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Yohann MacBook wood stand review

REVIEW – It should go without saying that I love tech products. But it might surprise some of you to know that I love products made of natural materials like wood and leather as much and sometimes more than products made of synthetic materials. That’s why I like to use handmade accessories with my gadgets. The newest such accessory that I’ve had the opportunity to check out is a wood stand for the MacBook from Yohann.

What is it?

Yohann is a company based in Switzerland that makes sustainably crafted wood stands for MacBooks, iPads, and the Apple Pencil out of solid blocks of Oak and Walnut that are harvested from Italy and then physically disabled people package and ship the stands.

Design and features

I was sent the Oak version of the stand which as you can see, is just gorgeous. The rich golden wood has a strikingly beautiful grain that reminds me of furniture.

Each stand is made of a solid block of wood that is cut and sanded to be smooth with no sharp or rough edges and definitely no splinters to be found.

The stand’s shape has a ledge at the bottom that holds the front edge of the laptop (or tablet) and a backrest that keeps the display at an optimal angle.



The stands are designed to be used with post-2008 Unibody Aluminium MacBook models (MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro) with a screen size of 11 – 15 inches. I tested the Yohann stand with my 12in MacBook and it worked perfectly as you can see from the images above. The stand remains perfectly balanced with the laptop lid closed.


And also works perfectly when the display is opened too. The stand creates a minimalist work setup when used with an external keyboard and mouse like my original Apple wireless keyboard and a Logitech MX Master 2S wireless mouse.

The Yohann stand provides excellent air circulation on all sides so that your laptop won’t overheat.



I’m happy to report that the same Yohann stand works great with my Huawei MediaPad M5 tablet and my Samsung Galaxy Tab S3. The back of the stand even functions as a holder for a wireless keyboard when you’re not using it which is kind of cool.

What I like

  • Beautiful and beautifully made
  • Can be used with MacBooks and tablets

What needs to be improved

  • Price

Final thoughts

The Yohann stand is expertly crafted, works as intended, and looks elegant. I love everything about it except for one thing. It’s expensive. Very expensive. At $159 for the oak version of the stand and $179 for the walnut version, this probably won’t be a spontaneous purchase for most people. But then you have to add an extra $19 to have it shipped from Switzerland to the US and, well… ouch. Is it worth that price when you can buy a plastic or metal stand for much less money? I think anyone interested in buying a Yohann stand has to answer that for themselves because it’s like shopping for a dining room table. You can buy one from Lowes or one from a furniture store. It all depends on the style you prefer and the price you’re willing to pay for that style.

Price: $159.00 – $179.00 depending on wood type
Where to buy: Yohann
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Yohann.

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Yohann MacBook wood stand review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 4, 2018 at 12:00 pm.

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Restrain your big dog properly in the car with the Big Dog Seat Belt

NEWS – Dwayne Caruth spent 10 years as a firefighter/EMT, and he saw far too many dogs injured or killed because they were improperly restrained during a car accident.  He was inspired to find a better way to protect dogs in the car after an accident he responded to where the driver was alive and in relatively good shape after her vehicle rolled twice, but her dog, who had been buckled into the back seat, was missing.  The back window was broken out, there were signs that the dog had been injured, but the dog was never found.

He found that the harnesses that clip the dog to the car’s seatbelt or to a tether in the car left the bottom two-thirds of a dog, especially big dogs 35+ pounds, unrestrained in an accident and free to keep moving and cause a severe shock or whiplash type of injury.  The travel harness styles found in pet stores are designed to keep a dog in a seat in a controlled environment, with the dog sitting in a certain manner, not standing or lying down.  These products aren’t regulated or tested for safety in the US.

“Big Dog Seat Belts are designed to support the chest, shoulders, ribs, and torso, protecting more of the dog simultaneously during an accident or hard braking event.  The Big Dog Seat Belt secures the animal using the OEM seat belt in your vehicle, protecting the dog while allowing it to sit at an angle or to lie down.  Big Dog Seat Belts are both strength- and crash-tested to simulate a 110 pound dog involved in a 30mph frontal crash scenario (over 3310 pounds of momentum force).  No other company on the planet has passed this testing.“

Most of the travel harnesses/restraints you see in a pet store are made of webbing, but Big Dog Seat Belts are made of top-quality, 2″ automotive seat belt webbing.  Seat belt webbing will stretch during impact, reducing the kinetic energy of the accident by 20%.  Automotive belting is tested to over 6000 pounds during an accident; a 75 pound dog in a 35mph crash has 3075+ pounds of momentum force and a 110 pound dog has over 4500 pounds of force.  Actual seat belting material has the strength to protect your big dog.

