Gadgets

I like handy, well made gadgets that use high quality materials like 440 stainless steel, aircraft aluminum, titanium, and rubber rather than plastic parts. Here are a few of my favorite things...

The latest gear is at the top, and I have left my older gear posts below intact as a historical record. However, the Tools section at the end really hasn't changed at all!

November 2024 Hardware

My primary desktop is an Apple 2020 iMac 27". It has an Intel 3.6-5.0GHz i9 10 core CPU with Hyperthreading. It has 40GB of 2667MHz memory, and a 4TB SSD. It is a terrific machine, and until this display is found in an Apple Silicon variant, I will continue to use it as my main daily driver. It has excellent ports - I use all of them. It runs 15.1 Mac OS X Sequoia.
My primary laptop is an Apple 2021 MacBook Pro 14". It has an Apple M1 Pro CPU with 10 cores. It has 16GB of memory and a 2TB SSD, and decent ports - I often use all of them. It runs 15.1 Mac OS X Sequoia.
I also have and use an Apple 2020 MacBook Pro 16" i9/32GB/4TB, an Apple 2021 MacBook Pro 16" M1 Max/10C/64GB/4TB, an Apple 2020 Mac mini M1, an Apple 2024 Mac mini M4, and an Apple 2012 MacBook Pro 15".
My primary FreeBSD machines still include a Acer 2012 Aspire E1-531 15", and a Dell 2018 Vostro MT 3670.
I added a new FreeBSD machine this year in the form of a Acer 2024 Aspire 3. This is the best machine for the money of the whole lot. I got it on sale from Target.com for $300, and it has an Intel i5 with 4 cores, 12GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and Gigabit Ethernet!
I having been using an Apple iPhone 11 Pro for five years now. It works fine, but I still hate iOS: it is too restrictive for the work that I do. I use this mainly to look up things on the Internet when I don't have a laptop, so I am slow to replace this. In fact, I bought a new Mac mini M4 for under the price of an iPhone!
My biggest and best backup drive is a Seagate Exos 20TB drive. I also use a few SanDisk Extreme SSDs.
My main camera now is a Canon EOS R. More info on my camera gear is here.

June 2019 Hardware

My primary desktop is an Apple 2015 iMac 27". It has an Intel 4.0-4.2GHz i7 quad core CPU, with Hyperthreading. It has 16GB of 1866MHz memory, and a 3TB Fusion Drive. It is an excellent daily driver, with large display and great I/O.
My primary laptop is a Apple 2019 MacBook Pro 15". It has an Intel 2.3-4.8GHz i9 8-core CPU, with Hyperthreading. It has 16GB of 2400MHz memory, and a 512GB SSD. It is extemely fast, with a gorgeous bright 500-nit display.
My secondary laptop is a Apple 2015 MacBook Pro 13". It has an Intel 3.1-3.4GHz i7 dual core CPU, with Hyperthreading. It has 16GB of 1866MHz memory, and a 512GB SSD. It is filled with many useful ports, is compact, and great for travel.
My tertiary laptop is a Apple 2012 MacBook Pro 15". It has an Intel 2.7-3.7GHz i7 quad core CPU, with Hyperthreading. It has 16GB of 1600MHz memory, and a 1TB SSD. It has Gigabit Ethernet and a DVD burner. This is the last complete Apple laptop with all essential accessories built-in.
My secondary desktop is an Apple 2009 iMac 24". It has an Intel 2.9GHz Core 2 Duo CPU. It has 4GB of 1066MHz memory, and a 1TB hard disk. It has Gigabit Ethernet and a DVD burner. It runs Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and is still a nice machine.
My router is an Apple Airport Extreme with 802.11ac WiFi. It has been excellent, but it is now discontinued. Not sure what to buy someday to replace it, perhaps Ubiquiti?

Most of these Macs run macOS 10.14 Mojave. I use Eddie and TextPad for most text editing. I use Excel and Numbers for spreadsheets, Free42 for calculations, iTunes for music, Maps, Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, and Notes, but I use Terminal the most of any app for building software, running scripts, doing backups, etc.

