3Tcubed's stats
- Review count172
- Helpfulness votes1,528
- First reviewJanuary 3, 2014
- Last reviewJune 19, 2024
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- Average rating4.3
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- Answer count72
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- First answerJanuary 10, 2015
- Last answerJanuary 12, 2022
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Make media more fun with this HP Spectre Folio convertible laptop. Three possible screen positions let you watch videos or edit photos in comfort, and its powerful Intel Core i7 processor is ideal for gaming. This HP Spectre Folio convertible laptop has a 256GB M.2 solid-state drive, ensuring speed and ample storage.
Customer Rating
4
Beautiful with a few compromises
on November 16, 2018
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
HP has made sure that the first impression of the Spectre Folio is one of exceptional quality. The packaging is first rate. The notebook is packed on top of the box with a black tissue paper wrapper, Upon pulling back the black paper, the high quality full grain leather wrapped around the notebook is revealed. It's soft and screams luxury. Upon lifting the notebook out of the box the smoothness of the leather is felt (mine was Cognac Brown); very nice. As you open the case you feel a nice balance between the top and the bottom of the notebook, both are about the same thickness and weight. On the right side are 2 USB C, thunderbolt 3 ports, on the left there is one USB C port. Any of the ports can be used to connect the USB C charger. HP claims the i7 version will get 15 hours on a charge and the i5 version will get 17 hours. During setup you are introduced to Microsoft's Hello, it's facial recognition technology that can be be used to login. It is similar to Apple's Face Id, except it also uses IR to iluminate the subject, so it can be used effectively in the dark. This was the first time I'd used Hello and it worked extermely well, you see some flashing red led's and your logged on very quickly (after you've registered your face).
Included in the box is a USB C to USB A adapter, a HP Stylus (Tilt Pen which uses 1*AAA battery) with 4096 pressure levels and a 65W power adapter. When getting the notebook set up, one of the first things I noticed was the wonderful keyboard, given the thinness of the base, the keys still have a decent amount of travel and a great feel. The keyboard is very nicely backlit, with light around the key as well as some light thought the keys. The keys are nicely spread out with the feel of a nice full size keyboard (less the numeric pad).
The next think I noticed the georgous, bright screen (400 nits), I adjusted the screen up and down and did not see any color shift, even at very wide viewing angle. Now about the screen it's quite diferent from most laptops, instead of being hinged at the bottom of the screen it's hinged in the middle, allowing the bottom to rest infront of the keyboard or to be pulled out so the bottom rests covering the keyboard with the trackpad visible (Tent mode). This would certainly be useful for watching a video or for giving a presentation. If you pull the screen further, it slides down flat over the keyboard, making the the notebook into a 13" tablet that's less than 1" thick at the spine, and less than 1/2" at the front. But it's very solid, there are magnets that guide and keep the screen in its normal, tented and flat positions. It takes a a little pull to release the screen from it's laptop position, but it's not an unreasonable tug.
After having it up and running, you notice how quite, it is, no fans. But it has either a Intel i5-8200Y or i7-8500Y processor in it, these are Intel's latest, top of the line, low power processors they support turboboost up to 3.9Ghz or 4.2Ghz, but they only ramp up when necessary. This is suspose to greatly increase battery life. I did some testing, browsing, streaming video and watching video locally (at all times connected via wi-fi). All videos were very smooth (<10% CPU utilization), I ran for just over 10 hrs and the battery life had dropped to 20%, so I doubt it would have been 15 hours, but not that far off. Getting over 10 hours I consider impressive. Now this computer is suspose to have a fast charge function, and charge to 50% in under 30m. I did not see this speed in my initial testing (on any of the ports) - keep reading.
The next thing I went to do was edit some photos, I looked long and hard for a micro SD card slot,some HP specs said it existed, others did not; my unit did not have one. I was dispointed there was no microSD card card slot. So I attached a handy multifunction USB C device with a SD and microSD card reader (and multiple USB 3 ports + HDMI & LAN) and it was promptly recognised, and I could easily move photos to the notebook (guess I could have also gotten them from one of my cloud accounts, but since the camera was handy it was the first thing to come to mind). All the editing was smooth, I used the pencil (tilt) to mark up a photo, it worked well, allowing different thickness of lines based on the pressure on the stylus, It allowed me to outline objects with great accuracy; one function I really wanted to see/use. At first I was editing like a laptop, I then "tented" the screen, I found this much more easy to do and more accurate. Pretty happy about the pen's usefullness.
Now having used the system for sometime (on a table) I reclined to my couch, and used it in my lap. I found a new use for it, a leg warmer (not a heater). The base of the unit does get warm, but not really hot; the leather feels nice warm. The leather really feels nice in you lap compared to the usual hard plastic or metal. I then streamed some music throught the onboard speakers.... kind of tinny; I then played with the audio controls and the sound was greatly improved, but still lacked any low end. I streamed to an external BT speaker and I was impressed, very impressed. So the B&O speakers did not impress me, they could get loud, but they did not sound great. The HP Audio Boost with them works pretty well, especially with better speakers. I was pleased with the enhancements for music and for video.
