THE FATHER LIFE » Gabe Stampone

[REVIEW] Aperion Home Audio Link: One Link to Rule Them All

Gabe Stampone — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:20:56 +0000

Sometimes you come across something that is so well thought out, so well designed and so gosh darn idiot proof that you suddenly see a genuine need for something. Gentlemen look no further than the Aperion Home Audio Link.

The Home Audio Link (HAL for short) is a wireless solution that gets all your audio content on your computer or MP3 player and sends it to the place where it will sound best, your stereo system. Simply plug in one of the wireless receivers into your stereo (this will stay fairly permanent as long as you have one central audio output) and plug the other into your music device.

We tested the complete Home Audio Link System, which retails for $150. The System includes two wireless receivers, two USB plugs (can’t have too many of those), 2 RCA cables, 2 3.5mm audio jacks, directions and a nifty box. Each additional Wireless receiver is $70.00. The receivers are small enough that they can be easily stored when not in use, and brought out when needed.

We tested HAL on both Apple and PC computers though a USB port and it performed well on both machines. The USB port will run audio and power through it so there’s no need to plug anything else into your computer. HAL also works with any MP3 players or other portable audio devices that have a 3.5mm headphone jack. When using HAL with items without a USB port like portable audio devices you’ll need to plug HAL into a power source to run the wireless connection.

Sound quality was fantastic. No static, no delay and plenty of bass. We were able to control music from the next room, and could easily control it just like playing music through the computer speakers. We also tried using it as a wireless subwoofer connection. We plugged one receiver into the stereo and attached the other receiver into the RCA connector on the subwoofer near our couch. This brought new enjoyment to movies and it gave us the flexibility and sound quality we needed, but couldn’t achieve with standard cables.

Overall, for the money you get a well-designed versatile product that sounds great and is easy to use. It comes with a one-year warranty and unlimited technical support. Visit Aperion at www.aperionaudio.com for more info and reviews on HAL and other Aperion products.

The opinions state are those of the author, who received no compensation from Aperion except for the product reviewed.

[REVIEW] The Go Anywhere Pelican i1015 iPhone Case

Gabe Stampone — Tue, 18 May 2010 10:39:38 +0000

I love my iPhone and I love to take it everywhere, but as I’m planning a canoe trip with the family taking it on the trip on water with kids is a little daunting. Enter the Pelican i1015 iphone case, a water-resistant, dustproof, crushproof tank of a case. It’s pretty bulky, and it certainly couldn’t fit comfortably in a pocket, but it will allow you to carry your iphone along on pretty much any trip without fear. It’s rugged with a heavy-duty latch and a thick rubber o-ring for a watertight fit. The i1015 has room for an iPhone or a comparable smart phone with room for cables, and earphones. One particularly cool thing about the i1510 is it allows you to still plug in headphones or speakers while it’s closed via an external headphone jack. One bummer is you can’t interact with the touch screen in the case so you’ll need to open it up if you want to change songs or answer a call.

Overall we were really impressed by the quality of craftsmanship, and it’s covered by a lifetime guarantee. So if you’re looking for a rugged case and you’re willing to sacrifice some space and some functionality you’ll be pleased with this Pelican case. The Pelican i1015 retails for $34.99, but you can find it online for around 20 bucks.

Pelican i1015 website

The opinions expressed in this review are those of the author. The author received no compensation for this review.

[REVIEW] Coghlans’s Magnesium Fire Starter: We Didn’t Start the Fire. Oh Yes We Did.

Gabe Stampone — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:42:24 +0000

Ever since the dawn of time mankind has been fascinated by fire. Truth be told, camping helps many of us scratch that pyro itch in constructive ways. Think about your fondest memories of camping and some of them probably center on sitting around a campfire. But as society has increasingly made our lives easier, the concept of starting a fire has been watered down to lighter fluid and a match. Where’s the adventure? Where is the drama? Where’s the sense of accomplishment? Well, have no fear because starting fires just got fun again.

Enter the Coghlans’s Magnesium Fire Starter, a small fire starting wiz. First of all it’s about the size of a sick of gum and weighs about the same, too. It’s basically just a block of magnesium with a sparking insert down the side of it. Through the center is a hole with a chain so you can attach it to anything so it’s easily accessible. We love the fact that it is the epitome of simplicity with no moving parts, and it’s very durable.

But how did it work? We followed the instructions on the box and started a fire very quickly. Here’s what you need to do. First when you are using the Coghlan’s Magnesium Fire Starter you’ll need a knife. If you don’t typically have one on you, you should invest in one. A basic Swiss Army Knife is versatile and will do the job in this application.

