Gotta Have Gadget

There are very few gadgets out there that become an instant classic, The Man Table as soon as I saw it went into the Gotta Have Gadget Hall of Fame?

So, what is a “Man Table”?  Perhaps you have seen one, but never knew the true secret of the man table.  The man table is a beautifully hand crafted end table that would look great in any living room or man cave.  I know what you are saying, what makes this an instant hall of fame gadget is that within this beauty, is a built in refrigerator!

I knew this was an instant classic as soon as it arrived.  My wife said, “That will look wonderful in our living room!”  Of course she didn’t realize it was a refrigerator!  That is what makes this such a great item.  I actually have fun when guests come over and I send them into the living room to get a beer out of the fridge.  They stand in the middle of the room looking around helpless as they search for the beer.  When I go over to the Man Table, they cannot believe it!  When their wife or girlfriend tells them the man table would look great in their living room, they all rush to the internet to visit www.mantables.com.

These end tables are Armish made and you can truly see the craftsmanship the day it arrives.  Available in tobacco, espresso and black, there is a man table for even the most decorative living room.  The debate will begin between men and women if the man table is an elegant end table or a classic refrigerator.  Honestly, who cares, it functions perfectly as both.

The Man Table eliminates the sprint to your kitchen or basement during commercials of the big game as it easily holds a 30-pack of your favorite beverage.  You will find the most popular seat on game day is next to the man table!

2012 Ultimate Guys weekend sponsored by Lexus!

One of the coolest things about being a freelance writer is, from time to time I get invited to some pretty cool events. I will honestly say I was a little shocked when I received an invitation from Lexus to join them in Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekend.

If you happened to catch the big game, you might have noticed the all new 2013 Lexus GS and the very first Lexus Super Bowl commercial. So you are probably asking, “Why a gadget guy?” That is exactly what I asked myself, so stay tuned for the answer to that question! I am extremely thankful that they extended an invitation for me and a guest to join them!

The weekend started out on a good note for us, but a bad note for other Patriots fans. When I was asked how I wanted to fly out to Las Vegas, I told the travel agent if there were no direct flights so send me South first! So our flight went from Manchester, NH to Tampa, FL and then onto Las Vegas. While my brother and I were enjoying a beverage at the airport we learned the other flight through Denver was cancelled due to snow! It actually looked like I knew what I was doing as they had to wait another day, and then drive to Boston to catch a flight on Saturday. Our flight departed on time which was about 9:00am EST. I like flying on Southwest airlines, however it appears my brother and I might have been a little too loud on the plane. The sleeping baby next to us didn’t seem to mind our laughing and joking, however someone with a “C” boarding pass apparently felt they were in first class, when indeed they were closer to last class or some others around us joked, “NO” class. Here’s a tip, if you are flying Southwest and want to enjoy a beverage, hit up e-bay and buy some drink coupons. You can usually get 10 coupons worth about $50 for $10 or $20 depending on how lucky you are! Here’s hoping the young lady who drew the short straw and sat between my brother and I made her cruise in Tampa with her boy friend and we didn’t get her in too much trouble. The second leg of the trip was just as fun as we were lucky to have an older gentleman named Paul sitting with us, and he was just as willing to have fun on the way to Vegas!

We arrived in Vegas around 4:00pm and met the people from Lexus at the Palazzo hotel. Attention Palazzo hotel, if you leave the mini-bar open you give the impression we can help ourselves. It was like a scene from the Blues Brothers; well they didn’t charge us for the first round so we thought the drinks were free! No, no, no you boys owe us a lot of money! Note to Las Vegas, you may want to do a little research before you leave booze with the Conrad boys! Lexus picked the right hotel as all the rooms in the Palazzo are suites. I thought the hotel matched the Lexus reputation perfectly. The first night there was a welcome reception at the Venetian Hotel (which is connected to the Palazzo) at the Taqueria Cononita. I was a little surprised to see all the other gadget bloggers and their guests there; my theory of Lexus messing up and sending me an invitation went right out the windows. It was a nice way to start the weekend, meet other bloggers and people from Lexus. As we were enjoying some great food and margaritas, I was watching the gondola boats inside the hotel thinking this is pretty cool. If you have never been to Vegas, the Venetian is designed to give a classic Italian feel, complete with singing gondoliers. After a few beverages it was off to lose some money at the casinos! Heck Vegas was built on guys like me!

