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Engadget's Cleaning Out Our Closet Contest

Peter Rojas
Updated ·6 min read


Well, we spent the better part of this past weekend tidying up around the old HQ and found a TON of old gadgets buried under a pile of back issues of Omni. We've gotten a lot of stuff sent to us over the years, not all of which we have time to check out, so rather than just let it all continue to collect dust, we're going to give everything away (besides, we're not supposed to hold onto review units anyway).

We want all these gadgets to find good homes, so if you spot something you want, here's what you have to do to win: Make a note in the comments below clearly indicating which gadget you want by both name and number, along with a few lines about why we should give it to you. We'll give each gadget to the person who seems to want it most, so don't hold back!

You can only pick one gadget, so pick wisely, and keep in mind that if you go for one of the less popular gadgets you're more likely to walk away with it.

A few other things:

  • Only one entry per person, please (cheaters will be automatically disqualified).

  • The contest is limited to US entrants only, mainly because we can't ship any of this stuff overseas.

  • You'll have until 11:59pm EST on Sunday, August 20th to enter.

  • If we still have some unclaimed gadgets we'll do a second run and let everyone who didn't win something the first time around re-enter.

  • Please allow three to four weeks for prize delivery.


UPDATE: Remember, you MUST put BOTH the name and the number of the gadget you're interested in in order to properly enter. Also, you CANNOT ask for more than one gadget. We're only going to consider entries from those who can follow instructions.

UPDATE 2: Ok, by now every gadget has been requested by literally dozens, if not hundreds, of readers, so if you're going to make a plea we suggest you go for one of the less popular gadgets and/or write something so convincing that it'll edge out your competition. Thanks, and good luck!

UPDATE 3: Contest closed! Nearly 4000 people entered, so it's going to take us a little while to judge this one. Be patient, we hope to have some winners within a week or so.

UPDATE 4: We have our winners! We just sent out emails contacting all the winners, thanks to everyone who entered!



1. JB1 - A VGA-quality, lighter-shaped digital camera. Plus it has a James Bond-theme.



2. A copy of Microsoft Streets & Trips 2003 - Hey, it's three years old, but it's still free, right?



3. Rand McNally's StreetFinder. Works with both Palms and Pocket PCs.



4. Nokia-branded pen with built-in 128MB USB flash drive. - Not sure when, but apparently I picked this up at one of the many Nokia events I've been to. It'd be the perfect gift for the Nokia fanboy in your life.



5. F10 Digital MP3 Player Sunglasses - Oakley Thump knockoff. These come with 128MB of storage, just like that Nokia pen.



6. Earbud Skype headset with 30 free minutes of SkypeOut calls - We actually have two of these, one in black, one in white. Intel was handing these out at press events last year, for some reason we grabbed a couple of them and then promptly forgot about 'em.



7. Philips Norelco 7240XL - Don't think we've ever reviewed a shaver, so this one sat on the shelf. UPDATE: About 500 people have asked for this, so we recommend asking for something else!



8. Orange SPV e200 - A bit scuffed, but works great. Runs Windows Mobile and is unlocked and should work on either T-Mobile or Cingular here in the States without a problem. UPDATE: A TON of people have asked for the e200, you're best off asking for something else!



9. Philips Norelco 6in1 Professional Grooming Kit - Apparently professional grooming isn't in high demand here at Engadget HQ. UPDATE: Please no MORE requests for this one!



10. steelpad 5L professional gaming mouse pad - Weren't sure how to properly review a mousepad, so this one's been in the closet.



11. A4Tech's BatteryFree Wireless Optical Mouse - Remember this? It totally works, but only works with a special pad which itself has to be plugged into a USB port.



12. Fossil Wrist PDA - Yup, the one that runs the Palm OS. The Wrist PDA was DOA, but we bet it'll make someone out there really happy.



13. Fossil Dick Tracy Wrist Net MSN Direct watch - One of the first MSN Direct watches, we thought we'd given away all of these already.



14. pzizz - Some electronic personal relaxation thingy that's supposed to use "Neuro Linguistic Programming" to help you relax. Didn't work so well for me, but I also sleepwalk, so maybe I wasn't the best person to try it out.



15. Claritel i750 USB SIP handset - Connect it to your PC over USB to make VoIP calls with any SIP-enabled client. If you understand any of that, you should probably ask for this gadget.



16. Olympia Soundbug - Connect the Soundbug's suction cup to any flat surface and it'll turn it into a speaker. It works. Sort of.



17. Skype USB Mono Headset - This one connects over USB and includes 60 minutes of free SkypeOut calls.



18. HP iPAQ h1940 - One the big ticket items in today's haul. Or at least it was back when it came out. UPDATE: This one's been popular, we suggest you ask for something else and increase your odds of winning! Seriously, no more requests!



19. iZon Bluetooth Headphone - No internal storage -- you gotta cough up for an SD memory card -- and no support for A2DP, which means the Bluetooth is really only useful for using this thing as a hands-free headset with a cellphone. Otherwise fine. UPDATE: This one's been getting a lot of requests, go for something else!



20. Philips Personal Sound System - Ross reviewed this a while ago, it's sort of like an MP3 alarm clock with 256MB of internal storage. UPDATE: Same thing, WAY too many requests, pick something else!



21. Blue LED binary clock - If you can read a binary clock then this is clearly the gadget for you.




22. Fifty dollar gift certificate from X-tremegeek.com - Pretty self-explanatory; prize includes full-color catalog replete with many of the useful and useless gadgets that have been featured on these pages.