[PICS TO COME - will do them later today]

I got home from work the other day, and sitting on my bed were--- No. I don't like that opening.

I walked in to my testing labs the other day, and while I had been out helping old ladies cross streets, some new goodies had arrived "direct from their manufacturer's alpha labs." Tearing open the boxes, I find a few various goodies for which I can't open (designated christmas presents), but eventually I come to one of the ones I had decided upon for myself as a treat.

[picture of box]

"No way!" I think to myself. After all these years on earth, it was my first plasma ball. Tearing it out of the packaging, I find the plasma ball itself, a USB -> round power plug cable to power the thing and a brief safety message (which for once was actually in perfectly comprehendable english). I plug it in, turn it on, and sit there entranced for hours upon hours.

The ball itself is about 8cm in diameter, with a black rod sticking up in the middle, not to mention the gas inside of it that turns to plasma with the high frequency electromagnetic shocks sent forth from the black rod, causing all the pretty stuff.

[picture of ball]

Construction of this particular brand of balls seems cheap, with the rod on a very clear angle and the seal around the bottom of the ball, while continuous and good enough for the purposes, isn't perfect all the way around, with one spot having quite obviously been the last point to be sealed to the ball.

[picture of ball focusing on bent rod]

The fact it's a USB device partially excuses the ball from this criticism, but not entirely, but the ball can be mildly dim. It's most certainly visible during daytime in a lit room, but given it's only rated at 300mA (as opposed to the 500mA limit imposed on USB devices), it could do with being a little bit brighter.

[full day time pic vs full night time pic]

For $10, however, it is most certainly good value and quite entertaining. It's so good I dont' know if I can stand giving the second one I got away as a present. I mean, a pair of these adorning your setup at a LAN. Is there anything cooler?

Final rating: 7+5i / 10

I will most certainly oblige.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/964e/

This looks identical to the one I have.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1621

Similar.

I got mine originally from www.catchoftheday.com.au. Unfortunately, they've since sold out, so you'll have to pay more than $10.

Pics still coming. ^_^

--edit--
http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=plasma+ball <-- more outlets that sell it there.

Edited by sirsquidness: 30/11/2008 06:04:05 PM

I think mwave give them to you for free when you buy a Seagate or Western Digital external hard drive.

---

Have a look at my website on how to build a computer

Oh, rly?

How quite interesting. I wonder if it counts if you spend your gift voucher on said hard drive to get said free plasma ball...

Hah. I was talking about my voucher. Not yours, silly!