swemoney's stats
- Review count252
- Helpfulness votes175
- First reviewMay 14, 2016
- Last reviewJune 5, 2025
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating3.9
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- Answer count12
- Helpfulness votes10
- First answerJune 10, 2016
- Last answerApril 18, 2021
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Reveal the road ahead with the MAXcam 360c, Escort’s complete driver alert system that turbo boosts your road awareness with the perfect blend of hardware, software, and community. Maximize your drive with a system that is engineered for excellence. The MAXcam 360c delivers exceptional detection performance combined with advanced video protection.
Customer Rating
4
Really good detector. Ok dashcam. Pricey.
on July 5, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
I haven't used a radar detector in probably a good 20 years. Never anything nearly this fancy. I'm pretty happy with it's feature set but I'm not quiet sure I'm impressed enough to spend quite this much on one.
Setup is fairly easy for the most part. You can basically just attach the sticky suction cup to your windshield and put the detector on the magnet and then plug it in and you're ready to go. That's a pretty basic setup. There's a ton of settings to go through if you're in advanced mode. And you can connect it to your phone as well. So there's a lot more than just basic radar detection that you can do if you go through some more steps. The magnetic clip takes a minute to get used to since you have to get the detector into the notch first and then rotate it down but it's not too bad. My biggest gripe is actually the proprietary RJ45 power jack as well as the separate MINI usb connection (not even micro). For this price, I would definitely prefer a single USB-C plug for both power and data. They sell their own hard wire kit for $25-35 which is probably the whole point in keeping the power cable proprietary.
The number of settings is almost overwhelming. If you don't know what they do, just leave them alone but for the most part they're pretty easy to grasp. You can find a good description of each setting in the manual. Navigating and changing settings took me a second to figure out but I eventually got it well enough to go through them all on the device.
If you're feeling frisky and don't have enough accounts for things, there's the Drive Smarter app that lets your connect to your Escort and control a lot of things. You need an account which is always a negative for me but it's pretty much the standard now a days. You can go through settings of the device a little easier in the app than trying to navigate them on the device. The app is basically just another GPS app that communicates with the detector. The nicest thing about it is that it replaces the over-speed speed on the detector screen with the current speed limit (if it's detected). Then you can see the alerts on the app as well as the device screen so I guess that's kind of nice? I mainly just don't use the app since I'd rather use Apple Maps if I need GPS and I'd rather not have it running all the time while I'm driving. One reason to at least connect to the app at some point is to connect your detector to wifi so it can update firmware and database entries, though.
The radar detector works pretty well in my smallish sample size so far. The first trip I took with it, I turned the corner and it went off right away and there was a cop right across the street. It does detect pretty much everything so you'll see a lot of false positives.. at first. One of the nicest things I like about this detector is it's learning mode. It's a setting you can turn off but I don't intend to do that. It basically remembers where it saw events and if the same event shows up at the same place a few times, it adds it to a lock out database and it doesn't yell at you next time it's detected. It will still show up on the screen but it will give you a bit Locked message and then show the radar detection in gray and silent. It will also unlock an event if that radar goes away at some point in the future. Seems smart. So far it's worked pretty well for me.
It seems like this detector can see pretty much every type of radar in existence. It doesn't include anything to block radar detector detectors (or a stealth mode) so if you need that, look elsewhere. I had to look up the different types of radar and what they meant so I understood which events I needed to be more aware of but that didn't take long. When an event is detected, you can see how strong the signal is in front and behind you. By default it will just show the most important event (based on how likely that signal is to be a real event), but you can change a setting that will show up to 4 events at the same time. Basically, radar detection seems to work really well and maybe I'm just out of the loop as far as how much a good radar detector costs these days.
