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MrMike
MrMike's stats
- Review count18
- Helpfulness votes198
- First reviewAugust 10, 2011
- Last reviewSeptember 27, 2017
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.4
- Review comment count1
- Helpfulness votes2
- First review commentDecember 4, 2014
- Last review commentDecember 4, 2014
- Featured review comments0
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- Answer count2
- Helpfulness votes2
- First answerDecember 4, 2014
- Last answerJanuary 14, 2017
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QuietComfort® 35 wireless noise cancelling headphones are engineered with world-class noise cancellation that makes quiet sound quieter and music sound better. Free yourself from wires and connect easily to your devices with Bluetooth® and NFC pairing. And enjoy up to 20 hours of wireless listening per battery charge.
Customer Rating
5
Comfortable, light and good noise cancelling.
on September 27, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
BOSE introduced the second edition of their very popular QC 35's. From what I gather, the biggest difference is the Google Assistant/ANC function button. I didn't own the previous version of these headphones but I do like what I've tested so far on this updated model.
** Before I begin, I just want to mention that yes, the google assistant button works on an iPhone. It can also be set to only toggle through the ANC settings (high, low, off)
After giving these a quick charge, I used the iOS app to pair with my iPhone. Sure it's not as simple as Apple branded headphones with the new W1 chip but those are very limited at the moment. But otherwise a dead simple process. The app even instructed me to do a firmware update. Everything went well the first time.
The app allows you to rename your headphones, set the noise cancellation level or turn it off, set the new function button to invoke the Google Assistant or cycle through the ANC settings.
The comfort of the headphones is very good. They are very light and don't clamp down hard on my very big head.
I found the music playback on these headphones to be just OK. I know many reviews will state these are amazing but I have many high end headphones in my collection and I don't find these to be the best ever, not should they be at this price. I think the noise cancellation adds a strange artificialness to music. Especially when listening to speaking like talk radio or podcasts. When the music or speaking goes from full to quiet, the noise cancellation provides a strange effect for a brief moment.
Even with the noise cancellation totally off, these aren't the best sounding headphones ever but they are very convenient and provide a lot of utility.
Most folks will be using these on an airplane or in a noisy office where they are unable to concentrate. The noise cancellation does a great job of blocking out your surrounding environment. I have a portable air conditioner in my office which makes a lot of noise, even on the high setting the sound of the air blowing could still faintly be heard.
After long periods of use, I found the noise cancellation made me a bit dizzy. I felt like I was getting a headache. I read this is quite typical for new users, some had better luck with other brands and some just ended up getting used to it. I haven't had these long enough to know for sure.
The batteries last quite a long time. I was able to use them most of the week without having to charge them. The supplied micro-USB cable is very short and does not include a wall wart. The expectation is most likely that you will charge these on your desk connected to a computer.
Overall, very nice headphones. They feel like a luxury item, the sound will be good enough for most and the noise cancellation is very good.
** Before I begin, I just want to mention that yes, the google assistant button works on an iPhone. It can also be set to only toggle through the ANC settings (high, low, off)
After giving these a quick charge, I used the iOS app to pair with my iPhone. Sure it's not as simple as Apple branded headphones with the new W1 chip but those are very limited at the moment. But otherwise a dead simple process. The app even instructed me to do a firmware update. Everything went well the first time.
The app allows you to rename your headphones, set the noise cancellation level or turn it off, set the new function button to invoke the Google Assistant or cycle through the ANC settings.
The comfort of the headphones is very good. They are very light and don't clamp down hard on my very big head.
I found the music playback on these headphones to be just OK. I know many reviews will state these are amazing but I have many high end headphones in my collection and I don't find these to be the best ever, not should they be at this price. I think the noise cancellation adds a strange artificialness to music. Especially when listening to speaking like talk radio or podcasts. When the music or speaking goes from full to quiet, the noise cancellation provides a strange effect for a brief moment.
Even with the noise cancellation totally off, these aren't the best sounding headphones ever but they are very convenient and provide a lot of utility.
Most folks will be using these on an airplane or in a noisy office where they are unable to concentrate. The noise cancellation does a great job of blocking out your surrounding environment. I have a portable air conditioner in my office which makes a lot of noise, even on the high setting the sound of the air blowing could still faintly be heard.
After long periods of use, I found the noise cancellation made me a bit dizzy. I felt like I was getting a headache. I read this is quite typical for new users, some had better luck with other brands and some just ended up getting used to it. I haven't had these long enough to know for sure.
The batteries last quite a long time. I was able to use them most of the week without having to charge them. The supplied micro-USB cable is very short and does not include a wall wart. The expectation is most likely that you will charge these on your desk connected to a computer.
Overall, very nice headphones. They feel like a luxury item, the sound will be good enough for most and the noise cancellation is very good.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Upgrade your listening experience with these JBL Everest wireless headphones. The Bluetooth connectivity lets you stream music from compatible devices, and the ergonomic design fits the unique contours of your ears. Its built-in battery on these JBL Everest wireless headphones provides 20 hours of playing time with only 2 hours of microUSB charging.
