Let’s be honest for a moment: an awful lot of the stuff we cover here at CrunchGear isn’t really necessary. All the silly USB gadgets, geek gizmos, and other doodads are fun to own, but don’t make your life demonstrably better. So I was pretty excited when I was given the opportunity to review The Torch from Wicked Lasers. Billed as the world’s brightest flashlight at a whopping 4,100 lumens, this seemed like the kind of thing that might be worth having. I mean, who doesn’t like flashlights? They’re great for when the power goes out, and to take camping, and are a generally practical gadget that does make your life better.

The Torch costs $300. That’s a $300 flashlight, friends. It comes with a custom rechargeable battery, and a custom battery charger. My first indication that the Torch was more than I would ever need in a flashlight came when I realized that the battery charger included a heat sensor, to ensure that the battery didn’t overheat during the charging process.

The Wicked Lasers website has video of the Torch frying an egg, as well as lighting paper and matches on fire. I first thought “Wow!” and then I thought “Why on Earth would I need a flashlight to fry an egg?” I was skeptical that the Torch would actually light fires, so tested it for myself:

Yes, the Torch does, indeed, light fires. You’re probably thinking, like I was, that this would be a great addition to your camping gear: no more matches! Then, like me, you’d sit down and read the product manual and become disappointed. The big, custom battery for the Torch provides approximately fifteen minutes of actual use, suddenly making this a not-quite-as-useful flashlight as you first thought.

Making things even worse, you read that the Torch should only be used for about three minutes at a time, lest the thing become too hot to hold. Indeed, the Torch gets hot during use.

The only legitimate use I can find for the Torch is, surprisingly, home safety. I’m not a gun owner, so I’m at a disadvantage if my home were ever to be invaded. But with the Torch, I think I actually stand a fighting chance against an intruder. This thing is so bloody bright that it will cause severe damage to a person’s eyesight if shone directly at their face.

The Torch, I can safely say, is not going to make your life better. The only people who will want to buy the Torch are those people who insist on being able to say that they own the brightest flashlight in the world. And I’ll wager that these people never actually use the Torch once they buy it.

Short Version: A universal notebook adapter with retractable cabling that extends to almost ten feet in length, comes with nine adapter tips, and features two USB charging ports.

Features:

• 90-watt universal notebook adapter
• Nine adapter tips
• Retractable cables extend to provide 9.5-feet of total length
• Includes two USB charging ports
• MSRP of $99.99

Pros:

• No tangled cables
• Built-in USB charging ports
• Decent system compatibility

Cons:

• Not all that compact, despite marketing claims that it’s “up to 60 percent smaller than competitors.”

Review:

When it comes to universal notebook adapters, it’s important to keep a couple things in mind. First, the term “universal” is a bit misleading as you’ll be hard pressed to find the Mag Safe adapter tips used with most of Apple’s notebooks. But that’s more of a legal/patenting issue than an omission by universal adapter manufacturers.

Second, most of them are priced pretty similarly so it’s a good idea to focus on certain features that appeal to you. The 90-watt ReTrak Universal Notebook Wall Charger, for instance, sports two built-in USB charging ports and a retractable cabling system for $100 as its way of differentiating itself (there’s also a 70-watt version available for $80).

When I first wrote about this item back in October, I saw the product photo and thought, “Hey, this thing looks pretty tiny.” And, indeed, it’s billed as being “up to 60 percent smaller than competitors.” Here’s the product shot:

You’ll notice that the retractable cord doodads in the above photo appear to be small compared to the main adapter housing. In real life, though, they’re not nearly as svelte – see the photo I took at the top of this post for a more accurate depiction.

So my initial reaction after actually opening the packaging was more like, “Oh, it’s about the same size as most of the other adapters I’ve seen.” It absolutely may be a bit smaller than some adapters out there, but I’m not sure where that 60% figure came from. That must have been a gigantic adapter that was used for comparison.

For the sake of our own comparison, here’s the adapter next to a 90-watt Sony adapter (on the right) and a netbook adapter (on the left). As you can see, it’s actually kind of big. Remember that you get the two USB charging ports, though, and the retractable cabling extends out to almost 10 feet in length without getting tangled up in your bag.

Both retractable cables can be detached from the adapter, which is a nice feature, and you get a little carrying bag for transporting the main parts of the adapter and the tips. As for compatibility, the adapter works with various notebooks from Acer, Compaq, HP, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Gateway, Sony, and Dell (see the full list here).

The product works as advertised – I tested it with a 13.3-inch Sony, a 15.6-inch Gateway, a 15.6-inch Sony, and even an 11.6-inch Acer netbook, as well as several USB devices (iPod, iPhone, MP3 players, PMPs, pocket camcorders) with no problems whatsoever.

Bottom Line:

Even though it’s not actually all that compact, the ReTrak universal charger’s tangle-free cabling, broad system support, and nice added bonus of two USB charging ports helps it to stand out from similarly-priced adapters. If you’ve got a handful of notebooks and a pile of portables that have made travelling an unbearable mess of adapters and cables, this ReTrak adapter can help to simplify things considerably.

Product Page [EmergeRetail.com]

Hacker enablers Bug Labs have been making customizable doodads for a long time, but wifi and Bluetooth support have been lacking, though we heard they were incoming back in January. The new Bugbase WiFi is pretty much what it sounds like: a new base module for your Bug creations, but with wireless capability baked right in. The upcoming 3G radio module should add even more to its connectivity, but for now I’m sure there are plenty of tinkerers who’ll be happy with a little local wireless.

The base will now support 802.11b/g as well as Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR. Of course, there are plenty of you out there with the vanilla Bugbase (after all, they sold out of that one a while back), and Bug has you covered there. There’s a new wifi module in the works, though you’ll have to wait a couple weeks.

Until recently, Peter was on Bug Labs duty, but now that I’m taking a closer look at it, this stuff looks pretty damn cool. I may have to give it a shot.

I bet you thought iFixit only tore apart Apple products and high-profile electronics. Not so! The Starbucks Barista is in fact not a barista but a machine that makes espresso. You could argue that’s what real baristas are as well, but we can talk about that another time. The Barista espresso machine is a good representative of the home-espresso machine world, and it isn’t some cheap piece of garbage, either. It’s got lots of real metal in there and… are those molex connectors?

The insides are pretty much what you expect: a boiler, pump to move water to the spout or steamer, and some common-looking wiring making sure power and signals go to the right doodads.

I’d dissect my stovetop espresso machine, but it only has five parts. I think I like that better.