I also connected a HD monitor to the USB C Multi-function adapter (mine not supplied) to insure the notebook could drive a second HD monitor, No problem! I then tried attaching a 4K monitor, it was promptly recognised and I extended my diplay to have the HP Folio notebook + a 4K monitor as a second display. Yea, it worked as I'd hoped. I then connected a Ethenet cable and it was up and running on my LAN, again just I'd expected. This is one of the big advantages of USB C and Thunderbolt 3, the ability to attach multiple high speed peripherials, this notebook has 2*Thunderbolt 3 ports + one USB 3.1 C port; really a lot of expansion functionalty.
After some more testing I found there was a HP Bios update (throught the HP Update utility); after applying it I re-tested the fast charging and it now seemed to work, the BIOS update said it fixed a issues where the "system incorrectly reports the status of the battery as fully charged", that must have been it. Another note, I have the 256GB unit without WAN support; after the system is fully installed there is only 194GB available after cleaning up the system install/update files. So plan your purchase accordingly, this notebook cannot have it's memory or storage upgraded, what you purchase is is what you get. HP's web site says it will ship with SSDs of 256GB, 512GB, 1TB & 2TB. Given what the base price of this unit is, I'd suggest starting with more than the 256GB SSD. Especially since you can't just insert a microSD card to update the storage available (this disapointed me the most about this machine - loose 1 star).
But it you choose wisely it's a beautiful notebook, which will surely get a second look wherever you take it. And whereever you take it it feels good in your hands, just over 3.2 lbs with possibly 15 hrs battery life, it is still a powerful notebook. Especially if your looking for something different or just want to show off a little, it is pretty (and nice).
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+48points
59of 70voted this as helpful.
Enjoy interactive streaming with this Google Nest Hub. With the built-in Google Assistant, you can view your calendar, receive alerts and reminders, and control devices from the single dashboard, and voice control lets you access other smart features. This Google Nest Hub lets you listen to music from Spotify and Pandora and view YouTube content. "
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
I've been smart home advocate/adopter for a couple of years.
The Google Home Hub is trying to hit a price point... I have several smart speakers with and without displays. Some small and others pretty large. The new Google Home hub is trying to find a place as 3 or 4 smart devices. First as a smart hub, that can talk to your other smart home devices. Well it's in it infancy, and it can't do enought yet, I'm sure it will improve, but until it can completely replace what other more established hubs can do, I don't suggest trying to change.
The Google Home Hub is trying to hit a price point... I have several smart speakers with and without displays. Some small and others pretty large. The new Google Home hub is trying to find a place as 3 or 4 smart devices. First as a smart hub, that can talk to your other smart home devices. Well it's in it infancy, and it can't do enought yet, I'm sure it will improve, but until it can completely replace what other more established hubs can do, I don't suggest trying to change.
You'll find some devices do not offer the same functionality they did else where, specifically I use motion detectors to turn on/off multiple switches/lights at the same time at different times of day. This just can be done (yet). In addition the new Google Home update, to support the home hub, needs more work to allow configuration by room as well as by device. Its user interface does not yet allow you to define your rooms and what in them, versus adding devices and defining what room they are in. In addition devices that have multiple functions (thermostat with temp/motion sensor) can't be configured as devices that work together. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get things to play nice with each other. Finally I realized their software did not yet support the level of integrataion I desired (currently used).
Second it's a speaker, but here you have to discuss the sound quality. No real spec's on what in the device, other than a full range speaker. Well it's better than the smallest smart speakers, but not better than anything else, especially compared to other smart speakers with displays. BTW, you can use the Home Hub as BT speaker (I would not), but it's another potentially useful function.
Third as a smart, cloud based, picture frame. The 7" screen is quite nice once you get it adjusted properly. The Google Home Hub has a ambient light sensor (like many phones do now) that adjusts the display's brightness based on the amount of light in the room (and time of day). This, they claim, improves the quality of photos displayed. You can "Tell" google home to turn up the brightness, after doing this a few times your've got a good looking display (or you can swipe up from the bottom of the display to manually adjust the brightness or volume). The integration of of Google Photo's with the device is it's hightlight. I had about 20K images already uploaded to Google Photos; when setting the device up as a photo frame, you are presented with a set of friends/family faces to select to determine what photos will be displayed on the frame (plus those taken most recently). This is a great feature, I've rediscovered pictures I scanned from decades ago. If you want a 7" cloud based digital picture frame this is a winning combination. Now that said I wish it offered a larger display (10+"). Another cool feature is you can ask the display to show photos from a specific event or time.
It pretty good displaying recipies that it finds on the internet, althought you'll have to be pretty close to the device to read the display. An it's great at offering timers to use with the recipies. This is clever.
