Share Christob's profile
Christob
Christob's stats
- Review count4
- Helpfulness votes34
- First reviewJanuary 18, 2010
- Last reviewDecember 27, 2013
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating5
Reviews comments
- Review comment count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First review commentNone
- Last review commentNone
- Featured review comments0
Questions
- Question count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First questionNone
- Last questionNone
- Featured questions0
Answers
- Answer count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First answerNone
- Last answerNone
- Featured answers0
- Best answers0
Christob's Reviews
iPad® mini 2 has a stunning 7.9-inch Retina display with over 3.1 million pixels. It also comes with the A7 chip with 64-bit architecture, ultrafast wireless, iSight and FaceTime HD cameras, powerful apps, and up to 10 hours of battery life.1 Yet it still fits easily in one hand.
Customer Rating
5
Smaller/lighter format tipped the scales for me
on December 27, 2013
Posted by: Christob
from Arlington VA
Verified Purchase:Yes
As a long time iPhone owner, and a user of MacBook Pros for several years, I'm always surprised it took me this long to get on the iPad wagon. I never could "justify" buying one -- I used iPads belonging to friends, and they were neat, but large, clunky and heavy, and I couldn't "see" myself using one regularly.
The Mini, with Retina, completely changed that. A dazzling display (beating out my Macbook Pro 15" laptop screen resolution!) and the smaller format is A) noticeably lighter than earlier full-size iPads, and B) comfortable enough to easily hold up in one hand. Everything looks pretty brilliant on this; movies, videos, my photography, games... I'm looking forward to trying this out as a "remote" screen for wireless connection to my SLR camera, too.
My only real complaint is the "premium" that seems to be attached to most of Apple's product prices... but it is what it is... it will be interesting to see if the growing competitors in the tablet market bring about an Apple price change sometime.
The Mini, with Retina, completely changed that. A dazzling display (beating out my Macbook Pro 15" laptop screen resolution!) and the smaller format is A) noticeably lighter than earlier full-size iPads, and B) comfortable enough to easily hold up in one hand. Everything looks pretty brilliant on this; movies, videos, my photography, games... I'm looking forward to trying this out as a "remote" screen for wireless connection to my SLR camera, too.
My only real complaint is the "premium" that seems to be attached to most of Apple's product prices... but it is what it is... it will be interesting to see if the growing competitors in the tablet market bring about an Apple price change sometime.
My Best Buy number: 0775114315
My Best Buy number: 0775114315
What's great about it: Smaller size, stunning Retina display
What's not so great: Still very expensive
I would recommend this to a friend!
Ease of Use
5
Features
5
Share this review:
+1point
2of 3voted this as helpful.
Aluratek iStream Universal Bluetooth Audio Receiver: Easily add Bluetooth capability to your existing stereo system or speaker dock using this receiver, which lets you wirelessly stream audio from your Bluetooth-enabled device from up to 33 feet away. Built-in battery provides up to 12 hours of wireless use.
Customer Rating
5
Great adapter for car stereo
on June 10, 2013
Posted by: Christob
from Arlington VA
Type of Listener:Casual listener
Most Important to Purchase:Sound quality
How Often Used:Daily
Just picked this up yesterday, for use in my car with iPhone5. Car has a mini-jack input inside the armrest, to play (wired) devices through stereo, and while that had worked well for a few years, by keeping my ancient iPod wired inside the armrest, it was a huge pain to always open the armrest to change songs, etc.
I'm hopeful the product will provide trouble-free use for a long time (some of the reviews have me nervous about that...) But so far, so good.
I'm powering it directly off the car's aux power jack (also located inside the armrest) so I haven't had a chance or reason to test battery life. Only drawback I see so far, is tied to the very compact design (which I actually like, but...) The attached cord to connect the 3.5mm jack to the input is only about 2-3 inches long. In my armrest, the input jack is located at the bottom of a kind of deep storage well. The connection cord is not long enough to allow me to place the device up in the "top tray" of the armrest cavity. So I have to leave it down in the bottom of the well---which isn't a huge problem, except that every time I enter the car, I have to press the tiny button located on the device, to get it to connect to my iPhone. (It connects automatically and quickly each time I press the button, but you have to press the button each time -- apparently it doesn't sit there waiting to "auto sense" that my iPhone has come into range, each time I enter the car.) So I have to open the armrest & remove the top tray, to reach the bottom of the well and the device. Not the end of the world, since I do it when I first enter the car... But a longer 3.5mm cord would give added placement flexibility.
