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The elevated Booster Bath makes washing your dog less backbreaking

NEWS – Our dog, Teddy, is only about 14″ tall at the shoulders.  Washing him in our walk-in shower is murder on the back.  If we had the elevated Booster Bath, he’d be about 30″ off the floor, so we wouldn’t need to crouch in the floor to wash him.

The Booster Bath is an elevated tub with a collar and 3-point harness system to keep Fido in place while he’s getting a bath.  A rubberized and textured non-skid mat keeps your dog from slipping and falling.

The tub is open in the back, so an optional set of steps can be added to help get bigger dogs into the tub without lifting them.

The tub can be used indoors or outdoors.  When using outside, you can attach the fan sprayer to a garden hose, and used water will drain away through the flexible 5′ drainage hose.  When using indoors, you can attach the fan sprayer to a showerhead by using an optional water diverter; using the drainage hose indoors will keep the water from splashing all over you as it drains away in the shower stall or bathtub.

The Booster Bath is available in three sizes, medium ($129), large ($149), and extra large ($199), to fit most dogs.  Red, teal, and lilac are the available tub colors.  Purchase a Booster Bath at Chewy.com, Amazon.com, or any of the other retailers recommended by Booster Bath.

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The elevated Booster Bath makes washing your dog less backbreaking originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 13, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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Minger Govee Wireless Thermometer/Hygrometer Review

REVIEW – Are you one of those folks who think it’s too cold at work? I’m the opposite! I always think it’s too dang hot. Our office building HVAC system seems a little funny to me sometimes, so I thought something like the Govee wireless thermometer/hygrometer that logs data might come in useful.

What is it?

The Govee is a battery-powered device that displays temperature and relative humidity on an LCD screen. The party trick is the ability to record up to 32,000 data points view the records over your smartphone via bluetooth.

Hardware specs

  • Temperature Accuracy: -20°C to 60°C (-68°F – 140°F)
  • Humidity Range: 0 – 99%
  • Humidity Accuracy: ±3%
  • Dimensions: 40mm x 40mm x 16.5mm / 1.57″ x 1.57″ x 0.65″
  • Weight: 40g / 1.4oz
  • Battery: AAA (included)
  • Battery Life: Typ. over 1 year (more in normal conditions, less in extreme cold)
  • Sampling Interval: Every 2s
  • On-board Data Storage: 20 days
  • In-App Data Storage: 2 years
  • Compatibility: iPhone, Android

What’s in the box?

You get the Govee device, a mount with peel-off adhesive, and documentation. AAA batteries included!

Design and features

There’s not a whole lot with the device itself. There’s only one button on the front to switch between Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Don’t forget to pull the little plastic tab from the included batteries!

The device itself fits in the palm of your hand, with an easy to understand LCD display with a battery icon on top.

Setup

I downloaded the iOS app “Govee Home”, shown below. It’s free.

For some reason, you have to sign up with an email and password. I don’t know why and I’m not too crazy about this.

Performance

Once your smartphone is paired with your Govee, you can make changes to your settings. Note the temperature alarm slide on the left. I set the upper range to 80F to see what would happen. More on that later.

On the right is a snapshot of the data over a brief period. You can slide the records left and right in time.


Once the data is uploaded to your phone, you get the grammatically questionable “Complete to upload the data”. (Attention programmers: “Data upload complete” is shorter and better.)

I let the Govee sit in my office for a week to get a sense of what was going on with the temperatures. See the red peaks on late Saturday and Sunday? Those are times when the recorded temperature exceeded the limits I set at 80F. It appears that over the weekend, the air conditioning (what little there is) is shut off to save energy.

What I like

Simple to set up. Data is easy to interpret on a smartphone.

What needs to be improved

Maybe not for you if you’re paranoid about setting up an email and password for an app. The grammar choices bug me a little.

Final thoughts

Easy, straightforward, and batteries included. I like it!

Price: $42.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Minger.

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Minger Govee Wireless Thermometer/Hygrometer Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 13, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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The Lowepro PhotoStream SP 200 Roller Camera Bag will ride with you on every shoot


NEWS – For the many years that I have been a photographer, I have always struggled with finding the right equipment bag for event photography such as weddings. For quite a while I felt like this was my personal issue, but the more I chatted with fellow photographers, the more I realized that we all seem to be dealing with this type of struggle, and we all have accumulated numerous bags along the way of this relentless and never-ending search.

This summer, I have been using my Lowepro 400AW backpack exclusively, and primarily because I have been shooting outdoors a lot and it functions well when walking around. Also, I have taken a break from or maybe just surrendered to the futility of the search, at least for a bit.