And fourth as a smart display. A bright spot is it's integration with YouTube, which also includes content filtering. As for news/entertainment choices there is a good seletion, but by no means complete. I really wish it integrated as smart display so that I could display My DirecTv on the device, but it's not an option, and you can't cast to the device (yet). But the device can play to any of chromecast device you have (I have 8 in my home), including "backyard" speakers, I can simple say hey Google play Pink Floyd on the Backyard speakers, and it will find Floyd in my google play library (25k songs) or from another streaming source, and boom there is music in the back yard! I really like casting, it's sounds so much better than BT. The device automatically recognised all the devices I previoiusly had set up on Google Home.
The other thing that I must point out is that the Google Home Hub does not have a camera, so you can't use it for video calls (this also helped in hitting the lower price point), or be spied upon. But you can use it to make phone calls if you've linked your phone to your Google account (and enabled calling). It makes a really nice speaker phone (if you don't have a lot of background noise (like a TV on)).
So, another smart device, that does some things very well, and others, well, less than perfectly. In Google's favor most of what's wrong has to do with needing to improve their software, it's smart home integration is over a year behind some of it's competitors. But if your just getting started it's fully featured smart hub that provides a lot more than just hub functionalty. It's on screen display of the home devices is really nice when getting started. But if you looking to do something more sophisticated, wait for their software to mature, no telling what will be added/changed in the months to follow.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+11points
12of 13voted this as helpful.
Clean your room quickly with this Shark DuoClean upright vacuum. Its deep-cleaning bristle brush and soft brushroll capture particles of any size, while the quick-release detachable canister lets you use the wand alone to reach hard-to-access spaces. This Shark DuoClean upright vacuum has LED headlights for visibility and an accessory storage compartment to keep everything organized.
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
About 18 months ago I replaced my (way too heavy) Kirby G5 with a Shark (NV801) Lift Away. At the time I could not believe how much better the Shark was on my hard floors (tile and wood). The Shark DuoClean does a FANTASTIC job on both of these. The little spinning roller thing (see picture) on the front gets up dust like I can't believe. Well I'm now finished refurbisihing my master bed room and bath (no more carpet) and decided it was time to get another DuoClean Shark, one for upstairs the other for downstairs, Not that its heavy, but I have plenty of space in my renovated closet for a separate vacuum, and I know I'll use it more often if it's handy.
After using the first Shark for more than a year, my only complaint is that the dust cup is somewhat difficult to empty and somewhat small; but this is still much better than having bags to replace. And that the cord is shorter than I'd prefer. The first Shark still performs like the day I got it, And my Shark #2, which is nearly identical to first Shark now costs about $100 less.
Other thinks to enjoy, the lift off of the canister makes getting around and behind things so much easier, and the detachable wand makes curtains/blinds a breeze. It comes with 2 tools , crevice brush and a rounds brush, I use the round brush on my fans, with mixed success, I wish their was an tools for better cleaning the blades, the round brush is ok, but something that better fit around the blades would be so much better. Another nice feature is the LED headlights, its suprising to find that some bright light shined on "dust bunnies" really prevent them from hiding (or getting way).
The job this vacuum does on hard floors makes this a most impressive vacuum cleaner I've used. And as you can tell I would not hesitate to get a second.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
Bring out your best while exercising with these JLab Flex Sport Bluetooth headphones. The fully customizable headband has washable earcups and sweat-resistant parts to ensure a comfortable fit, and its ambient noise safety feature protects your ears. These JLab Flex Sport Bluetooth headphones have a 20-hour playtime so they won't stop before you do.
Customer Rating
5
Very good for the price
on October 21, 2018
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
First I own a lot of head phones, both BT and wired; the instruction that come with these Jlab head phone strongly recommend buring them in before use, So I spent 2+ full days (over 48hrs) playing their burn-in "noise", this breaks in the diaphrams so they play more evenly.
Once done I listened to Bostons first album (re-mastered); the sound was better than I expected. One of the first feature that I noticed about these headphones was a function they call "Be Aware Audio", it basically enables the microphone on the headphones, and adds local audio to the music your listening to. I was listening to Boston in my backyard, and noticed birds chirping in the the music, strange, never heard this before... it was the headphone picking up birds in my yard... how to disable, eventually I found if I pushed the Jlab logo (that also selects audio mode settings) 3 times the "Be Aware Audio" would be disabled/enabled, Now no back ground noise. Just then my wife walked out the door, I pressed the buton 3 more times and I could clearly hear her telling me more packages arrived. Kind of a cool feature when you do/don't want to be shutout due to headphones blocking external sounds. Glad it can be enabled/disabled. The headphones charge with usb to usb c cable, no ac adapter is included, the usb c connection on the headphones has a rubber stopper to make them water proof.
Back to Boston, I sounded good, especially with the Jlab signiture audio mode (max bass and balanced are the other 2 settings). The sound was a very nice a balance, the highs were not as airy and open as some other (much more expensive headphones (3-5x$s), so for the price I was plesently suprised, and impressed. The weight of the headphones was very reasonable, for enclosed head phones. They come with 2 additional tension bars to change the pressure exerted on your head, I tried both and prefered them without the bar. The also have an optional head cushon, which can be mover to multiple locations, I found a nice middle ground and was very happy with the fit. Then the phone rang, I pressed the center button to answer the call, it was very clear, I answered the polling questions quickly, very happy with the BT phone quality.
