Here are my favorite gadgets in list form:
1. Flip video mino (http://www.theflip.com)
2. RODE Podcaster studio quality microphone
3. Western Digital MyBook 1TB Network hard drive for backing up
4. RoboForm software and RoboForm2Go USB version. Download it for free at www.DownloadRoboForm.com
5. Timer set to 45 minute intervals
6. Samsung Blackjack and HTC Touch mobile phones
7. Dell XPS M1710 laptop
8. Dell Inspiron 9 Mini laptop
Other gadgets – Logitech Pro 9000 webcam (used for start of video)
Now it’s your turn to share some of your favorite gadgets and devices with me and the rest of the readers. Just send your comments in the comments box….
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Only thing to add… The Rode Podcaster is AWESOME – I find the sound is better though with the desk arm. The shock mount slots right into the end of the arm and you can position it much closer to your mouth.
It’s funny actually. I got the same WD MyBook two days back.
Rather than the Dell laptops, my MacBooks do me fine.
lol
Other than that. AWESOME.
- David
Ahhh David Wilkinson, the famous 14-year old affiliate marketer
Thanks for comment.
I’m actually waiting for the stand! It’s been a month already. I’m also getting the pop filter to get rid of those popping and “sssss” sounds.
What a coincidence..same hard drive. I guess we have the same taste in geeky gadgets
Yes, I’m waiting for the new MacBook Pro – 8 hr battery life…taking ages.
Thanks
Thnks for sharing the gadgets you use.
I’ll say for me the clock was the hit. Sometimes I tend to spend more time on the computer than I should and I have to say it is not all work either!
I am now reminded to start to time myself. I have been meaning to do this but you have now given me a stark reminder.
My main gadget is my Easy Note Pad – it’s a 17 inch laptop Intel Celeron (whatever that means)(I am tapping away on it as we speak)It is a bit combersome but I really wanted to use it both for work and pleasure. The pleasure part being to watch videos sometimes when I am not at my work station.
apart from this major gadget the other thing for me would be pen and paper. I love writing what I am going to do and once done I thooughly njoy crossing it out.
Anyway thanks for letting us into your world.
Most appreciated.
Have a great day.
God bless you.
Willee D
http://www.listbuildingmission.com
Hi Willee. Yes, the timer clock is one of my favorite friends now. I learned this “time chunking” concept from Eben Pagen.
The 17″ laptops are a great overall PC but bulky at the same time.
I still use pen and paper too, add to that are my white boards to write all my tasks using the “ABCDE” method http://aureliustjin.com/the-abcde-method
Thanks for sharing.
I just purchased a Maxtor 500 gigabyte external hard drive to put all of my IM things on. Was able to free up 20 gigs on my drive. Expensive, but great. And for manipulating header graphics, haven’t found anything better than XHeader. There’s an example of it at the site. It comes in both a free and one-time-fee model. Really makes my sites stand out from all the generic ones, especially the affiliate sites.
Good way of organizing your files, Jay. Thanks.
Hey Aurelius,
I’ve always considered backing up my computers a pain in my butt. I’d like to know more about the 1TB Network hard drive you’re using for backing up. You said if you change a file it automatically backs up on the network drive. It sounds like some kind of RAID system. Is it?
I’ve been considering having a new computer built for me with a RAID 1 +0(I think that’s what it’s called). It would consist of a 500GB hard drive for the OS and two 1TB hard drives for backing up. I think it’s called mirroring.
Look forward to your response.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hi Jeff. Yes, I was in the same position as you too untill I lost a lot of my files from a crash.
Yes, the WD NAT drive includes a software called “WD Anywhere backup” by Memeo. Once you have it installed you can choose/select which files/folders/drives you’d like backed up. It backs up in real-time and keeps in sync. On top of that, you can slo choose how many “old” back ups you’d like to store.
The RAID setup is great to. You could have two hard drives, each one mirroring each other, so even if one of them fails you still have the other. You can actually find some ready-to-go RAID network hard drives.
Thanks for your comment.
The one gadget I use every single day is RoboForm. Like you say, is a huge time saver for all those passwords we need to input every day.