You're not just getting a radar detector with this one! If you're looking to consolidate your devices and squeeze an alright dashcam into your radar detector, this thing might be for you! The picture is technically 1440p. There are settings for how long each segment is recorded for (1, 3 or 5 minutes). There's a g-sensor for shock detection that automatically locks recordings. There's even a parking mode that can keep the device asleep while you're parked but start recording when it detects a g-sensor movement or motion. It has a decent amount of features. The picture quality is just alright for me. I think the sensor is pretty good on the camera but the compression is a little over-zealous. Things look pretty good while moving but you can see a ton of artifacts around the overlay text and watermarks. This could maybe be fixed with a firmware update to maybe give us an option for compression settings. It's not a huge issue and I'm sure they're able to squeeze more recordings onto the sdcard that comes in the box. You can also connect your detector (via a separate USB cable) to your computer which pops up the device as a USB drive where you can check out your recordings and even update your firmware without wifi. I had issues getting the device to pop up on my main PC but it worked fine on another laptop so I'm going to blame some configuration issues on my PC instead of knock the device for it.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with this radar detector. It didn't need a dashcam for me but it's an added bonus to not need both devices on your windshield. I might be out of the loop on how much radar detectors cost these days because this seems really pricey. But if you're more knowledgeable and this seems like a good price for what I can see as a really good radar detector combined with a pretty good dashcam, then check this one out.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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This two pack protects your electronics from a power spike while adding additional connection options. The Insignia NS-HW36A2P 2-Outlet In-Wall Outlet with 2 USB Ports - 2 pack with 2 USB Ports has two standard, grounded outlets and two USB ports, giving you more connection options to keep your electronics powered and fully charged. Its 3.6A of shared USB power quickly and efficiently charges your devices, while 110V of power let you plug in electronics and appliances. It fits your existing decora-style outlet cover and is tamper-resistant, upgrading your existing outlet with ease.
Customer Rating
4
They're decent outlets
on June 7, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
There's not much to say about these. They work well enough to charge up some devices without needing USB plugins. The only down side I could see is larger plug bricks tend to cover a part of the USB outlets so you'll have to be aware of what you intend to plug in before replacing your old outlet.
Setup is as straight forward as your experience allows. I've replaced my fair share of electrical outlets so it was easy enough for me but if you're uncomfortable working with electricity, you might need to hire someone to install them. Just keep in mind what standard plugs you're going to have plugged in and make sure you can plug it in without covering the USB outlets. I had to change where I was going to install these because one of the plugs was just too large.
The outlets state they support up to 3.6 amps. I assume that's for both USB outlets so with both plugged in, you can get a maximum of 1.8 amps each which is more than sufficient for most phones and other small devices in our house.
Not much more to be said here. They do what they're supposed to. I'm enjoying being able to free up a couple standard plug outlets because I don't need USB chargers plugged in all the time.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Enjoy big sound with the super-compact SRS-XB100 wireless speaker, offering powerful, clear sound, an updated IP67 waterproof and dustproof design1,2, and up to 16 hours of battery life.3 Small enough to fit in a bag or cupholder, the XB100 also features a versatile strap to take with you wherever you go.
Customer Rating
4
Nice sound, small and durable.
on May 27, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
I was mostly surprised at how small but rugged feeling this speaker was. Overall, I think the sound is pretty good for the size of the speaker (definitely sounds best sitting on a solid surface) even if it doesn't get quite as loud as I might want it to.
Setup was a breeze. It's just a bluetooth speaker. Turn it on and pair it with your device and you're off to the races. There's an app you can download but it doesn't do much except play music from your library or Spotify (or some other "apps" that you can add to their app for some reason. I honestly don't understand why anyone would play through Sony Music instead of just using the app directly on their phone). In other Sony speakers, the app does some EQ tweaks and adjusts other settings but on this one, it's just completely unnecessary. Pairing with additional devices is simple as well. No holding the power button or anything, just press the bluetooth button and it'll go into pairing mode again.
The build quality on this thing is quite nice if you're looking for something you can probably kick around. I didn't actually TRY and kick it around but it feels like it could take a beating. Something I could see a kid taking with them everywhere and it still keeps ticking no matter what kind of abuse it gets. The body is almost all a hard durable rubber. There's a decent amount of weight to the speaker too. I wouldn't recommend actually trying to abuse this thing but I could see it withstanding some abuse from absent minded kids. It's also a very small speaker and has a wrist strap so I almost feel like younger people might be the target demographic.
