Comments on: What Was Your Best Gadget Purchase This Year?

By: Ken Forbus

Ken Forbus — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:25:26 +0000

It’s a tie between my Kindle DX and my HTC Touch Pro2. The DX has radically reduced the amount of printing I do and upped the amount of reading in interstitial time, especially when travelling. The TP2 is the best Windows Mobile machine I’ve ever had. The only drawback is that the speakerphone (which works well) really requires a screen protector, and that makes drawing and handwriting recognition not as smooth as they usually are on a WM device. However, it’s still over threshold, and the keyboard is excellent when I have more than just a little jotting down to do.

By: R Mathew

R Mathew — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:47:14 +0000

I’ve handled my share of gadgets this year but I’d say the best one was a Livescribe pen. When in meetings or interviews, or in a cafe and sketching out thoughts, it’s proven invaluable – and it’s way smaller than carrying a tablet pc everywhere.

Runner up would be the iPod Nano – I love the iPod Touch but the size and battery of the nano can’t be beat – being able to drown out the rest of the world on demand without daily charging is nice if a bit worrying.

By: Nigel Kay

Nigel Kay — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:39:05 +0000

As a British reader,let me offer one further suggestion: the Pure Evoke digital/wifi radio, which also acts as a media streamer. Seamless integration at a great price!

By: Stu

Stu — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:38:10 +0000

I still have a year to go on my contract with my USB modem so I purchased a CradlePoint PHS300 – it does the same thing as the MiFi but has a bigger footprint. The good news is that the PHS300 has a removable rechargable battery, and I have a spare ready to go if I’m not near an outlet.

Also, I got my first iPod touch – absolutely love it.

By: Nameless

Nameless — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:15:26 +0000

As for 2009, or what is now unquestionably last year, that would have to be my HP TC1100-my first foray into Tablet PCs of any sort, and at a nice, low cost at that. From March ’til now, it’s been quite the aid to this young college student with a little help from OneNote, as well as SketchBook Pro to show to the artists what such systems can do for them.

However, it was old then, and the aged hardware is increasingly being hammered by today’s bloated applications and the Web. I hope it manages to sell in a few days so I can step up to a Gateway C-141xl or any of its relatives. (A Core 2 Duo at 2.5 GHz and dedicated ATI graphics ought to last me quite a while.)

I’m also about to replace my aged Logitech G5 with the newer G500, which adds two much-needed thumb buttons and puts the DPI switch buttons in a far more ergonomic position, among other things. The existing G5 will then be used with that Gateway C-141xl I hope to have instead of my desktop, for those times when the trackpad and Wacom pen are both undesirable (probably when I’m removing faces in old FPSs or something of that nature).

By: Dion Forster

Dion Forster — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:19:52 +0000

My best gadget for 2009 (based on the criteria of daily usage and functionality) would have to be my Macbook Air (small, light, full power computer with a great keyboard), and my iPhone 3GS (we have none of the 3G problems in South Africa that many have on AT&T in the USA). I also have a BatteryGreek external battery with the Magsafe adaptor which gives me an additional 6 hours of work on the Macbook Air.

Some of my other indispensable gadgets are my Garmin 305 Forerunner watch (for keeping tack of my mountainbike rides) – I use ‘Ascent’ on the Mac to graph my training and view my tracks in Google Maps.

Nokia E90 – this is a trusted old smart phone. It simply works! I have a work sim card in this phone and use it when I travel overseas. I also use the FM radio in the morning while I am shaving!

In 2010 I hope to get a new Macbook Pro 13″ (I miss the optical drive and ports on my Macbook Air). My phone is due for an upgrade in mid January and I hope to get a Droid.

By: Julia

Julia — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:26:14 +0000

I bought my MacBook and iPhone in 2008, so the unchallenged favorite in 2009 is my Kindle 2. The only drawback is that many of the Kindle books aren’t available in Europe.

By: thenikjones

thenikjones — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:07:33 +0000

My eee PC 901 – old, but it was a major step-up from the 701 as XP is more useful than Linux to me [and 2x battery life turned it from 'toy' to 'tool']

My wonderful wife bought me an iPod Touch for my 40th birthday – great device which has persuaded me that an iPhone might be the device to replace my still-trusty Nokia N95 – although it’ll be almost 18 months before my contract lets me do this.

Tempted to get a MiFi but the N95 with Joiku-Spot does a similar job so will use that for now.

By: kingcharles

kingcharles — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:23:59 +0000

Not an obvious one but for me it is the Vectrix VX1. Already several years in production but I only purchased one recently. It offers a great ride and allows me to get some real practical experience on our future in transportation which I am convinced will be electrical!
The reason to call it a gadget is that I found that I treat it the same as other gadgets I have!

By: geekabilly

geekabilly — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:24:11 +0000

Runner up: In June it was the Palm Pre, but before July arrived, Sprint coverage brought me back to Verizon.

Ultimate winner: Motorola Droid, among the best gadgets I have ever owned!