Customer Rating
4
Good even sound but styling is a little bland.
on August 10, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
The new JBL Everest 310 headphones promise a long battery life, comfort, ease of use and portability. Do they deliver?
First off the Everest 310’s come in a fancy carry case which appears to be very high quality but I find it much too large. (picture included) I’ve seen other brands able to pack away in a much smaller package.
Included in the box is the above-mentioned items as well as a 3.5mm cable and a USB charging cable. You might ask why a 3.5mm cable is included and it’s actually a very useful tool. Imagine you are on a long flight and suddenly you run out of charge. Are you finished? No, just plug in the 3.5mm cable into your device and you can continue to enjoy listening to your headphones.
On first use, I let the battery charge for 2 hours. The amazing thing about these particular headphones is the battery life. I really did get nearly 20 hours of listening time on a single charge. That is a lot of trips to the gym.
I just want to mention the ability to take calls on these headphones. They claim to have an echo cancelling microphone. It probably works really well. I just had trouble talking to people on the headphones. The sound seemed to be very inside my head. Hearing the call in both ears is probably something I would just have to get used to. The person on the other end said they could hear me fine.
Using Bluetooth 4.1, I was able to pair very easily with my iPhone and my Mac. I think gone are the days when pairing Bluetooth devices was a complicated mess of trying to hit different buttons at the same time and hoping all the stars aligned. If anything, Bluetooth devices like this pair too well with my phone. If the headphones were on, my phone would automatically switch the call to the headphones if they were nearby. Just something to keep in mind.
On to the important question, how do they sound? I think sound is very subjective and you almost need to audition these yourself. The sound is very neutral and not bass heavy. Sure it’s a lot better than those freebees that you get with your phone but they aren’t revolutionary. Given the price, you would not expect that these are top of the line in sound but more of an everyday daily driver.
As far as comfort goes, I prefer headphones that go all the way over your ear. The cups on these just rest on the outside of your ear and make the whole body stick out further than some other headphones. The overall styling is not my favorite.
My other small nit-picks are. No battery indicator. These stay charged for so long, it’s hard to remember how far into your charge you are. No mobile app. Some of JBL’s higher end headphones have a mobile app that allows some tuning, these do not. Finally, the button placement is a bit crowded and will take time to master while blindly reaching for them.
There are a lot of Bluetooth headphones out there. It’s a very crowded field. I recommend you take a look at the ones you like best in the store. Opinions of headphones can be very subjective. Happy hunting.
First off the Everest 310’s come in a fancy carry case which appears to be very high quality but I find it much too large. (picture included) I’ve seen other brands able to pack away in a much smaller package.
Included in the box is the above-mentioned items as well as a 3.5mm cable and a USB charging cable. You might ask why a 3.5mm cable is included and it’s actually a very useful tool. Imagine you are on a long flight and suddenly you run out of charge. Are you finished? No, just plug in the 3.5mm cable into your device and you can continue to enjoy listening to your headphones.
On first use, I let the battery charge for 2 hours. The amazing thing about these particular headphones is the battery life. I really did get nearly 20 hours of listening time on a single charge. That is a lot of trips to the gym.
I just want to mention the ability to take calls on these headphones. They claim to have an echo cancelling microphone. It probably works really well. I just had trouble talking to people on the headphones. The sound seemed to be very inside my head. Hearing the call in both ears is probably something I would just have to get used to. The person on the other end said they could hear me fine.
Using Bluetooth 4.1, I was able to pair very easily with my iPhone and my Mac. I think gone are the days when pairing Bluetooth devices was a complicated mess of trying to hit different buttons at the same time and hoping all the stars aligned. If anything, Bluetooth devices like this pair too well with my phone. If the headphones were on, my phone would automatically switch the call to the headphones if they were nearby. Just something to keep in mind.
On to the important question, how do they sound? I think sound is very subjective and you almost need to audition these yourself. The sound is very neutral and not bass heavy. Sure it’s a lot better than those freebees that you get with your phone but they aren’t revolutionary. Given the price, you would not expect that these are top of the line in sound but more of an everyday daily driver.
As far as comfort goes, I prefer headphones that go all the way over your ear. The cups on these just rest on the outside of your ear and make the whole body stick out further than some other headphones. The overall styling is not my favorite.
My other small nit-picks are. No battery indicator. These stay charged for so long, it’s hard to remember how far into your charge you are. No mobile app. Some of JBL’s higher end headphones have a mobile app that allows some tuning, these do not. Finally, the button placement is a bit crowded and will take time to master while blindly reaching for them.
There are a lot of Bluetooth headphones out there. It’s a very crowded field. I recommend you take a look at the ones you like best in the store. Opinions of headphones can be very subjective. Happy hunting.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+2points
5of 8voted this as helpful.
Clean your carpets efficiently with this iRobot Roomba vacuum. It lets you set a schedule for automated vacuuming, and the sensors help it navigate under furniture and around objects on the floor for a more thorough cleaning job. This iRobot Roomba vacuum has internal brushes, agitators and suction to handle debris and pet hair.
