I finally broke down and purchased a Bluetooth headset for my cell phone.  For some time now I have been managing quite well with my XV6700 Verizon phone (brick) glued to my head whilst on the move (in states where it is not illegal – of course to drive and use a cell phone).  Now that I am on the phone with clients more often I decided to treat myself to a hands free.

A colleague recommended the Jawbone because it contains military grade noise cancellation technology, and I was curious to how good this really is. 

Check out the video at http://www.jawbone.com/meet.html?utm_source=site&utm_medium=promo_demo

I joke you not – the noise cancellation actually works – I had the radio playing in the car, driving at 60MPH and the receiver on the other end of the line informed me the call was crystal clear without background noise interference.

The Jawbone retails at about $160 but if you know where to look you can purchase a new working model in various colors for about $75.00.  Pairing with my Bluetooth cell phone was a breeze, battery life is adequate for the amount of daily calls I make, and when I am wearing the Jawbone I don’t look too much like a Borg hybrid.

Now, just because I have succumb to the ranks of the executives that appear to talk to themselves in the street, you will not catch me in meeting, at a restaurant, or socializing with friends whilst this thing is strapped to my head.  Who are these people that think these devices are a fashion accessory and have to wear them all day? [;)]

It’s been a busy, busy couple of weeks, and I’ve not been posting, but I had to mention my new purchase of an 8GB USB flash drive from AData.  Yes, you read that right 8GB!!! Wow, I remember when I thought 512MB attached to my key chain was impressive.  This little puppy is 200x speed with a 30mbs read and 20mbs write speed, which means it is perfect for Vista Ready Boost.

I am about to install a new copy of Vista on a new machine shortly, so I thought I’d try booting and installing from my new stick to see how fast it is.

I finally decided to ditch my Sennheiser phones today on account of a malfunctioning jack, which meant I could only get sound from one ear unless I contorted my body in a strange angle and held the wire in the air in the direction of the wind.  So I popped down to my local electronics store with a friend and picked up a pair of Bose TriPort Around-Ear phones. 

The price tag is a little more than I would have liked to have spent ($130), but I justified the cost because I wear phones most of my working day and wanted something comfortable with good sound output.

After plugging the Bose into my SB Audigy PC soundcard and plopping them on my melon I realized that the $130 was money well spent.  First off these puppies are very comfortable – perfect for wearing all day whilst blogging writing documentation – and the dynamic range produces a crisp treble and earthy bass sound.  I had to play with the sound settings on my PC and turn the bass down because the original setting for my prior phones was too much thump, thump in the Bose.

So far I’ve only played my favorite metal tracks, and I’ve been thrilled with the quality of output, so I am sure that I’ll be as equally impressed with some of the more subdued tracks in my collection.  The “Around-Ear” cancels out most background noise – my cell phone rang earlier and I could hardly hear the ringer, and typing this post I cannot hear the keys clack, and let me tell you I am heavy on the keys.

Overall a great purchase.

Current Mood:    ecstatic

[tags:Electronics]