The sound quality is pretty good for such a small speaker. Bass sounds pretty good. Everything sounds better sitting on a table. I don't particularly like the sound while holding or dangling the speaker from the strap. A solid surface is good and if you can stick it somewhere with a wall nearby, that sounds even better. You aren't getting home theater quality sound or anything out of something this small but it's a great companion for listening to your phone's music and it's small enough to throw in a bag and take it wherever with you. If I had to come up with a small gripe about the audio, it would probably be the volume. It just doesn't get super loud. I'll revisit my previous statement of younger people being the target demographic because the audio levels would be pretty good for my kids without completely annoying me.
And that's probably who's going to use this speaker more than anything. It seems like a perfect fit for younger kids. The strap makes it easy to carry around and I can just play anything they want from my phone for them. I can also see it being a staple in a teenager's school bag or something. It's not loud enough to bust out at a big party or something but it's perfect for a small listening party around a single table. If you're looking for something small and durable with a decent sound, consider this one.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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With the Razer Stream Controller X, creativity comes easily. Manage your streaming and content creation seamlessly through one convenient device that controls all your apps and tools. Streamline your workflow so you can focus on what matters most—engaging the fans and growing your following.
Customer Rating
3
Nice hardware. Clunky Software.
on May 24, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
As a Twitch streamer, my Stream Deck is one of my most valuable resources. I really can’t imagine going back to a time where a lot of different actions I use all the time are only a single button press away. Not only that, but the information that can be presented on each button makes it easy to set up little heads up displays for certain things. The Razer Stream Controller X is very similar to the Stream Deck in both looks and functionality so I can’t imagine a review that won’t bring up the comparisons. This review won’t be very different from that.
Setup was fairly simple because I already have other Razer devices so when I plugged in the Stream Controller X, the Synapse software loaded up right away and offered an update and then automatically installed the Loupedeck software. I remember the Stream Deck software from way back when it first came out so I’m kind of glad Razer didn’t choose to reinvent the wheel here and is relying on some software that has at least existed for a little while (not necessarily saying the software is good, but more mature software is always better than brand new stuff that’s missing a lot of features). This device is pretty late to the party and has a high bar to meet if it wants to compete against the Stream Deck so coming with some software that has been around for a bit at least brings them up to speed a lot quicker.
The build quality of this is really nice. I’ll say I like it better than the Stream Deck I have (I have the original Mk.1 Deck right now). I know the Mk.2 Stream Deck base is a lot nicer than the cheap little folding stand that the Mk.1 came with but thie stand on the Stream Controller is heavy and nice and has that sticky without residue bottom that just plants it to your desk. You can move it but it takes some effort unsticking it from your desk. The actual keypad magnetically attaches to the base and has a removable USB-C cable. I like everything about how this is build. The Razer logo is subtle and black on the bottom. Doesn’t take up much space and doesn’t stand out. The buttons also feel much nicer than my Stream Deck. The travel time is a bit lower which makes them feel a lot less mushy than the Stream Deck. It feels like no matter where you press, you’ll probably activate the button while the Stream Deck can have some issues when pressing on the corners. It also helps a lot that the device is nicely stuck to your desk so you don’t really need to hold the device still when pressing buttons. Just reach and press. If I had to come up with a single bad thing about it, I suppose I could say that the stand isn’t adjustable. If that’s important to you, you’re SOL since this is at a single angle and that’s it. But it’s a good angle. And the actual keypad detaches from the base so you could always just make your own base if it really bothers you. So hardware-wise, I give Razer the advantage.