Each Big Dog Seat Belt is custom built to your dog’s size and weight.  The normal price is $119.00, but you can order for $99.00 right now.  Get out your tape measure and order a custom fit seat belt for your dog (35 pounds minimum) at the Big Dog Seat Belts website.

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Restrain your big dog properly in the car with the Big Dog Seat Belt originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 4, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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This pour-over coffee filter makes a cup or a pot of coffee

NEWS – This, of course, is not the only pour-over coffee maker on the market, but it is the first I’ve personally seen that doesn’t require a disposable paper filter.  Paper filters add to the waste you produce, especially if you use one paper filter for each cup of coffee you make.  This reusable Pour Over Coffee Filter doesn’t require any wasteful paper filters.  It’s made of 18/10 (316) stainless steel, with a double-layer mesh that retains all coffee grounds while letting all the flavored oils through for a delicious cup of coffee.

It comes with a stand that’s designed to sit on a cup as the coffee brews a single serving.  Without the stand, the metal filter can replace paper filters in Chemex, Hario V60, and other coffee makers.  (Chemex seen at bottom, right.)  It has a silicone grip to prevent burning your fingers.  Cleanup is easy; simply dump out the grounds, then clean the filter using warm running water and the included brush.  Every 2-3 weeks, descale the filter with a solution of vinegar and water.

The Pour Over Coffee Filter by Walkbon is available for $15.89 at Amazon.

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This pour-over coffee filter makes a cup or a pot of coffee originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 4, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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Neato Botvac D7 software update adds zone cleaning feature

NEWS – I am a huge fan of Neato’s Botvac robot vacuums. I have two of them in my home. One for the main floor and one for the basement. They are both scheduled to automatically run 3 times a week, but now that we’re replacing the carpet on our main floor with luxury vinyl planks that look like barn wood, we’ve found that we need to keep those areas vacuumed more often due to Max tracking his cat litter. Luck for me and you if you own a Neato Botvac D7 Connected, there’s a software update which adds a new zone cleaning feature.

With zone cleaning, users can add extra cleaning for specific rooms or custom areas of a home that require additional cleaning and schedule the work to happen in addition to Neato’s regular household routine. The feature allows you to:

  • Create zones on your floor that make the most sense for your life, be it an entire room or just a trouble area.
  • Name zones using a list of pre-determined labels or create custom zone names.
  • Make multiple, overlapping zones in a single floor plan. Zones can be placed in any way that works for your lifestyle and your home.
  • Add No-Go Lines to any zone, creating off-limits areas in any area or room of your home
  • Deploy Zone Cleaning across multiple floorplans, pinpointing zones for a more efficient clean, controlled on-demand or scheduled via the Neato app.

When my D7 gets the update, I’ll be able to have it vacuum the areas of my main floor that no longer has carpet each day so that I don’t have to see little cat litter granules or cat fur tumbleweeds flying around.

This new feature will begin rolling out to users of the Botvac D7 Connected via a software update today on Tuesday, December 4th, and the rollout is expected to be complete by the weekend. For more info about Neato Botvacs, you can visit Neatorobotics.com and their Amazon page. I love love love mine!

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Neato Botvac D7 software update adds zone cleaning feature originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 4, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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BenQ PD2700U DesignVue Designer 27″ 16:9 IPS Monitor review


REVIEW – The Gadgeteer readers that have been following my news stories and reviews already know that I am a fan of BenQ products including their monitors. As a photographer/videographer, I always need a good monitor with great color reproduction and enough display space to assist with the many hours of editing I do each week. For this review, I got the chance to work with the BenQ PD2700U DesignVue Designer 27″ 16:9 IPS Monitor. Let’s see if I am still a fan.

What is it?

The BenQ PD2700U DesignVue Designer 27″ 16:9 IPS Monitor is capable of a UHD 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 with a 60 Hz refresh rate.  It supports 100% of the sRGB and Rec. 709 color gamuts, as well as HDR10. It also offers three special modes – CAD/CAM, Animation, and Darkroom for different viewing/working scenarios.

