Ultra Cool Gadgets

Designed with all-metal construction and a 6-quart capacity, this powerful stand mixer features a 575-watt motor for handling tough mixing jobs. It can effectively mix up to 14 cups of all-purpose flour and produce up to 8 pounds of mashed potatoes. The mixer can also churn through double batches of bread dough with the included burnished PowerKnead spiral hook, which replicates hand kneading with a forceful punching and rolling action. The mixer’s 10-speed slide control ranges from a very fast whip to a very slow stir, while its Soft Start mixing function helps minimize ingredient splatter and flour puff with gentle acceleration to the selected speed after start-up. An electronic speed sensor helps maintain a consistent mixing speed, even when adding ingredients. For commercial-style motor protection, the mixer automatically shuts off when overload is detected.

Product Features

* 10-speed stand mixer with all-metal construction and powerful 575-watt motor
* 6-quart stainless-steel mixing bowl; direct-drive transmission with all-steel gears
* Electronic speed sensor; auto shut-off motor protection; Soft Start minimizes splatter
* Wire whip, burnished flat beater, spiral dough hook, and clear 2-piece pouring shield included
* Measures 14-3/5 by 16-1/2 by 11-2/7 inches

Customer feedback:

1. The machine is a bit louder with more of a high whine at higher speeds, but I would expect that with the added power and size. This morning I took it for a “test drive” with a 600 gram (flour) batch of pizza dough using very high gluten flour which I kneaded at speed 2 for 5 minutes. The sound under load wasn’t at all unpleasant and the spiral dough hook really works the dough like the professional mixers I used in culinary school and on the job.
I’ve mostly used my 5 quart Kitchen Aid for cakes, muffins, pate choux for eclairs, mashed potatoes and whipped cream and meringue. I’ve made my bread dough exclusively in my large capacity Cuisinart food processor. Now that I have a more powerful Kitchen Aid mixer, I feel confident it can take the challenge of the high gluten dough.

2. This is a reliable machine. It gets a workout in my household on almost a daily basis. No complaints! The things I like about this, and the KA brand in general, is the elegant design, which inspires confidence (being heavy and metal, rather than el cheapo plastic) and accentuates rather than detracts from kitchen decor. I am not sure when so many major manufacturers decided that American consumers preferred cheap and ugly and unreliable, a la Wal-Mart, but they are wrong, and KA is right.

Combining a resilient 325-watt motor with a heavy-duty transmission, this powerful stand mixer can handle the heaviest mixtures and mix large batches easily. The unit’s 10-speed control ranges from a very fast whip to a very slow stir, while its 67-point planetary mixing action moves the beater clockwise and the shaft counterclockwise, enabling the beater to reach every area and mix ingredients thoroughly with no need to rotate the bowl. In addition, the stand mixer comes equipped with a large 5-quart stainless-steel bowl and a Flower Power index of 9 cups. The unit’s one-piece pouring shield prevents ingredient splatter and makes it simple to add ingredients when the mixer is in use. Dishwasher-safe parts make cleanup a snap, and its multipurpose attachment hub powers a variety of optional attachments to provide unmatched culinary versatility and convenience. A stainless wire whip and a burnished beater and dough hook come included. Designed with a solid, all-metal base, the stand mixer measures 16-2/5 by 10-2/5 by 13-2/7 inches and carries a one-year hassle-free replacement warranty.

Product Features

* 10-speed stand mixer with powerful 325-watt motor
* 5-quart stainless-steel bowl; Flower Power index of 9 cups
* 1-piece pouring shield prevents ingredient splatter
* Multipurpose attachment hub; dishwasher-safe parts
* Measures 16-2/5 by 10-2/5 by 13-2/7 inches

Customer feedback:

1. I have looked at the Kitchaid mixers for years and I finally bought one after getting an incredible price on this one. It is SUPER heavy and well made. I used it several times over the holidays and it worked flawlessly. I actually began searching for things to make just to have an excuse to use it! I absolutely love it and I am extremely happy with my purchase.

2. This is our first KitchenAid mixer. It is a great kitchen tool. One, no one should be without and this price it is a steal. It has performed as advertised.

