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- First review commentNovember 29, 2013
- Last review commentJanuary 31, 2017
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Enjoy an immersive entertainment experience with this Epson Home Cinema 4K projector. The three-chip design with 3LCD technology delivers high-quality visuals, while the built-in dual 10W speakers produce crisp sound. This Epson Home Cinema 4K projector has HDMI and USB ports for connecting a wide variety of devices, and Bluetooth connectivity lets you play media files from your mobile device.
Customer Rating
5
4K quality projector with all the essentials
on October 9, 2019
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Quiet
Large speakers for a projector
Bright enough to combat ambient light
Crisp image
HDR is subtle but helpful
3D Capable
Good contrast range for a projector
Includes extra powered USB port for streaming devices
Can be paired with Bluetooth speakers
Minimal dynamic iris pumping
Verified no rainbow effect
Quiet
Large speakers for a projector
Bright enough to combat ambient light
Crisp image
HDR is subtle but helpful
3D Capable
Good contrast range for a projector
Includes extra powered USB port for streaming devices
Can be paired with Bluetooth speakers
Minimal dynamic iris pumping
Verified no rainbow effect
Cons
Style is hard to hide with décor
Slow HDCP negotiation
High power usage
WiFi not included
HDMI Link (CEC) doesn’t seem to work
Style is hard to hide with décor
Slow HDCP negotiation
High power usage
WiFi not included
HDMI Link (CEC) doesn’t seem to work
Its been a few years in the making but high quality 4K projectors are finally affordable for the average person. The Home Cinema 3800 is a mid-range 4K projector from Epson’s 2019 lineup that promises the features we want for a price we can afford.
Design and Features
The Home Cinemas 3800 is a rather large, bulky design to accommodate the large bulb and cooling fan. It isn’t styled to blend in with your décor like some projectors today so if this is important to you, a vented enclosure might be needed. The design helps to keep costs down and keep fan noise to a minimum. A dust filter is included on the cooling intake which is a nice touch to keep dust from reducing the quality of the picture. To further keep costs under control, it isn’t truly a native 4K projector but rather simulated 4K with a technique called pixel shifting. It is a marketing spin to call it 4K, but the result is hard to distinguish from the real thing. Dynamic Iris is included, which is a way to increase the contrast ratio in certain scenes which is the reason for the inflated 100,000:1 contrast ratio. ANSI contrast, which is a more accurate representation of performance, is not listed. That said, the true contrast ratio seems very respectable for the class. There are manual controls for horizontal and vertical lens shift to help minimize the need to distort your image with keystone adjustments. In the back you get two HMDI 2.0 ports with HDCP 2.2, a VGA port, and a USB power port to power your streaming stick or other USB powered device. Built in are some surprisingly large and loud speakers if you want to use it in a portable scenario. It can be also paired with Bluetooth speakers to enhance sound further although it would not be in surround sound. If you are looking for a more premium home theater experience, it would be best to have the HDMI pass through a home stereo first to provide true surround sound to go with the big screen. Included is a feature called HMDI Link, which the manual states at HDMI-CEC but during usage it would never communicate with other CEC compatible devices. Casting video via smartphone apps is built in but requires the purchase of the Wi-Fi dongle, not included. 3D capability is included but the purchase of a dongle and 3D glasses is required.
The Home Cinemas 3800 is a rather large, bulky design to accommodate the large bulb and cooling fan. It isn’t styled to blend in with your décor like some projectors today so if this is important to you, a vented enclosure might be needed. The design helps to keep costs down and keep fan noise to a minimum. A dust filter is included on the cooling intake which is a nice touch to keep dust from reducing the quality of the picture. To further keep costs under control, it isn’t truly a native 4K projector but rather simulated 4K with a technique called pixel shifting. It is a marketing spin to call it 4K, but the result is hard to distinguish from the real thing. Dynamic Iris is included, which is a way to increase the contrast ratio in certain scenes which is the reason for the inflated 100,000:1 contrast ratio. ANSI contrast, which is a more accurate representation of performance, is not listed. That said, the true contrast ratio seems very respectable for the class. There are manual controls for horizontal and vertical lens shift to help minimize the need to distort your image with keystone adjustments. In the back you get two HMDI 2.0 ports with HDCP 2.2, a VGA port, and a USB power port to power your streaming stick or other USB powered device. Built in are some surprisingly large and loud speakers if you want to use it in a portable scenario. It can be also paired with Bluetooth speakers to enhance sound further although it would not be in surround sound. If you are looking for a more premium home theater experience, it would be best to have the HDMI pass through a home stereo first to provide true surround sound to go with the big screen. Included is a feature called HMDI Link, which the manual states at HDMI-CEC but during usage it would never communicate with other CEC compatible devices. Casting video via smartphone apps is built in but requires the purchase of the Wi-Fi dongle, not included. 3D capability is included but the purchase of a dongle and 3D glasses is required.
Performance
From the moment you turn it on, you will notice that start is fairly quick. Unlike older projectors, the Home Cinema 3800 reaches what appears to be full brightness within about 15 seconds of being powered on. Although the brightness is listed as 3000 lumens, you must consider that this brightness rating is for a larger screen than compact projectors. Even on standard cinema mode you can comfortably see the image just projecting on a white wall with ambient light. Of course, this is not ideal because your black levels suffer greatly, but the fact that it can overcome this at all is surprising. On max brightness the difference is even more noticeable. Add in a fabric screen and the simulated 4K starts to show its strength. It’s good from the perspective that you get a sharper image on a larger screen, but it also had the side effect of showing you that it’s time to upgrade your screen. The sharper image will help you notice if you have a cheap screen as it makes stretch marks and blemishes stand out. If you were thinking to go cheap and skip the screen, don’t. You won’t be able to realize the clarity without a smooth, even surface a projector screen affords. If possible, a dedicated media room or at least darker walls will help increase quality even further. With ambient light and a good screen, a 145 inch screen is very possible. This projector has the brightness to overpower ambient light, but if you have light walls, get ready for that brightness to cause a slight washout effect on the edges as the bright projected image causes more ambient light.
From the moment you turn it on, you will notice that start is fairly quick. Unlike older projectors, the Home Cinema 3800 reaches what appears to be full brightness within about 15 seconds of being powered on. Although the brightness is listed as 3000 lumens, you must consider that this brightness rating is for a larger screen than compact projectors. Even on standard cinema mode you can comfortably see the image just projecting on a white wall with ambient light. Of course, this is not ideal because your black levels suffer greatly, but the fact that it can overcome this at all is surprising. On max brightness the difference is even more noticeable. Add in a fabric screen and the simulated 4K starts to show its strength. It’s good from the perspective that you get a sharper image on a larger screen, but it also had the side effect of showing you that it’s time to upgrade your screen. The sharper image will help you notice if you have a cheap screen as it makes stretch marks and blemishes stand out. If you were thinking to go cheap and skip the screen, don’t. You won’t be able to realize the clarity without a smooth, even surface a projector screen affords. If possible, a dedicated media room or at least darker walls will help increase quality even further. With ambient light and a good screen, a 145 inch screen is very possible. This projector has the brightness to overpower ambient light, but if you have light walls, get ready for that brightness to cause a slight washout effect on the edges as the bright projected image causes more ambient light.
Although startup is quick, one thing you will notice is that when starting new content there is a lag before the image is shown. It doesn’t seem to matter the length of cable and seems to have more to do with slow HDCP negotiation. Often when you start a video the sound starts 2-5 seconds before the video starts. After the video is displayed, there is no perceivable lag which points more to the initial negotiation process being the hang-up. When Dynamic iris is used, scenes like Star Wars IV text crawl show up as inky black but as soon as the ships come in you will notice blacks shift to dark gray. Thankfully iris pumping is minimal, but if this bothers you then you can turn dynamic iris off for a consistent look. HDR is also included, which comes in handy in newer movies which use it. Projectors already struggle with contrast compared to traditional TVs. With HDR10 compatibility, scenes with a combination of light and dark are noticeably clearer than old movies. This means flesh tones look natural even with bright backgrounds instead of washed out. In darker scenes faces have improved brightness and contrast. With what Epson called 3LCD technology they claim to have no rainbow effect which is common with projectors. This can be verified with a camera set to a suitably high shutter speed. From 1/800 to 1/1500 of a second you can verify Epson’s claim as you don’t see any individual colors but only the vertical scan line as the whole image refreshes with each color. No need to worry about friends with more discerning vision complaining of nausea with this unit. As a bonus, using the projector for fast action scenes or even gaming exhibited no significant motion blur or ghosting. Of this won’t compete with an ultra-high refresh rate monitor but most gamers would find the big screen gaming suitably responsive.
Final Thoughts
Some options might require optional upgrades and it doesn’t have fancy new features like lasers but what it does do good is focus on the essentials of image quality. If you are in the market for 4K quality projector and want one in the sweet spot between price, performance, and essential features the Epson Home Cinema 3800 is a worthy contender.
Some options might require optional upgrades and it doesn’t have fancy new features like lasers but what it does do good is focus on the essentials of image quality. If you are in the market for 4K quality projector and want one in the sweet spot between price, performance, and essential features the Epson Home Cinema 3800 is a worthy contender.
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I would recommend this to a friend!
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This Lift-Away upright vacuum has DuoClean to deep-clean carpets and directly engage floors for a polished look. The self-cleaning brushroll means no hair wrap, and Lift-Away lets you clean above the floor with the push of a button.
Customer Rating
4
No more cleaning hair off the roller
on September 5, 2019
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Cleans carpet and hard floors well
Powerful brush roller
Air filters are washable
Dust bin is surprising large
Dust bin is very easy to empty
Suction is adjustable
Powerhead is lower profile to fit under most furniture
Self-cleaning brush roll really stays clean and free of hair
LED headlights are surprisingly handy
HEPA filters have shown to work well in independent tests
Vacuum section separates to allow cleaning in smaller spaces
Cleans carpet and hard floors well
Powerful brush roller
Air filters are washable
Dust bin is surprising large
Dust bin is very easy to empty
Suction is adjustable
Powerhead is lower profile to fit under most furniture
Self-cleaning brush roll really stays clean and free of hair
LED headlights are surprisingly handy
HEPA filters have shown to work well in independent tests
Vacuum section separates to allow cleaning in smaller spaces
Cons
Heavy for the size
All the separate buttons are confusing
No bristle tool included
Plastic feels flimsy in places
Holders for tools on vacuum are tight but don’t hold tools well
Putting wand back is clumsy
Small wheels that support brush roll section feel flimsy
Heavy for the size
All the separate buttons are confusing
No bristle tool included
Plastic feels flimsy in places
Holders for tools on vacuum are tight but don’t hold tools well
Putting wand back is clumsy
Small wheels that support brush roll section feel flimsy
Design
The Share Rotator Lift-Away DuoClean Pro has looks to match the name. The design, although not as bold as previous designs, still looks very complicated. There are no less than 12 buttons and levers to access different modes and features. While some brands have endeavored to simplify the design and make a sleek looking vacuum, Shark has seemingly taken the approach that people enjoy buttons and levers and the “As Seen on TV” look. This isn’t to say that a vacuum must be a work of art, but more that Shark’s design certainly focuses first on features. The vacuum section detaches so that you can carry it separately using just the vacuum wand. The roller base has two rollers, one a material almost like a duster and the other a traditional brush bar but with the bristles spaced further apart. The back has two sturdy feeling wheels, but the front includes two tiny rubberized wheels that seem very fragile and are unchanged from the style that users complained fell apart from previous models. Only time will tell if this latest version lasts. Included are a smaller brush assembly, crevice tool, and hard surface nozzle. Strangely, the vacuum only has onboard storage for two of the three tools. The design and placement seem an afterthought as they click in hard but fall out easily with one even protruding out and getting in the way of the cord wrap. The main vacuum area has a HEPA filter, foam filter, and large particle screen. The manual states no service interval for the filters but rather instructs you to wash them. If they hold up over time this can be a great costs savings.
The Share Rotator Lift-Away DuoClean Pro has looks to match the name. The design, although not as bold as previous designs, still looks very complicated. There are no less than 12 buttons and levers to access different modes and features. While some brands have endeavored to simplify the design and make a sleek looking vacuum, Shark has seemingly taken the approach that people enjoy buttons and levers and the “As Seen on TV” look. This isn’t to say that a vacuum must be a work of art, but more that Shark’s design certainly focuses first on features. The vacuum section detaches so that you can carry it separately using just the vacuum wand. The roller base has two rollers, one a material almost like a duster and the other a traditional brush bar but with the bristles spaced further apart. The back has two sturdy feeling wheels, but the front includes two tiny rubberized wheels that seem very fragile and are unchanged from the style that users complained fell apart from previous models. Only time will tell if this latest version lasts. Included are a smaller brush assembly, crevice tool, and hard surface nozzle. Strangely, the vacuum only has onboard storage for two of the three tools. The design and placement seem an afterthought as they click in hard but fall out easily with one even protruding out and getting in the way of the cord wrap. The main vacuum area has a HEPA filter, foam filter, and large particle screen. The manual states no service interval for the filters but rather instructs you to wash them. If they hold up over time this can be a great costs savings.
Usage and Performance
Initially understanding what buttons and levers to push and switch can get confusing. Probably the most commonly forgotten button would be the button that turns the rollers from carpet to hard floor and wand. Fortunately, regardless of if you forget to turn on or off, the most you would be left would might be a less than clean surface. Over time, the options become easier to remember and might even prove somewhat handy. In regular vacuuming, the brush roller section is short enough to get under most areas. Your main limitation would be that you can only go as deep as the waste bin allows, as this motor requires it to be attached to use the brush rollers. To use the power roller independently would require the powered lift-away versions. The rollers have at first what sounds like a gimmick in what is called Zero-M but in the end is probably the most standout feature. If you have kids with long hair or pets, Zero-M is your savior. Even with two dogs that shed heavily, a wife with long hair that sheds, and a kid that also has long hair the Zero-M technology meant not once were the rollers covered in hair that needed to be cut off. Even with most waste bins full of mainly hair, the rollers have always stayed clean. Suction is very good and can be adjusted via a little, adjustable leak, sliding door near the handle. It’s a simple and effective idea to change suction power. In most cases though, suction works just find on maximum with the rollers effectively keep the carpet in place while extracting dust and dirt. At first glance you might wonder why in the world do you need lights on the front of a vacuum. Is it for vacuuming in the dark? After using it for a time you will realize it is in fact stranger that more vacuums don’t already have. First, regardless of how well lit a room there are always dark spots and this helps you see the dust bunnies you missed. Even more helpful is on hard floors. Those lights shine at just the right angle where you can easily see if any dust is left after you are done. The over design is very maneuverable and easily tilts around corners with easy which is great for most. Even though the design is mostly plastic, so as a word of caution for those with weak wrist you may wish to check the weight first. For the ones who tried to use the vacuum but had weaker wrists the weight meant a simple turn caused the vacuum to turn to a side and stay there. They didn’t have the strength to straighten it because of how the weight is distributed.
Initially understanding what buttons and levers to push and switch can get confusing. Probably the most commonly forgotten button would be the button that turns the rollers from carpet to hard floor and wand. Fortunately, regardless of if you forget to turn on or off, the most you would be left would might be a less than clean surface. Over time, the options become easier to remember and might even prove somewhat handy. In regular vacuuming, the brush roller section is short enough to get under most areas. Your main limitation would be that you can only go as deep as the waste bin allows, as this motor requires it to be attached to use the brush rollers. To use the power roller independently would require the powered lift-away versions. The rollers have at first what sounds like a gimmick in what is called Zero-M but in the end is probably the most standout feature. If you have kids with long hair or pets, Zero-M is your savior. Even with two dogs that shed heavily, a wife with long hair that sheds, and a kid that also has long hair the Zero-M technology meant not once were the rollers covered in hair that needed to be cut off. Even with most waste bins full of mainly hair, the rollers have always stayed clean. Suction is very good and can be adjusted via a little, adjustable leak, sliding door near the handle. It’s a simple and effective idea to change suction power. In most cases though, suction works just find on maximum with the rollers effectively keep the carpet in place while extracting dust and dirt. At first glance you might wonder why in the world do you need lights on the front of a vacuum. Is it for vacuuming in the dark? After using it for a time you will realize it is in fact stranger that more vacuums don’t already have. First, regardless of how well lit a room there are always dark spots and this helps you see the dust bunnies you missed. Even more helpful is on hard floors. Those lights shine at just the right angle where you can easily see if any dust is left after you are done. The over design is very maneuverable and easily tilts around corners with easy which is great for most. Even though the design is mostly plastic, so as a word of caution for those with weak wrist you may wish to check the weight first. For the ones who tried to use the vacuum but had weaker wrists the weight meant a simple turn caused the vacuum to turn to a side and stay there. They didn’t have the strength to straighten it because of how the weight is distributed.
Attachments can be used by detaching the handle with or without the tube and pressing on the desired attachment. Although the design works, it seems refinement of design was last on the list as the attachments look like they have a soft rubber press fit. In reality, it’s a hard piece of plastic tubing you jamb into another. It doesn’t grab much or go very deep. There is no attachment clip so a little caution is advised when cleaning behind things. You might accidentally bump off the attachment and have to fish it out. Beyond that, they do their job as well as anything other vacuum with little fuss as you would expect. That said, a brush tip on the crevice tool would have been nice. After having lights on the brush roller, you will find yourself wishing a light was on the wand as well, but to get that you have to upgrade to the powered lift-away or Apex series. If you have areas where you need to lift the vacuum and want to use the wand, such as the stairs, the lift-away function can be very handy. If you don’t have stairs you likely won’t find many uses for that feature and find rolling the unit area more convenient.