I have never had a single problem with this application on all these years and believe me, I use it a lot.
Highly recommended.
Thanks for the other gadget ideas Aurelius!
Hi Xerge. Yes, RoboForm’s certainly got a lot of fans. I love it, love it, love it!
I just don’t see how you can live without it if you’re using the Internet.
Thanks for your feedback.
It’s not really a ‘gadget’ but, in addition to my own 1TB Western Digital MyBook, I use a free software tool called SyncBack to backup all of my important files.
http://www.2brightsparks.com/downloads.html
(look for “SyncBack Freeware” near the bottom)
NOTE: There are paid versions, but the free version does everything I need it to do for now.
It has too many amazing features to list here, but I’ll mention 2:
1. Your first backup copies all files to the ‘destination’ directory. On each future backup, it scans for just the files that have been added, removed, or changed and syncs only those files.
2. You can even use it to back your most important files to your web host; meaning, it can use FTP to perform a backup to any FTP server. (One thing I use this for is my RoboForm ‘passcards’.)
—
BTW, I strongly second your recommendation of RoboForm. It is an AMAZING tool that I cannot live without.
If you don’t have it on your computer, go get it RIGHT NOW…
http://www.DownloadRoboForm.com
Thanks, AT!
Hi Aurelius
I love your gadgets, i`ve got a lacie 500 gig external drive, i keep all my films on this and downloads, but i back up in a different way. I have a dell Vostro 200 with two 320 gig internal hard drives, i just moved the my docs folder to my second drive and keep everything in there, i keep meaning to use the lacie supplied back up software, for just whats on my desk top(lots and lots).
What i would like to recommend is everyone uses images to restore there pc. I use Acronis after a bad crash i lost everything, so after re-installing xp i put all my applications back on, installed acronis, made an image created a safe zone and then a recovery cd, from a built in acronis utillity, If i have problems now i can boot in to acronis main page, it gives you 11 seconds and using the image, returns to how it was the day i made the image, as all my stuff is in my docs on a different drive i only loose my desktop folders. If anyone does go for this make a boot cd, once i could not boot at all, so popped in the cd and within 5 minutes was back to a brand new operating system with all my stuff working again.
Hey Dan! Thanks for the recommendations. Memeo does a similar job but the added FTP support with your software is a great idea. Looks like the WD MyBook is quite popular amongst the crowd. appreciate your input.
Hi Paul. That sounds organised. I agree with you about having a ghost image. I also have one too for my desktop PC. It takes a heck of a lot of time.
To everyone – as a rule of thumb, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Very interesting indeed, thanks for showing us all of those gadgets.
Hi Aurelius,
I am a gadgets fan too. Like you I have a flipcam which is so fun to use. However, my favorite thing right now is my iPhone. As a Mac user I absolutely love it.
The RODE podcaster interests me. Currently I use a basic mic that isn’t the best in terms of sound quality. Thanks for the video – you’ve provided a lot of good tips!
Aurelius,
Since you like Roboform so much you should also be aware that the SAME company has released the exact software you guys are all taking about that will sync all your files onto an external drive and much more. Check it out.
http://www.goodsync.com/
Will
Hi Aurelius,
Jeff was asking about backup. There is an excellent free download called Karen;s Replicator -
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp
I use it for my home computers and my office computers. It takes a while to do the first back-up as it has to copy across everything on your list (from a single folder to the entire hard drive – I do my entire hard drive). From then on, it just copies any changes.
With this software, you don’t need to buy any particular external hard drive – any brand is fine, as long as it is big enough to hold your entire hard drive and then some spare space. I like to have the back-up drive at least three times the size of my hard drive, so I can back-up to one folder one month, and then another folder the next month – some rotate weekly or even daily – it is up to you…
Free download and it is great – I will not be without it.
Regards,
Trevor
Thanks Lionel.
Eartha – Love your name! Yes, eventually you want to get a higer-end microphone when you’ve reached the point where you’re doing videos regularly.
Will – Yes, GoodSync is another choice for a backup software. I like how RoboForm cross-promotes it after you’ve downloaded/installed RoboForm.
