Jason Dunn

I had fun busting out the ol’ #Yeti for a guest spot on a podcast. More details later!

When Technology Ship Dates Conflict With Your Vacation Dates

We all know that buying technology is about timing: the worst time to buy a piece of technology is right when the new version is about to come out. You’ll paralyze yourself if you keep waiting for the “next big thing” of course, but with products that refresh on a yearly cycle, unless the previous generation is being sold at significant cost savings, you want to get the new version to be one step further away from obsolescence. Sometimes though, the cycle of technology does not sync up with the cycle of our lives when it’s time to buy.

Case in point: off and on since 2002, I’ve been going to Mexico for vacation with my family (my ninth trip is happening next month). It’s a Dunn tradition, and given it’s usually the only vacation I take all year, I look forward to it with great anticipation. On January 23rd, 2012, I purchased a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3 for my March Mexico vacation that year. A newer version of the Panasonic camera, the TS4, was announced on January 31st. I can’t recall if, four years ago, I knew that was coming or not, but I can tell you why I didn’t return it: many camera vendors announce in January but don’t start shipping until late March or early April. The first verified purchase review on Amazon was April 3rd 2012, but I couldn’t wait that long.

Continue reading When Technology Ship Dates Conflict With Your Vacation Dates

OS X Isn’t Immune to Apps Behaving Badly

UPDATE: I wanted to clarify that 1password is most definitely not a “bad app”, in this case it’s just an “app behaving badly”.

No matter what OS you’re using, a bad app will give you a headache. Based on my experience so far, OS X seems no better than Windows at dealing with apps that lose their minds. For the most part I’d say apps on OS X are quite stable – it took several weeks of using the computer daily before I saw apps start to misbehave. Two instances in particular stand out…

Continue reading OS X Isn’t Immune to Apps Behaving Badly

The Zolt Universal Laptop Charger: Is This The Ultimate Mobile Charger?

At AT&T I don’t travel for work as much as I used to for HTC, but when I do I usually bring my personal laptop with me – and that means two different power supplies. I use a Rocketfish universal charger for my HP work laptop (a rather chunky and heavy machine) and the Dell charger for my XPS 13. The Dell charger is small, but the Rocketfish charger is your typical brick. It has a USB port for charging though, which is a big improvement over your typical charger. Together, carrying the two chargers is a hassle, especially since I fly carry-on 95% of the time. I usually put both chargers in a carrying case inside my carry-on luggage.

In my quest for a new, lightweight universal charger I backed the FinSix Dart on Kickstarter back in April of 2014. After waiting 19 months (!?!), I gave up waiting and requested a refund. Props to FinSix for giving out refunds – many Kickstarter campaigns do not.

I then ordered a Zolt: it seemed better in every way. Getting it was a bit of a fiasco – they didn’t indicate there would be a wait on getting it, so I was expecting to receive it shortly after the November 19th launch date. The neglected to communicate that’s when pre-orders would start shipping. It was almost five weeks later, a day after I left to spend two weeks in Calgary that they informed me they were shipping the Zolt. I think it’s pretty foolish to surprise ship a product right at the holidays when so many people travel, but I give credit to their customer service team: they were able to re-direct the shipment and ship it out the day I got back. There was a bit of a delay, but I finally received it. I’ve had a couple of days now and here are my thoughts so far. Continue reading The Zolt Universal Laptop Charger: Is This The Ultimate Mobile Charger?