Batlacit's stats
- Review count228
- Helpfulness votes918
- First reviewFebruary 13, 2016
- Last reviewJune 23, 2025
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.5
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- Answer count55
- Helpfulness votes100
- First answerSeptember 21, 2016
- Last answerJanuary 21, 2022
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The Shark AI Ultra Robot Vacuum combines powerful vacuuming with Matrix Clean Navigation, leaving no spots missed for an ultra whole-home clean. Features include: powerful Shark suction power, Matrix Clean Navigation for a deeper cleaning, HEPA 60-day capacity base for collecting and trapping dust and allergens, and CleanEdge Technology for better edge cleaning.
Customer Rating
5
...I Named it Steve Jaws
on September 11, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
Shark has been taking notes.
There really isn't anything that Shark's latest robovac does that I haven't seen before. What's more impressive is the specific way they choose to do it all. They've taken tried and true designs from all over and made their own refinements to them, producing a very solid product. That said, there are a few areas that could still stand to be improved.
First up, let's talk about all the things I really like about this unit. The sensor housing for the laser is placed dead center rather than near one of the edges and is also designed to act as a bumper, making the whole thing far better protected than most. Given that these kind of raised sensors seem to be constantly getting scuffed and chipped by the edges of tables, counters, and the undersides of couches, this is a very welcome improvement. Second, the dust collection base doesn't require a disposable filter bag. The (very large) dust collection bin promises sixty days of capacity and features three filters in total, only one of which should require regular replacement. And best of all for those of us with pets or male pattern baldness, the main brush is designed to automatically catch and remove long hair before it ends up wound around axle bearings or cutting through the rubber beaters. It's not quite a perfect system, but it's definitely good enough to significantly cut down on your regular maintenance. Navigation and mapping is also spectacular, with a single mapping run being good enough for it to produce a very detailed map of the areas I wanted it to clean.
There are a few issues I noticed, however. The biggest one is the fact that it really doesn't seem to do edges or corners all that well. There's a fairly large distance between the edge of the brushes and the outer rim of the robot, and while it's got the usual pair of side brushes to try and address that I didn't find their performance to be quite as good as others I've tried, and certainly not comparable to the performance you can get from designs that move their brushes out from between the wheels to make them a few inches wider.
Another area that could use some improvement is the app. At the moment at least it appears that the Android version has some stability issues that complicated the setup process. A bigger issue right now is the somewhat awkward way it handles room assignments in the map. Currently it enforces a minimum length and width requirement for rooms, one that is apparently just a little too large for my narrow hallways to be added without overlapping with some of the neighboring rooms. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed in later versions.
Despite the rough edges, there is a very solid core product here. If you've got a home with tons of pet hair or just hate having to swap out bags, I'd definitely recommend you take a look at this vacuum.
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Compact, lightweight, portable: IASO is your personal massager on the go. Use the adhesive patches or arm band included and enjoy pain-relieving massage anywhere. (We recommend using the arm band only on the arms and may disconnect/break if used on larger area such as the legs/thighs) Simply focus on what you are doing while IASO takes care of your pain on the neck, shoulders, back, wrists, legs, knees, ankles, feet, or anywhere you feel pain.
Customer Rating
3
I'm not sure how much this actually helps
on August 24, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
Like most tech savvy individuals these days, I have a complicated relationship with my wrists. As such the idea of a wearable solution for pain relief for carpal tunnel has a fair bit of appeal. But after close to a week of trying the IASO I honestly can't say if this is it or not.
They definitely get points for design and overall build quality. The device is sleek and can easily be mistaken for a smart watch at first glance, so it's not likely to draw too much attention in office settings. The battery has no difficulty getting through the recommended two courses of treatment between charges, and the adhesive pads they provide do a decent job of staying in place (at least until you've removed them.) My only real complaint is the decision to use microUSB for charging, as it seems past due for retirement.
Unfortunately as well thought out as the design may be, I'm less than convinced about its effectiveness as pain relief. The lasers do a great job of making your wrists glow and provide steady heat that certainly seems like it should be soothing, but I didn't notice any real difference over the three days I wore it as I worked. I had slightly better luck when I moved it up to my elbow to address some strained tendons after a vigorous hike, but to be honest I'm not sure if that was from the lasers or the optional vibration. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there are a lot of vibrating massagers out there you could use instead.
Again, it's not doing nothing. It's possible that over long periods, the application of this particular wavelength of light could help strengthen the tissue inside your wrist, as as far as I can tell research is still ongoing about how much this kind of laser therapy works. And the applied heat and vibration may well be a godsend for someone with a very particular type of pain. But as it stands right now, I'm just not seeing enough results to give it my full throated endorsement.