Now for the software. One of the best parts of the Stream Deck is the software and the integration with various services. You can always just use an external numpad and assign hotkeys to things that way but having software that directly communicates with your other software with visual feedback on the button (for instance, being able to see if a device is muted because the button changes when you press it) is invaluable to me. The Stream Controller X uses the Loupedeck software which does appear to have most of the features you’ll find in Elgato’s software. There’s an SDK so users and other software developers can write extra plugins to do even more. The problem I have with it is that things feel a little bloated and clunky to me. The software looks pretty nice but silly things like not being able to move the Window for whatever reason and long delays between certain actions just make it cumbersome to use. You could probably design buttons that do a lot of what you want to do but it just isn’t very fun to work with.
The next knock against the Loupedeck software vs Elgato’s Stream Deck software is the third party support. Loupedeck came after Stream Deck for sure but it never really caught on like the Stream Deck. Therefore, a lot of developers just don’t seem to bother with writing plugins for it. As of writing this review, there are 55 plugins in the Loupedeck marketplace. Most of these are very simplistic and don’t offer a ton in the way of customization that I’ve found. Like changing the default icon on something like the Twitch Viewer Count just means the button doesn’t function anymore because the plugin draws the text right onto the default button and changing it doesn’t appear to draw text anymore. The icon editor seems like it’s pretty nice on the surface but then you find things like not being able to make any additional modifications if you set the icon to an animated GIF (usually you can move the images around, but you can’t even add text to an animated GIF). It also appears that you get a single image and a single text element that you can move around. Silly things like that just don’t make me feel like I can customize everything like I can with my Stream Deck which I can make look exactly like I want to and function (more or less) exactly like I want to. I really wanted to like this software as it was something new and it looked pretty nice when I first launched it. But the more I used the software, the more I grew frustrated by it’s shortcoming. Stream Deck definitely maintains I huge advantage in software and third party support.
This isn’t to say it’s a total bust. Given the feel for the buttons and the overall sturdiness when it’s stuck to my desk, I can see this being much more useful for controlling specific applications or as a hotkey board. I like the Stream Deck for pressing a button and having a thing or a bunch of things happen across variables services and applications. But I wouldn’t want to use it for editing videos or playing games just based on how the buttons feel and how the device just slides around the desk if I press a button too hard. On the other hand, I placed the Stream Controller X right next to my keyboard (with the really long and nice USB cable that was included) and I’ll be using it along with plugins for Premier Pro and Photoshop as well as things like Farming Simulator and whatever other games I think I could use a macro keypad for.
So, while the Stream Controller X won’t replace my Stream Deck any time soon. I still do see the value in it. The main issues I have with it are with it’s software and third party support. Both of these things are resolvable over time with software updates and as more developers start writing more plugins. I’ll definitely start using this Stream Controller X as a more basic macro keypad for games and software that I feel can use it, but I’ll stick with my Stream Deck for controlling my Twitch stream.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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The Alienware 34" Curved Gaming monitor features QD-OLED technology and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. Featuring infinite contrast ratio, 165Hz refresh rate and VESA DisplayHDR TRUEBlack 400 for an incredible front-of-screen performance.
Customer Rating
5
Going to be hard to go non-OLED
on May 15, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
This is my first OLED monitor and I have to say, the biggest take away is how hard it's going to be to go back to non-OLED screens. I have 2 other pretty nice monitors and 2 fairly nice, large TVs. None of them are OLED and now I'm sad about that.
Setup is a breeze. It's a monitor. Connect your display devices and you're pretty much ready to go. Windows didn't install it right away but when I did a Windows Update, a driver was found for the monitor. There's also the Dell Display Manager software that's kind of nice for controlling most of the things you can control through the monitor menu with a mouse and keyboard instead.
I've never really been sold on curved monitors. They just never seemed very necessary. I still don't think they are necessary after this one but I kind of get it now. Maybe I wouldn't care as much on a standard 16:9 screen but on this 21:9 screen, I like the subtle curve to it. Overall, the monitor looks pretty sleek. I could probably do without the ALIENWARE on the bottom bezel but it's not too obnoxious looking so I don't mind it much. I didn't use the stand since I had a wall mount ready for it so I can't speak to the quality or ease of use there but it definitely felt heavy and like it would have no problems holding the monitor sturdy.