What’s in the box


1 x BenQ PD2700U DesignVue Designer 27″ 16:9 IPS Monitor
1 x AC Power Cord
1 x Video Cable: DP to mini DP
1 x Video Cable: HDMI
1 x USB Cable
1 x Quick Start Guide
1 x Warranty Booklet
1 x User Manual/Driver CD-ROM

Design and features

Specifications:

Screen Size: 27”
Resolution (max.): 3840×2160
Panel Type: IPS
Backlight Technology: LED backlight
Brightness: 350 cd/㎡
Native Contrast (typ.): 1300:1
Viewing Angle (L/R; U/D) (CR>=10): 178/178
Response Time: 5ms (GtG)
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Display Colors: 1.07 billion colors
Color Gamut: 100% sRGB/Rec. 709
Display Area (mm): 596.74(H) x 335.66(V)
Pixel Pitch (mm): 0.155
PPI: 163
DCR (Dynamic Contrast Ratio) (typ.): 20M:1
Color Bit: 10bits
Audio -Built-in Speaker: 2Wx2
Headphone Jack: Yes
HDCP: 2.2
VESA Wall Mount: Yes
KVM Switch: Yes
HDMI: HDMI (v2.0) x1
DisplayPort: DisplayPort (v1.4) x1
Mini DisplayPort: MiniDisplayPort (v1.4) x1
DP out: DP out (MST)
USB 3.0 Hub; USB Downstream x 4; USB Upstream x 2
See the full list of specifications here.

Features

4K UHD High Resolution with HDR10 Support
The monitor is optimized for visually intensive work in animation, visual effects, graphics, and photos. It is equipped with HDR10 (ST2084) technology so designers can preview their work in HDR during the editing process to ensure the perfect final product.
AQCOLOR™ technology
Supports the concept of “Accurate Reproduction”.
Reference-Grade Color Performance with 10-Bit, 100% sRGB, and Rec. 709
Covers 100% of sRGB and Rec. 709 color spaces. Its advanced IPS wide viewing angle technology minimizes color shift to produce incredibly accurate color. 100% sRGB color gamut accuracy adheres to industry standards in digital production, and Rec. 709 reproduces accurate resolution, frame rate, color gamut, gamma, and white point performance in high-definition video work.
Professionally Factory Calibrated for Supreme Color Accuracy
Each BenQ Designer Monitor is individually factory calibrated to assure precise Delta-E and Gamma performance.
CAD/CAM Mode
Offers superior contrast for lines and shapes in technical illustrations, and accentuates the finest details to produce incredible display performance in Pro/E, SOLIDWORKS, AutoCAD, CATIA, or other design software.
Animation Mode
Animation Mode enhances the brightness of dark areas without overexposing bright regions and provides 10 levels of display brightness to bring out every subtlety clearly in any ambient lighting.
Darkroom Mode
Adjusts image brightness and contrast for superb clarity and sharp details, and creates the optimal setting for work in darkened post-processing environments.
Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) Switch
KVM Switch function allows users to display and control content from two different PC systems on one screen using just one keyboard and mouse to save space and improve work efficiency.
Daisy-Chain Configuration Capability
The Monitor is a daisy-chain-enabled* display equipped with multi-stream transport technology (MST), allowing you to extend your notebook’s screen across several displays using DisplayPort output for a multiple monitor setup.
DualView Mode
DualView Mode allows you to showcase designs in two modes simultaneously side-by-side without the need for two screens.

Eye-care™ Technology

Brightness Intelligence Technology
Eliminate Eye Strain Any Time of Day by monitoring ambient light in your viewing environment and actively adjusts screen brightness for the most comfortable viewing experience possible.
Low Blue Light Technology
Unique BenQ Low Blue Light Technology is designed to filter out harmful blue light, effectively diminishing eye fatigue and irritation.
ZeroFlicker™ Technology
ZeroFlicker technology eliminates flickering at all brightness levels and effectively reduces eye fatigue.

Right out of the box, the monitor looks sleek with a relatively small bezel. The control buttons are under the bottom right-hand corner. Once you know their individual functions, using them becomes easier. In the middle of the bottom of the display, there is a light sensor.