Mobile Submission: True
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Stream Deck gives you 15 LCD keys to control your apps and tools. Trigger actions, launch social posts, adjust audio, play sound clips, activate lights, and much more. Get visual feedback to confirm your commands. Set Stream Deck to automatically switch key configurations as you jump between apps. It’s the ultimate workflow hack, and it’s fully customizable. Personalize your Stream Deck with custom icons, screensavers, and a growing range of interchangeable faceplates. Use the app to configure keys with ease, and hit the Stream Deck Store for app plugins, icon packs, thousands of royalty free tracks, effects, and more.
Customer Rating
4
Some plugins could still use some tweaks...
on July 30, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
The Elgato Stream Deck has been a borderline essential piece of tech for anyone regularly running livestreams for a few years now. As handy as keyboard macros can be for some, anyone who needs those keys for games is likely to find it less than convenient to have to give up part of their keyboard, and there are always times when you don't have the time to spent time remembering which letter you've mapped a specific action to. The Stream Deck's ability to offer both fifteen additional buttons for macros as well as customizable icons for each one really does set it apart from all the other solutions for not having enough buttons in your life.
This upgraded version of the venerable streaming tool doesn't do too much to try and mess with a good thing. The design is ever so slightly more streamlined, they've switched to a USB-C interface on the deck itself, and added some minor software improvements, but apart from that it's more or less the same solid piece of tech as its predecessor. Build quality is solid - with the only note I can offer being that the "interchangeable faceplate" requires a lot more force to remove than I feel comfortable applying to anything with an LCD screen inside. It took me about 15 minutes to get it unboxed and set up with basic controls for my lighting, cameras, game capture, and a few basic sounds and video clips. Plugin selection was a little more limited than I expected, but I still had no issues finding software to integrate it with the more popular ecosystems out there such as OBS and Philips Hue. There are quite a few good options for productivity tools as well, though I didn't get a change to spend much time fiddling with anything beyond Zoom in the time before submitting my review. And it's not just plugins you can get either. The stream deck store has pretty much everything you might need to get up and going for a regular stream including royalty-free music, sound effects, and other vital assets that you might not immediately think you need.
There was really only one thing that kept me from giving the unit a full five stars, and that's the plugins for controlling smart lights. A day before I expected to use the Stream Deck I configured it to control both my Philips Hue setup and a few Nanoleaf panels. The plan I'd had was to push a button and immediately have all the lights come up in a dramatic fashion. Instead I pushed the button and got a great big error sign and a prompt to go through the entire setup process again. My camera was already rolling at that point and there was no way I was going to go into the other room to reconnect the light's bridge, so there was nothing to do but start blindly groping for my phone so I could activate the lights through the app the old fashioned way.
A quick visit to the support page was enough for me to get everything working again, but with no clear reason for why it stopped working in the first place I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little hesitant to fully trust that the software will just work when I need it to. I don't think this is necessarily a reason not to buy it, as there really isn't anything else that offers quite the same functionality and convenience as this, but I think it's definitely worth remembering that this isn't necessarily going to just work out of the box. You should definitely plan to have a backup plan available for any vital functions while you get used to it and figure out any quirks.
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The WD_Black SN750 NVMe SSD delivers top-tier performance for gaming and hardware enthusiasts who are looking to build or upgrade their PC. This SSD rivals some of the best performing drives on the market to help give gamers that competitive edge. An integrated heatsink feature helps push consistent sustained performance. Read and write speeds of 3,470MB/s and 3,000MB/s enable fast loading of large applications. The SSD has an M.2 2280 form factor for minimal footprint in complex systems.
Customer Rating
5
Check your clearances...
on July 26, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
The SN750 is a solid and affordable option for anyone looking to upgrade a computer that isn’t equipped to make full use of the new PCI-E 4.0 standard or simply doesn't need the highest possible speeds for their application. Owners of older motherboards should also consider that it is a tremendously tight fit for anything that doesn’t use the now mostly standard layout for m.2 drives, and plan accordingly to make sure that they can accommodate it in their case. And if you have designs on putting this in a laptop, you should stop now and find another SSD, because this thing is CHUNKY.
I had originally planned to install this as a replacement for a boot drive in an Z270 based system from ASUS. The board in question features an extensive dust protection/reinforcement system, and dates back to the days where engineers were still experimenting with things like enclosed cooling chambers for m.2 drives or mounting them in sockets that stick straight out from the motherboard at a 90 degree angle. This board features both, and it became apparent within a few minutes of beginning the upgrade process that these represented a major problem. Unlike many SSDs that come with heatsinks, the SN750's comes preinstalled. Generally I'd say not having to mess with thermal pads, tiny non-magnetic screws, or figuring out the correct orientation to install it in is a major plus, particularly given the relatively high quality of the EK branded part they went with here. But it turns out that the heatsink, which bulges out at the bottom, was far too large to fit neatly in the mounting bracket meant to make sure the drive didn’t just pop out at the first bump. I spent a few minutes attempting to bend the troublesome spots out to give some more clearance, then broke out an angle grinder to make it fit, only to discover that it was too tall to fit in the socket anyway without hitting another component. At this point I gave up on the perpendicular mount and decided to just put it in the enclosed duct, possibly with the dust cover off to give it some extra breathing room, only to find that the duct had the same clearance issues and enough important components to either side that trying to enlarge it could easily end in me grinding through a capacitor.