Picture quality is top notch compared to the rest of my monitors which aren't bad or cheap monitors at all. Colors seem rich but accurate. Blacks are as blacks are on OLED monitors. Pure black. It's so nice. The HDR felt good and didn't feel too dark to me. I accidentally turned on HDR Peak 1000 mode and everything was incredibly washed out and looked terrible but setting it to one of the other more reasonable settings was much nicer. Not sure when/where I would use the HDR Peak 1000 mode if it always looks like that. I played a couple of games like Doom Eternal and it looked gorgeous. Also watched some HDR shows on Netflix that also looked really good. The full 21:9 ratio in Doom Eternal really looks a lot better than I anticipated a game looking stretched across the full screen. I'm going to start being disappointed in games that don't fully support ultrawide mode because I really don't think I'm going to want to go back to 16:9 unless I need to.
The amount of inputs is also really nice. You can connect two display ports and an HDMI. You can also Picture-in-Picture or Picture-by-Picture to get a more standard 1440p resolution (actually, 2554x1440 instead of 2560x1440, which seems weird) while also displaying your HDMI device on the other 25% of the screen.
I'm not sure I have anything else say about this. The only gripe I can come up with might just not be something that ultrawide monitors do. I would love the ability to split the monitor just like Picture-by-Picture mode but have both monitors show up in Windows as separate displays. That's literally the only thing I can come up with that I'm not a huge fan of. Maybe this is something that can't be done with a single display port cable. Would be nice, though. Otherwise I'm loving this monitor.
If you have the funds, look into this guy. It's not cheap but it is nice. It looks great. OLED is amazing. The HDR didn't feel dark or washed out. The interface works well enough with the option to control most of it via software. A lot of input options so you can connect your consoles and PC's to the same monitor. I like it.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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GE Profile provides modern design and the latest features in home appliances. The 11-in-1 GE Profile Smart Oven with No Preheat is a countertop toaster oven designed for today's smart home. Features like Air Fry, Zero Preheat Technology and Built-in WiFi allow you to do more, through remote monitoring and technology that takes the guess work out of cooking. This is Smarter Innovation you’ve been looking for. This is GE Profile.
Customer Rating
4
Impressive.
on May 6, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
I've never been a big fan of toaster ovens. Probably because back in the day, they were these small things that felt bulkier than a normal toaster but not big enough to do anything else with them that you couldn't just do in a normal oven better. Now a days, it seems that isn't the case anymore and probably why this is called a "smart oven" instead of a toaster oven.
Setup was a breeze. Make some room on your counter (because it's not small) and plug it in. That's all that's required. The instructions suggest running on air fry mode for 20 minutes at 400 degrees to kind of clean the inside before use. Then you just need to wash the trays with soap and water real quick. There's another step which is completely optional but I thought it was neat because I've wanted it on my standard oven before. You can download an app and connect this "smart" oven to it so you have some control over it from your phone. It's not a huge thing but I think it's nice to be able to grab your phone and see how long the oven has left without actually needing to check it. It also could be nice to prepare your food and put it in the oven and then start it from your phone later, but there's a 10 minute safety shutoff to the remote feature that stops you from doing this too long after your prepared the oven. It makes sense and I'm not going to complain about it. The one thing that could make the whole "smart" oven thing amazing would be a small camera inside the oven that would let you see your food so you tell if your pizza is burning.
Working the oven is pretty easy too. There's a bunch of preset buttons that set some settings, temperatures and times for you. You want a pizza? There's a button that will set the oven to 20 minutes at 400. Bagels or toast? Separate buttons so you can set up the "shade" of them as well as how many slices you're cooking. The instruction booklet is pretty short and goes over what each function is meant to do and how it's meant to cook so you have a pretty good idea of how everything works. Probably the only thing I would change is having separate buttons for time/temp up and down instead of needing to press the time button and then change the time and then press the temp button and then change the temp. Small gripe that's easy to get over, though. Otherwise the interface and functionality is pretty simple to use.