Customer Rating
5
Great for anyone who loves a clean home.
on August 8, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
I’ve been using the iRobot Roomba 690 for about a month now. This is my first experience with any robotic vacuum and so far, I’m happy with the results. I honestly didn’t think I would really need this sort of device. We have a pretty clean home with little clutter and a weekly cleaning person that comes to our house. Surprisingly the Roomba was able to always find a lot of dust, hair and other miscellaneous gunk.
After receiving the Roomba, you must first charge your device for a couple hours. There is a battery icon that will turn green on the device when is fully charged. While the device was charging, I was able to pair it with my iPhone. Browsing through the app, I could see that you could schedule cleanings, put the device in lower power mode when idle, check job history, get tips and help, check firmware version. Roomba says the device will update its own firmware overnight while idle. The Roomba did in fact do that on my first night. Looking at the change log, it looks like they fixed some issues and improved the intelligence. I’d watch for that update before you start messing around too much with the device as tempting as it is.
Once I finally was ready to go, I just let the Roomba go wherever it wanted on my first level. I really couldn’t figure out Roomba’s method to its madness. It seemed to travel all over the place without any particular pattern. I was really impressed with the Roombas ability to navigate through tough situations. It went under my dining table and never got stuck. While the Roomba traveled around my kitchen banging into everything, I noticed the side sweeper really getting into corners. Being a circle, this was a brilliant design to clean into squared corner areas. It was a lot of fun to watch but the Roomba was also smart enough not to fall down the stairs.
The first couple of times that I ran the Roomba it ended up picking up quite a bit of dust. I think there are areas where no one tends to clean. This is where the Roomba can really shine. On subsequent cleanings, the Roomba wasn’t cleaning as massive amounts of dust like it did in previous trips.
In general, the Roomba jobs last about an hour. I didn’t expect the battery to last so long and I honestly thought the Roomba would just give up after about twenty minutes. Not sure if it’s a bug or not, but my Roomba says it’s return to it’s base and really takes the long way home. It continues to drive around and around for another 15 minutes before it finds the dock.
I’m not a huge fan of the dock design. The dock is very light and on my hardwood floors it doesn’t seem to stay put in some settings. Would be nice if they put a little more weight into it or maybe added the ability to put on suction cups on hardwood floors.
If you are able to, the scheduling works well. I was even able to add Roomba to my Alexa as a skill from iRobot. One thing to remember is this vacuum does take some maintenance. While you run the scheduled jobs, you must clean the dust bin after each cleaning. The device will probably complain to you if it fills up with too much dirt. You also have to clean the filter and any hair that might get trapped in the wheels. Hopefully that doesn’t need to happen after every job at your home.
The mobile phone app gives the ability to launch a job while you are away from home.
After the first couple of times, I limited the Roomba’s ability to roam everywhere and I setup the virtual wall to keep the device in my kitchen/dining area.
Overall, I would recommend this device to people who have a mostly clutter free home and just need a little extra detailing done. I can see this as a big advantage to people who own pets. It does a very good job cleaning and has a very strong battery life. I didn’t like how long the jobs last for and wish the base was a little better designed.
After receiving the Roomba, you must first charge your device for a couple hours. There is a battery icon that will turn green on the device when is fully charged. While the device was charging, I was able to pair it with my iPhone. Browsing through the app, I could see that you could schedule cleanings, put the device in lower power mode when idle, check job history, get tips and help, check firmware version. Roomba says the device will update its own firmware overnight while idle. The Roomba did in fact do that on my first night. Looking at the change log, it looks like they fixed some issues and improved the intelligence. I’d watch for that update before you start messing around too much with the device as tempting as it is.
Once I finally was ready to go, I just let the Roomba go wherever it wanted on my first level. I really couldn’t figure out Roomba’s method to its madness. It seemed to travel all over the place without any particular pattern. I was really impressed with the Roombas ability to navigate through tough situations. It went under my dining table and never got stuck. While the Roomba traveled around my kitchen banging into everything, I noticed the side sweeper really getting into corners. Being a circle, this was a brilliant design to clean into squared corner areas. It was a lot of fun to watch but the Roomba was also smart enough not to fall down the stairs.
The first couple of times that I ran the Roomba it ended up picking up quite a bit of dust. I think there are areas where no one tends to clean. This is where the Roomba can really shine. On subsequent cleanings, the Roomba wasn’t cleaning as massive amounts of dust like it did in previous trips.
In general, the Roomba jobs last about an hour. I didn’t expect the battery to last so long and I honestly thought the Roomba would just give up after about twenty minutes. Not sure if it’s a bug or not, but my Roomba says it’s return to it’s base and really takes the long way home. It continues to drive around and around for another 15 minutes before it finds the dock.
I’m not a huge fan of the dock design. The dock is very light and on my hardwood floors it doesn’t seem to stay put in some settings. Would be nice if they put a little more weight into it or maybe added the ability to put on suction cups on hardwood floors.
If you are able to, the scheduling works well. I was even able to add Roomba to my Alexa as a skill from iRobot. One thing to remember is this vacuum does take some maintenance. While you run the scheduled jobs, you must clean the dust bin after each cleaning. The device will probably complain to you if it fills up with too much dirt. You also have to clean the filter and any hair that might get trapped in the wheels. Hopefully that doesn’t need to happen after every job at your home.
