HD Archives - Rave & Review

Keep an eye on what matters most with the Samsung SmartCam HD

Do you ever wish you could see inside your home when you’re not in it? Or maybe you wish you could see upstairs in your house while hanging out downstairs? If so, you should definitely check out Samsung’s newest smart home solution, the SmartCam HD Pro.

Designed for the security conscious as well as those who need to check on kids, pets, businesses, or deliveries from afar, the Samsung SmartCam HD Pro is as versatile as they get. A 1080p Full HD camera that can be linked to your smartphone wirelessly through the Samsung app, the SmartCam allows you to see everything in striking clarity, remotely.

Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition with FreeTime offers entertainment at home or on the road

As someone who is on the go a lot with kiddos, one of the main things I get asked about from friends, family, and readers is about essential gear for family travel. And while my “essentials” list has changed based on the ages of my children, there are a few things that never change. One of those things is the prevalence of tech gadgets. It’s true that tech gadgets can change your life dramatically and make life easier, especially when traveling, but there are also some huge downfalls.

One major concern is being weighed down with technology instead of making life easier. When we’re talking DSLRs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, action cams, and more as well as all the accessories and gear that go along with all those tech accessories, you can easily fill up a suitcase – and that’s before you pack any toiletries, clothing, or footwear.

So, I always say that when traveling, less truly is more. If you can go without a full laptop simply by packing a small add-on keyboard to your tablet, you are going to be a whole lot happier when packing, lugging your tech bag through airports and onto airplanes, and going through airport security – especially when you’re also corralling kids. By pairing your tablet with lightweight accessories and gadgets as well as apps to make your tablet function like a laptop, you can truly ditch the extra weight and end up with a versatile go-to device for everything from reading by the pool to editing work documents.

For this reason I love the Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition that is an ideal tablet for kids but also packed with features to make it perfect for adults, too. A few weeks ago my son got to play with one of these awesome tablets at the TravelingMom-Techlicious Holiday Tech and Travel Show in Seattle #TNTSeattle and he was so sad to say goodbye to it when the time came. Amazon saved the day {and month, and year} by sending us home with one of our own to play with and both kids were quickly smitten.

Spy Tec Inventio HD 720P video recording sunglasses {Review}

by Tyler, editor and reviewer Even from a young age, I was obsessed with spy technology. I used to stay up at night thinking of how cool it would be if cameras could fit in the palm of your hand, if fingerprint scanners could lock your valuables or if Hollywood’s technology would ever be a … Read more

Peter Pan Diamond Edition on Blu-ray Combo Pack arrives on 2/5

A few years ago, I got burned by the Disney Vault. My sister and hubby and I were working on a Peter Pan themed “Neverland” mural on our play wall and we needed an aerial image of the island to work off of. The problem was that after 6 book stores, we could find exactly one picture of Neverland as a whole, and it was the background of the table of contents page so it was hard to see much of anything.

While we ended up just finishing up the mural using a very loose representation of Neverland, I would have loved to have a copy of Peter Pan to pop in so we could merely pause it over the aerial view. More than that though, I would have loved to get into the spirit of Neverland by watching the film as we painted, but unfortunately, it was locked away in the Disney Vault.

You’d think with a pirate-themed play area like this, that my kiddos would be all about Peter Pan, right? Ironically, they had never seen the movie and didn’t understand just how cool their little “scrog pit”* is.

Luckily, Peter Pan has recently come out of the vault to celebrate his 60th anniversary, and has been restored in high definition just in time for my kiddos to really appreciate it. We got to check out the new Peter Pan Diamond Edition Blu-ray Combo Pack and it was a very big hit. The timing of the film arriving was perfect as it’s been cold and rainy for almost a week now and we really needed to snuggle up and have a family movie night.

Capturing memories with the Sony Handycam

Everyone always says it, but I just don’t think you understand it until becoming a parent: time passes much too fast. Even though my kids are still young, there’s been so many times my husband and I would turn to each other and say “do you remember how Bubs used to say _____?” or “what park was that where he took his first steps?”

My mom holding my son when he was firstborn

I can only imagine this gets exponentially more difficult to remember the older they get and there are so many more milestones to keep track of. While I’ve tried to keep up with their baby books and journals, I oftentimes wish we had caught that adorable expression or pronunciation on video so we could watch it over and over and relive all those moments that pass too quick.