Home News

BDI media cabinets incorporate ventilated shelves and cord control

We recently bought a new media cabinet for our living room.  I was tired of the old, dark veneered, 14″-off-the-ground DIY unit we had for years.  I wanted something of furniture quality, and I wanted a style that would complement the Mid-Century modern decorating style of my house.  I looked no further than BDI, because their Venue 8649W media and storage had everything I wanted.

The Venue has curves and more curves.  You can see in the photo of my own Venue (above) that the bottom curves up at the ends and the legs swoop and curve.  What you can’t see is how the top is also curved like a surfboard.

The cabinet is available in white and in black.  I was tired of dark cabinets, so you’ll see I ordered the white.  Had I gotten the black, the two center doors would have been made of black glass, which allow the passthrough of IR remote controllers.  With my white version, all four front doors are made of wood.  Most of my components have Bluetooth or WiFi remotes, but I had to buy an IR repeater so I could control my cable box without opening the doors.

The cabinet is beautiful, but beauty is more than skin deep in this product.  The interior and the back is designed to make connecting all your equipment easy and neat.  I already loaded up everything in my cabinet, so I took a stock image of another BDI cabinet interior so you can see how the interior shelf, the bottom of the cabinet, and the back of the cabinet are ventilated to keep everything cool inside while you are marathoning shows.  What you can’t see is that the back of the center shelves have divots in the back to allow easy passage of cables from top to bottom.  The vertical divider walls also have cutouts to allow passing cables from section to section.  The back walls have cutouts to guide the cables up to the TV or down to the power or cable hookups.  The back panels also lift off so you can easily access the backs of your components for easy hookup.

Combine all this cable guidance built-in to the Venue with my Samsung TV’s little control box, and I only have a few cables to control outside of the cabinet.  I have a single cable going from the control box up through the metal stand of the TV.  Coming up into the bottom of the Venue is a single power cable to the surge protector I put inside the cabinet, the cablevision co-ax, and an Ethernet cable to my Apple TV.  A couple of cable guides keeps those cords routed down the Venue’s legs.  You can still see a few cables on the floor, but it’s not the dangling snake nest that was wadded up behind my old media cabinet.

I was able to fit the cable DVR, Blu-Ray player, Apple TV box, Samsung TV control box, a huge surge protector, a couple of Bluetooth transmitters, and two charging stations for charging Bluetooth headsets inside the center two compartments.  The two end compartments have about 12 of those DVD organizers that look like photo albums.

The body of the Venue is made of painted wood veneers, and the base is made of powder-coated steel.  The cabinet weighs a couple hundred pounds, so attaching the legs is a two-person job – unless you get white-glove delivery, like we did.  It measures 29″ tall (the same height as a dining table) x 79″ long by 20″ deep and is designed to accommodate a TV up to 85″ (up to 175 pounds).

There was actually a local brick-and-mortar store that carried some BDI furniture, but they didn’t seem to offer the Venue.  We purchased our cabinet from Modern Essentials for about $2200.00.  It’s worth every penny!

The post BDI media cabinets incorporate ventilated shelves and cord control appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged:

BDI media cabinets incorporate ventilated shelves and cord control originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 26, 2018 at 11:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

The Vello DSLR Battery Grip adds life and safety to your shoot


One of the worst experiences for a photographer/videographer is being in the middle of a shoot with your trusty DSLR camera, and you run out of power. While this sounds like a simple issue, it occurs very often and usually at the most inappropriate time. As professionals we strive our best to not let this happen, either because it just looks bad in front of our clients, or because we miss a shot at a once in a lifetime photo/video opportunity.

Vello is a company that makes a lot of reasonably priced photography gear, and I especially like their extended battery grips that not only provide a longer time between changing batteries but in a pinch, there is an included adapter that works with AA batteries to provide power. The grips create a larger surface for gripping the camera and work well in both a horizontal and vertical posture. There is also a Vertical Position Shutter Release Button, an On/Off Switch for Battery Grip Controls, Vertical Position Control Buttons, a Hand Strap Eyelet, and a 1/4″-20 female accessory thread for direct connection to a 1/4″-20 mount. There is also a Canon ACK-E6 AC Adapter Kit that allows the battery grip to remain attached to the camera and be powered externally via AC power.

The Vello battery grips are available for several makes and models of cameras. You can pick one up (bare grip with no accessories), from B&H Photo Video for prices ranging from $60 to $100.

