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SeSawaya · Oct 1, 2004, 11:56 PM

http://www.griffintechnology.com/

wow, now I've seen everything!

storer · Oct 2, 2004, 04:32 AM

OMFG, ROFLMAO.

What would you use that for? i mean, how many extensions do they want you to carry around? iPod is supposed to be compact! I mean, finding your keys? you can buy a $2 keychain light for that. Neways, its like $20! I'm guessing thats u.s. too.

Lancer409 · Oct 2, 2004, 05:02 AM

Originally posted by storer:
OMFG, ROFLMAO.

What would you use that for? i mean, how many extensions do they want you to carry around? iPod is supposed to be compact! I mean, finding your keys? you can buy a $2 keychain light for that. Neways, its like $20! I'm guessing thats u.s. too.

total agreement

SeSawaya · Oct 2, 2004, 01:30 PM

oh wait,
Its dark, your looking for your keys, you think, hey I'll find my little light, plug it into the ipod (including the firewire) and then I can see. Why not just turn on the iPod with the back light. Unless you know its going to be a flash light that is.

I wish there was an easy way to turn on the iPods back light for when its dark, just to set the backlight timer, THATS the biggest pain for me.

phillryu · Oct 2, 2004, 02:01 PM

I actually used my iPod's backlit display once to find my way through the backyard woods of my friend's house in pitch darkness.

(I was walking to his house.)

But anyway, laser pointer could be useful for people who use laser pointers as a pointer. In presentations and stuff? Right?

Luca Rescigno · Oct 2, 2004, 03:39 PM

But you can get tiny flashlights and tiny laser pointers for <$5. They're just as small as the little iBeam attachments but they cost less, they don't require the large and bulky (by comparison) iPod to work, and they don't run from the iPod's battery.

What if you were looking in a very tight space? A tiny $2 LED flashlight would be better than having a $10 LED flashlight with an iPod hanging off its ass.

Utterly pointless.

storer · Oct 2, 2004, 04:07 PM

Originally posted by phillryu:
I actually used my iPod's backlit display once to find my way through the backyard woods of my friend's house in pitch darkness. (I was walking to his house.)

I've done a similar thing with my mobile phone before. It's handy when you can't find a torch. But would you carry around that little attachment with your iPod all the time?

nagromme · Nov 6, 2004, 12:40 PM

The main reason to choose this instead of a self-contained mini-light or pointer is because you'll never have to THINK about batteries for these.

I wouldn't buy a mini-light OR a laser pointer if they were just one more thing to swap or charge batteries for. Remove that, and sure, I might just pay another $9 for the privilege.

Also the laser is reviewed as being relatively powerful--the 300 ft. claim is supposedly true. Do you get the same quality with a $5 laser pointer? Maybe, I don't know.

To each their own of course.

Spheric Harlot · Nov 6, 2004, 01:14 PM

Originally posted by nagromme:
The main reason to choose this instead of a self-contained mini-light or pointer is because you'll never have to THINK about batteries for these.

I wouldn't buy a mini-light OR a laser pointer if they were just one more thing to swap or charge batteries for. Remove that, and sure, I might just pay another $9 for the privilege.

Also the laser is reviewed as being relatively powerful--the 300 ft. claim is supposedly true. Do you get the same quality with a $5 laser pointer? Maybe, I don't know.

a) yes, you do get a similar quality, but that's rather pointless, since you're likely not going to be pointing things out at 300 ft with a dot that's too small to see at that distance.

b) LED flashlights use very little battery. Mine held up for TWO YEARS until I blew it by accidentally leaving it on for two weeks straight. I think that qualifies for a lot less worrying about batteries than with an iPod, where I seem to recall batteries dying entirely on some people after 18 months...

-s*

tiffer17 · Nov 6, 2004, 07:36 PM

Originally posted by storer:
I mean, finding your keys? you can buy a $2 keychain light for that.

lol...the very concept of keychain light implies that it goes on your keychain, which would pretty much make it useless when it comes to finding your keys...

nagromme · Nov 7, 2004, 09:32 PM

It's not less worrying... I've had pocket lights die before, so it is a worry--whereas with the iPod it's no ADDITIONAl worry above and beyond your iPod's own battery consumption.

(And I think the point of 300 meters is that it's a measure of the light's brightness. I'm sure they could find a more technical but less useful measure too.)

I have ordered the iBeam set for the above reason

The flashlight will be practical. The laser will be a toy.

What's nice is, not everyone has to enjoy the same things.

PS, I once dropped my car keys in the dark in the middle of nowhere and had to drive around for over an hour until I could find a store that was open to replace my burned-out pocket light.

A Ghost Is Born · Nov 7, 2004, 09:54 PM

i thought about using this but it seems rather silly,.

Nodnarb · Nov 7, 2004, 10:12 PM

Originally posted by tiffer17:
lol...the very concept of keychain light implies that it goes on your keychain, which would pretty much make it useless when it comes to finding your keys...

Not only that, but Griffin made that mistake as well. On the iBeam page it says, "Ever used iPod's backlight to find your keys?". And then it says "Both units come with a snap-on protective cap that can be attached to any keychain for convenient portability and accessibility."

Whoever wrote that for Griffin is a moron. Actually, whoever made this product is.

Luca Rescigno · Nov 7, 2004, 10:23 PM

Yeah... who needs to FIND their keys? I always have my keys in my pocket. What I would need to find is the keyhole, not the keys themselves. Or perhaps I'd have to find the correct key on my keychain, but I can usually do that by feel.

Griffin iBeam = teh sxu0r

Spheric Harlot · Nov 8, 2004, 05:26 AM

Originally posted by nagromme:
PS, I once dropped my car keys in the dark in the middle of nowhere and had to drive around for over an hour until I could find a store that was open to replace my burned-out pocket light.

I call BS.

It's hard to drive when you've lost your car keys.

nagromme · Nov 8, 2004, 11:40 PM

Now that you mention it, I don't recall covering a whole lot of ground during that hour.

maxintosh · Nov 9, 2004, 12:04 AM

Originally posted by SeSawaya:

I wish there was an easy way to turn on the iPods back light for when its dark, just to set the backlight timer, THATS the biggest pain for me.

You, my friend, are in luck! Just hold down the menu key, the backlight will turn on for a while

mhuie · Nov 9, 2004, 06:37 AM

Add to the fact that battery life on laser pointers isn't especially good and those little watch batteries cost about $3 each (and usually require 2 or 3)

Originally posted by nagromme:
The main reason to choose this instead of a self-contained mini-light or pointer is because you'll never have to THINK about batteries for these.

I wouldn't buy a mini-light OR a laser pointer if they were just one more thing to swap or charge batteries for. Remove that, and sure, I might just pay another $9 for the privilege.

Also the laser is reviewed as being relatively powerful--the 300 ft. claim is supposedly true. Do you get the same quality with a $5 laser pointer? Maybe, I don't know.

To each their own of course.