The One (And a Half) Month Later iPad Review.

So the iPad has been out for a over a month now and I have been using it that entire time.  You knew that I would have one of these right out of the gate or what kind of Gadget Geek would I be?  I wanted to wait a bit to write this because a lot of the reviews that came out right when it launched were either geek-fueled love-fests or Apple hating diatribes about everything wrong with not only the iPad but Apple itself.  Also, I have written many a review of a gadget only to change my opinion (sometimes for better but mostly for worse) less than a month after using it.  So, I decided to put the iPad through its paces to see if I would actually use it or whether it would be a really expensive paperweight.

First off, let me say that I was really torn at first on whether or not to get an iPad.  The gadget addled part of my brain that is always looking for the ultimate geek toy didn’t question the fact that I wanted, nay, NEEDED the iPad.  The practical side of me questioned if I really needed what was arguably just a huge iPod Touch, especially considering the fact that I already have a desktop computer, a laptop, and two iPods.

Like everyone else (well every other geek at least), I was stoked about the rumors of an Apple tablet, but the supposed specs for the then unnamed iPad got really out of control.  People began to think that this would be the ultimate personal computer and you would never need anything else.  The Kindle would be dead, people would all cancel their cable TV, and world peace would commence shortly after it launched.

When Steve Jobs finally showed his ‘magical’ device to the world, everyone couldn’t help but to be disappointed (including myself).  Apple had let the fervor get a little out of control, and while it did give them great ‘buzz’ it kind of bit them in the rear.  People complained about everything from the lack of a camera, to the size of the screen, to even it’s name (I actually assumed that is what the name would be before it even launched, if fits with the Apple naming scheme).

I was so disappointed that I wrote the whole thing off and actually spent the money I had saved up for the iPad on a new camera instead (well, PART of a new camera).  But then Apple started showing little bits and pieces of what the iPad could do in interviews and on the web.  I got hooked all over again – though still with that nagging voice in the back of my head saying that I didn’t really need it.

Eventually, I made a deal with myself and just said that I would wait until my birthday in the summer to get one.  That would give Apple time to come up with accessories for it and for developers to come out with really cool apps (plus, I wasn’t sure if I wanted the regular version or the 3G enabled one that only just launched about a few weeks ago).  My wife gave me two months until I broke down and bought one, it ended up being three days.  I couldn’t buy the iPad on launch day since I was out of town but I did get to play with one two days later (Monday) and the next day I owned one.

I haven’t regretted a single day since.  I can wholeheartedly say that the iPad is my favorite gadget of all time (until the Apple comes up with the next big thing that is).  I use it far more than I ever thought I would.   Even my wife, who was pretty skeptical about me getting one (since she has on more than one occasion given me an ‘I told you so’ after I regretted buying some new gadget or another) wishes she had one.  Though the fact that for the price of an iPad she could buy a pair of designer shoes prevents her from getting one.  I use it a lot at night in bed while my wife is watching TV and when I would either be reading a news magazine, or a book, or be surfing the web on my laptop.  Now I can do both with one device that is eminently more capable than the sum of its’ parts.

The iPad is so much more than an oversized iPod Touch.  All you have to do is surf the Internet on an iPad and you will see just how different they are.  Surfing the Internet and touching links with your fingers instead of using a mouse just feels ‘right’.  I don’t know what it is, but just doing pretty much anything on this thing is really cool, even typing a review article.  I have typed this entire article using the Pages App and the on-screen keyboard.  While it took a bit of getting used to not having keys click under my fingers, I got to the point rather quickly to where I was typing almost as fast as I do on a regular keyboard, which is pretty darn fast.

No matter how fast the iPad is, it wouldn’t matter if it didn’t have great Apps to run really fast.  Apple and a lot of other developers have delivered them in spades and it has only been out for a little over a month!  I can’t wait to see what kinds of games and Apps that are out for this thing by this fall.  One note, Apple made a big ballyhoo about being able to use iPhone Apps on the iPad but I wouldn’t bother.  Even when blowing them up to the full screen size, they still don’t look right and don’t perform nearly as well as Apps that are made specifically for the iPad.  Just wait for them to update the iPhone version, it will be worth the wait.

One of my favorite Apps for the iPad is a cookbook – believe it or not.  Actually it is two cookbooks, Epicurious and BigOven.  Both tap into huge databases of recipes, many with pictures, and serve them up on this beautiful screen and it is so much more fun to ‘surf’ than a real cookbook.  You can then buy a stand for your iPad and have it right next to you while you cook and during really boring lulls in the cooking, you can play a game or two or just surf the web.  Another cool App is Star Walk, which is an awesome planetarium and star map right in your hand.  It even uses the compass in your iPad to change the view if you hold it up and turn different directions, so you can use it to figure out what star it what when outside at night (it even can change the screen to red on black to help preserve your night vision).

If you love your Kindle or have been thinking of getting one, the iPad outdoes the Kindle in virtually every way (other than reading outside in bright sunlight, and even that is not that bad). Amazon has a Kindle App for the iPad so you can read all the books you have already bought and Apple has their own iBooks App that has its’ own bookstore in iTunes.  Both are very similar when it comes to reading books and even buying them, though the iBooks titles are typically pricier than the Amazon ones (which is a whole other issue that I don’t have time to go into here).

A lot of tech pundits said that the iPad was too basic for a techie like me and too complicated for everyone else; I couldn’t disagree more.  The iPad has turned into a prefect companion device for me and has been seeing a lot more use than my laptop over the last month.  As for tech neophytes, the iPad is simple enough and feature rich enough to take the place of many peoples’ home computers or at least their netbooks.  If you are really thinking about getting a netbook computer, reconsider and check out an iPad first.  If all you ever use a computer for is surfing and checking your email, I can’t think of a better device for doing just that, than an iPad.  Anyone who uses a computer for pretty much anything short of full on graphics applications or bleeding edge gaming can probably do everything they do on a desktop or laptop computer on an iPad.  A friend did point out to me that you do need a computer to sync up your iTunes music and transfer over your pictures.  Though if you are just starting out and don’t have an iTunes library, you can just buy you music and download it directly to the iPad, and as for your pictures, there is a new adapter that allows you to download your pictures straight from a SD memory card and into your iPad.

Pictures are another place where the iPad really shines.  Flipping through a virtual photo album and showing off your vacation pictures on the iPad screen is nothing short of a ‘wow’ moment.  In fact, the iPad can double as one of those digital picture frames with the press of a button.  You put your iPad in a stand and it will run a slideshow of all of your pictures for anyone to see when you aren’t using it.

I could go on and on about the virtues of the iPad, but really all I have to say is that you owe it to yourself to take a look at one at your local Apple store or certain Best Buy stores, especially if you are in the market for a new laptop or netbook.  I haven’t even scratched the surface on everything the iPad can do or will be able to do as soon as someone writes an App for it and it is already my go-to computer in my house.  I bet for most people, it would end up being the same for them as well.  Here is a link to one of my favorite websites, Gizmodo and their take on an iPad replacing their laptop (Gizmodo Article).

The iPad is priced as follows:

Wi-Fi only

16GB $499

32GB $599

64GB $699

Wi-Fi + 3G (3G data plan sold separately).

16GB $629

32GB $729

64GB $829

Unless you are going to be using this a lot for surfing the web where you know you won’t have Wi-Fi available (which has become pretty widespread and will only continue to get better) I would recommend that you get just the Wi-Fi version.  The 3G data plans, while somewhat reasonably priced and not tied to a contract, are a tad skimpy with their bandwidth.  Plus surfing the web using the 3G network on your iPad after blazing around using Wi-Fi will make you feel like somebody broke your iPad.  Plus if you really need to check your mail or the web while away from a Wi-Fi hotspot, just use the phone in your pocket.

As always if you have any questions, or would like me to review a certain gadget, feel free to write me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.  Have a great summer!  If you can tear yourself away from your cool new iPad!

