Nanofunk Blog Main Site

Geek blog for all things hackintosh, dslr video plus tweaking, hacking and modding your gear and gadgets.

25Apr/120

DSLR Rig Shoulder Mount Pad Steady Rig Stabilization System for EUR 100

DSLR Rigs go for as low as 100€ (130 US$) on ebay. But are they any good? How do they compare to expensive DSLR Shoulder Rigs and should you care?

DSLR Rig Shoulder Mount Pad Steady Rig Stabilization System for EUR 100
pictured: DSLR Rig Shoulder Mount Pad Steady Rig Stabilization System for 7D 5D Mark II Z7 from filmcity23 (international orders)

Short answer: go for the cheap Rigs! They are quite durable and you can buy another one if it breaks.

Longer answer:
The upgradeability of the cheap rigs are limited. Furthermore the materials used are also cheap, so of course, if you are a pro-shooter you might want to get the more expensive Rigs, such as the Proaim DSLR KIT-3 or the (very expensive) Redrock DSLR Cinema Bundle. If you are beginner or intermediate, you should definitely try the cheap Rigs for a little over 100€, since they are often sufficient. Stabilizing the video output and generating good footage should be your main concern - after all the rig is not visible on your footage.

28Dec/110

Amazon Warehouse Deals has -10% until 31.12.2011: some items are really cheap! (-60%)

Amazon Warehouse Deals has an offer of -10% of the existing "warehouse deals" until 31st of december 2011. Warehouse Deals are B-ware, such as opened boxes or refurbished items, all with full warranty. The different amazon country-stores offer different products, so make sure you check Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, Amazon US (or the other partner programs), as they have different offers.

Here is a roundup of the best deals:

Amazon Germany
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2EG-K 577,58€
HP LaserJet P4014N 456,61€
Kindle Keyboard, eReader, Wi-Fi, 15 cm (6") 109,90€

Amazon UK
Nikon D7000 Body Only for £783.08
Apple iPod touch 32GB for £130.58

Amazon US
Canon EOS Rebel T3 12.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm IS II Lens for $417,05
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 with 14-42mm Hybrid Lens $832.35
Apple MacBook Air MC969LL/A 11.6-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION) for $990,92
Apple MacBook Air MC506LL/A 11.6-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION) for $753.69

I am still going through all the offers and I will make myself some late christmas presents ;) happy shopping to you all!

 

 

10Jul/110

Cheapest Hackintosh configuration: 235$ (145$ without monitor!)

We compiled a list of the cheapest hackintosh configuration with the cheapest currently available Hackintosh compatible hardware to date.

This is the configuration that makes most sense if you have a small budget. Graphics are Intel GMA 950 and the set is complete with monitor, mouse and keyboard. The drive is a 7200RPM 500GB HD. Here is the URL to the complete list: The cheapest Hackintosh shopping-list.

19.99$ Kingston ValueRAM 2 GB 667MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 DIMM Desktop Memory (KVR667D2N5/2G)
29.99$ GIGABYTE GA-8I945GZME-RH Intel 945GZ Socket 775 micro-ATX Motherboard w/Video, Audio & Gigabit LAN
89.99$ HP L2045w - LCD display - TFT - 20.1" - widescreen - 1680 x 1050 / 60 Hz - 300 cd/m2 - 600:1 - 5 ms - 0.258 mm DVI-D, VGA (Refurbished)
  9.99$ SilenX IXM-2014 IXTREMA Pro 200W MicroATX Power Supply
32.99$ Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 HDP725050GLA360 - Hard drive - 500 GB - internal - 3.5" - SATA-300 - 7200 rpm - buffer: 16 MB
16.00$ Lite-On Super AllWrite 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive - Bulk - IHAS124-04 (Black)
  4.80$ Masscool 90mm CPU Cooler for Intel Socket LGA775
14.99$ Processor - 1 x Intel Celeron D 330J / 2.66 GHz ( 533 MHz ) - LGA775 Socket - L2 256 KB - OEM
14.50$ ATX Mid Tower Aluminum Desktop Computer Case
  1.99$ I Concepts PC Trio Kit

The price for the complete set is 235$ (145$ without monitor!). We don't think you will find a cheaper Hackintosh configuration out there.
Ah, one more thing: a very cheap mobile hackintosh notebook costs 229.99$: the Asus Eee PC 900A WFBB01 Refurbished Netbook.

21Mar/110

Save Money with replica Apple Hardware: the good and the bad.