Live life outloud with this speaker system for your iPod. This contemporary cube design features Reson8 speaker technology for maximum performance that’s perfect for both indoor and outdoor use. A full-function remote control is included as well as a line-in jack for additional audio devices, an AV out jack for viewing iPod videos on TV, and a microphone jack for karaoke jams. The iH80B charges your docked iPod when connected to the AC adapter (included). Universal dock plays and charges most docking iPod models (inserts included). Operates on AC adapter or eight C batteries.

Technical Details

* 2.0 iPod Speaker System
* Stylish black color
* Charges docked iPod when connected to AC wall current
* Universal dock plays and charges most docking iPods (inserts included)
* High-fidelity Reson8 speaker technology

Customer feedback:

1. I’m giving this unit four stars because it is a nice looking unit with decent features and I got it for a good price. However, the sound quality leave me wanting better. I’d give the sound quality for music a 2.5 or maybe a 3 if I’m feeling generous (out of 5). However, for the price I paid I can’t complain much so I’m giving it 4 stars taking price into account. Just don’t expect 4 or 5 star quality sound. If you’re listening to podcasts, it should be fine but I wouldn’t recommend it for listening to music unless you’re not into hi-fi sound or are limited to something of this size.

2. I bought this for myself (from TJ Maxx, actually…) and It’s actually pretty good! I wanted something that had good sound, that was loud enough to fill a good size room (20′ x 20′) and portable. I didn’t need a clock. I paid a lot more at TJ (59.99), but the sound is pretty hearty, plenty of bass and treble, goes loud without distortion, and also goes very very quiet (good for baby’s room). I have the 80g ipod classic.

Give your kids hours of fun with the colorful, uniquely designed Gym Dandy TT-220 Teeter Totter, which features a unique pendulum rocking motion and open suspension design. It also offers rubber bump absorbers under the seats that reduce impact, soft molded seat, safe rubber handle guards, and safety cable locks that reduce accidental injury during unsupervised use. Its sealed ball bearings provide a smooth swinging motion and it will withstand years of outdoor use thanks to its powder coated finish. It’s easy to assemble, and is backed by a two-year limited warranty.

Specifications

* 60mm X 11 gauge steel tube main frame
* Sealed ball bearings with 20mm axle
* 1500-pound tensile strength nylon covered steel cable
* Polyurethane injection molded seat pads with rubber seat bumpers
* 3mm thick neoprene grips
* Assembled dimensions: 112 x 35 x 36 inches
* Weight capacity: 300 pounds
* Recommended for ages 3 and up

Product Features

* Colorful, uniquely designed teeter totter with pendulum rocking motion is recommended for ages 3 and older
* Safety cable locks reduce accidental injury during unsupervised use
* Elongated soft molded seats for even weight distribution
* Measures 112 by 35 by 36 inches when set up
* Assembly required; 2-year limited warranty

Customer feedback:

1. It all fits in a box that is not crazy big or crazy heavy, so shipping is not too bad. It took about 1 hour to put together with kids “helping”. It is very sturdy. I like the padding on the handle bars and the good bumper below the seats. The hinge bearings move very smoothly. Just well designed and engineered device. Highly recommend it.

2. Wow, this is some seesaw! It is well built, has no place to pinch/hurt little fingers/limbs, and it holds half the neighborhood at once (a big child can sit with a toddler on one side comfortably). The lock feature is great because our 3 year old can sit on it without hurting herself (if no one is around to totter with her). My only regret is that we did not buy it soon.

