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Uber Geeks Holiday Gift Guide 181

Posted by CmdrTaco from the stuff-to-lust-after dept.
Johann Ramirez sent us Hardware Extreme's Christmas Wishlist which has tons of lust worthy objects that you have seen on Slashdot in the past, and several more that will make you feel strange things in your loins that might be unhealthy in the context of electronics. I want me a head mounted monitor and this wall mounted stereo santa!
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Uber Geeks Holiday Gift Guide More

Uber Geeks Holiday Gift Guide

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  • More resources. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Raven42rac ( 448205 )
    This month's Maximum PC has gear of the year, as well as a geek shopping guide. Cool stuff in there. I just want a 60 inch plasma monitor.
  • Is for my copy of windows xp to stop giving me the "you have encountered a fatal error, would you like to report this error to microsoft" box.

  • How about some real presents... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by webword ( 82711 ) on Saturday December 01, 2001 @03:43PM (#2641581) Homepage

    ...jobs for my friends out of work!
    • I'll take one of those. Being out of work for 5 months due to massive layoffs in a shitty job market is very stressful.

      -Legion

      • Don't worry, at about 6 months you break through a wall and mellow out. It doesn't start to hurt again until about 9 months (and then not as much). Applying for unemployment benefit helps, not just from the money but from the fact that the people working at the unemployment office look like their life is worse than yours -- having to deal with huge numbers of angry people all day, every day.

  • Who'd want that Nakamichi stereo? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Jon Chatow ( 25684 ) <slashdot@jdforrester.org> on Saturday December 01, 2001 @03:45PM (#2641585) Homepage
    ... when you can get the B&O [bang-olufsen.com] BeoSound Century, which is far nicer? Of course, if you want a good stereo, rather than an aethetically pleasing one, you wouldn't get one that was wall-mounted (perhaps one from these people [meridian-audio.com]?), but B&O's products are quite good in terms of audio quality, given their form factor.
    • Who says you CAN get the B&O BeoSound Century? There's a Bang and Olufsen store about a quarter-mile from my apartment, and I wince every time I see the price labels.

      What would be nice is a slim-profile (wall-mountable == good) stereo that doesn't cost both arms and legs and also have the silly design that Nakamichi does.

      If I hang a stereo on the wall, I'm not going to want to feed discs in from the top and grope around the top edge for the play button.

    • Just get a Bose-Wave-Radio.
      Because everyone knows, Bose RULES!

      I carry mine around on my shoulder like a boom-box. [afrosquad.com] Aww yeah.

    • This link gets you [bang-olufsen.com]
      directly to the said stereo

      A must-notice for nerds: they run php...

  • My Problem... (Score:1, Interesting)

    by proxeus ( 526778 )
    My problem is that i am 13 and have a wish list totalling over $3000. for some reason people laugh at me when i tell them the price of what i want. any suggestions?
    • same problem for me (only im 14).. its really a pain in the arse when your parents don't know anything about computers or technology in general. "sound card? don't you already have one of those?"

      • Re:My Problem... (Score:2, Insightful)

        by dev0n ( 313063 )
        i would suggest getting a job and buying hardware yourself... it's much more gratifying to know that you EARNED your new sound card, or video card, or whatever.. :)
    • They do have a right to laugh. I'm 14, and if I really want something, I buy it myself. Find a job, or do odd tasks around the neighbor hood, the money adds up. My "wish list" totals about 700 bucks cause all I really want are a few classical music cd's and a Gamecube. Maybe if ya cut down your list, they won't laugh.

    • Re:My Problem... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by damiam ( 409504 ) on Saturday December 01, 2001 @04:10PM (#2641655)
      What kind of stuff do you want that costs $3000??!! I'm 13 and my wish list is only about $250 total including a GeForce3 (which I don't really think I'll get). You're expecting too much.

    • Re:My Problem... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dangermouse ( 2242 ) on Saturday December 01, 2001 @04:15PM (#2641666) Homepage
      I'm 22 and my wishlist totals exactly one million dollars. (It consists of one million dollars, actually.)