If your brush roller overheats, there is a warning light to let you know you need to take a break and let cool but with the Zero-M it’s doubtful those situations would come often. The clear dust bin means it’s easy to tell when it’s full and emptying is very easy. Of course, an open dust bin is nothing new but what is nice is the base of the dust bin has not ledges to catch dust as you dump it out. Just press the latch and let the bottom open and everything falls out easily. This might sound strange, but a surprising number of canister vacuums like to include an awkward ledge on where you empty causing a handy place for things to catch on their way out.
After all of this information about how the Rotator Lift-Away is a bit complicated and unrefined it all comes down to one big question. Does it work? The answer is absolutely. Once you get used to the complexities, you will find this rarely requires a second pass on hard floors and does a good job of getting most junk out of your carpet with hair being its specialty. Emptying the waste bin is hardly a chore so you can finish fast with little fuss once you get used to it. Regardless of if it was small bits or big pieces it always seemed to be picked up. With the rollers being direct drive, you get a clean path with no missed strip in the middle of your carpet stripes.
Final Thoughts
The real question is what are your priorities in vacuum. If you want a filter free vacuum with a highly refined operation, this one isn’t for you. If complexity is less of a concern and you value good performance on carpets and hard floors, prefer HEPA filtration, and most importantly are tired of cleaning brush rollers of hair you should give this one look.
The real question is what are your priorities in vacuum. If you want a filter free vacuum with a highly refined operation, this one isn’t for you. If complexity is less of a concern and you value good performance on carpets and hard floors, prefer HEPA filtration, and most importantly are tired of cleaning brush rollers of hair you should give this one look.
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I would recommend this to a friend!
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32of 38voted this as helpful.
G815 is a new class of mechanical gaming keyboard with tactile low-profile GL switches fully customizable per-key, LIGHTSYNC RGB technology. Set LIGHTSYNC to react to in-game action, audio and even your screen color. With a sleek, impossibly-thin yet durable and sturdy design, G815 brings gamers to a higher dimension of play. Programmable G-keys let you create and execute complex actions simply and intuitively. Volume wheel and media keys give you fast, easy control over video, audio, and streaming.
Customer Rating
5
Metal low profile without sacrificing the switches
on August 20, 2019
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Long key travel
Fast actuation, only 1.5mm
Satisfying click when activated
Light feel to key travel
Full RGB effects per key
RGB effects can change automatically per game
Five programmable keys and four macro keys
Game mode button disables your problem keys
Adjustable brightness
Low profile for mechanical keyboard
Media keys and volume scroll wheel
USB Passthrough
Metal top plate makes for a rigid build
Long key travel
Fast actuation, only 1.5mm
Satisfying click when activated
Light feel to key travel
Full RGB effects per key
RGB effects can change automatically per game
Five programmable keys and four macro keys
Game mode button disables your problem keys
Adjustable brightness
Low profile for mechanical keyboard
Media keys and volume scroll wheel
USB Passthrough
Metal top plate makes for a rigid build
Cons
Concave on keys too subtle
Smooth finish on keys allows fingers to drift easier
F and J tabs on the small size to quickly find your position
Programmable keys hard to tell from main keys on the left
Concave on keys too subtle
Smooth finish on keys allows fingers to drift easier
F and J tabs on the small size to quickly find your position
Programmable keys hard to tell from main keys on the left
Design
The Logitech G815 has a plastic base with a metal top plate which allows the low-profile design to retain a surprising amount of rigidity. The main portion of the keyboard is a standard size and layout so nothing to mess up your muscle memory. Keys have a slight concave to help with locating. The switches are mechanical with a light and satisfying click when activated. Activation distance is 1.5mm and the total travel distance is 3.0mm. The keys sit above the deck, so the lighting effects are visible from the sides and anything that falls between the keys is easy to find. The configurable backlight for each key also gets very bright if you want so you should have no trouble seeing it even in a bright room or barely visible in a dark room. To the left of the main keyboard are five programmable buttons. To the top left of the keyboard are three macro buttons and a macro record button which you can set to change the function of the programmable keys on the fly or do things such as change your lighting profile. To the right of the macro keys are a joystick key and backlight key with 5 brightness levels. To the far right above the number pad are media keys for back, play/pause, forward, and mute. Directly above the media keys is a large scroll wheel to allow quick volume changes. Included is a USB passthrough port which Logitech doesn’t seem to specify which revision. The port has no indications of USB 3, so it is most likely USB 2. The USB cable is thick and braided and requires 2 USB, one for the keyboard and the other for the passthrough.
The Logitech G815 has a plastic base with a metal top plate which allows the low-profile design to retain a surprising amount of rigidity. The main portion of the keyboard is a standard size and layout so nothing to mess up your muscle memory. Keys have a slight concave to help with locating. The switches are mechanical with a light and satisfying click when activated. Activation distance is 1.5mm and the total travel distance is 3.0mm. The keys sit above the deck, so the lighting effects are visible from the sides and anything that falls between the keys is easy to find. The configurable backlight for each key also gets very bright if you want so you should have no trouble seeing it even in a bright room or barely visible in a dark room. To the left of the main keyboard are five programmable buttons. To the top left of the keyboard are three macro buttons and a macro record button which you can set to change the function of the programmable keys on the fly or do things such as change your lighting profile. To the right of the macro keys are a joystick key and backlight key with 5 brightness levels. To the far right above the number pad are media keys for back, play/pause, forward, and mute. Directly above the media keys is a large scroll wheel to allow quick volume changes. Included is a USB passthrough port which Logitech doesn’t seem to specify which revision. The port has no indications of USB 3, so it is most likely USB 2. The USB cable is thick and braided and requires 2 USB, one for the keyboard and the other for the passthrough.
Usage and Performance
Macro keys and programmable keys are nothing new. What is different, that not all gaming keyboards have, is the ability to set macro and programmable keys to switch function based on the game you play. If you prefer specific key combinations between games, you add your game to G-Hub and when you launch your game then all presets will switch automatically to your preferred setup. If you create a Logi account, you can also save them to the cloud, so it follows you to any compatible peripherals. If you aren’t sure of how you want your keyboard setup, or you are looking for inspiration, you can also use G-Hub to download profiles that other games have shared and quickly try their layout.
Macro keys and programmable keys are nothing new. What is different, that not all gaming keyboards have, is the ability to set macro and programmable keys to switch function based on the game you play. If you prefer specific key combinations between games, you add your game to G-Hub and when you launch your game then all presets will switch automatically to your preferred setup. If you create a Logi account, you can also save them to the cloud, so it follows you to any compatible peripherals. If you aren’t sure of how you want your keyboard setup, or you are looking for inspiration, you can also use G-Hub to download profiles that other games have shared and quickly try their layout.
The joystick button is one of the more interesting keys that makes you wonder why no one thought to create it sooner. If you have ever been in the middle of an intense game and accidentally hit the wrong key, such as the Windows key, then you will love the joystick, button. In G-Hub, you configure which keys you want to disable during gaming. The exact keys you wish to disable is up to you, but when you press the joystick button it will disable the keys you configured. No more worrying of accidental button press brining up the Windows menu in the heat of battle. Another feature that is surprisingly helpful is the volume scroll wheel. At first glace you might wonder why it is so large. During gameplay this can come in handy. When moving around from a loud battle to an area where you need to hear the slight footstep you can change the volume easily on the fly without even looking down as it is very easy to find.
As with any modern gaming keyboard it is becoming increasingly difficult to perceive any lag and the G815 is no exception. With each click of the keyboard you can have confidence that you won’t get a missed tap. Double taps occur only when you choose and not on their own. Just like any keyboard with extra keys, the programmable keys take some adjustment as their layout and placement is just a slightly larger gap. Any further and they might be out of range of your fingers. This of course isn’t exclusive to the G815 and it would be nice if either there was a stop you could feel on the keys or maybe even nubs with different markings to help you get the hang of where each one is specifically located. These features could potentially help reduce the adjustment phase.
Of course, no product is perfect so you might be wondering what the downsides are. This is more of a personal preference, but the keys have a smooth finish making it easy for your fingers to drift. It is good to make quick movements smoother, but you might find you fingers slipping in between keys slightly until you get your muscle memory adapted. The locating nubs are also smaller, so it takes a little more work to keep your placement precise to prevent accidental button presses. A slightly textured finish and taller tabs could give that extra edge to keep your actions precise. Also, if you have become accustomed to gaming keyboards that have an extra nub on the S key to help you quickly locate the center of WASD, you are out of luck on the G815. Of course, these are minor gripes that become even less important with good muscle memory, but it would be nice if future generations adopted some of these concepts.
Final Thoughts
It’s nice to see the gaming keyboard market getting refined to the point to where it’s getting harder to recommend one over the other. This means the consumer benefits in the end by having more choices. The G815 checks all the boxes that a gamer would want and adds a few extra features some may not have even realized would be helpful. It’s nice to see Logitech still managing to find a way to add extra value to a pretty well-defined market. The Logitech G815 is easy to recommend. If you don’t like the clicky style keys, they even offer linear and tactile to suit your taste. You can even go wireless by choosing the G915 if you wish with the only sacrifice being a little more from your wallet. If you are in the market for a gaming keyboard, the G815 should be on your short list.
It’s nice to see the gaming keyboard market getting refined to the point to where it’s getting harder to recommend one over the other. This means the consumer benefits in the end by having more choices. The G815 checks all the boxes that a gamer would want and adds a few extra features some may not have even realized would be helpful. It’s nice to see Logitech still managing to find a way to add extra value to a pretty well-defined market. The Logitech G815 is easy to recommend. If you don’t like the clicky style keys, they even offer linear and tactile to suit your taste. You can even go wireless by choosing the G915 if you wish with the only sacrifice being a little more from your wallet. If you are in the market for a gaming keyboard, the G815 should be on your short list.
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I would recommend this to a friend!
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Boost your home theater's audio capabilities with this Definitive Technology Studio Advance sound bar system. The 5.1 channel system offers virtual surround sound and supports 4K and HDR content for your enjoyment. This Definitive Technology Studio Advance sound bar system has Chromecast built in to let you stream music wirelessly and control the speakers with Google Assistant voice commands.
Customer Rating
5
The soundbar for audiophiles
on August 13, 2019
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Soundbar handles everything but the lows
Subwoofer can potentially pressurize a small to medium room
Virtual surround is realistic for a single sound source
Solid build construction
Fast startup when using Chromecast
Good tonal balance for its size
Neutral listening position
Soundbar handles everything but the lows
Subwoofer can potentially pressurize a small to medium room
Virtual surround is realistic for a single sound source
Solid build construction
Fast startup when using Chromecast
Good tonal balance for its size
Neutral listening position
Cons
Wall mount doesn’t slide to match studs
Limited adjustment of levels, bass and center
Slightly elevated sibilance
Wall mount doesn’t slide to match studs
Limited adjustment of levels, bass and center
Slightly elevated sibilance
Considering what type of people this soundbar is targeting, it must be said this review comes from more of a novice audiophile with no technical equipment to do extensive testing or specialized room. Before reading further, it should be known that if your primary focus is on precise placement of sound effects in movies, you are better served by a traditional 5.1 setup with discrete speakers in each location. If your primary interest is in audio clarity, you value a clean and simple setup, and you don’t want to spend the money on a high end 5.1 setup or larger with separate speakers and independent amplifier targeted at audiophiles, then this review hopefully will be of some help.
Design
From opening the box you will notice that this soundbar isn’t targeting the average person. It isn’t some super slim soundbar with a tiny subwoofer box. It is a respectable large subwoofer and a thick, boxy, heavy soundbar with black anodized aluminum endcaps. It has some real weight to it and feels more substantial than the plastic boxes you are used to. Inputs are on in the center of the back. It has one toslink port, one aux port, and four HDMI ports, three if you use the preferred HDMI ARC option. It can either be placed on a surface or wall mounted. With an included IR blaster, it can pass the IR signal to your other components if they are blocked. The remote is surprisingly sparse. It has a soft touch matte black finish to help with grip with flat buttons. The only controls you have are to select an input, change volume, change center channel, change bass level, and select from three preset EQ levels. The preset EQs are music, night, and movie.
From opening the box you will notice that this soundbar isn’t targeting the average person. It isn’t some super slim soundbar with a tiny subwoofer box. It is a respectable large subwoofer and a thick, boxy, heavy soundbar with black anodized aluminum endcaps. It has some real weight to it and feels more substantial than the plastic boxes you are used to. Inputs are on in the center of the back. It has one toslink port, one aux port, and four HDMI ports, three if you use the preferred HDMI ARC option. It can either be placed on a surface or wall mounted. With an included IR blaster, it can pass the IR signal to your other components if they are blocked. The remote is surprisingly sparse. It has a soft touch matte black finish to help with grip with flat buttons. The only controls you have are to select an input, change volume, change center channel, change bass level, and select from three preset EQ levels. The preset EQs are music, night, and movie.
Setup
Installation is straightforward if you are setting this on the top of an entertainment center. Just choose the desired height and attach the included magnetic standoffs. If you wall mounting, the screw holes are 32” apart to match standard housing studs. Although thoughtful, it is rather rigid in implementation. Often, the studs aren’t exactly centered on the location where your TV is mounted so you can’t use the studs for a solid mount but instead must use anchors. An improvement on this design would be that instead of using two independent isolator discs to use an isolating bar that can be mounted to the studs and then the soundbar can be mounted anywhere on the bar. This would also permit minor adjustments if your measurements or level are slightly off. Included is a paper template to makes accurate placement and level easy.
After choosing your exact connection setup, setting up on Wi-Fi is easy. Just add the device via the Google Home app. It’s worth noting that Chromecast and Bluetooth steaming are the only options. There is no Play-Fi, AirPlay, or other option for music streaming so higher resolution audio would need to come from an HDMI source.
Installation is straightforward if you are setting this on the top of an entertainment center. Just choose the desired height and attach the included magnetic standoffs. If you wall mounting, the screw holes are 32” apart to match standard housing studs. Although thoughtful, it is rather rigid in implementation. Often, the studs aren’t exactly centered on the location where your TV is mounted so you can’t use the studs for a solid mount but instead must use anchors. An improvement on this design would be that instead of using two independent isolator discs to use an isolating bar that can be mounted to the studs and then the soundbar can be mounted anywhere on the bar. This would also permit minor adjustments if your measurements or level are slightly off. Included is a paper template to makes accurate placement and level easy.
After choosing your exact connection setup, setting up on Wi-Fi is easy. Just add the device via the Google Home app. It’s worth noting that Chromecast and Bluetooth steaming are the only options. There is no Play-Fi, AirPlay, or other option for music streaming so higher resolution audio would need to come from an HDMI source.
Performance
For a Chromecast audio source, this soundbar has a near instantaneous response. If you haven’t used Chromecast before, some devices have a delay before the music you cast starts playing. From the moment you choose to cast to the Studio Advance to the point at which you are streaming music is rarely more than 1 second which is a refreshing change. Although streaming sources are limited, having a Chromecast device has advantages in that it doesn’t require another proprietary app. Firmware updates are automatic with no need to open the app. Startup when watching TV is also fast only taking a 2-3 seconds. This convenience comes a slight cost as the standby mode uses nearly as much power as when turned on. During testing, the soundbar used 10 watts on standby and 10 to 14 during usage. The subwoofer does at least go into a deeper standby if left alone using 0 watts when left alone for extended periods and between 10 watts on initial standby and average usage and up to 18 watts during times of heavier bass usage. It isn’t a lot but it’s worth keeping track of as you add additional Chromecast devices to your setup. The less that sleep fully, the more it will have an impact on your electric bill.
For a Chromecast audio source, this soundbar has a near instantaneous response. If you haven’t used Chromecast before, some devices have a delay before the music you cast starts playing. From the moment you choose to cast to the Studio Advance to the point at which you are streaming music is rarely more than 1 second which is a refreshing change. Although streaming sources are limited, having a Chromecast device has advantages in that it doesn’t require another proprietary app. Firmware updates are automatic with no need to open the app. Startup when watching TV is also fast only taking a 2-3 seconds. This convenience comes a slight cost as the standby mode uses nearly as much power as when turned on. During testing, the soundbar used 10 watts on standby and 10 to 14 during usage. The subwoofer does at least go into a deeper standby if left alone using 0 watts when left alone for extended periods and between 10 watts on initial standby and average usage and up to 18 watts during times of heavier bass usage. It isn’t a lot but it’s worth keeping track of as you add additional Chromecast devices to your setup. The less that sleep fully, the more it will have an impact on your electric bill.
Sound Quality
Overall quality does set the Studio Advance apart from others, but the sound quality is where it really sets itself apart. It must be noted that there are other soundbars that can produce more positional sound for movies because of wireless surrounds but what sets the Studio Advance apart is tonal quality and overall sound reproduction. Using larger drivers in the main soundbar affords the Studio Advance the ability to use the soundbar itself for more than just highs. You get respectable midrange and up where it belongs instead of down on the floor like other designs. In fact, even if you unplug the subwoofer you can still get respectable sound. Try that with other ultra slim soundbars and the audio suddenly sounds like it is coming out of a tin can.
Overall quality does set the Studio Advance apart from others, but the sound quality is where it really sets itself apart. It must be noted that there are other soundbars that can produce more positional sound for movies because of wireless surrounds but what sets the Studio Advance apart is tonal quality and overall sound reproduction. Using larger drivers in the main soundbar affords the Studio Advance the ability to use the soundbar itself for more than just highs. You get respectable midrange and up where it belongs instead of down on the floor like other designs. In fact, even if you unplug the subwoofer you can still get respectable sound. Try that with other ultra slim soundbars and the audio suddenly sounds like it is coming out of a tin can.