Find a relatively dry area that has reasonable wind protection. We recommend finding a flat area to work around. Also make sure you collect some dry tinder to toss on the fire. Take your knife and at a 90 degree angle scrap off some magnesium from the back of it. Once you have about a quarter’s size pile of magnesium, flip the fire starter over and take the back of your knife on the sparking insert and strike down towards the pile. Sparks will fly and fire should start instantly. It worked beautifully for us. The fire will not last long so you’ll need to work quickly or the fire will go out, but it’s so fun to use you won’t mind doing it again when it goes out.

Overall we were very impressed with this compact, light, easy, and (I’ll admit it) fun fire starter. For eight bucks (check online – you can find it cheaper) it’s a great value and should last for a long time. We recommend this strongly especially if you are rounding out a survival kit.

Remember to use caution when working with fire. Also make sure you follow the local laws in regards to open fires. When putting out a fire, make sure it is completely out (no smoke). Only you can prevent forest fires!

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[REVIEW] A Visit With the Vizit

Gabe Stampone — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:51:46 +0000

In technology there are few companies who are thinking about things differently or offering a useful alternative to existing products. The digital picture frame fad may not be as hot as it once was, but that may be because nobody is thinking about it in new and creative ways. Enter the Vizit by Isabella Products. It’s a nice easy to use digital picture frame that may not appeal to everybody, but it certainly should be considered when looking at digital picture frames.

While the Vizit is not currently available, we are assured it will be available shortly. We got our hands on a beta model and it performed very well. First a brief description: The Vizit digital picture frame has a nice, big 10.4 inch LCD screen capable of 800X600 SVGA resolution. It has a USB port and an SD card slot to allow pictures to upload through conventional means. It has a touch screen for basic gesture input, but no multi-touch. These features are not overly impressive, but the cool thing is the other way you get photos on it.

The Vizit is wireless but doesn’t run on wifi; instead, the Vizit is run on AT&T’s cellular network. Via a monthly service charge, you and friends are able to upload pictures from wherever. Just by emailing or texting, friends and family can upload photos to the frame, and the frame will notify you when new photos are ready to be viewed. Vizit is working on getting support for Photobucket and Flickr, which will allow two more great ways to get photos on it.

Imagine your parents have a Vizit frame and you’re on vacation. Instead of texting or emailing these photos when you get home or when you get back to the hotel room, you can send pictures directly to their Vizit picture frame, thus assuring that the photos will make it off of your parents cell phone or computer.

Another feature of the Vizit is that it’s dead simple to use. This is perfect for those people who just want to plug something in and have it work. Grandparents or those less tech savvy folks out there, we’re looking at you. All I had to do was plug it in, set up my account, and start uploading photos. Within a few seconds I had big beautiful pictures come across the Vizit’s screen.

There were a few hang-ups with the Vizit, though, and we hope these will be addressed soon. First, the Vizit has a touch screen, which will allow you to select photos and change some settings on the unit. The touch screen is a pain to use, and you have to tap in it pretty hard to get the screen to accept your gestures. Apple touch interface pretty much set the bar on how people touch to interact with products; if you like the smooth interface of an iPhone, you won’t get it here with the Vizit. The onscreen controls are basic without a lot of polish. But if you’re OK with banging your fingers through a few sections, it gets the job done.

Also, there is the price/service charge. At $279.99, it’s not cheap, and you’ll be tied to choosing one of two photo plans: $5.99/month for the basic photo plan or $79.99/year for a premium photo plan with 20% more data than the basic. I’m going to go on the record and say if there is any way I can buy a gadget and not have to sign up for some monthly charge, I’ll do it even if I have to pay more for it. I think I’m not the only one. If we are Vizit’s target customers, they’re going to have a tough battle to get my hard earned money.

I think Vizit should pitch this as a high-end piece of equipment and make this a whizz-bang easy to use, do it all picture frame. To do that, though, they’ll need to really up the workmanship and up the price. Right now the Vizit stands as a little too expensive for some and not quite awesome enough for the people who can afford it.

So here we are with a capable digital picture frame, which is thinking different about how people use and interact with it. Is it different enough to make it stand alone as a game changer in the digital picture frame market? Not yet, but it’s a strong start.

More information is available at vizitme.com.

Full disclosure: Isabella Products loaned the author a review Vizit unit, which was returned following the review period.