Now on to some Dark Side of the Moon; the soft background voices were crystal clear, no noise, the headphones sounded much more airy with PF than with Boston, the mids were guite precise, the lows somewhat missing, but not that bad of a balance.
Keep in mind that Jlab Audio pushes these as workout headphones, the earpads are detachable, as is the head strap, they can be hand washed or machine washed in a separate bag they include, which can also be used to store the headphones folded. This is really a good idea, I then tried them on my eliptical, they stayed put without any problem, then did some yard work, pretty much forgot I had them on, very comfortable, I'm impressed.
For the cost, these headphones deliver great sound (with a 20h battery life), and have a nice set of features that many others do not. A great value I'd say; I'm looking forward to try them on my next airplane trip, to see how well they seal out engine noise.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
Designed over two years with direct input from many professional esports players, PRO Wireless gaming mouse is built to the exacting standards of some of the world’s top esports professionals. PRO Wireless gaming mouse is built for extreme performance and includes the latest and most advanced technologies available. Featuring LIGHTSPEED technology, PRO Wireless overcomes the limitations of latency, connectivity and power to provides rock-solid and super fast 1 ms report rate connection. PRO Wireless gaming mouse is also equipped with the latest version of the HERO sensor, our next generation optical sensor that is the highest performing and efficient gaming sensor.
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
To start with I had a hard time believing this mouse would be worth... it's price. So I started a skeptic. I have several high end wireless, both BT and Logitech RF; and yes each does have some "Radio" lag, but I've found that BT4 are better than ever. I know this mouse is targeted at gaming, and I tried testing it vs the latest BT wireless MX I from Logitech, and 90% of the time I could tell no difference, the other 10% the G Pro out performed. I also compared it to another (almost as expensive) wired gaming mouse, and I could tell the speed differnece between the two. But I really liked the "button blockers" offered with the Pro G, as it elimimated some false button presses I encouter now and again.
The Pro G comes with a 5' USB to micro-usb cable where you connect the Pro G receiver, the receiver can also be pluged in to the PC/notebook but they recommend the receiver be within 20cm of the mouse for the quickest response, I tried it plugged into the PC and on the cable; could not tell the difference. The freatur of this mouse is that you can use it as a wired mouse (not sure this was documented) by connecting the USB cable directly to the micro-usb on the front of the mouse. So should you mouse run out of batteries, the changing cable also allows you to use it as a USB mouse.
Now on the downside the they claim the mouse is 80 grams, I found it a little light, which I could add weights (as I can other mice to give it a little more "beef"). At this weight it felt tippy, I wanted more weight at the very bottom. The changing glow of the big G on the mouse, I wanted it steady or off, but there are no real instructions in the box. Related to this; they claim the G on the bottom of the mouse can be pressed and it exposes a place to store the wireless receiver. trick is it's magnetic, with a strong magnet, once you push down on the indentation the top rises up and can be "scooted" out exposing the storage. Just could be more clear. Also the Scroll wheel has light resistance with good bumpy scroll steps. The scroll wheel quite and good for browser scrolling, but it's a little on the "tall" side, i wish it were a few mm lower into the mouse... Picky, picky, but it's expensive. And charging it will hold a charge for about 48H of use. For gamers this is fine, for everyday use I wish it could add the additional heft I was looking for with a bigger battery.
All and all I like the mouse, the flexibity it offers, and it's speed, but I still can't get over the cost.
BTW: I did use it on a drawing app where the sensitivity was clearly outstandin
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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0points
1of 2voted this as helpful.
Ultimate Ears MEGABOOM 3 is a supremely powerful, portable wireless speaker. It blasts loud, clear, and powerful 360° sound with deep thundering bass. And it is insanely waterproof, dustproof, and drop proof too. Combined with one-touch music controls, and stunning, two-tone, high-performance fabric, the ultimate party starter has been redefined.
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
I now have 4 high end BT speakers in the $200-$300 range, they all have strengths and weaknesses. The Mega Boom 3 is the lightest of the bunch at just about 3 lbs, nearly half the weight of any of the others, which weigh in between 6-11 lbs.
Then battery life, the Megaboom 3 claims 20h, this is probably true if it's running at 25% volume, as you crank it up it will decrease battery life. 20h in a 3lbs package is truly impressive, my only other speaker that has 20h weights almost 9lbs. The megaboom3 comes with a pretty good size power brick (see picture) USB to micro USB connector. The back of the speaker has a rubber door to hide and protect the micro USB connector. With the USB door closed the speaker is IP67 waterproof (submersible) not just water resistant - wow; probably the best choice for your fishing boat, or paddle board. I'm not aware of any other speaker this size that is Waterproof. The speaker can also be charged with a (sold separately) charging pad (~$40 "PowerUp"). Given the size of the included power brick this might be a nice to have, but I didn't test with it. The speaker also has a nice woven loop towards the top so you can attach it to something.
