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Saddleback Leather Company Tablet Notepad Holder review

If you’ve been a reader of The Gadgeteer for any length of time, you’ll know that we love leather covers and cases, and one of the most popular and loved maker of leather cases, bags, and covers is the Saddleback Leather Company. We’ve covered many of their products over the years and I’m happy to say that we have one of their newest products to introduce to you today. It’s the Saddleback Leather Company Tablet Notepad Holder, which combines your favorite digital tablet with your favorite analog supplies. Let’s take a closer look.

What is it?

The Saddleback Leather Company Tablet Notepad Holder is a portfolio style holder that has been designed to hold and protect a 12.9 inch sized iPad Pro tablet along with other accessories like the Apple Pencil, notepads, and more.

Design and features


The Tablet Notepad Holder is made of one large piece of full-grain leather on the outside and is available in 4 colors that include standard Tobacco, Dark Coffee Brown, Chestnut, and Black. 

The edges of the leather are sewn with a double row of stitches both to reinforce the seams and to give it a traditional look and feel.

You’ll find no snaps, zippers, or Velcro (ick) being used on this holder. A simple riveted leather tab and loop style fastener keeps the cover securely closed and the only branding you’ll find is the Saddleback Leather logo on the bottom right corner on the outside of the cover.

When you open the cover of the Tablet Notepad Holder, you’ll see a layout of pockets that include 2 pen/pencil slots at the top, a pigskin lining and sleeve for your iPad Pro 12.9, and 3 additional pockets that can hold flat accessories like the iPad keyboard, notepads, and other papers or folders.

I didn’t have a 12.9-inch iPad Pro to test with this holder, but I was happy to find out that my 12-inch MacBook fits in the tablet sleeve perfectly.

The tablet sleeve is about 11.75 x 8.75 inches so it can fit a variety of laptops and tablets.

That little squiggle stamp in the lower right corner of the sleeve is Saddleback Leather Co. founder Dave Munson’s dog Blue wearing a sombrero. You can read all about Dave and Blue’s adventures south of the border here.

With the Tablet Notepad Holder loaded up with gear and the cover secured in place, the holder is not bad as far as bulk. Granted, a full-grain leather case like the ones made by Saddleback Leather Company is never going to be considered lightweight or slim, but I was surprised by how nicely everything works together with this case.

What I like

  • Plenty of pockets to hold flat items and 2 pen slots
  • Holds the 12.9 inch iPad Pro or small laptop
  • Great craftsmanship
  • 100-year warranty

What needs to be improved

  • Pricey
  • Doesn’t hold a device charger

Final thoughts

Whenever I receive an SB product to review, I know that it will have a rugged design and will be made to last for a century. I also know that bags, cases, and holders made by Saddleback Leather Company are not everyone’s cup of tea in both style and price. But for their loyal followers and collectors, the Tablet Notepad Holder will protect their favorite digital and analog gear while making them feel like they just got off a train in Westworld.

Price: $199.00
Where to buy: Saddleback Leather Company
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Saddleback Leather Company.

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Saddleback Leather Company Tablet Notepad Holder review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2018 at 12:34 pm.

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Protect your hearing and ornament your ears with the Loop High Fidelity Earplugs

Back in the day, I saw some pretty good concerts.  I saw concerts by Yes, Queen, and Rush, among others.  I loved the concerts, but I suffered from ringing ears and muffled hearing for days afterwards.  I wish I had earplugs like these Loop high-fidelity earplugs to protect my ears back then.

The Loop earplugs have a circular shape with a small opening where sound enters the acoustic channel and passes through an acoustic filter.  The filter reduces the sound level by 20 decibels, but the design insures that the music and speech still sound clear.

Loop includes two types of ear tips for a good, comfortable fit.  There’s a pair of memory foam tips and two sets of silicone ear tips so you can find your best fit.    And unlike those old yellow foam earplugs back in the day, Loop earplugs look like you’re wearing ear ornaments or jewelry.  They are available in matte black, shiny black, gold, red, white, silver, rose gold, and blue.

Loop High Fidelity Earplugs are $29.95, with free shipping and returns, from the Loop website.

