Doc's Top Ten Gadgets for 2014

Everyone seems to do a top ten gadget list for the holiday season so here goes – Doc’s top ten gadget list for 2014. The gadgets on this list are available now (December 2014) and I think are both interesting and intriguing visions of what is possible. (The graphic came from my work whiteboard using eBEAM).

The rankings are based on which device I pull from my bag first. I could also group them into travel gadgets but for now we are going with the first out – first used rating system. So my top ten list, below!

1. IPhone 6 plus– it’s all about screen real estate. It’s all about location, location and how big the text is in the email so I can read it. Yes this is not a phone that fits easily in your pocket but it is a phone that will change the game!
2. iPad Air– ok Apple is winning the handheld/tablet wars right now. From the aftermarket to the reality these are the tablet’s to be using. I love my iPad.
3. Lenovo Thinkpad Helix– This is one of the new convertibles and is both a laptop and a tablet. The system is easy to setup and use. Touch screen makes the tablet experience simple. Keyboard and USB 3 expansion make the system powerful. If you are looking for a desktop replacement – this gets really close. If you are looking for a small portable device you can easily use as a laptop – this one is the bomb.
4. Delorme PN60 handheld GPS– I am a map fanatic. I love maps. I love the concepts and processes of mapping. The birth of handheld GPS’s was a personal dream. I’ve used a number of the handheld GPS’s – this one is the best.
5. Parrot Noise Cancelling headphones– I was a BOSE guy for years. I traveled on airplanes for 15 years. During that time I would leave Sunday night/Monday morning crack of dawn and get on an airplane. If I didn’t have noise cancelling headphones I would land with a huge headache. But the BOSE while cool were limiting. The Parrot allows me to connect via Bluetooth (and if you don’t want compressed audio then connect via the cable!). The application they have for the iPhone and iPad makes this even better, I can tailor how it sounds. And the headphones are noise cancelling to boot! Plus unlike my original BOSE headset, the Parrot has rechargeable batteries.
6. Livescribe3 Smart Pen – smart pens are all the rage. There are many out there today but I remain a steadfast Livescribe user. The new software works exceptionally well. I love that the pen now records on my device rather than on the pen. Overall this remains my go-to pen and paper writing device.
7. Canon 5d Camera – in the world of digital cameras this is the best one I have ever owned. It has the wonderful compact flash and SD card slots for onboard memory. The camera takes crisp high quality pictures and is the camera I go to for important family pictures.
8. Pebble Smart Watch – wow what did we do before we could change watch faces on the fly? Oh yeah, we stopped wearing watches. I love my Pebble. While I don’t strictly take it out of my bag it is the first thing I reach for after my iPhone in the morning.
9. HP inkjet 150 – it sits on my desk and work but I could also take it with me on the go – a great portable color scanner and printer. It has great outputs (and for that matter scanning is straight forward) and the software to run the system is awesome.
10. Fitbit – The last device is only tenth because it does only one thing. It tracks the steps I take (including up and down stairs). I wear it all the time so I never really reach for it but in the end it is a go to device. I am really trying for 10,000 steps every day. Fitbit tells me when I am close – and congratulates me every time I succeed! My second 10th product is the one that produced the image of this post.
11. The eBEAM - system allows you to have your whiteboard anywhere, anytime. Simply connect your whiteboard to the world. From live meetings to interactive sessions that can be quickly created as slides or JPEG images (see image above) this system makes it so much easier to present and share ideas.

I could add in the end another 10 devices easily. I am after all a gadget geek. But this is my top 10. If you have a gadget fan you can quickly check their bag and well as a gift idea get them what they are missing.

Happy holiday season to all!

.doc