Volume; this speaker can get quite loud, easily my first or second loudest speaker, easily filling a 25'x18' room, maybe uncomfortably. But it really excels outdoors. The 360 degree sound, sounds better to me outdoors than inside. The Speaker includes an app to control it via Bluetooth, from a LONG range, I tested to over 100' no issues. The app also includes a 5 band graphic equalizer, which I found very helpful. The app can pair to with up to 150 UE Boom/Megaboom speakers, could be a lot of fun at a big beach party. Speaking of party the app also has a DJ function that allows you and 2 other friends to connect to the speaker(s) at the same time - pretty nice for a party. The app has a few pre-programed EQ curves, which I didn't find particularly useful/accurate -so they could improve these. SPeaking of improve the speaker's firmware can be updated from the app, so "things could change". The app can import play list from iTunes and Deezer, but no where else (for now). It can also show you your iTunes library/cover art - kind of nice, and it can control the volume from the app.
This speaker does not have any fancy lights, only 2 led's on the top, to let you know it's on and to let you know it's in pairing mode (no problems pairing with my iPhone or my wifes andriod phone). The speaker does not have a RCA mini jack (my only speaker without this) so your going to use it with BT.
Sound quality... not first or second of what I compared it to. The mids and vocals are not as brilliant or well pronounced as some similar BT speakers, The highs sound like other UE speakers, due to the 360 degree sound the highs are supposed to be reflected in all directions, but this, in my mind is only partially effective. The depth of the bass when cranked up, certainly over powers the mid-range. Used indoor this is particularity noticeable, moving it outdoors really improves the speakers sound. I'm not saying this speaker sounds bad, it's just not as crisp as I'd hoped to hear. When used at lower volumes, like in a dorm room the sound is pleasant but the highs won't impress you. I did some side by side listening with the first Boston album, it was punchy but not airy, I missed the preciseness of their strings throughout. Bringing the speaker outdoors, and moving away from it, it had a better balance. So like I said there are some compromises, this is not the best sounding speaker, but its not bad, and has many other features that may wow you. I missed the RCA connector but was impressed by the app, weight and battery life. It's far more portable than what I compared it to, so depending where and how you might want to use it, it may be a nice fit.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+79points
98of 117voted this as helpful.
Party all night with this LG PK7 portable Bluetooth speaker. It uses Meridian Audio technology and dual tweeters for excellent sound quality, while the 22 hours of playback time keep you dancing. Get the perfect celebratory atmosphere with the LED multicolor mood lighting on this LG PK7 portable Bluetooth speaker.
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
I have 4 sets of (higher end ~$250) Bluetooth speakers intended for travel and outdoor use. The toughest thing for a relatively small speaker to do is produce enough bass, that's still tight enough (not getting sloppy) to pair properly with decent highs. As soon as I got this speaker, unpacked and paired with my IPhone (incredibly easy), I selected my favorite test album (yea, I still listen to Albums Digitally), one I've been using for about 40 years of speaker auditions; Boston's first album...then on to DSOTM. I've auditioned many speakers using this combination, I know what I want to hear.
First impression - Not breath taking, but darn impressive, the highs surprised me the most, nearly the openness that I get from other speakers with ribbon tweeters. I was not expecting the highs to be as precise as they were.. The midrange and voice (with clear vocal enabled) was "most excellent" and the base was pretty good (with enhanced base enabled). Still not going to punch you in the gut like my pair of 400W subwoofers, but for a 40W box with dual drives and 2 smaller passive radiators some real engineering was done by Meridian/LG.
Compared to my other favorite portable speaker, which weighs just over 10lbs (vs 6lbs), which have dual 6" drivers (+passive) this LG box has tighter bass and far superior highs (airy). The other speakers had a muddy bass compared to these (both driven w/BT).
To do a real side by test I took the output from my external USB DAC and split it to both speakers so I could compare side by side (A/B). Not surprisingly the DAC's output was much cleaner than the BT signal, it improved the muddyness of my other speaker substantially, but at the same time the it improved the mid and high end output from the LG-PK7, it dd not change the bass as much as it did with my other speaker. Both can easily fill a medium size room turned up 1/2 way. But after going back and forth I really liked the LG's openness and airy highs which made the Boston guitars sing (wish I could share Long Time closing) .
Now on to PF, I use On the Run to help judge stereo separation, as things move across the sound stage, you can clearly hear and feel the ping ponging of sound, and the depth of the thunder, breaking into the Clocks of time, and it's tight drums - can you see me smiling? Well these speakers really sound great - a nice balance - given their restricted size. Quite a nice package. And the Girls on the Great Gig in the sky were superb, then on to CRISP Money, bass guitars at beginning were outstanding!! Can you tell I'm happy, only to be more impressed by Nick's Saxiphone solo...