I'm hopeful the product will provide trouble-free use for a long time (some of the reviews have me nervous about that...) But so far, so good.
I'm powering it directly off the car's aux power jack (also located inside the armrest) so I haven't had a chance or reason to test battery life. Only drawback I see so far, is tied to the very compact design (which I actually like, but...) The attached cord to connect the 3.5mm jack to the input is only about 2-3 inches long. In my armrest, the input jack is located at the bottom of a kind of deep storage well. The connection cord is not long enough to allow me to place the device up in the "top tray" of the armrest cavity. So I have to leave it down in the bottom of the well---which isn't a huge problem, except that every time I enter the car, I have to press the tiny button located on the device, to get it to connect to my iPhone. (It connects automatically and quickly each time I press the button, but you have to press the button each time -- apparently it doesn't sit there waiting to "auto sense" that my iPhone has come into range, each time I enter the car.) So I have to open the armrest & remove the top tray, to reach the bottom of the well and the device. Not the end of the world, since I do it when I first enter the car... But a longer 3.5mm cord would give added placement flexibility.
It is SO much nicer/easier controlling song selection from the iPhone5 (kept in my shirt pocket, or sitting on the passenger seat, or anywhere else handy.) Audio quality has been great - the Bluetooth transmission seems to provide a louder max volume level, too, than when I directly-wire the iPhone5 into that same aux jack, which is a nice perk.
What's great about it: compact, works as described
What's not so great: Longer wire would be nice
I would recommend this to a friend!
Sound Quality
5
Ease of Use
4
Features
4
Share this review:
+8points
11of 14voted this as helpful.
Canon EF 24–105mm f/4L IS USM Standard Zoom Lens: Designed for professionals as well as advanced amateur photographers, this sophisticated lens with Ultrasonic Motor and a Super-UD glass element takes stunning pictures with incredible detail.
Posted by: Christob
from Arlington VA
Miles of text have already been written about this lens, so I'll just say that it is my first "L" series lens, and is everything I hoped it would be. Before this lens, I'd also been using two very high quality non-L Canon's; the 100mm f/2.8 macro, and the EFS10-22 super-wide. (Plus the trusty EFS17-85IS.) I use a Canon 7D body. The 100 and 10-22 were the most expensive lenses in my bag before now, and consistently delivered the best results of any of my lenses, regarding color and sharpness; particularly the 100. (I'd read that both the 100 and the 10-22 were as near to "L quality" as you could get, without buying an L---so I wasn't really expecting the L lens to blow me away, as if I were migrating from a cheap kit lens straight to an L; more like, I hoped it would provide a subtle, but still noticeable improvement.)
The image quality is terrific, top-notch, and the f/4 throughout the zoom range is so much more useful and enjoyable than I'd anticipated, for rendering blur. Another pleasant discovery was how close I could get to a subject, whether I'm at 24mm or 105, and still focus... I've turned out some wonderful close-ups shot at 105 this way, standing inches from the subject.
The included lens hood is a nice feature, given the price; wish more Canon lenses came with their hoods. When it is stowed backwards on the lens, it partially blocks the manual focus ring, which took some getting used to, in order to be able to find the ring without looking.
The Image Stabilization is quiet - often so quiet, I had to check a few times that I'd not turned it off by accident.
The lens is my heaviest yet, but by no means uncomfortable.
I have no regrets with this lens, and can easily see it being my most-used lens, within a short while.
The image quality is terrific, top-notch, and the f/4 throughout the zoom range is so much more useful and enjoyable than I'd anticipated, for rendering blur. Another pleasant discovery was how close I could get to a subject, whether I'm at 24mm or 105, and still focus... I've turned out some wonderful close-ups shot at 105 this way, standing inches from the subject.
The included lens hood is a nice feature, given the price; wish more Canon lenses came with their hoods. When it is stowed backwards on the lens, it partially blocks the manual focus ring, which took some getting used to, in order to be able to find the ring without looking.
The Image Stabilization is quiet - often so quiet, I had to check a few times that I'd not turned it off by accident.
The lens is my heaviest yet, but by no means uncomfortable.
I have no regrets with this lens, and can easily see it being my most-used lens, within a short while.
What's great about it: Image quality, Image Stabilization feature, continuous f/4 throughout zoom, close focusing, included lens hood
What's not so great: Heaviest of my lenses
I would recommend this to a friend!
Ease of Use
5
Durability
4
Share this review:
+18points
18of 18voted this as helpful.
