William Ray Jr. - The Gadgeteer

Datacolor Spyder X Create Kit + SpyderCUBE + SpyderLENSCAL review – gear for photographers

By William Ray Jr. / April 30, 2023 / Reviews / Camera gear, Photography / Leave a Comment

REVIEW – Julie was offered some color calibration gadgets from Datacolor and I reluctantly agreed to review them after much arm twisting and other gadgeteer pressure tactics … OK, I readily agreed to review them. Datacolor sent over samples of the Spyder X Create Kit (which includes the Spyder X Pro , Spyder Shelf, Spyder …

Datacolor Spyder X Create Kit + SpyderCUBE + SpyderLENSCAL review – gear for photographers Read More

Velotric Discovery 1 eBike review – Bicycle riding doesn’t have to be hard anymore

By William Ray Jr. / July 26, 2022 / Reviews / Electric Bike / 3 Comments

REVIEW – Over the past couple of years I have been trying to get back into cycling a little bit. Do you know what I have discovered? Pedaling a bicycle is hard! After assembling the Velotric Discovery 1 eBike and taking it for a spin, I found this marvel can take away some or all …

Velotric Discovery 1 eBike review – Bicycle riding doesn’t have to be hard anymore Read More

SureCall Fusion2Go Max cell phone signal booster review

By William Ray Jr. / February 16, 2021 / Reviews / Cellular / Leave a Comment

REVIEW – If you are interested in cell phone boosters you might have read my recent review of the weBoost Installed Home Complete Signal Booster Kit. If you read that review you already know there was a certain amount of angst around my household when we changed cell phone carriers. I won’t belabor that here …

SureCall Fusion2Go Max cell phone signal booster review Read More

Pop Design FloSleeve review – Post workout relief for your legs

By William Ray Jr. / December 6, 2020 / Reviews / Health and fitness / 1 Comment

REVIEW – People often ask me, “Hey big fella, do you workout?” Of course I modestly respond, “Yes little dude, I do. I work out a lot.” One of the side effects of all this working out is muscle soreness. When Pop Design offered their FloSleeve device for review, my legs both agreed that this …

Pop Design FloSleeve review – Post workout relief for your legs Read More

Wilson Amplifiers weBoost Installed Home Complete Signal Booster Kit Review

By William Ray Jr. / July 17, 2020 / Reviews / Cellular / 5 Comments

weBoost Installed Home Complete Signal Booster Review

REVIEW – If you are having problems with cell phone signal strength at home — dropped calls, poor sound quality, unsent texts, can’t surf the web, etc. — you should consider the weBoost Home Complete Signal Booster. What is it? The weBoost Installed Home Complete Signal Booster kit is a whole house cell phone booster …

Wilson Amplifiers weBoost Installed Home Complete Signal Booster Kit Review Read More

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 4G/LTE smartwatch review

By William Ray Jr. / September 16, 2019 / Reviews / Smartwatch, Watches and Clocks / 5 Comments

REVIEW – The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 4G/LTE is not your grandfather’s wristwatch. OK. I have nine grandchildren, so there is that small possibility. Julie knew I was looking for a smartwatch that has fitness tracking features. Mobvoi offered their latest model up for review and I jumped at the chance to try it out. What …

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 4G/LTE smartwatch review Read More

Zano Zano – Drone cameras get smaller and smarter

By William Ray Jr. / July 10, 2015 / News / Toys / 2 Comments

Zano drones pack a lot of intelligence and mobility into the palm of your hand. This little guy has built-in obstacle avoidance and digital image stabilization – pretty high-end features for such a small affordable quad copter. The Zano is controlled using a smartphone app which features a simple control for altitude, image or video capture, …

Zano Zano – Drone cameras get smaller and smarter Read More

Into the abyss – underwater photography goes 360 degrees

By William Ray Jr. / July 9, 2015 / News / Camera gear, Outdoor Gear, Photography / Leave a Comment

The people at 360Heroes offer a variety of products for mounting multiple GoPro cameras to generate 360 degree photos and videos. They also sell the software used to stitch the output from multiple GoPros into usable 360 degree formats without a lot of post production headaches. The 360Abyss pictured above mounts 6 GoPro Hero cameras …

Into the abyss – underwater photography goes 360 degrees Read More

No present for Dad? Don’t panic! Citizen can help.

By William Ray Jr. / June 14, 2015 / News / Watches and Clocks / Leave a Comment

The good folks at Citizen have saved my bacon this year. My dad, like most dads, does not make it easy on me when Father’s Day (or Christmas or his birthday) rolls around. Last year I bought him 100ft of rubber hose for watering stuff in the yard. As you can imagine, he was really …

No present for Dad? Don’t panic! Citizen can help. Read More

Great Stuff RoboReel Air review

By William Ray Jr. / February 17, 2015 / Reviews / Do-It-Yourself, Home and Kitchen, Tools / 3 Comments

Julie asked if I would like to review the RoboReel Air from Great Stuff. Since Annette had been after me to install updated base trim and casing in our kitchen, this seemed like a great opportunity — both for me and for Annette. I would get to try out a cool new gadget for my …

Great Stuff RoboReel Air review Read More

The ApeCase ACPRO2000 has the capacity for a whole lot of gear

By William Ray Jr. / January 19, 2015 / News / Bags, Camera bag, Camera gear / Leave a Comment

ApeCase ACPRO2000 Pro Digital SLR and Video Camera BackPack has the capacity to carry enough gear to meet even the most demanding needs of photographers and videographers. The main interior compartment can be reconfigured to custom fit your gear. The bag has an integrated sleeve that can accommodate up to a 16 inch laptop. This means my …

The ApeCase ACPRO2000 has the capacity for a whole lot of gear Read More

Filter Forge 4.0 Photoshop plugin review

By William Ray Jr. / November 22, 2013 / Reviews / Camera gear, Photo editing software, Software / Leave a Comment

I owe Julie a long overdue review. OK, OK, two long overdue reviews and one that I can probably still call “on time” at this point. I am going to start with my review of something from one of my favorite product categories — Photoshop plugins. I really can’t seem to get enough of these …

Filter Forge 4.0 Photoshop plugin review Read More

Alien Skin Exposure 4 Photoshop plugin review

By William Ray Jr. / April 3, 2013 / Reviews / Camera gear / Leave a Comment

I have finally managed to get my images together for my review of Alien Skin’s Exposure 4 plugin for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. In my defense, this plugin packs in so many features that it simply took this long to try out most of the options. OK, I am a procrastinator. Hopefully I have put …

Alien Skin Exposure 4 Photoshop plugin review Read More

Alien Skin now offering updated plugin for Photoshop – Eye Candy 7

By William Ray Jr. / March 25, 2013 / News / Camera gear / 1 Comment

Alien Skin has come out with a new version of their unique and popular Eye Candy plugin for Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Version 7 features a revamped interface that simplifies the process of applying these effects to your graphics. They have also added new effects, including a very realistic lightning generator. The melted version of …

Alien Skin now offering updated plugin for Photoshop – Eye Candy 7 Read More

Alien Skin Snap Art 3 Photoshop Plugin Review

By William Ray Jr. / September 5, 2012 / Reviews / Camera gear, Photo editing software / 3 Comments

Well, it has been a long time since I have written a review for Julie. I fear I may have forgotten how it is done! Shabria, at Alien Skin, asked Julie if she would be interested in reviewing Snap Art 3 — their latest version of the Photoshop plugin that converts photographs into drawings and …

Alien Skin Snap Art 3 Photoshop Plugin Review Read More