I use a few other machines on occasion:

My FreeBSD laptop is a Acer 2012 Aspire E1-531 15". It has an Intel 2.2GHz Pentium dual-core CPU. It has 4GB of 1333MHz memory, and a 256GB SSD. It has Gigabit Ethernet and a DVD burner. It has a meager display but otherwise has been a terrific machine given the price of 399 Euros. It is the only computer that I have ever purchased with a wad of cash and walked home with. I bought it from Media Markt when we lived in Munich.
My Xubuntu laptop is a Dell 2013 Latitude E7440 14". It has an Intel 1.9-2.9GHz i5 dual-core CPU, with Hyperthreading. It has 8GB of 1600MHz memory, and a 512GB SSD. It has a touchscreen and overall is a very nice machine. I wish FreeBSD supported the touchscreen.
My Windows 10 desktop is a Dell 2018 Vostro MT 3670 tower. It has an Intel 2.4-4.0GHz i5 6-core CPU. It has 8GB of 2666MHz memory, and a 7200 rpm 1TB hard disk. It has Gigabit Ethernet, pathetic WiFi, and a DVD burner. I use a 40" Vizio E40-C2 HDTV with it, along with a Logitech Wireless Keyboard with a built-in trackpad. I can use it from across the room! It really needs an SSD.
My Windows 10 laptop is a Microsoft 2018 Surface Laptop 2 13". It has a Intel i5 1.6-3.4GHz i5 quad core CPU, with Hyperthreading, It has 8GB of 1866MHz memory, and a 256GB SSD. It is made of magnesium and has a very solid, wonderful feel: absolutely top-notch. It has a touchscreen and a fast CPU, but the I/O is pathetic over USB or WiFi, making it much less wonderful. It is just for Windows development.

Other tech that I use a lot:

Mercedes S 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC - after driving my 2006 E 320 CDI for 241K miles, I got this 2013 diesel. It has air suspension, a phenomenal 600W Harmon Karden audio system with 15 speakers & 5.1 Dolby Surround audio, GPS, heated/cooled/massaging seats, and a cruising range of over 800 miles. What a fabulous vehicle!
Apple iPhone 7 Plus, Space Gray, 128GB - bright display, dual cameras; it would be perfect if it had a headphone jack.
Apple iPad Pro 10.5", Space Gray, 256GB - fast bright iPad, the best ever made with a headphone jack.
Nikon D3400 DSLR with AF-P 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6VR and AF-S 55-200mm f/4-5.6 ED VR lenses and 24 megapixels of goodness.
Nikon Coolpix W300 with 24-120mm f/2.8-4.9 equivalent lens, GPS, time-lapses, and 16 megapixels. It is waterproof, yellow, and compact.
SanDisk Extreme 1TB portable SSD for fast backups.
2.5" portable hard drives: 1 Hitachi 1TB 7200 RPM, 1 Seagate 2TB, 1 Seagate 4TB, 1 Seagate 5TB, 1 Toshiba 1TB, 1 Toshiba 4TB, 3 Western Digital 2TB.
3.5" external hard drives: 1 Hitachi 4TB, 1 Seagate 4TB, 1 Seagate Barracuda 8TB 7200 RPM, 1 Toshiba 5TB.

At this point in time, if I had to pick a short list of tech, I would pick:

2019 Apple iMac 27" 8-core i9/16GB/3TB Fusion for $2999
2019 Apple MacBook Pro 15" 8-core i9/16GB/512GB Silver for $2799
2016 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 128GB Black for $669, used as my main camera, my iPad, and my portable internet.

June 2007 Gear Update

An Apple PowerBook G4 15" is my main laptop and is the single piece of gear I would grab if the house was burning down. When I travel on an airplane I carry an Apple PowerBook G4 12" laptop instead. (Apple needs another small laptop.)
An Apple iMac 20" with a 2.1 GHz Core 2 Duo chip and a 500 GB drive became my main desktop machine. Very low power usage (65 W). I like the all-in-one form factor.
A Toshiba Satellite U205 has replaced my Dell Latitude D600 as my main PC laptop. It runs FreeBSD 6.2 most of the time, but occasionally runs Windows XP Professional SP2. This is a nice Intel Core Duo machine that is very fast, yet compact and full-featured. (It needs more pixels.)
I upgraded to an Apple 80 GB iPod Video, black. I still use my 40 GB iPod Photo and 40 GB 3rd generation iPods in cars.
I use a 2 GB SanDisk USB memory stick on my keychain, and a LaCie 8 GB Orange micro hard drive often to move files around. A Western Digital 150 GB portable 2.5" hard drive backs up most of my important files, while a 300 GB 3.5" USB desktop external drive backs up everything.
A Nikon D200 has replaced my D70, along with a Nikkor AF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 ED DX VR lens that is a 28-300mm equivalent. A large, fast nice camera. I still use my Canon Powershot G3 as my more portable camera.
A nice Sportsman's Warehouse 1 watt LED flashlight is my tiny low-end flashlight. The Surefire E2E remains my midrange flashlight with its Xenon 60 lumens of light. A Cabelas four cell 200 lumen light has filled out the top end of my flashights - and is a great buy. (Surefire has not innovated enough to get my high-end business any more.)

