Boogie Board eWriters

 **A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review**

It seems whenever I need to print something for work from my home office all of the paper in the printer has miraculously vanished.  It is easy to find though as our refrigerator is covered with all my kids' drawing showing off their latest artistic masterpieces and highlighting where all my copy paper went.  While it is hard to be mad at my kids for having fun drawing it can be quite frustrating.  I may have found a solution to my problem though with Boogie Board eWriters!

Boogie Board eWriters provide a paper-like writing and drawing experience upon a light weight, reflective, pressure-sensitive, plastic liquid crystal display (LCD).  By pressing down on the LCD with a finger, stylus or other instrument images are created on it with the same effect of using a pencil or pen on paper.  When you want to change the image simply press an erase button on the ewriter and an electric field generated by a coin cell watch battery that powers the device will make it vanish.  The only energy the device uses is to wipe the LCD screen clean so you can get a lot of use out of it with a small battery while also being very environmentally friendly by reducing the amount of paper you use.

Boogie Board eWriters can serve as a multi-purpose paper replacement for helping students practice handwriting and arithmetic, taking notes, leaving messages, creating maps, playing games like Tic Tac Toe, even diagramming sports plays for a youth basketball team you may be coaching.  Oh and of course these devices are great for drawing pictures! The sky is the limit for applications and pretty much anything you write or draw on paper can also be done on a Boogie Board eWriter.  It sounds almost too good to be true, but my family has put two of their models to the test, a Scribble n' Play and the jot 4.5 CLEARVIEW eWriter, and both performed splendidly.

Scribble n' Play

My daughter loves doodling on the Scribble n' Play and I've noticed that the paper in my printer tray hasn't been disappearing as much.  She really adores drawing on her Scribble n' Play. This eWriter features Colorburst technology that provides a multi-color LCD writing screen.  It comes with four stylus tools that allow users to create a variety of lines and textures to enhance their drawings.  These stylus attach to the board for easy storage.  a FREE app for iOS devices allows you to save your Scribble n' Play creations on a phone or tablet then share it with family and friends.  With the simple push of a button the image on the LCD disappears and you can start on a new masterpiece.  Since the energy you need to operate the device is primarily to generate an electrical charge to reset the LCD it has really long life with the battery it comes with and when it is time for a new one you just need to pick up a replacement coin cell battery.

jot 4.5 CLEARVIEW eWriter

The jot 4.5 eWriter has a patented translucent LCD screen that makes it perfect for kids to practice writing their numbers and letters.  It comes with alphabet flashcards that can be placed behind the device for kids to practice their handwriting skills.  There is also a FREE iOS app that provides practice math drills that can be placed under the eWriter's clearview screen for kids to interact with using the device's included stylus. The jot 4.5 eWriter's quick, one-push of the button erase system makes it great for repetitive tracing and memorization drills that would be particularly useful for students in kindergarten through third grade.

This device isn't just for tracing though and while it is great for young students there are plenty of practical and fun uses for adults too.  Use it to write down things you'd otherwise need paper, scratch pads or sticky notes for.  It's also great for sketching!  In addition to using the included flashcards to practice his handwriting on the jot 4.5 eWriter, my son also has lots of fun drawing on the device.  Trace an illustration or if you have the artistic ability create your own work of art draw something freehand.

 

Affordable, convenient, practical and environmentally friendly, our family has had a great experience using Boogie Board eWriters.  I particularly like these devices get away from typing and encourage people to continue using handwriting.  The two devices we reviewed are focused on being primarily used by children but if you really appreciate this concept, Boogie Boards also has an eWriter aimed for adults, the jot 8.5, that features a sync app that easily transfers your content in a format that can be edited to a phone or tablet encouraging using the device for note taking, writing, and messages.

For more information about the Scribble n' Play, the jot 4.5 CLEARVIEW eWriter or Boogie Board's other products, please visit myboogieboard.com

BooEnn Light Sensor Smart Glasses

 **A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review**

Who hasn't walked through the electronics section of a store and marveled at the crispness and clarity of the images being shown on the televisions being displayed.  I don't know what they do but it seems you can never replicate that magic on your TV set at home.  You can though get a perfect view that will bring to mind the marvelous imagery from those model televisions while you drive using the new BooEnn Light Sensor Smart Glasses.

I had a long 200 mile round trip trek for work on a bright sunny day which was the perfect opportunity to test out BooEnn's Light Sensor Smart Glasses.  These glasses provided crisp visibility with perfect shading for a view that could have easily been mistaken for a scene being watched on a high definition television if I wasn't steering a vehicle going 70 miles per hour along Interstate 69.  The reason these glasses work so well is that they have state-of-the-art sunshine intensity sensors which control liquid-crystal display (LCD) lenses powered by a solar panel that instantly brightens or darkens the lenses based upon driving conditions.  As I passed through the tunnels along one stretch of freeway running across Detroit's northern suburbs these glasses transformed from shaded to totally clear in the blink of the eye.  As I exited the tunnels emerging back into the sunlight the light-modulating properties of the LCD lenses instantly provided just the right amount of shading to give me the perfect view of the road in front of me.  Leaving Metro Detroit and traversing across wide open rural Michigan landscapes during my trip to the state capital of Lansing, I found that with no glare and just the right level of shading these glasses provided me with some of the best visibility while driving I'd ever experienced.  Often times I get eye fatigue, especially on bright days, when making this trek but I didn't experience that during this trip.

The question you'll have to ask yourself is how much you value form over function?  While these glasses function great, I have to admit their form is lacking.  They really aren't that attractive to wear unless you want to envision yourself as donning a super hero mask while driving down the road.  That being said, while being odd looking, these smart glasses aren't bulky, heavy or uncomfortable to wear.  I found the BooEnn Light Sensor Smart Glasses very comfortable to have on actually. It just felt a bit odd seeing myself driving in them when I caught a glimpse of myself in my rear view mirror and got a few weird looks from people pulled up next to me at stop lights.  Weighing their performance versus appearance, I've kept them in my car to use again because I valued the benefit of the enhance visibility and reduced eye fatigue these smart glasses provided.  In my opinion, in this circumstance function trumps form when evaluating the value of this product.  Hopefully as the Solar LCD technology develops BooEnn can make these Smart Glasses a bit smaller and more stylish.  If you spend a lot of time in a vehicle driving, especially in conditions where you're dealing with brightness, glare and light pollution, you'll absolutely want to check out the BooEnn Light Sensor Smart Glasses.

BooEnn Light Sensor Smart Glasses are now available through INDIEGOGO.