Now, usually, I’d probably respond to this by ditching the heatsink as there’s some debate about how essential they really are for these drives in the first place. In this case, however, I was not eager to chance it. One of the first things I found upon opening the box was a little pamphlet with a warning that removing the heatsink would damage to the device, which to me implies there might not be the usual copper heat spreader/sticker installed on the PCB, a somewhat important part to make sure the drive lasts throughout its warranty. As such ended up popping it into a much newer build with a completely uncovered m.2 slot between the first PCI-E x16 slot and the IO shield.
Fortunately, that’s where the frustration ended. After loading it with a few hundred gigabytes of files and games and running benchmarks over a few days, I have come to the conclusion that I’m glad the heatsink is there. This drive is capable of delivering all the performance it promises on the box, which brings it within spitting distance of the maximum limit that can be achieved with the older PCI-E 3.0 standard. And it seems to do so right at what I’d consider to be an acceptable temperature, around 35C. To be fair I don’t know how much of that can be put down to the heatsink helping cool it and how much is the drive controller being told that it should do whatever it can to keep the chips at that temperature, as SSDs are one of the only parts in your machine that can actually be hurt by running at lower temps, but either way the cooling system is clearly working.
The WD app for monitoring and configuring the drive is straightforward and will have no surprises for anyone who’s seen one of these programs before. You have the usual specs on the drive’s current speed, temperature, and expected lifespan, a few tools intended to perform basic maintenance or optimization, and a toggle switch to activate “game mode” which in theory should offer a boost in speed, but may wear the drive out faster. As far as I can tell this is mostly a gimmick. Turning Game Mode on did result in a slight increase in average speeds during benchmarks, but peak speeds barely budged and I couldn't notice any perceivable difference in real world testing. I suspect it's just doing what a lot of basic overclocking utilities do and forcing the drive to operate at full power constantly. That kind of thing is good for bragging rights as it'll give you better benchmark scores, but light on actual utility. I doubt you'll miss it if you just decide to leave it turned off.
I’d recommend this to anyone who’s looking to upgrade a system from a couple generations ago or maybe isn’t quite ready to jump into PCI-E 4.0 drives – provided they have a ruler handy. And if you do find yourself eyeing an angle grinder, please learn from my example and put the power tools away.
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A gaming uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a battery backup for your PC and console. APC Back-UPS™ Pro Gaming keeps you protected, connected, and in the game.
Customer Rating
3
"Gaming" UPS?
on July 16, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
I really wasn't sure what to expect when I heard that APC had released a UPS targeted to gamers. Uninterruptible power supplies have long been held up as an essential tool to protect delicate electronics from poor quality power and/or faulty wiring, but part of what makes them effective is their fundamentally boring nature. An exciting UPS is usually one that's not doing a very good job, so what "gamer" elements would they add to what should be an unobtrusive battery brick you hide away under your desk?
The answer, it turns out, is modern styling and just a hint of RGB. But I'll get to that later. First, let's talk about how it does its job.
The UPS is rated for 900w and 1500va, which means in my case that it can run one high end gaming tower, one modestly powerful stream PC, two monitors, and one Valve Index (not including the base stations) for around 10-15 minutes under moderate load. Once the battery hits five minutes though the PowerChute app will begin shutting everything down, at least if you've got a PC. And just to manage expectations, that's exactly what it should do. The batteries on these things don't respond well to being completely drained. They're meant to let you ride out a momentary blip in service or failing that give you enough time to save your progress and shut down, not keep you in the game for a two hour blackout. I found it to be very good at this in both the self-test I ran on the unit after getting it set up and the impromptu one where I pulled the plug out of the wall with everything running. Power remained steady, notifications were issued to let me know what was going on, and the software did its thing. PowerChute is definitely aimed more at productivity than games and as such I wouldn't recommend anyone rely on it to automatically create a save for you, but it's a decent (if slightly dated looking) app for the job it has. And if the telemetry it gives me can be believed, it's providing consistent clean power to all my delicate electronics, which will no doubt add a few years to their lifespan.
So, in summary, it's a solid, predictable UPS. Now it's time to talk about the other part of its identity: how it fares as gaming gear. And it's honestly a mixed bag here.
When I first unboxed it I did think that it was one of the more photogenic UPS's I've seen over the years. If it weren't too heavy to trust to a standard shelf I'd say it would look right at home next to a modern console or ITX PC build. But once you plug it in and it lights up, it starts losing points fast. There is a VERY basic RGB implementation that lets you set a static color for both the ring around the front LCD panel and a small spotlight at the rear intended to make it easier to plug things in while you're crawling around under your desk. Between them is a large illuminated APC logo which as far as I can tell cannot be turned off or adjusted to anything other than bright white light. And I find these choices to be weirdly off-putting.