The post The Vello DSLR Battery Grip adds life and safety to your shoot appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: ,

The Vello DSLR Battery Grip adds life and safety to your shoot originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 26, 2018 at 10:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

GORUCK Radio Ruck in limited re-release

After some extended R&R (pun intended), GORUCK, maker of arguably the toughest rucks (military term for backpacks) anywhere, have brought back their Radio Ruck for a limited release. With its shorter, wider and thicker shape, the Radio Ruck fits in between their GR1 21L and their Echo rucks and is a favorite of folks who are a bit on the shorter side (like yours truly).

Like all GORUCK rucks, the Radio Ruck is made of 1000D Cordura and includes MOLLE webbing for attaching items, a padded laptop compartment, thickly padded shoulder straps and multiple internal organization pockets. And yeah, like all GORUCK rucks, the Radio Ruck is a bit on the expensive side at $265, but with GORUCK’s well-known über-durability and their SCARS Lifetime Warranty, it just might be the only ruck you’ll need to buy. Ever. Ruck over to GORUCK.com for more intel or to order—but do it double time, because this limited re-release of the GORUCK Radio Ruck is selling most ricky-tick (fast).

The post GORUCK Radio Ruck in limited re-release appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged:

GORUCK Radio Ruck in limited re-release originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 26, 2018 at 8:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Too busy to mow your lawn? Let the WORX Landroid do it instead!

The WORX Landroid cuts out more time for you to enjoy your outdoor space when the weather is at its best. Similar to a Roomba — a robot vacuum, — the Landroid combs your lawn looking for disorderly grass in order to leave a well-manicured lawn in its wake. Think about all you could do with the time saved from not mowing your lawn all summer long.

Minimal maintenance

Rather than having your Landroid mowing the entire neighborhood’s yards, you have the option to set up a boundary for your mower.

This low-voltage wire requires installation on the inner and outer perimeters of your lawn. Depending on the size of your lawn, the installation process could take a few hours as it’s done by hand. Fortunately, the Landroid requires minimal maintenance once it undergoes installation.

Keep in mind, you’ll likely have to use a weed trimmer to achieve a perfect cut since the boundaries will prevent the mower from getting too close the perimeter of your yard.

Reasonably priced

For all of the time it saves you, the Landroid’s price tag competes with other high-end mowers. Priced just under $1,000, you’ll still find many of the same features found on more expensive models.

A unique algorithm maneuvers the machine around lawn decorations with ease and can guide itself through tight spaces.

The mower can efficiently cut up to a quarter acre with ease. And since curb appeal stakes a large factor in home sales, a well-cut lawn could be the difference in thousands of dollars in added home value.

Self-preserving

Equipped with a docking staging, capable of re-charging the Landroid in under 45 minutes, the mower can sense rain and will quickly retreat to its home base.

This sensing ensures your investment will stay in top shape through inclement weather.

Sounds of silence

When operating, the Landroid has a similar sound decimal to an air conditioning wall unit.

The less-intrusive white noise hum, compared to a gasoline-powered mower, allows you to mow without notifying the entire neighborhood. You also have the option to run the mower at night or early in the morning.

The mower has programmable features to run when you set it to, or you can let its sensors decide when it should mow next.

The Landroid turns a weekly chore into a maintenance task that you now administer rather than toil over. Your grass will have an everlasting groomed look.

Increased functionality

While the Landroid keeps your grass uniform, it doesn’t have an option for artistic patterns. You might miss your diamond shaped lawn masterpieces, but you’ll gain increased functionality.

The Landroid easily mows inclines up to 20 degrees and involves minimal decision making — you can modify the grass cut setting between 1.5 to four inches in height.

The state of your lawn conveys various messages about your personality.

The Landroid allows your yard to look more put together so you can focus your energy on life’s more valuable moments.

For more info visit Worx.com and Amazon where they are currently selling for $916.

The post Too busy to mow your lawn? Let the WORX Landroid do it instead! appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged:

Too busy to mow your lawn? Let the WORX Landroid do it instead! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 26, 2018 at 7:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Record your travels in this leather, antique-map journal

These leather journals from Tactile Craftworks start with supple leather hides sourced from a Milwaukee tannery.  The hides are then hand-cut and etched with antique map designs of old American cities, which makes these Etched Leather Map Journals perfect as a travel journal.

The maps are all of the 1890-1920s eras from the collections of the American Geographical Society.  The covers are all made of high-quality, full-grain leather with brass button closures.  They measure 6″ x 9″ x 1″ and have a 240-page Moleskine notebook with lined paper inside.  The Moleskine can be replaced, making this journal useable for a life-time.

You can choose from 16 city designs or from a cover with a simple pine tree design.  The Etched Leather Map Journal is $118.00 and available from The Grommet.

The post Record your travels in this leather, antique-map journal appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged:

Record your travels in this leather, antique-map journal originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 25, 2018 at 8:08 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.