Gadget Gift Guide 2009

Woo Hoo!  It’s that time of year again, when Gadget Geeks all around the world tremble with barely contained excitement over this year’s crop of gadgets, in hopes that one (or all) of them will make it under the tree this year.  This year saw some huge jumps by certain manufacturers to solidify or regain their leads in their respective sectors.  There may not be as many new gadgets this year as in years past, but this year’s collection easily offers the best bang for the buck, especially in the categories of cameras and MP3 music players.  For this year’s guide, I’m going to focus on the best in digital cameras, MP3 players, and the best video games for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii.  So lets kick things off with my favorite gadgets, digital cameras!

Digital Cameras:  Last year Nikon handed my Canon boys their rear-ends in the SLR camera department, but this year Canon pulled out the stops and in my humble opinion retook their lead as the top digital SLR leader on the market (before you Nikon Nerds blast me with emails, this is not a knock against Nikon as a whole which makes fabulous cameras, it is just that right now, Canon owns the top spot in almost every sector of digital SLR market).

Pro-Level D-SLR: While Canon did just come out with the 1D Mark IV recently, and it is a beautifully capable camera for sports photography, I still have to say that for overall versatility, last year’s late entry the 5D Mark II is still the best in class.  People a year later are still marveling at its 21-megapixel quality.  Also, while I considered its ability to shoot 1080p HD video at a movie 24 frames per second (think big screen movie style) to be a kind of cool, what some budding and professional cinematographers have produced with this camera is nothing short of stunning.  While it would still be great if they could find a way to work autofocus into the movie shooting, it obviously hasn’t hampered the pros in how they do their business.  It still isn’t cheap by any means at $2500 but what you get with this camera beats out cameras that cost three times as much.

Semi-Pro/Serious Amateur D-SLR: Canon’s new 7D, which only hit the street a few weeks ago is my new object of lust.  While it may not pack the 21 megapixel, full-frame sensor of the 5D Mark II, the 7D certainly breaks ground as the first camera in a new series by Canon in a decade (it fits between the 5D series and the xxD series, of which the 50D is the current model).  The new 18 megapixel APS-C sized sensor (smaller than a 35mm film frame and identical to the xxD and Rebel series cameras) seems to violate the laws of physics by packing a ton of pixels onto the same size chip without the usual explosion noise that many sensors tend to exhibit once you reach a pixel density like this.  It has to be the work of the camera’s software that makes this possible but whatever it is, this camera turns out some stunning photos even in really low light situations (still can’t beat the 5D Mark II but it costs a &1000 bucks less).  The real beauty of this camera lies in its improved ergonomics and new 3” screen, which improves its usage in outdoor situations.

A real first though is the new viewfinder for the 7D, which now provides 100% coverage of the frame (most only show you 95% of the frame and you sometimes get elements you didn’t want in your picture that you have to crop out later).  The other really cool thing about the viewfinder is that it now has a transparent LCD screen overlay that allows you to turn on and off information that is shown in the viewfinder such as horizon lines, a real boon if you are like me and seemingly unable to maintain a flat horizon in your pictures without assistance (perhaps I should just lay off the booze while shooting photos, but that takes away half the fun).  The 7D has the same cosmic movie shooting capability as the 5D, though without the full frame sensor, but it should start producing similar stellar results.  The 7D isn’t cheap at $1750 (body only) or $1900 with a 28-135mm lens but this camera should meet the needs for many photographers for years to come.

Super-Zoom Compact: The Panasonic FZ-35 is yet another upgrade to the whole FZ-18/28 line and continues to have all the features that keep it continually at the top of almost any super-zoom review list (such as a superb Leica lens, great image quality, and a very good viewfinder).  They also continue to add refinements that keep it just one step ahead of their competition (to include Canon).  This year, just like every other camera it would seem, video is where it seems to be.  The FZ-35 is not a slouch here and provides 1080p High Def video with stereo microphone inputs cleverly situated right in front of the flash.  The sensor is a respectable 12 megapixel sensor, and while other superzooms may go up to a 20 times zoom factor, the FZ-35 kept theirs at 18 times zoom, which probably explains why it continues to still produce good photos while a lot of those pushing the zoom envelope actually saw a drop in quality (there is only so much you can ask from the lenses in these cameras).  The great thing about this camera is that you can easily find it for just a little over $300 on Amazon and it beats out cameras that are hundreds of dollars more.

Compact: This category actually is the story of one sensor in two cameras.  Canon decided to buck the trend and instead of cramming more pixels into every camera they made, the sensor they use in both the G11 and S90 actually has fewer pixels than the previous generation (they went back down to 10 megapixels from 14 megapixels).  With that extra breathing room they made the sensor more sensitive to light and made it produce good quality shots where other cameras would just produce noise.  This is a move I have been waiting for years for a major camera manufacturer to make. I’m glad to see Canon took the lead on this one.  The megapixel race has run it’s course and really they need to focus more on the camera’s low light capability since most people use their cameras indoors at parties or during the prime outdoor shooting times of dawn and dusk.

G11: The G11 is the (reasonably) compact camera that every owner of a D-SLR wants when they can’t lug around their big camera and all of the equipment and lenses that go with it.  This line of cameras has often been cited by pros as the one they most often pull out when an SLR is either too bulky or obtrusive to use.  This thing is built like a tank and has tons of knobs and switches, which may seem counterintuitive for a pro-camera, but the pros don’t have time to go digging into menus on their camera’s screen to change settings, they need to be able to switch them quickly and shoot.  The G11 makes sure that you rarely, if ever, have to dig into a menu to change an important setting.  The camera also took a step back in the screen size on the back (down to 2.8 inches from 3 inches) but brought back the swivel screen which allows for shooting from a greater number of angles and allows you to swivel the screen so it is against the body of the camera and protect it better (helping to maintain it’s tank-like ruggedness).  I got this camera the day it hit the street in November and I see it going with me many places. I would have missed a lot of photo opportunities just because I didn’t want to lug all my SLR gear.  Unfortunately the G11 is priced like an entry level D-SLR at about $500.

S90: The S90 is the super-sexy version of pair and boosts the sensor’s already impressive low-light capability by pairing it with a very fast f2.0 lens allowing for a ton more light to get through to the sensor than virtually any other compact camera out there.  This is the camera you want in your pocket or purse if you are always taking pictures at indoor parties.  You will be able to get blur-free photos where everyone else just has smears of color on their screens.  This camera is arguably the king of the compact cameras (for a few months at least until someone comes up and trumps Canon) and would be an awesome camera for anyone who wants a truly compact camera to take with them wherever they go that will not let them down in virtually any photo situation.  The S90 is a tad expensive at $400 but you will not find any compact that can do what the S90 can do with even half of the quality for less than this.

MP3 Players

I’m going to reiterate my statement from last year and just say there is NO reason why everyone should not just go out and get an iPod.  While I might have made a few caveats last year saying that the boys and girls at Apple need to get off their duffs and add in a few features (such as an FM radio tuner, for gym use not because anyone really listens to the radio any more) that many other brands include in their players; those same boys and girls answered all of my gripes and even one-upped me.  The new iPod Nano line has the FM tuner I have been squawking about for years and just like every other gadget in the world this year, they added a camera!  (Just as a side note, is there going to be ANY device in the next few years that doesn’t have a camera on it?  Do I really need a camera on my bread maker showing me bored for hours waiting for the bread to mix and bake?)  Not only is the Nano a pro at taking pictures, but it also shoots great video clips as well, as if it were possible for you to miss that little fact after Apple’s iPod advertising blitz this season.

With the addition of the FM tuner and the integration of the Nike+ system into the Nano without an attachment, the Nano has become the hands-down winner of the best MP3 player for the gym since you can now use it to tune into the broadcasts that many large gyms use for the TVs in front of all the cardio equipment as well as use it with your Nike+ shoes to track your exercise routine in or out of the gym.  The camera though is actually a step back for it in this realm since I really don’t think we need any pictures of ‘naked hairy guy’ from the locker room posted on the web.  The Nano is still a steal at $149 for the 8GB model and $179 for the 16GB model.