I don't think anyone's really going to argue that the best RGB out there is all kinda... stupid. But it's stupid in a very specific way. When it works it's usually due to it being taken to ludicrous excess, with a dozen different devices all synced up with one another rotating through dozens of different colors in a way that does absolutely nothing for focus or performance, but embodies everything that cheesy 80's sci-fi told us the future was going to look like. When you look at things like that, you see something that reflects the efforts of not only the person who set it all up, but a whole team of programmers and engineers who clearly had nothing better to do that day. And that is what gives it its appeal. It is complicated and flashy and overbuilt for the sake of being complicated, flashy, and overbuilt.
I do not see anything like that kind of effort in this bare-bones approach that APC has taken to gamerfy this UPS. And because of that it only ends up drawing attention to itself in the worst possible way. The logo sticks out too much in a darkened room, the limited selection of colors and complete lack of any kind of programmability just about guarantees that it'll clash with most RGB schemes, and the fact that the rear light is tied to the RGB switch means that if you do find a color that fits with your set up, it's also going to be highlighting whatever cable spaghetti you've got going on under your desk.
I have no doubt that there are people out there who'd look at the prospect of RGB on a UPS and say "yes, I want that." But I can't imagine many of them not being disappointed if this is all they get for it.
I have no doubt that there are people out there who'd look at the prospect of RGB on a UPS and say "yes, I want that." But I can't imagine many of them not being disappointed if this is all they get for it.
Future versions would likely do better if they either dropped the mood lighting and just stuck to offering a slick case or fully committed to the bit and mated this thing with something stolen out of a disco hall. As it currently stands it looks like you're paying a premium for a "gaming" label that the hardware hasn't even tried to earn, which makes it hard for me to recommend it over some of APCs other offerings which could offer you very similar performance in a much boxier package.
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No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Explore realistic 3D audio with sound precisely projected from above, in front, behind and to the side of you with the latest acoustic technologies.
Customer Rating
4
Great sound, not so great setup
on June 22, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
I've owned many great Samsung products over the years, and one thing that it's definitely taught me about them is that they love to experiment and push the envelope with creative features that no one else is trying yet. This can be one of the best things about their product when you're using it as part of a whole Samsung ecosystem, and a massive source of frustration if you're not. This sound system is, sadly, no exception.
These days I've come to expect getting a sound system hooked into my home theater setup to be as simple as plugging an HDMI cable into the appropriate ARC port on the TV. In theory the same should apply here, but unfortunately that's not how it worked out. I had to spend two days struggling with the settings on my Hisense TV to get it to a point where it's good enough, and it still refuses to accept any digital audio over the ARC port. Granted this could be an issue with the firmware on the TV, but given that this unit has never had issues connecting with other sound systems before I'm inclined to suspect that the sound bar is to blame. It still works great if you plug everything into the sound bar first and let it just pass video through, even allowing you to use all your existing remotes with HDMI-CEC, but the effort I had to go through to get this thing to talk with everything immediately took it from a 5 star to a 4 star product to me.
That said once it was finally done, I had far less to complain about. Out of the box the balance of the various surround sound channels was a little off, with the rear speakers in particular being so soft you could barely hear them from a few feet away, but after just a few minutes of tweaking with a movie playing I was able to dial it in for my living room. The quality of the surround sound effect is spectacular for a unit of this type. The upward firing speakers on the soundbar do a surprisingly passable job of faking the presence of ceiling mounted speakers by bouncing audio off the ceiling of my room, though I'll admit I'm curious if they'd work quite as well in a room with vaulted ceilings. And the difference that Atmos makes over traditional surround sound systems is incredible. With the older designs the audio was mixed in such a way that which channel got which audio was basically fixed, with no real allowances being made for any eccentricities in your setup. Atmos's approach of treating audio more like point sources moving around a simulated 3D space means that the effect feels much more like it was mixed for your specific room. While this system doesn't include the more complex calibration tools to let you really dial in the exact acoustic properties of your space (unless you happen to be using it with a Samsung TV, that is) it still gets closer to reproducing the kind of soundscape you'd expect from a movie theater than anything I've tried before, including other Atmos systems that lacked the rear satellite speakers.
That being said, the Atmos system isn't the only selling point here. My roommate has a few hearing issues that often makes it hard for her to pick out dialog when watching TV and movies. We'd read that one of the reasons for this is often because audio mixes for these are typically designed to make full use of 5 channels, and that downmixing them to two or three can end up muddying things to a degree. While I'm honestly still not sure how much of an impact that makes, we have definitely noticed that moving from a 3.1 soundbar to a 5.1.2 has made it a lot easier for her to hear what the characters are saying over the last week. Also helping things out is a dialog enhancement option which can bump up the frequencies covering the human voice in the center channel and dial everything else down a bit, helping isolate spoken content. It's not a feature we'd want to leave on all the time, as it can go a bit too far with Atmos content in particular and strip a lot of the richness out of the audio. But it works great for most everything else, and it's great having options other than leaving subtitles on all the time to fall back on.
