Category Archives: Computer

Canon Powershot A640 Review

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Canon Powershot A640 Review

Canon Powershot A640

You might be asking yourself why I’m reviewing the Canon Powershot A640 which was released to consumers in 2006. By my estimation that makes it nearly 20 years old.

And you really might be wondering why I’m writing about it 19 years after I bought mine.

By today’s standards it has features that a lot of cameras today should have at the same price point.

I am not referring to sensor size or megapixels although it has a respectable 1 1/8″ CCD sensor with 10 Mega Pixels. And DPReview.com gave it a pretty decent review in late 2006.

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Camera Tethering

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Camera Tethering

Camera Tethering

I have written several articles on camera tethering over the years. And here I go again. I am FAR from any kind of professional photographer but I do have this blog and I do sell the occasional item on Facebook.

So allow me to discuss why I believe tethering is important.

Let’s dissect the photo just above for a moment. I am using a Canon A640, circa. 2006 tethered via a USB-B Mini 5 pin connector to a USB-A cable on the computer end. The laptop cost a whopping $75 and the white background cost around $35.

This is neither the best camera or laptop that I own. Far from it. I’m just making a point here. I’m using this setup to show how great results can be obtained without spending a ton of money. Additionally, there are pros that use tethering way more successfully than I ever will. I’m just a guy who stumbled across this great method of getting better results with the tools that I have. To this day I will not buy a camera that cannot be tethered to a computer.

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More Benfei Adapters

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More Benfei Adapters

Benfei Adapters

I’ve been extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to test LOTS of Benfei Adapters.

As I have stated before I mostly use a MacBookAir and it essentially only has two USB-C ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.

That simply will not do for a guy like me with so many gadgets and electronics projects going on at any given time. I’m into audio. And I’m into photography. And a dozen other things. The only way to function with limited ports is to own ADAPTERS.

For example, my Mother In Law likes to stream church and watch it on her TV. Sometimes we all come over and watch with her. The only way to make that connection on her older TV is to have an HDMI adapter coming off of the computer.

I make quite a few videos with higher end cameras and microphones and by golly, I need adapters to read the CFexpress, SD and TF cards.

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KYY Portable Monitor 15.6″

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KYY Portable Monitor 15.6″ 1080P USB-C

KYY Portable Monitor 15.6"

The folks at KYY asked me to review their 15.6″ KYY Portable Monitor for Amazon Prime Day. Current price is $69.98.

The best time to buy one is NOW during the Prime Day sale.

Also of note, this monitor has nearly 11.000 Amazon reviews with about 4 1/2 stars. File that under, “That Many People Can’t Be Wrong”

The monitor comes very well packaged and does not feel or look cheap at all. In fact it feels pretty beefy. The protective cover also acts as a stand. I had read some comments about the protective cover being flimsy but I’m not seeing any issues. Mine works fine and looks fine.

I wish they had these portable monitors when I was working a few years back. Anyone who needs a portable office should get one of these. Road Warrior approved!

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More Benfei Adapters

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More Benfei Adapters

I’ve been lucky enough to get to test a small boatload of Benfei Adapters. This is the third shipment of various cables and USB devices, and adapters that Benfei has sent me.

You can read my previous reviews here and here. In this entry I’ll be reviewing 3 more items.

After the first two reviews Benfei asked me if there were any other items I wanted to try. I dug through their website and requested 3 specific items:

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Benfei Adapters – Part Two

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Benfei Adapters – Part Two

Benfei Adapters

Benfei Adapters

Benfei previously sent me a bunch of their adapters to review. You can read that blog here.  And recently I opened a box on the porch that had even more Benfei Adapters in it to review.  I love Mac computers and I love their ecosystem and sleek designs.  But that can come at a cost.   That cost is a lack of input/output connectors.

But first you can connect with Benfei on their social media sites Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, or TikTok.  Benfei sells about 6 million units per year and is the #3 seller on Amazon in their category. Benfei has been around since 2014 and has shown impressive growth in that period of time.