Overall sound quality seems relatively neutral with only minor coloring. Probably the most noticeable shortcoming is a bit of elevated sibilance. Depending on the artist and volume, occasionally the s sounds can be a bit harsh. Fortunately, this seemed rare and even within songs exhibiting it, it was very brief. Overall perspective seems neither laid back nor forward unless you change the volume of the center channel. The soundstage, although on the smaller side, is quite good for a single soundbar solution. With all sounds coming from one place this is quite challenging so the fact that it can produce any soundstage is impressive. You can hear respectable placement of instruments, but some reverberation is lost in the process. Although lacking reverberation, it doesn’t sound flat but more that the recording was in a sound room versus an auditorium with hard walls. The macrodynamics are better than most, and certainly better than other soundbars, with the drum sounds having a proper amount of power you would expect as if you were there. If the drummer hits the stick on the side of the drum you hear a distinct impact with the nuances of the wood hitting the side of the metal on the drum and the sharp sound that come with it. The microdynamics are similarly better than most with subtle details of plucking a guitar string including the initial strong sound followed by hearing if the guitarist ran their finger across the string or how the note gradually fades away as the energy of the string dissipates. If they strum the string and then stop it, you can even hear their hand stop it and even if they are wearing a ring and it hits the wood of the guitar. During vocals, you can hear subtle breath control and sometimes even other aspects of how they control their voice with a good enough recording giving you more of a sense of a live performance.
Of course, there is a good chance at some point you will want to watch movies with the Studio Advance and it doesn’t disappoint. Going back to keeping expectations in check, the surround sound is a virtual 5.1 surround. That said, positional audio is impressive considering the only speakers are directly in front. On some movies, like Bourne Legacy, you question how you are hearing sounds from locations where there are no speakers. In the beginning where the drone blows up the cabin you hear the initial explosion and feel the energy of the explosion and then realize that the sound is coming from all around. The impact of such an effect varies from one movie to the next but the fact that it can do this at all is very impressive. If the room isn’t too large and you have the doors closed, the subwoofer can mildly pressurize the room giving more impact to the scenes. The same happens when they first turn on the game system in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. As the drum sounds increase in intensity the room begins to rumble and you can feel your body shaking as if you are in the movie. It can do this in a 16x18 room with the doors closed but it is unlikely it could do this in much larger of a room. The fact that it is cable of such a feat at all in such a small package is a bit surprising. What also nice is because of the overall range of the soundbar, you aren’t left with dialog coming from the subwoofer on the floor. This translates to male voices being much more audible without turning up the volume unlike lesser systems.
Final Thoughts
It seems Definitive Technology had a very specific group in mind when they created the Studio Advance. Once could argue that better sound could be had from other systems, but it would be much harder to argue that better sound could come from a similar sized system. The Studio Advance would make a great addition as soundbar in the bedroom for an audiophile who is spoiled by their main system or someone who demands great sound in a compact package.
It seems Definitive Technology had a very specific group in mind when they created the Studio Advance. Once could argue that better sound could be had from other systems, but it would be much harder to argue that better sound could come from a similar sized system. The Studio Advance would make a great addition as soundbar in the bedroom for an audiophile who is spoiled by their main system or someone who demands great sound in a compact package.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Experience enhanced precision and comfort with this Logitech wireless gaming mouse. The optical sensor delivers pinpoint accuracy for an enhanced gaming experience, while the wireless design offers strong freedom of movement. This Logitech wireless gaming mouse features 11 programmable buttons for creating macros and performing a wide range of custom functions.
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Ambidextrous and comfortable
Light with additional 10G weight if you prefer
Wireless dongle can be extended with cord
Works wired and wireless
No perceivable lag on wireless
Good battery life
Customizable lighting profiles that change with the game
Mouse can smooth scroll or step scroll
On the fly configurable dpi
Can be wireless charged via mousepad addon
Both sets of shoulder buttons can be used if desired
Ambidextrous and comfortable
Light with additional 10G weight if you prefer
Wireless dongle can be extended with cord
Works wired and wireless
No perceivable lag on wireless
Good battery life
Customizable lighting profiles that change with the game
Mouse can smooth scroll or step scroll
On the fly configurable dpi
Can be wireless charged via mousepad addon
Both sets of shoulder buttons can be used if desired
Cons
Logitech micro switches tend to fail early
Weight not configurable beyond adding 10G
Shoulder switches are a bit high and back for quick reach
Lighting effects make understanding actual dpi harder
Only one real light for effects
Custom game lighting profiles setup confusing
Logitech micro switches tend to fail early
Weight not configurable beyond adding 10G
Shoulder switches are a bit high and back for quick reach
Lighting effects make understanding actual dpi harder
Only one real light for effects
Custom game lighting profiles setup confusing
Design
The Logitech G903 wireless mouse is the same design that has been around since 2017. The style is somewhat angular and aggressive looking but, not so much so that it would garner strange looks outside gaming circles like some. The has a styled G, for gaming, that lights up and some lights that indicate the dpi setting as well as serve as additional lighting. The design is ambidextrous with identical shoulder buttons on each side that can either be covered with plastic covers that magnetically snap on or configured as additional buttons for a total of four shoulder buttons. In the center are two buttons to increase or decrease the dpi mode to increase or decrease the sensitivity. A button immediately behind the scroll wheel allows you to change the scroll wheel mode from smooth scrolling to stepped scrolling depending on what you are doing. Underneath is a compartment held in place with magnets where you can place a 10-gram weight if you prefer a heavier mouse. A total of six Teflon pads steady the mouse and help it glide across the surface. Included is a braided cord, USB adapter, and USB nano receiver. The mouse can operate hardwired or you can even use the cord along with the USB adapter to move the USB nano receiver to a place with better reception if, say for instance, your USB plugs are located on the back of your tower. It’s a nice touch to have this function so that wireless operation has the best chances of being interference free.
The Logitech G903 wireless mouse is the same design that has been around since 2017. The style is somewhat angular and aggressive looking but, not so much so that it would garner strange looks outside gaming circles like some. The has a styled G, for gaming, that lights up and some lights that indicate the dpi setting as well as serve as additional lighting. The design is ambidextrous with identical shoulder buttons on each side that can either be covered with plastic covers that magnetically snap on or configured as additional buttons for a total of four shoulder buttons. In the center are two buttons to increase or decrease the dpi mode to increase or decrease the sensitivity. A button immediately behind the scroll wheel allows you to change the scroll wheel mode from smooth scrolling to stepped scrolling depending on what you are doing. Underneath is a compartment held in place with magnets where you can place a 10-gram weight if you prefer a heavier mouse. A total of six Teflon pads steady the mouse and help it glide across the surface. Included is a braided cord, USB adapter, and USB nano receiver. The mouse can operate hardwired or you can even use the cord along with the USB adapter to move the USB nano receiver to a place with better reception if, say for instance, your USB plugs are located on the back of your tower. It’s a nice touch to have this function so that wireless operation has the best chances of being interference free.
With wireless mice, one concern is running out of battery mid game. Of course, you can solve this by going hardwired but if you have some extra money you can splurge for Logitech PowerPlay mat. It allows the you to keep the mouse battery from draining during gameplay as it continuously provides power wirelessly. In independent tests it does not increase the battery level during gameplay but keeps it steady, so your battery won’t die. After gameplay stops, the pad can further charge up the mouse while not in use.
Setup
Like pretty much any Logitech device, setup is pretty much painless out of the box. Plug in the nano receiver or cord and Windows does the rest. It gets you up and running quickly. If you want the advance lighting features a small amount of manual work is required to install the Logitech G HUB software. HUB allows you to configure custom lighting profiles, include other compatible Logitech devices besides the mouse. You can set lighting, dpi, button assignments, and macro settings as persistent throughout the system or game specific where HUB will automatically switch settings based on the configuration of the game. It seems like a small touch but it’s nice to be able to go from one game to another and have your mouse automatically switch everything about its personality without you needing to do anything after the initial setup. If you create a profile, then you can save and share your custom profiles with others. Although game configurations are still limited at this point, you can also look at and download game profiles from other gamers to see if you like their button mapping and lighting profiles.
Like pretty much any Logitech device, setup is pretty much painless out of the box. Plug in the nano receiver or cord and Windows does the rest. It gets you up and running quickly. If you want the advance lighting features a small amount of manual work is required to install the Logitech G HUB software. HUB allows you to configure custom lighting profiles, include other compatible Logitech devices besides the mouse. You can set lighting, dpi, button assignments, and macro settings as persistent throughout the system or game specific where HUB will automatically switch settings based on the configuration of the game. It seems like a small touch but it’s nice to be able to go from one game to another and have your mouse automatically switch everything about its personality without you needing to do anything after the initial setup. If you create a profile, then you can save and share your custom profiles with others. Although game configurations are still limited at this point, you can also look at and download game profiles from other gamers to see if you like their button mapping and lighting profiles.
Usage
The buttons and scroll wheel have the familiar Logitech feel if you have felt it before. Even though the design is ambidextrous, it feels more like a contoured mouse. Although common today, the customizable dpi settings really come in handy for daily use so that you aren’t flying across the page while browsing the web, but you can also get the quick response needing during gaming. You can adjust the rate on the fly, but button placement might make quick changes awkward. Your lighting effects will also make what mode you’re in a bit confusing. When in Windows, dpi changes provide a toast message saying what rate you are at but, in gameplay you must rely on the status lights on the mouse. A small issue is that the same lights that show what dpi level you are at are also part of the main lighting. This means dpi changes will for a very moment indicate dpi mode but if a lighting effect is occurring you might miss what mode you set it to. If this is really a problem really depends on your style of gaming. If you are the type that just switches and feels out the speed this won’t affect you in the slightest, but for those who are looking for a specific setting this might slow you down a bit. DPI modes go all the way down to a snail’s pace of 200 dpi up to a superhuman 12,000 dpi.
The buttons and scroll wheel have the familiar Logitech feel if you have felt it before. Even though the design is ambidextrous, it feels more like a contoured mouse. Although common today, the customizable dpi settings really come in handy for daily use so that you aren’t flying across the page while browsing the web, but you can also get the quick response needing during gaming. You can adjust the rate on the fly, but button placement might make quick changes awkward. Your lighting effects will also make what mode you’re in a bit confusing. When in Windows, dpi changes provide a toast message saying what rate you are at but, in gameplay you must rely on the status lights on the mouse. A small issue is that the same lights that show what dpi level you are at are also part of the main lighting. This means dpi changes will for a very moment indicate dpi mode but if a lighting effect is occurring you might miss what mode you set it to. If this is really a problem really depends on your style of gaming. If you are the type that just switches and feels out the speed this won’t affect you in the slightest, but for those who are looking for a specific setting this might slow you down a bit. DPI modes go all the way down to a snail’s pace of 200 dpi up to a superhuman 12,000 dpi.
During usage both wired and wireless the lag, if any, was imperceptible. Button clicks happened what felt like instantaneously and with a satisfying click. The sensor tracked motion reliably and accurately against several surfaces with no hint of jitter. For gameplay the step motion of the scroll wheel would likely be the favored method as it provides a soft click as you scroll allowing precision weapon chances. If there were any criticism to lodge against use it would be that smooth scrolling often tends to scroll the opposite directly slightly each time your life your finger off the wheel. Also, the shoulder buttons are slightly high and back compared to the left and right mouse buttons. If you tend to like to hold the mouse more forward, you might find the reach to the rear shoulder button a bit of a stretch. If you prefer to hold form the midpoint back, then the shoulder buttons have been placed very well. Battery life has been very good at an average 1% drop per day with moderate usage including a mix of gaming and casual usage at 3 hours per day. Gaming battery life would likely be lower due to the higher dpi and constant usage, but you should still expect even a long gaming session won’t find you running out of battery.
Conclusion
The Logitech G903 looks and feels solid and has the Logitech feel that anyone has used before will immediately recognize. They work great at the beginning, but their micro switches tend to wear and act inconsistently as they age. Previous iterations of the G903 exhibited an issue with double and triple clicks with age so, hopefully Logitech has improved the hardware that caused the issue. Unless you are a heavy user, this might not happen until well into the life of the mouse at which point you are in the market for the latest and greatest anyway. Of course, if you are a Logitech fan you have likely experienced the micro switch problem at least once but the mix of features, consistency, and accuracy during the life brings you back. In the case of the G903, the overall operation and gameplay makes it hard to beat and deserves consideration if you are in the market for a gaming mouse.
The Logitech G903 looks and feels solid and has the Logitech feel that anyone has used before will immediately recognize. They work great at the beginning, but their micro switches tend to wear and act inconsistently as they age. Previous iterations of the G903 exhibited an issue with double and triple clicks with age so, hopefully Logitech has improved the hardware that caused the issue. Unless you are a heavy user, this might not happen until well into the life of the mouse at which point you are in the market for the latest and greatest anyway. Of course, if you are a Logitech fan you have likely experienced the micro switch problem at least once but the mix of features, consistency, and accuracy during the life brings you back. In the case of the G903, the overall operation and gameplay makes it hard to beat and deserves consideration if you are in the market for a gaming mouse.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Record your experiences on the road with this Nextbase dash cam. A wide-angle lens captures every detail, ensuring you are covered at all times, and the 2.5-inch LCD screen allows for comfortable viewing when reviewing videos. This Nextbase dash cam connects with smart devices via Wi-Fi and and Bluetooth 4.2, letting you review video footage on your device.
Customer Rating
5
Excellent telemetry, good quality, dated style
on July 24, 2019
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Design easily blends in behind rear-view mirror
Mount hides power connection
Magnetic mount allows quick removal for video retrieval
Includes tool to help tuck the power cord away
SOS feature allows dashcam to send your location if you can’t
High accuracy GPS shows your exact speed and acceleration
Downloaded video show your location and direction on map
Hardwire option
Downloaded videos can be shared directly from phone
Design easily blends in behind rear-view mirror
Mount hides power connection
Magnetic mount allows quick removal for video retrieval
Includes tool to help tuck the power cord away
SOS feature allows dashcam to send your location if you can’t
High accuracy GPS shows your exact speed and acceleration
Downloaded video show your location and direction on map
Hardwire option
Downloaded videos can be shared directly from phone
Cons
Runs very hot
Doesn’t include polarizing filter so videos have glare
Can’t use fullscreen mode to aim the camera
Fullscreen mode in playback cuts off bottom of video
Downloading videos wirelessly is slow, nearly matches real time
Extra cameras, hardwire option, and filter options are upgrades
Runs very hot
Doesn’t include polarizing filter so videos have glare
Can’t use fullscreen mode to aim the camera
Fullscreen mode in playback cuts off bottom of video
Downloading videos wirelessly is slow, nearly matches real time
Extra cameras, hardwire option, and filter options are upgrades
Design
The Nextbase 322GW has a more conventional design that looks more like a small point and shoot camera unlike most dashcams. The GPS antenna is integrated so no batwings are needed on this one. Included is a suction mount and permanent mount that uses 3M adhesive. The mount helps to hide the power cable on the windshield until you tuck it into the headliner. Although you could install it anywhere you wish on the windshield, the mount is designed to be up near the headliner. The mount uses a strong magnet to hold the 322GW so that you can easily remote it for direct video retrieval without the need to unplug anything. It has a power button, micro-SD card slot, and video lock button which locks the latest video clip to prevent deletion. Included is a tuck tool to allow you to tuck the power cord behind the vehicle trim and down to a power point. If you want to hardwire it, you can purchase a kit that taps into your fuse panel. The overall package is very small and can easily hide behind a rear-view mirror if you want to keep it more discrete. One thing not included is a micro SD card. You need a minimum of a class U1 card and if you want to install the optional interior or rear-view camera, purchased separately, you need a U3 class card. Oddly, the integrated lens doesn’t include a polarizing filter so if you want to reduce glare and reflections you will need to purchase the upgrade as well. For any dashcam it just seems odd not to not just include the polarizing filter built in considering glare and reflections are extremely common.
The Nextbase 322GW has a more conventional design that looks more like a small point and shoot camera unlike most dashcams. The GPS antenna is integrated so no batwings are needed on this one. Included is a suction mount and permanent mount that uses 3M adhesive. The mount helps to hide the power cable on the windshield until you tuck it into the headliner. Although you could install it anywhere you wish on the windshield, the mount is designed to be up near the headliner. The mount uses a strong magnet to hold the 322GW so that you can easily remote it for direct video retrieval without the need to unplug anything. It has a power button, micro-SD card slot, and video lock button which locks the latest video clip to prevent deletion. Included is a tuck tool to allow you to tuck the power cord behind the vehicle trim and down to a power point. If you want to hardwire it, you can purchase a kit that taps into your fuse panel. The overall package is very small and can easily hide behind a rear-view mirror if you want to keep it more discrete. One thing not included is a micro SD card. You need a minimum of a class U1 card and if you want to install the optional interior or rear-view camera, purchased separately, you need a U3 class card. Oddly, the integrated lens doesn’t include a polarizing filter so if you want to reduce glare and reflections you will need to purchase the upgrade as well. For any dashcam it just seems odd not to not just include the polarizing filter built in considering glare and reflections are extremely common.
