Options, gadgets and accessories: Good and Bad

[Phi for All]

There are so many little options for everything from cars to refrigerators that sound great and supposedly add convenience but really only cost you money. And many gadgets that supposedly save time are just money-wasters too. I'll list some good and bad, feel free to add:

BAD-

1. Hood bras for cars--what are you protecting the paint for if you never take them off?

2. Electric seat/mirror adjustments for cars--OK if the car has multiple users, but if you're the only driver, you set it once and then never need it again. Plus they're slower than adjusting it manually.

3. Ice-makers/water dispensers in the doors of refrigerators--savings in energy from not having to open the freezer door is wasted since it's usually the first thing to break. And the water dispenser uses thin copper tubing so it takes 3 times longer to fill a glass.

 

GOOD-

1. Remote car lock/unlock--keep all the other electric car devices like mirrors and seats, I use my keychain remote all the time. Now if they could only make it smaller to better fit in pants pockets....

2. Weed Whackers--nylon filament electric garden trimmers for chopping hard-to-get-to areas has saved me many hours and several toes, I'm sure.

[Klaynos]

I would say you have to make a decision on your own needs. I'd say the remote car lock is just as unimportant as the electric mirrors as you can just put your key in and turn it.

 

On my car I have to wind down the window and move the mirror which takes MUCH longer. People I know with electric mirrors use them all the time to adjust for parking and normal driving and find them much faster than leaning over moving a leaver sitting back up and finding it's in the wrong place and leaning again etc... So what might not be good for you might be great for someone else...

[Lance]

I like having the ice maker in the door, my only beef is that it jams every 0.5 uses. I like electric seat/mirror adjustments because they are just plain fun and good for impressing friends.

 

Other than that I agree.

 

One thing I hate is electric hand dryers you see in rest rooms. They are the work of the devil.

[Klaynos]

I like having the ice maker in the door' date=' my only beef is that it jams every 0.5 uses. I like electric seat/mirror adjustments because they are just plain fun and good for impressing friends.

 

Other than that I agree.

 

One thing I hate is electric hand dryers you see in rest rooms. They are the work of the devil.[/quote']

 

 

Esspecially the ones with the buttons that are always really dirty that you've got to push yuck!

[Kyrisch]

Why would the button be dirty if everyone who had ever pressed it washed their hands immediately before doing so?

[AzurePhoenix]

I like the electric mirrors, because then you can change it from your current position and make sure it's right the first time around, rather than have to lean about to adjust it, sit back, check to see that it's right, then lean about several more times just to fine tune the damn thing. Of course, I'm a small person.

 

The Key thing is great too, cuz you can unlock the trunk on the way up to the car, hit the panic button if you can't find your parking space, or on some newer models, open your garage without having to have a second remote device for the opener.

 

What I hate...

 

- the tags at the necks of shirts...

- the clips on pens and mechanical pencils (does anyone really use them?)...

- scented candles. All the one's I like are so faint you have to burn your nose to get a good whiff...

- Furbies

[Lance]

- Hamsters' date=' they're just fat, poorly formed nub-tailed gerbils.[/quote']

 

You really have to wonder that the hell the guy was thinking who invented hamsters.

[AzurePhoenix]

I was just editing that out when you responded, but thanx for forever exposing my stupidity

[Klaynos]

Why would the button be dirty if everyone who had ever pressed it washed their hands immediately before doing so?

 

 

It's good you're so trusting!

[Phi for All]

I would say you have to make a decision on your own needs. I'd say the remote car lock is just as unimportant as the electric mirrors as you can just put your key in and turn it.

I realize everything is subjective but I think some things simply turn out more useful than others. I'm old enough to know that "cool" things like electric seats impress absolutely nobody. If they're useful to you, fine, but so many things end up being not worth the space and expense they take up.

 

Having the ability to unlock or lock your vehicle from several feet away saves time every day. It's just one of those gimmicky things that actually helps me. If my arms are full it helps even more. I have a truck but the ones that actually pop your car trunk (boot) open would help out a lot as well. I get in and out of my vehicle a lot more than I need the seats or mirrors adjusted.

I like having the ice maker in the door, my only beef is that it jams every 0.5 uses.

This is a perfect example. A real ice-maker as a stand alone unit is pretty cool if you use a lot of ice. It has a big capacity and it's built to crank out the ice and work for years with no problems.

 

A unit that fits inside your freezer is too small to be really effective. It's there as a selling feature, an add-on that makes you think it's a better deal. The parts are meant for low to moderate use. If you really like ice or have multiple people who use it you will wear this unit out pronto. I'll bet if you ran a survey right now, almost half the homes who have an ice-maker in the door of their fridge would tell you it either doesn't work right, it's broken or has recently been fixed.

[Callipygous]

the jugs at restraunts with the spout formed into it. any waiter worth his tip knows that you have to pour it over the side to give the person any ice at all.

 

edit: i really do know how to spell pour, i swear.

[Phi for All]

What I hate...

- the tags at the necks of shirts...