2006 Gear Update

My main desktop machine became an Apple iMac 20" with a 2 GHz Intel Core Duo chip.
I traded in my Chevrolet truck on a 2006 Mercedes E 320 CDI diesel, an unbelievably great car with 34-44 MPG, great iPod integration and my first built-in GPS system.
A TomTom Go910 GPS was added to try something other than Garmin. It has good Mac integration but needs work in many other areas.

2005 Gear Update

My main desktop machine became a Power Macintosh G5 for a while, but due to high power consumption I moved to an Apple iMac G5 20" with a 500 GB drive.
I added a pair of Macintosh PowerBooks, a 12" and a 15". They have a much better aluminum finish than the titanium predecessors and the lighted keyboard on the 15" is brillant.
I added a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado Z71 Extended Cab Standard Bed truck for farm work. Nice engine.

June 2004 Update

A Dell Latitude D600 has replaced my PowerBook G4.
A Dell OptiPlex GX270 has replaced my Power Macintosh G4.
A Surefire E2E has replaced my Streamlight flashlights.
A Nikon D70 has augmented my Canon Powershot G3.
I have upgraded to a 40 GB Apple iPod, but there are many things that can be improved with iPods. They are no longer an essential piece of gear.
I have added a Cruzer Mini 256 MB USB memory stick to my list of cool handy equipment.
I have finally broken down and got a cell phone, a Motorola V120e.
I have added a Brunton Sherpa weather monitor.
I have added a Citizen's Skyhawk titanium watch for its time zone handling and circular slide rule.
My main vehicle is a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI, a 53 mpg diesel.
My main GPS is a Garmin GPSMAP 276C with a gorgeous color display, but you have to download maps and data to the unit (only from PCs) when it should all be built-in.

Essentials

Electronics

Laptop (Dell Latitude D600 or Apple PowerBook G4)
Calculator (HP-48GX)
GPS (Garmin GPSmap76)
Weather monitor (Brunton Sherpa)
Digital camera (Canon PowerShot G3, Nikon D70)
USB memory for backup (Cruzer Mini 256 MB)
Hard disk for backup (Apple 40 GB iPod)
Cell phone (Motorola V120e)
Inverter
Ethernet cables
CD-RW, CD-R blanks
Chargers

Tools

Knife (Myerchin)
Multi-tool (Leatherman SuperTool)
Flashlights (Surefire E2E, Princeton Tec Aurora headlamp)
Survival kit (Doug Ritter / Adventure Medical Pocket Survival Pak)
Binoculars (Leica 7x42 or Leica 8x30)
Sunglasses (polarized)
Pencil (0.3 mm mechanical, Alvin or Staedtler)
Pen (retractable blue fine ballpoint, Parker or Lamy or Pilot)
Paper (graph and 3x5 cards)
Reading (LDS Quad)
Atlas (Rand McNally pocket USA)
Sextant (Astra IIIb, Francis Barker & Son Pocket sextant)
Slide rule (8" Pickett)

Consumables

Water (Diet Pepsi)
Food (Gorp, California dried apricots, Pemmican beef jerkey, pretzels)
Candy (Sweet Tarts, chocolate bars, Nutri-Grain cereal bars)
Medicine (asprin, vitamins)
Batteries (AA, AAA, CR123, CR2025)

Computation

I love laptops. My latest in a long string of Macs is an Apple Macintosh PowerBook G4, Titanium. It has an 800 MHz Power PC G4 (7455) chip, 512 MB of RAM, a 60 GB hard disk, DVD/CD-RW Combo drive, 2 USB ports, 2 firewire ports, built-in Airport 802.11b wireless 10 Mbit and built-in 10/100/1000 Mbit Ethernet, a 56K modem, and a 15 inch 1280x960 LCD display. It is very fast, very well made, and in my opinion is the best computer ever made. I am running Mac OS X 10.2.8 on it, but I still use the MPW Shell all the time! I am booting to Mac OS 9 more and more these days.

For once I now have the state-of-the-art Apple desktop system. I bought a Apple Power Macintosh G4 dual CPU tower, with two 1 GHz G4 chips, 512 MB of RAM, a 120 GB 7200 RPM hard disk, a DVD-RW burner, and the same set of ports and Gigabit Ethernet as the laptop. With it I have a 22" Apple Cinema display (1600x1024) which is simply gorgeous. Mac OS X 10.2.1 is the OS.

I also have an Apple iPod, a 10 GB model. We use it in the car to carry and play over 2,000 songs. What a nice piece of engineering. It is a great backup tool for my Macs. The FireWire interface makes copying large amounts of data very fast.