For apartment dwellers with limited outdoor space, Char-Broil created their Patio Caddie grills. Compact yet efficient, the propane grill offers 187 square inches of cooking space, ideal for small households or as a vacation home grill. Activated by a push-button electronic ignition, a 10,000 BTU burner roasts mesquite chicken or a half-dozen bratwurst.
The freestanding grill’s body features porcelain-steel construction that resists rusting. Equipped with heavy-gauge porcelain cooking grids, the grill distributes heat evenly while cleaning with ease. A grease catcher collects drippings for simple disposal. Char-broil employed their patented Thermsulate lining to ensure steady temperatures, which can be monitored on the temperature gauge. The grill lid also includes thermostatic handles. The grill’s body is supported by a sturdy plastic base and can be moved to and fro on the wheels implemented on two of the grill’s legs. For the best care, clean the grates with a mild detergent and avoid use of steel wool and other abrasives. The grill affixes to either an 11-1/2- or 20- pound propane tank. This item requires assembly and necessitates the use of a Phillips screwdriver, wrench and pliers. Hardware is enclosed with the thorough assembly instructions. The Patio Caddie also comes in electric models. A five-year limited warranty covers the main body of this grill while a one-year warranty protects smaller parts. The grill measures 22 by 16-3/4 by 44 inches and weighs 52 pounds upon shipping.

Product Features

* From Charbroil, liquid propane grill with 187 square inches cooking space for patios and small households
* Constructed in rust-proof porcelain steel with Thermsulate lining and heavy-gauge porcelain-coated cooking grates; thermostatic handles
* Equipped with a 10,000 BTU burner and push-button ignition; temperature gauge tracks grill heat
* Adaptable to both 11-1/2- and 20-pound propane tanks
* Grill measures 22 by 16-3/4 by 44 inches with a shipping weight of 52 pounds; limited lifetime warranties for grill body and parts

Customer feedback:

1. The Patio Caddie is a nice small grill-good for small spaces when you want the convenience of propane. It is well constructed and easy to use. Assembly is a bit of a pain, though nowhere near as bad as their old full size units. If you have a cordless screwdriver and can follow their instructions, it should take about 30 minutes to an hour. It’s very easy to use-a push button ignition, burner control on the front, and with the propane tank sitting down below, you have easy access to the valve. There are nice touches like a built in thermometer and a retainer clip so you can hinge the lid on the lip of the grill if you don’t have a place to put it when you have the lid off. It does generate a decent amount of heat for a single burner grill-just enough for searing, and the ceramic charcoals do much better than lava rocks.

2. What makes a good grille is really simple: it must start every time (it does), it must generate enough heat to cook (it does, but keeping the cover on helps)and it must have high quality grids (it does). On the last point, and what really sets the Patio Caddie Apart, are the heavy porcelainized grids. The are wonderful to cook on, easy to clean, haven’t sagged in 5 years use.
Consider this the Honda Civic of grills: I fill the mini-tank once or twice a year for $7 and cook at least once a week year round (in Seattle, no less). It is absolutely the finest chicken cooking device I have ever seen and easily cooks dinner for 4 to 6. No it won’t handle a 10 Lb salmon in one shot or cook a dozen burgers for a tribal reunion. And a Honda Civic wont carry an entire NFL team at one time either.

Broaden your perspective with the Canon EF 16-35mm ultra-wide-angle zoom lens. Specifically designed for improved edge-to-edge image quality that meets the strict requirements of professional and high-end amateur photographers alike, the lens lets you bring more area into focus while providing greater depth of field. The lens features three high-precision aspherical lens elements–ground, replica, and GMo–that produce even better image quality than the original Canon EF 16-35mm USM lens. The circular aperture, meanwhile, produces a beautiful and natural background blur when shooting at wider apertures. Other details include internal focusing, a ring-type ultra-sonic monitor (USM), and new AF algorithms for fast and quiet autofocusing. The lens carries a one-year warranty.

* Focal length: 16-35mm
* Maximum aperture: f/2.8
* Lens construction: 16 elements in 12 groups
* Diagonal angle of view: 108 degrees (at 10 feet) to 63 degrees
* Focus adjustment: AF with full-time manual
* Closest focusing distance: 0.92 feet
* Filter size: 82mm, P=0.75mm/1 filter
* Dimensions: 3.5 inches in diameter, 4.4 inches long
* Weight: 1.41 pounds

Technical Details

* 16-35mm ultra-wide-angle zoom lens with f/2.8 maximum aperture
* 3 high-precision aspherical lens elements produce superior image quality
* Circular aperture produces natural background blur at wider apertures
* Ring-type USM for fast and quiet autofocusing; internal focusing
* Measures 3.5 inches in diameter and 4.4 inches long

Customer feedback:

1. Fantastic lens from 16-24, perfectly OK from 24-35. This lens is one of the three zooms us full-frame shooters should always have in the bag: 16-35 f2.8 II, either the 24-70 or 24-105 IS, and a 70-200 or 70-300. 1.6X crop camera users are better served by the 10-22 EF-S.