The big sell on this oven is the "no preheat" claim. I was really excited about that and have been cooking everything in it without preheating. This is especially huge for our family because our main oven seems to take forever to preheat. Long enough where my wife will tell me to preheat the oven when she's on her way home from work so we can cook a pizza and it probably still won't be fully heated by time she's home. So far, I haven't run into anything being undercooked because I didn't preheat the over. This thing gets hot fast. If anything, I'd say it might get too hot. I'm still adjusting some cook times to find where the sweet spot is for certain things.
One example is the pizza I cooked a couple nights ago. The instructions on the oven say to just use the temperature and times on the food so I hit the pizza button and then set the time to 25 minutes. When the timer was half way done (which reminds me of the neat LED progress bar that stretches across the bottom of the lid), the pizza looked pretty much done. I let it go until the end and I'd say I would have been more than fine with the default 20 minute timer. So if there's any hurdle to using this oven as a daily cooker, it's going to be figuring out how much time certain things actually need to cook. Trial and error is probably all you have to rely on here. The instructions even state that when baking cookies, later batches might cook faster when the oven is already hot so it's going to be some remembering and a little bit of gut to get things right every time.
The size of the oven is.. big. But that means it's spacious on the inside as well. I haven't cooked myself a full chicken or anything in there, but I'm happy enough it fits a standard sized frozen pizza comfortably. Aside from some things that we cook on a full baking sheet, I can't think of many things I wouldn't be able to fit in this oven.
What else can I say about this? I'm a fan. We rearranged our kitchen to make space on our very limited counter space and I'm not unhappy about it at all. I feel like this oven is going to replace our microwave for a lot of things just because we don't need to preheat it all. Reheating food for the kids quickly without the microwave sounds great. I don't even think the price is terribly unreasonable. If you're looking for an smaller (but not too small) oven with "11" different functions, this one might be the one for you.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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The APC Back-UPS Pro BN1050M mini-tower model is designed to power your critical electronics during blackouts and protect them from the dangers of surges, spikes, lightning, and power outages. By powering your critical electronics during blackouts, you ensure personal and professional connectivity when it matters most. Improvements in size and surge protection come at an affordable price, making the Back-UPS ProBN1050M mini-tower model a perfect solution for your power protection needs.
Customer Rating
4
Ol' reliable
on May 3, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
After being one of "those" people who never understood the importance of battery backup when you have a surge protector, I've been a fan since I've adopted them. I've used a larger (and much older) version of this one to keep my gaming machine from crashing during any sort of power outage. Long enough for me to even be able to wrap up a twitch stream. I was using a CyberPower backup for a little while to keep my network closet alive during power outages but I had noticed a few all out shutdowns over the year or so of using that one. Like I had to power cycle the whole battery backup to get everything back online. It only happened a 2 or 3 times but it was confusing enough to be frustrating. Now I'm using this 1050 in the network closet. Definitely haven't tested it long enough to make sure there are no more of those power faults but if this is as reliable as my trusty old 1350 APC then I feel confident it'll be ok.
Setup is easy. It's a battery backup. Standard stuff. Open the battery container and connect the red terminal before anything. Peel off stickers and plug your stuff in. My only gripe about this unit is it's size. It's nice that it's small but it being so small means that it doesn't have extra space between the outlets on the back to accommodate larger power bricks. I had to use an extension cord for my router and modem since they blocked other outlets. The battery backup and surge only sides each come with 4 outlets that are right next to each other so unless they're simple power plugs and not bulky bricks you are going to need some extensions to plug everything in.
Other than that little hiccup, everything works great so far. The USB connection to my linux server worked great right away after installing the software (which only took a really quick google to find). I can probably use that connection for some automation that will let me shut down the server properly when the battery level gets a little low but I haven't messed around with it yet.
The screen and button controls are pretty standard. If you've used any UPS in the past, you'll understand these. All the standard info is available like input voltage, output wattage, and time remaining on battery.