As for the rest of the iPod lineup, the Touch remains a great iPod for those who want the Apps of the iPhone without the Phone (though it was surprising to see that it didn’t get a camera as well, but sources would have you believe that that will be corrected in the spring of next year) and the Shuffle got a new sleek form factor and a bump up in capacity with a loss in its ease of use and battery life.  The 64GB Touch is $399 and the 4GB Shuffle is $79 ($99 if you want the cool polished stainless steel look).

Video Games

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – (Mature; Very, VERY mature) This game is the First-Person Shooter to end all First Person Shooters (at least until Modern Warfare 3 in 2011).  This game made $530 million dollars in its first week on sale!  That beat the opening week of any movie ever made by a couple of hundred million or so.  This game has so many jaw-dropping moments in it’s single-player campaign that alone justify it’s $60 price tag but you more than get your money’s worth with the multiplayer that will keep you playing till all hours of the night just to rank up one more level and unlock that next cool weapon or item for you to use.  Be warned though, there is one level that the game gives you the option to skip if you are faint hearted.  I’m not squeamish by any means, but even I found myself taking a bit of a ‘gut check’ playing it (I won’t give it away for fear of ruining it for you or your gamer loved one, but it is a doozy).  It is out for the 360, PS3, and PC.

LEGO Indiana Jones 2 – (Everyone 10+) The first LEGO Indiana Jones game was a hoot even for older players (maybe more so since we remember seeing the good Indiana Jones movies  in the theaters- you know, all the ones other than the last one).  While this game focuses primarily on the rather lame ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ movie, it does still hit on all the old favorites and provides a lot of the antics that the LEGO games are famous for.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – (Teen) The follow-up to 2007’s smash hit, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2 follows Nathan Drake’s continued adventures in search of lost relics (think of him as a male Lara Croft from Tomb Raider) and continues to serve up some of the best graphics and gameplay of any game on the PS3 system.  It is only available for the PS3 but it, and its predecessor, are such good games they are almost worth the cost of a PS3 to play.

So that is it for this year’s annual gadget guide, I hope you or your loved one gets all the gadgets their little geeked out heart desires.  As always, if you have any gadget question, or request for a review, feel free to write me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.  Have a very happy holiday!

Gadgets & Gear: September 2009

Anyone who knows me or has read this column for the last several years knows that I have never been a big fan of Apple. Though if you’ve been paying attention, you will have noticed that my anti-Mac / anti-iPod stance has softened significantly over the last year or so.

In fact, I have pretty much said in this column that there really is no reason for you to have an MP3 player that is not an iPod. As I’ve said in the past, it was never because I thought that Apple made bad products, but that I never really bought in to their ‘I’m cool because I have a Mac/iPod’ conceit. But now things have taken a radical change…

I’ve officially gone to the Dark Side.

Not only do I have an iPod, but also the iPhone, and now I have replaced all of my computers (two laptops and one desktop) with Macs. It was a slow process at first, kind of like the Emperor from Star Wars whispering little things in Anakin Skywalker’s ear that started him down the path towards becoming Darth Vader.

First, my wife got an iPod Nano for Christmas a few years back which I had to set up for her since she didn’t know how, and I noticed how nice it was to navigate and use (though iTunes still sucked on PCs at the time). That led to me buying an iPod Shuffle for myself, which is still my favorite little music player.

Later I bought the iPod Touch when it first came out, then early this year I bought iPhones for both of us. Finally, after heading back to school to start my Masters degree, I was tempted by all the Macs I saw around me in class and so I bought MacBooks for my wife and I. It took three weeks of using my MacBook to convince me to ditch PCs forever and that is when I chucked my 2-year-old PC for a sleek new 24” iMac.

And I’m never looking back.

I thought I might miss that old computer system that I have been using since I was a little kid and ran on BASIC or the earliest versions of Windows, but I really don’t.

The ease of use of these Macs is just amazing. Loading programs takes just the time to transfer the data off the disk to the hard drive and doesn’t require writing entries to a registry and all that junk. Uninstalling a program just requires that I drag the icon to the trash bin and it is gone! I spent two days cleaning up my old PC to give to a family friend mostly because all the programs took FOREVER to install/uninstall with numerous re-boots all the time. Every hassle that I have had with my Mac has usually been because I was trying to make things more difficult than they really were; in other words, I was trying to do them the Windows way instead of the Mac way.

Now granted, many of my original arguments against Apple/Macs still stand. Want to upgrade your iMac or MacBook? Grab a sledgehammer, destroy the old one, and then go buy a new one (it’ll be easier that way). Want to buy accessories for your Mac? Be prepared to pay the Apple Tax, which inexplicably adds about 20-40% to the price of an equivalent piece of equipment for a PC. And I would still argue that if Microsoft only had to design a software package for a single design spec like Apple, they could make something that works just as well as the stuff from the geniuses at One Infinity Way. They probably wouldn’t be as slick looking (though the new Zune HD from Microsoft shows that they can make an incredibly slick device when they want), but I guarantee you Windows would work better if they didn’t have to make it work on thousands of different computer configurations.

I have gone from being a naysayer to an advocate with all the fervor of a convert! There isn’t enough time for me to write about all the little things that I love about my Macs, but I can sum them up with just a simple phrase: THEY JUST WORK.

Like I stated earlier, doing things on a Mac is much more straightforward than anything on a PC. All the little maintenance things that I had to do to keep my Windows Operating System from eating itself alive to all the little back-door workarounds to get something to work are no longer needed. One of the biggest knocks on Macs by ‘power users’ of Windows systems, is that they don’t feel that they have enough access to the system for their taste. While it is true that many of the things that Windows users are used to ‘tweaking’, are a little more deeply buried, they are still there if you know where to look. The beauty is though, you don’t have to use them.

I was a ‘power user’ myself and I knew tons of little tricks to make Windows work smoother, but I haven’t really missed not having to do that. It is almost like going from a manual to an automatic transmission, I can focus less on getting the car to move and focus more on driving (but there will always be those who don’t feel they are really driving unless they are in a stick-shift).

There are a couple other ‘drawbacks’ to the Mac compared to the PC in addition to the ones mentioned above, and those would be a relative lack of software and very little support for gaming. There are some software packages that only run on Windows and if you need one of those programs, you probably will not want to switch to a Mac. You can always load Windows on a Mac using Boot Camp, which comes already installed, and run Windows on your Mac when you need it, or better yet use a program like Parallels or VMware Fusion to run Windows (in a window, go figure) on your Mac.

If you are a big gamer on your PC, you are going to be sorely disappointed in the quantity and quality of the games available for the Mac. Sure you can play The Sims 3, but forget about a bunch of the Massively Multiplayer Online games or a lot of the shooters (though they do have Call of Duty: Modern Warfare which is arguably the best shooter of all time).

If you are worried about the compatibility of files for going between work and home, you can always get Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, which I personally believe is the best version of Office I have ever used, and I have been using Office from day 1. It beats the snot out of that abomination they call Office 2007 on the PC.

So there you have it from the man who swore he would never ever give Steve Jobs a single red cent of his money. I have gone to being one of Apple’s biggest supporters. Do yourself a favor and just go play with some of the computers at your local Apple store. Sure, you may not recognize where everything is at first, but the learning curve for Apple products is significantly easier than the PC one.

So if Apple is the Dark Side, and Steve Jobs is the Emperor, I guess that would kind of make me like Darth Vader…

I’m cool with that (as you can see from the picture below).

As always, if you have a gadget you would like me to review or some techie question you would like answered, feel free to email me at: jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

Gadgets & Gear: July 2009

You may have noticed a few changes here on the www.healthandleisureonline.com website. No, we didn’t lose weight (we help you do that). No, we didn’t get a haircut. No, that isn’t a new dress we are wearing (well I guess it kind of is). OK, I’ll let you in on a not so well kept secret… we redesigned the whole thing! We are to web redesigns what Joan Rivers is to plastic surgery! We did everything!

So why did we do it? It wasn’t for ourselves, we were quite happy with our functional yet slightly plain website. No dear readers, we did it for you! Our previous website did exactly what we needed it to, serve as a place where people could find out about us and download copies of the magazine in .pdf format. Nowadays though, people are looking for a little more from their websites, like being able to read the articles right then and there, comment on and discuss articles, and being able to search for topics that interest them. We listened and spent the last seven months pulling it all together.