On the back of the monitor, there are air vent holes across the top half and in the middle, there is the Vesa/Stand mounting slot.

The relatively heavy base has two metal posts that slide into the stand to provide stability when the base is secured to the stand.

Below is the upright portion of the stand that includes a metal plate that is designed to be attached to the Vesa slot on the monitor, slide rails and slots in the upright to be able to adjust the monitor vertically, and a cable management hole below.

The base slides into the upright and is secured by a wingnut in the center of the base.

Once the base and upright are assembled, the stand is inserted into the mounting slot of the monitor. There is a release button below the mounting slot on the back of the monitor to remove the stand if and when necessary.

If you are facing the back of the monitor, the connectivity ports are on the bottom right-hand side. From left to right they are HDMI socket, DisplayPort socket, Mini DisplayPort socket, 9. DisplayPort output socket (for
Multi-Stream Transport, MST), Headphone jack, USB 3.0 port (upstream 1; connecting to the PC), USB 3.0 port (upstream 2; connecting to the PC), and 4 x USB 3.0 ports (downstream; connecting to USB devices)


The only connection on the left side bottom of the monitor is the AC power jack.

Performance

Once you take the monitor out of the box, you quickly realize that from the weight of the base and the construction of the display panel that it is well built and that it will be very stable. Assembling the base to the upright and to the monitor is very quick and easy.

Once assembled, I plugged in the DisplayPort (PC End) to HDMI cable that is always hanging from my computer and ready for testing any monitor, and I turned on the monitor. Just like my previous experience with BenQ monitors, the colors were fantastic right out of the box. I quickly toggled through the display modes and could quickly see that the CAD/CAM and Darkroom Modes would be my favorites. I also tried the DisplayPort to Mini DP cable and it worked as well, but I switched back to my original cable simple because of convenience for my routine. I also performed a quick test with my mouse and keyboard connected to the monitor and the USB cable connected between the PC and the monitor via the upstream USB port. They worked with no issues, but again because of the layout of my desk and workspace and the numerous cables, I plugged my mouse and keyboard back into the powered USB hub that normally I use. I also temporarily tested the headphone jack on the monitor and it sounded clean and clear. Unfortunately, my second (Backup) workstation is down at the moment, so I was not able to properly test the KVM function. However, I intend to do so in the near future. This function has worked without issue on previous BenQ monitors that I have tested.

As with the previous BenQ monitor that I tested for manipulating the monitor itself, BenQ offers Display Pilot Software on their website that you can download and add functionality to the monitor including switching it into portrait mode. This allows you to extend the monitor to its maximum height, tilt it the full 20 degrees that it can tilt, and then rotate it 90 degrees clockwise. As I indicated in my other monitor reviews, I never use any monitor in portrait mode, and my cabling setup does not work properly when the monitor is in portrait mode.

The monitor has built-in speakers that automatically assume the default audio playback device assignment when you first connect the monitor. I use a DAC for my sound, so I changed that setting back to my preference after listening to them for a short while. The speakers sound decent considering what they are by design and are loud enough and clear enough to be effective.

In terms of working with the controls buttons to adjust the monitor, there are many settings that you can manipulate according to your preferences. The following are some diagrams from the User manual that illustrate the functions:



Application performance
For my editing and production photo and video tasks, I regularly use Adobe Premiere, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve, Capture One, and PortraitPro StudioMax.
The following are some examples of the applications in use on this monitor during my workflow as a part of my various projects:


 


What I like

  • The amazing display and color reproduction
  • The display modes
  • The connectivity options
  • The build quality
  • The built-in KVM function

What can be improved

  • Should include more than one HDMI and DisplayPort

Final thoughts

After working with this monitor for everyday general use as well as video and photo editing, I can truly say that I am really enjoying using it and I really appreciate the viewing modes that make it much easier on my eyes. This monitor has performed flawlessly so far without any hiccups and continues to be a permanent part of my studio desktop. If I could have a personal wishlist, the only thing that I would change is the size. I wish I could have this exact monitor in a 32″ form factor. As always, well done BenQ!!

Price: $539.99
Where to buy: BenQ or Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by BenQ.

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BenQ PD2700U DesignVue Designer 27″ 16:9 IPS Monitor review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 4, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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