The official tablet (and other useless electronics) thread!

[CaptainHenreh]

Anyone have a QNAP NAS or other that they would recommend? There's more than 10 small models to choose from and I don't understand the capability differences. My #1 need is something that can easily, wired and wirelessly, receive family pictures and video from Android, iPhone, camera, allow for admin, catalog and display on PC or chromebook, and automate the backups to another USB device. #2 would be playing music and video files. Can they pull in Pandora too? Right now an 8yr old mac mini is doing all these things and be remotely admin'd, but it's far from ideal. I obviously have some user manuals to read, but maybe you can help narrow the search.

Many moons ago I had very very very good luck with Buffalo's Terastation line. It was easy to use and manage, had full selection of RAID options, and seemed to be trouble free, for reasonable money.

Don't know if they're any good now, though.

However, at this point I can't imagine the cheapest, best way isn't to buy a real live hardware raid controller, a pile of disks, and then build the most efficient *nix machine you can around it.

[Evan]

Anyone have a QNAP NAS or other that they would recommend? There's more than 10 small models to choose from and I don't understand the capability differences. My #1 need is something that can easily, wired and wirelessly, receive family pictures and video from Android, iPhone, camera, allow for admin, catalog and display on PC or chromebook, and automate the backups to another USB device. #2 would be playing music and video files. Can they pull in Pandora too? Right now an 8yr old mac mini is doing all these things and be remotely admin'd, but it's far from ideal. I obviously have some user manuals to read, but maybe you can help narrow the search.

I have a qnap ts-251 and it does all that very well (except pandora, not sure thats even possible). I paid $250 for it on sale.
you can even upgrade the ram and run VMs on it. its pretty slick. Its basically just a dual core unix machine with qnaps custom version linux running their apps.

another option would be to buy one of the lenovo or dell xeon servers that go on sale for $280 and brew your own via freenas and plex/xbmc. More horsepower but more legwork.

[Ken]

Yeah I would just take a look online for a Dell T550 or T7500. I picked up a T5500 to run a Plex server and it's rock solid. Just make sure you buy it set up for dual processor built in since the add-on itself can cost just as much as the machine.

[G.Irish]

I've got a Synology DS214se NAS/Media Server that I used as the backup destination for Time Machine and occasionally as a media server for downloaded torrents. I can stream video/images to the TV or an Android device. I put 2-2.0TB hard drives in mine but I think it can support much more. It also has some other add on apps that allow file-syncing to client devices, direct torrent downloads, and it can run Plex and Itunes media server.

[JPolen01]

I was looking for a cell phone mount for quite some time for my iPhone. I have the 6 and I don't use a case - yes I enjoy living life on the edge. My car has nowhere to keep the phone and without a case it slides around my cup holder which is mildy annoying. Didn't want one of those vent clip holders because a phone should not get extremely hot or cold (especially fragile apple products).

Saw this MPow holder on sale so I grabbed it last week. Looks like it is still on sale. It utilizes the now extinct (yet still ever present) CD slot. You insert the tab into the CD slot and tighten it with the screw. Tiny pieces of felt like material are on the tab that goes into the CD slot for extra stability anything. The cradle for the phone is very well built. It has arms on either side that are on a little track and clamp around the phone to hold it in place. It also has feet that you can use to hold the phone from the bottom as well. The cradle itself sits on a ball (similar to a GPS mount) so you can angle it how you like it. Best feature is the little button on the side - you push this and it automatically expands so you can grab the phone when you are getting out of the car.

5/5 stars. Would recommend.

[Mike]

MPow happens to be my stripper name so that's cool.

[Apoc]

I think the Chinese really like using the phrase "pow" in their products.

This is what we use: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PY1HEMM">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PY1HEMM</a><!-- m -->

[JPolen01]

^ That looks nice for wireless charging.

[HAULN-SS]

Tits deep in pow shots

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://deadspin.com/snowboarder-claims-skier-threw-him-from-chairlift-over-1753807895?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow">http://deadspin.com/snowboarder-claims- ... socialflow</a><!-- m -->

[JPolen01]

Does anybody use any type of bias lighting set up for their TVs? My basement lighting situation is less than ideal. There is a recessed light right above the tv that I removed the bulb from. When I watch TV at night sometimes my eyes get pretty tired. Worse so if I am watching in the dark. This LED strip looks like a pretty cheap way to alleviate some eye strain.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015JV9QJK/?tag=kinjadeals-20&ascsubtag=c97081a3ac24c6c3335d59c06467fa483cdcde71&rawdata=%5Br%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Fgizmodo.com%2F%5Bt%7Clink%5Bp%7C1756592906%5Ba%7CB015JV9QJK%5Bau%7C5727177402741770316">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015JV9QJK/?ta ... 2741770316</a><!-- m -->

[Ken]

Did you see that on Gawker? haha, i saw that come up on their daily deals (it sold out at a cheaper price) and was debating it too. I saw an update to this thread and i was like huh, wonder if I should post about that.

[JPolen01]

Did you see that on Gawker?

I always browse the Kinja daily deals. Gawker comments provide so many lulz.

[JustinG]

So I'm unexpectedly in need of a cellphone. Gonna give Fi a go.

5X or 6p?

[G.Irish]

6p, apparently the 5x is a bit cut rate on performance. I just got a 6p and in loving it so far. Fit and finish is fantastic and it's snappy.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[JustinG]

32, 64, 128?

Ive been fine with 32 on my cell so far.

[JustinG]

And man, almost dumb not to get the gold, $50 off at bestbuy and a $25 giftcard.

[G.Irish]

Shit I didn't see that =(

I got the 64 gb version. On my Nexus 6 I wasn't even close to running out of space so I'm rolling with 64 again

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[CaptainHenreh]

So I'm unexpectedly in need of a cellphone. Gonna give Fi a go.

5X or 6p?

You know how it's ok to have a huge phone if it's got a half eaten fruit on the back?

Turns out, you get made fun of for having a giant phone if it doesn't.

[Jewels]

So I'm unexpectedly in need of a cellphone. Gonna give Fi a go.

5X or 6p?

You know how it's ok to have a huge phone if it's got a half eaten fruit on the back?

Turns out, you get made fun of for having a giant phone if it doesn't.

I love Fi, and I've been pretty pleased with my 5x but I probably don't use it for as much as the rest of you.

[WRXtranceformed]

Uh this phone is pretty gangster and I kind of want it, even if I don't know exactly what I would do with a thermal imager on my phone:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2447327/cat-s60-is-the-worlds-first-thermal-imaging-smartphone">http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new ... smartphone</a><!-- m -->