Setup
Installation is quick after you decide on your mount and location. All you need to do is tuck one wire down to power and you are ready for the app setup. The windshield mount is firm so once you aim the unit you shouldn’t find it wandering on its own from driving. The screen on the 322GW is small, which is nice so as not be distracting but it does make precise aiming a bit more challenging. If you pair it with your phone you can change the settings from there but changing them directly via the dashcam is more intuitive. Some of the settings have names that aren’t very descriptive, such as parking mode, so the online manual is a necessity. More on parking mode. You would think parking mode has something to do with turning on the security monitoring for bumps when you are parked. This isn’t true. Parking mode is used for when you either hardwire the camera or your power point doesn’t shut off with the ignition. The camera will go into power save mode after 5 minutes of inactivity. This is particularly important to turn on if you have constant on power points as the dashcam will keep GPS on and all and drain your battery flat overnight as it has no automatic battery saver function. If you are looking for parking mode, that is oddly called G Sensor. You can change G Sensor from off, low, medium, and high to sensitivity. Although subjective, it would seem Nextbase could use refinement on the names of their settings or descriptions right with the settings to improve ease of use.
Installation is quick after you decide on your mount and location. All you need to do is tuck one wire down to power and you are ready for the app setup. The windshield mount is firm so once you aim the unit you shouldn’t find it wandering on its own from driving. The screen on the 322GW is small, which is nice so as not be distracting but it does make precise aiming a bit more challenging. If you pair it with your phone you can change the settings from there but changing them directly via the dashcam is more intuitive. Some of the settings have names that aren’t very descriptive, such as parking mode, so the online manual is a necessity. More on parking mode. You would think parking mode has something to do with turning on the security monitoring for bumps when you are parked. This isn’t true. Parking mode is used for when you either hardwire the camera or your power point doesn’t shut off with the ignition. The camera will go into power save mode after 5 minutes of inactivity. This is particularly important to turn on if you have constant on power points as the dashcam will keep GPS on and all and drain your battery flat overnight as it has no automatic battery saver function. If you are looking for parking mode, that is oddly called G Sensor. You can change G Sensor from off, low, medium, and high to sensitivity. Although subjective, it would seem Nextbase could use refinement on the names of their settings or descriptions right with the settings to improve ease of use.
Performance
When you start your car, the dashcam is ready to record very shortly after the chime. As soon as it starts, it will begin recording clips of between 1 and 3 minutes, depending on how you set it. If you use the Parking Mode, mentioned earlier, it is pretty much set it and forget it. If you don’t have to contend with the glare or reflections mentioned early, the video quality is very good. The mount holds the camera very steady, so movement and bumps track along with vehicle very well. You won’t have to worry about videos bouncing around like some with a loose mount. However; if you are wanting to be able to read license plates of passing cars you will be disappointed. Standard HD just isn’t enough to pull out the detail need to grab license plates in most cases, so this isn’t unique to Nextbase. About the best you can hope for is if a car is about 15 feet ahead of you and travelling a similar speed you should be able to pick up the numbers. Of course, in most cases that is not when we need it. Audio quality is good but slightly muffled. It seems the culprit is the microphone is also picking up the ambient noise of your air condition blower and noise coming from your windshield which causes conversations to be slightly affected. Usually conversations can still be understood easily unless the ambient noise is just too great. GPS is the standout feature. With it tracking your location 10 times a second your speed is tracked with high precision. It almost seems more accurate than the vehicle speedometer. It’s also worth noting that during normal operation the dashcam gets very hot, even in a cool car. It never froze or locked up but there is some concern over the long-term reliability if this unit runs so hot during daily operation.
When you start your car, the dashcam is ready to record very shortly after the chime. As soon as it starts, it will begin recording clips of between 1 and 3 minutes, depending on how you set it. If you use the Parking Mode, mentioned earlier, it is pretty much set it and forget it. If you don’t have to contend with the glare or reflections mentioned early, the video quality is very good. The mount holds the camera very steady, so movement and bumps track along with vehicle very well. You won’t have to worry about videos bouncing around like some with a loose mount. However; if you are wanting to be able to read license plates of passing cars you will be disappointed. Standard HD just isn’t enough to pull out the detail need to grab license plates in most cases, so this isn’t unique to Nextbase. About the best you can hope for is if a car is about 15 feet ahead of you and travelling a similar speed you should be able to pick up the numbers. Of course, in most cases that is not when we need it. Audio quality is good but slightly muffled. It seems the culprit is the microphone is also picking up the ambient noise of your air condition blower and noise coming from your windshield which causes conversations to be slightly affected. Usually conversations can still be understood easily unless the ambient noise is just too great. GPS is the standout feature. With it tracking your location 10 times a second your speed is tracked with high precision. It almost seems more accurate than the vehicle speedometer. It’s also worth noting that during normal operation the dashcam gets very hot, even in a cool car. It never froze or locked up but there is some concern over the long-term reliability if this unit runs so hot during daily operation.
There is an app for Android and iOS but the design feels a bit old. Video previews, whether directly from the dashcam live feed or recorded videos it seems the app doesn’t want to you to view them any way except portrait. This means if you want to use your cellphone to get a larger picture to aim the dashcam you will be disappointed. Live view only lets you view the picture in a tiny portrait screen on your phone with no pinch to zoom support. Viewing them directly is via WiFi direct and uses the lower quality video. You can rotate to landscape mode to try to see a bigger picture and in this mode, it works but them the video overflows the screen at the bottom because of a top toolbar than cannot be moved. If you want to grab high quality video to store on your phone, be prepared to wait. Each minute of video takes a minute or more to download. Once downloaded to your phone you cannot edit the video, you can only share them or view them when away from the dashcam. No problems were experienced while using the app but it feels as though Nextbase isn’t putting much effort into developing and refining accessing the 322Gw via your cellphone.
The primary way Nextbase seems to want you to view your videos is the reliable and feature rich, albeit old fashioned, desktop program. This isn’t a modern Windows Store app with touchscreen support or pinch to zoom. This a format and style of program that harkens back to the early 2000’s. It works ok but again, feels like it needs modernization. You can access videos by plugging the dashcam in directly into your computer, keeping that old school vibe alive, mini USB. It’s not even micro USB so if unless you just held onto your old USB cables from 15 years ago you don’t want to lose this one. Another option to access the videos is to plug the micro SD card directly into your computer. Either way, playback is choppy even with a Core i7 system from 2018 and a U3 class micro SD card. Performance is more reliable if the videos are first manually copied to the computer first and then added to the desktop program. Once you are up and running with the desktop program you will find a lot more options at your disposal. You can view videos on a larger screen with full telemetry including your location on the map, direction of travel, speed of travel, time, acceleration, deceleration, as well as if you are taking a hard turn. If you need to see a larger picture you can select full screen but again, don’t expect pinch to zoom or any sort of zoom for that matter. Although dated in feel, there are some very useful features to help you build a video of your drive. You can annotate your video with text or other markings to help illustrate your drive. You can also have the video show the date, time, dashcam model, and current speed. You can also combine multiple video clips into one, just be prepared to wait. On a modern, high power system from 2019 it took 10 minutes to combine 4 clips of 1 minute each into a single clip. Once thing to keep in mind is the combined clips are generated as .mov files, which don’t play in other players except old fashioned QuickTime or the Nextbase editor. Strangely, not even VLC can play them. Aside from these quirks this telemetry and these tools would likely prove very handy in a legal battle.
Conslusion
The Nextbase 322GW is a solid performer, albeit dated in feel. The main issue that could be easily fixed that would make this even better would be to at least include the polarizing filter across the board for all their Dashcams. It just seems like an odd choice to not include. Otherwise, it worked without issue and offers several models to upgrade its functionality further as your budget, or preference, allows. The competition between dashcams gets tougher every day but the 322GW does stand out in particular because of its high-resolution telemetry. If getting very precise telemetry of your drive for your protection is your primary concern, the 322GW is well equipped to do the job.
The Nextbase 322GW is a solid performer, albeit dated in feel. The main issue that could be easily fixed that would make this even better would be to at least include the polarizing filter across the board for all their Dashcams. It just seems like an odd choice to not include. Otherwise, it worked without issue and offers several models to upgrade its functionality further as your budget, or preference, allows. The competition between dashcams gets tougher every day but the 322GW does stand out in particular because of its high-resolution telemetry. If getting very precise telemetry of your drive for your protection is your primary concern, the 322GW is well equipped to do the job.
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I would recommend this to a friend!
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Work or play on the go with this Dell G5 15 notebook. The 15.6-inch FHD display delivers a clear crisp picture, while the NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti graphics card supports most modern games. This Dell G5 15 notebook has a 256GB SSD and 1TB hard drive for ample storage and quick file access, and the Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM offer quick multitasking.
Customer Rating
4
Near perfect laptop, just needs a screen upgrade
on July 21, 2019
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Bright screen for class
Solid feel
Responsive keyboard
Good battery life for class
Fast GTX 1660Ti video card
16GB Dual Channel Memory
Good middle performance SSD
Larger traditional hard drive to store games
Keyboard backlight with 2 levels
Precision touchpad is very consistent and easy to use
Subtle design means it can be used for work or play
Cooling fans are mostly off during casual use after firmware update
Large number of ports including USB and Thunderbolt
Ports with larger cables are on the back, so they don’t block usage of a mouse
Smart charger can be adjusted to improve performance or battery lifespan
Keyboard backlight timeout adjustable for battery and plugged in separately
Upgradable memory and hard drives
Killer Network Card
Bright screen for class
Solid feel
Responsive keyboard
Good battery life for class
Fast GTX 1660Ti video card
16GB Dual Channel Memory
Good middle performance SSD
Larger traditional hard drive to store games
Keyboard backlight with 2 levels
Precision touchpad is very consistent and easy to use
Subtle design means it can be used for work or play
Cooling fans are mostly off during casual use after firmware update
Large number of ports including USB and Thunderbolt
Ports with larger cables are on the back, so they don’t block usage of a mouse
Smart charger can be adjusted to improve performance or battery lifespan
Keyboard backlight timeout adjustable for battery and plugged in separately
Upgradable memory and hard drives
Killer Network Card
Cons
60Hz screen is unacceptable for a 2019 gaming laptop
Keyboard travel ends hard with a thud
Blue keyboard backlight makes keys harder to read
Rough texture of touchpad provides too much resistance
Cooling fans have noticeable bearing whine
Matt black finish shows every fingerprint
Generic styling
Arrow keys are too cramped
Center hinge for screen feels awkward
No voltage adjustments
No Windows Hello support
60Hz screen is unacceptable for a 2019 gaming laptop
Keyboard travel ends hard with a thud
Blue keyboard backlight makes keys harder to read
Rough texture of touchpad provides too much resistance
Cooling fans have noticeable bearing whine
Matt black finish shows every fingerprint
Generic styling
Arrow keys are too cramped
Center hinge for screen feels awkward
No voltage adjustments
No Windows Hello support
Design
The G5 has a very unassuming style being entirely matt black plastic, except one small strip of gloss plastic just above the keyboard. Regardless of whether the plastic is gloss or matt, you will see every fingerprint. Styling grooves and a bit of plastic chrome attempt to give it a small amount of flair but the overall design is very muted. Around the edges you will find a myriad of ports from USB 3.0, USB-C, Thunderbolt, HDMI, mini Displayport, Ethernet, SD card slot, and a mini stereo jack. Connections that would require bulky cables are pushed to the back. Internally is a PCI-NVME SSD and a traditional hard driver for larger storage. It allows storage of much larger games without a prohibitively expensive SSD but comes with a tradeoff of some battery life.
The G5 has a very unassuming style being entirely matt black plastic, except one small strip of gloss plastic just above the keyboard. Regardless of whether the plastic is gloss or matt, you will see every fingerprint. Styling grooves and a bit of plastic chrome attempt to give it a small amount of flair but the overall design is very muted. Around the edges you will find a myriad of ports from USB 3.0, USB-C, Thunderbolt, HDMI, mini Displayport, Ethernet, SD card slot, and a mini stereo jack. Connections that would require bulky cables are pushed to the back. Internally is a PCI-NVME SSD and a traditional hard driver for larger storage. It allows storage of much larger games without a prohibitively expensive SSD but comes with a tradeoff of some battery life.
General Usage
The chiclet keyboard feels responsive with decent travel but gives a solid thump at the bottom. It’s hard to judge responsiveness but compared to a dedicated gaming keyboard it feels nearly as fast. Unless you require extreme responsiveness or deep travel in your keys, this keyboard should do just fine. The trackpad is surprisingly good. Windows reports it as a precision touchpad. Palm rejection is very good, gestures work reliably, and overall the experience is very good. If there was any gripe, it would be that the surface is textured and provides a too much resistance. The screen seems to have been improved from previous models as it gets bright for the class. You aren’t going to be getting much done with it outdoors but in brightly lit room it is still very usable. Without a tester it is hard to judge the actual color accuracy but for normal daily use and gaming there aren’t any odd color issues that stand out. One thing to note is out of the box the fans were rather obnoxious ramping up to high speeds even while watching movie. You will notice them too because they have a bearing whine as they ramp up to speed. The good thing is after a slew of updates, including firmware, the system settled down to mainly turning on the fans during heavy usage. Even though the fan stabilized after the updates other random problems occurred where the keyboard and mouse stopped working for about a minute before recovering 4 times, plugging in a mouse once caused a bluescreen, and several times Windows complained that it wasn’t activated which suggest Dell has some minor tweaks that need to be done.
The chiclet keyboard feels responsive with decent travel but gives a solid thump at the bottom. It’s hard to judge responsiveness but compared to a dedicated gaming keyboard it feels nearly as fast. Unless you require extreme responsiveness or deep travel in your keys, this keyboard should do just fine. The trackpad is surprisingly good. Windows reports it as a precision touchpad. Palm rejection is very good, gestures work reliably, and overall the experience is very good. If there was any gripe, it would be that the surface is textured and provides a too much resistance. The screen seems to have been improved from previous models as it gets bright for the class. You aren’t going to be getting much done with it outdoors but in brightly lit room it is still very usable. Without a tester it is hard to judge the actual color accuracy but for normal daily use and gaming there aren’t any odd color issues that stand out. One thing to note is out of the box the fans were rather obnoxious ramping up to high speeds even while watching movie. You will notice them too because they have a bearing whine as they ramp up to speed. The good thing is after a slew of updates, including firmware, the system settled down to mainly turning on the fans during heavy usage. Even though the fan stabilized after the updates other random problems occurred where the keyboard and mouse stopped working for about a minute before recovering 4 times, plugging in a mouse once caused a bluescreen, and several times Windows complained that it wasn’t activated which suggest Dell has some minor tweaks that need to be done.
Digging deeper into using it for watching movies, the speakers get crazy loud at times. On full volume it’s hard for anyone to have a conversation in the room. Sound quality is harder to explain. It’s not bad but lacks any sort of bass and midrange is slim. It’s a bit surprising for such a thick laptop to have no bass. That said, they have a type of surround sound that when you are the right distance away does a decent job of simulating some depth. It seems a bit gimmicky, but at the very least you can experience some surround sound.
Gameplay
The largest blemish is the 60Hz screen. For daily usage the 60Hz panel does just fine but putting a 60Hz panel in a gaming laptop in 2019 just defies logic. If you have ever gamed on a 144Hz panel or faster the ghosting will be almost impossible to miss on this screen. It’s a good thing Dell decided to have USB-C and Thunderbolt, so you have options to connect to better screens. The integrated keyboard works well for gaming and includes highlights for WASD and even has a nub on the S key to help you locate the center quickly. The medium travel keyboard means that you might find the thud at the bottom of travel a little off-putting, but if you can get used to it, it doesn’t affect responsiveness. Key spacing is good as to prevent accidental weapon changes from mashing two keys but if the keys were slightly dished this could be improved further. What does affect gameplay is the cramped direction keys. If you play driving games, like Asphalt, and use the directional keys instead of a gamepad you will run into issues. The keys are all half height making accurate key presses difficult. If Dell had maybe put a notch in the keyboard design to let the direction keys come down a little farther and allow full sized keys this would be perfect.
The largest blemish is the 60Hz screen. For daily usage the 60Hz panel does just fine but putting a 60Hz panel in a gaming laptop in 2019 just defies logic. If you have ever gamed on a 144Hz panel or faster the ghosting will be almost impossible to miss on this screen. It’s a good thing Dell decided to have USB-C and Thunderbolt, so you have options to connect to better screens. The integrated keyboard works well for gaming and includes highlights for WASD and even has a nub on the S key to help you locate the center quickly. The medium travel keyboard means that you might find the thud at the bottom of travel a little off-putting, but if you can get used to it, it doesn’t affect responsiveness. Key spacing is good as to prevent accidental weapon changes from mashing two keys but if the keys were slightly dished this could be improved further. What does affect gameplay is the cramped direction keys. If you play driving games, like Asphalt, and use the directional keys instead of a gamepad you will run into issues. The keys are all half height making accurate key presses difficult. If Dell had maybe put a notch in the keyboard design to let the direction keys come down a little farther and allow full sized keys this would be perfect.
Performance
This is where things get interesting. The SSD Peaks at a decent 1241MB/s Read and 694MB/s write. Not the top of the pack but right in the middle, the same as the entire system. Windows runs quick as well as games once they are loaded off the traditional hard drive. Games still take their time to load but once a game loads the difference is noticeable. If you install steam on the SSD it only takes 3 seconds to launch. Assuming like most, you put your Steam library on your mechanical hard drive you can expect launch times, for example, just shy of 37 seconds for CSGO. Epic launched similarly launched in 3 seconds while Fortnite took a hefty 53 seconds to load. Having a Core i7 and 16GB of dual channel ram is nice but the real star is the GTX 1660Ti. Even coming from a GTX 1050 the performance boost is noticeable. Older titles, such as COD or Borderlands 2, can run smoothly with all settings maxed out at full HD. Fan noise is noticeable during gameplay but the speakers do a good job of drowning it out and they do provide special awareness of the direction of sounds helping you target better where sounds are coming from. That said, a good set of headphones will easily outperform and could provide some of that missing bass to improve the experience.