      But that's an absurd wishlist, and it's not the one I tell people about when they ask me for gift hints. That one's real short, and is full of things that cost five or ten bucks.

      The trick is to know your audience.

    • I know the feeling, man. All I've been asking for is a girlfriend, and everyone just laughs at me. I mean, hey, love is cheap, right?

      IceHouse

  • Extreme? (Score:4, Funny)

    by rasactive ( 528598 ) <<moc.liamg> <ta> <dnalweno>> on Saturday December 01, 2001 @03:50PM (#2641594)
    It looks like Hardware Exterme's hardware wasn't extreme enough to handle slashdotting. Anybody got a mirror?

  • 800x600 head mounted display at least! (Score:3, Informative)

    by JM ( 18663 ) on Saturday December 01, 2001 @03:50PM (#2641595) Homepage
    The guide shows the DH-4400VP model, which is pretty neat for watching DVDs and stuff, but they also have the DH-4500MPV model, which is ideal for Cyborg-like applications =)


    The manufacturer's page is:
    [personaldisplay.com]
    http://www.personaldisplay.com/english/f_whatis. ht ml


    At $1000, it's pretty reasonable!


    Santa, I want one ;-)

    • The 4400 _is_ svga / 800x600. I have 2. Got one off of ebay for $450 and one for $800 something through tekgear.

      I hacked one of mine into a monocle, and left the other intact. Hacking into a monocle as many, including myself, have done is easy. (I have instructions on www.melmcgee.com)

  • Do you really think more junk will make you happy? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Astral Traveller ( 540334 ) on Saturday December 01, 2001 @03:51PM (#2641597)
    I swear, the hedonistic tendency I see in some of my more computer-oriented friends to slaver over faster processors, more memory, better graphics, and absolutely useless gimmicks like cube-shaped computers and flat-screen monitors saddens me. That we as a culture are so shallow to think that adding a paltry 50MHz to our gigahertz+ processors or having more hard drive space for porn and stolen MP3s will somehow make us happy is the tragedy of the modern age. No electronic pet or game console will bring you any more than a second of joy, until your eyes wander forth to the "next big thing".

    So instead of asking for yet another slab of transistors and cathode-ray tubes this holiday season, ask for something that will last, something that will make you feel happy inside as a person. Ask a loved one to give money to your favorite charity in your name (if you read Slashdot, you've been planning on making a donation to the EFF [eff.org] anyway, right? No excuse not to do it now, and you'll get to be cool like Wil Wheaton!). Or better yet, don't tell anyone what you want for Christmas, and then see what they get you, because those gifts are the sort that require true thought on the part of the giver, and it's the thought that counts in the end, right?

    Please try to raise yourself above the primal materialism that runs rampant this time of year, and remember what the season is all about. While you may not get the l33t357 b0x, you'll be happier in the long run.

    • I got a new computer 3 years ago
      (amd k6-2 350)
      and I'm fine and happy with it.
      I got my ATI-AIW last year for christmas, and I'm fine and happy with it.
      The good it's done?
      jobs?
      learning?
      when I was 15/16 I didn't have a good enough job to buy those kinds of things.
    • Yes, there is a very strong current of materialism in the whole Christmas phenomenon (one reason I don't celebrate it anymore). Drooling over a flat-screen monitor is for me a bit more than crass commercialism, though. My computer is my primary work tool, and I spend many hours a day in front of it. Having a steady, flicker-free screen (as well as a good keyboard) is a health matter as much as anything else; it's less tiring and gives less headaches. Same thing with a good keyboard or a decent chair. That _is_ happiness in the long run.

      /Janne
    • >...adding a paltry 50MHz to our gigahertz+ processors...

      Think of those less fortunate. I want to add 800MHz to my 200MHz processor, which is a bit more reasonable. And that would make me feel happy inside as a person.
    • and absolutely useless gimmicks like cube-shaped computers and flat-screen monitors

      Flat-screen monitors don't have flicker.

      This is one *hell* of a useful improvement, especially for those of us who *have* to sit in front of a monitor all day.

      Saving the desk real-estate of a CRT would be nice too.