The mobile phone app gives the ability to launch a job while you are away from home.
After the first couple of times, I limited the Roomba’s ability to roam everywhere and I setup the virtual wall to keep the device in my kitchen/dining area.
Overall, I would recommend this device to people who have a mostly clutter free home and just need a little extra detailing done. I can see this as a big advantage to people who own pets. It does a very good job cleaning and has a very strong battery life. I didn’t like how long the jobs last for and wish the base was a little better designed.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Only at Best BuyHP OMEN by HP Laptop: Play your way to victory with this HP Omen 17-inch laptop. Built around a formidable Intel Core i7 processor and 12GB of RAM, this machine supports memory-hungry programs and blazes through graphics-intense games. This HP Omen 17-inch laptop has an advanced red backlit keyboard with dedicated macro keys to make advanced moves easier.
Customer Rating
5
Impressive upgradable gaming laptop.
on August 7, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
This is a gaming beast of a machine. Positioned somewhere between a laptop and a desktop, I would consider this a portable gaming rig. I.e. You can move it to another location in your house but you’re probably not going to be taking this on the subway or bus to work or school.
I haven’t looked for a gaming laptop in several years but it’s amazing what HP is able to offer these days for the price.
Upon inspection, the box and packaging looks very nice. When you open the laptop, you are presented with a very large backlit keyboard area. The palm rest area is also quite large, but consider that this is a very large laptop you would probably expect that. The matte finish does tend to be a magnet for handprints. One of the things you’ll notice right away is the red colored WASD keys. For my son during Minecraft he thought they provided some help in navigation.
After logging in for the first and doing the initial Windows 10 updates, you’ll realize that you are most definitely not using an SSD drive. Even though this 1TB drive does move at 7,200 RPM, it’s very slow by today’s standards. As you can see in my attached photo, it’s relatively easy to add a M.2 SSD while keeping the magnetic drive for data storage.
Once the Windows 10 update was completed, I played with the Radeon Settings application. Make sure you update this app after you start, it looks like there was a big revision since the laptop was produced. What I found particularly interesting was the ability to set specific resolution and performance settings on a per game basis. I’m not entirely sure when you would use this, but I found it pretty cool.
For better or worse, many of my games are on Origin and Steam. I installed those portals and then waited as I downloaded some of the games in my library. Having the MIMO 2x2 802.11ac wireless chip provided good speeds and allowed me to surf without issue while I downloaded the games. Once the game downloads were completed, I immediately set all of them to the highest graphics setting. I didn’t document the frame rates, but everything moved in racing and FPS with ease. It’s pretty amazing what a top of the line mobile GPU can do. I did a bit of poking around and there are few to no mobile computers out there with the newer Radeon RX 580. Having an FHD IPS panel will probably satisfy demanding graphic artists and photographers as well. I have yet to try to calibrate the monitor and I know it’s only WLED, so it might not be as accurate as a RGBLED display.
Inside the machine you’ll find 1 4GB DDR4-2133 DIMM and 8GB DIMM of the same speed. Both are easily user replaceable if you find 12GB is not enough.
Also inside, you’ll notice the fans are rather large. These things really start going when there is any load on the machine. I would be nervous to run this on my lap without some sort of shield. You’ll also the battery inside is very large. I was a little disappointed in the performance of the battery or rather how much drain the machine put on it. During heavy gaming, I got less than an hour on a full charge. When doing simple things like browsing the web and maybe playing some YouTube videos, I barely got more than two hours out of a full charge. There might be some power saving capabilities in the display but don’t expect to bring this to a café and start working on your next book.
I also want to mention the Bang & Olufsen speakers. I thought maybe for once because the laptop is so large and the speaker brand is known as a premium brand that I might actually get amazing sound for once. Welp, unfortunately I didn’t. It was really not much better than anything I had experienced on other laptops. You are still going to want some external speakers(or headphones) for music or gaming.
Overall, I found this to be a very powerful gaming machine. It’s amazing what can be done in such a small package, so to speak. Typically you would need a much bigger desktop to see this graphical power. My disappointments are in the speed of the drive and the battery life. You’ll never see the full potential until you upgrade and add an SSD. I loved the display, the keyboard and the graphics power.
If you are someone like me who does virtualization, you’ll like that you are getting a four core 7’th gen i7 with hyperthreading and vt-x capabilities.
Overall a powerful and affordable machine that I would say every gamer looking to buy a new machine should take a look at.
I haven’t looked for a gaming laptop in several years but it’s amazing what HP is able to offer these days for the price.
Upon inspection, the box and packaging looks very nice. When you open the laptop, you are presented with a very large backlit keyboard area. The palm rest area is also quite large, but consider that this is a very large laptop you would probably expect that. The matte finish does tend to be a magnet for handprints. One of the things you’ll notice right away is the red colored WASD keys. For my son during Minecraft he thought they provided some help in navigation.
After logging in for the first and doing the initial Windows 10 updates, you’ll realize that you are most definitely not using an SSD drive. Even though this 1TB drive does move at 7,200 RPM, it’s very slow by today’s standards. As you can see in my attached photo, it’s relatively easy to add a M.2 SSD while keeping the magnetic drive for data storage.
