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I believe the prices set by these chinese (post-)shanzai shops show what's practically possible...

What would you say to a 7" touchscreen android with wifi & 2GB RAM for under $100 delivered to your door.

I don't see any reason that price can't be halved for a large enough order & then you're only looking at a $15/unit subsidy.

No, it's got 2GB of NAND flash, only 128MB of RAM. Whoever modded you insightful apparently didn't bother clicking that link.

The $35 tablet described in TFS supposedly comes with 2GB of RAM.

I believe the prices set by these chinese (post-)shanzai shops show what's practically possible...

What would you say to a 7" touchscreen android with wifi & 2GB RAM for under $100 delivered to your door.

I don't see any reason that price can't be halved for a large enough order & then you're only looking at a $15/unit subsidy.

Don't chop it.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2646

That combined with a $5 cable from elsewhere, and no, you don't have to chop up the cable.

I've learned some good tricks and skills over the years, but NO MAN can make his dick do what some of these things do...

Let me help you with that.(not safe for work)
http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.1106
Need I say more?

I've been meaning to build a laptop platform for my treadmill for ages now ... this is the weekend I'm getting it done.

Perhaps it's an idea to get an iPad. You can keep it in one hand, it might save you from rigging an extensive laptop platform. It might get heavy, though, so perhaps get a cheap desktop stand which might still be less work than building a laptop platform.

In the US devices that disrupt signals are illegal, therefore you don't want to be caught with this, this, or any one of these.

In the US devices that disrupt signals are illegal, therefore you don't want to be caught with this, this, or any one of these.

In the US devices that disrupt signals are illegal, therefore you don't want to be caught with this, this, or any one of these.

This is why most small GPS and cell phone jammers come with cigarette lighter plugins, so they can live in your car. If you want to take a private trip (and not have access to your own GPS or cell phone of course) you may want to invest in one of these (easier than crawling under your car and inspecting it every time you want to go do something. Or so I read in a magazine. http://www.dealextreme.com/search.dx/search.portable%20jammer.

DealExtreme must be perfect for cables. No?

Atleast they call the cables what they are:
Gold-plated: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.31951
Premium: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33981
Designers: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.41027

All of them claimed to "Provide highest level of signal quality", so nothing wrong there :)

DealExtreme must be perfect for cables. No?

Atleast they call the cables what they are:
Gold-plated: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.31951
Premium: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33981
Designers: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.41027

All of them claimed to "Provide highest level of signal quality", so nothing wrong there :)

DealExtreme must be perfect for cables. No?

Atleast they call the cables what they are:
Gold-plated: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.31951
Premium: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33981
Designers: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.41027

All of them claimed to "Provide highest level of signal quality", so nothing wrong there :)

Here's an Android 1.7 tablet, $107, free shipping.

...for example, on direct-sale Chinese marketing sites like DealExtreme or Focalprice.

Examples:

7" tablet with Android 1.6 for $107.70
a different model with Android 1.7
this one is $95.50
$132 for a tablet with an 8" screen
this one is $105

There's also a news site and a forum to discuss them.

...for example, on direct-sale Chinese marketing sites like DealExtreme or Focalprice.

Examples:

7" tablet with Android 1.6 for $107.70
a different model with Android 1.7
this one is $95.50
$132 for a tablet with an 8" screen
this one is $105

There's also a news site and a forum to discuss them.

...for example, on direct-sale Chinese marketing sites like DealExtreme or Focalprice.

Examples:

7" tablet with Android 1.6 for $107.70
a different model with Android 1.7
this one is $95.50
$132 for a tablet with an 8" screen
this one is $105

There's also a news site and a forum to discuss them.

...for example, on direct-sale Chinese marketing sites like DealExtreme or Focalprice.

Examples:

7" tablet with Android 1.6 for $107.70
a different model with Android 1.7
this one is $95.50
$132 for a tablet with an 8" screen
this one is $105

There's also a news site and a forum to discuss them.