    • That we as a culture are so shallow to think that adding a paltry 50MHz to our gigahertz+ processors... will somehow make us happy is the tragedy of the modern age.



      I completely agree... if Santa doesn't bring me something that's at least 200MHz faster, I'm going to be pissed!

    • Re: We did this and we're happy . . . (Score:5, Insightful)

      by raresilk ( 100418 ) <raresilk@macNETBSD.com minus bsd> on Saturday December 01, 2001 @04:46PM (#2641762)
      My domestic partner and I decided to go the charitable route. We've talked about it on previous holidays, but never had enough motivation to actually do it until this year. We added up what we usually spend on our Christmas holiday giving and celebrating, for family, friends, and each other. We rounded it up to the nearest round number, and made a donation in that amount to the Afghanistan relief effort (1/2 to Unicef, 1/2 to Oxfam.)

      Then we made a nice Christmas card with color photos of Afghanistan refugees receiving food relief, including one bearded guy with a sack of USA wheat on his back that sweetly reminded us of Santa. We explained our decision in the card, including the total amount of our contributions - not to brag about it, but so that it would be clear this was not just our cheap attempt to blow off gift-giving. We asked that the recipients consider making similar donations in lieu of their usual Christmas gifts to us. The cards went out Thanksgiving weekend.

      We've received no negative reactions, and many positive ones to date. It remains to be seen whether anyone will take us up on our request to donate instead of a present, but honestly we're looking forward to a Christmas tree with absolutely zero gifts under it.

      • Well done! In a sense you did buy your happiness by with money. What you bought was a sense of freedom from guilt caused by a hugely priveledged lifestyle - tell the list what car you drive, your hifi specs, haw may TV's etc Did you consider that Oxfam and unicef have awful delivery rates (approx 25% of donations will arrive to the needy) or do you care? Also those organisations are very political - perpetuating a third world/first world mentality. sleep tight and smug Me?? A bit hedonistic and I accept that.
        • My chosen aid organizations are too "political," eh? Name me an international aid organization that is feeding people for some reason other than to fulfill a policy goal. Get real -- even the vague intent to "end hunger" can be characterized as a political one, and often is by the extreme right who believe that the poor exist only as a resource to be exploited, and characterize any form of aid as incipient communism. Sounds like that's where you're coming from . . .

          I also notice that, although you complain that Oxfam and Unicef have "awful delivery rates," you do not suggest any better-performing organizations, which one expects you would do if you were really concerned about the percentage of food that makes it to hungry mouths. Nonetheless, your assumption that I failed to do my homework is incorrect. Many NGOs achieve high "delivery rates" by indiscriminately handing off truckloads of aid to any handy "local leader," who may or may not have the interests of his community at heart. Often, this food and medicine winds up as a life support system for local warlords terrorizing the population (case in point - Somalia) Also, NGOs who function solely as delivery networks do not help the population become self-sustaining - it takes infrastructure projects to do that. I researched and chose the organizations I felt were most consistent with these concerns.

          And, if anyone but you cares, which I doubt:
          car - 1996 Honda Civic CX
          TV - two, both 10+ years old.
          stereo "specs" - it sounds good

          Living a less-privileged lifestyle than one could otherwise afford comes with its own benefits. One of them is the ability to make substantial charitable donations. Your attempt to characterize charity as selfish hedonism overlooks a simple fact: if the "hugely privileged" do not provide the necessary assistance to poor countries, who will? Of course, you don't care about your illogic, because you're against the whole concept of privileged nations and people helping the less fortunate. Myself, I prefer the approach advocated by John F. Kennedy over 40 years ago:

          To those people in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help themselves, for whatever period is required; not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

          The abandonment of Kennedy's pledge by the US is in part responsible for the sociopolitical climate that feeds modern global terrorism and tyranny, as exemplified by the Taliban/bin Laden. No, I am not excusing them - regardless of how they became what they are, they are heinous murderers and they should all be executed. However, cleansing the wound of germs doesn't help if you just let it become re-infected. Looks like we failed to save more than a few who were rich on September 11. If I happen to be in the next target, I will fail to be saved no matter how many TVs I have. Yes, my freedom and happiness are enhanced by contributing to the freedom and happiness of others around the world. Only the most perverse and mean-spirited mind can characterize this sentiment as "smug."