They claim when fully charged they will last 22 hrs. The speakers do have some neat flashing LED's (RGB) on the speaker cones and in two white bars over and under the speaker cones. I don't I'd say they really sync up to the music, but they are kind of cool. They lights can also be disabled and the mode of color operation changed) This speakers can also be used as a speaker phone, I got a call while I was listening, and the music stopped when I picked up the phone, and the speakers microphone picked up my voice loud and clear (really sounded good on the call). Another feature I did not try allows you to use 2 LG-PK# speakers together. You can also pair more than one BT device (phone) to the speakers at a time so that more than one of you can share their music (might be cool at a party).
The longer I listened to DSOTM the better it sounded, and I've heard it 100's of times, I have say between Us and Them - if you consider these speakers vs the PK3 or PK5 get the bigger PK7's - you won't be disappointed.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+73points
78of 83voted this as helpful.
Experience unreal picture quality with this 27-inch HP 27Q display. The modern, tilted design gives you the best angle to experience its lifelike colors and ultrarealistic Quad HD resolution, and an anti-glare panel lets you work or watch anywhere you want. This HP 27Q display's 2 ms refresh time provides crisp, latency-free media, ideal for multi-monitor setups.
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
I've had a HP 27er monitor for more than two years, it's been awsome I do software development and when I travel by car I take this with as a second monitor. I just added another 27" UHD monitor to my desktop setup, and found that I needed to zoom in 150-175%, so I'm really using it more like a QHD anyhow; so I paid more to get a higher resolution I'm not really using it.
That's where the HP 27q comes, it's 2560x1440 (vs 3860x2160 - but you can't use the full resolution un-zoomed as the font is way to small (for me to read comfortable; windows includes zooming to solve this problem, but not all apps support it uniformly). I can use the 27q at full resolution and still read it clearly. So for me a full UHD seems like over kill, especially when compared to the native sharpness of the 27q. It's a bit brighter than my HP 27er, it has more control settings, including blue light reducer (w/4 settings) which is a step up. The screen also offers some tilt control and is more anti-glare. I brought it to get more screen real-estate for a reasonable price. It has 3 inputs (DVI, HDMI & Display port).
I tried HDMI and Display port and could not tell them apart (which is good). HP has 2 versions of the 27q; if your an avid gamer you might want to spend 10% more and get the freesync version (AMD grapics card), otherwise the non-freesync version does a very decent job with it's 2ms display timing (that what it said on the box but not in the BB specs [5ms]).
The viewing angles are excellent, the back of the monitor does have a VESA mounting adapter, the screen can't weigth more than 6lbs on it's own, it's very narrow monitor make is ideal to pair with a nother monitor to it right or left.
I tried HDMI and Display port and could not tell them apart (which is good). HP has 2 versions of the 27q; if your an avid gamer you might want to spend 10% more and get the freesync version (AMD grapics card), otherwise the non-freesync version does a very decent job with it's 2ms display timing (that what it said on the box but not in the BB specs [5ms]).
The viewing angles are excellent, the back of the monitor does have a VESA mounting adapter, the screen can't weigth more than 6lbs on it's own, it's very narrow monitor make is ideal to pair with a nother monitor to it right or left.
All and all I'm very impressed, by the clean output, display speed and overall resolution, I did not know that a non-IPS monitor had this quality of output - I'm happy
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+7points
10of 13voted this as helpful.
Enhance your multimedia experience with this 15.6-inch Dell G7 gaming laptop. Its VR-ready NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics board provides seamless, stunning images on the Full HD display, and its hexa-core Intel Core i7 processor and 8GB of RAM handle extended multitasking. Run applications efficiently with the 256B solid-state drive of this Dell G7 gaming laptop.
Customer Rating
4
A good value, that can be improved upon
on July 1, 2018
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
Some things good, others not quite up to snuff. I have Dell's previous Inspiron 15 7000 this is it's successor; got to say dell got some things right and others not quite right.
Let's start with memory, this unit ships with 8gb, or RAM, but it's 2x4GB sticks, if youe going to stick with 8GB this is best, but if your going upgrade to 16, a 8GB would be preferable (what the previous 7000 series shipped with), now it's faster, but the maching could use up to 32GB, and for a machine with a 6 core processor and 6GB of video memory, it would help substancially with the multi-tesking.
The keyboard, in my opinion is a huge upgade, it's much firmer, the key travel is longer and the spacing of the keys is slightly further apart. The width of is a little greater, and the back-lighting of the keys is done better; the previous version looks/felt like crumbs could get under the keys, not so with the G7.
The track pad is a nice size, that is well positioned, its supports windows 10 gestures; like the previous version it's a little in the clicky side, where using the lowwer buttons requires a real click, some might like this others not, but is a common Dell feature, I've grown to like. The G7 adds backlighting around the track pad which is nice.