DealExtreme has several Android tablets all for less than $150. I'm not certain if they have comparable specs to the one mentioned in the article, but they are all POS (including the one mentioned in the article) anyway so what does it matter. DX Android Tablets

I recently just dropped one of these in my system the other day. Doing a search for "front panel" on DX can yield quite a number things to fill up those front bay slots with.

Or you can get a $370 Rigol DS1052E, and software-hack it to enable 100MHz mode. Not quite as good as a Tek, but significantly cheaper and well worth the money, especially if you're on a smaller budget. I recently got one (it's about time I bought a scope) and I've been quite happy with it for my purposes.

Info on the hack here.

GSM blocker is only $30 on dealextreme
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.28714

if you only screw 3G antenna it will block 2110~2170MHz leaving 930~960MHZ alone

Ah, yes. The old "it cost more, therefore it must be better/newer/faster" generalization.

So, go have a look at what's actually available. You'll see that while the prices do vary wildly, there is very little variation in terms of the actual products (aside from packaging) other than a handful of products that appear to actually be independently engineered (which is not necessarily a good thing).

Just to pick one particular product: B&H sells it for $11.95. Computer Geeks has the same one for $7.99. Our hack-friendly friends at Sparkfun sell their copy for $10.99.

Meanwhile, buy.com has the same thing for $3.37 plus shipping. Deal Extreme is even cheaper at $1.85 including shipping, but you have to wait for it to cross the Pacific.

So...uh. Should I buy the expensive one from B&H, or the cheap one from Deal Extreme? B&H will certainly handle returns better in case the thing breaks or whatever, but for the price I can buy a small handful of these widgets from DX and spread out the MTBF myself.

(The rest of your post is spot-on.)

Check DealExtreme.

So far the feedback from most forums is that it sucks. Build quality is all over the place. The touch screen is lacking multi-touch. (Different technology). Some people have had theirs die completely after a few days of use. The battery life is horrible compared to the iPad and it's running Android 1.6.

But it is cheap.

I haven't read TFA. Or any comments. I'm not really sure if I will. And I'm late to the party, so the mods won't see this - bummer.

But: I have it on good authority (as in: I personally service both the wearable and monitoring devices) that at least one county in Ohio never did care about these things to the extent that they claimed to.

People are issued "tracking bracelets" that go around their ankles in cases of house arrest and such. But there's no centralized monitoring, at all: The only way that a detective would know that a criminal under house arrest had violated their terms, would be to drive by their house and see if they're there.

Yes, that's right: Short-range RF links, much like those that your gas provider likely uses to read your gas meter these days.

So, if nobody bothers to drive by, then nobody will know if the convicted criminal is actually abiding by the terms of their sentence...and even if they do, it's going to be hit-or-miss whether or not they see them actually violating anything.

Of course, the criminals themselves don't necessarily know this. But even so it is more of a deterrence than a highly-regulated sentence.

Color me unimpressed that actual GPS-enabled tracking devices are ignored when boundary alerts go off.

Your post reminded me of a stupid product I saw. It is real. Crazy, but real.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.23065

This small would be better.

0.01 gram resolution:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.36148
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.29495
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15002 .. and more.
0.001 gram resolution:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10515

0.01 gram resolution:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.36148
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.29495
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15002 .. and more.
0.001 gram resolution:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10515

0.01 gram resolution:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.36148
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.29495
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15002 .. and more.
0.001 gram resolution:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10515

0.01 gram resolution:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.36148
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.29495
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15002 .. and more.
0.001 gram resolution:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10515

I've been watching this project for a while.. I found it while hacking a cheap DX PMP device that uses the same SoC. ( sku.28751 )

The Qi project is much more than open source software. It's an entire embedded system that you can have full datasheets for, and not have to sign any NDA agreement to get them. For anybody wanting to learn about embedded devices, this is a great project play with. For anyone looking to replace their iPad, they should look elsewhere probably.