The site has actually been active since the middle of June and judging from the traffic we have already received, it looks like you all really dig the new site (we get more hits per DAY now than we got in entire MONTHS with the old site).

So, other than just looking a whole lot prettier, what can you expect from the new Health & Leisure Online? Well, now you have access to our first two years of print articles directly instead of having to download a copy of the whole magazine and look for it yourself. You can now search our archives for articles that interest you, authors you might like, favorite columns (*cough* Gadgets & Gear *cough*), or any old topic you can think of. Our whole collection of over 200 articles from over the last two years is already online waiting for you and we are adding new content every week.

You can print out the article if you like it or you can share it using any one of several social networking sites such as Facebook or through plain old email. Speaking of Facebook, be sure to click on the link on the right side of the page and become a fan and recommend us to any of your friends that you think would also enjoy our publication.

We have also grabbed that whole ‘rich-media’ thing by the horns and have videos online already (courtesy of the DMC) and have the ability to bring you podcasts, audio, and photo galleries, which we will be doing soon. You can now communicate with us and our contributors directly via our new comments system, making the whole thing even more interactive for you.

We also have new ways for you to ‘subscribe’ and make sure you keep up-to-date with all the latest articles. You can either click on the ‘News Feed’ button at the very top right-hand corner of the page and it will take you to a web page with all the latest articles summarized on one page. You can then ‘Bookmark’ this page and add it to your favorites, and it will let you know when you have something new there. The best way though, is to use the subscription box below video player and sign up for our email updates. You’ll get a nice email from us with all the latest updates as soon as we make them, and don’t worry, we won’t give your email away to ANYONE, period.

The print version of the magazine may be gone, but the new version is much more dynamic and can now be found anywhere you have an Internet connection. So let us know what you think. You can either email me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com or you can comment directly on the site, but either way, speak up! We did this for you, and want to hear about what you like, what you don’t, and what you would like to see in future updates. Also, be sure to subscribe to the site and become a fan on Facebook if you have an account there. Thanks for reading and being such great supporters of the magazine for the last two and a half years. We look forward to many more years as your ONLINE source of information on how to live healthy, active lives here in Michigan.

Is That a Computer in Your Pocket or are You Just Happy to See Me?

When many people talk of awesome technological achievements, they often cite landing a man on the Moon or launching a fleet of satellites that can pinpoint your position to within three feet anywhere on the planet. I personally think that one of the most awesome technological achievements of mankind is right under many people’s fingertips every day (maybe even yours right now if you are reading this online at www.healthandleisureonline.com). That technological marvel is the computer, but more specifically, mobile computers like laptops and the new classes: notebook computers and Ultra Mobile Personal Computers (UMPC).

Many people take these wonders of technological innovation for granted. But when you consider these innovations have more power than many supercomputers of the not too distant past, do not take up an entire room or weigh in at several tons, but in fact can rest comfortably in your hand and can weigh as little as ONE POUND; that is amazing!

First off, I would like to thank faithful reader Johnny B. for writing in and requesting that I review some of the latest and greatest in ultra-mobile computing. A lot of people get confused on the different classes of mobile computers; is it a laptop, or a notebook, or is it a UMPC? A quick rule of thumb is that if you really do need to put it on your lap, or better yet, a desk to use it, it’s a laptop computer (though some of these ‘laptops’ can weigh in at over 10 pounds which means you better have a well padded lap to use them).

A notebook computer typically weighs less than four pounds and may also be called an ultraportable computer since now every computer manufacturer wants to call their laptop a notebook because it sounds lighter even if it still weighs 10 pounds. The ultraportable designation is more accurately used for the new class of low powered computers that are intended as second portable computers (or first computer for kids) and are an offshoot of the One Laptop Per Child initiative. The other major class of portable computers is the UMPC and these can typically weigh much less than two pounds and can be seen as either a really tiny laptop or a really big smartphone (without the phone capabilities).

So let’s take a look at some the best from the two smallest categories, the ultraportable and the UMPCs.

Ultraportable Computers

These computers are best suited for students and business travelers who don’t need monster computing power to get the job done. All they really need is a platform to type notes on or to do some web surfing.

Asus Eee PC 4G

The first Eee PC was launched last year to fantastic reviews and really helped to define the ultraportable, low-cost, low-power computer. The 4G is the updated version that now uses the Windows operating system instead of just Linux making it much more mainstream. The 4G sports a 7” screen, 512MB of RAM, a 4GB solid state drive (SSD) which has no moving parts and uses a lot less power than a traditional hard drive, and Windows XP Home edition. With specs like that, you are not going to be tearing up the world in high end video games or doing serious graphical work in Photoshop, but it will give you more than enough “oomph” to run Word, or Excel, and your favorite web browser.

The biggest drawback on the 4G is it’s very small storage capacity of only 4GB (only half of which is available due to the software already loaded on it) which you can fill up very quickly with very little effort. The great thing is that the 4G does have a SD card slot so you can easily double the memory for less than $50. The next biggest drawback would be the keyboard. The 4G is only 8.8 by 6.5 inches and that doesn’t leave a lot of real estate for a good-sized keyboard. While not as bad as a keyboard on a Blackberry, it definitely takes some getting used to if you are used to a full sized keyboard. Also, the 7” screen, while more than useable, does only have a max resolution of 800 x 480 so you will have to do a lot of scrolling, especially on web pages.

The beauty of the 4G is the fact that you get a very usable computer that can fit in a large pocket or small bag, weighs only two pounds, and best of all only costs $399 (which is about the same price as a 16GB iPod Touch). If you are looking for an inexpensive and small computer for either a student or yourself, you can’t go wrong with the Asus Eee PC 4G.

(Note: By the time this is published in July there ought to be a newer version of the 4G called the 12G widely available, with a larger hard drive (12GB for the windows version), a 9” screen, and an upgrade to 1GB of RAM. The keyboard is still the same size and it also costs about $200 more. They were limited in supply at the time of writing this and I was not able to play with one.)

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC

For $200 more than the Asus Eee PC 4G you can take care of a lot of the Eee’s biggest drawbacks. The HP 2133 replaces the mostly plastic body of the 4G with a magnesium alloy chassis making it feel like a much more substantial device. The HP 2133 also sports a 120GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, a 9” screen with 1280 x 800 resolution, and best yet an almost full sized keyboard while only adding about .9 pounds to the weight and two inches to the width.

The HP 2133 takes the ultraportables and makes them extremely useful. While you still won’t be scorching any heavy duty programs with it due to the underpowered processor, you do get more than enough power to run Office programs and your web browser. The Hp 2133 does use Windows Vista Home Basic and could have gotten a bit more performance if they had stuck to using Windows XP. The HP 2133 does have an upgrade version for $749 in which you get a faster hard drive (though not more space), an extra GB of RAM (for a total of 2GB), and Vista Business (not sure if I would call that an upgrade).

The two biggest drawbacks for the HP 2133 are it’s processor and it’s battery life. The processor isn’t even an Intel based chip and in many ways underperforms some handheld devices. It would have been nice if HP had either used a slightly more expensive low-power chip or waited until the new Intel Atom chip came out later this year which is specifically designed for ultraportables. The battery life isn’t nearly as good as the Asus Eee and therefore, turns in about two hours of work time before needing to be plugged in. This is mainly due to the larger screen and traditional hard drive. You can double this power with an upgraded battery but this destroys the sleek form of the 2133 and adds quite a bit more weight.

While the HP 2133 is definitely a looker and has the best ergonomics out of the ultraportables, I would hold off and wait until they upgrade the processor to one of the current Intel chips or the new Atom chip this fall.

Ultra Mobile Personal Computers (UMPC)

So what is the major difference between and ultraportable and a UMPC? While the ultraportable computers mentioned above are really just very svelte laptops, the UMPCs that I am going to write about here are really more like a Blackberry on steroids. Oh yeah, and about a $1000 difference in price! Hey, that ‘roid habit is an expensive one!