          • Ok please let's not debate that any person of group with a policy is political. duh! The issue is of ulterior and/or misguided goals... Locally we have a group of farmers that collect money and donate their own time to actually go and help sustainable farming in impoverished counties. Specifically not imposing "first world" methods as per 1950-80's screw-ups. They are the people with the guts to get on the ground, and have a far better conversion rate. Very simple and transparent goals and people I can meet. Those charities are out there I promise. Also many impoverished counties are safe enough to travel - go there and educate yourself about "warlords and charity", because (seriously no-offense intended here) but you are talking tripe. Agreed - I wouldn't hand my cash to most of the impoverished governments. Now when you get to influences for 11.9 you are bang on. And if the problem is political where is your contributions going? To groups happy in the political status quo! duh! Now THINK - how does one change this? Donate to political organisations intent on changing the status quo. Please at least donate to the EFF next time! I find your sense of donations amusingly confused: Keep enough money to be comfortable, give to the IBM and Microsoft of charity. Then hope that this will change the world because you are a "nice" American and not a "greedy" American. I'm intrigued now, do you donate "substantially" from a sense of duty, or the sense of joy dervied?
            • Both.

              I now see that you are one of those foolish college kids who believes that he/she knows more than researchers, political or social scientists, military strategists, or diplomat who have spent their whole lives studying the nation(s) to which you apply the reductionist label of "third world," simply because you packed up your little backpack and hitchhiked around "seeing things for yourself."

              However, since I consider those other sources I mentioned far more reliable than you, I believe there's no point continuing the discussion.

              PS - I'm posting without the bonus because this is getting substantially offtopic.)

            • I was hoping to get the discussion around to a debate over enjoying posessions not for ownership of their status, but personal capability enhancement. And how this compares to your motivation for donation. (And yes, a years worth of Psych is a dangerous thing :-)

              In my experience there are two types of Lawyers
              1) those that like to argue because it can lead to discovery
              2) those that like to argue, just to be right as a power trip
              Now I think I can pigenhole you raresilk. BTW was really hoping for a good fair debate leading somewhere, ah well, live and learn.
              regards, Jayfang.

    • Oh, thank you (Score:2, Funny)

      by nerpdawg ( 6937 )
      Thank you for telling me where my morals & values should be. I wasn't aware of it, but it turns out I really needed *you* to point out to me what I should be feeling & doing. Wow. I'm apparently so unworthy to make decisions on my own. Thank you for gracing us with your presence.
    • I modified the gift exemption voucher [adbusters.org] saying that the people I give it to don't have to give me anything for xmas or my birthday. I still give them gifts, until they reciprocate with a similar voucher - only 1 person so far - and what I do now is buy stuff throughout the year when I see something I know she might appreciate, which means I'm buying her more presents now :)

      Your charity idea is worth considering tho.

      "He who possesses little is so much the less possessed... Thus spoke Zarathustra."

    • Astral Traveller wrote:
      Or better yet, don't tell anyone what you want for Christmas, and then see what they get you, because those gifts are the sort that require true thought on the part of the giver, and it's the thought that counts in the end, right?
      Right!

      But if your thought includes giving me another sweater, grams, just get me a book [amazon.com].
      Because "outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." --Groucho Marx

    • "The Human Fund--Money For People"
    • Well, I agree that the I want it crowd really seem like they are begging sometimes, but sometimes I wish my family members would provide such a list for me. I LIKE to get AND Give gifts. I KNOW I spent more on all of my gifts I gave to my side of the family, but I don't care. I spend 20-30 on my brother and his wife and while mine was worth about the same, my brother got my wife a bunch of cheap pics to hang on the wall and we don't care! In fact, I like it! Showed ingenuity! Also, I don't know about you, but I go all year most years with out getting most of what I want. and gosh darn it I would like to get SOMETHING nice for once! Looks like I am getting a Radeon VE card from my wife (we have no time to shop....2 year old occupies our time...). I know, the 3d performance isn't that great but I watch more DVD's then play games so I want the TV out and dual monitor support more then supa fast 3d. That's called compromise. I REALLY want a Radeon AIW (Or the 8500 DV, the 8500 equivalent to AIW). Why won;t I get it? Costs to freakin much. Personally, the gifts I have gotten so far I like the ones that the gift giver does:

      1. Think about what I may want...getting me gift certificates (I hate em, but will gladly take them) shows no thought and is a cop out. I am not THAT difficult to shop for. Hell get me a pack of socks! The washer always eats em and I can always use some new ones....

      2. Don't go hog wild....unless you really want too. You don't have to spend lots on me to make me happy. Well over half the items on that list are not of much use to me. I'd rather have a new laptop (if you HAVE to spend lots on me! ;)) or a DVD or heck even CD-R blanks. Don't buy me sweaters (I will wear them like once...and then not again until it's SUPER COLD!). Oh and a pound of good coffee is a nice cheap idea as well(espresso roast please).

      3. Spend more on my kid....he needs it more then I do anyway.

      That's so easy. I just wish I could tell people just get me all the things I wish I had picked up at the store or have been meaining to get but haven't (not that I couldn't...I just coudln't justify it at the moment or talked myself out of it over and over again...).

      Also, what's WRONG with wanting nice stuff? Sure, I can BE HAPPY with out it. I don't have it now and I am happy, but why is it so wrong to want things? We all want things(your lying if you say you aren't.). Some want World Peace, some want Osama's head on a pike. Why is it materialistic to want? It would be different if we just wanted it to say we have it, but I know most of the slashdot readers would use alot of that list everyday! Sure, we'd throw things away, but only if we had alot of that list. Heck I wish I had not bought that stupid web cam about a year or two ago and bought the TV/radio card instead. I would have used it more. My point is just because you think you are all high and mighty because you don't succomb to the I want monster, you are lying in saying that you never want anything for Christmas or never wanted any of these things. It would be so much easier for me if the people on my list would have given me a list. Also how would you know if I would be happier if I hadn't gotten that new video card? Sure, I might be able to deal with it, but it would make me immensely happy to get that video card this year. It would save me time and make things run better on my system so I would be happier with it then without it. Sure, I can live with what I got, but I sure would like to dump this POS video card I have now.

      PS My monitor is 3 years old. Same with my video card, my Ethernet card and my speakers and my ram. Only things in there that are newer then that are my CD-RW drive, my soundcard, my motherboard+CPU and my Hard Drive. I DO by stuff that lasts. I DON'T have to have the latest stuff because if I want to game, I would rather have a console to do that (XBOX or PS/2 anyone? ...:)). I need my HD space for work...
    • Intelligent sounding trolls are still trolls.

      Some philosophers would argue that hedonism isn't all that bad (take Mill, for example).

      And clearly, what makes some people happy in life doesn't make others, and vice versa.

      Please don't assume that your point of view is the only one, or even the only valid one.

      Perhaps you'll be happier once you strive to understand why others act how they do, rather than just denouncing their actions.
    • If I could find a loving girlfriend as easily as walking into a store and buying something, I would. But I can't. So I'll just have to amuse myself with fancy material possessions while I wait to find someone.
    • Primal materialism...where can I get some of that?!!!

  • You can never have enough... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    LEGO!
    I turn 36 on xmas eve and am hoping my wife has caught onto my countless hints for Lego Mindstorms. :))

    [rant] If you have young kids don't rot their minds with [Nintento|Xbox|DC|etc], get them books and Lego. Things that will help their young minds grow and analyze, not things that fuel ADD :))
  • i notice all the things i want are not on the list:

    -A small army of followers who are dumb enough to do whatever i say.
    -A thermo-nuclear war-head (Pref 600KT or more).
    -A house in mexico.
    -400Kg of crack cocaine.