The real reason we were there came about on Saturday! After a breakfast buffet, our busses pulled up to take all the bloggers and their guests to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We were there to test drive the new 2013 Lexus GS. I’m not sure if the Lexus GS is a car or a gadget on wheels! Where do I start? There were two very different courses set up for us, one was about a 1.9 mile road course, and the other was a short course set-up with cones for more controlled driving. The 2013 Lexus GS is truly a thing of beauty. There were four vehicles lined up all with unique features. There were two all wheel drive cars and two rear wheel drive cars there for us to put to the test. For a guy who lives in New Hampshire, an all wheel drive is a must. You could feel the difference going into a corner at higher speeds of the all wheel drive gripping the track. One of the features I absolutely loved was the driving dial. There are four different driving settings for you to choose base on the performance you are looking for. There is Eco for the best gas mileage, Normal of course for normal, Sport S which would give you more power and Sports S+ which I call the “crap I told my wife I would be home an hour ago” mode. Speaking of my wife, I have always told her that if I hit powerball I want to become a “professional driver on closed course”. You know those guys or girls that get to drive in commercials at top speed and do all kinds of cool driving. Well Lexus gave us the opportunity to do just that. To be able to truly open up this car and feel it react to tight turns and wide open straight a ways was something I wish everyone could try. You can actually feel the engineering when you first sit in the driver’s seat and adjust the seat to your liking. Something I think every car should have is a seat and mirror memory feature. There is nothing worse than getting everything set perfectly only for someone else to jump in and change the seat! The Lexus GS has 3 different memory locations to save your set-up.

What makes the Lexus GS a “gadget on wheels” is the application suite. The application suite gives the driver apps like Pandora®, OpenTable®, Facebook Places and Yelp. So with a touch of a button, you can make dinner reservations, purchase movie theatre tickets, or get a review on the restaurant you are driving to. Remote Touch allows the driver to control available navigation functions and allowed me to take advantage of the 17 speaker sound system as I put on a little Elvis Radio on the Sirius Satellite Radio. With Lexus Enform® you can get directions downloaded right to the navigation system, but more importantly if your airbag is deployed, the Enform® system will dial 911 and send your location to the emergency crew.

Just when you think it couldn’t get any better, Lexus rolls out their LFA model which is the cream of the crop of sports cars! No, I did not get to drive it (which was smart on their part) but we did get to take a “hot lap” with NASCAR driver and road course specialist Scott Pruett. Now I thought I was putting down some pretty good laps until a REAL driver got in to show us how it is done. Scott was a great guy, one hell of a driver and took all the heckling this crew of writers could give him, so for that, I am going to give his winery a plug. You want to check out www.pruettvineyard.com as Scott is more than happy to talk about his vineyard and wines.

I would LOVE to see either one of these vehicles in my driveway. Unless I hit powerball soon, I very much doubt I will have a chance to drive the LFA, however the Lexus GS could be a reality. One of the great things about the 2013 Lexus GS is there are plenty of upgrades from previous models, but the pricing is the same! The 2013 Lexus GS is also available in a hybrid model. You have to check out these cars at www.lexus.com, the combination of technology with style and performance is what makes the Lexus name stand above the rest.

Just when you think the weekend couldn’t get any better, Saturday night we ate at TAO restaurant, and then hung out for a little while in the nightclub. Apparently this is a pretty hip place to be as the Kardashians are rumored to hang out there. Honestly one of them could have been standing next to me and I would have never known it. Heck, I might have even ordered a drink from one of them. Sunday it was all about the Super Bowl. Being a New England Patriots fan, I will not be discussing the game at all, but I will say we watched it at Lagasse’s Stadium at the Palazzo. When the food came out, I went heavy on the buffalo wings and other Super Bowl food, only to be told they were truly appetizers. When the meal came out, my plate was full of steak, salmon and mashed potatoes. The food was everything I expected from a Lagasse restaurant. Oh, and there were a couple of beverages there too. Since the Pats didn’t win, the highlight of the game was Lexus’ first Super Bowl commercial. The tag line for the GS in their commercial is “this is just the beginning!” Well with all the great people I met from Lexus and Team One, I truly hope it is just the beginning of a great business relationship.

While at the track I made a reference to the movie “City Slickers”. During their journey they were talking about their “Best Day Ever” well not counting my wedding or kids being born, this entire weekend would rank right up there and have to get a mention! You can easily say this was an “Ultimate Guys Weekend!”

This holiday season, one of the questions I get asked the most is, “What is a good reliable phone I can get without breaking the bank?”  The LG Revolution is a great deal right now!  At $199 (with a two year Verizon contract) the LG Revolution gives you the quickness of 4G LTE, a 4.3 inch screen, high res camera and Android marketplace.

