dress shirt could be before it went from sharp to slob. The result is UNTUCKit, a shirt that is “designed to fall halfway between the belt and the bottom of the zipper, allowing the front pockets to be partially exposed. Our shirts have a curved hemline (not square bottom).” Available in dozens of combinations of colors, patterns, materials and sizes, UNTUCKit has shirts for conceivably any taste.  Visit UNTUCKit.com for more info or to order.

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Look casually sharp (or sharply casual) in an UNTUCKit shirt originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 30, 2017 at 9:00 am.

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