This is where things get interesting. The SSD Peaks at a decent 1241MB/s Read and 694MB/s write. Not the top of the pack but right in the middle, the same as the entire system. Windows runs quick as well as games once they are loaded off the traditional hard drive. Games still take their time to load but once a game loads the difference is noticeable. If you install steam on the SSD it only takes 3 seconds to launch. Assuming like most, you put your Steam library on your mechanical hard drive you can expect launch times, for example, just shy of 37 seconds for CSGO. Epic launched similarly launched in 3 seconds while Fortnite took a hefty 53 seconds to load. Having a Core i7 and 16GB of dual channel ram is nice but the real star is the GTX 1660Ti. Even coming from a GTX 1050 the performance boost is noticeable. Older titles, such as COD or Borderlands 2, can run smoothly with all settings maxed out at full HD. Fan noise is noticeable during gameplay but the speakers do a good job of drowning it out and they do provide special awareness of the direction of sounds helping you target better where sounds are coming from. That said, a good set of headphones will easily outperform and could provide some of that missing bass to improve the experience.
Alienware Command Center is included to allow further tweaking of settings per game. Keep in mind, this is a paired down version of what is included on Alienware computers. It doesn’t include all features and you are reminded of this on launch with a warning that no supported hardware is found. Strangely it prompts to install an update which fails saying you need to uninstall the old version first instead of just removing or upgrading it for you. Once you get Alienware Command Center up to date you have the option to tweak certain system settings per game. Nvidia Control Panel allows you to change GPU settings per game like you are used to, but Command Center adds features that let you tweak hardware profiles for thermal performance, audio profile, CPU performance, and Audio Recon spatial audio. This can really come in handy if you have some more casual games for use on battery that you don’t want to use the GPU. You can set them to use the Intel graphics and silent profile meaning you can extend battery life and keep heat down so you can use it in your lap. Regarding heat, the base of the system can get uncomfortable warm during GPU heavy game play. Most of the time that isn’t much of an issue but if you decide you want to play something like Forza using WASD be prepared for some uncomfortable heat if you want to sit back with it in your lap and play.
Benchmarks show performance well above normal gaming laptops in 3D Mark with a score of 5787 versus an average of 3879 for gaming laptops. Overall, this puts it comfortably into the range of supporting Oculus and Vive and nearly to a 4K desktop gaming rig which is impressive. UserBenchmark testing pulls in an equally impressive score of 82% and rates it as an Aircraft Carrier. In real world examples, CSGO pulled in nearly 300fps with all settings maxed out! Frame rates would dip into the mid-100s off and on but never below 100fps with the overall average just below 200fps. With all settings maxed on Forza 4, framerates held just over 30fps with flickering. After a new update to the GeForce drivers was applied the framerate jumped up to 35-45fps with no flickering, but it couldn’t quite muster a stable 60fps.
The system does include a Killer Gigabit Ethernet adapter but with an internet connection of over 1Gbps and overall latency of less than 13ms it is impossible see any perceivable difference.
Conclusion
Competition the past few years for affordable gaming laptops is paying dividends for the customer. Overall the G5 is a solid gaming rig that can also do double duty as a work or school computer. Once all system updates and firmware updates are applied there is little to fault except the monitor, which can be avoided if you have the extra cash to purchase the G5 with the 144Hz monitor. You could maybe even configure it with the better screen and less storage since the hard drives and storage can be changed later. If you need to save the money or don’t care about higher refresh rates this could still do the job well. Overall the G5 lineup is very competitive for 2019.
Competition the past few years for affordable gaming laptops is paying dividends for the customer. Overall the G5 is a solid gaming rig that can also do double duty as a work or school computer. Once all system updates and firmware updates are applied there is little to fault except the monitor, which can be avoided if you have the extra cash to purchase the G5 with the 144Hz monitor. You could maybe even configure it with the better screen and less storage since the hard drives and storage can be changed later. If you need to save the money or don’t care about higher refresh rates this could still do the job well. Overall the G5 lineup is very competitive for 2019.
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I would recommend this to a friend!
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Secure detailed proof of vehicular incidents with this Owlcam smart dual dash camera. The 1440p outside-facing and 720p inside-facing cameras capture high-definition video, and 4G LTE connectivity enables instant video alerts and remote access to live and recorded footage via smartphone. This Owlcam smart dual dash camera supports voice commands for hands-free operation.
Customer Rating
4
Nice dashcam that gets better
on June 18, 2019
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Clean design looks built in when installed
Installs quickly with the only tools needed included
Inside and outside cameras for evidence
OBDII Power plug means no hot point used
USB Power means a lost power adapter can be replaced easily if needed
Battery saver function keeps watching your car when you leave
If dashcam is stolen, they replace it at no charge
Voice activated recordings allows easy tagging of videos
Built in LTE means you can get alerts and clips when away from your vehicle
Bright lights make sure to get a good color picture of anyone breaking into vehicle
Detects bumps and motion when away from your vehicle
Strong magnetic base to camera allows accurate placement
Allows creating custom videos with zoom
Allows sharing access with family
Company has been rapidly improving product
Integrated thermal protection
Features can be added or fixed via app and firmware updates
Clean design looks built in when installed
Installs quickly with the only tools needed included
Inside and outside cameras for evidence
OBDII Power plug means no hot point used
USB Power means a lost power adapter can be replaced easily if needed
Battery saver function keeps watching your car when you leave
If dashcam is stolen, they replace it at no charge
Voice activated recordings allows easy tagging of videos
Built in LTE means you can get alerts and clips when away from your vehicle
Bright lights make sure to get a good color picture of anyone breaking into vehicle
Detects bumps and motion when away from your vehicle
Strong magnetic base to camera allows accurate placement
Allows creating custom videos with zoom
Allows sharing access with family
Company has been rapidly improving product
Integrated thermal protection
Features can be added or fixed via app and firmware updates
Cons
Sentry mode is useless if your vehicle is hit at night with no lights
App keeps prompting for Bluetooth pairing for detection and then forgetting
Bluetooth problem reports paired users as breaking into vehicle and turns on bright lights
Sometimes falsely triggers lights when sitting in vehicle
Says 1440p camera but all methods of access max out at 1080p for front camera
License plates are unreadable unless stopped
Zoom function doesn’t zoom very far and just lets you move a fixed box
Direct access via WiFi Direct is always grayed out even when paired and sitting in front of it
Videos aren’t transferred to cloud until accessed so they can be lost if the unit is stolen
No apparent way to review all raw video feed, only video events
Can thermal shutdown sometimes as low as 96 degrees
Sentry mode is useless if your vehicle is hit at night with no lights
App keeps prompting for Bluetooth pairing for detection and then forgetting
Bluetooth problem reports paired users as breaking into vehicle and turns on bright lights
Sometimes falsely triggers lights when sitting in vehicle
Says 1440p camera but all methods of access max out at 1080p for front camera
License plates are unreadable unless stopped
Zoom function doesn’t zoom very far and just lets you move a fixed box
Direct access via WiFi Direct is always grayed out even when paired and sitting in front of it
Videos aren’t transferred to cloud until accessed so they can be lost if the unit is stolen
No apparent way to review all raw video feed, only video events
Can thermal shutdown sometimes as low as 96 degrees
It seems dashcams are becoming more commonplace as people see how useful they can be. As the market has become flooded with a myriad of options, it is becoming more difficult to stand out. In such a crowded market, Owlcam has made a dashcam that is unique in design and function.
Design
Taking cues from some other successful tech products recently, Owlcam tries to simplify the overall design while attempting to optimize the main features that make a dashcam useful. To start, the design uses a mounting system that wedges between the dash and the windshield at the bottom and then a suction cup higher up. It only mounts above the dash and offers no mounting near the rearview mirror. The power cable is neatly held inside the mount keeping the design clear and uncluttered, giving an almost factory appearance. Instead of adding a bunch of buttons on the outside, they have opted again for a clean design with a touchscreen. Power is provided by a USB-C plug that gets routed down to get power from your ODBII port. This means your car must have been made after 1996 to support the Owlcam. Only the camera is visible in front as there is no IR lighting. The top includes a very bright led security light. The back includes a touchscreen, camera, and two white LEDs to illuminate the interior and get clear color picture of anyone attempting to break in.
Taking cues from some other successful tech products recently, Owlcam tries to simplify the overall design while attempting to optimize the main features that make a dashcam useful. To start, the design uses a mounting system that wedges between the dash and the windshield at the bottom and then a suction cup higher up. It only mounts above the dash and offers no mounting near the rearview mirror. The power cable is neatly held inside the mount keeping the design clear and uncluttered, giving an almost factory appearance. Instead of adding a bunch of buttons on the outside, they have opted again for a clean design with a touchscreen. Power is provided by a USB-C plug that gets routed down to get power from your ODBII port. This means your car must have been made after 1996 to support the Owlcam. Only the camera is visible in front as there is no IR lighting. The top includes a very bright led security light. The back includes a touchscreen, camera, and two white LEDs to illuminate the interior and get clear color picture of anyone attempting to break in.
Setup
Setup is simple. Just press the wedge piece between your dash and windshield and then stick one suction cup to your windshield. The only effort beyond the install of the mount is choosing the right extension piece to make sure the camera is at a good height. After that, just plug in the USB-C plug into the camera and drop it onto the magnetic base. You only need to route a single cable down the mount and use the included tuck tool to push the cable behind your trim. Once you route it down to your ODBII port, you wrap any excess wiring under around the built-in holder to keep things tidy. The rest is done through the app. Just answer a few questions, scan a code on the screen and you have remote access to your camera to make changes. Overall the process is very smooth and straightforward. From opening the box to having all options set up takes less than 10 minutes. By default, the app alerts you even when authorized users enter the vehicle so you might want to disable that feature.
Setup is simple. Just press the wedge piece between your dash and windshield and then stick one suction cup to your windshield. The only effort beyond the install of the mount is choosing the right extension piece to make sure the camera is at a good height. After that, just plug in the USB-C plug into the camera and drop it onto the magnetic base. You only need to route a single cable down the mount and use the included tuck tool to push the cable behind your trim. Once you route it down to your ODBII port, you wrap any excess wiring under around the built-in holder to keep things tidy. The rest is done through the app. Just answer a few questions, scan a code on the screen and you have remote access to your camera to make changes. Overall the process is very smooth and straightforward. From opening the box to having all options set up takes less than 10 minutes. By default, the app alerts you even when authorized users enter the vehicle so you might want to disable that feature.
Daily Use and Performance
The way the system is supposed to work is as you approach your vehicle, your phone connects to the Owlcam via Bluetooth so Owlcam will know that you are authorized. The idea with this is that you won’t be greeted by bright lights taking your picture every time you enter. Unfortunately, in practice this rarely, if ever happens, meaning every time an authorized user enters it turns on the lights. This is worse when it happens at night and you are in a hurry. The lights are very bright and making driving impossible until about 30 seconds has elapsed, and it turns off. Occasionally it garners strange looks from others as they wonder why your interior lights are so bright. Strangely it also seems to think your vehicle is damaged every time you drive it away. This likely related to the Bluetooth presence detection and seems to be either an app or firmware issue. Over the past few months since release, Owlcam has shown they are rapidly evolving the product so it is likely this will be tweaked soon. The nice part about having a dashcam with LTE is this same feature that takes a picture when you enter also watches your vehicle when you are away. It even notifies you if there is any motion or bumps to your vehicle and allows you to remotely connect and check on your vehicle. It’s surprising how quickly this becomes a comfort and makes you wonder what you ever did when you couldn’t check on your vehicle. If someone bumps your vehicle or breaks in, you are sent a picture to your phone within about 10 seconds. If you want the video, you must first request it from your Owlcam remotely. If they unplug the camera before you download the video, you will only have the picture. That said, it’s still far more than other cameras offer. Hopefully, Owlcam could offer a way to immediately upload the videos to the cloud without the need for a more expensive data plan.
The way the system is supposed to work is as you approach your vehicle, your phone connects to the Owlcam via Bluetooth so Owlcam will know that you are authorized. The idea with this is that you won’t be greeted by bright lights taking your picture every time you enter. Unfortunately, in practice this rarely, if ever happens, meaning every time an authorized user enters it turns on the lights. This is worse when it happens at night and you are in a hurry. The lights are very bright and making driving impossible until about 30 seconds has elapsed, and it turns off. Occasionally it garners strange looks from others as they wonder why your interior lights are so bright. Strangely it also seems to think your vehicle is damaged every time you drive it away. This likely related to the Bluetooth presence detection and seems to be either an app or firmware issue. Over the past few months since release, Owlcam has shown they are rapidly evolving the product so it is likely this will be tweaked soon. The nice part about having a dashcam with LTE is this same feature that takes a picture when you enter also watches your vehicle when you are away. It even notifies you if there is any motion or bumps to your vehicle and allows you to remotely connect and check on your vehicle. It’s surprising how quickly this becomes a comfort and makes you wonder what you ever did when you couldn’t check on your vehicle. If someone bumps your vehicle or breaks in, you are sent a picture to your phone within about 10 seconds. If you want the video, you must first request it from your Owlcam remotely. If they unplug the camera before you download the video, you will only have the picture. That said, it’s still far more than other cameras offer. Hopefully, Owlcam could offer a way to immediately upload the videos to the cloud without the need for a more expensive data plan.
This data plan of course comes at a cost. Cell carriers aren’t free so after the first year those remote features will come at a cost of $99 a year. The instructions state that if you don’t want to pay after the first year then you would just use WiFi Direct to check on the videos and remote features would be off. With the data plan, some events Owlcam covers and still others come out of your minutes. You can easily tell through the app how many minutes you have left from the main screen. As long you aren’t constantly remotely viewing or checking, your videos you should have plenty of minutes.
Owlcam monitors for crash events and if you are hit hard enough will have an employee call in to check on you. If you do not respond, then you can set app to permit them to call 911 for you. That’s a feature not typically seen in a dashcam. Smaller hits and bumps will alert you as possible damage via the app. The bump must be sharp so if someone just falls against your car it won’t trigger for damage. A cart bumping up against your car won’t trigger it either but closing a tailgate will. Motion events can help supplement this as it will alert you if motion is detected near the truck. Automatic detection works well but still needs some refinement overall to prevent false triggers. Manual recording events can be triggered by saying “OK Presto”. Sensitivity to voice activation is very good and did not fail once. Although the promotional information says you can record things like traffic stops, the wake word just seems to record from the moment you say the phrase and 30 seconds prior. You could possibly access longer videos using the direct connect feature to manually look through the video feed, but for some reason the feature was always grayed out. The website offers no help on the issue yet. The specs say the front camera resolution is 1440p, but downloaded videos show to be a maximum of 1080p. The overall video quality is good but doesn’t appear 1440p. The cameras do not have WDR or HDR so highlights can be blown out if lighting is bright. Without IR, nighttime video is good from front view with headlights but bump and crash detection without lights means you get a dark video. Interior video is good during the day and dim at night. If you wish to record a traffic stop at night, be sure to turn on your dome light.
Downloaded videos can be edited for length and zoomed in. Zoom is fixed sized box you move around on the screen. If you are thinking this means you can zoom in on a license plate and get the number, you are, in most cases, out of luck. The only way you will get a readable license plate number is on a stationary vehicle which is close. Compression is stated as H.265, which should be clear, but the resultant video is closer to H.264 with noticeable artifacts and what some would interpret as random pixilation. That said, overall video quality is still good and using the app to download, edit, and share videos is very easy.
Final Thoughts
It is hard to sum up in a small review everything about the Owlcam. The initial price might shock some, but there is a lot more going on under the surface. They have tried to make it easy for the average user while adding genuinely beneficial features. Judging on what Owlcam has done to improve the product in just the few short months since release, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to expect many of the shortcomings to be resolved with future software updates. Overall the design is solid and arguable more thoughtful than most, if not still a little unrefined in random places. It’s also worth noting that $99 of the price is for cell service and not the camera. If you are interested in a dashcam for your vehicle, particularly if you like the idea of it keeping a watchful eye while you are away, the Owlcam deserves a serious look.
It is hard to sum up in a small review everything about the Owlcam. The initial price might shock some, but there is a lot more going on under the surface. They have tried to make it easy for the average user while adding genuinely beneficial features. Judging on what Owlcam has done to improve the product in just the few short months since release, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to expect many of the shortcomings to be resolved with future software updates. Overall the design is solid and arguable more thoughtful than most, if not still a little unrefined in random places. It’s also worth noting that $99 of the price is for cell service and not the camera. If you are interested in a dashcam for your vehicle, particularly if you like the idea of it keeping a watchful eye while you are away, the Owlcam deserves a serious look.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Enjoy major networks without paying a monthly fee with this Mohu Arc Pro indoor HDTV antenna. An integrated signal indicator helps you to find the optimal signal location, while the LED lights let you adjust antenna placement in real time for a more stable connection. This Mohu Arc Pro indoor HDTV antenna uses FirstStage amplifier technology which results in less distortion and stunning picture quality.
Customer Rating
3
Good reception for a small antenna
on May 30, 2019
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Good reception for its size
Amplified
Amplification improves station picture quality/stability
Freestanding or wall mountable
Easy to read signal meter
Simple design doesn’t detract if left in the open
Good reception for its size
Amplified
Amplification improves station picture quality/stability
Freestanding or wall mountable
Easy to read signal meter
Simple design doesn’t detract if left in the open
Cons
Doesn’t include USB power adapter for the price
Doesn’t reach any more channels than non-amplified
Confusing mistake in instructions
Doesn’t include USB Power adapter
Very sensitive to orientation and objects near it
Cable is built in and not replaceable
Doesn’t include USB power adapter for the price
Doesn’t reach any more channels than non-amplified
Confusing mistake in instructions
Doesn’t include USB Power adapter
Very sensitive to orientation and objects near it
Cable is built in and not replaceable
Mohu is nearly synonymous with off air TV. There are multiple options, but when searching through forums and reviews the name Mohu is mentioned often. Most of their designs are very sleek can be installed without creating an eyesore like the bunny ears on older TVs. The latest is the Mohu Arc Pro, which is based off the Mohu Arc but adds an amplifier, a signal strength meter, and 20 miles of additional range.