Apple original Hardware is very pricy. There are some items which can be bought as replica and are (almost) the same as their original counterparts. But which items should be bought as rebuilt?Good idea: Replica Apple Power Adapters (for MacBook, MacBook Pro, iPhone, iPad). Bad idea: Lithium-ion polymer battery packs.

We recently had bad experiences with non-Apple battery packs, so we can definitely not recommend getting them from another vendor. Good news: if your Battery is less than 300 cycles and lower than 80% of the battery health, they will replace it for you (if you have Apple Care or are within your 1 Year warranty). If not, stay tuned, we will post a guide on this very soon.

Apple replica/ rebuilt Hardware that actually makes sense to buy

1. Apple Magsafe Power Adapters (and G4/G3 Adapters as well)

Apple Magsafe Power Adapter Replica. Cheaper than the original, same quality.

The cheapest versions are EUR 27,98 for a AC Power Adapter für Apple MacBook Pro MagSafe 85W( even cheaper in the USA: $25.56!) and EUR 21,99 for a 60W Power adapter for Apple MacBook ( only $19.27 in the US!)

2. Apple USB Power Adapters for iPhone and iPod

The Apple original USB Adapter sells for $29 on the Apple Store, while a Multicharger Set (Car, Wall and USB) sells for €4.50 in Europe and $5.47 in the USA. Be careful! I selected items that we already ordered and tested before, there are "bad" replicas as well out there (see this example and read the comments on Amazon).

 

 

Apple Replica Keyboard. WTF is that a windows key?

Apple Replica Keyboard. WTF is that a windows key?

 

I will post my experiences with Apple replicas here if I have any news. Currenty, we can NOT recommend the following list of items as replicas:

  • Apple Replica Batteries. They mostly died on us too fast. (we will post a specific Apple Batteries Guide in some days)
  • Apple Replica Keyboard (not tested) - is this really available somewhere? WTF is this windows key? Although the Macally USB Slim Keyboard - ICEKEY has some good reviews, i like my keyboard to be an original. [UPDATE] the Macally Keyboard has severe driver issues. Not Recommended!
  • Apple Mouse Replicas: we ended up going hi-tech with the Apple Magic Mouse which is $67.99 - or just using the Logitech Value Optical Mouse which is $4.99, but can not be really considered a "replica", since the Apple Magic Mouse has soo much more features (wireless, swipe, better optical resolution).
28Jun/100

Only in June: Native Instruments Kore, Komplete, Traktor, Audio DJ, etc. huge savings!

via native-instruments.com: 300$ Rebate when buying Kore 2 together with NI Komplete 6 and 50% off all updates and upgrades!

The Offers in Detail:

  • Kore 2 + Komplete 6 for 699€
  • Komplete 6 Update from any previous version: 74,50€
  • Kontakt 4 Update 64,50€
  • Traktor Scratch Pro Update , FM8 or Absynth 4 Update from 34,50€
  • Guitar Rig Update for 34,50€
  • Free Traktor Pro with Audio DJ 8 Soundcard (Free Traktor Duo with Audio DJ 2 or Audio DJ 4)
  • Kore 2 Update or Battery 3 Update from 49,50€
  • Reaktor 5 Update from 59,50€

I got myself a Kore2+Komplete, an Audio 8 DJ Soundcard and a Traktor Scratch Pro Update. Since I already own Komplete 6, i am selling it (as well as Traktor Pro and tons of other gear) on the Audio Sellout list.

14Jun/101

next 2 days: save 50% on tc electronic plugins

via tc electronics: "For just two more days, today and tomorrow (June 15), you can save 50% on all TC Electronic plug-ins for PowerCore and Pro Tools - plus a few additional ones! For example, you can get the amazing M30 reverb plug-in that runs natively on your computer for only $35!"

This offer might be especially interestin for people owning the tc powercore units. As I own the tc powercore compact (only available via ebay these days) i was wondering if the Access Virus PowerCore Plugin sounds as good as the original Virus synthesizer. The PowerCore PCI is currently priced 399€ at thomann, the TC electronic PowerCore Firewire 19" variant is 998€ (also thomann). UPDATE: you can get my powercore compact from the audio sellout list.

2Oct/090

New Ableton Live Contoller: Novation Launchpad

launchpad-ableton-main-gimage-copy

A Monome for the rest of us. The new Ableton Live Controller by Novation looks quite like the monome. Still, if it integrates in Ableton as well as the Akai APC 40, it can be a quite handy - and cheap: 150€ (199US$) is said to be the street price (to be released Nov '09).

Still since the APC40 uses a proprietary protocol, it is uncertain if the Launchpad will be usable for controlling other things than Ableton Live.

   
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