Once the Windows 10 update was completed, I played with the Radeon Settings application. Make sure you update this app after you start, it looks like there was a big revision since the laptop was produced. What I found particularly interesting was the ability to set specific resolution and performance settings on a per game basis. I’m not entirely sure when you would use this, but I found it pretty cool.
For better or worse, many of my games are on Origin and Steam. I installed those portals and then waited as I downloaded some of the games in my library. Having the MIMO 2x2 802.11ac wireless chip provided good speeds and allowed me to surf without issue while I downloaded the games. Once the game downloads were completed, I immediately set all of them to the highest graphics setting. I didn’t document the frame rates, but everything moved in racing and FPS with ease. It’s pretty amazing what a top of the line mobile GPU can do. I did a bit of poking around and there are few to no mobile computers out there with the newer Radeon RX 580. Having an FHD IPS panel will probably satisfy demanding graphic artists and photographers as well. I have yet to try to calibrate the monitor and I know it’s only WLED, so it might not be as accurate as a RGBLED display.
Inside the machine you’ll find 1 4GB DDR4-2133 DIMM and 8GB DIMM of the same speed. Both are easily user replaceable if you find 12GB is not enough.
Also inside, you’ll notice the fans are rather large. These things really start going when there is any load on the machine. I would be nervous to run this on my lap without some sort of shield. You’ll also the battery inside is very large. I was a little disappointed in the performance of the battery or rather how much drain the machine put on it. During heavy gaming, I got less than an hour on a full charge. When doing simple things like browsing the web and maybe playing some YouTube videos, I barely got more than two hours out of a full charge. There might be some power saving capabilities in the display but don’t expect to bring this to a café and start working on your next book.
I also want to mention the Bang & Olufsen speakers. I thought maybe for once because the laptop is so large and the speaker brand is known as a premium brand that I might actually get amazing sound for once. Welp, unfortunately I didn’t. It was really not much better than anything I had experienced on other laptops. You are still going to want some external speakers(or headphones) for music or gaming.
Overall, I found this to be a very powerful gaming machine. It’s amazing what can be done in such a small package, so to speak. Typically you would need a much bigger desktop to see this graphical power. My disappointments are in the speed of the drive and the battery life. You’ll never see the full potential until you upgrade and add an SSD. I loved the display, the keyboard and the graphics power.
If you are someone like me who does virtualization, you’ll like that you are getting a four core 7’th gen i7 with hyperthreading and vt-x capabilities.
Overall a powerful and affordable machine that I would say every gamer looking to buy a new machine should take a look at.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+33points
33of 33voted this as helpful.
Listen to music hands-free with this LG wireless headset. It lets you answer or ignore a call with voice commands, and the wireless earbuds charge when they're resting inside the neckband, ensuring they're ready for use. The neckband of this LG wireless headset provides vibration alerts for incoming calls and texts, so you'll never miss a message.
Customer Rating
3
Interesting idea but ultimately falls short
on June 14, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
Seeing the Tone FREE earphones I was very intrigued by the design. But ultimately would the sound and function match?
After opening the packing, I noticed the earphones would be charging with a simple included USB micro cable. LG includes multiple sized ear cushions for different people. Getting a good seal is key on this type of earphone. Not much else in the box besides the two wireless pods and the neck ring battery pack.
Putting it all together was easy. Snap the pods in the charging neck ring. Plug in via micro USB and wait until the light changes color.
These headphones are wireless via Bluetooth and I had no issues pairing it with my iPhone. Seems like pairing is relatively easy these days for most devices.
Now for the function. As others have mentioned, the left pod is the brains and during phone calls strangely, this is the only side producing sound.
I found the sound to be OK during music playback but not really up to par to other wireless offerings in the price range. I tried all the different sized ear cups but I felt I never could get a perfect seal. The function buttons on the pods felt clumsy. There is only one per pod. Except play/pause and answer/hangup they didn't do much else. I was always afraid the pods would fall out when I pressed the buttons.
Battery life at 2-3 hours is pretty low. You'll be charging these after every use and on a trip you might run out of power mid flight. You will be able to charge by using the neck ring. So there is hope you could be up and running again without a power plug to slow you down. Definitely the high point of this device.
Keeping everything together means bringing the neck ring with you. It's not required for playback but probably a good idea for charging. Ultimately, I didn't love wearing the ring around my neck for workouts. It felt a bit awkward.
Headphone purchases are very individualized. These did not work out great to me but might work well for your use case.
After opening the packing, I noticed the earphones would be charging with a simple included USB micro cable. LG includes multiple sized ear cushions for different people. Getting a good seal is key on this type of earphone. Not much else in the box besides the two wireless pods and the neck ring battery pack.
Putting it all together was easy. Snap the pods in the charging neck ring. Plug in via micro USB and wait until the light changes color.
These headphones are wireless via Bluetooth and I had no issues pairing it with my iPhone. Seems like pairing is relatively easy these days for most devices.
Now for the function. As others have mentioned, the left pod is the brains and during phone calls strangely, this is the only side producing sound.
