Gear Gallery: Flip-Top Cams, RC Cars and Pocket Printers

: Forty-percent smaller and 100 percent slicker than its predecessor, the pocket-friendly Mino (pronounced like the SS Minnow ) is the newer, trimmer, quicker-on-the-draw feel and decidedly more fun version of the Flip Ultra. Despite the smaller body, USB 1.0 compatibility and more sensible battery it’s hard to say just why you’d really want to spend $30 more for the Mino instead of the soon-to-be-reduced Ultra. The Mino features a slightly improved video-compression engine, but you’re still getting the same frame rate (30 fps), same 1/4-inch VGA CMOS sensor, same bitrate, same 640 x 480, and same 2-GB hard drive without any of the higher-end, higher-res optics or features (3x zoom?) that a pocket-friendly $200 digicam will give you.

—Steven Leckart WIRED Buttons can be muted (great for weddings, lectures, pirating movies); easy to shoot, download and upload vids; internal battery equals no need to go hunting for AA batteries. Elegant Vader-black or Storm Trooper-white casing. TIRED No optical zoom, no upgradeable memory, no Bluetooth, no decent stills.

FFWD could be FSTR. Macheads must upgrade to OSX 10.5. Eager-beaver touch buttons are too sensitive and have a tricky sweet spot.

$180, Flip Read our full Flip Mino review . Check Wired 's latest Gadget Lab reviews , updated daily. : First, the good news.

Getting the MBS-100 connected to my Bluetooth gadgets (cellphones and laptops mostly) is idiot-proof due in no small part to its excellent synchronization ability. The device defaults to "search mode" when first powered on and the pass code is "0000." Want to add another device? Just hold down the sync button on the bottom of the speaker, wash, rinse and repeat. It's that simple.

Now the bad news. Sadly, audio is another story. After busting out some raaawk by Rise Against, it was clear that the MBS-100 was doomed.

I cranked up the volume but between the relentless kick drum and the mid-range of the frantic guitar work, the MBS-100 sputtered surprisingly distorted audio even at medium levels. R&B and classical music performed much better at comparable and higher levels, but even those sounded anemic when it came time to deliver low-frequency bass. —Terrence Russell WIRED Easy to use and extremely portable.

Carrying case included. Decent wireless range and relatively smooth streaming. Supports advanced audio distribution and audio and video remote control profiles.

TIRED A damning combination of being pricey/underpowered. Bass-hungry beat fiends need not apply. Only 50 hours of standby?! $100, Sony Ericsson Read our full Sony Ericsson MBS-100 review .

Check Wired 's latest Gadget Lab reviews , updated daily. : If you frequent LAN parties, or an ill-tempered downstairs neighbor disapproves of muzzle fire at 4 a.m., you might want to give the A40 Audio System a listen. Consisting of a headset and a dedicated mixer and amplifier (sold as a set or as individual components), it’s geared towards Xbox and PC gamers who want solid surround sound without violating municipal noise ordinances.

The headset is fairly impressive: comfortable, great sound and fairly attractive. Noise, however, does leak from the headset: The included foam inserts help cut some of the excess din, but bystanders could still hear the occasional clashing of swords or revving engine. The A40 really shines when it’s paired with the A40 MixAmp.

Powered by four AAs (which last for about seven hours of continuous use), it can also run on USB power, or via an optional rechargeable battery pack. Just for gamers: Multiple units can be daisy-chained together via a connector tucked into the base of the unit, creating a sort of hardware-based Teamspeak (assuming you and your buddies get several MixAmps). —Nate Ralph WIRED Comfort, for multiple head and hair sizes.

Clear voice quality is a plus for talking smack. Connectivity options to complement most setups. TIRED PC gamers won’t mind, but wireless La-Z-Boy warriors probably don’t want to be tethered to their audio system.

$270, Astro Gaming Read our full Astro A40 Audio Gaming System review . Check Wired 's latest Gadget Lab reviews , updated daily. : Imagine a radio-controlled car with a camera that’s mounted from the viewpoint of where the miniature plastic driver would sit.

Then imagine donning video goggles and earphones so you see and hear where the car is as you drive, and when you turn your head, the driver does too. Now imagine that you get to use it for five minutes at a time because it keeps breaking. An included visor contains two LCDs that make for big-screen driving fun.

An accelerometer in the controller detects head movement and turns the driver's head in any direction, so you can look around while you drive. Dual mics transmit stereo sound all the while.. But for us the joy was intense -- and short-lived.

Within five minutes of simple driving on a flat surface, the too-powerful motor loosened in its housing and disengaged from the crankshaft. After some puzzling and screwing around with a tiny Phillips-head, we got the thing running again, but many users will think the thing broken and due for a tearful return. —Roger Hibbert WIRED Mind-blowingly awesome fun.

You see and hear out of the frigging thing! Causes strong, bittersweet memories. TIRED Soul-crushingly broken. Doesn't come with a manual.

Controls are hard (for us monkeys) to figure out. Doesn't appear to have a U.S. retailer (yet).

$1,050, Go With the Shark Read our full Fat Shark FPV RC Racer review . Check Wired 's latest Gadget Lab reviews , updated daily. : Polaroid’s newest product is a portable printer called the PoGo.

Here's how it works -- you snap off a picture with your cam phone or Pict-Bridge-enabled shooter and then send the image to the PoGo via Bluetooth or USB. The PoGo then prints out a borderless image onto a 2-inch by 3-inch slice of thermal ZINK photo paper. We synced it up with a Nokia N82 and N95 -- two phones renowned for their image-capturing ability.

The pics we printed actually turned out fairly well. While colors are not totally accurate and the images were slightly cropped, we were still able to take a look at our shots and say, "Yes, that's definitely a picture of the llama that spit on me." The heat-sensitive paper is well, rather sensitive. After my colleague printed out a pic of a Ferrari, he instinctively started shaking it to make it develop.

Although the image was fully baked, the tight grip of his thumb and forefinger on the thermal paper actually discolored it slightly. Word to the wise: If you scoop up a PoGo, keep your shots away from moderate heat. —Daniel Dumas WIRED It'll take you longer to actually line up, compose, and shoot a decent photo than it will to transfer that same photo to the Pogo.

Thermal ZINK photo paper is a hoot to use. TIRED Colors are washed out. Wouldn't it be awesome, I mean really awesome, if you had to shake the heat-sensitive paper once or twice to make it develop? $150, Polaroid Read our full Polaroid PoGo Printer review .

Check Wired 's latest Gadget Lab reviews , updated daily.. Thu Jun 2008 11:06 (6 months, 3 weeks ago)