Sony VAIO UX390

The Sony UX390 is less like a Blackberry on steroids than it is like a Sidekick on steroids. At 5.9 inches wide, by 3.7 inches deep, by 1.5 inches thick, the UX390 is easily the smallest of the UMPCs that is still a fully functional computer. While only weighing 1.1 pounds, having all that weight in such a small device definitely makes the UX390 feel, well…dense, to say the least.

You have to give it to Sony when it comes to designing devices with flair. In fact, I would only rate them behind Apple for their design department. While implementing a feat of engineering and design genius with the UX390, Sony did drop the ball on the whole ergonomics thing. I had always thought that it would be easier to type on my smartphone’s keyboard if it were just a bit thicker so that I could keep a better hold on it, but the UX390 proved me wrong. The keys feel about the same as those on a smartphone and have about as much tactile feedback, which is to say they have virtually none. Also, the keyboard has a slightly different layout and is missing what I consider to be some very important buttons such as a shift key on the right side (you try hitting the @ symbol using your thumbs while only having a shift key on the left) and the page up/down keys which are imperative with such a small screen for scrolling webpages.

The screen on the UX390, while small at only 4.5 inches, does look beautiful. I have to point out though that I have 20/10 vision and have no problem with small type, while someone with 20/20 or less might have problems reading much of the text on the screen. The screen is also touch sensitive which is helpful since the only other method for moving the cursor on the screen is a rubberized thumb stick on the right side of the device, which isn’t as useful as you might think (though to be fair, you might get more proficient with it over time).

The Sony UX390 actually does pretty darn well running a lot of programs thanks to the Intel Core Solo processor, the 1GB of RAM, and the 32GB SSD. The UX390 actually runs Windows Vista Business fairly well and can actually handle several programs open at once, unlike the ultraportables mentioned above. Also, for such a small device, you get a decent amount of work time out of the battery which clocks in at about three and a half hours of use.

The biggest drawback for the UX390 is its price which is supposed to be about $2,500, though you can find them on Amazon for about $1200 as of my writing this column. It does look like Sony might be moving on from the whole UMPC platform so if you want the UX390, you might want to move on it now.

Samsung Q1 Ultra

The Samsung Q1 Ultra really is a Blackberry on steroids. It is just too bad that the keyboard didn’t receive a few doses itself. The keys are very similar to those on a Blackberry with the exception that one half are on one side of the screen while the other half is on the other side which, after holding the Q1, makes a lot of sense (doesn’t make it any easier to type but the keys at least fall under both thumbs). The Q1 features a 7” touch screen, a 60GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and is loaded with Windows Vista Premium – which this thing has no business running. Perhaps if they had bumped the memory up to 2GB of RAM, the Q1 might have pulled it off, but with only 1GB it needs to be using Vista Basic at best or better yet, Windows XP. (There is a version of the Q1 called the Premium XP which has an 80GB hard drive and does utilize Windows XP, though I did not get my grubby little hands on one so I can’t say for sure that it runs better than the Ultra but I’m betting dollars to donuts that it does.)

At only 9 inches wide, by 4.9 inches deep, and .9 inches thick, the Q1 is larger than the Sony UX390 and even though it weighs more at 1.5 pounds, it doesn’t seem as heavy because it doesn’t feel as dense as the Sony device. Most of the real estate on the Q1 is taken up by the 7” screen, hence the teeny-tiny keyboard but it does show off its best feature which is the beautiful screen that does a great job displaying documents and websites since it uses a resolution of 1280 x 600.

The only other thing of note about the Q1 is the interesting layout of the other input buttons. The thumbstick is on the left side while the left and right mouse buttons are on the right, which is a bit backward from similar layouts on other devices such as the Sony UX390. Most people gravitate towards using their right hand for moving a mouse since that is what they are used to but it doesn’t take long to get used to this set up (well for me at least, but I am left handed). There is also a little four way input device on the right side that acts as your arrow keys on a typical keyboard, this combined with the touch screen makes for many different input options to suit many tastes.

The Q1 Ultra is priced at about $1200 but it can be found for as little as $750 online. If you think that this is the perfect device for you, I would highly recommend you search out the Premium XP edition, though I did not see any real deals for it and it actually costs a bit more at $1350. I did notice online that there are quite a few websites that show how to upgrade the Ultra to make better use of Vista. If you are the type that doesn’t mind cracking open the case of your computers. It might be in your best interest to buy it for $750 and for about $100 and a few hours of your time, make the Q1 Ultra the way it should have been made.

Well that is it for this month. Thanks again to Johnny B. for the idea (keep them coming folks), and as always if you have any questions or comments, feel free to write me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

‘Green’ Gadgets

I’m going to let you in on a deep, dark, personal secret… I’m a tree-hugger. Yes, the gadget guy is also the green guy (I was only kidding a few issues back when I said I like my gadgets to dim the lights three states away when they are plugged in). You may think that it is impossible to be a gadget guy AND be green, but in fact, it is us gadget guys that are going to save the planet, one LED light at a time.

Now I know that this is a hot topic these days and people get all riled up on both sides of the argument, but the fact of the matter is, why waste it if you don’t have to? Regardless of whether or not it is our fault that the ice caps are melting or that coral reefs are dying, just because you have a ton of something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t conserve it.

I’m not a real fan of guilt-tripping people into changing their ways; I think that most people want to do what is right for themselves, their children and the planet. In the past though, it has typically been A LOT harder (and more expensive) to be a conservationist than to go along with the norm and be wasteful.

That equation has changed quite a bit over the last several years and now it just makes sense to become more of a conservationist, not only for the environment but also for your pocket book. The thing that has changed this whole equation is technology. Technology has allowed for some previously expensive solutions to become the easier choice. I would like to share a few of my favorite gadgets that you can get right now – or in the very near future – that will not only help conserve our resources, but will also conserve a few dead presidents in your wallet (in the long run).

Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL): I have converted virtually all the lights in my house to CFLs and while they might not turn on instantaneously and some may take a minute to warm up for their full brightness, they are among the cheapest and easiest gadgets to use to green up your home. They may cost a bit more than traditional incandescent bulbs. But, that difference has come down dramatically over the last few years as their popularity has increased. The fact that they use 65-75% less electricity and last years longer than an incandescent bulb really tips the scales in their favor.

Some people may complain about the 5 milligrams of mercury in each bulb, but as long as they are disposed of in a proper manner (i.e. not just thrown in the waste basket which you shouldn’t even do with incandescent bulbs) that isn’t really an issue. Also, to counter that argument, if you get your electricity from a coal fired plant you will actually reduce the amount of mercury released into the environment by the reduced energy consumption.

If every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a CFL, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 800,000 cars (THAT, my friends, is a lot of conservation with very little effort).

Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lights: Within the next year you will see a new light hit the streets… the LED light. Actually these lights are already available all over the place as keychain lights, flashlights, and even a few larger home floodlights, but soon their efficiency and cost will get to the point to make them much more practical for lighting your house.

LEDs have been around forever but it has taken engineers a long time to perfect a white light LED (red and blue LEDs are relatively easy to produce). LED fixtures will use a larger array of individual lights to provide an instantly bright source of white light (to counter the biggest complaints against CFLs). The beauty of LEDs over CFLs – in addition to their quicker response times – is that they have the potential to use even less power and last longer than CFLs; saving you even more money on your electric bill.

Rechargeable Batteries: Batteries can help save the world? Yep, they sure can! By helping to prevent the throwing away of over 1000 alkaline batteries (since you can charge most rechargeable batteries over 1000 times) you are preventing a ton (literally) of toxic trash being put into our landfills. Rechargeable batteries used to be pretty crummy and didn’t hold their charges very well but nowadays they often outperform their alkaline brethren.

Some new ‘hybrid’ batteries such as the Eneloop battery by Sanyo come out of the package precharged and actually hold on to 80% of their charge one year after coming out of the charger (older rechargeables would be dead within months). These ‘hybrid’ batteries are especially great for low use items such as remote controls since they don’t drain as much over time. Many rechargeables also have higher charge capabilities (look for higher mAh numbers on the side of the battery, 2300 mAh or higher for a AA is great) and can do a better job in a lot of gadgets, such as cameras, than alkalines. Do the planet a favor and get several packs of rechargeables and properly dispose of all those dead alkalines.