However, just the other day I became excited again when I came across the LowePro PhotoStream SP 200 Roller Bag. After looking at some YouTube videos and seeing the capacity, strength, and all-around versatility, I am thinking that this may just be the version of the LowePro bag I am seeking. It can hold 2 DSLR camera bodies, several lenses depending on the size, a laptop, and it seems to have enough space for all of the necessary accessories. It also works as a carry-on and seems like it can take a beating and still keep your equipment safe.

If you would like to learn more about the LowePro PhotoStream SP 200 Roller Bag, or if you would like to purchase one, you can head over to B&H Photo Video or Amazon and pick one up for $299.95.

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The Lowepro PhotoStream SP 200 Roller Camera Bag will ride with you on every shoot originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 13, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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Julie’s gadget diary – The Samsung Note9 is one step closer to my dream device

ARTICLE – Three days ago Samsung officially rolled out their newest device, the Galaxy Note9 at their Unpacked event in New York City. The Note line of devices has always been the most powerful, feature-rich smartphones of Samsung’s mobile line up and this year’s new Note does not deviate from that tradition.

The Note9 boasts Samsung’s largest capacity battery for a flagship device. At 4,000mAh, the Note9 will have enough juice to power through your day with time to spare.

The 6.4-inch AMOLED display means you won’t be squinting while reading your favorite content and you’ll have lots of room to store files and images because the Note9 is ready for up to 1TB of additional storage when you add a 1TB microSD card. I don’t even have 1TB of space on my laptop! Which brings me closer to my decade’s long dream of having one-device-to-rule-them-all. It’s actually a dream that I’ve had from way back in the Palm Pilot days when I daydreamed about having a handheld device that could plug into a slot in my desk at my day job to do work with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. And then it could plug in at home into a smaller setup for work (and play) there.

The Samsung Galaxy Note9 is the closest device yet to make that dream a reality. Even the new low power Bluetooth S Pen makes this new device more attractive to me than an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil just because it’s so much more portable and pocket-friendly.

I keep hoping that the day is coming very soon when I can ditch my MacBook and go all in with either an iPhone or an Android phone and make it my only phone/camera/computer and that time is so close for me right now because of Samsung’s DeX feature. I reviewed their Dex Station last year and found it to be pretty cool, but this year the stand-alone DeX station is not even necessary because all you have to do is use a Type-C HDMI adapter with the phone to plug it into a monitor and you’re all set to use a desktop-like interface from your phone. It remains to be seen if some of the issues that I noticed with last year’s DeX have been fixed with the Note9’s version of DeX, but I’m excited to get my hands on the new Samsung Galaxy Note9 to find out.

The Note9 will come in two new colors: Ocean Blue and Lavender Purple, and will retail for $999.99 for the 128GB option and $1,249.99 for the 512GB option. You can pre-order now and the phone will be available online starting August 24th through Samsung, Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers.

What do you think? Can you see yourself only using a phone as your main computer? Or maybe you already do this? Let me know as I’m interested in hearing about your workflow.

Pictures courtesy of Helena Stone of Geekspin.

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Julie’s gadget diary – The Samsung Note9 is one step closer to my dream device originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 12, 2018 at 4:26 pm.

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Airstream Classic travel trailers are your smart home on wheels

NEWS – Earlier this month, Airstream announced that all of their new Classic travel trailers can be outfitted with Airstream Smart Control Technology.  With a smartphone app, you’ll be able to monitor and control many of the functions of your Classic trailer.  Smart Control adds the following features:

Stay connected – to your Classic, to Airstream, and to friends and family

  • Dedicated 4G LTE data, so you can connect from just about anywhere
  • Direct-dial access to Airstream Customer Service, owner’s manuals, and FAQs
  • Boosted Wi-Fi signal for greater connectivity

Stay comfortable – with all the comforts and conveniences of home

  • Set the indoor temperature and control the vent fans
  • Turn interior and exterior lights on or off
  • Extend or retract your awning

Stay in control – with remote monitoring and control of several key RV features

  • Monitor propane, fresh water, and holding tank levels
  • Check battery voltage
  • Locate your RV

The app will even help you prepare for your trip with sets of checklists to make sure you have everything you need.

When traveling with the Airstream Classic equipped with Airstream Smart Control Technology, you’ll have all the comforts and controls of home – in a gorgeous, shiny, retro package!  The Airstream Classic starts at $149,900.  Learn more about Airstream Classic trailers and Airstream Smart Control Technology at the Airstream website.

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Airstream Classic travel trailers are your smart home on wheels originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 12, 2018 at 12:30 pm.

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