While we’re on the subject of pocket-sized but professional-grade technology, let’s spend a little time with the HP Mini 311 Notebook, the best answer yet to the form versus function dilemma so often presented by netbooks.
I’ve been on the hunt for a while now looking for an iPod dock that looks good without taking up all my shelf space — harder to find than you would think — and I’ve gotten to be a huge fan of the Altec Lansing Octiv Mini, which packs a lot of speaker power into its neat little 4.2 x 4.2 x 7.8 frame.
if you’re going to snap like a pro, you need a camera that can live up to your lofty photographic goals. Even a good amateur photog needs the right tools to get the job done, and it’s time I left behind my beloved disposable camera for something a little more grown up.
With so many artists now releasing their albums on old school LPs (She & Him, Zooey Deschanel’s collaboration with M. Ward, recently committed their bluesy second album to vinyl), record players have moved beyond their former status as a throwback and are now a necessary part of your entertaining arsenal.
My more technologically and musically-savvy friends talked me into a pair of Sony MDR-V500 Professional Headphones right before I moved, and I’ve been addicted ever since. So far these have been sturdy enough to survive getting thrown around in my bag every day, helped me avoid unnecessary conversations on the train, and actually doubled perfectly as earmuffs in the winter.
A netbook computer is a weird little beast, like a 250cc sportbike or an electronic dartboard. It gets the job done, sort of, but there are compromises to be made. They’re all basically the same but with a few minor tweaks to keep in mind.
My choice is the MacBook – because it’s purdy – and because they have such exceptional customer service. You can even get free how-to classes for all apps at your local Apple store. My laptop is a very simple Macbook. I only need it for writing and to occasionally distract me on transcontinental flights.
Digital cameras are getting so wonderfully loaded with features – movie mode, black and white, sepia, USB ports. That’s all standard in my black Kodak Easy Share ($70). I do like to go the beach a lot (seeing the dirt meet the water really blows my hair back). So something like the Canon PowerShot D10 a waterproof number which would be good investment for me.
I don’t listen to new stuff all that much and I certainly don’t share this info with just any-ol’-body but here’s what’s on my playlist these days.