Which brings us to the question of should you get this soundbar. ...And as you might guess, there are some caveats.
If you have a Samsung TV, I'd say that this is a no-brainer. The system works great, and there are a lot of Samsung exclusive features here that'll make it work even better. And getting it set up with the SmartThings app and its rear satellites was so quick and painless that I have very few doubts that plugging it into a Samsung set would be a two minute job. If you don't... well, as my experience shows it can still work very well, but it definitely makes you work for it. I have a pretty high degree of proficiency in getting this stuff set up, and the fact that I still can't get digital audio over ARC to work like it should after two days of tinkering makes me hesitate to give a full throated endorsement for anyone who doesn't have the option of just passing everything through the soundbar via an HDMI switch (say people who watch a lot of broadcast TV or enjoy retro gaming.) I don't think that my experience is necessarily going to be typical, and hopefully whatever issue I'm seeing can eventually be addressed by a firmware update in the future, but it does seem to be a recurring theme these days that if you want to get the best possible performance out of AV equipment from the bigger brands like Samsung, LG, or Sony, you really do need to stay within the ecosystem they've created.
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Unleash the power of the Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 NVMe Gen4 SSD for next-level computing. 980 PRO delivers 2x the data transfer rate of PCIe 3.0, while maintaining compatibility with PCIe 3.0.¹ ¹The NVM Express® design mark is a registered trademark of NVM Express, Inc.* Results are based on a comparison with Samsung PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSDs and SATA SSDs. PS5 compatible with heatsink as recommended by Sony; heatsink sold separately.
Customer Rating
5
What's a loading screen, again?
on June 14, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
Storage technology has been going through a bit of a meteoric boom over the past ten years, and during that time Samsung has consistently led the pack when it comes to both quality and raw performance. The 980 Pro continues this trend with their usual flare, offering an absurdly fast drive with a five-year warranty, excellent thermal characteristics, and their usual somewhat unassuming package.
In the time since I received the drive I’ve run tests in three different use cases which I think covers most of the likely use cases for this kind of m.2 NVMe drive: a high end gaming desktop, a slightly older laptop, and a separate enclosure. The initial installation for all three is unremarkable for anyone with experience in performing new builds or upgrades. Despite its capacity they managed to cram everything onto a single sided PCB so it shouldn’t have any issues with clearance or thermal issues in whatever you might want to put it in. The usual copper-plated heat spreader/sticker offers good adhesion to thermal pads (and should NEVER be removed, by the way) and based on the temps in my three test cases is very compatible with aftermarket heatsinks should you want to go that route. So long as your system has enough space to fit the 2280 form factor (and virtually all of them do at this point) I don’t think there’s any reason to be worried about not being able to install it.
Performance in all three systems was excellent, and near the speeds quoted on the box in a system that supports PCI-E 4.0. And that is an important consideration, because while it works fine in the older system which only supported PCI-E 3.0 it did bottleneck at a read speed of 3500mb/s, which is as much as the older interface can manage. In the newer system it generally does perform very near the 7gb/s it claims on the box and in some cases actually exceeded it, but in most cases it seemed to hover just below the quoted read/write speeds. Sustained write operations do tend to slow down considerably once the cache has been filled, which is to be expected with this kind of drive, but even saturated it was able to stay well above 1500mb/s. Most impressive however was the drive’s thermal performance. It seems like just about everything in this current generation of hardware has a tendency to run hotter than the one that preceded it, but this one consistently ran cooler than the other m.2 drives I use under load, even with smaller heat sinks. Granted this isn’t as concerning with an SSD as it would be with something like a CPU, as SSDs are usually pretty tolerant of higher operating temps so long as they’re consistent across the various memory cells, but it’s nice to know that I don’t have to worry about it cooking itself in a laptop. What was weirder was to note that the operating temps were very consistent across all three systems despite each one having very different cooling characteristics, with the laptop (which lacked a large heatsink or much ventilation) only coming out a couple degrees higher than the desktop or external enclosure. Apparently Samsung’s new drive controller does have some of its own tools for thermal regulation and this was a system that couldn’t handle the drive at its full speed so it’s possible that I was just seeing some thermal throttling going on, but perhaps someone more knowledgeable about the particulars of SSD cooling will find this to be useful information. Gaming performance is excellent for both of the internal installs, though if I’m being completely honest it seemed like a fairly marginal upgrade over the previous generation of Samsung’s SSD. There are some very big potential gains to be had with the latest generation of GPUs, as they offer a much more efficient loading scheme when paired with this kind of drive, but as I like everyone else am still unable to get my hands on one of those GPUs I can’t really comment on it.