Canon EOS 7D DSLR Camera Body: With a host of features designed to provide creative opportunity and exceptional image quality, the EOS 7D represents an advanced class of camera. An array of automatic and manual settings give you full control over your shots, and an 18.0 megapixel CMOS sensor with Dual DIGIC 4 processing allows you to capture fine details with powerful performance.Memory card sold separately.
Posted by: Christob
from Arlington VA
I've upgraded from the Rebel XTi after using that for 2 years; this camera is superb, but as the Rebel XTi was already a very capable camera to begin with, in my opinion, the 7D didn't feel like an earth-shaking upgrade for me personally. I'm still just a few weeks into using it, and re-learning how to quickly access some of the main settings (especially during shooting, when you have your eye up to the viewfinder) has been a bit of a challenge, comfortable as I'd become with with Rebel's layout. I still have to check the topside LCD display, or go into the Quick Info screen, until I have it all memorized.
I'm very happy with the improved ISO noise (or rather, the lack of noise)---that was probably my biggest complaint of my Rebel, such that I only shot at 100 or 200; rarely 400, and never 800/1600. The 7D by comparison has produced quite acceptable noise levels up to 3200 so far, and the range goes up to 12000.
The LCD screen on back is a bright, sharp, fantastic upgrade from the Rebel's; I feel like I can finally rely on the LCD to check careful spot focus or the image overall. I also like that Canon brought "Live View" to the camera (similar to a point-and-shoot, allows you to use the LCD screen, instead of viewfinder, to compose)---that feature is nice for awkward angles, where putting your eye to the viewfinder might be hard to do---it also allows you to zoom in 10x on the live scene, to confirm focus before you shoot (helpful in manual focus/macro shots.)
I should have known better, but was a little surprise by how few of my favorite accessories migrated from the Rebel to the 7D... the Canon Angle-Finder C will fit both thankfully, but the 7D uses larger batteries, and thus a different battery grip accessory, as well as a different 3-pin wired remote shutter release. Of course with the larger file size, my mostly 4-gig cards from the Rebel fill up *mighty* fast! So some of these crucial add-ons to my new kit was an added expense I hadn't fully thought out.
Overall, I'm very happy with the camera; the larger body size fits my hands better than the Rebel did, and I don't mind the extra weight. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to someone who is already very comfortable with SLR use, as an upgrade from the Rebel line, or even the "10-series" lineup.
(Note: I have not had any interest in, nor need to explore the HD video feature of the camera, so I can't comment on that.)
I'm very happy with the improved ISO noise (or rather, the lack of noise)---that was probably my biggest complaint of my Rebel, such that I only shot at 100 or 200; rarely 400, and never 800/1600. The 7D by comparison has produced quite acceptable noise levels up to 3200 so far, and the range goes up to 12000.
The LCD screen on back is a bright, sharp, fantastic upgrade from the Rebel's; I feel like I can finally rely on the LCD to check careful spot focus or the image overall. I also like that Canon brought "Live View" to the camera (similar to a point-and-shoot, allows you to use the LCD screen, instead of viewfinder, to compose)---that feature is nice for awkward angles, where putting your eye to the viewfinder might be hard to do---it also allows you to zoom in 10x on the live scene, to confirm focus before you shoot (helpful in manual focus/macro shots.)
I should have known better, but was a little surprise by how few of my favorite accessories migrated from the Rebel to the 7D... the Canon Angle-Finder C will fit both thankfully, but the 7D uses larger batteries, and thus a different battery grip accessory, as well as a different 3-pin wired remote shutter release. Of course with the larger file size, my mostly 4-gig cards from the Rebel fill up *mighty* fast! So some of these crucial add-ons to my new kit was an added expense I hadn't fully thought out.
Overall, I'm very happy with the camera; the larger body size fits my hands better than the Rebel did, and I don't mind the extra weight. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to someone who is already very comfortable with SLR use, as an upgrade from the Rebel line, or even the "10-series" lineup.
(Note: I have not had any interest in, nor need to explore the HD video feature of the camera, so I can't comment on that.)
What's great about it: Great ISO response, terrific LCD screen, fast frame rate, more features than I have need for right now
What's not so great: The only negative I can think of, is I wish the Canon price was set lower for a non-full-frame.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Picture Quality
5
Ease of Use
4
Features
5
Share this review:
+3points
3of 3voted this as helpful.
Christob's Review Comments
Christob has not submitted comments on any reviews.
Christob's Questions
Christob has not submitted any questions.
Christob's Answers
Christob has not submitted any answers.