The speakers/audio is probably a step down from the previous version which had small sub woofer, which is lacking in the G7, but overall the sound was pretty good; outputing to a set of JBL BT speakers was exceptional, as was streaming to Google devices. Which brings us to the exptional WiFi in the G7, putting the G7 next to my Inspiron 7000, was suprizing; I have 500mb service, and a great WiFi network (3 separate 5G routers); from 30' away the G7 achieved almost 400mb/s whic is the fastest I'd see on my network for a non-wired device (Inspiron 7000 clocked in at 320mb/s). The wired Killer Ethernet connected to the Router hit 450mb/s, peaking close my rated speed of 500. So the networking on the G7 is most excellent.
The display has a nice matt finish IPS screen, it's of angle viewing is superb, the matt finish is a welcome change over the previous hightly reflective screen, much easier to work on, especially with bright lights or sunlight. This really makes the G7 a much better desktop replacement than it's predecesor. The bezel is a little wider, which I think improves the visibility.
The G7 has all the latest IO ports It has three USB-A 3.1 ports and one USB-C 3.1 (with Thunderbolt [improved]) a HDMI 2.0 port and a 3.5mm Headphone/Microphone jack with a full-size SD card slot and gigabit ethernet port (RJ45). All ports are located on the sides as cooling fans blow out the back. I find all of this good.
The G7 came with Toshiba KSG60ZM 256GB NVMe SSD, which I was underwelmed by. There are much faster m.2 drives available, I found this to be a big disapointment. It does support both an m.2 SSD (SATA or PCIe NVMe), and a standard SATA 2.5” drive which can be easily added. A single screw holds on the entire back of the case, removing it and peeling off the back allows easy access to the HD bay and memory. This great feature of the G7, ease of access. Well I had a new 1TB SSD I was dying to try, I dropped it in, and, even thought it used the SATA interface, it was more then twice as fast as the installed Toshiba drive. One other great function include din the G7 is the ability to RAID the m.2 drive and the SATA drive via the Intel Rapid Storage Technology controller, this is a great feature, you should investigate further (not room here).
The i7-8750H CPU is the real bright spot in the G7, I'm a software devloper and do a lot of parallel tasking development, the more cores the less sluggish a PC will seem. Windows (and othe modern OS's) have been changed over the years to be much more modular (so have many modern applications) this modularity excels with more cores/threads; at this price and configuration having a total of 12 threads, this laptop can do real multitasking very smoothly (if you have sufficent memory). This combined with Nvidia GTX 1060 MaxQ w/6GB memory allows modern games to reall run nicely on a notebook. I tried several eSports games all were very smooth, no jitter hitting over 60fps. But the cooling fans of the notebook kicked in blowing more hot air out of the back of the notebook, this is not suprising, and noise from the fans is noticable, but failrly well behaved. Make sure you don't block the rear vents. I also did some photo editing and video processing which very fast and efficient (additional memory would have helped a lot here).
As I said in the begining, there is a lot to like, but a few, primarly fixable (at additional cost) issues. If you look at G7 as it needs to be upgraded to reach it's full potential, then I might recommend it. It's a top notch notebook, great screen, great graphics, nice keyboard/trackpad, that needs more memory to achieve its full potential. It's a cinch to add a top of the line SATA SSD with 1 to 4 TB storage. My biggest issue is the Toshiba m.2; the G7 deserves better and for a nominal cost Dell could have/should have provided it. Upgrading the m.2 drive requires a lot of effort to keep the installed OS, still the i7-8750H is a great advance and ultimate advantage.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+3points
5of 7voted this as helpful.
Tune out the world with these Sony headphones. Their Wireless Noise Cancellation feature minimizes ambient noise, so you can fully enjoy your content, and the integrated microphone allows you take calls and use your smartphone's voice assistant. These Sony headphones have a swivel design that makes them easy to store in tight spaces.
Customer Rating
4
Really nice BT Headphones
on April 10, 2018
Posted by: 3Tcubed
from Phoenix.AZ
I currently have 6 sets of BT headphones, and these are easily my favorite in terms of sound quality; 'nuf said they win! Well the funny thing about headphones is they also have to be comfortable, and these are, at least for an album or so, But I find after an hour or so I start to fatugue, as the weight of the head phones becomes more noticable. I also find that due to their closed design they may my head/ears sweat a bit. If I remove them for a few minutes and come back it's not so bad, but I can't sit down at my desk and use them continiously all morning, and that's what I'd like to do. I find using them on the phone to be convenient, although I feel like I'm talking in a tunnel, but the party I'm talking to says I sound very good and clear, could just be the echo canceling, confusing my head.... In any case I relly like the way they sound, nice full base, and relatively bright highs. A nice balance, I've used them with a iPhone and a computers BT output and they sound pretty good, but when wired to a DAC they shine. It really highlights the difference between BT streaming and a direct connection. With the wired connection the bass and mid-range sound stage is much wider and the highs really shine. Until I connected these headphones directly to my DAC I did not realize how good they were. But for me, they are still a bit on the heavy side. and since my iPhone does not headphone connection, when I travel I have to use bluetooth.