Once it’s in the drive can be managed via the Samsung Magician software, which is quite capable and hasn’t really changed much in the past few years. Only thing I’d note here is that if you want to use all the features it offers it seems that you really do need to have a motherboard with full support for PCI-E 4.0, as otherwise it’s not going to be able to fully recognize the drive for what it is. Of course since you’d be limited to running at half speed anyway due to the bottleneck, I can’t imagine that too many people will find themselves in this situation.
Ultimately while I’d say that anyone would likely be thrilled with the performance this unit offers, I’d only really recommend it to those who are building new systems or making additions to a system from the last year or so. As good as it performed in all the various systems, it really only became exceptional when installed in the latest hardware that could make full use of it. There are plenty of good drives you can get that’ll make an older machine a bit more responsive or make a good Steam archive. But this is the computer equivalent of a race car, and it needs to be treated as such if you’re going to get the most value out of it.
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Pump up the party with the dynamic sound of the SRS-XP700 Portable Wireless Speaker. Sony’s unique X-Balanced Speaker units power MEGA BASS and multi-directional sound that sounds incredible from anywhere, even from behind the speaker. Keep the good times going all day and night with up to 25 hours of battery life plus USB-C quick charging.
Customer Rating
5
Full field audio. As in Cornfield.
on May 28, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
The XB700 continues Sony's tradition of producing high quality portable speakers with bass powerful enough to knock over a small to medium sized dog. It is showy, loud, and very, very good at living up to its role as a party speaker.
Build quality is fairly good overall. The case is very thick plastic with an abundance of grippy rubber feet and sturdy seals around all the seams. The speakers are mounted behind metal grilles, and all the various ports and controls are hidden behind a thick rubber plug designed to keep water out. Controls on the device itself are a little basic but well laid out, making it fairly easy to get set up within a few minutes. The battery claims a maximum life of 25 hours and I basically just had to take their word for it as I wasn't about to risk reprisal from the neighbors by stress testing it, but given the massive size of the thing I don't think running out of power is going to be a major concern for anyone.
If you want to make use of the more complicated features of the device such as equalization, karaoke mode, or controlling the built in lights you'll need to move over to one of two apps provided by Sony: Music Center and Fiestable. In my experience these kinds of apps can often be a bit of a headache that exist mainly to complicate the initial setup process, but I was pleasantly surprised by how straightforward Sony's are. There was no additional setup required apart from just pairing my phone to the speaker over Bluetooth, and all the controls were straightforward and clearly labeled. It admittedly doesn't offer a ton of customization, with the options to configure the lighting in particular being very rudimentary, but it does what it has to. My only complaint is the fact that there are two of them (three, if you count the app you'll need to use for Sony's headphones.) I really don't see any value in having functions split between separate apps like this, and would definitely welcome a switch to a more unified approach in the future.
Audio quality is as good as you'd expect from a Sony. Bass is exceptionally strong and the high end is very crisp, which admittedly isn't going to appeal to everyone. Personally I found that turning the Extra Bass setting off improved the overall tone considerably, but with it on it definitely has more of a nightclub feel. Wireless connectivity is provided through Bluetooth, with all the compromises that implies, but there are two quarter inch jacks on the back for analog connections if you'd like to use it as an amp, PA system, or Karaoke machine. Using these will compromise the waterproofing as it requires you to keep the back ports exposed, but given how deeply recessed they are I wouldn't be too worried about this. They should be reasonably well protected from rain or occasional splashes from the pool, and in the case that you ever have to deal with something more serious than that it doesn't take long to pull the cables and seal it back up.
Overall this is a high quality speaker with a reasonable amount of portability and a stylish package. It's not something I'd recommend as a typical bookshelf speaker, but it'd be a great unit for outdoor movie nights, large events, or serving as a basic digital amp.
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The CORSAIR VIRTUOSO RGB Wireless XT delivers a high-fidelity audio experience for the most discerning players, combining uncompromising sound quality with all-day, all-night comfort from its premium memory foam earpads and headband. Connect wirelessly to virtually any device with simultaneous SLIPSTREAM WIRELESS and Qualcomm aptX HD Bluetooth, or wired via 3.5mm or USB. Make yourself heard with superb vocal clarity thanks to a broadcast-grade, omnidirectional detachable microphone with wide dynamic range. Lightweight aluminum construction ensures long-term durability, while up to 15 hours of wireless battery life and 60ft of range give you absolute listening freedom. Micro-perforated aluminum on each ear cup allows RGB lighting to shine through for visual flair. With immersive Dolby Atmos and CORSAIR iCUE software to enable custom audio equalizer settings, RGB lighting control, and more, you can be the maestro of your gaming experience.
Customer Rating
5
A Headset for everything. Literally, everything.
on May 13, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
If there is one thing that Corsair has never been accused of, it's being unambitious with their higher end products.