Navigation
The navigation tool of choice is a Garmin GPSMap 76. They have built-in maps and more detailed maps and info can be downloaded from a PC. It uses 2 AA batteries and has a terrific display.

One must always have accurate time. A great deal is this Seiko SLL033 Perpetual Calendar watch, which is about ten times more accurate than most quartz watches.

I was given a new Citizen BL1020-55H Perpetual Calendar watch, which runs on solar power. It is great: since I got it I haven't worn anything else!

Calculation
The best calculator around is the HP-48GX, or its slightly less expensive cousin the HP-48G+. The newer HP-49G is neat for symbolics, but just doesn't cut it as a calculator. The HP-48G+ can be had for under $100, and it has Reverse Polish Notation (RPN), the only way to go in a calculator.

Before calculators there were slide rules, now almost impossible to find. This circular Pickett slide rule was a gift when I was young. I've always treasured it. It is only 3" in diameter, and it has the trig scales on the reverse.

Optics
My latest camera is the Canon PowerShot G3 digital camera. It is a 4 megapixel camera with USB and a 35-105mm f/2-4 zoom lens. It has an intervalometer and includes software for creating 360° panoramas and virtual reality tours. It has a particularly strong built-in flash and great manual override controls like a professional camera. A bit pricey ($800), it is worth it.

Before my Canon, I had a Kodak DC-3400 Digital Camera. It is a 3 megapixel camera, with USB, a relatively long-life lithium chargable battery, and a great 28-84mm zoom range. It can fit into a pant's pocket. Highly recommended, it is a best buy for digital cameras but unfortunately Kodak has discontinued it without a good successor. If you can find one, buy it.

For binoculars, my favorites are a pair of Leica 7x42 Marine binoculars. They are center focus, rubberized, waterproof, and incredibly brillant, with gorgeous colors. They are expensive, but worth it.

I love my Ray Ban Outdoorsman Ambermatics. They no longer make the Ambermatic lenses which automatically lighten in darker conditions, or darken in very bright light, which is a shame. Classic styling, well made eye protection.

Notice the lack of cell phones. I had one and when it broke I never replaced it. They are an electronic leash. Free yourself and get rid of your cell phone: it will liberate you!

Tools

This new Victorinox CyberTool 34 is great! It has a full complement of Torx, Phillips, and normal screwdrivers, as well as scissors, pliers, etc. Very handy when dealing with computers and other nifty gadgets.

The must have in your pocket at all times tool is the Leatherman Micra. This fine tool has scissors, a knife, a ruler, screwdrivers, and is so compact and small it is never a problem. Also available in colors, but they scratch easily so I recommend the chrome/silver finish because it holds up better.

Good quality rope is a great tool for many things.

On a boat, you need a Myerchin L377P. This knife has a locking serrated blade, a marlinespike for taking out knots, and an LED flashlight. It is made in Japan of 440 stainless steel. Very nice.

Victorinox now has a nautical knife with a marlinespike and a locking serrated blade. It is called the Skipper, or the Mariner or Helmsman if it does not have the pliers. I have a Victorinox Helmsman model and it is very nice, and for $30 at West Marine you cannot beat it!

For serious pocket tools, the king is the Leatherman Super Tool. It has an unbelievably serious and beefy feel to it. The Super Tool recently has been slightly upgraded with rounder ends. The pliers feel like real pliers, far stronger than the Victorinox CyberTool. The ruler feature is great and is not present on the newer Leatherman Wave. Get one.

A handy light made of nice aircraft aluminum is the Mag-Lite 2 AA flashlight unit, available in many colors. It has a great feel to it, is small, and does the basic job of lighting up whatever you are working on up close.

I have begun to carry in my shirt-pocket a Mag-Lite 2 AAA flashlight that seems just about as bright as the larger 2 AA Mag-Lite. Very nice.

Do you want a bright flashlight that is small? Look no further than the rechargable Streamlight Stinger. It is not cheap, but police use these all the time. They are serious. If your car's headlights aren't working, you could almost use one of these to drive with! Available in black or yellow.

Another great flashlight is this neat Streamlight Syclone, which uses 4 AA batteries and has a rotating head. The white light is pretty decent, and it also has a neat orange LED light that will go for 72 hours straight!

My latest flashlight is the C. Crane Expedition, which uses 7 white LED lights. It has a beautiful blue-white light, very even, and runs for 50 hours at full brightness on 3 C-cell batteries, but continues to run for another 100 hours at reduced brightness. Amazing! Available here.

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Created: 13 Jun 2001 Modified: 12 Nov 2024