Daytek Portable DVD Player

Daytek PD-950 9-in. Portable DVD Player
(costco.ca)
160$+tax

I really like this DVD player. Very easy interface, although for some reason it automatically turned on Chinese subtitles when I played my boot-legged Little Britain DVDs. Less technology inclined peoples may not have been able to figure out how to turn off the closed captioning (it took a bit of trial-and-error and educated guessing to adjust the closed captioning).

The battery sticks out and is rather cumbersome, but once you get going the unit balances nicely. It includes a video output adaptor, AC and car adaptor, and two headphone outs (in case two people want to use headphones at once). Nice touch!

Uniden Cordless Phone System

Uniden® 5.8 GHz Corded/Cordless Phone System with Digital Answering System

(costco.ca)
192$

This package includes a cord-full base and three cordless phones with base chargers, and one of them waterproof (for all those bathtub conversations?). I haven't put the water-proof one to test yet, but perhaps boredom will prevail one day and we'll have some funny stories to tell.

This cordless set was a little more pricey (192$), but it includes an answering machine that picks up calls unanswered by call waiting. It also managed to show me the name of the person I didn't bother picking up with call waiting (sorry Jeremy), but this could simply be a feature of my telephone service, and have nothing to do with the cordless phone unit itself. The range trumps the last cordless phone I reviewed (not saying much). I confess I haven't tested the max range yet. I still have difficulty with the answering machine, as I have been given the personal recording, the default robo-voice recording, and static-screaching of a fax machine all within one minute of repeatedly redialing my number.

The ergodyamics of the phone gets three thumbs up. Once again however, I must rant at my disappointment for Uniden to include a built-in signal router so multiple units can all join the conversation.

SanDisk Sansa

SanDisk® Sansa™ 6 GB e270 MP3 Player
(costco.ca)
185$+tax

The next generation of Sansa's, this one boasts basically all the features of it's older brother. Unfortuantely it does not come with the protective pseudo leather jacket of it's predessor, so watch out!! Those LCD displays scratch like a cat in heat. Once again, the video playback is tilted 90 degrees out of sync with typical use.

One thing I neglected to mention last time is how awkward it is navigating around and opening up folders while viewing through windows, and it isn't straight forward naming albums and artists while accessing it through /My Computer/Removable Storage/ Sansa etc. I found it more convienent to download albums using bittorents, start playing the entire album with Windows Media Player, click 'Sync', and drag and drop the entire album. You can always delete the unwanted songs afterwards, as opposed to trying to add a single song and then adjust it's details. There is also a FM tuner and a voice recorder on it, but I am yet to test those features out.

Pentax Optio

Pentax® Optio L30 7.1 MP Digital Camera
(costco.ca)
294$

This is a very clever little camera that fits right into your hand. A very simple design, a quickly chargable lithium ion battery that lasted me for about 83 pictures and some videos. It's a 7.1 MP with 3X optical zoom, and a high sensitivity of ISO 3200, whatever the fuck that means. It creates quick time videos that go indefinetely, limited only by your memory chip. A drawback is you are unable to scroll through the pictures you've taken already, unless you completely turn the power on. All this does is pushes the lens out, which unnessarily sucks up a bit of battery energy, and there's always the slight risk of damaging the lens whenever it's open and erect.

Dell Inspiron

Dell� Inspiron� 1501 English TL50, 15.4-in. WXGA, 1GB, 80GB

(Costco.ca)

~1200$

This is probably the best Dell laptop I've seen to date. It was easy to add the extra monitor and extend the desktop (mind you, this is alot due to Windows XP). The extra video card worked to my liking as far as processing the extended desktop onto the monitor I keep at my desk.

The DVD writer worked like a charm. The built-in SD digital memory card reader further saves on extra USB cords cluttering things up. There were 4 USB ports, which finally meant I didn't have to do any unplugging or switching around. I always have my external hard drive, mouse, printer connected, and now I could keep my MP3 player charger plugged in.

Unfortunately there is no external volume control, which means the computer must be turned on in order to adjust the volume. Annoying if you're ever trying to start up in a quiet setting.

Uncle Fatih's Pizza

Uncle Fatih's Pizza

(Broadway & Commercial)

1.5$/slice, 12.5$/8 slices

Uncle Fatih's is not to be laughed at. Great deal for a slice of pizza-there's always at least 4 different types of pizza to chose from under the heat lamp at any time. He makes about 20 different types of pizzas, and varies them frequently. The place is just across from the skytrain station-it gives off an aura of sketchiness, but after you've been there a few times at night, you realize nothing's going to happen. There's a decent police presence at Broadway & Commercial. Uncle Fatih's is open super late (I've never droven by it when it was closed).

One pet peeve though-the guy is a bit of a cheap fuck. If you do the math for the cost of the 8 slice deal, you realize he's charging you extra for the box. Minimum purchase on debit is 5$, and visa is 9$.

Garmin 60CX Handheld GPS System with TFT Colour Display

Garmin� GPSMAP� 60CX Handheld GPS System with TFT Colour Display
(Costco.ca)

400$

Very easy user interface. It was straightforward plotting data points into the memory. Calculating displacement, vectors and distance wasn't as easy as it could have been.