2. I have owned both this and the original version. The new lens is better in the corners and flares less but the corners are still a little soft at f2.8 and you can get the lens to flare a little if you try. I haven’t seen the loss of clarity above 20mm that others reported. Perhaps you would see a slight difference in eyelashes if you did a lot of portraits but this is probably not the best choice for a portrait lens. It is a somewhat better lens for shooting landscapes and other shots where edge to edge clarity is important.
But the differences between the two versions are minor and in some instances irrelevant. If you don’t shoot a full frame camera the soft edges don’t appear in the photo. And flare is a minimal issue at most. It rarely appears and is easy to fix in Photoshop if it does. I would opt for the original if I didn’t shoot full frame based on the price difference alone.

Incorporating Canon’s second-generation Image Stabilization technology, this 70-200mm telephoto zoom responds in as little as 0.5 seconds while providing up to three stops of correction for camera shake. As a result, you can easily capture the far-off action of fast-paced sports or zoom in for an intimate portrait with a blurred background. The lens’s autofocus (AF) system, meanwhile, has been refined for better response time and tracking speed. And photographers will love the new eight-blade circular aperture, which offers a more pleasing out-of-focus image. Constructed to pro standards, the EF 70-200mm lens is highly dust- and moisture-resistant and carries a one-year warranty.

* Focal length: 70-200mm
* Maximum aperture: 1:2.8
* Lens construction: 23 elements in 18 groups
* Diagonal angle of view: 34 to 12 degrees
* Focus adjustment: Inner focusing system with USM
* Closest focusing distance: 4.3 feet
* Zoom system: Rotating type
* Filter size: 77mm
* Dimensions: 3.4 inches in diameter, 7.8 inches long
* Weight: 3.24 pounds

Customer feedback:

1. My copy of this lens is very sharp at all focal lengths. Color and contrast are excellent. I really don’t have a single complaint about this lens. Some people find the weight objectionable, but it hasn’t been an major issue for me. Unless you need to be physically running around to capture your images, or unless you have to hold the lens to your eye for lengthy periods (isn’t that what tripods are for?), I don’t see that it would be a problem for most average-sized, healthy adults. I often carry my 20D in a shoulder case with this lens, the 24-70mm L and a 580EX Speedlite. Hours of carrying this bag around does require transferring the load from shoulder to shoulder periodically, but it’s a price I’m willing to pay to get quality photos.

2. This is the best lens you can get in this zoom range for the Canon EOS. It’s not the cheapest and it’s not the lightest, but it’s the best. This lens is fast, it has excellent optics, the build quality is very solid and the image stabilization (IS) feature works wonders for hand held shooting. If you shoot hand held in marginal light, this is the lens for you. If you always use a tripod, you don’t really need IS — take a look at the less expensive non-IS version of this lens. If you always shoot in good light, the lighter and even less expensive 70-200mm f4.0 may do the job for you. But for me, the extra stop of light and the IS make the difference between unusable images and great images. This is an awesome lens.

amera Armor is a line of rugged, custom fit SLR digital camera cases engineered to provide maximum protection from impact and abrasion while allowing full access to all features of the camera. The four-part system includes Body Armor, Lens Armor, LCD Shield, and Lens Cap Leash. We love our cameras as much as you do. That’s why we designed Camera Armor - the only choice for full time protection. Each model is engineered to provide maximum protection while allowing full access to all controls, compartments, and ports.

Technical Details

* No zippers-proven dry-bag technology works every time
* Roll three times-dirt, dust, sand and water stay out
* Impact protection-padded inner box keeps your gear safe
* Quck access to your gear-don’t miss a shot

Technical Details

* High-capacity Lithium Ion Battery Pack
* 3 cells, 11.1V, 2300 mAh
* Designed for exclusive use with the EOS-1D Mark III
* 40% less volume than NP-E3 and 46% lighter in weight
* Recharges in about 120 minutes

Having a good battery pack will help make sure that you have enough battery life for when you need additional battery power.