I found the sound to be OK during music playback but not really up to par to other wireless offerings in the price range. I tried all the different sized ear cups but I felt I never could get a perfect seal. The function buttons on the pods felt clumsy. There is only one per pod. Except play/pause and answer/hangup they didn't do much else. I was always afraid the pods would fall out when I pressed the buttons.
Battery life at 2-3 hours is pretty low. You'll be charging these after every use and on a trip you might run out of power mid flight. You will be able to charge by using the neck ring. So there is hope you could be up and running again without a power plug to slow you down. Definitely the high point of this device.
Keeping everything together means bringing the neck ring with you. It's not required for playback but probably a good idea for charging. Ultimately, I didn't love wearing the ring around my neck for workouts. It felt a bit awkward.
Headphone purchases are very individualized. These did not work out great to me but might work well for your use case.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
Mobile Submission: True
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Listen to music safely with these JLab JBuddies folding headphones, which have an integrated 85db volume leveler to safeguard sensitive ears. Equipped with soft cushions which stay comfortable for extended periods, these earphones and make a great addition to your kid’s travel kit. Use these versatile JLab JBuddies folding headphones with a range of devices.
Customer Rating
5
Affordable kid safe option
on June 7, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
My five year old daughter started listening to a lot of music on her iPad lately. Her music was driving me nuts in the house and in the car so I gave her an old pair of headphones. I realized that she was probably cranking them up to an unsafe level. Fortunately, Jlabs makes these headphones with some volume level protection. I felt better about her having these knowing how many musicians damage their hearing. She really enjoyed being able to customize them a little with stickers that come with there pack. They folded up nicely and we have now used them on out international trip. I don't know about the sound quality because they won't fit over my head but she seems happy. Give these a try if you are concerned.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
Mobile Submission: True
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Deep. Loud. And immersive, too. The SoundLink Revolve Portable Bluetooth speaker delivers true 360° sound for consistent, uniform coverage. Place it in the center of the room to give everyone the same experience. Or set it near a wall so sound radiates and reflects. This wireless speaker is durable, water-resistant and easy to grab and go - with a rechargeable battery that plays up to 12 hours.
Customer Rating
4
Nice speaker with some strange design choices.
on May 1, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
For 2017 BOSE has released a couple new wireless bluetooth speakers. Both the SoundLink Revolve and the SoundLink Revolve+ allow you to wirelessly send sound from your bluetooth compatible device (phone, tablet, computer) to the small portable speaker. For this review, I tried the smaller SoundLink Revolve.
Upon opening the packaging, I was surprised how small the speaker is. It's about the size of a can of soda. This lends itself pretty well to its portable nature. I plugged the speaker into the cable and the wall wart for a charge. There is a charging dock, but that item is sold separately. I highly recommend getting the dock if you plan to move the speaker to different locations frequently. Having to replug the charging cable every couple of days becomes a little bit of a nuccessence.
After the charging session, I was able to pair the speaker with my iPhone without issue. It wasn't as seamless as devices that including Apple's new W1 chip, but bluetooth pairing is pretty simple these days. I think the days of troublesome pairings are gone for most quality products.
First thing I tried was some music from Spotify. I was pleasantly surprised with the sound. It wasn't too bad. Maybe good for a dorm room or an outdoor patio space. The 360 sound was nice but I typically shove my speakers in a corner somewhere, so that functionality is often lost.
Sound is very particular to each person and the type of music they listen to, so it's often hard to cover too much of that in a review but this does a nice job in a small form factor. I'm a little surprised in 2017 that BOSE hasn't added WiFi functionality to either of the Revolve speakers. I'm not a huge fan of having to leave my phone near the speaker whenever I want to listen to something. There are other products in a similar price range that play 360 degree sound and can stream music and podcasts from service providers wirelessly over your wifi network.
I feel that overall this speaker is really intended for the BOSE fan who needs a portable speaker where there might be no wifi signal. Maybe a beach, a hotel room or a backyard patio far away from a house. The sound and charge life are good, just feel the whole package could have been a bit better.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Keep your SoundLink Revolve or Revolve+ Bluetooth speaker charged and ready to go, with the SoundLink Revolve charging dock. It’s a convenient home base for your speaker, and you can play your music while it charges. Just plug the wall charger included with your speaker into the cradle. Available in Black.
Customer Rating
5
You'll probably want this.
on April 26, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
If you've purchased one of the Bose Revolve speakers you'll probably want to pick this up. Sure it's hard to swallow the additional charge but this charging base will make using your speaker a lot more pleasurable over time.
Initially I had played around with my speaker without the charging cradle. Inevitably the day came when I want to use the speaker and I had no charge left. If I had the cradle, I would have just been able to set it and forget it. I'm lazy like that.
The cradle itself doesn't come with any wires. You use the ones that came with your Revolve. There is a nice grip pad on the bottle so the cradle won't slide around on your kitchen counter. There is some protruding guides that help you get your speak and cradle to match up every time.
Is this required to enjoy your speaker? No. If you plan to take your speaker into other rooms or outdoors, you'll probably want to pick this up.