Design
The design is just as the name implies. It is a simple, flat panel antenna that has been curved back into an arc shape. The coax cable is non-removable and is built into the unit. A stand/wall mount is included and snaps into slots on the back. Also included is an optional signal amplifier to boost the signal strength. Power is provided via a USB connection on the cable, but a USB power adapter is not included. If your TV either doesn’t have USB or the USB doesn’t provide power, then you will need to plan on purchasing a USB power adapter if you don’t already have a spare.
The design is just as the name implies. It is a simple, flat panel antenna that has been curved back into an arc shape. The coax cable is non-removable and is built into the unit. A stand/wall mount is included and snaps into slots on the back. Also included is an optional signal amplifier to boost the signal strength. Power is provided via a USB connection on the cable, but a USB power adapter is not included. If your TV either doesn’t have USB or the USB doesn’t provide power, then you will need to plan on purchasing a USB power adapter if you don’t already have a spare.
Setup
You can set the Arc Pro either on a flat surface, standing up, or hang it on a wall using the screw slots on the back of the stand. The stand is very light so if you opt for placing standing up make sure it is a safe place as it can easily fall over when bumped or shaken. The included signal amplifier is installed between the antenna cable and the TV. In some cases, it might be unnecessary but without it the signal strength meter doesn’t work. The signal strength meter has no way to know what signal you are picking up so one can only assume it just indicates how strong the overall signal is. When adjusting, the signal meter can be very sensitive to people or electrical devices nearby. So, when testing, it is best to step back and wait for a couple of seconds to determine the actual signal strength.
You can set the Arc Pro either on a flat surface, standing up, or hang it on a wall using the screw slots on the back of the stand. The stand is very light so if you opt for placing standing up make sure it is a safe place as it can easily fall over when bumped or shaken. The included signal amplifier is installed between the antenna cable and the TV. In some cases, it might be unnecessary but without it the signal strength meter doesn’t work. The signal strength meter has no way to know what signal you are picking up so one can only assume it just indicates how strong the overall signal is. When adjusting, the signal meter can be very sensitive to people or electrical devices nearby. So, when testing, it is best to step back and wait for a couple of seconds to determine the actual signal strength.
Performance
The box says 60-mile range but installing any antenna indoors presents challenges to performance. Mohu’s outdoor omnidirectional version has the same listed range and is installed in the same area can pick up 78 stations with 26 stable. The Arc Pro picks up a maximum of 19 stations with 14 stable. A more direct comparison would be with an indoor non-amplified leaf style antenna. While this style picks up 14 stations with an average signal strength of 2 out of 5, the Arc Pro improves this average a signal of 4 to 5 and noticeably fewer artifacts or dropouts. The five additional stations the Arc Pro allows are intermittent with heavy artifacts and so they don’t add to the total channel count.
The box says 60-mile range but installing any antenna indoors presents challenges to performance. Mohu’s outdoor omnidirectional version has the same listed range and is installed in the same area can pick up 78 stations with 26 stable. The Arc Pro picks up a maximum of 19 stations with 14 stable. A more direct comparison would be with an indoor non-amplified leaf style antenna. While this style picks up 14 stations with an average signal strength of 2 out of 5, the Arc Pro improves this average a signal of 4 to 5 and noticeably fewer artifacts or dropouts. The five additional stations the Arc Pro allows are intermittent with heavy artifacts and so they don’t add to the total channel count.
Final Thoughts
It must be said that if your priority is maximum signal strength, then you should look at Mohu’s external omnidirectional antennas. It is hard to compare anything indoors to the advantages of an antenna outdoors with no obstructions. However; if your priority is sleek design in a small package indoors, then the Arc Pro can serve you well. Just be sure to keep your expectations in check. This won’t necessarily bring you more channels than a standard antenna, but it will help you find optimum placement faster and help you get solid reception for those stations when compared to its non-amplified counterpart. If you are looking for solid reception indoors in a small package, the Mohu Arc Pro warrants consideration.
It must be said that if your priority is maximum signal strength, then you should look at Mohu’s external omnidirectional antennas. It is hard to compare anything indoors to the advantages of an antenna outdoors with no obstructions. However; if your priority is sleek design in a small package indoors, then the Arc Pro can serve you well. Just be sure to keep your expectations in check. This won’t necessarily bring you more channels than a standard antenna, but it will help you find optimum placement faster and help you get solid reception for those stations when compared to its non-amplified counterpart. If you are looking for solid reception indoors in a small package, the Mohu Arc Pro warrants consideration.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Ensure full power for your mobile devices during long drives with this Anker ROAV Bolt car charger. It’s compatible with Google Assistant for voice-controlled navigation and music streaming, and it supports versatile connectivity via Bluetooth, and auxiliary port. This Anker ROAV Bolt car charger’s compact, lightweight design offers convenient portability and storage.
Customer Rating
2
Great Concept, Unstable Software
on May 13, 2019
Posted by: CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Adds Google Assistant to older cars
Includes two USB charging ports
Dual mics greatly reduce background noise
Clean design blends in with interior
Adds Google Assistant to older cars
Includes two USB charging ports
Dual mics greatly reduce background noise
Clean design blends in with interior
Cons
Charger ports are not QuickCharge capable
Wake phrase takes a long time to respond
Wake phrase works inconsistently
Newer cars don’t allow ROAV to turn off automatically
Line out doesn’t work
Initial pairing takes multiple attempts
Firmware updates took multiple attempts
Commands to play music by genre usually don’t work
Commands to text someone rarely work
Charger ports are not QuickCharge capable
Wake phrase takes a long time to respond
Wake phrase works inconsistently
Newer cars don’t allow ROAV to turn off automatically
Line out doesn’t work
Initial pairing takes multiple attempts
Firmware updates took multiple attempts
Commands to play music by genre usually don’t work
Commands to text someone rarely work
The Anker ROAV is a great idea. Do you want smart features in your car but don’t want to bother installing a new stereo in your car? Just plug the ROAV into your power port, pair with your phone, connect to your stereo and you have a smart stereo with little effort and little money. Even better, you get a real assistant.
Design
The overall design is very clean and easily blends into most car interiors. It has four hidden lights on the front that are near invisible when not lit, two charging ports on bottom, and a line out port on the right side. In what seems like a missed opportunity, the charging ports are not QuickCharge capable. Included in the box is a stereo cable for direct connection to your stereo. When waiting for a connection to a phone, the front lights flash amber in series. When it is listening from the wake word, the lights turn white in sequence. There is a single action button which is fixed to trigger Google Assistant to read off your latest notifications.
Pros
Adds Google Assistant to older cars
Includes two USB charging ports
Dual mics greatly reduce background noise
Clean design blends in with interior
The overall design is very clean and easily blends into most car interiors. It has four hidden lights on the front that are near invisible when not lit, two charging ports on bottom, and a line out port on the right side. In what seems like a missed opportunity, the charging ports are not QuickCharge capable. Included in the box is a stereo cable for direct connection to your stereo. When waiting for a connection to a phone, the front lights flash amber in series. When it is listening from the wake word, the lights turn white in sequence. There is a single action button which is fixed to trigger Google Assistant to read off your latest notifications.
Pros
Adds Google Assistant to older cars
Includes two USB charging ports
Dual mics greatly reduce background noise
Clean design blends in with interior
Cons
Charger ports are not QuickCharge capable
Wake phrase takes a long time to respond
Wake phrase works inconsistently
Newer cars don’t allow ROAV to turn off automatically
Line out doesn’t work
Initial pairing takes multiple attempts
Firmware updates took multiple attempts
Commands to play music by genre usually don’t work
Commands to text someone rarely work
Charger ports are not QuickCharge capable
Wake phrase takes a long time to respond
Wake phrase works inconsistently
Newer cars don’t allow ROAV to turn off automatically
Line out doesn’t work
Initial pairing takes multiple attempts
Firmware updates took multiple attempts
Commands to play music by genre usually don’t work
Commands to text someone rarely work
The Anker ROAV is a great idea. Do you want smart features in your car but don’t want to bother installing a new stereo in your car? Just plug the ROAV into your power port, pair with your phone, connect to your stereo and you have a smart stereo with little effort and little money. Even better, you get a real assistant.
Design
The overall design is very clean and easily blends into most car interiors. It has four hidden lights on the front that are near invisible when not lit, two charging ports on bottom, and a line out port on the right side. In what seems like a missed opportunity, the charging ports are not QuickCharge capable. Included in the box is a stereo cable for direct connection to your stereo. When waiting for a connection to a phone, the front lights flash amber in series. When it is listening from the wake word, the lights turn white in sequence. There is a single action button which is fixed to trigger Google Assistant to read off your latest notifications.
The overall design is very clean and easily blends into most car interiors. It has four hidden lights on the front that are near invisible when not lit, two charging ports on bottom, and a line out port on the right side. In what seems like a missed opportunity, the charging ports are not QuickCharge capable. Included in the box is a stereo cable for direct connection to your stereo. When waiting for a connection to a phone, the front lights flash amber in series. When it is listening from the wake word, the lights turn white in sequence. There is a single action button which is fixed to trigger Google Assistant to read off your latest notifications.
Usage
Setup
This is where the ROAV starts to show weakness. The instructions say connecting the ROAV to your stereo via line in is best. When you pair your phone and choose Line-In, it keeps attempting to set up via Line-In and repeatedly fails. This then requires you to connect to your phone via Bluetooth. Strangely, you must still have your phone connected to your car via Bluetooth as well or the process won’t work. After repeated attempts to set it up via line-in and finally reverting to Bluetooth it came to the process of updating the firmware. This process seems straightforward as the only option is to update, but in practice it took multiple failed attempts before the firmware would update. With the new firmware one might think maybe the line-in issue is fixed. Strangely, to switch to line-in once in Bluetooth mode you have to factory reset. It doesn’t say in the instructions but if you hold down the action button until all lights are on, it will factory reset. After a firmware update and factory reset, line-in still would not work.
Setup
This is where the ROAV starts to show weakness. The instructions say connecting the ROAV to your stereo via line in is best. When you pair your phone and choose Line-In, it keeps attempting to set up via Line-In and repeatedly fails. This then requires you to connect to your phone via Bluetooth. Strangely, you must still have your phone connected to your car via Bluetooth as well or the process won’t work. After repeated attempts to set it up via line-in and finally reverting to Bluetooth it came to the process of updating the firmware. This process seems straightforward as the only option is to update, but in practice it took multiple failed attempts before the firmware would update. With the new firmware one might think maybe the line-in issue is fixed. Strangely, to switch to line-in once in Bluetooth mode you have to factory reset. It doesn’t say in the instructions but if you hold down the action button until all lights are on, it will factory reset. After a firmware update and factory reset, line-in still would not work.
Performance
A troublesome setup process could be forgiven if, after setup, the ROAV worked as intended. Unfortunately, the software woes continue. Launching via the wake phrase works inconsistently and very slow, usually taking about 15-30 seconds to respond. Ruling out phone speed issues the delay is still present, even with a Galaxy S9+ connected directly to Wi-Fi, meaning the ROAV is the cause of the delay. Sometimes it can take long enough to launch that you wonder if it launched at all. Other times it just seems to lock up requiring it to be unplugged and plugged back in. The noise cancellation works reasonably well for a such a small device, but even in a very well insulated vehicle commands are sometimes heard wrong. It also seems the noise cancellation doesn’t benefit the ROAV hearing it’s wake phrase as light road noise could require yelling the wake phrase. This means if you have a louder car, which most older cars are that you would likely buy this for, then you are going to have more trouble with reliable activation. Mileage may vary on this so if you have an older, louder car, just be prepared to take advantage of your return policy. This is understandable as noise cancellation technology is inconsistent and depends on the type of noise.
A troublesome setup process could be forgiven if, after setup, the ROAV worked as intended. Unfortunately, the software woes continue. Launching via the wake phrase works inconsistently and very slow, usually taking about 15-30 seconds to respond. Ruling out phone speed issues the delay is still present, even with a Galaxy S9+ connected directly to Wi-Fi, meaning the ROAV is the cause of the delay. Sometimes it can take long enough to launch that you wonder if it launched at all. Other times it just seems to lock up requiring it to be unplugged and plugged back in. The noise cancellation works reasonably well for a such a small device, but even in a very well insulated vehicle commands are sometimes heard wrong. It also seems the noise cancellation doesn’t benefit the ROAV hearing it’s wake phrase as light road noise could require yelling the wake phrase. This means if you have a louder car, which most older cars are that you would likely buy this for, then you are going to have more trouble with reliable activation. Mileage may vary on this so if you have an older, louder car, just be prepared to take advantage of your return policy. This is understandable as noise cancellation technology is inconsistent and depends on the type of noise.
What is confusing is commands that normally work for Google Assistant directly on the phone often don’t work on ROAV. Want to text someone using your voice? Often you will be greeted with, “I don’t know how to do that yet.” Want to call someone on mobile? At random times you might have to interchange between saying call mobile or cell as it just seems to not work with one or the other and respond with, “No mobile number found for …” Want to play music by genre? You might find that randomly it will either not be able to find the genre or simply say it’s playing but do nothing. A workaround when it plays nothing is to skip to the next track, at which point it will stutter and then start playing. It almost seems to be a connectivity issue as you will notice the voice changes from the offline Google assistant voice to the one you have chosen. Testing directly on the phone does not exhibit such behavior suggesting it has something to do with the way the request is routed through ROAV.
Final Thoughts
Anker has a great idea with the ROAV and hopefully software updates could make it work as intended. The hardware itself seems solid, with the only real blemish being the lack of QuickCharge. Hopefully with future software and firmware updates they can improve the speed, reliability, and accuracy. Until then, if you wish to try out the ROAV just be prepared to experience inconsistent behavior. Otherwise, you might be better served waiting a few more months for the issues to be worked out and patched.
Anker has a great idea with the ROAV and hopefully software updates could make it work as intended. The hardware itself seems solid, with the only real blemish being the lack of QuickCharge. Hopefully with future software and firmware updates they can improve the speed, reliability, and accuracy. Until then, if you wish to try out the ROAV just be prepared to experience inconsistent behavior. Otherwise, you might be better served waiting a few more months for the issues to be worked out and patched.
Mobile Submission: False
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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CraigB's Review Comments
Watch your favorite movies, TV shows and sporting events in crisp 1080p resolution with this Samsung UN65FH6001FXZA HDTV, which features Clear Motion Rate 240 to preserve picture detail during fast-action sequences.
Overall5 out of 5
5 out of 5This is an awesome TV for the cost
By Korom
from Raleigh, NC
First, this is a fantastic monitor. If you have a receiver for your HDMI switching and watch TV with the sound through that receiver then this is the PERFECT TV for you. I use it with my Denon e300 receiver, all my HDMI inputs go into the receiver with one HDMI cable going to the TV. Minimal fuss and muss. The picture quality is truly incredible for a LCD TV, the blacks are very very good, almost as good as my Panasonic Plasma but its understandable that its not that good as LCD cannot show true black like a plasma can. I checked 3 bars for the sound quality but honestly I never used the internal speakers. I gave this 5 stars and would have given it 6 stars if I could have (on a 5 star scale) because the picture quality is just that good.
Bottom line: Fantastic TV for the price.
CraigB
Texas
An LED TV is a type of LCD TV
November 29, 2013
Folks. For those of you telling this reviewer that he is talking about the wrong TV because he calls it an LCD, it is an LCD. LED TV's are still LCD TV's. The difference is the backlight behind the LCD is LED's instead of CCFL(fluorescent). Both still have and LCD screen that you actually look at up front.
+2points
2of 2voted this comment as helpful.
Microsoft Band 2 (Large): Keep track of your health and fitness goals throughout the day by monitoring your heart rate, steps taken, calories burned, sleep quality, hours slept and other helpful metrics. Just pair with your Windows Phone, Apple iOS or Android device via Bluetooth to receive alerts at a glance.Discover how the technology of Microsoft Band 2 can assist you in a healthy, productive lifestyle. Learn more ~
Overall5 out of 5
5 out of 5Best fitness tracker for the money
By CraigB
from Texas
When choosing high end fitness bands, my choices went back and forth between the Microsoft Band 2 and the Fitbit Surge. Fitbit has been in the business for fitness wearables for longer but I chose the Band 2 for what I felt was better value for my money. I purchased during a $50 off sale making it even more attractive and $50 less than the Surge. My main phone for this review is a Lumia 1520 with Windows 10 Mobile. I assume others will write reviews of the phone for other platforms and that is where this review starts. This fitness wearable is by far the most compatible. It supports iOS, Android, and Windows Phone/Mobile. Fitbit does as well but support for Windows Mobile is more limited. Comparing it to the Surge, it has more customizability, color screen, and a partially metal build. It feels more premium than the Surge. The metal does have 2 downsides. The first is that the finish used shows scratches extremely easily. See included picture. The second is that sweat and soap cause a foul smell very quickly requiring regular cleaning.