    And a puppy.
  • Is enough bandwidth to survive a /.ing.
  • all i've ever wanted is 30 gigs of mp3's in my car. won't somebody buy this [phatnoise.com] for a starving student?

  • My geek wish list. (Score:3, Funny)

    by tcd004 ( 134130 ) on Saturday December 01, 2001 @04:09PM (#2641647) Homepage
    1. My @home cable modem service, which was shut off.
    2. My omnisky palm service, which will soon be shut off.

    Maybe I should have gone with Verizon all along [lostbrain.com]

    tcd004
  • slashdot effect takes hold. looks like Hardware Extreme's hosting hardware isn't too extreme.

    • HEY (Score:1)

      by cygnus ( 17101 )
      alright, whoever modded me down for this was being a little overzealous. please take into account the fact that the previous post that makes mine redundant might not have appeared when i started typing mine before punishing me for it, please!
  • The tech industry is dead; everyone is broke ...
    • Well, the tech industry isn't doing too well for sure, but not a reason to assume that everyone is broke (and that's why people make wishlists, for other people to buy them things...). There are plenty of geeks not directly in the tech sector, or not yet at least (I'm just going through college now) so I'm not really affected by the tech slowdown (except cheaper ram :) ) Too bad I'm a po' college student.

  • it should be noted (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The HMD described in the link is probably not ~1200x1200 pixels as they describe. Usually when they put out specs for these HMDs, you have to divide the pixel number by 3, for R G and B. So a 1.44 million pixel display is really a ~500 thousand pixel display which is more like 800x600..
  • "It's the First-Ever 7-in-One Pocket Entertainment Center, and It Fits in the Palm of Your Hand!"

    Why spend that kind of money on a pocket entertainment center when I've already got one that I can wrap my hand around?
  • all i really want is roughly four hours alone with my girlfriend and no interuptions. as for letting folks think real hard about what i want. good luck. no one knows me well enough. if i don't tell them what to get me i don't get diddley squat. and i don't know anyone that will accept "just donate to habitat for humanity in my name" aas a serious gift request. because they don't feel thats a real gift. they don't believe thats a gift that would make me happy. so i tell them not to get me anything. anything that i actually want is always too expensive anyway.
  • is to pass my classes and to pay the bills. That's it, and the former can't be helped but by myself and my professors. I'm all hardware'd out. Oh yeah, and being able to have nothing to do for 4 solid weeks.

    Cheers

  • How about... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Jubii ( 315611 ) on Saturday December 01, 2001 @05:02PM (#2641817) Homepage
    The assasination of the person who invented the pop-up ad?! My God, how many of these stupid things must I close? I'm sorry, I couldn't finish looking at the list, I got tired of waiting for the adds to come up so I could close them.
    • WooHoo -- I second that request!!

      I only saw the first three products before my Pop-Up|Under deleting finger got tired. I normally use Mozilla's ability to kill pop-up windows on Open but it's still way too slow on MacOS.
    • McMahon & Tate Advertising:

      Sleazy Ad Exec: "You know those radio ads, with the two people with annoying voices talking to each other? I invented that."

      Homer punches him in the face

      Ad Exec, laughing. Happens all the time.
  • I have a five year old mac clone made by PowerComputing (remember them, anyone?) with a bunch of upgrades. It runs MacOS 9 pretty well, but MacOS X is going to be the future, and I can't run it. I think it's really time for a new computer. And maybe an iPod. Those things look pretty snazzy.

    But being 16, that's not going to happen. I got my first check Friday, and if all goes well I should be able to at least get the new computer by July. Yeah. Christmas in July.

    But for now, I just want to be with my closest friends. I need a little bit of holiday cheer. When I'm with them I'd like my computer to do its part in finding the cure for cancer [ud.com], but it's only avalible for Windows. Too bad it hasn't been ported to MacOS or Linux. I'd ditch SETI and use that in a heartbeat.

    • Thanks for the info on the cure for cancer thing. I am using it on the 3 computers I have which still run windows and have emailed everyone in my address book about it.