..for the first time (it was just released in europe), and after seeing the linked android tablet in the description, two things come to my mind:

1) 7'' might be a WIN. I found the ipad extremely gorgeus and fast, etc... but it was too uncomfortable to use because it was just heavy enough to use with both hands, but as soon as you need to interact with it a lot (i.e. almost anything other than scrolling) you need to switch to holding it with one hand and typing/interacting with the other hand. And it was way too heavy for me to do that comfortably.
That's why I think 7'' or 8'' might have been way better.

2) that android tablet will probably have a much poorer battery life (yes, pure speculation) and I doubt they will have access to android market, so.. (oh, and I hope they dont redo the entire homescreen/UI because that will probably mean they somehow f*cked it up)

I am eager to see 8'' android tablets made with great hardware, great battery life and stock android so it is easier for them to update the damn thing.
Also, I think 128MB or 256MB RAM is not enough. (see this one, for instance http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39448)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39169

There you go... Android tablet for $100 shipped.

I got a 7 inch netbook off eBay (from Hong Kong) for $60 shipped. It has crappy WinCE 5, though. :P

Where the hell are you shopping? You can get a 16GB drive for ~$40 over at deal extreme, and they'll drop it as you order more. Yeah, it's not in the 4c/GB range, but the read-write ability and form factor outweighs DVD-Rs for a number of uses.

The GP neglected to mention which bluetooth device he bought and for how much. This is a price gouging hole because of the lack of options in the market. I found that the OBDkey you linked to costs $160 for the bluetooth, and $350 for the WiFi version.

I had discovered this $50 alternative when I had been looking, but don't know if it will work as well as the more expensive ones. ~$50 is surely a much more decent and reasonable price though.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16921

You can read the reviews which are ok, and it even works with the open source scantool.net software, ScanXL, Scanmaster, etc. So it can't be all that bad.Several Free OBD2 software tools are listed on this page:
http://www.webpg.net/sc/pages.asp?pageid=60
More open source ones here:
http://www.geekmyride.org/wiki/index.php/Open_Source_OBD_software

I also noticed a similar one on ebay which is more like $25. Again, no idea how good these actually are.

I have also read that bluetooth may not support sufficient bandwidth for realtime monitoring of modern ECUs with a large number of sensors, data etc. Wifi is better, but I haven't found anything actually affordable.

My own goal was a laptop-less self contained logging device that can be handed to my friends to simply plug in and go. That would allow me to log sensor data and analyse it later to diagnose intermittent issues that we cannot reproduce on demand. I didn't quite succeed in this. The most obvious option is the "Carchip", which turns out to be pretty lame. It can only record about 10 or so parameters and that only at 5 sec intervals. Many intermittent issues only last a few seconds so this would be useless for diagnostics. Its more a fleet management solution.

There aren't many other affordable datalogging devices. I finally bought the very expensive Auterra dashdyno, which turned out to be a huge disappointment also. It can log several times a second but is also limited to 16 pids. This wouldn't be such a problem if the user interface was not an absolute horror to use. I will leave that review for another post. This precludes it being used as a plug and go tool. It is for geeks only and needs babysitting.

I guess the next best idea is that I will buy that bluetooth device next and see if any data logging software is available. Also need to upgrade my phone to Android I guess. At least a laptop is not required, but still not the plug-and-log that I want :/

You can get some great cheap hardware from ODBII usb cables through to handheld scanners here

Even a cool bluetooth link

Some of the links require Windows but the one I have works great with WINE.

You can get some great cheap hardware from ODBII usb cables through to handheld scanners here

Even a cool bluetooth link

Some of the links require Windows but the one I have works great with WINE.

I've looked into this a fair amount and one thing I will say is beware of fake ELM ICs.

The ELM327 IC is what the vast majority of these scanners will be based on. The ones at www.scantool.net will use genuine ELM ICs, but the ones like this one and this one will almost certainly use non-genuine ELM ICs.

The ELM327 chip is just a PIC with some custom firmware on it. A few years ago someone managed to get the firmware off one of these PICs and since then the fake ones have really taken off. Whereas the genuine ELMs have frequent updates, the fake ones obviously don't.

