At Mint Gadgets, we’re on the hunt for the latest innovative gadgets and gizmos of all kinds, anywhere we can find them. So where do all these great gadget ideas and inventions come from anyway? Well, we like to think that educational toys like the Electronic Snap Circuits SC-300 by Elenco play an important role in inspiring our kids of today with the knowledge and skills they need to grow up and create the great gadgets and inventions of tomorrow.

So we think the Electronic Snap Circuits SC-300 by Elenco qualifies as a world class toy gadget that will entertain, educate and thrill your kids through the discovery of electronics.  With the Electronic Snap Circuits kit, you can provide your child with an exciting and valuable introduction to electronics. Who knows, you may be paving the way for a brilliant electronics engineering future for your child.

The Electronic Snap Circuits SC-300 kit includes over 60 color-coded electronic circuit components that snap together to create actual functional electronic circuits and devices. The kit is recommended for children 8 and older and right on the package it lists the suitable age range as 8 to 108. I guess that’s another way of saying “suitable for kids of all ages” and that includes the kid in all of us!

The Electronic Snap Circuits Kit includes over 60 electronic pieces and components. With these discrete kit components, you can create over 305 different electronic projects. The kit contents include:

• Snap Wires
• Slide Switch
• Resistors
• Microphone
• Capacitors
• Transistors
• Diodes
• Integrated circuits
• Amplifier
• Lamps
• Audio Speaker
• Antenna Coil
• and more …

And you can build exciting and entertaining electronic projects like …

• Two transistor light alarm
• Voice controlled rays of light
• Space war radio
• Musical motion detector
• Radio music alarm
• Water detector
• Battery polarity tester
• Adjustable metronome
• Laser light
• NPN emitter – motor
• NPN collector – motor
• Lie detector
• Delayed action fan
• Time delay circuits
• AM radio
• Burgler alarm
• and more …

The projects are easy to follow and assemble. Each electronic component easily snaps together on the block circuit grid board, no soldering required and no tools needed. The component pieces are numbered and color-coded to make them easy to identify. And each project includes a large color illustration with simple directions that make learning about the fundamentals of electronics and circuit construction easy, fun and educational.

The Electronic Snap Circuits projects are presented in order of complexity from the most simple to the more complex. This helps kids build their skills and understanding of electronics as they proceed through the manual, step by step. Once kids have begun to master some of the fundamentals and skills, they can actually use the kit components to experiment on their own and build customized electronic circuits and devices. There are also a series of Snap Circuits accessories and upgrades to extend and expand the capability of the kit and add additional projects.

The Electronic Snap Circuits SC-300 kit even has a feature to connect the electronic circuits that you build to your PC computer, and with the supplied software, turn your PC into an “oscilloscope” so you can see the electrical activity between any two points in the circuit. Now  that is very cool!

As a parent, the Electronic Snap Circuits SC-300 kit is the perfect opportunity to introduce your child to the wonders of science and provide an education in the fundamentals of electronics and electronic circuit  design. And you’ll have hours and hours of fun interacting with your child through the creative learning process. It’s no wonder that Electronic Snap Circuits SC-300 by Elenco has won several awards including the “National Parenting Center-Seal of Approval”, “Dr. Toy 100 Best Children’s Products”, and “Dr Toy Best Educational Products”.

Available: Amazon

Price: $30.33

If you’re a fan of high-end flashlights, then you’ll want to find out more about the Fenix PD32 315 Lumen LED Flashlight. Maglite upped the game years ago in the industrial strength torch market and created a whole new consumer interest in high-end flashlights. Not to mention the commercial application for policemen, security guards, firemen, etc.

But the downside of these traditional high-powered flashlights has been the heavy D cell batteries and the need to dispose of all those batteries when they run down. And if you use your flashlight all the time, you’ll go through a ton of batteries.

The better and brighter technology today is the LED flashlight. These are extremely efficient, more compact devices that can throw an impressively bright beam of light. Combine the LED lamp with a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery and you have a near perfect flashlight. And more eco-friendly too!

The Fenix PD32 315 Lumen LED Flashlight uses a Cree XP-G (R5) LED with a lifespan of 50,000 hours. So you won’t be looking for a replacement for quite a while. It can use either two 3 volt CR123A Lithium batteries or a single 18650 rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. We recommend you go with the rechargeable.