[TECH] Litl Comes Up Short

Gabe Stampone — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:33:39 +0000

The fine folks at Litl were nice enough to send us a Litl Webbook to test out and let both big and little hands play around with it. The results of our tests showed some promise for the Litl company, but there are some shortcomings.

When we opened the box we were impressed with Litl’s attention to design. Clearly the Litl is intended to draw attention, and it does in a positive way. The first thing that popped out to us was its screen, which is a little smaller than the rest of the webbook. The webbook is mostly black and white and has light blue trim. The laptop hinge doubles as the power button, and the hinge also allows it to be converted into easel mode that our child testers thoroughly enjoyed. It feels sturdy to the point that it feels a little heavy, though it only weighs 3.4 lbs. It is a little cutesy for our taste, but as this is intended to be family and kid friendly, we’ll give it a pass. The hinge is very rugged and overall the unit feels made well enough that most member of the family can be trusted with it without constant supervision. One nitpick on the design is the choice of a glossy black top — it’s a finger print magnet.

The Litl has a 15-inch screen with full keyboard (minus the unneeded function keys) and a traditional touch pad. It has a 1.6 GHz Atom processor and 1 GB memory. It’s wireless, has a .3 megapixel webcam and 2 USB ports (same as many netbooks). One big plus is it outputs 720p, which plays high def content, and can be hooked up to larger displays to play high def content via an HDMI output. Battery life is an unimpressive estimated 3 hours of use, so don’t be far away from your power supply.

The Litl runs a proprietary operating system called, of course, “Litl OS.” This OS lets you access your pages via windows uniformly arranged on your desktop. No menus, icons, or folders. It’s completely clean and clutter free. It’s also maintenance free. No virus protection needed, no software updates to search for. Litl takes the guesswork out of all the stuff that regular people don’t want to bother with when they have a computer. We found it very easy to use and found the windows to be similar to the Safari windows when you open up a new page. All you do is set up your pages and start enjoying. We found it to be easy and intuitive to switch from ESPN to Gmail to PBS kids. Litl focuses on highlighting what most people at home use their computers for: checking email, surfing the net, etc… Litl’s theory is they will focus on these items and get rid of everything else. Our testers found Litl did an excellent job taking away all the “clutter” without us missing it.

It only has a 2 GB hard drive, but if you buy into the pitch that you don’t need a large hard drive (and in this case you don’t), you won’t miss it. I for one can get there, but I feel many customers will need a little more convincing then Litl telling them they don’t need one. We have a psychological attachment to them. We need large hard drive until we figure out we don’t.

Now there are some shortcomings to the Litl, which I fear may significantly hinder most customers from picking up this machine. For one, the Litl needs to be touched and experienced. If you read what they say on Litl.com you’ll read all kinds of claims and information, but consumers need to touch products, especially computers. Why do you think there are so many computers on display at Best Buy? Litl addresses this issue by offering a 2-year unconditional satisfaction guarantee. Now that is believing in your product, and it’s a good way to get a customer to take a chance on it.

The most obvious thing we feel the Litl missed out on is a touch screen. The whole premise of the Litl OS begs for touch capability. One of its biggest features, the easel mode, is pretty much useless without the touch capability. As we explore the photos of people interacting with the Litl on its website, almost every one of them begs for touch interface. I saw a picture of a man getting out of bed using his Litl like a giant alarm clock. Cool idea. What would make it a true selling point would be to wake up to the alarm, and touch the screen to turn it off. How about touching one of the windows to check the weather, or touch a screen for NPR to check the news, or maybe even a touch to run Pandora. Suddenly it’s a very compelling machine and we haven’t even gotten out of the bedroom yet.

Another limitation is the price. At $699.00 ($718.00 with the remote), we feel it is a little pricy for what it offers. You put a touch screen on it and an instant on feature to cut out the boot up time and maybe you can make an argument for it, but it doesn’t hit that spot for us, awesome warranty or not. While we give a lot of credit to Litl for trying something different and creating a new OS to run seamlessly with the hardware (a la Apple), we don’t think Litl is in the position to be charging a “Litl tax” for their products, especially when the hardware isn’t offering anything compelling other than original design.

Finally there is the feature set. The Litl seems to be caught in a nether region performance wise, and while the OS makes the most use of these shortcomings, it doesn’t offer much in the way of flexibility down the road. Will you still need a machine that only surfs the net in 2 years? If the Litl was released a year or two ago it may have been able to offer some considerable competition when netbooks were first making their rounds. Customers then were willing to sacrifice certain features of their computers for the sake if portability. This would have been the perfect time for Litl to make a mark. After seeing the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show and the rumors of the inevitable Apple Tablet, we see what other companies have in the pipes, and they are impressive.

