It’s finally summertime, which means it’s time to equip you and yours with the best of this season’s summer gear. Whether you’ve decided to take a summer vacation or a staycation, we’ve got first-hand reviews of all the products listed below to help you choose.
STAYCATION SUPPLIES Wherever you’re going to be hanging out outdoors, you’ll need shade. The Instant Sun Cabana ($99.95, www.excaliburelectronics.net) is perfect for just that purpose; its white and turquoise nylon pops up into a dome that’s big enough to enclose two lounge chairs, and light enough to reposition as the sun moves. The only catch is that while its concept is great - it’s designed to fold up into a relatively small disc for storage - getting it folded is another story. Our demo model looked great while it was set up, but folding it takes practice, so be prepared. Once your cabana is ready, set up that chair and crank up the tunes. Instead of dragging your entire stereo outdoors, try the great IRA Wireless Radio by Myine ($129.99, www.myine.com) This tiny black unit, about the size of three decks of playing cards, accesses hundreds of internet radio stations via wifi - all you have to do is hook up a couple of powered speakers, and you’re ready to go. We found it super-easy to use, and the miniature remote lets you scroll through everything from music to talk radio to podcasts, all broadcast crystal-clear from stateside, Europe, or beyond. If you’d like to include your pets in the backyard fun, the Pet’s Eye View Camera ($39.99, www.unclemilton.com) lets your dog or cat “film” their very own reality show. Snap the small plastic time-lapse camera to your pet’s collar, and set ‘em loose. The camera takes photos at intervals that you choose, then download the pics to your computer via USB and see what your pet’s been up to. Our test showed some hilarious ground-level images - just be careful your pet doesn’t dunk the camera into its water dish. You can find out what’s happening with your neighborhood’s avian life, too, with the Wingscapes Bird Cam ($249, www.wingscapes.com or at Wild Birds Unlimited in Marquette, MI at http://marquette.wbu.com.) This sturdy, serious-looking square unit attaches to a tree or to the pole of the birdfeeder itself, and its motion-sensitive camera catches your birdfeeder visitors at their unaware best; even Martha Stewart is a fan. It was fascinating to see how many different species stop by - and the photos are such high-quality, they’ll make great summer wallpaper for your computer screen or cell phone. When it’s time to wind down your evening, pull out your Coleman Pack-Away Portable Fireplace and Grill ($89.99, ww.coleman.com). This striking unit is perfect for summer or even fall fun, taking up a small yard footprint with maximum impact; we were impressed with the fact that we could either use ours as a fireplace (with its decorative ember screen), or to safely cook food via the included grill insert. The other nifty thing is that you can dust it off and pack it up for the road trip you’re planning to take the next day, as the entire thing folds easily into a compact round black canvas case with a convenient carrying handle - about the size of a small car tire, but a whole lot lighter.
EQUIP YOUR ROAD TRIP And now onto that road trip! Before you go anywhere, you’ll want to check the weather - and the LaCrosse Color Weather Forecast Station ($79.95,www.lacrossetechnology.com, or at Best Buy and ABC Warehouse locally) has got all the weather details. All you have to do is place its wireless module outside in a protected area, and it will beam back the current conditions and forecast to your desktop or kitchen counter. The model we got looks awfully pretty doing it, too, with a full-color backlit static display and moving overlay indicators for temperature, humidity, time, date, and forecast icons so you can plan your day with sunscreen or umbrella. What’s a road trip without snacks? The Wagan 2260 6-Liter Thermo-Electric Fridge/Warmer ($39.99, ww.wagan.com, or Costco and Walgreen’s) can both cool and heat via your car’s lighter, so you can start the day with a cold beverage, and keep dinner leftovers warm for a late-night driving break. Our sample could use a few tweaks in the design department - the cupholders seemed flimsy and the cord-storage compartment often popped open on its own - but it heated and cooled well, and the top includes a padded armrest. To keep a record of your travels, we’ve got two terrific choices for you. The first is the choice of celebs - many of them are already carrying one of these around, and you’ll want to, too; it’s the Flip MinoHD video camera, and it records 60 minutes of HD video with the ease of one-button-record. The compact unit is very well-designed, weighs only 3 ounces, and we found it loads of fun to film with. The content easily loads onto your computer with the built in flip-out USB, and the quality of the video itself is top-notch, with true color tones and sharp HD images. ($229.99, www.theflip.com or at Target stores.) If it’s amazing still-images you’re looking for, you’ll want to pick up the Pentax Optio W60 Waterproof Camera ($299.95, www.pentax.com or at Meijer, WalMart, and Sam’s Clubs locally.) This pocket-sized, narrow camera has 10 MP, a 5x zoom, and a huge 2.5” backlit LCD screen, and takes incredibly