Here’s a cool feature. The light output of this LED flashlight is digitally regulated to maintain constant brightness. It doesn’t start to fade as the batteries discharge. And it’s designed with a safety reverse polarity protection just in case you accidentally install the batteries the wrong way (you can damage the LED if you get the polarity reversed).

The Fenix PD32 LED Flashlight has four separate continuous brightness modes from the lowest power 9 lumen setting up to the brightest turbo 315 lumen setting, and two flash modes. At the brightest 315 lumen setting, the Fenix LED flashlight will throw a super high-powered beam over 400 feet. Now that’s a high-powered torch light!

The amazing thing about the Fenix LED flashlight is that it doesn’t generate excessive heat at the high power. The LED lamp is very efficient. The flashlight is constructed with sturdy industrial strength aircraft grade aluminum and decorated with a beautiful black anodized finish. Only five inches in length and weighing in at a little over two ounces (without the batteries), this is a very powerful LED flashlight in a compact sturdy little package.

Fenix rates the PD32 LED Flashlight at roughly 2 hours of running time at the highest 315 lumen setting, 8 hours at 130 lumens, 16 hours at 70 lumens and up to 200 hours at the lowest power 9 lumens setting. The flashlight is also waterproof, IPX-8 rated underwater to 2 meters.

You’ll also like the price. The Fenix PD32 315 Lumen LED Flashlight comes in at a lower price than other high-end LED flashlights in this range. You can pick up this awesome LED flashlight at Amazon for less than $70. Way to go Fenix!

Available: Amazon

Price: $67.95

Every now and then you run across an new gadget idea that strikes you and you say “why didn’t I think of that?” In fact, we find these great ideas and new gadget innovations every day. And we really have a lot of fun here at Mint Gadgets bringing you these great gadget ideas.

Today, we have one of these great ideas which you are sure to love. The Pivot Power Power Strip solves one of the most common problems we’ve all encountered trying to fit all the gadgets we have to plugin to our power strips.

So what’s so brilliant about the Pivot Power Power Strip?

Think about it this way. You know the normal long rectangular power strips we’re all familiar with? Have you ever felt that annoying and frustrating feeling when you’re trying to fit two large power adapters right next to each other and they can’t fit because there’s not enough room? Isn’t that the most irritating sensation? You usually end up with one or more free sockets on the power strip which you can’t use unless you can find a tiny adapter to fit in the unused slot. Well, you will probably squeal with delight at the Pivot Power Power Strip. Because of its circular design and rotating power sockets, it’s able to fit all forms, shapes and sizes of adapters.

They call it “just pivot and fit it“.  Finally, someone has solved the “my big over-sized power adapter won’t fit in the power strip” problem!

Due to the fact that the Pivot Power Power Strip is shaped like a semi circle, you’ll be able to fit it into hard to reach places like around furniture. That is definitely something that you couldn’t do before with the inflexible rectangular block shaped power strips. If you think that the Pivot Power Power Strip is just an interesting looking power strip, think again because it also has the ability to stretch for a long reach. Its cord has a length of 6 feet so you can basically place it anywhere even if it’s far away from the main electricity source.

Am I right, don’t you love this gadget? I think it has to be one of the best inventions we’ve  come across recently. And it’s a rather simple idea, it turns out many of the best inventions are actually simple ideas! Here at Mint Gadgets, the Pivot Power Power Strip definitely qualifies as “hey, why didn’t we think of that?”.

Available: ThinkGeek

Price: $29.99 (on sale for less at ThinkGeek – click to see your savings)

If you’re the type of person who tends to forget to charge your electronic devices like MP3 Players and cell phones, no more worries with the Powerbag Backpack. With its built in 3000mAh battery and three charging cables, the Powerbag Backpack lets you charge your devices on the go. When you’re driving in your car, it might be easy to resort to charging your devices in the car but if you’re on the train or bus, you have time on your hands with no convenient way to charge up your devices.

The unique capability of the Powerbag Backpack is that it can recharge your devices on the go, but it’s also a great backpack with plenty of room. On the back there’s a pocket where you can fit a laptop as big as 16 inches. The second largest section of the bag consists of various pockets where you can place your iPad, a small tablet and the small 3000mAh battery.