Initially I had played around with my speaker without the charging cradle. Inevitably the day came when I want to use the speaker and I had no charge left. If I had the cradle, I would have just been able to set it and forget it. I'm lazy like that.
The cradle itself doesn't come with any wires. You use the ones that came with your Revolve. There is a nice grip pad on the bottle so the cradle won't slide around on your kitchen counter. There is some protruding guides that help you get your speak and cradle to match up every time.
Is this required to enjoy your speaker? No. If you plan to take your speaker into other rooms or outdoors, you'll probably want to pick this up.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Deep clean your carpets with this practical Dyson Ball Multi Floor vacuum, which comes with a self-adjusting cleaner head for great results on a range of floors. With a generous 30-foot cord length, this unit easily travels through large rooms and up stairs. The Dyson Ball Multi Floor vacuum’s HEPA filtration system makes it ideal for commercial or residential use.
Customer Rating
5
Who knew a vacuum could be so good?
on March 30, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
This is the first Dyson product I’ve ever owned. After a few weeks of use, I’m impressed.
From out of the box to up and running must have been less than ten minutes. After double checking everything, I fired up the vacuum cleaner. Was a bit louder than I expected, but I suppose loud is good when you are talking about suction power.
As I walked around the house, I could see a bunch of lint and other random dust starting to enter the chamber. I like that you can actually see if your vacuuming is doing anything useful. Going forward I found that being able to see in the canister is a huge benefit in knowing when to empty your vacuum. With my old vacuum, I would just keep vacuuming away and never really know when I was getting near that full threshold.
It took me a couple cleaning cycles to get used to driving the vacuum. If you’ve never driven a Dyson ball it can feel a little bit disjointed at first. Eventually you will become an expert in controlling the device. It really can turn on a dime.
It took me a couple cleaning cycles to get used to driving the vacuum. If you’ve never driven a Dyson ball it can feel a little bit disjointed at first. Eventually you will become an expert in controlling the device. It really can turn on a dime.
My home is mostly hardwood floors with a couple of area rugs thrown around. Was pretty cool to see the vacuum automatically adjust to the different surfaces. I guess you could call the Dyson a “smart-vac”
My home is three levels and the stairs are hardwood as well. Pulling out the wand was super easy. Much easier than other vacuums I’ve previously used. Putting it back in was something I didn’t master on the first cleaning but after a couple days I was an expert. The wand had excellent reach. Great to get those cobwebs on ceiling corners. I used the brush attachment on our couch and was able to easily pull out lots of crumbs the kids had created eating on the couch.
My home is three levels and the stairs are hardwood as well. Pulling out the wand was super easy. Much easier than other vacuums I’ve previously used. Putting it back in was something I didn’t master on the first cleaning but after a couple days I was an expert. The wand had excellent reach. Great to get those cobwebs on ceiling corners. I used the brush attachment on our couch and was able to easily pull out lots of crumbs the kids had created eating on the couch.
I was able to clean my largest room without having to disconnect the power cord. Having such a long power cord is something every vacuum should have but most don’t.
Being able to see the amount of dirt you collect will also have you emptying your canister more often. This probably lends itself to better cleaning. I loved how there were no bags involved. It was great that many of the filters and parts can just be rinsed clean with water. Dyson recommended doing this a monthly basis. Not sure how vigilant I will be over the long haul.
Being able to see the amount of dirt you collect will also have you emptying your canister more often. This probably lends itself to better cleaning. I loved how there were no bags involved. It was great that many of the filters and parts can just be rinsed clean with water. Dyson recommended doing this a monthly basis. Not sure how vigilant I will be over the long haul.
A 5-year parts and labor warranty with lifetime support is another great benefit of buying a Dyson. I see Dyson out on social media trying to answer everyone’s questions. Nice to see a company making sure their customers are happy. Would find the model best for your home as each serves different purposes. Worth giving a try.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Whip up more smoothies and more with this Nutri Ninja blender. Its powerful 1200W motor base blends frozen fruits and desserts in seconds, and the Pro Extractor Blades extract nutrients from fruits and vegetables. With a 4-cup bowl, this Nutri Ninja blender lets you create enough nutritious treats for your entire family.
Customer Rating
5
The last blender you might need.
on February 13, 2017
Posted by: MrMike
from san francisco, ca
Impressions:
This probably won’t be the most expensive appliance on your counter, but the look and feel are quite nice. The reflective stainless base looks and feels like a quality built item. Much more than an on/off switch but not too complicated, the buttons are clearly labeled with an assortment of functions the blender offers. One of my favorite design features of the Ninja series is the suction cups on the bottom of the base. This machine is powerful and it’s good to know that it won’t walk away on your counter during operation. I like the included smaller travel cups(24oz) with matching lids. If you are active person you can make yourself a fresh protein drink to take to the gym.
Features:
The blender comes with four containers in total with three different size. one 4-cup bowl, one 32 oz. cup, and two 24 oz. cups. The bowl is an interesting feature and I had not thought about all the recipes that might be possible until I saw this. Making a lower sugar yogurt blend, homemade cookie dough or salmon burgers are all now easily possible. Cleanup in the dishwasher works quite well.