First, get the hardware interface: http://www.scantool.net/scan-tools/pc-based/elmscan5-compact.html with some OK software, $60 http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.28528 $29 shipped from hong kong. Hardware isn't free unless you really do want to build your own. ELM327 is a common OBDII interface chip, and they're probably nearly identical internally Then go to scantool.net, software downloads, and find the source. Hack away. Or, go to sourceforge and look at some of the linux based obdii software.

Say again ?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.22789

200ft $18 :-)

"200 gigabytes/year for audio" is not "still a few generations off" unless you particularly need the device to keep data locally for long periods.

200Gbyte/year is just over half a Gig per day. You could store nearly a fortnight on an 8Gb microsd card (which are not expensive and are very small even with the required read/write interface (see http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25557 for a small one, and this device would not need the physical USB interface so could easily be made smaller)). As long as you switched card or otherwise offloaded the data to other storage in that time your 24/7 recording is good to go - battery life would be much more of a problem than storage.

I can imagine such a device being easy to produced right now. Maybe not as small as a little lapel badge, but certainly "StarTrek TNG broach-like communicator" size or smaller. All you need is a microphone, the card reader, a small processor for compressing the incoming data, and a battery. Battery life would be the big problem, but with advances in processor tech (doing more with less power), battery tech, and the potential in the near future for trickle charging from reclaimed energy (there are a number of research groups showing promising work around gaining power from human movement via devices inlaid in clothes or, for applications such a pace-makers, installed internally) I expect the device you describe is practical in the very near future if it isn't already now.

Heck, I could set my MP3 player to voice record and leave it in my pocket all day. Call that version 1.0, and work on miniaturisation and the interface to non-local storage.

Not even that - anyome with a $27 gadget can seriously disrupt GPS-based traffic.

Dude those cables are everywhere, they literally breed at my house and i've never even bought an ipod or a cable. Two dollars will buy you a cable with change, so that seems like a strange criteria for buying or not buying a phone.

I guess i understand if you don't like having extra cables adound though. An iPhone would be awesome to have, i have an ipod touch i got for free and love it.

-S

This one: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4326 for $13 shipped has decent reviews... It might be on par with the ~$50 hunting ones, and if it doesn't work for you, well, you're out just $13 ;)

Plus 1 on the Zenni Optical plug. I bought my self 2 pairs of close up glasses (computer use and reading) Cost me $45 shipped for 2 pairs. Very pleased with the quality. Better than the ones I got from the optometrist and paid $200 for 1 pair. Took about a month for the gallses to show up all the way from Hong Kong.

On that note, Deal Extreme, which a a seller of various Chinese sourced items, has some cheap hearing aids. With a billion citizens, you need to make them cheap enough for those who need them. I would think they are worth a shot, given the low cost. The plastic might give you ear cancer though! http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4326 http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.1002~search.hearing

Plus 1 on the Zenni Optical plug. I bought my self 2 pairs of close up glasses (computer use and reading) Cost me $45 shipped for 2 pairs. Very pleased with the quality. Better than the ones I got from the optometrist and paid $200 for 1 pair. Took about a month for the gallses to show up all the way from Hong Kong.

On that note, Deal Extreme, which a a seller of various Chinese sourced items, has some cheap hearing aids. With a billion citizens, you need to make them cheap enough for those who need them. I would think they are worth a shot, given the low cost. The plastic might give you ear cancer though! http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4326 http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.1002~search.hearing

The phone on your wrist is a decent idea which is severely flawed for several reasons.
1: Extreme lack of space for all that needs to go in it.
2: Lack of space to dial numbers.
3: Kinda annoying to charge, especially due to the fact that it will need to happen often.

Also, I fail to see how this is newsworthy, dealextreme.com offers several watch phones.
For instance: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13058

Also, the link isn't only slashdotted, the page is even suspended for using to much bandwidth.

You can start here. This may not be the exact model you're looking for, so check out the other phones.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.31876

-b

You can run HDMI over Cat5/6... http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.21489