Product Review:
ThinkGeek
Micro Spy Remote
DIY Neon Sign
Space Warp Desktop
Thinkgeek is a great website if you’re looking for that special gift for the person who has everything. I had been looking at this website for awhile now and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try some of their items that I was interested in. The website has everything from a USB Plasma ball to R2-D2 laundry baskets. You name it they probably have it.
The first product that I got to try was Thinkgeeks Micro Spy Remote. Now for those of you who follow tech news you may remember that a certain gadget blog was banned from CES for turning off television sets. I am sure they were using a similar device. Well this device takes it one step further. It allows you to also control the volume, channels, and video input. Plus it’s really small so it can fit in the palm of your hand when you’re worried about people seeing it. Once I got it out of the package and installed the battery I tried it on my 32” Sony Vega. You basically hold down the mute button and once the TV your trying to control mutes then you can basically control anything. It worked like a charm and within minutes I was making my daughter think there was something wrong with the set. Now it was time to take it to the next level. We were going out to get some pizza and I knew that they had 2 really large TV’s. So I waited until the staff was in the back making pizza and I proceeded to switch both TV’s to a different input. Again it worked like a charm and I was really surprised by the range. I had to be at least 25 feet away. The one thing I did notice is it seemed to only work on major brand tv’s. I tried it on my father in-laws crappy Citizen TV and it would not work. If you’re looking for a fun way to fool with your friends, you should check out the Micro Spy Remote.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/9a06/
Next up was a DIY Neon Sign Kit. This would be cool present for someone with a bar in their house. This kit allows you to create your own custom neon sign with its snap-together 2” x 3” neon letters. You can have up to 22 letters on one power supply. You can also have them blink if you want to really attract attention. I have always liked neon signs and this is a cool way to get one. My only problem with it is cost. I am not sure what the going price is if you wanted a sign for your shop or bar, but with this you have to first buy the power supply at $29.99, then each of the letters cost $6.99. But my guess is that it would cost a lot for a customized sign. This is definitely a cool idea and if you bought enough letters it would be really easy to change the sign whenever you felt like it.
Lastly was probably my favourite product of the three that were sent. This was the Space Warp Desktop. This is a product that has been imported from Japan. The instructions are in Japanese but I knew that going in. The Space Warp Desktop is from the Ban Dai Company. It is a mesmerizing desk toy that features either chrome ball bearing or glowing orbs perpetually moving around a clear track. There is a switch on the back that allows you to select which balls are sent around the tracks. First let me start off by saying this could have been a nightmare to assemble if the instructions didn’t show step by step how it went together. They would list the part you need (Ex A 2) and the part would have A-2 stamped on them. So it made it very easy to put together. The glowing orbs are actually powered by a UV light that is in the base that charges them up. This is really cool sitting on your desk and would make the perfect edition to have at work. After seeing this I realized that Ban Dai has even larger sets out there. I hope that Thinkgeek will carry those in the future.