The Band 2 can be worn in two positions. The first is with the screen facing outwards like a watch. I tried this but it felt uncomfortable and viewing the screen was awkward particularly considering the screen doesn’t have a vertical view. This leads me to my preferred position which is with the screen facing inwards. It is much more natural to view and operate. It also feels more comfortable and is in fact the recommended way to wear the device. If there was any concern it is that wearing it inward the screen is always contacting surfaces when you lay your arms down. It uses gorilla glass but it still concerns me that I might scratch the screen. Every fitness wearable wasn’t completely comfortable to wear for one reason or another but this one starts to feel about like a watch after an adjustment period. Before you get the size right you might put it a place that binds you wrist or hits a nerve. I also learned it can get the heart rate just fine without tightening it down so far you hit nerves. Just like a watch it will take some fiddling to find your perfect tightness. Fortunately, the latching mechanism feels strong and has more adjustments than a tradition watch as well giving you more flexibility. Just make sure you use the sizing guide on the size of the box to choose the correct size. It shows wrists sizes with the wrist sideways.
Now the big question is how it works for tracking vitals. I haven’t worked with VO2 Max so I can’t comment on that but after getting the fit correct, the heart rate seems pretty close. Checking manual it was usually within about 10BPM or less from actual. Tracking steps seems a little different. It is difficult to verify but it seems to be a little high on the number of steps sometimes compared to my old hip worn pedometer. It just seems like I can reach 5,000 steps fairly easily. I am not a runner so I have not tested the GPS but I have read that some units have come from the factory with a bad GPS. What’s really nice is with all the vitals it gathers, more than just heart rate, it should be a fairly accurate color estimate. It has guided workouts you can add but I used the generic color tracking and added my own workout types to track. You can add things like HIT and weight training for your own purposes but it uses all the sensors to estimate the color burn instead of estimating based on the workout type. I feel this is more accurate but cannot verify. When you start workout mode, by default the screen stays on showing your workout time and heart rate. I suspect it is not as accurate as a chest band but it seems pretty good. After your workout is done you can see the entire workout on your phone or the website with your heart rate the entire time and your max marked. If there was any gripe it would be that you can’t have it vibrate when you hit your target or max heart rate. That would have been a great feature but, who knows. Maybe they will add it in the future. You can even use the website to compare your vitals to others in your height, weight, and age category. It’s all anonymous and very informative.
When not working out it still tracks your heart rate all the time but the other useful time to check is when you are sleeping. It can detect your sleep but if it gets it wrong you can only delete the time, not edit. You are better off starting your sleep tracking yourself. While sleeping, it will monitor you and in when you wake up you can see what your resting heart rate was overnight to get an even better picture of your health. It also has a smart alarm you can activate. If you want to wake up at a set time, just set the alarm and it will vibrate to wake you up. What I really like is if you activate the smart alarm and set it for 7:30am it will wake you up somewhere between 7:00am and 8:00am when you are most awake. That means you don’t wake up to an alarm feeling like you haven’t rested. You can even set the strength of the vibration.
Since this is a little bit of a smart watch you can add some apps. Since the phone doesn’t have any memory though, expect to only have them work when around your phone. It can control music on your phone and even use voice recognition with Cortana. I am running a prerelease build of the phone software so on occasion the connection dropped but it wasn’t hard to get back. I have found the notifications actually quite nice. I can leave the phone in one place in the house and still get notifications and respond to basic texts. I can also connect my phone to the stereo and change tracks and turn the volume up or down. It’s a standard feature for a smart watch but this is a fitness wearable and much cheaper than a smart watch. There are even some extra apps you can add and some third part utilizes to customize it further but if you want a smart watch more you might want to go that route. If you want a smart fitness tracker, this thing is hard to beat.
Pros
Solid (premium) build quality. It often gets looks and people asking what it is
Tracks more vitals than any other fitness wearable
Comfortable after figuring out your preferred fitment
Bright, sharp screen with auto brightness
Smart Alarm
Customizable workouts
Workout coaches
Customizable with smart watch type features
Solid latching mechanism
Good battery life for its functionality (2 days with no GPS and auto on screen)
Fast charge time (30 minutes to 80%)
Gorilla glass screen
Works on iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, and Web. The web is the most feature rich
Integrates with Health Vault
Constant heart rate
Portal to compare health
Rich sleep stats including restful sleep, times awake, resting heartrate, and recovery
Solid (premium) build quality. It often gets looks and people asking what it is
Tracks more vitals than any other fitness wearable
Comfortable after figuring out your preferred fitment
Bright, sharp screen with auto brightness
Smart Alarm
Customizable workouts
Workout coaches
Customizable with smart watch type features
Solid latching mechanism
Good battery life for its functionality (2 days with no GPS and auto on screen)
Fast charge time (30 minutes to 80%)
Gorilla glass screen
Works on iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, and Web. The web is the most feature rich
Integrates with Health Vault
Constant heart rate
Portal to compare health
Rich sleep stats including restful sleep, times awake, resting heartrate, and recovery
Cons
Cannot change band because electronics are built in
Metal area is a trap for sweat and soap requiring regular cleaning to prevent odor
Cannot change screen orientation
Awkward wearing screen outward
Metal finish is easy to scratch
No build in memory to bring music and store GPS while leaving phone behind for a time
Water resistant instead of waterproof
Possible to scratch screen with it facing downward
Sync is a bit slow
Cannot change band because electronics are built in
Metal area is a trap for sweat and soap requiring regular cleaning to prevent odor
Cannot change screen orientation
Awkward wearing screen outward
Metal finish is easy to scratch
No build in memory to bring music and store GPS while leaving phone behind for a time
Water resistant instead of waterproof
Possible to scratch screen with it facing downward
Sync is a bit slow
CraigB
Texas
Additional Findings
January 9, 2016
I just wanted to add an extra observations to my original review.
For those of you who want to view the display outside in sunlight, it doesn't seem to get that bright. For me that is not a big deal because outside exercises are typically the type where I don't use real time tracking but if you are the type who needs to read the display in direct sunlight, you might find it difficult. I will be checking further and report back if I find anything because indoors it is so bright that I wonder if I have done something wrong in the setup. Even with this finding I still feel it is the best for the money.
Also, if you happen to swap between phones or get a new phone you will have to factor reset the band. I periodically switch phones and discovered this. The system is designed to easily replace your band while using the same phone but if you move the band to any phone, even one that was restored from a backup of your original you will have to factory reset the band and set it back up. Not a huge deal because little is actually stored on the phone.
One other huge bonus for Windows Phone/Mobile users. If for some reason you either forget or choose not to wear your band and have a Lumia that is capable you can use it to augment your Band. Sometimes for different reasons I don't want to wear my band and only need to track steps. If I just keep my Lumia 950 in my pocket, it will track my steps and add them to what the band couldn't track. That particular feature is one I really love. The only caveat to that is while it updates the steps on the app and portal, the extra steps from your phone don't get transferred back to your band. This means if you took 2,000 steps with your band and phone and an additional 5,000 with only your Lumia the app will report 7,000 steps total which is correct but your band will continue to report 2,000 steps. Minor quibble though for a great additional feature for Windows Phone fans.
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ecobee ecobee3 Programmable Touch-Screen Wi-Fi Thermostat: Maintain a comfortable home with this programmable thermostat, which is Apple~ HomeKit-enabled, so you can control the temperature remotely using your compatible device. Home IQ helps you conserve energy.
Overall
1 out of 5
1 out of 5cant set custom temps..sensors are glitchy
By annaj
i was trying to get this thermostat to set 4 or 5 different temps automaticly per day. an ecobee tech couldnt help me get this done on my web portal account . the sensors dont read the occupancy after being in the room for hours like being in a bedroom all night when u wake up the sensor will read unoccupied or sitting in the living room all day the same thing will happen after a few hours. a regular programable thermostat would have been a better choice.
CraigB
Texas
Did you try IFTTT
February 7, 2016
I was just wondering if you have looked into IFTTT to set those custom automatic temps. I haven't tried your exact scenario but the Ecobee3 can be connected to an IFTTT account to extend it's functionality.
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Your household wants to play, stream and work online all at once. With this Linksys router, you can do it all without buffering or other interruptions. Use the Smart Wi-Fi app to get started, control, and monitor your home network from anywhere.
Overall5 out of 5
5 out of 5Solid router with good range and speed
By CraigB
from Texas
I am posting this review after about a week of use. If I find anything more significant after posting I will add it as a reply to my original post. Be sure to check there for additions.
I needed to upgrade my WiFi because the internet service in my area was about to be upgraded to exceed the capacity of my current wireless N solution. This router seems as if it was marketed towards moderate power users as well as people with less technical skills who need an upgrade. Packaging is minimal the same as most routers today. It comes with a CD for documentation but it is not used for setup. This is a good thing because as an AC router most people upgrading to this would have newer devices, few of which have an optical drive.
I needed to upgrade my WiFi because the internet service in my area was about to be upgraded to exceed the capacity of my current wireless N solution. This router seems as if it was marketed towards moderate power users as well as people with less technical skills who need an upgrade. Packaging is minimal the same as most routers today. It comes with a CD for documentation but it is not used for setup. This is a good thing because as an AC router most people upgrading to this would have newer devices, few of which have an optical drive.
For the non-technical
This is not very hard to set up. You plug power into the only spot it fits. There are three antennas that screw into very noticeable spots on the back. And the internet plug is clearly labeled. The instructions tell you what to do in a few steps to get the device to take care of the rest. It also has the wireless already set up if you are afraid to do it and even comes with a sticker with the information so you will know what the password is to get on the WiFi. It already has a guest WiFi too but there is a separate login so someone can’t just borrow your internet without you giving them the password. If you feel more comfortable there are apps for iPhones and Android phones to control the device. Speed and range are very good but if you can it is always recommended to install it as close to the center of your house and avoid metal. The router can pretty much take care of itself after that and it shouldn’t require any further work.
This is not very hard to set up. You plug power into the only spot it fits. There are three antennas that screw into very noticeable spots on the back. And the internet plug is clearly labeled. The instructions tell you what to do in a few steps to get the device to take care of the rest. It also has the wireless already set up if you are afraid to do it and even comes with a sticker with the information so you will know what the password is to get on the WiFi. It already has a guest WiFi too but there is a separate login so someone can’t just borrow your internet without you giving them the password. If you feel more comfortable there are apps for iPhones and Android phones to control the device. Speed and range are very good but if you can it is always recommended to install it as close to the center of your house and avoid metal. The router can pretty much take care of itself after that and it shouldn’t require any further work.
For the technical people
If you are looking for a device with tons of granular settings, this might not be the device. Of course the power users I am referring to would probably be better suited sticking with the WRT series. I doubt this device will ever see an aftermarket firmware. It attempts to have a clean interface but that means it will feel slower than a power user router for some settings changes as transitions and animations run their course. Setting changes that require a reboot happen nearly as fast as the fastest routers out there. Although the stock firmware attempts to look fancy and simple it still has a decent amount of settings for all but the most extreme power users. The antennas use a standard connection so if you wanted to upgrade to larger ones later that is possible. Hardwired speed has been very good. I’m just a casual gamer but this hasn’t slowed me down at all and I cannot tell the different hardwired from my old gaming router. Wireless speed is actually very good as well although I was never able to achieve the 1300Mbps link speed advertised even right next to the unit. I maxed out at 900Mbps and it is possible that is related to my AC devices. My old router would drop down to the 39Mpbs on the opposite side of my house whereas this one can maintain at least 177Mpbs and often more.
If you are looking for a device with tons of granular settings, this might not be the device. Of course the power users I am referring to would probably be better suited sticking with the WRT series. I doubt this device will ever see an aftermarket firmware. It attempts to have a clean interface but that means it will feel slower than a power user router for some settings changes as transitions and animations run their course. Setting changes that require a reboot happen nearly as fast as the fastest routers out there. Although the stock firmware attempts to look fancy and simple it still has a decent amount of settings for all but the most extreme power users. The antennas use a standard connection so if you wanted to upgrade to larger ones later that is possible. Hardwired speed has been very good. I’m just a casual gamer but this hasn’t slowed me down at all and I cannot tell the different hardwired from my old gaming router. Wireless speed is actually very good as well although I was never able to achieve the 1300Mbps link speed advertised even right next to the unit. I maxed out at 900Mbps and it is possible that is related to my AC devices. My old router would drop down to the 39Mpbs on the opposite side of my house whereas this one can maintain at least 177Mpbs and often more.
So far during my ownership the stability of this device has reminded me of the old Linksys routers how even the cheap ones never locked up. I’m hoping it stays this way. If you want to change settings, you can do so the standard way most technical people do via the IP address or it has a built in URL. Thankfully it doesn’t require some odd application for initial setup. Unlike standard routers, this one is cloud connected when you choose so meaning remote access is passed via the cloud. It does support some dynamic DNS options but they seem more to push you towards connection via their cloud. Fortunately, this is optional except if you want to take advantage of the built in USB ports and access files remotely. I don’t have a spare drive to test right now so unfortunately I could not test the NAS performance. It does have a very basic QoS which allows you to set up to 3 services or devices as high priority but that’s pretty much it. It has some newer options but then oddly has more old services, such as Real Player and Rhapsody.
Pros
Large, replaceable antennas
Great Range
Reliable
Gigabit Ports
Fast Processor
Status lights can be turned off
Decent amount of features for all but the heavy power users
Doesn’t require a special application for setup or CD
Has USB ports for attaching a hard drive
Offers automatic firmware upgrades to keep security up. Good for keeping non power users safe (Can be turned off)
Documentation is thorough if you need help. You just click help on the top bar
Major changes that require a restart are almost unnoticeable to users as it restarts fast
Has WiFi secured by default and requires a password to be configured during setup. This is good if you are buying one for family and just want it secure without needing to help them. It even has a handy sticker with device specific WiFi passwords so someone can’t just look up a default WiFi password for the unit and borrow internet.
Large, replaceable antennas
Great Range
Reliable
Gigabit Ports
Fast Processor
Status lights can be turned off
Decent amount of features for all but the heavy power users
Doesn’t require a special application for setup or CD
Has USB ports for attaching a hard drive
Offers automatic firmware upgrades to keep security up. Good for keeping non power users safe (Can be turned off)
Documentation is thorough if you need help. You just click help on the top bar
Major changes that require a restart are almost unnoticeable to users as it restarts fast
Has WiFi secured by default and requires a password to be configured during setup. This is good if you are buying one for family and just want it secure without needing to help them. It even has a handy sticker with device specific WiFi passwords so someone can’t just look up a default WiFi password for the unit and borrow internet.
Cons
Interface tries too hard to be attractive slowing it down with animations
Only supports 2 Dynamic DNS providers.
QoS settings seem to cater to power users but offer little customization
QoS rule changes require moving service or devices boxes around and the interface jumps quickly between sections. This often causes you to accidentally move something you didn’t intend to.
Included “Apps” are of limited usefulness and only work on iOS and Android which leaves out anything Windows (No Windows 10 Universal Apps) and no Mac. No configuring your router with touch, like via a Surface, using a Windows App.
Interface tries too hard to be attractive slowing it down with animations
Only supports 2 Dynamic DNS providers.
QoS settings seem to cater to power users but offer little customization
QoS rule changes require moving service or devices boxes around and the interface jumps quickly between sections. This often causes you to accidentally move something you didn’t intend to.
Included “Apps” are of limited usefulness and only work on iOS and Android which leaves out anything Windows (No Windows 10 Universal Apps) and no Mac. No configuring your router with touch, like via a Surface, using a Windows App.
Final Notes
Higher end units near this price point I have owned have had large aluminum heatsinks to dissipate heat. This one has one very small heatsink. I suspect heat stress will be higher on this unit and might be why this case has such a large open cavity you can easily see straight through the vent holes. I suspect longevity will be lower but only time will tell. So the unit has not felt very warm so fingers crossed.
Higher end units near this price point I have owned have had large aluminum heatsinks to dissipate heat. This one has one very small heatsink. I suspect heat stress will be higher on this unit and might be why this case has such a large open cavity you can easily see straight through the vent holes. I suspect longevity will be lower but only time will tell. So the unit has not felt very warm so fingers crossed.
CraigB
Texas
Longer term observations
February 22, 2016
Adding to my original review I have found some new observations to add to this router. I switched to using it as an access point, which takes a little digging, and found out that once you do so you lose a lot of features that should still work but are removed. For example, as an access point you get no guest networks. You can only have 1 2.5GHz WiFi and 1 5GHz. All features such as WMM and QoS are completely gone. Remote administration is turned off. I have also experienced an odd condition where my Xbox One cannot connect using the exact same key as my old router that my Xbox was connected to. I have also experienced 1 lockup where the unit just completely stopped responding and had to be power cycled. Over all it's still a good router but it feels like it could use a little more firmware refinement.
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Microsoft Band 2 (Large): Keep track of your health and fitness goals throughout the day by monitoring your heart rate, steps taken, calories burned, sleep quality, hours slept and other helpful metrics. Just pair with your Windows Phone, Apple iOS or Android device via Bluetooth to receive alerts at a glance.Discover how the technology of Microsoft Band 2 can assist you in a healthy, productive lifestyle. Learn more ~
Overall5 out of 5
5 out of 5Best fitness tracker for the money
By CraigB
from Texas
When choosing high end fitness bands, my choices went back and forth between the Microsoft Band 2 and the Fitbit Surge. Fitbit has been in the business for fitness wearables for longer but I chose the Band 2 for what I felt was better value for my money. I purchased during a $50 off sale making it even more attractive and $50 less than the Surge. My main phone for this review is a Lumia 1520 with Windows 10 Mobile. I assume others will write reviews of the phone for other platforms and that is where this review starts. This fitness wearable is by far the most compatible. It supports iOS, Android, and Windows Phone/Mobile. Fitbit does as well but support for Windows Mobile is more limited. Comparing it to the Surge, it has more customizability, color screen, and a partially metal build. It feels more premium than the Surge. The metal does have 2 downsides. The first is that the finish used shows scratches extremely easily. See included picture. The second is that sweat and soap cause a foul smell very quickly requiring regular cleaning.
