It’s officially February. Who’s still sticking to those New Year’s resolutions?
“Eating better” can be a challenging resolution to keep. The good news is, there are tons of apps and websites with healthy recipes. The bad news is, you have to be able to access them in the kitchen somehow.
I’ve tried this several times, and I’ve discovered that the phones are usually really small to read from when trying to move back and forth while cooking. The tablet computer works better, because the bigger screen is easier to read. However, for those of us with a lack of counter space, it’s pretty hard to find a spot for a big tablet that won’t get it messy during cooking and still makes it easy to read. It’s also hard to touch a screen if your hands are covered in goo.
NewerTech offered a solution to both problems with the NewerTech NuStand 360 and the NuScribe stylus pen, which now can be purchased in a “kitchen kit.”
The two products are separate, but they were pitched as working together in the kitchen. It made sense to me.
I started with the NuStand
- This stand is made of a thick aluminum, so it’s fairly heavy and durable. It has a smooth feel to it because of what appears to be a very thin layer of silicone covering it.
The NuStand comes in two pieces, but it’s very easy to assemble. It requires unscrewing one screw from the back of the iPad holder and fitting the screw through a hole on the stand, then screwing it back in. It takes about a minute to assemble, and the package even comes with a compact screwdriver to handle the task.
Once the stand is assembled, the pieces that actually hold the iPad have to be applied. The stand is made for first-through-fourth generations of iPad. The NuStand package includes corner pieces for iPad 2 and pieces for the other models, placed in two separate little bags. The idea is to choose the correct pieces and slide them onto the corners of the iPad stand.
That was easy enough to do, because the pieces are made of foam. A thin slice on the back provides a slot for the aluminum stand’s curved corner braces. The foam pieces slide on easily. A tiny tab is meant to hold the corner of the iPad in place, and the curve of the foam pieces fits snugly along the curve of the iPad’s corners.
My issue with this is, while it’s good that it’s easy to slide the foam pieces on the stand, it isn’t so good that it’s just as easy to slide them off. One bump or accidental tug or bump of the iPad, and the device is liable to come crashing down.
While the foam pieces aren’t the best design, the stand itself is well thought out. The base has a rubber foot, preventing it from sliding easily across the counter. The foot doesn’t take up a ton of real estate, either. The backwards L shape causes the iPad holder to lean back for easier screen viewing. Thanks to that lone screw in the back, the holder also tilts forward and swivels 360 degrees (hence the name). It makes it very easy to position the iPad at exactly the right angle needed to read it hands free.
The second item is the Newer Technology NuScribe 2-in-1 touchscreen stylus pen.
This one is pretty straightforward. It’s a silver pen. You twist the top, and the tip pops out. Twist it again, it disappears. Oh, and it’s black ink.
As I said, it’s straightforward. The difference between this and every other pen is the top. It has a rubber bubble at the top to use on touchscreens.
It’s nice to have and good to slip into a computer case. However, the rubber tip wasn’t nearly as responsive as just using my finger. In fact, I had to touch the screen a couple of times during some tests. It especially didn’t like the screen protector I had on my iPhone. I barely could get the phone to acknowledge the touch of the stylus in most tests.
So while the pen is a good idea and would be handy for travel, the stylus part just doesn’t work very well. I had much better luck with another stylus or just my finger.
I didn’t have the luck I’d hoped with the stylus, so scrolling through a recipe could be challenging. The stand, however, does a good job of elevating the iPad out of the way in a tight kitchen. The stand is worth a look. The stylus …. not so much.
The stand does go a long way in helping bring those healthy recipes into the kitchen to be cooked properly. You just have to make sure your hands aren’t too gooey for scrolling, just in case the stylus doesn’t do the job.
Where it’s @
The NewerTech NuStand 360 requires an iPad of the first, second, third or fourth generation. The NuScribe stylus pen works on a touchscreen. Both are bundled together in the “kitchen kit” for $24.99. More information is available at www.newertech.com.