Take a Powerbag Backpack Tour

It’s fully convenient and at the side of the bag there is a double ended micro or mini USB plug and a 30-pin plug that’s suitable for all iOS devices. When you power up the battery by hitting the Powerbag button, 4 LED lights will illuminate and indicate the remaining charge of the battery. Your fully charged phone or MP3 player will be automatically disengaged by the charging circuit to avoid accidentally draining your devices. Testing indicated that a 10% – 15% charged iPhone was able to re-charge 3.5 times to full capacity by the Powerbag Backpack.

Now we think you’ll agree, this is a pretty useful idea. After all, if you already carry a backpack, now you can keep your devices charged while you carry them around and that’s a great added benefit.

Available: Amazon

Price: $129.99

Today’s world is filled gadgets and items of multiple functions. Take the evolution of audio gadgets for example; we began with the trusty walkman that repeatedly plays the Back Street Boys cassette tape. Then when the music industry began producing their music in CDs, we evolved to the CD player. But then we found that it was too bulky and we began to store our music digitally in the MP3 which doubles as a camcorder.

The latest invention in camcorders would have to be the Audiophile’s HD Camcorder. This five inch long gadget not only records audio sounds but also videos in high definition; which is something the MP3 is unable to do. Fitting snugly into your pockets, this camcorder has dual condenser microphones that re-creates the sounds you record with higher fidelity that those of the commercial CDs.

The Audiophile’s HD Camcorder is also brilliant in capturing videos of live performance. The camera found at the back of the gadget has 5.3 megapixels including a four times zoom function. With its two inch color LCD screen, you are able to capture wider angles. Besides that, it has a LCD audio monitor that allows you to monitor both video and sound at the same time. The Audiophile’s HD Camcorder stores its videos in a 32 GB SD or SDHC card. This means that you are able to take a video up to four hours long.

Transferring your audio or video records are as simple as plugging the Audiophile’s HD Camcorder to a computer via a USB cable that comes together with the purchase of the Audiophile’s HD Camcorder. It is compatible on both Windows and Mac PC.

Available: Hammacher

Price: $299.95

The ProMini Wireless Keyboard offers you more than you could ever imagine. Of course, you would be thinking what is so special about a small wireless keyboard with a 2.4 GHz USB wireless receiver that can be used from as far as 100ft away, which also is fully backlit with 26 enlightening LEDs and is equipped with a small compact trackpad. Did you realize it? That’s what’s so special about it! Since its wireless, you can just use it from the comfort of your chair.

Despite that, the distance is safe for your eyes; it is also comfortable yet relaxing to navigate your laptop or PC from afar after a tiring day at work or school. Sometimes, you might have had a bad day and prefer to stay away from bright lights so your room would seem a little dim. That’s when the backlight on the ProMini Wireless Keyboard works the best. It’s obvious that if it’s not even dim you can still use the backlight to your delight but it would be most useful if the lights weren’t that bright. This way it helps you to press the right keys at the right time.

Rather than having to figure out where the keys are. It is also the first and foremost 90-degree flip designed touchpad which is not only cool but unique in its own way. Its batteries withstand 500 to 700 hours which means 20 to 29 days. That’s almost a month! It works on almost all processors that include Windows 7, Mac OD 10.x or lower, Linux Debian 3.1, Ubuntu 8.10 and also the Fedora 7.0. So if all these menial requirements are what you have, don’t lose the chance to get this ProMini Wireless Keyboard.

Available: ThinkGeek

Price: $69.99

Remember when we were small and there was a phase where every single paper in the house became an origami figure? Then there would be dozens of those little cranes, spiders, or pianos placed on top of the television, dining tables and also the floor where in the end they all would just end up in the rubbish bins thrown away by your very own beloved mother. Yes,

I’m sure that you would’ve wished that the origami figurines could do something and actually be useful in the house so that you could make dozens more of them and your mom wouldn’t even say a word. Gadget creators also felt the same way and that is why the Papertronics DIY Lunar Landers were created. They are small little paper toys that have circuits in them or more precisely a built in circuit origami figurine. What’s so special about it is that it is DIY which stands for Do It Yourself.