The Virtuoso XT seems determined to be the last headset you ever need to buy. With support for USB (Type A and C), 3 1/4" jacks, Corsair's proprietary slipstream wireless, and Bluetooth, I can't imagine any device that you couldn't connect this absolute beast of a headset to. You don't even have to pick and choose - it can support Bluetooth and any other connection simultaneously. Of course the ultimate question is if you really want to. And I have to say, it makes a pretty good case for itself.
In the time I've spent with this headset, I've been thoroughly impressed by pretty much everything about it. It's comfortable to wear for prolonged periods. The audio quality is spectacular (particularly with the RF receiver and USB connections.) The Atmos support works better than any other headset I've tried.
The battery seems to be capable of lasting just short of forever. The controls are well laid out. Even the RGB is stylish, adopting an understated logo shining through the thin metal at the sides rather than the usual in your face gamer aesthetic. And if that's not enough, the slipstream connector is designed to allow you to connect multiple compatible devices from Corsair, reducing the number of USB ports you need to devote to wireless peripherals. This does require you disable PlayStation 4 support, but I'd imagine many won't mind making the sacrifice.
The battery seems to be capable of lasting just short of forever. The controls are well laid out. Even the RGB is stylish, adopting an understated logo shining through the thin metal at the sides rather than the usual in your face gamer aesthetic. And if that's not enough, the slipstream connector is designed to allow you to connect multiple compatible devices from Corsair, reducing the number of USB ports you need to devote to wireless peripherals. This does require you disable PlayStation 4 support, but I'd imagine many won't mind making the sacrifice.
The one complaint I did have has to do with Corsair's usually excellent iCue software, which hopefully should be a temporary issue. When I first installed the beta version that has support for this headset, audio cut out over wireless and wouldn't come back until I'd completely uninstalled the drivers for the receiver and run it through Atmos setup again. There also isn't a ton you can do with the RGB, given that there are only a few very small lighting zones, so unless you need to update firmware or pair additional devices to receivers you won't be missing much if you choose to skip it altogether.
All in all I'd recommend this for anyone looking for a headset that can easily be moved between multiple devices, wants to make full use of Atmos support, or simply wants something a bit different from the typical gaming headset design.
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Life Dot 2 XR is optimized for noise cancelling— changing its settings depending on your surroundings. On top of this it delivers thumping beats, clear calls, and a 35-hour playtime. Using the Soundcore app, you can customize your touch controls and sound profile to perfectly fit the way you listen.
Customer Rating
5
ANC in earbuds that actually works!
on April 12, 2021
Posted by: Batlacit
from Madison, WI
I've owned or tried several different sets of earbuds that boasted active noise cancellation in my life, and have come to the conclusion that there are three basic categories they fall into:
1. The ones that simply add white noise over top of the noise that they're supposedly cancelling out.
2. The ones that only cancel a very specific range of frequencies, making them borderline useless for real world use.
3. The ones that kinda work, but give you a headache in the process.
1. The ones that simply add white noise over top of the noise that they're supposedly cancelling out.
2. The ones that only cancel a very specific range of frequencies, making them borderline useless for real world use.
3. The ones that kinda work, but give you a headache in the process.
Having now spent a few days with the Dot 2XRs in my ears I've been forced to add a fourth category:
4. The ones that actually work!
I cannot understate just how much of a shock it was to discover how good the noise cancellation on these things really is when I put them on. The vacuum was running, a fan was turned on, and my roommate was watching TV when I first popped them in my ears. After a brief pairing and setup process the things kicked on, and all three were either eliminated or strongly muted. It's rare in my experience to find this kind of broad effectiveness even in high end headphones, so to find it in something as compact as these buds was a welcome surprise. It even does a fairly decent job of filtering out voices - something that admittedly caused a bit of domestic friction when my roommate tried to talk to me from about 10 feet away and I simply grinned like an idiot and reveled in the all encompassing semi-silence. And it does all this without creating that pervasive sense of pressure bombarding your ears that you get with most ANC products and can make wearing them a bit of a chore.
Of course all the noise cancellation in the world isn't going to be much good if the earbuds can't insert their own sound into the process, and I'm glad to say that the Dot 2 XRs are no slouch in that department either. Audio quality is fairly good overall (particularly for bluetooth) though perhaps not the most accurate I've ever heard. Like many earbuds these days it cranks up the bass a bit further than is strictly necessary to try and give the audio a bit more body and cover up some minor flaws in the higher frequencies, which come across as just a little wavering when the bass is dropped down. Good news is that they sound their best when playing music, and really only falter when listening to podcasts or other spoken word content where perfect fidelity generally doesn't matter much anyway. The 4 microphone array built into the buds also provides very good audio for calls, making it a good choice for anyone looking for a more private alternative to the speakerphone.