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Protect your hearing and ornament your ears with the Loop High Fidelity Earplugs originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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LOOK-IT Wireless Backup Camera review

The LOOK-IT Wireless Rear Vision System is a Bluetooth enabled backup camera for your car that installs easily, but suffers from a poor quality VGA camera, inconsistent performance, and a very high price tag. The system works, for the most part, but at a $299.99 price point, the performance and image quality should be much, much better.

What is it?

For older models cars, without built-in backup cameras, the LOOK-IT wireless rear vision system adds this coveted safety feature with the help of your Bluetooth enabled smartphone.

The LOOK-IT comes in an impressive box detailed with all the features of the device. The important components are all set deep into a custom foam inset.

What’s in the box?

  • LOOK-IT Plate Frame
  • QuickView Wireless Remote
  • Magnetic Phone Mount
  • LOOK-IT Manual
  • Mounting screws, adhesive, and attachment for hardwiring system

The LOOK-IT unit itself looks like a large license plate mount with a small camera attached to the top.

The unit is waterproof and has a self-contained long-life battery. LOOK-IT says the battery is good for over three years in normal operating conditions. After that, you can purchase a replacement battery through a LOOK-IT authorized retailer.

Various mounting brackets, caps, and a uniquely tipped wrench to prevent theft are included with the camera system.

Along with the camera unit, a remote control fob is required for total functionality.

Only the main center button on the fob works, the other buttons are for “future expansions”. The website says that the extra buttons will open up the map apps on iPhone and Android devices, but that function did not work in my testing.

The fob has a velcro strap that allows you to attach it to your steering wheel, parking brake or another convenient spot.

The LOOK-IT also comes with a handy magnetic phone mount. The metal plates slip into your phone’s case and the mount can be attached to a vent. This was a great addition to the kit, but at $299.99, it’s the least they could do.

Requirements

  • iPhone 5 and up with Bluetooth 4.2
  • Android smartphones running Android 5.0 and up and equipped with Bluetooth 4.2. BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) is required for updates and settings. Some Android smartphones are not capable of BLE operation.

Hardware specifications

  • Horizontal viewing angle of 100 degrees
  • Camera resolution: VGA 600 x 480
  • Three year self-contained replaceable battery
  • Waterproof molded plastic casing
  • Bluetooth 4.2

Setup

The first step in the LOOK-IT setup is to turn it on by activating the battery. This is done by pressing on the single button on the back of the unit for four seconds.

Once activated, the button light will blink red and the unit will stay on continuously for up to three years, depending on the life of the battery.

The next step is to link the LOOK-IT unit to your smartphone. This process involves downloading the LOOK-IT app and making sure that Bluetooth is enabled on your phone.

I started the app and followed the setup instructions, and after several tries, I still couldn’t get the unit to link to my device.

The app would crash at the same point in the setup process every time.

The only way I was finally able to get everything synced was to go into my device’s Bluetooth menu and connect to the LOOK-IT unit that way, similar to how you set up any typical Bluetooth device.

Once the camera unit and my device were linked, the rest of the installation was relatively easy.

There are two brackets that need to be inserted and then adjusted for correct mounting on your vehicle.

Your license plate mounts on top of the LOOK-IT unit, so the plate has to be removed first. An important thing to remember is to keep the original license plate screws handy, you’ll need them for the next step.

The LOOK-IT mounts to your vehicle using the original license plate screws, then your plate slides under the camera unit and mounts to the LOOK-IT with the included screws and the specially tipped Allen wrench. Definitely keep this wrench in a safe place, you won’t be able to remove your license plate without it.

The only part of this installation that I didn’t like was that there are no holes on the bottom of the LOOK-IT to secure your license plate.

To secure the license plate bottom you need to use adhesive tape placed behind the license plate. Again, after spending $299.99 on the LOOK-IT, this solution seems pretty inelegant.

Design and Features

To activate the LOOK-IT, you press the center button on the fob after it’s mounted where it feels comfortable. I chose to mount the fob on the parking brake handle in my vehicle.

Once you press the fob button, what should happen is the LOOK-IT app activates and a backup view from your camera pops up on your device screen. This worked properly about 75% of the time in my testing. Again, for $299.99, this should be flawless. The times when I pressed the button to no avail were incredibly frustrating and the only way to get it to work is to manually open the app, close it and try again.