Overall, this is an uninterruptible power supply. APC has (in my personal experience) been very reliable. There's not much else to say here. If you're in the market for a power supply, do some math to figure out how much power you need (and how long you need to keep your systems alive) and if you think 1050 is enough, pick this one up.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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TORRAS COOLIFY 2S is a portable and personal climate device with both air conditioning and heater built in. Featuring a 9-mode personal 3-speed bladeless fan.
Customer Rating
4
Handy little thing I never thought I'd want
on April 21, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
I would have never thought I needed something like this but I'm pretty happy I got it. It's simple to use and works well enough to impress me.
Setup was a piece of cake but could be even easier if you decide to not use their app. I feel like functionality would be limited but you can technically use it without the app. If you use the app, you get more fine control over fan speeds and firmware updates. Nothing crazy and a little sad that I had to sign up for yet another account (at this point, any app that just lets me connect to their devices without forcing me to sign up for an account is just A-Tier). The app found the device quickly and connected to it and it was ready to use right away.
The device defaulted (for me anyways) on A/C mode. I'm not sure if I did that somehow or it was intentional but I wouldn't recommend anyone put it around their neck straight on A/C mode. There's a thermal plate that touches your neck which feels nice but when you go from nothing to metal A/C plate on your neck, it's a bit much. I had to turn the normal fan on before putting it around my neck. The plate did warm up enough to not freeze my neck pretty quickly though.
Other than that, everything has been smooth sailing. It's a pretty simple device I can see coming in handy in the summer when I take the kids to the park for sure. The fans can be adjusted from a pretty low but noticeable breeze to a fairly nice blast of air. Positioning is obviously going to vary by person but I felt like it was blowing in a good spot that wasn't like right in my face/eyes but I could feel it cooling me down fine.
One critique would be the way the app controls the fan speed. There's three sliders for each of the modes. The icon at the beginning of the slider is round and, to me, said it was a button for turning on/off that mode. It is not a button and just decorative. The biggest pain point is when you want to turn the fan to it's lowest setting, you're kind of forced to just get it as close as your finger will allow without turning it off. Personally, I don't know why we need three sliders when only one mode can be active at a time. I'd much prefer three mode select buttons (that also toggle the device off when pressed again) and then a single slider for fan speed. I really hope they do something to update the app but it's not the end of the world the way it is. Just really annoying to use.
Overall, I'm a fan of what this does. I imagine it's going to come in handy this summer and maybe the wife will use it in the winter when she needs to drive in the snow. Not much more to say about it. If you want something like this and it's in your budget, go for it. It's, overall, a nice device.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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All hail the new king. The Turtle Beach Stealth Pro Multiplatform Wireless Gaming Headset brings the best premium features to your gaming multiverse for Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One, PS5 & PS4, Windows PCs, Mac, Steam Deck and Bluetooth equipped mobile devices. An optimized audio cavity houses powerful, 50mm Nanoclear drivers. Each Nanoclear driver is hand-selected at the factory to ensure perfectly matched frequencies in both the left and right speakers. Plus, a powerful onboard DAC, an optimized audio cavity and active software tuning produces a highly detailed soundstage for captivating audio Windows Sonic, Sony 3D Audio for PS5, Dolby Atmos, and DTS Headphone: X. The exceptional audio story only just begins with the drivers. A 10-band EQ plus up to 10 custom presets lets you dial-in the perfect sound, all directly from the Turtle Beach Audio Hub app for iOS, Android, Windows PCs & Mac. Lock-in on the game or accentuate ambient sounds for nearly full noise transparency with the most versatile, competitively benchmarked noise-cancellation system ever available in a gaming headset. Our variable, active noise-cancellation reduces noise levels by up to 25dB, plus you can fine-tune noise-cancelling levels and other audio adjustments all directly from the headset using the mappable wheel, or with your smartphone with the Turtle Beach Audio Hub app or on PC or Mac with the Turtle Beach Audio