Low-Flow Shower Heads: Is a shower head really a gadget? It is when they design it with multiple air intake valves to boost spray power and make a 1.8 Gallon Per Minute (GPM) flow feel like that of a regular 2.5 – 5 GPM shower head. Some even have variable rates that let you adjust the flow depending on what your needs are at any given time (more for rinsing off, less for lathering up). These are a double whammy in the conservation department since they help to conserve both water and energy. They help stretch out your hot water supply so your hot water heater doesn’t have to run as often.

Power Strips: Ah, the ubiquitous power strip that resides behind virtually every desk and entertainment system in America. Did you know that they can help you take a huge chunk out of you energy bill? You may think that just because an electrical device is turned off that it is not really drawing that much power but some devices draw almost as much power in their ‘stand-by’ modes as they do fully on. By plugging in groups of devices that are only used every now and then into one power strip and turning the strip off when the devices aren’t in use, you can dramatically cut this phantom power drain.

Alarm clocks in guest rooms that aren’t in constant use can be shut down and then reset when guests stay over. Entertainment systems can be shut down when you are away on vacation since many modern TVs and cable boxes will synch up through their cable once they are turned back on. Also, don’t leave chargers plugged in. If you are not actively charging a cell phone or some other device, unplug the charger.

These are just a few of the things you can do to help conservation efforts and your wallet. All of them take very little investment in the beginning and often begin to pay you back immediately. The biggest thing though that you can do is just reduce your usage of energy, water, and materials. Out of the whole Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle mantra of the environmental movement, I would argue that reducing your usage of resources makes the biggest impact right from the beginning and will save you money right from the get-go.

That is it for me and my soapbox for now. As always, if you have any questions or have an idea for an article, please feel free to write me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

Gadgets & Gear: “Wii” All Want to Get Fit

Several months back I wrote an article about how video games aren’t just for the couch-potato, Doritos-munching crowd but in fact, can be used to help get into shape and have fun with it at the same time. In that article, I mentioned that Nintendo had really taken notice of just how many people were using the Wii Sports game to help get fit and was planning on releasing a fitness themed game. Well that time is now (mid-May to be specific) and that game is Wii Fit.

The Wii Fit system consists of a balance board and the game disk. The balance board performs a variety of functions. It monitors your center of balance, your weight, and where you are standing/pressing on the board. It uses this data to help you control your on-screen character in the games as well as track your overall fitness.

You start out by telling the system some basic info about yourself such as your age, height, and sex. It then measures your weight and calculates your Body Mass Index (BMI). If you happen to fall into one of the overweight categories it will even adjust your Mii (your onscreen avatar) to be a little more plump! You can then tell the Wii your fitness goals – be it to drop two points on your BMI or to lose ten pounds – and the Wii will keep help develop a plan to get you there using the exercises and games on the disk. You can even input data from exercises you do away from the Wii to help keep track of everything in one place.

The Wii will also keep track of the stats for everyone in the family, so that you can make it a project to all get fit together and add a bit of competition to the mix.

The fitness games are grouped into four categories: yoga, muscle-building, aerobic, and balance. Some examples of the games are a skiing simulator that has you swooshing down the slalom by shifting your weight back and forth on the board, to doing push-ups, to step aerobics, to performing yoga postures such as tree and warrior. All-in-all there are about 40 different activities included in the system. You start with the more basic routines but as you get better, it unlocks some of the more challenging activities.

So if you are still hemming and hawing about getting that Wii for the little ones, just know now that in addition to a little family fun, you (and the kids) can now use system to get into better shape. The Wii Fit package will cost about $90 when it launches on or about the 19th of this month. Better reserve one quick because they will probably be in just as short supply as the Wii itself.

That’s it for this month. As usual if you have any questions or ideas for future articles, feel free to write me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

Gadgets & Gear: April 2008

So as you know, Clark, the editor of this fine publication, has been requesting that I do more articles/reviews on things that don’t need to be plugged in or require batteries.  What fun is that?  I’m not truly happy unless the lights dim in a three state radius when I turn on one of my gadgets!  Anyway, I have wanted to do an article on running shoes for quite some time but it has been impossible to find any that need to be plugged in or take batteries, so I was at a loss.  So I turned to the guy who helped me get my fantastic pair of running shoes, my brother-in-law Brett Lamb, for help.

So what does he bring to the table other than hair that most women would die for and an air of laid-back coolness?  Well he happens to be the owner/operator of the San Francisco Fleet Feet store.  In case you have not heard of Fleet Feet, they are a national chain of specialty running stores (though there is not one here in Michigan) that takes care of runners from their feet all the way to the top of their heads.  When I visited him and his lovely wife Kim a couple of years ago, he about blew a gasket (so much for laid-back coolness) when he saw the pair of shoes that I was wearing.  I didn’t see any problem with them, they were my size, fit reasonably well, were a nice color, and they said ‘running shoe’ on the side of the box.

He insisted on fitting me for a ‘real’ pair of running shoes which I have to admit, after all was said and done, are a fabulous pair of shoes.  He hooked me up with a pair Mizunos and they feel just like extensions of my feet – that was when I really understood that there is both an art and a science to picking a fine pair of running shoes.  With this in mind, I asked if he would share his knowledge on getting the best running shoe.  He was more than happy to oblige, and even though there is not a Fleet Feet store here in Michigan, there are plenty of specialty running stores locally where you can put this knowledge to good use.  So, here is Brett’s collected wisdom on getting the best running shoe for you.

When Buying a Running Shoe…

The first and most important issue to think about when buying a running shoe, in my opinion, is to trust the store and employee who is fitting you for your shoes.  The vast majority of runners, walkers, and general shoe-wearers don’t know how their feet work and what makes them unique from everyone else’s feet.  The easiest thing you can do to remedy this is to find a shoe-fitter whom you trust, who will take the time to evaluate your foot-type and bio-mechanics, and who will let you exchange your shoes if you don’t absolutely love them after a few runs.

Running shoes are a very personal purchase.  They are designed with your foot’s personality in mind, so you shouldn’t think twice about whether or not you should LOVE them.  You will want to keep a few things in mind, once you have found that special someone who you trust with your feet and running or walking future.

1.  The shoes should be a natural fit.  Although they will not fit like your favorite pair of Uggs, they should feel like an extension of your foot.  The heel and mid-foot should be comfortably snug.  No heel lift and not too tight on the instep (top of your mid-foot).  They should also be pretty roomy in the forefoot.  You shouldn’t be able to feel the end of the shoe with your toes.  Make sure you have a little room at the end of the big and second toes, as well as on the sides of your big and pinky toes.

2.  An over-the-counter orthotic may make the whole package better.  Products like Sole orthotics or Superfeet are designed to stabilize your subtalar joint (the joint between your calcanius and talus bones…aka the engine of your foot).  This will make your foot work more efficiently, meaning that if you have some instability in your arch or a difference between the way your left and right foot work, your footwear will work harder for you.  These items should ALWAYS be comfortable, but again just like the shoes, they will feel different than what you are used to.  Different, yet comfortable is always the key with running shoes.

3.  Different people need different shoes, even if you have similar feet.  So let’s compare my sister and I…she is 5 feet tall standing on two copies of War and Peace and maybe weighs 105 pounds.  I am 5’11” and tip the scale around 165 on a light week.  Although we have the same genetic make up, the same parents, and very similarly functioning feet, we require different shoes for exercise.  Similarly, you and your ‘friend who runs’ will probably have different needs in footwear.  So if he/she says: “get the Brooks Adrenaline, I love them!” what you should ask is: “Where did you get fitted for the Brooks Adrenaline?” and then go there for your fitting.  Because I weigh 60 pounds more and because of my extra foot of height, my stride is much longer than my sister’s and I need a more durable, better cushioned shoe.  When I run, I also move faster than she does, meaning that my feet spend more time in the air and less time on the ground, so I require slightly less support than she does.

