“Review” collection
Discover rigorous, hands-on evaluations and real-world testing of the latest consumer electronics and household tools. These “Dad Approved” assessments provide factual, objective insights into device durability, performance, and value to help you make informed purchasing decisions.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →March 27, 2012
Just Cover It Up! Pritect – A Privacy Guard for the Xbox 360 & Windows Kinect
Sometimes low-tech is the best way to go. I hadn't really thought much about the Kinect for Xbox and Window in terms of privacy, until the folks at Catalyst Components reached out to me about their new product called the Pritect cover. It's a privacy guard for the Xbox 360 Kinect. What is the Kinect? It's a gesture, motion and sound…
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March 22, 2012
“I Know I’m Going to Get a Speeding Ticket” – Review of the 2012 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of doing a parade lap in the Cadillac CTS-V station wagon at Infineon raceway. As I drove around the speedway, I made a mental note to myself - I MUST drive a CTS-V on the streets. My dream came true last week as I was able to spend 5 days behind the…
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March 14, 2012
Walking Through IBM’s New iPad Cloud Application
It's no surprise that I'm writing about clouds and iPads and applications. If you do a search on my site, you will see that I write about all 3 of these topics, just never at the same time. When I found out that IBM had produced a Cloud application, my interests were sparked for many reasons: 1) I helped produce…
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March 12, 2012
PocketFinder – A Cellular & GPS Locating Device That You Throw in a Bag and Start Tracking Your Loved Ones
Technology is really great sometimes. Not only have devices gotten smaller, they have become more powerful and more useful. Think about cell phones - do you remember the size of them back in the 80's? They were simply HUGE and clunky. GPS technology has gone the same way and are now so small, they can be integrated into a smartphone.…
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March 5, 2012
A Theater in a Box – BenQ JoyBee GP2 Portable Projector for iPhones, iPods & other Devices
I would hazard to say that most of us have big screen TVs in our home. Mine is pretty darn old actually, a 60" DLP HDTV, that, while it has withstood lengthy hours of entertainment, could start to have issues any day. I have been considering when that day comes and what I will do. Part of me thinks I…
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February 28, 2012
Review of the 2012 Buick Regal GS – Definitely NOT your Grandpa’s Sedan
For some reason, Buick's seem to have this odd stereotype of being a car that your grandparents cruise around in with the left blinker permanently on. They were lackluster and pretty conservative. The 2012 Buick Regal GS runs over that stereotype in all of its 270 horsepower, 6-speed manual, Brembo brakes, curvy lines glory, making this non-grandfather want to hold…
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February 21, 2012
The “i” in iRadar from Cobra Means “Intelligence” – A Smartphone Radar Detector
Many years ago, I had a few radar detectors. That was back when I had a fast little Honda CRX-Si - BWAK (Before Wife and Kids) and I tended to race around, watching for speed traps, and keeping my eyes and ears glued to my radar detector as I sped around. Now, I'm a bit more conservative on how I…
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February 17, 2012
Extend Your iPhone 4/4S Power with the CasePower A4 Battery Case
I burn through batteries on my iPhones faster kids go through their Halloween candy. (Well, maybe not that fast but you get the point.) Just about every iPhone that I have owned, I have had to replace the battery in it (seem my iPhone 3GS & iPhone 4 posts on how to do this). But if you don't want to…
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February 13, 2012
The Casio Edifice – Form Following Function or Function Following Form? It’s Both!
Have I said that I love watches? I think that I have before. In fact, a year ago, I reviewed a Casio Pathfinder that had lots of technology baked into it (that's the other thing I really love). I actually have had a long-running affair with Casio, having owned various G-Shocks and Waveceptors. Now I'm going to talk about the…
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February 1, 2012
If Your Laptop is Jealous of your Ultrabook, Give it a Hybrid SSD from Seagate – the Momentus XT
I have an Ultrabook and a MacBook Air and my non-SSD traditional laptop is getting jealous. It told me that it wants to be more like them, faster booting up and able to launch applications more quickly. "Why can't I be like those super slim laptops you are always using?" it always asks me. Obviously there is no way for…
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January 19, 2012
A Solid, Tech-Filled, All-Around Performer – 2011 Ford Explorer Test Drive
A few months ago, Sony and Ford Motors invited the Cast of Dads out to the East Coast to participate in a variety of events, one of them was driving a 2011 Ford Explorer (note, link is for the 2012 model) from Boston to NYC. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the event, and boy was I jealous. Part…
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January 9, 2012
I’m an Ultrabook Fan – the Speed, Weight, Performance & Design Convinced Me (An #UltrabookDads Video Production)
Remember when netbooks were the "next big thing"? A few years ago, everyone wanted one of these small, compact and seemingly essential computers. But after a few years, the fog lifted from people's eyes as they realized that the small form factor wasn't the only thing that people needed. They wanted the best of all worlds, a small, lightweight, portable…
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