Last time I posted the Current Gear that I use on a day to day basis. That was about seven months ago and I’ve practically upgraded everything that I got from my desktop replacement notebook to my smartphone. I’m a gadget addict and I can’t seem to stay with a device for longer than six months. This is what’s currently what I can’t live without:
1. HP Pavilion DV2-1030US – If I was to asked to describe this with three words, I would say “Netbook on Steroids!” This is what replaced my TX2500 tablet because it’s even lighter and is more practical for my needs. I didn’t really need the DVD drive at all times and didn’t utilize the tablet feature as much as I thought so the DV2 was the best way to go for me. This little warrior outperforms every single netbook currently in the market in terms of performance and the size isn’t really that much bigger. It’s only one inch thick and weighs 3.95lbs so you can easily throw it in a backpack and carry it with you especially when you want to travel light. It also comes with an external USB powered DL-DVDRW drive so you can use it just in case. I take this with me when I go traveling and leave the heavier MacBook Pro at home but it runs every application that I need, plays any video file I throw at it, and runs a lot of games just fine. The only issue that I have is the batter will last on average about 3 hours so it won’t last through a long plane ride.
2. HTC Touch Pro 2 - I just recently replaced my THIRD Touch Pro and upgraded to the Touch Pro 2 and have been amazed by it since day one. Without any ROM customizations, this phone performs like a champ right out of the box and the TouchFlo 3D 2 interface is very responsive and beautifully designed. Many reviews claim that this is the BEST Windows Mobile Device in the US market right now and I couldn’t agree more. This device is an incarnation of everything that people wished was on the original Touch Pro and then some. It’s about the same size, screen size, shape, and weight as an iPhone but it has a keyboard and a tilt-able display. I use this phone on the weekdays for work (iPhone for weekends) to send e-mails and text messages back and forth and absolutely love how easy it is to type on the keyboard. A nice addition to this is the ability to link your contacts with their FaceBook profiles so all your friends or contacts will have their FaceBook pictures and info synced to the phone. The Sprint GPS Navigation software comes in very handy to get directions since I’m on the road a lot and the standard sized headphone jack is a nice addition for the Sprint version so I can listen to streaming music, or media from the memory card or YouTube videos without disturbing anyone. I can’t wait for them to come out with a Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade for this. Overall, an awesome gadget for the mobile executive.
3. Apple iPhone 3G (Jail Broken)- I decided to replace my iPod Touch with the iPhone because 1. I needed a weekend Phone because having a single phone for both work and personal use was getting to hard to manage and rang constantly. 2. Streaming audio from all over the world and directly connecting it to my Prius’s touch screen using the DICE device is an experience worth paying for. I take this phone with me on the weekends and pop it in my car and I’m never bored driving and I can also find music I’m in the mood for ANYTIME, even if it’s not loaded onto the iPhone. There’s really not much that hasn’t already been said about the iPhone. Love the abundance of apps and games that are available for this such as FaceBook, Shazaam, and Bust a Move. This is also a great device to take for that long plane ride to watch videos, listen to music, and play games. The ability to sync to an Exchange server is a definite plus for people who take this to work and the iPhone has one of the better touch screens for typing out on the market making it very well rounded. The iPhone is arguably the greatest mobile entertainment gadget available now.
4. DropBox – Who the hell carries a thumb drive anymore?! Seriously, I have this installed on all my computers so I can have access to my files anywhere and anytime. What’s great about this is that if you add, edit, or update a file, it will update on all of the computers you have and will keep a copy of each version that you saved. You get 2GBs free (up to 5 if you get friends to sign up for it too) and it cost $7.99 a month for 25GB. What makes this even more convenient is that if you’re on someone else’s computer and need to pull a file, you can access it from the web too.
5. MacBook Pro 15″ 2.53 Ghz Unibody (Late 2008 Model) – It was about time I retired the MacBook Pro 1.83 Ghz with this one. I could have gotten the the newer June 2009 version but I needed the Express Card slot vs an SD card, and easily replaceable battery and hard drive which the new version doesn’t have. Just like my old MacBook Pro, I use this as my main desktop computer at home and has my iPhoto and iTubes Library loaded onto the network drive (I have a copy on an external drive too in case I want to take it on the go with my HP DV2-1030) and it’s an awesome work horse. I have Windows XP loaded on with BootCamp so I can run Windows Based applications I use for work such as Outlook (sometimes Entourage doesn’t cut it) and web based applications that need Internet Explorer. With a Core Duo 2 Processor 4GB RAM, and a dedicated Nvidia video card, this runs every application I’ve thrown at it along with some of today’s graphics intensive games beautifully. Videos are sharp on the high resolution screen and the built in speakers are decent. I installed Snow Leopard on this earlier this month and this notebook has been an absolute dream ever since and applications have load quicker and much more stable. Overall, great for business and entertainment purposes and the best notebook I’ve ever owned.