So, I've deducted a star due to their weight, not due the the quality of the output, or the battery life, which I've not completely drained, and used them for over 10 hrs. These are really nice headphones, I really like they way they sound. A few years ago there was nothing like these (that's why I have 6 sets of BT headphones, they do keep getting better), and with battery life of over 10 hrs (Sony claims 35hrs, which is quite remarkable, considering none of my other pairs can get 8hrs, w/o charging) things do keep improving.
My Best Buy number: 001001624
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
Are the keyboard and device new or refurbished?
New, keyboard looks like "Felt" and is backlighted
7 years, 7 months ago
by
3Tcubed
Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
So if the pen is not included, then how much is the cheapest pen that you can get with it? And how do you go about buying it on Black friday if it's in store only, yet early buy?
If you buy pen with tablet it's -$20 off, so buy when you purchase - It's a great addition - Use the MS pen no other can do what it does; it comes w 5 different tips
7 years, 7 months ago
by
3Tcubed
Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
Can the RAM be increased?
Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
what is the battery life on the surface pro 4 intel core m3? Is it good for a college student?
Depend what you'll be doing with it; if taking notes, light internet use, you should get 8-9h battery life, if steaming video constantly, you won't get better then 5h.
The screen is pretty bright, keep at 50-60% and you'll be fine; it's very light, and has a GREAT screen; get the pen it's -$20 if bought with tablet, you love the pen.
The screen is pretty bright, keep at 50-60% and you'll be fine; it's very light, and has a GREAT screen; get the pen it's -$20 if bought with tablet, you love the pen.
7 years, 7 months ago
by
3Tcubed
Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
IS this a good purchase for someone interested in photography..ie working on photos in light room or adobe?
It is probably a little weak, photoshop/lightroom LOVES memory to improve performance, especially working with multiple images.
If your only planing to work with one or two photos at time, you could get by with this, but for large images or many photo's you'll want to purchase a machine with 8 or 16GB main memory; the you have to get i5 or i7 processor and bigger SSD - so your taking about 3x or more the sale price - if you get this, get the pen it GREAT for photo editing.
If your only planing to work with one or two photos at time, you could get by with this, but for large images or many photo's you'll want to purchase a machine with 8 or 16GB main memory; the you have to get i5 or i7 processor and bigger SSD - so your taking about 3x or more the sale price - if you get this, get the pen it GREAT for photo editing.
7 years, 7 months ago
by
3Tcubed
Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
Does it come with a clean Windows install? If there's other stuff what is it? Can I uninstall that other stuff?
It's a very clean install, and everything added can be removed (don't think you will notice/bother).
The one I just got came with Windows Anniversary Edition pre-installed which I found as a bonus (much less updating).
The one I just got came with Windows Anniversary Edition pre-installed which I found as a bonus (much less updating).
7 years, 7 months ago
by
3Tcubed
Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
IS THE SURFACE 4 COMPATIBLE WITH CANON PRINTER MX 922
if your printer is supported by Windows 10 then yes
7 years, 7 months ago
by
3Tcubed
Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
Is the processor of this hardware enough to handle creative cloud applications? I am also using VMware and codeblocks for software programming. I'm basically using it for classes. Might use some light gaming like from steam. Is this right for me?
This is fine for anything that it cloud based, it does include AC networking, which if you have a AC router, is a huge benefit when working with a fast newwork connection (4x better than N if reasonably close to router). It also fine for light gaming (my wife place many Facebook games, this is just as good as i5 in her new 17" Dell notebook)
7 years, 7 months ago
by
3Tcubed
Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
Does this bundle sale only online or is it also in stores too?
Both, I bought in store, once I could find one fairly close.
7 years, 7 months ago
by
3Tcubed
Harness the productivity of the Intel Core m3 processor with this Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Its 12.3-inch touch screen and 2736 x 1824 resolution are ideal for streaming your favorite movies and shows. This Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has 128GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for your music, photos and videos.
can a zip drive be plugged into this laptop to save documents to?
I would not recommend a ZIP drive (not since about y2k)... You can backup to a Micro SD card; a 128GB Micro SD card for about $50, 200GB for about $70 and 256GB for $150.
You could also use a external SSD drive like the Samsung T3, and add 250GB for ~$100 or 500Gb for <$175 or 1TB for ~$350 this is a little bulkier but offers higher performance and greater reliability - it would be my choice if your interested in durability (and you can easily share it/take it to anther machine). And this is about 20x faster than a zip drive was and many times more reliable and smaller [ lower cost per GB - or back then when Zip Drive were measured in MBs ;-) ]
You could also use a external SSD drive like the Samsung T3, and add 250GB for ~$100 or 500Gb for <$175 or 1TB for ~$350 this is a little bulkier but offers higher performance and greater reliability - it would be my choice if your interested in durability (and you can easily share it/take it to anther machine). And this is about 20x faster than a zip drive was and many times more reliable and smaller [ lower cost per GB - or back then when Zip Drive were measured in MBs ;-) ]
7 years, 7 months ago
by
3Tcubed