It is important to remember that there isn’t a shoe that is commonly known as “the best running or walking shoe,” there is only “the best running or walking shoe for you.”  That’s why running specialty stores carry so many different models – to accommodate everyone.

4.  The Joy of Sox!  There are certain things in life that everyone should spend a little extra money on.  Just like a great box of cereal isn’t that much more expensive than an off-brand, less tasty mixture of fruit and flakes; a GREAT pair of socks aren’t too much more than an awful pair of socks.  Socks for exercise should be made of a non-cotton based thread.  Every company calls their non-cotton fabric something unique, but keep in mind, cotton is, in fact, rotten!  There are a few companies out there that care more about socks than most of us care about our own puppy! (That’s love!)  Balega Sports is one such company.  They use a great fabric called DryNamix to make their socks, it wicks moisture and is very durable through the wash cycle.  Two other key points that they address with their socks that few other companies do: high thread count (think about those awesome bed sheets that you saved up for and love so much) and a deep heel pocket (these puppies aren’t going to slip under your foot ten minutes into your workout, they stay locked on to your foot for as long as you wear them).

The typical price of a great pair of socks is $10-$14 per pair.  They should last you a few years of regular use, if not longer and are well worth the investment.  Pick up one pair first to try it out, and I promise it will be the first pick out of the laundry every week!

5. Sports Bras.  Ladies, this is equally important to your shoe purchase.  Your breasts need some support, and if you haven’t heard yet, you do not have to wear three bras at a time when you workout.  Brands like Enell, Moving Comfort, and Champion are making running bras for every woman, not just the 1% of the population that comfortably wears an extra small in everything.  Running bras are no longer coming in small/medium/large…but in true bra sizes.  Enell and Moving Comfort make great products for women who typically wear 34C-44DDD and sometimes even higher.  Start at your local running specialty store and see what they offer.  Many running stores are evolving away from a couple of skinny guys with short shorts talking about how fast they are, into great retailers that understand the range of body sizes who consider themselves runners.  If you are not able to find someone in a running store who can fit you for a bra the way they would fit you for a shoe, you should first complain to the owner! Then march your butt over to Nordstrom or Victoria’s Secret and let them know what you need and that you want to go through a fitting.

So I hope you found Brett’s infinite wisdom on buying the right pair of running shoes for you as helpful as I have.  I really can’t say enough about how much better my feet feel in a true pair of fitted running shoes compared to what I thought were a good pair of shoes.  That’s it for this month and as usual if you have any questions for me (or for Brett for that matter), please feel free to contact me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

Gadgets & Gear: March 2008

Thank you to the numerous readers who have either written in or I have met on the street for saying such nice things about my humble column, Gadgets and Gear. I’m glad that I have been able to help so many of you make sense out of all the techno gibberish out there and help you buy the right item to best fit your needs. I also appreciate it when you help me come up with a topic for my article; especially, when my editor is breathing down my neck and I’m banging my head on my desk trying to come up with a topic that isn’t just cool to me (I can’t write every article on photography or video games).

In just the last month, I have received an overwhelming request for a review on digital camcorders and since I aim to please, I have spent many hours distilling the sea of information out there to something you can actually use.

The Nuts and Bolts

What are the main considerations you want to think about when buying a camcorder? You might think that there are tons of things you have to research before picking the right camcorder for you, but believe it or not, when you take a step back and look at them all, they have a heck of a lot more in common than a lot of other electronic gear out there.

The first thing you have to ask yourself is: “What do I plan on doing with all the video I shoot with this thing?” Now, be honest with yourself on this one. I know several people, who will remain nameless, that shoot more video than Stanley Kubrick on speed but have yet to ever watch a single frame of said video. I know a lot less people who actually will take their video, edit it (the most overlooked but probably most important part next to taking good footage in the first place), and make an actual coherent ‘film’ out of their work. This question doesn’t have to be an either/or, it is a bit of a spectrum. But, you need to figure out where you fit in that spectrum if you are going to make the best purchase for yourself and get a camcorder you will actually use.

I’ll be honest with you, I don’t own a camcorder. I have coveted many of them, have spent hours ogling them in the store, and even more hours researching them, but I know where I lie on that spectrum I just mentioned above. I would be the one who would take the time to edit all the video I took down to a cohesive film. Problem is, I already spend a ton of time working on my photos, so much so that I don’t get to spend near enough time taking them. I don’t need something else to take away from my time behind the lens of my still-camera. I’ll stick to being a photographer and not try to also be a videographer.

So, why is this such a big question; because the answer to this one question will eliminate about half, if not more, of your possible selections of cameras. It will determine the format you save your video to and how easy it is to edit.

If you are one of those people who has little kids and just wants to archive (read: film but rarely watch again) all the little ‘firsts’ in their life, you are probably going to want to look into a camcorder that uses mini-DVDs for your recording format. That is because the DVDs are already an archival format and when you do want to watch them, they are readily played in most DVD players. If you want quick little video snips of parties or your vacation, you may want to consider a memory card based camera due to their easy portability and the fact that you don’t need a ton of recording time. If you plan on doing some editing on your home computer and later burning DVDs for the whole world to see, I would look at either the MiniDV or hard drive based models (nowadays I would lean towards the hard drive unless you are really on a budget).

Something else that I get asked about a lot regarding camcorders is about using them to take still pictures. My advice for this has pretty much stayed the same over the years; don’t buy a camcorder for its photographic ability. You would be much better served to have a small, inexpensive digital camera, with a much higher resolution, than to try to use your camcorder to take pictures. Now that isn’t to say that you can’t use that feature when something interesting comes up and you only have your camcorder available, but as a rule I wouldn’t make much use of that feature if I were you.

Also, in the past I would have harped on making sure you get a camera with a nice viewfinder and not just a big playback screen, but following the path of most digital still cameras, many new camcorders don’t even HAVE a viewfinder! No matter what the manufactures claim, I still consider this a bad thing but I have been out-voted.

Finally, if there was one specification that I would pay the most attention to on the box next to the resolution would be the camcorder’s low-low light capability. I’m not talking about an infrared mode, unless you like your home movies to look like Army combat footage, but how well it can tape in normal mode in low light. I would be wary of any camcorder that says that it can shoot down to 0 lux (lux being a unit of measurement of light, with a candle producing about 10 lux from one foot away). If you can find something between 2-7 lux, that would be good, and you can bet that the pricier models will come much closer to actually giving you good quality at 2 lux versus a $300 camcorder.

The Camcorders

High End

The Sony HDR-xx7 Series: Hand it to the guys and gals at Sony to try to figure out a way to corner the entire camcorder market by covering the entire spectrum of media formats in one series of camcorders. These cameras are Sony’s current top of the line camera and include the hard drive based HDR-SR7, the memory card based HDR-CX7, the MiniDV based HDR-HC7, and the mini-DVD based HDR-UX7. All of these units with the exception of the UX7 are high-definition camcorders and all have a very good viewfinder, with the exception of the CX7 which doesn’t have one at all. Sony is really trying to tout its 2.7 inch 16:9 touchscreen interface but all the levels of menus that you have to dig through to get to some of the most basic controls make these cameras less than intuitive. Never the less, if you have the money (all of these units are on the pricey side) Sony will deliver the goods in the video quality department.

Panasonic HDC-HS9: A very nice hard drive based camcorder (actually most hard drive recorders also have a slot for a memory card but that is mostly for taking still pictures and not for video) that gives you a lot of features, but also costs a pretty penny. Panasonic has built its camera and camcorder line around top-notch Leica lenses and this pays off with units that deliver top notch clarity and sharpness. Panasonic is also known for their outstanding Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) system which will help prevent you from producing a nausea-inducing film a la ‘The Blair Witch Project.’ The 60GB hard drive will give you about eight hours of high definition recording time and almost twice that in standard definition.

Mid-Level

Panasonic PV-GS320: This MiniDV based camcorder delivers on both the image quality and value for the dollar. While MiniDV based cameras are on the way out, it will still take some time before the hard drive and memory card based systems completely dominate the market. In the meantime, units such as the GS320 continue to deliver top notch video in a unit several hundred dollars less than the high end units. The key to the GS320s quality is the fact that it uses three sensors instead of just one to record the video data. While this is common in quite a few camcorders, at this price range you could expect only a single image sensor. The GS320 also incorporates the above mentioned O.I.S. system so you get top notch video that doesn’t jump around, unless of course, you really are jumping around.