In 6 months the mobile computer market will be a whole different landscape. A large group of tablets and e-readers will be coming to market offering all kinds of innovative interactions with computers. Litl may need to bring more to the table than an intuitive OS and high def output to stay competitive. I think Litl is really close to being relevant, but there needs to be a Litl 2.0 and it needs to come soon.

TNT’s Men of a Certain Age: For Men of a Certain Age?

Gabe Stampone — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:12:13 +0000

The Father Life had the privilege to screen a preview of TNT’s new drama Men of a Certain Age, which premiers December 7^th at 10:00pm. Men of a Certain Age was created by Ray Romano and Mike Royce, who had both worked on ABC’s long running Everybody Loves Raymond. Men of a Certain Age follows three college friends, Joe played by Ray Romano, Owen played be Andre Braugher, and Terry played by Scott Bakula, and their adjustment to life not quite how it was planned.

Ray Ramano’s character, Joe, was a pretty good golfer growing up, but life started happening. He got married, owns a party store, had two kids, and got separated. Now he’s adjusting to his new life. Older and grayer, he’s trying to figure out how to make the most of the years going forward. He gambles, is a little neurotic, and is adjusting to a new relationship with his ex-wife.

Andre Braugher’s character, Owen, is overweight, diabetic, and works for his father at a car dealership. Owen is struggling to balance his home with work. He is pressured to show he deserves to be the heir to the car dealership by being there more, but his busy home life with his wife and kids may slip away if he does.

Scott Bakula’s character, Terry, is a struggling actor who is moving from temp job to temp job and is hanging on to whatever slim celebrity status he has left. He’s single and can still get women much younger than himself, much to the dismay of his friends, but he is finding out that this can only last for so much longer, and then what?

So is this a show that readers of The Father Life can get into? Absolutely. The show is funny at times, touching, and feels very real. Ray Romano playing a decidedly more dramatic role from his more comedic past delivers a very genuine performance. Andre Braugher is fantastic. I’ve been a fan of his work since Homicide: Life on the Street, and he was fantastic in Fox’s House season premier this year. It’s good to see him back on TV. He deserves to be on a strong series. Speaking of welcome back, Scott Bakula is back and it’s been a long time. He didn’t waste time after this year’s performance in The Informant!, and he’s cast perfectly as an actor has-been. All three do a fantastic job depicting the various parts of life while in a certain age.

The question, though, is will audiences tune in regularly to this show? TNT is doing everything they can to get the word out, and based on early reviews it is a great show, but great shows come and go. Is there enough to get viewers to come back for more? Will audiences make time to see this with all the other distractions out there? TNT’s target audience is middle-aged men, and the distractions middle-aged men have in their lives makes this is a very tough demographic to tap into. I have a hard time picturing a few buddies getting together weekly to watch Men of a Certain Age, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t.

Interview with Jason Schwartzman of Fantastic Mr. Fox

Gabe Stampone — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:10:37 +0000

Personally speaking, when I first heard of Fantastic Mr Fox and found out who was a part of it, I knew I was going to see this movie no matter what. After seeing movies such as Rushmore, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Darjeeling Limited, I became a big Wes Anderson fan. The big question for me, though, was this: Is this truly a family movie? Wes Anderson is known to do some pretty grown up stuff, and after Where the Wild Things Are (which was definitely NOT a kids movie) I needed to be sure this would be a movie parents can comfortably take their kids to see. If this is a family movie it has the potential to be one of those wonderful movies that will touch kids and adults equally.

Jason Schwartzman

Myself and other family friendly bloggers who had the privilege to be on conference call with Jason Schwartzman (voice of Ash, the son of Mr. Fox) soon got our answer. “This is first and foremost a movie for kids. (This movie is) made for kids with kids in mind.” Jason took care to make that clear from the start. “The response from kids has been amazing. ” He was quick to point out, though, that it is really a movie for everyone. “This is Wes’ most accessible movie for all age groups and all audiences,” he says. “The movies I saw when I was a kid, those are the ones that are still in my head. I feel like this is going to be that for kids now. This is the best movie I’ve been a part of and the one I’m most excited for people to see.”