- the clips on pens and mechanical pencils (does anyone really use them?)...

What do they put in those tags that make them stick up like that' date=' Viagra?

 

And since geeks are the only ones who actually clip pens in their shirt pockets, wouldn't you think a geek would come up with something better? Pens that pop out of your secret decoder ring or something....

the jugs at restraunts with the spout formed into it. any waiter worth his tip knows that you have to poor it over the side to give the person any ice at all.

There's the next money-maker, a pitcher with two spouts, the little one for just water, the big one on the side for water and ice.

[Kyrisch]

Why would the button be dirty if everyone who had ever pressed it washed their hands immediately before doing so?

 

It's good you're so trusting!

 

What kind of idiot would dry already dry, un-washed hands?

[AzurePhoenix]

someone who doesn't like washing their hands, but works hard to create the illusion that they have been washing their hands, thereby hiding their shameless, scuzzy ways

[Kyrisch]

someone who doesn't like washing their hands, but works hard to create the illusion that they have been washing their hands, thereby hiding their shameless, scuzzy ways

 

And do you speak from experience?

[AzurePhoenix]

naw, just an unhealthy imagination. I love water. And bubbles, which as any pretend-scientist with fake knowledge will tell you is the result of interactions between air, water and soap, thus meaning that to get bubbles, I must use all three, with the final prize of lather, which is many little bubbles. YAY FOR BUBBLES!!

 

Yes, that's another device I love, anything at all that results in BUBBLES!!!

[Phi for All]

Yes, that's another device I love, anything at all that results in BUBBLES!!!

Do you have one of those nifty dispensers that you put a small amount of soap in, fill the remainder (like 7/8 of it) with water, and the dispenser gives you foamy lather? I love saving money on the soap and the lather is perfect for hand-washing, but the springs they put in the pump part are so cheap the pump stops popping back up after a month. I want the pro model....

[AzurePhoenix]

I had a cheap one, and I loved my cheap one, but then fate broke my cheap one, so I took it out back and examined it to make sure i couldn't fix it, then beat it with a hammer. Nearly as fun as bubbles.

[Klaynos]

What kind of idiot would dry already dry, un-washed hands?

 

 

The question is what would they be drying off

 

And also how well washed....

[AzurePhoenix]

The question is what would they be drying off

bad image.... must get a powerdrill....to drive it out

 

Those are good and useful devices, powerdrills. As muderous devices they're more upclose and personal than weed-whackers, and you can do interesting things with them.

[Callipygous]

What kind of idiot would dry already dry, un-washed hands?

 

the kind of person you dont want to be sharing germs with.... just think where else such a moron might have put his hands.

[Phi for All]

I'm bumping this thread because my company has started giving prizes for top sales. I've got a new laptop, a Palm Treo, an iPod Nano and my new 30" flatscreen HDTV gets delivered week after next. I also bought a new bike and ALL these things are accessory demons. And the accessories are such obvious profit-monsters! I hate being a rube!

 

I have already figured out that a pocket is the cheap alternative to getting a $30 arm-holster for the iPod (if I take it running I'll use duct tape, dammit), the little plastic stickies are expensive but worth it to keep the screen of the PDA from getting scratched, and rear-view mirrors on your bike's handlebars look goofy, rarely point where you need them and can't beat a quick glance over your shoulder.

 

Any other recommendations, good or bad, for these and other gadgets for your gadgets?

[YT2095]

well I`m a bit of a gadget nut actualy, and what I don`t have, I make (where possible).

 

my Faves are my Watch, I can change TV chans operate the Video, learn from other remotes and steal their code, calculator, stopwatch, alarm and Even tells the TIME!

then I have another gadget that`s a Remote Jammer, basily I flip a single switch and all remotes (anyones) ceases to function, Even if they get right up to the TV or vid etc... it`ll cover a good 5 metres too

 

what I DON`T like is silly things added to already good devices, stuff you know you`ll NEVER use, the worst IMO is all this Internet wired stuff, your Fridge orders milk online because you drank the last little bit before bedtime, Voice controled remote controls!???? WTF LOL

many of todays Mobile fones, they do Everything, but you need a PHD in astrophysics just to make a stupid fone call!

 

if it`s not broken, don`t fix it, that`s the way I like to operate.

[padren]

Remote control for window air conditioner units...something else to get lost just after dropping in fresh batteries.

 

Almost all cooking utensils sold on tv after 2am...save 20 seconds with a device that takes and extra 20 minutes to clean - got to love that.

 

And gerbils - I mean, they are like badly designed hamsters...

 

 

Gizmos I love include my DVR, I don't know how I managed to waste time before I got that thing.

 

Mixed feelings include the fax-scanner-copier-printer deal. Why get seperate units when you can do everything in one badly?

 

 

Anyone else have trouble with the flip-top shampoo deals? The ones you push with your finger to make it reveal the tiny spout...the ones that are like a ketchup bottle lid are okay, but the spout ones always get clogged, making them especially annoying.

[YT2095]

Tetra Packs.... Grrrr Arrgggggh!