Trevor – thanks for the recommendations. Yes, any type of hard drive will do, just as long as you’re not backing up on your primary drive.
Aurelius,
Just one other thing. I highly recommend you install the ‘Subscribe to Comments’ plugin on this blog. Most marketers have it these days so users can subscribe to the comments and be notified if anyone then responds.
Huuuum Man, I Like your little fancy work place. I also like all your gadgets. As for me, I used RoboForm, dell Inspiron 13 laptop and a flip cam. That’s all for now…
Thanks, Justice. We have similar toys
I actually love the RoboForm software myself. I use it all of the time and it takes all of the menial everyday tasks that I have to perform on my computer daily and shortens them extremely! What once took me fifteen minutes to complete now takes me only one second because RoboForm does the same task with just one click. In fact I wrote a Report about a lot of RoboForm’s capabilities for use that aren’t even touched on in the User’s Manual for RoboForm. You can get that Report here:
http://www.theroboformreport.com/indexa.html
There is also a FREE version of RoboForm that you can download on this web page, just to test the RoboForm software out for yourself! I highly recommend it!
Good to see more RoboForm users! Here’s the link again to download RoboForm:
http://www.downloadroboform.com
Aurelius,
Just saw your new business cards on your twitter feed. They are the same people I got to do my business cards and they did me an awesome design too. Salt Print have some really talented designers working for them.
Hi Will,
I actually had my designers to design my logo and business card (http://sbn.com.au/sbndotcomdotau/artwork/12390/12748/proofs/proof01.jpeg)
Saltprint just printed them.
Thanks
I like your timer idea for timing your work into 45 minute periods. I am surprised that you do not have a printer-scanner-fax machine. I cannot do without it.
Thanks for your comment, Normz.
I actually do have a fax/laser/scanner machine. It’s kind of ordinary which is why I didn’t feature it.
Thanks for the roboform recommmendation, that will be very handy for me
Hi Aurelius,
Great video and it’s good to see you share some of the cool technological devices that help up market our business.
I particularly liked the timer idea because there are days that I procrastinate and need something to help me stay focused. Do you get that?
Also I use the DELL Inspiron 1525 and it’s a good all rounder to take with me and use at home.
I will consider getting the Flip Video Mino as John Chow and a few other guys are highly recommending it. Just annoying how we can’t get it here in Australia.
Oh yeah – I’m using the Logitech Pro 9000 Webcam to do all my videos, which you can see on my website.
Thanks again and great post!
Hi
Really interesting and helpful – point which may also
interest – my eldest Son has been traveling since Sept. 2008 and working online while in NZ and currently in Sydney – returning UK next week.
His iPhone has proved invaluable throughout – especially with needs to communicate constantly while
building new web site for new product launch soon.
So, recommend you add this excellent ‘Gadget’ . . . and no, I’m not an affiliate for Apple:-)
Best wishes
George Burrows
Cornish Riviera
UK
My favourite gadget is my Palm T|X which, apart from the useful Calendar / Appointments / Contacts / Word / Excel docs etc features, I can access my e.mail wireless anywhere in the house – it’s so sweet! So I take a first check of my mails at any time, even in the little room!
P.S. got mine on EBay for a good price…
Yea, I’ve got two smartphones… it has Windows Mobile with the same applications you mentioned.
Hello! It’s a pleasure meeting you!
I enjoyed your video tremendously. I’m a fan of gadgets for starters
One item not in my arsenal is the RoboForm software.
I’ve always been hesitate to use such tools primarily due to security concerns.
However, now, after hearing your recommendation and reading other reviews it’s definitely being added to my tool kit.
Thank you!
C. M.
I am sure most will say their iPhone. But I think the Kindle and SLR is one of the most important gadgets and certainly the MacBook Pro.
Hi Aurelius,
That was a great video. Really interesting and helpful. Thanx for sharing.
I have to say, really luv your home office there and all the gadgets.
Excellent guys! Thanks for your comments.
I am working with marketing in Denmark and is searching for inspiration in the digital world. Thanks for inspiration