      Has slashdot done a story on this? If they haven't they really should, so more people get involved. I am sure there is more chance of something positive coming out of it than the seti@home project...

      graspee

  • That Sony TV is ridiculous. Who would pay over a grand for a TUBE? Oh wait, it's flat, and it's Sony, so it must be good.

    Compare it side-by-side with a similarly priced rear-projection and you'll be able to pretty easily make the decision.
    • Well in this day and age, I wouldn't spend over a grand on a tube tv, you can get a nice rear projection wide screen tv for about 2500 bucks. The ones I saw at best buy were pretty nice looking.. Of course the panasonic plasma display is great too, only about 200 bucks a month, if I didn't have a car payment id be all over it.

      Zeno
    • A CRT television has some serious advantages over LCD or projection, that's why they still make and sell "tube TV's".

      Brightness, sharpness, and viewing angle are all much, much better with a direct-view CRT than you could ever get on the very best rear projection.

      I bought a Sony XBR after watching one at a friend's house. They may be big, they may be heavy, they may be "old school technology", but they still kick the ass of any rear projection unit.

      I don't buy stuff because of brand names or advertising, or price. I buy the product that best serves it's intended purpose... and the Sony XBR is the best TV I've found.

      My only regret is that I didn't spring for a larger screen :-)

    • I haven't seen this 40" XBR, but just last night I was at circuit city, and they were showing an HDTV broadcast of "Touched by an Angel" on the HDTV-capable units. They had the 34" 16:9 Wega on display right next to a similarly sized (a bit bigger, but not much) and priced rear projection...I believe it was a Panasonic. The picture quality was no comparison...the tube was far superior. They may have just had the projection model set up poorly, but the Wega was much, much sharper and brighter.

      This TV had a price tag of $3999...I guess the cool aspect ratio makes it more expensive even though the screen isn't as big?

      As a side note, you know the picture had to be really fucking good for me to stand there 10 minutes watching "Touched by an Angel".
    • > Compare it side-by-side with a similarly priced rear-projection

      I've compared rear projection with (smaller) direct view TVs. I'm not sure whether to buy the direct view now, or wait for plasma prices to drop further.
    • Um, what technology does your sub-$4000 RPTV use? Video projectors in general use LCD, DLP (Texas Instruments' micro-mirror tech) or a set of 3 cathode ray tubes (one each for red, green and blue). RPTVs tend to use CRTs.

      No shadow mask removes some problems with direct-view CRTs, but introduces other ones.

      Direct-view tubes have a very wide field of view, matched only by expensive panels.

      -M
  • is fewer damn popups, my god.

  • Who needs another power sucking electronic gadget, when you can pick up a fat burning mechanical work of art?

    I finally cracked the mountain bike frame I brazed together 6 years ago.. So, while I work up the next one, I decided to pick up one of these [gtmountainbikes.com] little numbers... It's not steel, and it's a bit heavier than ride I'm used to, but what the heck, right? The addition of rear suspension will be nice with the ground beginning to freeze..

  • Is it me or does this seem more like a commerical for Sony products than an actual wishlist?

    _________________
    • Yeah, this list sucks. 6 out of 13 are Sony, even a Memory Stick Walkman *gag*. Sure, it's small and sexy looking, but a 64MB flash memory player is woefully inadequate for most people's music needs. Does it natively play MP3 files now or does it still make you recode them to their copy protected ATRAC3?

      If you want a flash memory player the Sonicblue Rios consistently get good reviews. My personal favorite is the Rio Volt SP250 MP3-CD player. I also feel better about supporting a company that fights the MPAA and RIAA [slashdot.org].

  • Is this site in bed with Sony? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Nonesuch ( 90847 ) on Saturday December 01, 2001 @06:25PM (#2642027) Homepage Journal
    There are plenty of cool geek gifts not made by Sony, so when 6 out of 13 items on their list are Sony products, you have to suspect something is up...

    I like some stuff Sony makes, but I wouldn't call their products "geek friendly".

    • That this post (my post) got modded up to +5 shows exactly what is wrong with the moderation system... There were two earlier comments with basically the same content, but posted by AC or just a user without a +1 bonus point.