Jason spoke of how he related to his character Ash, a small twelve-year-old fox who hasn’t hit his growth spurt yet and is living under the shadow of his “Fantastic” father. Jason’s character is a typical adolescent who is still being treated like a child. He also has typical adolescent problems. He likes a girl, but the girl likes Ash’s cousin who’s all the things Ash isn’t. “He’s flexible.” Says Jason. “He does yoga.” He can also do a perfect dive into a swimming pool, while Ash being small can barely muster a belly flop. Jason relates how he, at that age, hadn’t felt like he had grown up yet; he felt little, and he badly wanted his classmates to like him. He wished there was a movie like this when he was a kid to remind him that we’re all OK. “It’s a positive, uplifting, and funny movie,” Jason adds. “(It) will do kids good to see this movie.”

In some ways the Fantastic Mr. Fox is a coming of age movie, but Jason also points out, “This is like a real adventure movie (too), with lots of action, with running and fun freedom — like going down a hill on a bicycle for the whole movie.”

Jason went on to explain how Wes Anderson, while recording the voice work for Fantastic Mr. Fox, had the whole cast stay at a farmhouse. That way if a scene called for the characters to meet around a tree, they did the take around a tree. If they had a scene where they were digging, they would be on their hands and knees digging in the dirt. He related that as a child, he loved to dig in dirt, and this movie reached him on that innocent dirt digging instinct all children have.

But in a world full of 3-D and Computer animation, why be part of a movie with a much more tedious old fashioned stop animation technology? Stop animation is the term for creating animation from an inanimate object by taking a photo of it while moving the object slowly. Each little movement of each character needs to be painstakingly accurate so when the photos are put together the movements appear as smooth as possible. The benefits to it, though, is it creates a movie with a lot of texture and character.

Will viewers accept a movie like this after years of computer animation? “This year has been a good year for stop animation,” says Jason. “I love Pixar and love all animated movies, but I’m really happy to see stop animation coming out in a wide release. It’s a beautiful art form, and it’s good for the brain that this isn’t just computer driven. That it is a movie made by hand with puppets and little micro sweaters that all have been knitted, and little corduroy suits and all the sets are made by hand. I think it’s good for the eye (and) it feels good to watch the movie.”

Fantastic Mr. Fox opened in limited released November 13th and will be playing everywhere starting on Thanksgiving, November 25^th.

TNT’s Men of a Certain Age: For Men of a Certain Age?

[REVIEW] Energizer 15 Minute Charger

Gabe Stampone — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:52:21 +0000

We managed to get our hands on the Energizer 15 minute charger to see if it’s true to it’s word and if it’s worth your hard earned money. First, the contents of our test unit: a 15 minute charger, 2 AAA batteries, 2 AA batteries, wall plug, directions, and a bonus 12v plug handy for travel. We were impressed with how small the charger is; you could easily pack it for trips, and can it be kept in a convenient location – say a desk or near your entertainment center – without standing out too much.

In our environmentally conscious lifestyles, we like anything that is rechargeable to cut down on waste, and if it charges in 15 minutes what’s better for us busy dads? (I’d say a 5 minute charger, however I don’t think we’re there yet). So did it deliver on it’s claims? In a word: Yes. True to its claims, it charged the dead batteries that came with it in 15 minutes. We tested it several times and every time it was right around 15 minutes. The charger also has a built in safety timer and a temperature sensor which monitors each individual battery and terminates charging when fully charged. There is also a LED light which turns from red to green when the batteries are charged. There’s a built in fan, too, which will run when the batteries are charging. Don’t let the fan tell you when it’s done charging, because the fan will run for minutes after the charge to cool down the batteries. The batteries do get pretty warm.

We tested these batteries in digital cameras, wireless mice, and toys around the house, and found them to hold a good charge. We were sold on the convenience factor, too. Having fresh batteries practically on demand was fantastic. No more running out last minute because we were out of fresh batteries for that birthday party. We found it also to be an automatic add on for anyone who has or is getting a Nintendo Wii. This is an absolute must! You’ll go broke buying new batteries every time your non rechargeable ones die, plus Smokey Bear and Mother Nature are going to come looking for you.

Speaking of Mother Nature, just because you’re going green by buying rechargeable batteries doesn’t mean you can toss them out with your garbage. There are really nasty chemicals in rechargeable batteries, and until the technology in them gets a lot greener, please dispose of them properly. There are batteries out there that claim to be OK for the environment, but until those two technologies merge, give a hoot!

So our conclusion is that this product provides a quick and easy way to get fresh batteries almost wherever you are. The battery performance delivers adequately on most of our gadgets and gizmos (and toys). Thankfully most of our gadgets run on AA and AAA batteries. If you have a need to charge C, D, or 9 volt batteries, you’ll want to consider other options.