The design is a bit more bulky than some, however they fit nicely in the ears and aren't heavy enough to make their presence known or work their way out of your ear canals during exercise. The rubber wings meant to stabilize them in your ear did feel just a little small in my ears even with the largest ones installed, but it was still enough to keep them in place during some light jogging and walks around the neighborhood. They wouldn't be my first pick for a bike ride over bumpy trails, as there really is very little apart from friction working to hold them in place, but I wouldn't immediately rule them out either. Pass through options are a bit limited however, so if you plan to frequently run, bike, or skate around traffic there might be better choices for an exercise companion.
Controls are straightforward, easy to learn, but somewhat limited. Each earbud has a touch sensitive surface on the side that can respond to either a quick double-tap or a long press, and by default half of these are devoted to controlling the noise cancellation features. I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand I've noticed that most people never really learn the more complex control schemes for their wearables, leaving a lot of features under-utilized. On the other, it's a little jarring not having volume controls out of the box. So if you are one of the few who can learn more than three gestures for their earbuds (and then actually reproduce them on a regular basis) that might be a bit off-putting. Good news is that you can reconfigure everything in the Soundcore app if you want to, which shares the straightforward and effective design of the earbuds. I know most prefer to skip supplemental apps for their earphones given the option, and you are certainly able to do so here if you want, but there is enough added utility here for it to be worth the storage space in my opinion.
In summary, the Life Dot 2 XR earbuds are a solid all-rounder with a standout noise cancellation feature. I'd recommend them to travelers, gymgoers, or anyone else looking for a bit of quiet in places where it's hard to come by.
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Add high-end performance to your everyday life with the Google Pixel XL. A quad-core processor, a 5.5-inch LED screen and 32GB of memory ensure this phone is able to handle daily life, and Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protects the screen. Easy cloud storage ensures you never run out of space on the Google Pixel XL.
Does your Best Buy Pixel phone have the Verizon crapware on it?
There are three verizon apps - but all are fully removable. Once they're gone, it's like they were never there to begin with.
8 years, 8 months ago
by
Batlacit
Add high-end performance to your everyday life with the Google Pixel XL. A quad-core processor, a 5.5-inch LED screen and 32GB of memory ensure this phone is able to handle daily life, and Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protects the screen. Easy cloud storage ensures you never run out of space on the Google Pixel XL.
Does this version of the phone have a locked bootloader?
Yes, the Verizon branded Pixel does come with a locked bootloader. Only ones bought directly from Google don't.
8 years, 8 months ago
by
Batlacit
Add high-end performance to your everyday life with the Google Pixel XL. A quad-core processor, a 5.5-inch LED screen and 32GB of memory ensure this phone is able to handle daily life, and Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protects the screen. Easy cloud storage ensures you never run out of space on the Google Pixel XL.
Is this water resistant?
I'm afraid not. But you may be able to find case options that can at least improve that.
8 years, 8 months ago
by
Batlacit
Orbi Whole Home WiFi System delivers up to 3.0Gbps high-performance WiFi. Sleek, modern design with high-gain internal antennas for up to 5,000 square feet of coverage. FastLane3 Technology creates a dedicated Tri-Band WiFi for seamless 4K streaming and gaming everywhere in your home. Keep a single WiFi name for uninterrupted connections as you move from room-to-room. Circle Smart Parental Controls runs on Orbi Routers for a smart way for families to manage content and time online, on any connected device. Provide internet access to guests without sharing your personal network password. Orbi is ready right out of the box and compatible with your ISP. Just use the Orbi app to get started with better WiFi, everywhere in minutes.
do you have to have an internet service before this will bring in the wi fi
You can use it to set up a local network, but if your goal is to watch netflix or look stuff up on google, yes, you need to have internet service.
8 years, 9 months ago
by
Batlacit
Orbi Whole Home WiFi System delivers up to 3.0Gbps high-performance WiFi. Sleek, modern design with high-gain internal antennas for up to 5,000 square feet of coverage. FastLane3 Technology creates a dedicated Tri-Band WiFi for seamless 4K streaming and gaming everywhere in your home. Keep a single WiFi name for uninterrupted connections as you move from room-to-room. Circle Smart Parental Controls runs on Orbi Routers for a smart way for families to manage content and time online, on any connected device. Provide internet access to guests without sharing your personal network password. Orbi is ready right out of the box and compatible with your ISP. Just use the Orbi app to get started with better WiFi, everywhere in minutes.
Q I am looking for1 Orbi router and 3 Orbi satellites for my big home, since Netgear is not giving the option to buy satellites individually ,will I be able to order two boxes of Orbi and be able to use one of Orbi router as a satellite ,? interchange
From what I can tell, no, you can't get the same seamless integration with two routers in the system. The satellite and router look mostly identical, but there are some differences. You might be able to configure the second one as an access point... but that might defeat the point a bit.
That said, they've stated they are going to release individual satellites eventually.
That said, they've stated they are going to release individual satellites eventually.
8 years, 9 months ago
by
Batlacit