Canon DC50: If you absolutely must have a camcorder that can also produce decent quality still photographs, this is the camcorder for you. While a little pricy for a standard definition camcorder, you are getting a lot more depth and control of your still images in addition to very good quality video. The other reason this model costs more is that it uses optically based image stabilization like the high end camcorders and not the software based ones that are in most of the lower end units. If you really want a DVD based camcorder and really, really want it to be able to do still photos as well, the DC50 is a no-brainer.

Low End

Panasonic PV-GS90: A good, basic standard definition MiniDV based camcorder which boasts the Panasonic O.I.S. system. If you are looking for an easy-to-use, relatively compact camcorder that can turn in some decent video footage without making you wince at the checkout counter, the GS90 should be on your short list.

Canon ZR950: Very, very similar to the Panasonic GS90 in form and function, the Canon ZR950 will provide you with a nice camcorder that is more than able to get the job done. With a 37x optical zoom and a 2000x digital zoom, you will be able to easily pick out your kid on the soccer field from all the way out in the parking lot!

So there you have it – my recommendations on the best digital camcorders for your money. Before you go out and buy one, remember to ask yourself what kind of videographer you really think you’ll be since you will save yourself a lot of time and money by being honest with yourself. Thanks again to all of you who requested the article on camcorders, now can you help me out with the April issue?

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to write to me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

Gadgets & Gear: February 2008

The other day I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what I would write about for this month’s Gadgets and Gear article; when all of a sudden I was inundated with questions about elliptical trainers. I am, by no means, an expert on ellipticals but most of the people who know me, know that it is my favorite cardio machine. I like it so much and was so sick of waiting for available ones at my gym (I guess a lot of people like them), that I purchased my own gym quality elliptical last year.

I did a ton of research last year when picking my elliptical and have recently updated that information to help out my friends. So, I thought I would share with you the fruits of all this research. This article isn’t going to tell you the specific model of elliptical to buy (yeah, I know, I’m a ton of help) but is going to be more in line with my buying guide for cameras and will go over the factors you need to consider when purchasing an elliptical trainer for the home.

First off, why do I love ellipticals so much? Because they don’t make me hurt the way I do when I use a treadmill. Years of running in combat boots did a number on my knees and shins and if I can keep from pounding my feet on a treadmill or a track, I’m all for it. Ellipticals give the best sensation of running with the least amount of impact and I actually find it a bit fun to use. I can not say the same about most other exercise machines.

There are several things you need to check out and/or do prior to purchasing an elliptical machine. These factors are stride length, how much space you have available for the machine, how much you are going to use it, accessories/programs you would like available, and your price range.

Stride Length: The first is to figure out the stride length that you find most comfortable. This will help you rule out tons of machines right off the bat. Most machines have a range from 16 to 24 inches in stride length. The most common length you will find will typically be an 18-inch model and this will work well for many people. To find out if that is a good number for you, you are going to have to hop on an elliptical and give it a good test (not just one or two seconds, but actually a few minutes on there). Also, just because it ‘works’ for you, don’t assume that any particular stride length is the best for you just off of one test, try a few different ones. I actually prefer a 22 inch stride because it best simulates my stride when I run. My wife on the other hand being a petite 4’ 11” likes the 18” stride and could probably even use a shorter one. On any given person, the longer the stride length, the more it moves towards a sprinting action.

If you have several people who are going to be using the elliptical, you will want to look into a model with a variable stride length, unless you all agree that you prefer a specific set stride. The model I have has a range from 18 – 24 inches in two-inch increments.

A small subset of this consideration – and one that will also affect the next topic regarding available space – is whether you get a front wheel or rear wheel configuration. Many ‘experts’ believe that the rear wheel set-up gives the most natural stride. While my elliptical is a rear wheel elliptical, I have used many front wheel units that I felt were just fine. Again you are going to have to try it out. The space consideration comes from the fact that typically the rear wheel units take up a lot more room than the front wheel ones.

Space Availability: Do you live in an apartment, a house, or a mansion? This will greatly affect which model of elliptical you will want to buy. Unfortunately, almost all elliptical machines take up a lot of room. Some are smaller than others and some can even ‘fold up’ a bit, but any elliptical is going to take up some space in your house. I have seen a few models of ellipticals that are the size of a stair-master and I have seen others that can fold up. I have reservations on both of these types of machines because it seems difficult to really get up a decent running pace when you are all bunched up by the console on the stair-master sized units.

On the fold up units, I question how stable they can be when there is an obvious ‘break’ in the platform so that it can fold up and stability is a big issue when you are hauling at top speed on one of these things. If you don’t have a good space that is about 8 x 3 feet, you might want to consider another machine like a stationary bike.

Durability: How often and how long do you plan on using the elliptical? How many different people will use the machine? These are all huge considerations when buying an elliptical. The biggest difference between the $3000 elliptical and the $300 model is really how sturdy they are (there are other differences but the biggest one is the quality). The expensive gym quality machines are made for almost constant use by thousands of people, while the cheaper models are designed for one or two people to use them for an hour or two every other day. The expensive models will have lots of welded steel for stability, while the less expensive models will be held together by screws and bolts that will become loose over time.

If you want to know how well built a machine is, look at the warranty. The best units will have a lifetime frame warranty and a year or two on parts and labor. The lower quality units might have a lifetime frame warranty but the parts and labor will only be 90 days at most. You can’t go by price alone on this one; I have seen some pretty expensive units with really weak warranties and that should raise an alarm in your head. Now this isn’t to say that a unit with a weaker warranty won’t do well for you – especially, if you are using it for 30 minutes every other day. But, if you are going to have multiple users or longer workouts, you definitely need to shop for quality.

This is also another time you will want to go in person to test the model you are looking considering. If you get on the machine and it is wobbly and makes a lot of funny noises (not the funny noises you make, but the actual machine), it will do that very quickly after you get it home as well.

Accessories/Programs: This one is pretty easy. Are you looking for all kinds of programs so that you can switch up your workout every day or do you only care about a timer or distance meter? Some people like to have a built-in heart monitor and time their exercises by their heart rate while others go by time and distance and vary their exercises by themselves. Be careful here since a lot of the cheaper companies throw in tons of ‘features’ that really don’t add any real value to the machine but disguise the fact that the important parts are pretty cheap. All the bells and whistles just make it so they feel they can charge more. Pay for quality and not for the cool graphical interface or iPod dock.

Price: This is probably what you are most concerned with but it should be last on your list. Think of it this way, you go out and buy yourself a cool looking elliptical for $700 and after a month or two of use, it creaks and wobbles and it just isn’t that comfortable or fun to use so you stop using it. Guess what, you just threw away $700. Let’s say you go out and spend $1400 on a mid-level unit, you really enjoy it and get years of use out of it. Just with all the health benefits you’ve reaped, you have made a really good investment.

I would stay away from a lot of the ‘big box’ athletic stores and especially stay away from the department stores where they sell a ‘so-called’ $1200 unit for $500 (guess how much it’s really worth?) Go to a specialty fitness store. Not only are you going to be able to try out several different models but they will have a decent price range as well. They may not be as low as the department store, but their low end is above the department stores’ high end. Also, the fitness store will be able to work with you to find the best unit for your needs. Most stores will come and set the machine up for you and many have their own financing (many times interest free) to help ease the sticker shock.

Finally, my biggest warning to you would be to make sure you try out any elliptical first (this actually goes for any exercise machine). Don’t just buy some unit off the internet because it looks cool or is really cheap. Finally, try to find some reviews of the model you are thinking of buying. One good source of reviews for a lot of different models is www.ellipticaltrainers.com. Don’t be shocked by some of the prices they quote in their reviews. You can often find many of the models for less in the store where you are going to physically test the machine out, right?

That’s it for this month! As always, feel free to write to me if you have any questions at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

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