The Band 2 can be worn in two positions. The first is with the screen facing outwards like a watch. I tried this but it felt uncomfortable and viewing the screen was awkward particularly considering the screen doesn’t have a vertical view. This leads me to my preferred position which is with the screen facing inwards. It is much more natural to view and operate. It also feels more comfortable and is in fact the recommended way to wear the device. If there was any concern it is that wearing it inward the screen is always contacting surfaces when you lay your arms down. It uses gorilla glass but it still concerns me that I might scratch the screen. Every fitness wearable wasn’t completely comfortable to wear for one reason or another but this one starts to feel about like a watch after an adjustment period. Before you get the size right you might put it a place that binds you wrist or hits a nerve. I also learned it can get the heart rate just fine without tightening it down so far you hit nerves. Just like a watch it will take some fiddling to find your perfect tightness. Fortunately, the latching mechanism feels strong and has more adjustments than a tradition watch as well giving you more flexibility. Just make sure you use the sizing guide on the size of the box to choose the correct size. It shows wrists sizes with the wrist sideways.
Now the big question is how it works for tracking vitals. I haven’t worked with VO2 Max so I can’t comment on that but after getting the fit correct, the heart rate seems pretty close. Checking manual it was usually within about 10BPM or less from actual. Tracking steps seems a little different. It is difficult to verify but it seems to be a little high on the number of steps sometimes compared to my old hip worn pedometer. It just seems like I can reach 5,000 steps fairly easily. I am not a runner so I have not tested the GPS but I have read that some units have come from the factory with a bad GPS. What’s really nice is with all the vitals it gathers, more than just heart rate, it should be a fairly accurate color estimate. It has guided workouts you can add but I used the generic color tracking and added my own workout types to track. You can add things like HIT and weight training for your own purposes but it uses all the sensors to estimate the color burn instead of estimating based on the workout type. I feel this is more accurate but cannot verify. When you start workout mode, by default the screen stays on showing your workout time and heart rate. I suspect it is not as accurate as a chest band but it seems pretty good. After your workout is done you can see the entire workout on your phone or the website with your heart rate the entire time and your max marked. If there was any gripe it would be that you can’t have it vibrate when you hit your target or max heart rate. That would have been a great feature but, who knows. Maybe they will add it in the future. You can even use the website to compare your vitals to others in your height, weight, and age category. It’s all anonymous and very informative.
When not working out it still tracks your heart rate all the time but the other useful time to check is when you are sleeping. It can detect your sleep but if it gets it wrong you can only delete the time, not edit. You are better off starting your sleep tracking yourself. While sleeping, it will monitor you and in when you wake up you can see what your resting heart rate was overnight to get an even better picture of your health. It also has a smart alarm you can activate. If you want to wake up at a set time, just set the alarm and it will vibrate to wake you up. What I really like is if you activate the smart alarm and set it for 7:30am it will wake you up somewhere between 7:00am and 8:00am when you are most awake. That means you don’t wake up to an alarm feeling like you haven’t rested. You can even set the strength of the vibration.
Since this is a little bit of a smart watch you can add some apps. Since the phone doesn’t have any memory though, expect to only have them work when around your phone. It can control music on your phone and even use voice recognition with Cortana. I am running a prerelease build of the phone software so on occasion the connection dropped but it wasn’t hard to get back. I have found the notifications actually quite nice. I can leave the phone in one place in the house and still get notifications and respond to basic texts. I can also connect my phone to the stereo and change tracks and turn the volume up or down. It’s a standard feature for a smart watch but this is a fitness wearable and much cheaper than a smart watch. There are even some extra apps you can add and some third part utilizes to customize it further but if you want a smart watch more you might want to go that route. If you want a smart fitness tracker, this thing is hard to beat.
Pros
Solid (premium) build quality. It often gets looks and people asking what it is
Tracks more vitals than any other fitness wearable
Comfortable after figuring out your preferred fitment
Bright, sharp screen with auto brightness
Smart Alarm
Customizable workouts
Workout coaches
Customizable with smart watch type features
Solid latching mechanism
Good battery life for its functionality (2 days with no GPS and auto on screen)
Fast charge time (30 minutes to 80%)
Gorilla glass screen
Works on iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, and Web. The web is the most feature rich
Integrates with Health Vault
Constant heart rate
Portal to compare health
Rich sleep stats including restful sleep, times awake, resting heartrate, and recovery
Solid (premium) build quality. It often gets looks and people asking what it is
Tracks more vitals than any other fitness wearable
Comfortable after figuring out your preferred fitment
Bright, sharp screen with auto brightness
Smart Alarm
Customizable workouts
Workout coaches
Customizable with smart watch type features
Solid latching mechanism
Good battery life for its functionality (2 days with no GPS and auto on screen)
Fast charge time (30 minutes to 80%)
Gorilla glass screen
Works on iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, and Web. The web is the most feature rich
Integrates with Health Vault
Constant heart rate
Portal to compare health
Rich sleep stats including restful sleep, times awake, resting heartrate, and recovery
Cons
Cannot change band because electronics are built in
Metal area is a trap for sweat and soap requiring regular cleaning to prevent odor
Cannot change screen orientation
Awkward wearing screen outward
Metal finish is easy to scratch
No build in memory to bring music and store GPS while leaving phone behind for a time
Water resistant instead of waterproof
Possible to scratch screen with it facing downward
Sync is a bit slow
Cannot change band because electronics are built in
Metal area is a trap for sweat and soap requiring regular cleaning to prevent odor
Cannot change screen orientation
Awkward wearing screen outward
Metal finish is easy to scratch
No build in memory to bring music and store GPS while leaving phone behind for a time
Water resistant instead of waterproof
Possible to scratch screen with it facing downward
Sync is a bit slow
CraigB
Texas
Band split after serveral months
May 23, 2016
As others who have discovered after owning the Band 2 for a while, the band itself tends to split. Even if you are gentle the rubberized material just doesn't seem to hold up. The good news in my case is I leave reasonably close to a Microsoft Store. I brought it to them and as always they took great care of me. The assistant store manager was the one who assisted me and he said that Microsoft is aware of the problem and is already working to fix the issue. I had the same problem with the first generation Type Cover for the Surface. Back then they took care of me and ultimately Microsoft corrected the issue. It's unfortunate this kind of thing gets through but at least it doesn't seem to be a hassle to get it resolved.
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Enjoy powerful performance with this compact HP Pavilion Wave computer. The Intel i3 processor provides fast data handling, while the 1TB hard drive lets you store plenty of files. This HP Pavilion Wave computer has 8GB of RAM to run the latest applications and four USB ports for connecting multiple accessories.
Overall3 out of 5
3 out of 5Still can't get the speaker/microphone to work.
By Murphdad013
from New York , ny
The HP help line is terrible and Best Buy was no help at all. In fact I spoke directly ....finally...with someone at HP who said that my Paviliion Wave needed an external microphone headset for montonaccess Cortona. WRONG!!!!
CraigB
Texas
It has a built in microphone
January 16, 2017
I own this unit and it has a built in microphone. I use it for Cortana regularly. Sounds like the support person got it wrong.
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Arlo Pro takes the worrying out of life with the 100% Wire-Free indoor/outdoor home monitoring system. Arlo Pro includes rechargeable batteries, motion and sound-activated alerts, 2-way audio, a 100+ decibel siren, and 7 days of free cloud HD video recordings. Arlo covers every angle to help keep you safe and protected.
Overall4 out of 5
4 out of 5Good system with lots of potential
By CraigB
from Texas
Pros
Extremely Quick setup (A 2 camera system takes roughly 30 minutes)
Very easy set up. It comes with basic instructions but the app nicely walks you through each step
No need to run wires
Compact
Discreet cameras easily blend in with lighter color homes
Good daytime video quality for the price
Includes microphone and speaker
Flexible mounting options. Included option is easy but other fixed mounts can be used
Large rechargeable batteries
Motion trigger is supposed to get an update to determine if the motion is by a person
All devices get regular security updates. Even the cameras get updated wirelessly. Nice considering cameras are a new target for hackers.
Inanimate objects don’t seem to cause false motion triggers
Standard external hard drive can be used for local storage
Basic plan included for free
Easily expandable
Extremely Quick setup (A 2 camera system takes roughly 30 minutes)
Very easy set up. It comes with basic instructions but the app nicely walks you through each step
No need to run wires
Compact
Discreet cameras easily blend in with lighter color homes
Good daytime video quality for the price
Includes microphone and speaker
Flexible mounting options. Included option is easy but other fixed mounts can be used
Large rechargeable batteries
Motion trigger is supposed to get an update to determine if the motion is by a person
All devices get regular security updates. Even the cameras get updated wirelessly. Nice considering cameras are a new target for hackers.
Inanimate objects don’t seem to cause false motion triggers
Standard external hard drive can be used for local storage
Basic plan included for free
Easily expandable
Cons
Support for Windows is poor for the new touchscreen devices.
No Windows app for Windows 8 and 10 devices of any size.
Video quality, mainly night time, is probably not good enough for legal purposes.
Night video quality makes recognition near impossible past approximately 10 feet
Easy to steal or move regardless of mounting
Camera speaker is not very loud
Provided screws use too fine of a thread and the metal head strips out easy
All videos are public if someone can intercept your emails on the way to your inbox. (Email delivery by design is not encrypted so if someone intercepts your emails on the way they can see any of your videos with audio)
Recording time is fixed so even if motion or sound is still occurring you can miss recording
Web interface has some bugs such as freezing on zoom, Live play button disappears, and touch doesn’t work.
Sound recording doesn’t occur until a few seconds after video recording
At least one camera exhibited a noticeable “ticking clock” sound when recording audio
Connecting them hardwired defeats the weatherproofing
Instructions do not give tutorial about advanced features but rather let you discover them
No organizer for hard drive recordings
Dependent on good upload internet speeds. The more cameras you have, the faster the upload speed you need. This can be a limiting factor for some.
Long lag time to start live viewing even with very fast connection
Support for Windows is poor for the new touchscreen devices.
No Windows app for Windows 8 and 10 devices of any size.
Video quality, mainly night time, is probably not good enough for legal purposes.
Night video quality makes recognition near impossible past approximately 10 feet
Easy to steal or move regardless of mounting
Camera speaker is not very loud
Provided screws use too fine of a thread and the metal head strips out easy
All videos are public if someone can intercept your emails on the way to your inbox. (Email delivery by design is not encrypted so if someone intercepts your emails on the way they can see any of your videos with audio)
Recording time is fixed so even if motion or sound is still occurring you can miss recording
Web interface has some bugs such as freezing on zoom, Live play button disappears, and touch doesn’t work.
Sound recording doesn’t occur until a few seconds after video recording
At least one camera exhibited a noticeable “ticking clock” sound when recording audio
Connecting them hardwired defeats the weatherproofing
Instructions do not give tutorial about advanced features but rather let you discover them
No organizer for hard drive recordings
Dependent on good upload internet speeds. The more cameras you have, the faster the upload speed you need. This can be a limiting factor for some.
Long lag time to start live viewing even with very fast connection
Setup was very easy, particularly for a security camera system. The entire process is achieved by following the steps one by one as the app tells you. Install the app, set up your Arlo account, plug in the base unit to power and internet, sync the cameras, hang the cameras, and you’re done. A two camera system only took approximately 30 minutes. The kit includes metal bases, screws, and wall anchors but the screws are small and easy to strip. The metal bases work with a strong magnet included inside the camera. Although convenient, the metal bases allow someone to easily steal or move these expensive cameras so placement is important. Netgear offers screw in mounts for a more rigid and secure mounting. The entire hardware and software process has had a lot of thought put into making it easy. There are no complicated router changes needed to be made at all or complicated programming. Oddly some features, like changing the recording quality, must be done on a regular computer for which there is no app.
There is one strange feature omission from Netgear. This system has a Pro designation and yet support for regular, more modern computers, is limited. Businesses by and large use Windows computers and the most popular type of Windows computers selling today are Windows 2-in-1 convertibles with touchscreens this trend is forecasted to increase and yet this system is barely even useable by any touchscreen Windows device. This is also odd because what better way to check out a security video than on a large screen. You are forced to use a browser to view videos which the experience varies based on browser. Simple things like moving a slider don’t work because the website doesn’t work with touch. Browser administration has other bugs, such as the Live Video button disappearing. If this was an app you wouldn’t have to worry about how the end user’s choice of browser affects the experience. Not having a Universal Windows app is a missed opportunity. I have seen a large increase in clients that are buying Windows 2-in-1 systems instead of desktops or Android/iOS tablets for their primary system. A Windows Universal app they could support such systems, or any other form factor of Windows for that matter. Imagine if the app was on Xbox One in your living room and you want to check on things outside. Just say “Hey Cortana, open Arlo” and you could see your video feed or videos quickly and easily from the convenience of your couch on a big screen. That would be great. If you have smaller Windows devices, the website is unusable. It tries to get you to use an app that doesn’t exist. Oddly enough if you have a link to a shared video the same website will serve you the video in a mobile optimized format. Smaller Windows devices and Windows Mobile devices are left unsupported. Future updates and app releases could easily alleviate this but for now Windows support is poor.
The base unit comes with a Sync/Siren button, network port, and two USB ports for storage. The siren is loud and sounds like newer smoke alarms. It can be trigger locally, by the app, or via configurable rules such as motion or audio sensing. You can switch the base unit to modes for recording for motion and/or audio, no recording, or armed or disarmed based using Geofencing. You can also define your own custom modes allowing specific cameras and audio for each to be on or off. Due to battery restrictions, there is no continuous recording. Recording time from motion is a default of 5 seconds regardless of if the motion continues. Cameras include built in IR for night vision, motion sensor, microphone, and speaker and are weatherproof assuming the charging plug cover is on. One large difference with the Pro version is the inclusion of large rechargeable batteries which should last quite a long time between charging. When video is recorded, it is uploaded via your internet connection to your account meaning a good upload internet speed is important. Videos are stored in a calendar format and can be viewed, shared, or deleted from the interface.
Overall performance when factoring in the price for features was good. Shuddering and lag was minimal with surprisingly good wireless range. Remote viewing of live video is reasonably quick although it still took several seconds and is highly dependent on your internet upload speed. Audio took about 2 seconds to start every time after a motion trigger recording or manual live viewing and had a slightly audible tick-tock sound. The built-in speaker is barely audible at max volume. As with all security systems, there is a loss of some detail to do recording compression. Daytime recordings show signs of video compression but subjects are still reasonably recognizable at approximately 25 feet. Nighttime viewing brings recognition down to approximately 10-15 feet before subjects hard to recognize. Although not official, friends in law enforcement said it is not good for legal purposes as they must have a definitive, recognizable face to use the video. Motion detection was generally good but people moving fast could often elude the recording. Due to the fixed recording time, the system could also miss recording an event if it ran past the configured time.
A big concern is the video sharing feature. Arlo by default emails you anytime it records. It conveniently sends you a screenshot of what it recorded. However; the email sends a direct link to the video that can be viewed without logging in. This would be even more concerning if you had cameras in your house. By definition, is sent unsecured between providers. Although the industry is trying to improve that, you should always assume your emails have no encryption when sent to you. This means that it is possible and relatively easy for criminals to eavesdrop and see your videos with audio without ever knowing your account info. The good thing is that is easy to remedy turning off the feature that emails you when it records a video. That way the link to the video won’t be sent out on the web unsecured and your videos are still stored in the cloud without being shared openly. Hopefully, Netgear will remedy this in the future.
Overall, it is a nice system for the price point when compared to the competition. Compared to legacy DVR and NVR security camera systems this makes the whole process a lot more accessible for the average consumer. As long as you keep your expectations in line it is a nice system. All security camera systems, particularly ones costing less than $2,500 have limitations.
Overall, it is a nice system for the price point when compared to the competition. Compared to legacy DVR and NVR security camera systems this makes the whole process a lot more accessible for the average consumer. As long as you keep your expectations in line it is a nice system. All security camera systems, particularly ones costing less than $2,500 have limitations.
A standout feature, even comparing to high end systems, is this system will automatically get updates for security. Anyone who watched the news in late 2016 saw that the biggest hack was perpetrated using devices, such as camera systems, that weren’t updated. That is something still lacking in the “professional” security camera world. You also won’t have to hire someone to come pull wiring through your house or small business. Cameras can be placed wherever you can mount a base. If for some reason, such as poor signal, the place doesn’t work they are easy to move. It not be a real high definition security camera system but it also costs nowhere near as much. Just be sure you can accept the Cons before buying. The overall system is well thought out and with continued improvement of the listed cons this could be the best system for nearly any price.
CraigB
Texas
New developments after extended use
January 31, 2017
I have discovered some new elements to the system with more use.
The first is that I did find a way to adjust video quality via the app and not just the website. It turns out the way it is displayed is as one of 3 choices instead of a slider.
Next is that the cameras only work with Netgear's proprietary charger. Even though it uses USB both the manual an other say it only works with the Netgear one.
Finally I discovered that the motion detection does sometimes act strange. I purchase one additional camera and for some reason no matter the sensitivity of the motion it records a motion even every 30 seconds at night. I have observed that it seems to happen more if my neighbor has a light on but even that is not consistent.
+4points
4of 4voted this comment as helpful.
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Can photoshop Elements 2022 edit both video and photos? Thanks,
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Hi, I bought this laptop. I don't know how to activate windows 10 included. Thanks
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