Some features I really like are micro-HDMI port for quick connections to a TV or computer to transfer your 720p HD videos, and the 5 megapixel camera.  I know what you are going to say, there are much higher resolution camera phones out there, yes there is, but the LG Revolution gives you options which takes far better pictures than you would expect with a 5 megapixel camera.

Something that is over looked now a days with cellular phones is audio quality.  With the backing of the Verizon Wireless network, I didn’t lose a single call and the audio was just fine.  The battery life is what you will find in most data phones, of course the more you use it, the less the battery will last.  If you are a heavy data user, a back-up battery is always recommended.

If you don’t need the latest and greatest phone the LG Revolution is a great alternative at a reasonable price that will give you everything you need and with the power of Verizon’s 4G LTE service, it will give you it quickly.

For all the latest LG phones, you can check them out at http://www.lg.com/us/mobile-phones/view-all-phones/view-all-phones.jsp.

Here is your chance to win TWO one-year Pandora One Premium Subscriptions, 4 Movie Tickets a month for a year from MovieTickets.com and a $250 Open Table Dining Card!!

Over the next couple of weeks, I will release a series of clues.  If you can correctly guess what the clues are YOU WIN!  The first person with the correct guess wins all of the above mentioned Prizes!!

Each week two clues will be added to the contest page, until the correct answer is received.

http://gottahavegadget.com/contest-page/

PowerSkin iPhone 4S

Looking for some holiday swap gifts or some great stocking stuffers?  Do you know someone with a SmartPhone?  Of course you do, most 13 year old kids have one now.  What is the biggest complaint?  Battery power!   I have a PowerSkin for my iPhone and now I never have to worry about the battery.  I can surf the web all day, use the GPS for golf, make calls or check email and still have a full battery at the end of the day.  The PowerSkin is basically a protective case that has a second battery built into the case.  Find your PowerSkin at www.power-skin.com.

It’s designed to hold everything a BBQ enthusiast needs so that they never have to leave the grill. It’s got places for your tools, pockets for your sauces and seasonings, loops for your lighter, a thermometer, a place for your smart phone, insulated beer pockets and The Chamber TM – a special sealed and insulated pocket that holds a spare unopened beer.  It also has a professional-grade “speed opener” – the kind you see bartenders use – attached to a heavy-duty retractable reel.  No more fumbling for a bottle opener and no more “misfires” because of a second-rate tool. This is a great feature at tailgates and backyard BBQ parties.  The Pit Boss is designed to be rugged and it looks the part.  Details include 1680 Denier fabric, heavy-duty double stitched seams, reinforced pocket stitching, and a die-cast belt buckle. With a regular tool belt, you never misplace your hammer or measuring tape. With the Pit Boss you’ll never misplace your tongs, sauce or a frosty beverage. Just like a regular tool belt, when you’re done with the job, hang up the belt and it’s all right there, ready for next time you grill.  The Pit Boss makes an outstanding gift for anyone who loves to grill, tailgate or for “the man who has everything”.  Available now at www.bbqpitbossbelt.com

There is nothing better than going to your local Hooters Restaurant to watch some football!  Unless of course you want to make it more interesting!  Watching football is great, betting while watching the game is awesome!  SportsActionBoard fits right on your coffee table at home, or roll it up and take it to your local Hooters!  Just roll it out on the table and let the fun begin!  No worries if you spill a drink or a little buffalo wing sauce, simply wipe it away and game on!  Bet with your friends on a 4^th and goal if your favorite team makes the touchdown or gets stuffed!  Let’s face it, you make predictions all the time when watching a game, make it more interesting with the SportsActionBoard!  Bet for real, or just have some fun!  Check them out on-line at www.sportsactionboard.com!

When sitting on the deck, there are a few guests you don’t want…..no not your in-laws, mosquitoes!  One item you will find on my Country Living Patio Set is the ThermaCELL® Mosquito Repellent Lantern.  This DEET-free, flame free lantern keeps the bugs away safely and uses a repellent that is a man-made copy of a natural insecticide found in chrysanthemum flowers.  The ThermaCELL® Lantern gives you a 15 x 15 foot zone of protection, which is perfect for your deck or patio.  If you are working out in your yard, or hiking, ThermaCELL® also makes an appliance  Mosquito Repellent, which is virtually odorless and completely portable   creating a 98 percent effective bug force field.  Both products operate on a single butane cartridge which heats up a repellent mat which keeps the mosquitoes away!  Another nice thing about ThermaCELL® is they are a New England company.  ThermaCELL Brands is a division of The Schawbel Corporation located in Bedford, MA.  These products are great to keep the bugs away; however they do not work on in-laws!  For all the ThermaCELL products and specifications, visit www.thermacell.com.