Customer feedback:

1. This battery lasted for over 1000 pictures, plus hours of lens micro-adjustments, mirror-locked cleaning, etc. This includes two shooting trips in sub-freezing weather. I just put a new battery in the camera, and I expect to get at least 2000 pictures off of that one.

2. I bought this battery as a backup for 1D Mark III camera. It turned out to be the longest lasting battery I have ever used. Put this in a camera and you never have to worry about it.

The new 21.1-megapixel, full-frame Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III digital SLR camera brings the power of Canon’s professional imaging excellence and innovation into sharper focus than ever before. While Canon’s EOS-1D series has dominated the 35mm-based professional Digital SLR market for the past six years, the new EOS-1Ds Mark III digital SLR takes Canon’s pro-digital prowess into and the realm of high-fashion and commercial photo studios where bulkier, medium-format cameras previously reigned.
The Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III’s compact, lighter-weight magnesium alloy body is rugged and versatile enough to take out of the studio and into the field. The camera’s fast, five-frame-per-second (fps) shooting rate for bursts of up to 56 Large/Fine (21-megapixel) JPEGS or 12 RAW images is unmatched in its class, making it the ideal instrument for capturing the fluid motion and free-flowing lines of location-based fashion photography as well as a wide range of other professional photographic applications.

Technical Details

* 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor
* Large 3.0-inch LCD display with Live View and seven brightness settings
* 5 fps at shutter speeds 1/500 second or faster (for bursts of up to 45 Large/Fine JPEGs or 15 RAW images)
* sRAW mode; 35-zone metering system; 45-point AF; integrated Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit
* Powered by LP-E4 lithium-ion battery pack; stores images on CF, SD, or some SDHC memory cards

Customer feedback:

1. 1st. The feel, just like the 1D M3, this beast is solid. Not too heavy, but solid in the hand. And here in Alaska, I do put the weather sealing to a test, and just like my trusty 1D M3, the 1Ds passes with flying colors.
2nd. Yes its 21.1 MP, but that should not be your main consideration to buy it. Yah 18×12 @ 300Dpi out of the Camera is nice, but nost people dont print over 16×20, and I have sold a lot of prints from my old 20D at that size or even upto 20×30, as long as you shoot it right in the first place. But this is also a drawback as well. Because of the large file size, esp in Raw, and most, if not all, buyers of this body will/should be shooting in raw, be aware that you will need larger CF cards for it. At least 8gig, I use 12Gig for mine, extreme 3’s and they work great! Also be aware if you use the internal high iso noise processing, it slows down the buffering a lot!!!
3rd. Full Frame, just like the earlier 1Ds models its a ful frame sensor. That means 2 things, not only does a 17mm or 14mm lens again be a true wide angle lens, but also with the larger sensor the pixels are more refined and this gives better color and less grain.
4th. The colors of the images in the files. WOW Again the 14bit processors are great!!! Esp for raw, where you can import it in as 16bit for the finer details. One draw back is if you use Photoshop, you will need CS3 to do the raw Conversions, unless you use the Canon program.

2. I’ve had the 1Ds Mark III for over a month now and have shot in churches, outdoors and in the studio. It excels in every environment. The first thing you’ll notice is the immensely big, bright viewfinder. It barely feels like looking through something! The LCD display is very good as well. Build is very solid. I’ve used it with the Canon 85mm 1.2 II L and the Canon 70-200mm 2.8 IS L. Both deliver outstanding results and are hand-holdable. The new automatic dust-removal system is very good, leaving only a couple of spots against the blue sky when shot at small apertures, when there used to be countless on the 5D. Image quality is fantastic, and the images are huge, making cropping while retaining a big image easy. The menu system is very easy to operate, custom functions offer a plethora of options. Shutter sound is wonderful, and at 5fps very fast for 21MP. It’s expensive for sure, but definitely worth it.