Auto-IQ Technology is a great feature. Pausing and pulsing patterns are performed automatically, it’s sort of a set it and forget it type feature. The ease of use is quite good. You pretty much don’t have to read the manual to get up and running quickly.
Effectiveness:
The blender can crush and mix almost any food you put into it, even frozen food. The blades were able to handle a ton of ice that I experimented with in my first drink. Of course, getting a recipe right is a bit of an art. My too heavily initial ice and frozen fruit drink turn into an Italian ice dessert more than a smoothie. The kid loved it anyways. I experimented with frozen fruits and snuck some veggies in as well. Without any sugar the kids didn’t know any different. The texture and consistency can be changed with the different Auto IQ settings. Really a nice feature you probably won’t find in other blenders at this price range.
Final thought:
A versatile blender that can blend, chop, mix, or even knead dough, the Ninja blender is tops in my books and the price can’t be beat.
This probably won’t be the most expensive appliance on your counter, but the look and feel are quite nice. The reflective stainless base looks and feels like a quality built item. Much more than an on/off switch but not too complicated, the buttons are clearly labeled with an assortment of functions the blender offers. One of my favorite design features of the Ninja series is the suction cups on the bottom of the base. This machine is powerful and it’s good to know that it won’t walk away on your counter during operation. I like the included smaller travel cups(24oz) with matching lids. If you are active person you can make yourself a fresh protein drink to take to the gym.
Features:
The blender comes with four containers in total with three different size. one 4-cup bowl, one 32 oz. cup, and two 24 oz. cups. The bowl is an interesting feature and I had not thought about all the recipes that might be possible until I saw this. Making a lower sugar yogurt blend, homemade cookie dough or salmon burgers are all now easily possible. Cleanup in the dishwasher works quite well.
Auto-IQ Technology is a great feature. Pausing and pulsing patterns are performed automatically, it’s sort of a set it and forget it type feature. The ease of use is quite good. You pretty much don’t have to read the manual to get up and running quickly.
Effectiveness:
The blender can crush and mix almost any food you put into it, even frozen food. The blades were able to handle a ton of ice that I experimented with in my first drink. Of course, getting a recipe right is a bit of an art. My too heavily initial ice and frozen fruit drink turn into an Italian ice dessert more than a smoothie. The kid loved it anyways. I experimented with frozen fruits and snuck some veggies in as well. Without any sugar the kids didn’t know any different. The texture and consistency can be changed with the different Auto IQ settings. Really a nice feature you probably won’t find in other blenders at this price range.
Final thought:
A versatile blender that can blend, chop, mix, or even knead dough, the Ninja blender is tops in my books and the price can’t be beat.
My Best Buy number: 0561492207
I would recommend this to a friend!
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MrMike's Review Comments
Samsung UN65HU7250FXZA LED HDTV: This Samsung HDTV's expansive 4K Ultra HD (2160p) curved screen and Ultra Clear Panel technology combine to deliver detailed images with striking clarity. The Smart Touch remote provides vocal control over the TV.
Overall
1 out of 5
1 out of 5Underwhelming! Would rather have a plasma
By GeauxTigers
from Louisiana
Returning this TV for sure.
I wanted to test out the TV when I first set it up based on what I do most, so I went through a couple TV channels, put on a show with Netflix, and played a little bit of FIFA. ALL, let me repeat, all of the tested viewing types had flaws.
First, an all red screen on Netflix looked red up top and orange on the bottom.
Second, when I was playing FIFA my player would randomly skip frames. Happened maybe 3-4 times in a 15 minute game. It looked like my player was jumping from one position to the next.
Third, watching TV was even horrible. My GF (who doesn't care about technology at all) even noticed, saying "wow, this looks bad". I would take the picture quality of my 5 year old plasma over this TV any day of the week!
Trust me. Save your money.
MrMike
san francisco, ca
for shame.
December 4, 2014
consumers believed some false myths about plasma and it was doomed. it’s a shame we got stuck with inferior technology just like in VHS vs Beta.
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MrMike's Questions
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MrMike's Answers
is this electric or battery operated??
Electric.
7 years, 3 months ago
by
MrMike
Samsung UN65HU7250FXZA LED HDTV: This Samsung HDTV's expansive 4K Ultra HD (2160p) curved screen and Ultra Clear Panel technology combine to deliver detailed images with striking clarity. The Smart Touch remote provides vocal control over the TV.
compare samsung un65hu7250fxza vs samsung un65hu7200fxza
othe 7200 is the built for costco model. sometimes the color of the tv is different or they drop one feature like an input to make it cheaper but in this case i can't find any differences.
costco does this so you can't price match since the model numbers are different. also with the one or two features dropped they can often sell their version for less than bestbuy et all.
again in this case i can't find a difference. if the price is equal, i'd go with the bestbuy version. at least you get some points.
costco does this so you can't price match since the model numbers are different. also with the one or two features dropped they can often sell their version for less than bestbuy et all.
again in this case i can't find a difference. if the price is equal, i'd go with the bestbuy version. at least you get some points.
9 years, 4 months ago
by
MrMike
san francisco, ca