Jeremy's Notes » Reviews

Chumby One: Now Available

Jeremy — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:02:43 +0000

The Chumby One is now available for purchase from the Chumby Store. The improvements over the old “Chumby Classic” include:

$99.95 Price Tag -- That’s $100 less than the original Chumby!
FM Tuner -- Now the Chumby can trully replace all the functionality of your old alarm clock.
Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery -- This allows the Chumby to continue to function while the power is out. Hopefully your battery doesn’t explode ;D
Volume Knob -- Again, it can replace your alarm clock. All it needs now is a sleep button and it’s complete.
Faster Processor -- 454 MHz from 350 MHz
2GB internal microSD card -- A great improvement from the previous 64 MB flash ROM. (Let the modder’s rejoice!)

The downside of the new Chumby One:

1 USB 2.0 port -- The Classic has 2
ABS Plastic Shell -- The new Chumby is not as friendly as it’s predecessor. It lacks the charm that made the old one a nice addition to any desk. You can no longer customize the new one to match your desk and workstation.

While the new Chumby One does have a very reasonable price and offers a few improvements, I do not see myself ever purchasing one. With that being said, it would still be a great Christmas gift for someone you know. (Just make sure they have wireless network to connect it with!)

If your interested in seeing more of the Chumby One, check out this video review by Chris Pirillo:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRfe6sFeras

Comments are welcome!

Sources:
Chumby Comparison -- Link
Chumby One Review by Chris Pirillo -- Link

Chumby One is up for pre-order

Jeremy — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:58:26 +0000

The new Chumby One is now available for preorder via the Chumby Store. If you order it now you will get around a $20 discount.

Get it @ The Chumby Store

Chumby One: Initial Thoughts

Jeremy — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:32:36 +0000

I am disappointed about the direction that Chumby Industries is taking their new product. The Chumby One is no longer plushy, which to me, gave the Chumby Classic a very stylistic appeal. I don’t understand why the company doesn’t just improve the hardware specs of the classic Chumby and keep the same form factor. I feel that it looses it’s uniqueness with the new body. Here’s a quote from Matt Burns @ CrunchGear.com that describes exactly how I feel:

The original Chumby was soft, cuddly, and cute. The new Chumby One is uptight, all-business, and commercial. I hate it.
-CrunchGear.com “The Chumby One: More powerful, less cushy UPDATE“

It will be interesting to see how the final product will look. You can expect it to be in online stores sometime before the holidays.

My Favorite Xbox 360 Feature: Netflix

Jeremy — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:57:14 +0000

Since August, my Xbox 360 has turned into the source of all of my TV shows. This change was prompted by Microsoft and Netflix’s partnership, which gave the Xbox 360 exclusive rights to stream all of the content in the Netflix Watch Instantly on-demand library. When this feature came out, I was exstatic since I’d already had a Netflix subscription for over a year. I was now able to use my existing 360 and watch all of my favorite shows like The Office, Law and Order, CSI, The Shield, and many others.

Features I Love!

The Awesome Interface(s)
Using the combination of an iPhone App and the Netflix website, I am able to access my Netflix Instant Queue everywhere. The iPhone app that I am using is PhoneFlicks. I use the app because it allows me to customize my queue list without being at a computer.
HD Library
Netflix has a decent amount of HD (720p) movies and television shows in their on-demand library. I have noticed that they are adding content regularly. An example of this, is that they had “The Office – Season 5″ as a selection about a week after hit the retail market.
Loading Times
My experience with the content load times has consistently been fast. If you’re used to how slow Youtube can be, you will be impressed with the quick load times of Netflix.
On-Demand Content @ Low Prices
$8.99 a month is the lowest full-featured Netflix plan. The plan includes 1 DVD rental @ a time and unlimited Watch Instantly use. You really can’t beat that price for movies and TV anywhere.

The Flip-side

Group Viewing
Netflix on the Xbox 360 has a feature that allows you to watch synchronized content with other Xbox 360 systems. The problems with this feature are that you have a very limited amount of the Netflix content to select and also your partern(s) have to have Netflix subscriptions too. My friend and I wanted to try and watch the new horror movie Quarantine using this feature, but Netflix epicly failed, because apparently the selection was mysteriously unavailable for viewing with the group feature. -Further Investigating will be done-

360 Features on the way

Last.fm, Twitter, and Facebook are all coming to the 360! You can sign up now to get your spot on the beta for Facebook and Twitter. So far, it’s unknown for when Last.fm will premier, but I’m sure it will be within the last quarter of 2009.

Timbuk2 Commuter 2.0

Jeremy — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:13:01 +0000

In early September I started looking for a messenger bag for college. A few weeks earlier I happen to catch an episode of Tekzilla on Revision3 and a viewer happen to write-in and ask about a good place online to buy great messenger bags. They mentioned the Timbuk2 company out of San Fransico, CA and how they’ve been creating great bags for a while now. Since I needed a new bag and price really didn’t matter all that much, I checked out the Timbuk2 website – timbuk2.com. I knew that I needed a bag that could handle carrying both a 15.4″ laptop and several textbooks. Those requirements led me to the Timbuk2 Commuter 2.0 laptop messenger bag.

The Specs & Features

TSA compliant external laptop compartment unzips and lays flat for going through security without removing your laptop
I haven’t had a chance to use this yet, but come this summer when traveling time is here, this will for sure be a frustration saver.

Plush corduroy-lined computer compartment
Since I’m always using my laptop everywhere on campus, I’m constantly taking my laptop out of the bag. The laptop compartment makes it extremely easy to get access to the computer without even taking the messenger bag off of your side.

Luggage pass through for your wheelie companion

Waterproof TPU front flap
I am always walking from building to building while walking to and from my different classes and the weather as not always been great. If the bag did not have such a great from cover, I’m 100% positive that my papers would’ve become soaked. On a side note, the front flap has two strips of velcro and two clips to keep it shut. The velcro useful, but the majority of the time, my bag is full enough to were the cover will not stretch fare enough over the top, so only the straps are used.

Internal organizer panel and red key fob
The key fob is a nylon ribbon attacked to a clip that allows you to hide your keys inside a pocket on the outside of the bag. It has worked great and has helped me keep myself from loosing my keys. Also, since I have a “keyless car” (meaning I have a key dongle instead of a physical key to put in the car (LOVE MY NEW ALTIMA!)), I can just leave the keys in the bag pocket and I never have to worry about where my keys are placed. The internal organizer panel is great because it gives you a specific spot to place your pens, highlighters, mp3 player, cell phone, etc. I personally keep 3 pens, 1 pencil, 4 highlighters, sticky notes and a Gerber multi-tool in my panel.

Links

My Bag (unloaded w/ descriptions)

Timbuk2 Commuter 2.0 Messenger Bag

Tekzilla – Episode 94: Messenger Bags, Dorm Fridge PC, Is RIAA In Your Torrents…