With this DIY characteristic, Papertronics DIY Lunar Landers enable the unique creativity of each and every person. Meaning that, your figurine might not be the same with another person’s figurine. Although the shape is basically the same the colours and patterns aren’t. It comes in a cool pack of three; Tabula Rasa, Spaceboy and Alien Girl. To encourage interactivity, Tabula Rasa is a blank Lunar Lander so that you can beautify it with your awesome creativity.

They can be turned into cool night lights, desk decor, and even party lights. When the spaceships are put in their landers in one way, the lights at the bottom of the Papertronic will light up. But when turned upside down, they will turn off. A cool gadget just to fulfil the dreams of many origami lovers.

Available: ThinkGeek

Price: $14.99

Many people buy things without planning. They do not consider the cost, the purpose and most importantly, the space that needs to be allocated for the object. Here’s an example, look at your computer table. Is it neat and tidy? Sure. But let’s take a look under it. Don’t be surprised at the little snake pit you’ll find.

Dangling cords of wires under the table are not only unsightly but are also dangerous as they might cause you or an unlucky person to trip. This is where wire management comes in handy. Wire management is the process of re-managing your wires so that they look organized and are safe to others and yourself. The Plug Hub will do just that and maybe even better.

The Plug Hub is a simple but effective device. It measures 3.5 by 10.5 by 9.5 inches, and is incredibly light. If you run your fingers along the right side of the device, you’ll find a button, which pops open, the casing. Inside the casing, there are three wire anchors that allow longer wires to be stored by looping it around the anchor. On the top of the device, three rather large openings allow you to direct wires in or out of the device.

Allocating the plug hub is also fairly simple as it can either stand on its rubber base, lie flat on the floor, or even attached to a wall or the bottom of a table.

[Source - Unplgdd.com]

An irritated groan escapes your lips as a familiar beep followed by a pop-up reminds you that your iPhone is running out of juice. Fortunately, with the Freeloader Pico Solar charger ( priced at $39.99 ), charging up your iPhone and going green at the same time is definitely not a problem.

At the first glance, the Freeloader solar charger is a light and compact device that allows its users to lug it around in their pockets. Besides that, the Freeloader acts as a portable battery, allowing the Freeloader to transfer energy to the connected device in fairly short time – around 30 minutes to fully charge up an iPhone.

The difference is that, when this battery is exhausted, it can be recharged through a means of solar energy – charging under direct sunlight will take 10 hours to achieve maximum capacity though. In addition to that, the device also comes with extension tips for several portable devices such as Nokia, Samsung and so on.

Using the Freloader Pico Solar Charger, however, can be quite confusing at the beginning. If you take a closer look at the device, you’ll notice that there are four LED lights beside the word “Pico”. These lights indicate a function. For example, if the second light is lit, it indicates that the battery is currently charged by solar or USB. When it is fully charged, the light turns off. If a device is being charged, all lights will be used and each fades away as the connected device charges to maximum capacity.

Available: ThinkGeek

Price: $29.99

iPhone users are familiar with the need of charging their iPhone every day. It is frustrating when your phone dies at the time you need to send an important message or make a call. Even if you carry your phone charger, there’s no certainty an outlet be available everywhere. The Elecom Battery Charger is your best choice. It is portable and will charge your iPhone to provide 100% power.

There is no USB cord attached, and the LED light will indicate when your phone has finished charging. There is an on-off switch to begin charging your phone. It’s that simple and no complex operations are required. But the downside is that it requires 4AA batteries. Good batteries are usually not very low-priced, and you may spend $50 overall. Also it is not convenient to equip yourself with batteries wherever you go. There are superior chargeable devices compared to Elecom Battery Charger available on the market. It’s wise to do some research and make your choice.

In my opinion, it is better to look for other alternatives where chargers are low-cost, reliable, portable and convenient for you, just like the Elecom Battery Charger. Otherwise it will be a hassle to look for an outlet whenever your phone goes out of power. Most importantly, if you are lost in the wilderness or the desert and your phone suddenly died, you will thank your lucky stars you have purchased a reliable portable charger so that you can regain communication and be rescued. Consider all pros and cons before purchasing a quality charger.