My Gadgets

My gadget collection is obscene. Below is a summary of my electronics collection, minus the little accessories like chargers and probably excluding a few things that I forgot about. At the bottom of this page, you can see my collection as organized on the gadget-focused social network Gdgt. (Note: Some of this gear is at home, and I'm currently in college, but I still consider all of it to be "mine" because I am my family's IT person.)

 

Cell phone

I own a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I really, really like it. In case you're wondering what apps I have on my phone, here's a list.

 

Comcast services

We have two HD cable boxes, one in the attic and one in the basement (those are our only HDTVs). All of our other TVs have standard-def cable boxes. Our router gets its connection from a Motorola Surfboard Cable Modem. Our Internet connection is very fast, although at times it crawls due to the number of devices using our wireless connection. I usually get connection speeds of around 20Mbps down and 5Mbps up. As part of the Triple Play bundle, we also have Digital Voice Unlimited phone service.

 

Computers

My laptop is an HP Pavilion dv7t Select Edition. I back up my data and store the bulk of my TV and movie media on a 1.5TB Western Digital My Book Essential External Hard Drive. At home, I have an HP Pavilion m9300t desktop which I use for video editing. When I return home for vacations, I duplicate my regular backups onto stay-at-home drives for more peace of mind.

 

Digital photography and videography

My digital camera is a Canon PowerShot SD790IS, a 10 MP camera that I highly recommend. I have about 8GB of SD memory for it. For recording videos, I use a Kodak zi8 1080p HD pocket camcorder. With a 32GB SD card and an external microphone jack, it's the best pocket video camera for my money.

 

Home entertainment setup

In the basement, we have a Sony Bravia KDL-46XBR2 HDTV attached to a Sony BDP-S580 3D Blu-ray Player. We use a Slingbox PRO-HD to stream live high-def television over our home network and out onto the Internet. I use the Slingbox to watch my home channels from college, where the lounge TV's programming selection is much more limited. Sling Media makes viewing apps for a variety of platforms, so I can watch on my laptop, my phone, and my iPod touch.

 

Our lone gaming system is the Nintendo Wii. We have it attached to our basement HDTV. We rarely play it anymore, which I hear is common among Wii owners. We have four Wiimotes, two Nunchuks, and a gun attachment for a Zelda video game. We also have a two-remote charging dock for the Wiimotes. Our games include Link's Crossbow Training, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Party 8, Super Paper Mario, Wii Play, and Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree.

 

Home networking

Our router at home is a Netgear WNDR3700 Wireless-N Dual-Band Router. We also have a Linksys WVC54GCA Wireless Internet Video Camera for keeping an eye on our dog Maddie while we're away. In our basement, near the backyard, and in my parents' bedroom, I have set up wireless Internet extension kits. Each kit consists of a powerline extender and a wireless router to broadcast the extended connection. Two of the extenders are Linksys PLK300 Powerline Ethernet kits and one of them is a Western Digital WD Livewire Powerline AV Network kit. Each of these powerline setups provides connectivity to an Apple Airport Express, which means that, in addition to our "mother ship" router, there are localized wireless networks broadcasting in the three aforementioned areas of our home.

 

Portable devices

I have a fourth-generation 32GB Apple iPod touch. Even with my Droid 2, I find that this is the best way to bring podcasts and other media around with me -- especially if I want to preserve my phone's battery life.

 

Printers

At home, our primary printer is an HP Photosmart C6180 Wireless All-In-One, which -- true to its name -- is networked for house-wide printing. At college, I print to an HP Photosmart C4780 Print/Copy/Scan machine.

 

Webcams and microphones

For Skype video calls, I have a Microsoft LifeCam Cinema attached to my laptop via USB. My primary headset for Skype is a Plantronics DSP-400 Foldable USB Headset.