Unless you have been cut off from all forms of communication, you might have heard that the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup!! So what does that have to do with summer? Even during the hot, and humid weather, you want to look cool. Antigua has a line of golf shirts that help you look great, and keep you cool. The Desert Dry™ line of golf shirts are light weight which trap less body heat, which in turns help you stay cool and dry. So right about now you are probably asking yourself what does that have to do with the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup? Well, I happened to be out shopping for Stanley Cup gear and found a great looking golf shirt with the Bruins’ logo. It should have come as no surprise when I picked up the shirt and it was made by Antigua! One big selling feature for me is something Antigua doesn’t market, and that is that I can pull these shirts out of the dryer and put them right on, wrinkle free! Check out all the great styles for both him and her at www.antigua.com and shop.antigua.com!  For the Bruins shirt, you can purchase from the NHL shop, http://shop.nhl.com/entry.jsp?source=PE&entry=11744842

Does dad own a motorcycle? Cardo Systems’s G4 PowerSet is a Bluetooth headset that helps motorcyclists stay connected while riding. The Cardo System’s G4 PowerSet comes in a package of two that are paired together to help riders communicate with one another. The G4 Powerset has some great cool features. First you can communicate with another rider with a range of up to 1 mile! Secondly, with the Click-to-Link™ feature, if you see another rider with a G4 PowerSet, you can easily connect to communicate with that rider. Thirdly, with the multi-device connectivity, you can listen to your MP3 player or connect to your cell phone in addition to talking to your riding partner. Fourth, having the windscreen mouthpiece will reduce the amount of bugs in dad’s teeth! For more information or technical specs, visit them on-line at www.cardosystems.com.

Is dad always on the go?  Does he have to stay connected via his laptop?  If so, trying to find a wifi hotspot or paying $20 per day at a hotel is a pain.  Virgin Mobile’s MiFi® 2200 with Broadband2Go can give dad instant nationwide Sprint® 3G network coverage.  Dad can connect up to 5 Wi-Fi enabled devices to the 3G wireless internet with no contract needed!  It doesn’t matter if dad has a PC or Mac, the Virgin MiFi® 2200 can connect to either with very little set-up.  The pay as you go is probably the best feature of the MiFi® 2200 because dad can change his plan based on his personal needs with Broadband2Go plans as little as $10.  Backed by the Sprint® 3G Network, dad can find the coverage he needs.  Check it out at www.virginmobileusa.com.

I spent the day playing cornhole, and it was great not worrying about having my beverage knocked over or wondering what the score was!  With the Backyard Barkeep, I have a place to not only hold my beer, but open it with the built in bottle opener, and keep score for my favorite game!  It doesn’t matter if you play horseshoes, washer, bocce, or if you are playing in your yard or tailgating, you will always need a place to hold your beer and keep score!  The Backyard Barkeep does all that for you!  The Backyard Barkeep includes two sturdy drink holders and sturdy base, two coozies, a scorecard and two score keeping clips!  Check them out at www.backyardbarkeep.com!

Are you a fan of Hooters?  Show off your Hooter’s Orange with style, check out the Arnette Fire Drill Glasses.  These limited edition stylish glasses have a matte black frame with neon orange stems.  Now if you are interested, they do come in other colors, however think of how good you would look walking into your favorite Hooters Restaurant wearing the black and neon orange glasses!  These glasses feature a large square frame and have polarized or non-polarized lens options. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s an app for that!  Well, actually there are a ton of navigation apps!  A few months ago, I reviewed the Magellan RoadMate 3065 (http://gottahavegadget.com/?p=871) so I was anxious to put the RoadMate App to the test.  To my surprise, the Magellan RoadMate app had all the functions of the stand alone GPS.  If you are a data subscriber, you even get the Magellan Traffic Updates (in select areas).  I never really liked using my iPhone for a GPS as the battery seemed to drain quickly, Magellan took care of that with the Magellan Premium Car Kit!  Read the rest of this entry »

In an effort to “Thank” our men and woman who serve “Behind the Badge”, I am donating my column to the publication entitled, “Beyond the Badge”.