I also have some concerns about the LOOK-IT application draining my phone battery. The LOOK-IT application needs to be running for the camera to work. When the application is running, you will see an Android logo on the very top left of your device’s screen. If the logo is not present, you will need to manually start the application.

When the button and app do work properly, a view from the camera appears for 30 seconds. Overlaid on the camera view is a safety boundary showing you how close objects are to your car.

One of the setup features in the app allows you to adjust the safety boundaries to correspond to the placement of the camera on your vehicle.

The view is usable, but it’s VGA, crappy, and pixelated. With camera sensor technology advancing every day, becoming smaller and cheaper, attaching a 640 x 480 VGA camera to a device and charging $299.99 for it is unconscionable. The camera has night vision as well, but as to be expected, it’s even worse quality.

What I like

  • Easy installation
  • Unobtrusive design

What needs to be improved

  • Expensive
  • Poor Camera quality
  • Unreliable

Final thoughts

The LOOK-IT Wireless Rear Vision System works, occasionally. And when it does work it gives you a very poor quality view of the objects behind your vehicle. If the price were $50-$100, I’d recommend it, but with all the other options available on the market right now, $249.00 is just too much to pay for this product.

Price: $249.00
Where to buy: LOOK-IT and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by LOOK-IT.

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LOOK-IT Wireless Backup Camera review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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The Flashpoint Budget Macro Focusing Rail Set will fine tune your macro photography

By now, many of you that have read my news stories can easily see my love for photography and even more, my love for macro photography. The ability to capture amazing images that have an interesting focal point, depth of field, and great bokeh, has become an obsession. When I am in the studio working on macro photography, there are times when my setup involves an object that I mount in a fixed position and a camera on a tripod that is focused on that object.

To get the perfect shot, there is usually the need to make micro adjustments to the distance between the lens and the object, and the left or right position of the camera. Making such adjustments by manipulating the tripod head simply does not work, and after many of my own failures trying to do just that, I purchased the Flashpoint Budget Macro Camera Focusing Rail Set, with 4 way and Fine Control.

I should immediately declare that cost was a major contributor to this purchase since many of the revered focusing rails cost hundreds of dollars. I settled on the Flashpoint rail because it was comparatively cheaper and because it had very good reviews. I must say that it turned out to be a great choice and a great decision. This rail is well built and capable of adjustments that are micro enough to do the job. It stayed in place with a relatively heavy DSLR camera with the extended battery grip with 2 batteries installed, and with the weighty Sigma 105mm macro lens attached. I was able to really get the position between the lens and the object dialed in perfectly and it has remained reliable for every shoot.

If you are in the market for a focusing rail and if you don’t want to put a hole in your pocket, head over to Adorama and pick one up for the bargain price of $54.95.

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The Flashpoint Budget Macro Focusing Rail Set will fine tune your macro photography originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Stay toasty warm on your next camping trip with the Alice heated sleeping blanket

Winter in the southern United States is an unpredictable season.  For example, temperatures were in the upper 70s a couple weeks ago, and this week we had snow and ice and temperatures in the low 30s.  You never know what to expect weather-wise, which can make it difficult for those outdoorsy-types who camp year round.  With the Alice Battery-operated Heated Down Camping Blanket, you’ll be set for unexpectedly cold temps.

Instead of a zippered sleeping bag, this is a blanket, which is said to allow more air flow and be more comfortable.  The blanket’s shell is made of DWR Ripstop 20D Nylon, which blocks moisture.  The 650-fill white duck down insulation keeps you warm.  There’s even a second moisture-proof blanket that can be buttoned to the main blanket when you need a little extra heat.

But when it’s really cold and you need even more heat, the main blanket has an embedded Revean Carbon Heating System that can raise the temperature from 15 degrees to 45 degrees in a matter of minutes.  The heating level has low-medium-high settings for your comfort.

The heating system is powered by an included 12000mAh battery that can power the blanket for 4 hours at low, 3 hours at medium, and 2 hours at high.  The battery has other purposes, too:  LED flashlight, SOS signal, mobile device charger, and you can even jump start your car with it.

The blanket measures 80″ x 54″ and weighs 6 pounds.  It stows away in a compression bag for easy packing with your gear.

The Alice Battery-operated Heated Down Camping Blanket is $172.00 at Amazon.

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Stay toasty warm on your next camping trip with the Alice heated sleeping blanket originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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