      Actually, there was one thing my post had that these other posts lacked- I actually went to the trouble of counting the number of sony/non-sony items on the 'geek gift list' at the site.

  • Hey guys sorry about the lag on the site. We were not expecting quite that much traffic. I had the bandwidth increased quite a bit so things should go much smoother now.

    You should be proud you almost took down all of www.realgn.com www.realshell.com and www.keystreams.com With a total of more than 30 sites and 9 servers. Pretty amazing stuff.
  • Looking at that AIBO with the lights on, it seems a step or two away from being one of those deadly mechanical hounds from Fahrenheit 451. "The LEDs pulsate as AIBO becomes more excited"...and readies itself for the kill...
    • I'm reading farenheit 451 right now, and those hounds are fucking scary. along with a lot of things in that book. bloody hell ray bradbury knows how to stop me sleeping after reading that book.
  • Well.. I liked the first 5 or 6 items I saw, but after closing the 8 or 9 pop-up windows that followed, I opted to stop looking at toys.. Damn I hate pop-up ads.

  • simple gifts for the geek with too many toys (Score:3, Informative)

    by sunhou ( 238795 ) on Saturday December 01, 2001 @08:24PM (#2642410)
    Two very simple but practical suggestions for geeks who already have a lot of toys spread all over their home (I got both for myself during the past year, and they've helped me clean up my living room a bit, and were well worth it):

    First, the cheap one: a $20 [recotonaccessories.com]
    video/S-video switch (the SVS1000, not the AVS500 on that page) to connect more things to the TV. I've got my N64 and Dreamcast going through it, and will probably also route one or two of my VCRs through it. Simple but handy. But a warning: if you give one to an uber-geek he may complain that the box degrades the video quality noticeably; I didn't notice any image degradation at all with Mario Kart 64, which was my main concern. I just picked up one of these when I bought a Dreamcast after they came down to $50, since my TV didn't have any more free inputs.

    Second, and much more expensive, a KVM switch, to share one keyboard/monitor/mouse among multiple computers. I got myself a Belkin OmniView SE 4-port [belkin.com] (they claim list price around $260, but I'm pretty sure I got mine quite a bit cheaper) and I'm really happy to have reclaimed so much room on my desk; now I'm able to pile up so many more papers than before!

    Lately when Christmas approaches, I've started wondering where I can make room for any more stuff I get. These two things have given me a bit of extra room and helped me organize all the wires a bit.
  • Could there BE any more pop under ads on that site?
  • I put only one thing on my List this year:
    A Heckler & Koch USP 40 caliber.
    Any other geeks out there getting guns for christmas?
    (I went and filled out the federal paper work to get my gun, just waiting for it to come back)
  • I want IT...

    http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011201/tc/tech _k amen_invention_dc.html
  • All I want for Noel:
    Intel P4 1.9GHz [2GHz costs an extra 100 bucks]
    Asus P4B i845 478p
    3x 512MB RAM [4 Me, RAM is always more important cause most of my problems on my 32MB box come from insufficient RAM]
    60GB/7200RPM Quantum HDD
    19" Philips 109B Flat
    Asus V8200 Deluxe GeForce3 64MB TV Out[Ti500 is not worth the money]
    USRobotics 56K Ext. Modem [56K is the only option where I live :(]
    Asus ATX T10 Case
    M$ Internet Multimedia Keyb
    M$ Intelli Mouse
    16x Pioneer DVD-ROM
    Yamaha 20x10x40 CD-RW
    M$ WinXP Pro
    RedHat Professional Distro [the BIG one]

    The above is a PERHAPS from my dad. I also ordered some tschit from ThinkGeek like tshirts and caffeine...
  • time off work! Yeesh, 7 day work weeks are killing me this holiday season.

    but my xmas wish will go unanswered as ive already been givin the 'thumbs down' about time off til january!
  • Check out Atollo [atollo.com], it's new building "toy", and it's got some compatiblity with Legos. Instead of bricks they have what are called "Brokits" that allow cool new ways to connect pieces. Look here [atollo.com] for a description of the different ways to connect the two Brokits.

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