detailed photos through a wide range of situations and light conditions, including night, action, macro, and even a special setting for gourmet foods. The Optio is indeed waterproof (and coldproof), too - we thoroughly dunked our test unit on repeated occasions, and not only did it keep working just fine, but the underwater photos it took were quite impressive; this is definitely the go-to camera for all summer (and winter) photo occasions. In addition to things you want to photograph, chances are you’ll run across plenty of memorable sounds in your summer travels, too - from concerts and lectures to wildlife. Well, Samson has the answer with their Zoom H2 Handy Recorder. This serious-looking and smart recorder captures stereo sound in 360-degrees onto SD cards, for super-quick downloading to your computer and easy editing, too. Our test recorder was used to capture guitar playing, an outdoor lecture, and a parrot “talking” indoors - and we were mightily impressed with the clarity and dynamic range of this tiny but impressive unit ($199, www.samson.comor at Best Buy stores locally.) And once the night arrives again, you can trek through the trails of the great outdoors with the top-notch Coleman LED Quad Lantern ($70, ww.coleman.com), a 2009 Camping Life Editor’s Choice, which consists of four smaller, detachable LED lanterns that easily snap into a sturdy, bright-red central body, making for a portable, multi-purpose unit that we found to be super-handy and reliable. NECESSARY TUNES Whether you opt to stick close to home or venture across the world, you’ll definitely need some portable music to accompany your excursions. We carted our Philips GoGear Spark ($49.99, www.philips.com) around for a week in a variety of everyday situations; this little square MP3 player lets you carry a good chunk of your audio collection with you, and it does it with a stylish, full-color screen that displays album art and even your own photos; the only detriment is that it’s limited to MP3 files, so don’t expect to bring your MP4s along. However, the sound of the GoGear Spark is full and not muddy at all, and it’s so light you’ll barely notice you’re carrying it. For listening to those MP3s (or other audio files), a trio of the latest in headphone gear offers something for every need. First up, air travel - with airplanes becoming more crowded, noise-canceling headphones are a necessity. Able Planet’s Clear Harmony Active Noise Canceling Headphones ($299.99, www.ableplanet.com) feature luxuriously padded earpieces and clear sound as well as a strong ability to fend off the noise; with our test pair, we couldn’t hear spoken conversation or loud hand claps, yet the music we were listening to still had plenty of presence and depth. They also arrive with a very nice hardshell carrying case that stores extra batteries and an included airline adapter plug. JVC’s HA-NC80 Noise Canceling Headphones ($59.99, www.jvc.comor locally at Best Buy and ABC Warehouse) also fared very well on our road-test; with a comfortable headband and two modes - a “wide” mode for jet noise, and a “low” mode for the lower frequency range found on trains and buses - they also cancelled out most extraneous speech and hand clapping, and fold deftly into their own carry bag. Either of these would be an unquestionably worthy choice for plane, train, or auto travel. If you’re looking for a headphone that’s less serious but still fun, our third choice, the iFrogz EarPollution Headphones ($34.99, http://ifrogz.com/earpollution), may not offer noise canceling, but they do present solid sound and something completely unexpected - you can go online and design your own set, with 200,000 possible color combinations in all. We made our custom set in a city-wise black and chrome, and at their low price, you can design sets to match every one of your summer outfits for casual listening. If you want to share your music with friends, simply plug your GoGear - or any MP3 player, for that matter - into the cool portable Altec Lansing Orbit MP3 Speaker ($39.95, www.alteclansing.com). The Orbit - just like it sounds - is a small round speaker that offers up surprisingly robust sound and ease of use,and we found it would run for the greater portion of a day via three AAA batteries. The attached cord plugs in via your headphone jack, and the fitted, zippered case makes the Orbit super-portable, ensuring you can take your music along even in the most compact luggage. And finally, the TriSpecs ($199.99, www.trispecs.com)will round out your arsenal of trip gear nicely, by serving a triple purpose; wear the TriSpecs, and you’re getting sunglasses, stereo headphones, and the ability to link up with your Bluetooth devices all in one fashionable item. The men’s pair we tested, in a glossy white finish, found our test subject’s cell phone Bluetooth link immediately, allowing him to answer the phone and listen to MP3s, all while simply utilizing the glasses’ own retractable earphones and on-sunglass controls like a futuristic James Bond - and they’ll even protect your weary eyes as you sit in your backyard, recovering from all of this great gear-enhanced summer fun.
All prices quoted are MSRP; you may find better prices and/or deals at local retail outlets throughout the summer.
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