There were tons of fantastic gadgets released in 2011. Whether we’re talking about new phones, tablets, portable consoles, laptops, etc., I’m sure that most of you purchased a consumer electronics device that dazzled you. Out of all the gadgets in your geek arsenal, which one impressed you the most this year?
As for me, it’s clearly the iPad 2. Apple kicked off the current tablet computing craze with the original iPad in 2010. The sequel, with its superior processor, made it even better. It’s just an amazingly diverse device. For entertainment, I can play games, watch movies, listen to music, read comic books, video chat with friends, and more. For work, it’s far more useful than I anticipated, particularly with the Logitech Tablet Keyboard for iPad. I wrote several articles and updated this blog on the iPad 2. For work (a little) and play (a lot), I love my iPad 2. It’s the most life-changing gadget I’ve bought since TiVo.
How about you? What was your favorite gadget of 2011?
A $500 tablet (any of them) is most definitely NOT the my gadget of the year. The Kindle Fire for $200 or the HP TouchPad $99 should be gadget of the year.
I realized recently that I can do far more on my 12.1" tablet that was built in 2004 than I could with my Galaxy Tab or TouchPads or an iPad. Tablets may have taken a step forward in portability, but a huge step backwards in functionality, compatibility, ports and screen/memory size.
Does the Dyson Hot count as a gadget?!? Its a heater and fan!
All Dyson products qualify. I so want the hand dryer…though they've had similar ones i Japan for decades.
The hand dryer (Dyson airblade) is a very great gadget. I remember the 1st time I used it at the museum of science and industry. I was like wtf but my hands were dry it felt like the auto dry feature from back to the future 2 only for my hands they were completely dry with no excess water to brush off on my pants or hair.
First time I used something like that was at Square Enix's office in Tokyo about 10 years ago. It was like someone opening a window on an airplane. I love the trash talking between Dyson and Mitsubishi about their hand dryers.
I've never seen a Mitsubishi hand dryer!! Are they only in Japan?
I got to use one of those once about a month ago. It was amazing. My only issues was my hands barely fit in and touched the edges defeating the hygienic part. But it worked awesomely!
Not really a gadget but a tie between my truckbox and leathermn.
The Galaxy Nexus, major upgrade from my blackberry. Loving the phone and the LTE data.
For me, the Kindle Fire is the best gadget of the year. The Fire isn't yet another iPad clone like all those other devices that came out this year, and that's why I think it succeeded the way it has. The Fire is the most successful "tablet" to be released this year that wasn't an Apple device, and managed to tap into a market that has been neglected so far, and it actually does its job well. For these reasons, I'm naming the Kindle Fire as the #1 new gadget of the year.
Easily the kindle fire. It is lacking in a couple areas (in reality pretty minor and specific complaints), but provides everything I want out of a tablet with the primary function being the kindle aspect. It's also a much better entry price, and that alone is enough for me to count the ipad 2 out of gadget if the year. Honestly the kindle fire is at the top end of the pricing for what I would consider gadget of the year, but it offers great features for the price, which is already better than any other tablet price.
Looks like the Fire has more votes than anything else so far. Here's the count:
Kindle Fire – 3
Dyson Airblade – 1
Galaxy Nexus – 1
Truckbox/Leatherman – 1
HP Touchpad – 1
iPad 2 – 1
okay, you guys are so much more informed than i am here, but i have a few questions to ask about the Kindle fire….Can i use it as a web browser? Is it flash enabled? I dont read a lot of fiction, so the book reader thing is kind of pointless for me.
went to amazon and did some research on the fire, so nevermind those questions. That thing seems like a crazy bargain at 200 bucks….
It's definitely a lot of tablet for $200. It's the razor and blade model. Amazon will make more profit on media sales.
Hold on. You don't read much fiction, so you don't need to read?! There's more than just fiction on the market!
And at $200, the Fire is quite a steal. I've been using it for little more than a week now, but it's already my favorite device (yes, even more than my laptop). It has its shortcomings (needs a bigger app store and a better Instant Video selection for starters), but the package is certainly good for the price.
While I do wish the app store was slightly bigger (ok I really only want the Google plus app to be on the Fire), instant video doesn't matter as much to me since I almost always have wi-fi and the netflix app. What I would like to see a better selection of is the free monthly rental books from prime members. Alright, not so much a bigger selection, but one borrow per month isn't much for someone who reads even a decent amount.