Beyond The Badge is the official publication of the New England Police Benevolent Association. This publication is distributed in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine to our members, advertisers, legislators and to various public entities, as well as shopping centers and private businesses. We have a readership of over 125,000 and we will be expanding our current 24 page format and we will be expanding to the state of Rhode Island as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you remember the Rubik’s Cube?  Some 30 years later, mine still hasn’t been solved.  To annoy me even more, Techno Source has introduced the Rubik’s Slide to help celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the Rubik’s Cube.  The Rubik’s Slide has over 10,000 puzzles to solve.  Read the rest of this entry »

I hate to shave!  Typically I have to shave in the shower unless I want to look like I just went 15 rounds with Rocky Balboa!  Well, I have finally found an electric razor that works for me!  The Philips Norelco SensoTouch 3D Electric Razor has replaced the blades in the shower.  I have the option of a dry or wet shave.  Cleaning this razor is a breeze as it comes with a Jet Clean system.  Read the rest of this entry »

I have been looking for a camera somewhere between the new compact digital cameras and the high end digital SLR cameras.  Olympus has answered the call!  The Olympus Pen E-PL1 gives you a compact digital camera with the ability to change lenses like a high end SLR.  The Olympus Pen E-PL1 gives you 12.3 megapixels and the ability to shoot video in 720p high definition.  Read the rest of this entry »

This could make it into the Gotta Have Gadget Hall of Fame!  The RC Remote Cooler will be the topic of conversation at any party.  It certainly isnt as nice as having your favorite Hooters Girl bring you a beverage, however when you are out on your deck, next to the pool, or in your living room its pretty sweet picking up the remote control and having this cooler deliver your beer.  Read the rest of this entry »

Duck Hunter Review

By

Kailen Richards The MGG aka “The Mini-Gadget Guy”

My name is Kailen and I am seven years old. My Uncle Mikey has lots of cool stuff, he calls them gadgets. He is always getting new gadgets and he loves to show them to me and my whole family. It doesn’t matter to me what he calls them as long as I get to play with them.

Last month, he asked me to help him out. He said I have a really cool thing that looks like a duck and can fly around the room or yard. So I said, Sweet!

He then showed me how to make it fly. All I had to do was put the duck on the tip of the charger and hold the lever for 10 or 11 seconds. Then I took the duck off the charger and flipped the switch to ON. The wings started flapping and I tossed the duck into the air and it flew around the room. My dog Holly chased the flying duck all over the house.

Then my Uncle Mikey said, Why do you think the charger is shaped like a gun?
So I said, I dont know, why is the charger shaped like a gun?
Then he told me the coolest thing of all, he said, So you can shoot the duck down out of the sky!
Then I said, AWESOME!!!! Read the rest of this entry »

Ill admit it, when it comes to frozen drinks, I suck at making them.  The blender never seems to chop the ice just right, or the beverage to ice ratio is off.  But the folks at Margaritaville® have made me a better bartender with their ultimate Margaritaville® Cordless Frozen Concoction Maker®.  I hesitated calling it a frozen concoction maker, however, there is no way I can call this a blender.  Where do I start?  Read the rest of this entry »

There are a ton of GPS Navigation systems out there.  The Magellan RoadMate 3065 Commuter is the one that stays in my car.  The first thing I like about the RoadMate 3065 is it comes with lifetime traffic updates.  You can actually program this unit for your morning and evening commute and calculate any traffic delays for you before you start.  I set my traffic wakeup to start downloading information about 10 minutes before I actually leave.  Another nice feature is the Bluetooth hands-free speakerphone.  Read the rest of this entry »

Want the coolest looking and probably safest fan to beat the summer heat?  The Dyson Air Multiplier Fan has no blades!  You look at this and say to yourself, How the heck is this a fan?  You probably recognize the Dyson name from their famous vacuum.  Knowing Dyson revolutionized the bag less vacuum, there is no shock here that they have now revolutionized the fan!  Read the rest of this entry »

If you are traveling and need to take some beverages with you, Burton makes the perfect cooler!  The Burton Lil Buddy Cooler Bag can hold a 12-pack of your favorite beverage and has built-in speakers to connect to your MP3 player.  No need to pack a separate bottle opener, as Burton has incorporated the bottle opener into the zipper.  Read the rest of this entry »

One of the staples of summer fun is a barbecue!  The first gadget for a great barbecue has to be your grill.  The Master Forge Four-Burner Split-LTD Gas Grill is the grill that will give you everything you need for a great BBQ.  Available at Lowes, this Master Forge Grill has opened an entirely new area of grilling for me.  Like any guy, I proclaim my deck and grill to be man land.  What makes this Master Forge grill unique is the 13,000 BTU Sear Burner.  Searing food browns the surface over intense heat that will open up new flavors to you BBQ.  Ill be the first to admit I had no idea what to do with the sear burner, but after the first steak on the grill, I was sold.  Read the rest of this entry »