Melissa L. Jones can be reached via email at mljones72@me.com.
“Eating better” can be a challenging resolution to keep. The good news is, there are tons of apps and websites with healthy recipes. The bad news is, you have to be able to access them in the kitchen somehow.
I’ve tried this several times, and I’ve discovered that the phones are usually really small to read from when trying to move back and forth while cooking. The tablet computer works better, because the bigger screen is easier to read. However, for those of us with a lack of counter space, it’s pretty hard to find a spot for a big tablet that won’t get it messy during cooking and still makes it easy to read. It’s also hard to touch a screen if your hands are covered in goo.
NewerTech offered a solution to both problems with the NewerTech NuStand 360 and the NuScribe stylus pen, which now can be purchased in a “kitchen kit.”
The two products are separate, but they were pitched as working together in the kitchen. It made sense to me.
I started with the NuStand
- This stand is made of a thick aluminum, so it’s fairly heavy and durable. It has a smooth feel to it because of what appears to be a very thin layer of silicone covering it.
The NuStand comes in two pieces, but it’s very easy to assemble. It requires unscrewing one screw from the back of the iPad holder and fitting the screw through a hole on the stand, then screwing it back in. It takes about a minute to assemble, and the package even comes with a compact screwdriver to handle the task.
Once the stand is assembled, the pieces that actually hold the iPad have to be applied. The stand is made for first-through-fourth generations of iPad. The NuStand package includes corner pieces for iPad 2 and pieces for the other models, placed in two separate little bags. The idea is to choose the correct pieces and slide them onto the corners of the iPad stand.
That was easy enough to do, because the pieces are made of foam. A thin slice on the back provides a slot for the aluminum stand’s curved corner braces. The foam pieces slide on easily. A tiny tab is meant to hold the corner of the iPad in place, and the curve of the foam pieces fits snugly along the curve of the iPad’s corners.
My issue with this is, while it’s good that it’s easy to slide the foam pieces on the stand, it isn’t so good that it’s just as easy to slide them off. One bump or accidental tug or bump of the iPad, and the device is liable to come crashing down.
While the foam pieces aren’t the best design, the stand itself is well thought out. The base has a rubber foot, preventing it from sliding easily across the counter. The foot doesn’t take up a ton of real estate, either. The backwards L shape causes the iPad holder to lean back for easier screen viewing. Thanks to that lone screw in the back, the holder also tilts forward and swivels 360 degrees (hence the name). It makes it very easy to position the iPad at exactly the right angle needed to read it hands free.
The second item is the Newer Technology NuScribe 2-in-1 touchscreen stylus pen.
This one is pretty straightforward. It’s a silver pen. You twist the top, and the tip pops out. Twist it again, it disappears. Oh, and it’s black ink.
As I said, it’s straightforward. The difference between this and every other pen is the top. It has a rubber bubble at the top to use on touchscreens.
It’s nice to have and good to slip into a computer case. However, the rubber tip wasn’t nearly as responsive as just using my finger. In fact, I had to touch the screen a couple of times during some tests. It especially didn’t like the screen protector I had on my iPhone. I barely could get the phone to acknowledge the touch of the stylus in most tests.
So while the pen is a good idea and would be handy for travel, the stylus part just doesn’t work very well. I had much better luck with another stylus or just my finger.
I didn’t have the luck I’d hoped with the stylus, so scrolling through a recipe could be challenging. The stand, however, does a good job of elevating the iPad out of the way in a tight kitchen. The stand is worth a look. The stylus …. not so much.
The stand does go a long way in helping bring those healthy recipes into the kitchen to be cooked properly. You just have to make sure your hands aren’t too gooey for scrolling, just in case the stylus doesn’t do the job.
Where it’s @
The NewerTech NuStand 360 requires an iPad of the first, second, third or fourth generation. The NuScribe stylus pen works on a touchscreen. Both are bundled together in the “kitchen kit” for $24.99. More information is available at www.newertech.com.
Melissa L. Jones can be reached via email at mljones72@me.com.