Suggested retail pricing is 49.95 USD, but we’ve found 39.95 USD to be a common price range.

Your Daddy Time: Worth It or Wasted? Worth It! 5/5 stars

Review: MacBook Air

Gabe Stampone — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:16:38 +0000

Ah yes, the MacBook Air. The mere mention of the name sends even the casual Mac fan into a daydream. But is it everything we’ve dreamed of? We went to our own inside guy for all things Mac, Gabe Stampone, to get some answers.

THE FATHER LIFE: So, the new MacBook Air. Did you scream like a little girl when it arrived?

GABE STAMPONE: I don’t think I’ve been as excited for something coming from Apple in a long time. When it arrived they shipped it in a box more similar to an iPod box than a MacBook box. The packaging really is showing the progression from Apple the computer company to Apple the everything company. Apple’s beautiful crunchy outside packaging gets you excited for it’s gooey center.

TFL: After some initial use, what stands out to you?

GS: What amazes me is that it’s so thin but it’s solid. When I looked at pictures I though “if I swatted a bug on this thing I’ll crack the screen.” Not so. It is an architectural marvel so thin, but it’s something I would feel comfortable treating as a normal laptop. The keyboard worked just like the MacBook keyboard, which was so popular they incorporated it into the iMac keyboard. It’s really nice for people who type well. For hunters and peckers like me it’s nice, but you won’t notice anything spectacular. The touchpad is quite a bit bigger than the MacBooks and MacBook Pros, but this is to allow for the multitouch feature that they added to it. Multitouch allows you to to use different finger gestures to, say, flip through photos or rotate them in iPhoto. Kind of cool but after doing it a few times the novelty kind of wheres off. This is not the sole reason to get this because everyone is assuming the next models of MacBooks and MacBook Pros will incorporate this. Lastly and most notably are the features it doesn’t have, but it’s not as bad as it seems.

TFL: The thing is so small and thin… what’s missing?

GS: Let’s be clear: if you’re looking at this as a workhorse that will allow you to expand it and upgrade it, pass. Buy the MacBook. It’s not as sexy, but it will allow you to upgrade memory and has more inputs and a smaller screen. If you need an ultra portable laptop that you will hardly notice when carrying, and if you do most of your surfing wirelessly without the need to hook up a bunch of stuff, then this deserves a serious look. A lot of people are out there saying this is not your main computer. If you can live without some of the noticeable bells and whistles that were sacrificed for the good of thin, then this can definitely be your main computer.

TFL: Is it practical for everyday use? What sorts of uses should folks get this for (other than being the envy of their friends)?

GS: The lack of optical drive, ethernet port, and the limit of just one usb port are noticeable, but Apple has etiher figured out a way around it or said “meh” about it. Optical drive is a biggy. Solution: a) an optional external SuperDrive or b) share the drive of another computer. It just has to be on the same wireless network and you can use it as a drive to load software to it. Personally I would only need that for loading Office or Photoshop on it, so 100 bucks for a drive I will hardly use doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. Movies? I can rent them on iTunes now.

TFL: Any other downsides?

GS: It depends on what you can’t live without. Most people under normal use will not miss anything on the MacBook Air. It has one USB port– enough for hooking up your iPod or a printer. Seriously consider getting an Airport or Airport Extreme. You’ll like the flexibility of a wireless network, and you can hook up your printer to it and print wirelessly. Very cool for most Apple users, a down right must for MacBook Air users. The thing that bothers me the most–and it’s nit-picky–is the magsafe adapter. It’s under the MacBook Air and it’s a little annoying to hook it up and unhook it.

TFL: Is this a replacement for the MacBook?

GS: Not really. They are designed for two distinctive customers at two distinctive price ranges. The MacBook is for students and home use where customers need a little more flexibility. The MacBook Air is for people where portability is the main thing. The MacBook Air is a sexy little laptop that will be able to handle most stuff that dads throw at it. (Keep it away from the kids, though, unless people like seeing a grown man cry where you live.)

TFL: Any other comments?

GS: For a lot of dads out there, this will be a tough sell. $1799.00 is pretty close to a MacBook Pro that can do a lot more than the MacBook Air. But having traveled with a MacBook Pro, this thing would be a traveler’s best friend. It has plenty of processing power for people who find the MacBook adequate, but if you need serious processing power, take a hard look at the MacBook Pro.

You can reach Gabe at gabestamp1@gmail.com.