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MiniRack Build Out And Review

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MiniRack Build Out And Review

Seems like in the last year or two home networking folks have started building up MiniRack Home Lab servers.  A typical network server rack is 19″ and the minirack form factor is 10″.

My build is inspired by Jeff Geerling.  Jeff is a Tech Guy who specializes in all things Raspberry Pi.  Anyone who owns a Pi probably knows about him.  Essentially, my build will consist of 3 Raspberry Pi computers and a JetKVM.

  • Raspberry Pi 4 with POE+. – An MMDVM board is used as a gateway for DMR Ham Radio.
  • Raspberry Pi 5 with GeekPi POE+ and 256GB NVME Hat. Additionally, a HiFiBerry DAC8x Digital to Analog converter for streaming audio. Lyrion Music server and Squeezelite and deployed.
  • Raspberry Pi 5 with the same Geekpi POE+ and this NVME houses a 4TB NVME drive with Samba.  Also, it has a mini RTL-SDR for running OP25 which is a P25 Phase 1 and Phase 2 decoder.  I use it to track two trunking communications systems. (Police Scanner)
  • JetKVM – used to control the Pi with the 4TB drive.  Lastly, KVM stands for Keyboard, Video, and Mouse and is similar to IPMI accessibility.

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Benfei Adapters And Docking Station

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Benfei Adapters And Docking Station

I’m a MacBookAir fanatic.  Anyone with a MacBookAir can tell you that due to its slim design there are a few standard ports missing.  There is no ethernet port, no SD card slot, and only a couple of USB-C ports.  Adapters are a must.  The nice folks at Benfei sent me a few adapters and a docking station to test and review.   The adapters are as follows:

Benfei Adapters

Benfei Adapters

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GMKtek Intel N150 Mini PC Setup And Review

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GMKtek Intel N150 Mini PC Setup And Review

GMKtek Intel N150

GMKtek Intel N150

A while back I bought a GMKtek G3 which I reviewed here.  I put it in the guest room on the TV and it serves up as a Logitechmedia client to a nearby stereo.  Also, I use it as a Police Scanner with an RTL-SDR device.  Lastly, it can be used to stream anything in a browser such as Sling, Netflix, Hulu, etc.   Something happened recently which led me to purchase a new GMKtek Intel N150, G2 Plus Nucbox.

A reader CC’d me on an email to GMKtek.  This person was quite unhappy with their Nucbox.  Now I don’t mind when someone emails me and tells me their harrowing tales but I do mind when adding me to an email implies that I’ll write a bad review about that product for them.   I do so love writing negative reviews but I don’t have anything negative to say about GMKtek.  I contacted GMKtek and told them I had nothing to do with the email and that I didn’t know the person.   The good news is that they told me they’d investigate and try to help the author.  Right after that I have no idea what happened.  GMKtek treated me awesome though.

So while looking at the latest offerings I was kind of shocked to see an Intel N150 with 12 GB of onboard DDR5 RAM, and a 512 GB M.2 2242 SSD with Windows 11 pre-installed.  The price was amazing as well at just less than $150.  By comparison my first PC, a 486SX cost nearly $3000.
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Rongta Portable Printer F81 Review

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Rongta Portable Printer F81 Review

Rongta Portable Printer F81

Rongta Portable Printer F81

In the late 1990’s I was working for the government and teaching aircraft maintenance classes to Active Duty Navy and Marines.  I taught the class all over the world and printing class rosters and certificates was troublesome.  You couldn’t just hook any computer up to the Navy network which meant printing needed to usually occur in the hotel.  Hotel offices weren’t much better.  And then I found a portable printer that would fit in my suitcase.  Fast forward to 2025 and now I have really found a printer that will fit in any backpack or purse.   Enter the Rongta Portable Printer F81 (currently $132.99 with a 30% off coupon at Amazon. In addition you can stack an additional 30% off by using the code DXF3Q6ND.  That brings the price down to $63.03.  That really makes this a no-brainer.

The Rongta F81 is a thermal printer which means it never needs ink.  But it does need thermal paper.
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