The Valentine 1 is easily the best investment I’ve made into my vehicle. There is no particular glowing review that I can lay upon it, that hasn’t already been said. It has paid for itself a few times over and I suppose it was time that it finally flipped fortunes on me and caused me to get a ticket. That’s right. The words from the officer were that I was receiving a ticket because I had the detector and without it I would not be receiving a ticket. (Keep in mind detectors are legal in my state.) He also cited being able to see it through the window as the reason I was pulled over instead of the vehicle traveling more quickly than I. Luckily for me, the ticket was dismissed. However, it left me wondering if there wasn’t more to do to make the V1 more inconspicuous. Sure there is the remote display, but I’m currently switching the V1 between different vehicles.

Unsurprisingly, being the best detector ever (Overpromotion notwithstanding) the V1 offers complete programming control:

http://www.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt3.asp

The information here allows you to do everything from setting the mute timeouts to disabling certain radar bands completely. I’m looking to override the K-Band sensitivity as well as shutting off the X-Band completely. If all goes right, I’ll be able to rid the V1 of some of the consistent false alarms I get, while maintaining the sensitivity where I need it.

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I’ve got a respectable little Sega 32x collection from a Vintage Video Game collection binge I went on a couple years ago. The games have mostly sat around in a box since then, until recently when I’ve been getting into some fairly heated gaming sessions with my brothers.

I wouldn’t be the first to mention how ridiculous the complete Sega setup looks, but the image below compels me to do so:

This is your basic Model 2 Genesis with the 32x Mushroom, Model 2 CD Attachment, Team Player Multi-Player Adapter, 4 6-Button Controllers, and of course 3 huge power transformers (which get very hot.) It’s an ill-conceived eye-sore at best; a fire hazard at worst.

Make note to only get the later Sega Team Player Multi-Player Adapter. This is the only one compatible with both EA & early Sega Games.

By far, the best multi-player game on the 32x is NBA Jam T.E. It is also the only 32x or CD game that we play seriously- instead of for its absurdity.

Speaking of absurdity, Slam City with Scottie Pippen (32x/CD) is a must have for this system. No other game quite sums up the shortcomings of FMV games quite like this. I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve invested a few hours in it simply for the horrendous-(ly awesome!) cut scenes -it certainly isn’t for the awkward and less-than-satisfying gameplay. I dream of the day I can venture to all of the way to Pippen himself and all of his acting glory.

We also busted open a still-sealed copy of Corpse Killer. However, I won’t go into the details of that one. There is a line that separates fun-bad-games from not-fun-bad-games. Corpse Killer completely disregards this line.

In conclusion, I’ll leave you with a glamor shot of the mushroom and its friends:

A couple screen grabs of the action:

You can see eeectl running in the bottom right.

The eeePC compared to my regular 14.1″ laptop:

The eeePC comes with the Linux distribution Xandros which has two modes: Easy & Advanced. I really enjoyed the Easy setup (even though it looks more like a PDA than a computer interface), however, in the end I opted to go back to the only thing I truly know and love: XP.

The installation of XP on a computer like the eeePC is no walk in the park so Jonathan took care of it- and as such I’m eternally indebted to him. There is no cd-drive so we gutted the insides of an external hard drive and raided another computer for a cd-drive, creating an external-usb-cd-drive for the ‘E’. Jonathan then used Nlite to install Xp without all of the unnecessary bloat.

The install itself was quite a setup:

The eeePC is certainly unlike any other computing device I have ever used. The technology crammed into it is absolutely amazing- it even feels like it should cost ~$2k (but actually costs <$500). Its also the most attention getting gadget I’ve seen in a while. I was stopped 3 times on the first day I had it at lunch with people asking about it. (take that MBA!)

Unfortunately, the reality is the size does hinder its usefulness. The keyboard is simply unbelievably small- My fingers take up about two keys. It would be better to imagine this as a really large blackberry keyboard than a miniature laptop one. It is there for mild convenience and functionality, but you’d never find me actually typing on it. I believe I’m faster ‘pecking’ at the keys than attempting proper F/J-placement typing. The screen is also rather inhibiting, but I’ve found that with proper tweaking it isn’t too much of an inconvenience. Other high points: Battery life is good and the wifi is the best I’ve ever seen - literally better than any other wireless device I’ve come in contact with.

For me, this makes a perfect grab & go computer. I’ve already put together a station of sorts for it at home. This consists of a base (a textbook will work fine), a usb keyboard, usb mouse, and my headphones. I know: its a hardly portable setup and it actually looks ridiculous. Honestly, though after I set it down and plug in the 3 accessories, it is everything to me that my full-size laptop is.

In the end, its simply a fun mobile gadget that is too constrained for any serious work. Not bad for a few hundred bucks…