Back in my day, composition books were only available with those black-and-white speckled covers. Now you can get them with most everything on the covers, but none of those designs will be as appealing to your Harry Potter fans as these notebooks are. ThinkGeek has a set of four composition books with the Hogwarts’ House crests on the front covers and the Hogwarts’ crest on the back.
Each book measures 9.75″ tall x 7.5″ wide and contains 100 college-ruled pages. These officially-licensed Harry Potter notebooks are a ThinkGeek exclusive. Right now, a set of all four notebooks is available for $5.99, a 40% savings, at ThinkGeek.
If you are like me, you have a multitude of gadgets that need charging. And inevitably they all need charging at the same time, right? And most of your gadgets don’t come with power adapters anymore, right? And even if they did you probably couldn’t plug them up all at the same time in the same room, right? That’s where the Tronsmart desktop charger comes in. Charge 5 devices at the same time, all of them at their fastest possible charge rate. So for a device that costs approximately $27, how does it perform? Let’s find out.
What is it?
It is a 5-port desktop charger that allows you to plug up any USB-charging device and it will provide the maximum amount of charging output that your device allows.
Hardware specs
Model: U5TF Technology: Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 & VoltiQ & Huawei FCP (Backward compatible with QC 1.0 and 2.0 Technology) Input: AC 100-240V, 50-60HZ, 2.4A (Max) Output: Max 5-6.5V/3A, 6.5-9V/2A, 9-12V/1.5A; 5V/2.4A Total Power: 90W Size: Approx. 6.25 in x 3 in x 1 in Weight: 10.5 oz Certifications: CE, FCC, RoHS
What’s in the box with the Tronsmart?
1 x Desktop charger
1 x AC power cable
1 x User manual
1 x VoltiQ card
1 x Warranty Card Design and features
Design and function
The Tronsmart desktop charger is a little larger than some of the other desktop charging hubs than I currently own. But it is the only one that I own that truly provides the maximum charging speed for every device. It does indeed deliver on that promise. It has a switch on the back to turn it on. I know this because when I first took it out of the box and plugged it up to try it, I plugged in one of my devices and walked away to do something around the house and came back later to realize that I never turned it on with the switch on the back. It would be nice if it automatically started charging when you plugged something up, but that’s not a deal breaker for me now that I know to look for the little indicator light on the top of the charger that indicates it is turned on. Smart.
What I like
Great price
Very light
It does indeed provide the maximum charging speed for every device
What needs to be improved
A little larger than other desktop chargers
You have to remember to switch it on
Final thoughts
For the price and performance, I really can’t find anything to complain about with the Tronsmart 5-port desktop charger. It does exactly what it purports to do and it has a simple, clean design. This is a much cleaner and smarter way to charge multiple devices at your desk than using one of those ugly power strips or trying to decide which devices to plug up to those valuable outlets in the wall. I highly recommend this device.
Price: $29.74 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample of this product was provided by Tronsmart
For years now we’ve all been hearing that sitting all day long is as bad as smoking cigarettes when it comes to your health. To help combat this issue, standing desks have become a popular office accessory. Standing desks perform as you would imagine, they make you stand up to use your computer. They are a great idea but are portable, so you can’t take them with you where ever you go… until now.
The Flat Folding Portable Standing Desk from Brando is a uniquely designed standing desk that you can take anywhere you go. This platform is available in four sizes and is made of a water-repellant material. It folds flat to easily stow in your bag, but pop open when you need to use it. The desk can hold up to 22 lbs! The Flat Folding desk is priced at $49 for the smallest size, up to $67 for the extra large desk. For more info visit usb.brando.com
It’s that time of the week where gadgeteers need a break to catch up on all of our gadget related news, reviews, and articles that we posted here on this site this week. So sit down, get comfortable, browse the list, and enjoy!
Think about the trunk of your car. What have you got in there to help you out in case of an emergency? Spare tire? Sure. Jumper cables? Nice. Maybe you’ve even got a road flare or some water bottles. But what if that spare of yours is flat, too? You may be missing an often overlooked but equally important element of roadside preparedness – a portable air compressor. Audew is here to fill that void with their small-yet-mighty Digital Tire Inflator.
What is it?
The Audew Digital Tire Inflator is a small air compressor that is powered by the automobile’s 12V DC outlet (cigarette lighter). It’s ideal for cars, bikes, motorcycles, RVs, SUVs, ATVs and trucks… basically anything with a tire. Also, sports equipment and inflatables adaptors are included, further extending its usefulness.
Built-in LED light right on the case, which is really handy.
Hardware specs
Product power: 120W
Operating voltage: DC12V
Maximum operating current: 10A
Maximum pressure: 150 PSI
Flow: 35 PSI / min
Power cord length: 3M
Continuous working time: 8 min
Everything you need in a nice, compact package.
What’s in the box?
tire inflator with built-in 3-meter power cord
multiple nozzles for air mattresses and sports balls
instruction booklet
extra fuse
carrying bag
Design and Features
What I liked best about the Audew air compressor was the fact that it had everything necessary to complete a regular tire fill on board. No hunting for the adapter cable, tire pressure gauge, or the nozzle. It’s all right there. It even includes a backlit display and a bright LED light on the side of the case, which is super-handy for finding those tire stems in a dark parking lot or roadside.
Even the nozzle folds into the body.
The built-in DC cable is 3 meters long, which should be long enough to easily reach every tire on an average vehicle. I didn’t get a chance to test if it would be long enough to reach, say the back tire of an extended cab truck, but I imagine it would do the trick.
It comes with extra nozzles for filling up air mattresses or sports balls, which is a nice inclusion, but you’re going to have to be right next to your car in order to do so, which is a very minor problem.
Living in an area of the country that sees wide shifts in temperature from day to day, it’s not surprising how often my car gives me those “low pressure” alerts. And since free air dispensers seem to be getting increasingly hard to find – most are like $1.50 for a few minutes of runtime – it’s super handy to simply pop this thing out of my trunk and pump up those tires to a proper air pressure.
Setup
Since all of the required cables, hoses, and nozzles are built into the compressor unit, setup is a snap. Simply plug the adapter into the outlet and LED lights on the compressor come on. Anyone who’s ever used a bike pump would be familiar with the clamp-type nozzle… just push the nozzle over the stem, fold down the clamp and you’ve got yourself a secure connection.
I’m sure you’ve used one of these on your bike at some point. Same story.
The LED on the unit should display the current pressure. In the instance of my tire, it was at 27 PSI.
All that needs to be done from there is to use the + or – buttons on the compressor unit to set the target PSI, and then flip the switch. The compressor roars to life and fills the tire to the set pressure and shuts off. That’s literally all there is to it.
Backlit LCD display for easy reading in the dark.
If you don’t happen to have your tire’s optimum PSI, that information is usually printed on the inside of the car door, or in your car’s manual.
Performance
The compressor seemed to be comparable to one you would find at a gas station, in terms of how quickly it inflated my tire. I saw the pressure increase half a PSI unit every 8-10 seconds. Total time to get the tire inflated to the desired pressure was a little over a minute. It works just like you’d imagine.
What I like
all-in-one, compact format
easy to use
lit display and built-in LED flashlight
What needs to be improved
must be within 3 meters of the DC outlet
Final thoughts
Audew’s diminutive air compressor is the perfect size to keep in the trunk right next to your jumper cables and extra windshield wiper fluid for those “just-in-case” scenarios. It’s inexpensive, simple to use, feature-rich, and all the necessary parts are built right in. You really can’t go wrong.
Price: $36.99 Where to buy: Amazon Source: The sample of this product was provided by Audew.