Hub V2 app. Also available in the Turtle Beach Audio Hub app, you can assign distinct functions based on your gaming style to the mode button and wheel for additional customization and convenience. Two swappable battery packs provide endless power and Stealth Pro automatically reconnects when swapping packs to minimize downtime. Plush leatherette material wrapped around ultra-soft memory foam with built-in ProSpecs technology lends to enhanced noise isolation and all-day, glasses-friendly comfort. Stealth Pro has a refined aesthetic with a rugged, steel-reinforced headband and frame design that is sleek and durable for everyday use and intense gaming. Designed for gaming, traveling and everything in between, Stealth Pro features a lay-flat design, and removable TruSpeak boom mic for gaming, as well as dual concealed mics for using the headset on-the-go. The next-generation TruSpeak noise-cancelling microphone will take your game to a new level, utilizing a uni-directional, cardioid polar pattern with S.M.A.R.T. (Sonic Measurement Audio Reduction Tuning) technology designed to adapt to environmental noise and only let your voice through. The result is distinct, precise comms unlike anything you’ve heard before in a gaming headset, reducing up to 97% of background noise – nearly 10X more effective than the competition*. The two built-in internal microphones also use S.M.A.R.T. technology and are great for a more discrete look and for making and taking calls on-the-go. Plus, you can refine the microphone settings even further with a 10-band EQ and save up to 10 custom presets in the Turtle Beach Audio Hub app. Tuned at our San Diego, CA audio lab, our proprietary, lag-free 2.4 GHz wireless delivers a reliable, low-latency connection via USB transmitter station to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5 & PS4 consoles, Windows PCs and Mac. Plus, with Bluetooth 5.1 dual connectivity you can connect directly to your iOS or Android mobile device and simultaneously listen to your own music, discord, or take mobile calls while gaming on Xbox, PlayStation, PC & Mac ensuring you’ll never miss a moment of action. Lastly, an included velvet cloth carrying pouch makes it easy to take your Stealth Pro on-the-go or stow away safely when not in use. *20dB noise reduction behind mic vs. 2dB competitors as tested by Turtle Beach.
Customer Rating
4
Good quality headset with features
on April 21, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
I've tried my fair share of headphones over the years. I'm not an a huge audiophile or anything but I like headphones that sound nice. This pair offers some pretty nice features with some pretty decent sound.
Setup is easy enough that you can just swap devices without even using the bluetooth mode. Since my xbox has a front facing USB and so does my PC, it's as easy flipping a switch on the little transceiver/charging puck to PC or Xbox and then plugging into the device you want to use them with. They pair automatically in a handful of seconds and you're off to the races. There's also a bluetooth mode if you want to use the headset with your phone or another device that supports bluetooth but doesn't have USB. Up and running in no time no matter what device you want to use it on. One thing I'm not positive on is if you can update the firmware on the headset if you don't have a PC. It looked to me like the software to connect to the headset was only available on PC. That software also allows you to do a lot of other things like adjust EQ settings to your liking. You can also redefine the button on the side to do other things when you press or press and hold. There's a mode that can switch the volume wheel to a game/chat ratio wheel if you need to turn up your team chat and turn down the game. I wasn't blown away by anything but everything available to configure was nice to have.
The sound quality is good enough for me. As stated, I'm no audiophile or anything but I've used a lot of headsets and these sound good. Decent bass but nothing crazy. Good sound stage though. Watching a movie or playing a game on either PC or Xbox both sounded really good and it was nice to ditch the wire since I use a wired pair of headphones for a lot of my gaming as a streamer who needs a latency-free sound in my ear. I'll probably end up using these when I'm not streaming though. If I had to complain about something sound-wise, it would probably be the volume. Max volume doesn't sound quiet at all, but it's almost like it's trying to protect my ears and it's just a little quieter than I'd probably want it at max volume. Maybe I'm just getting old. One caveat I'd love to put here is I did experience the occasional hitch or staticy noise for a second here and there. I don't totally blame the headset though. In my home, there's a LOT of 2.4Ghz from devices in my house and the neighbors. This headset was a champ over 99% of the time but I definitely did hear some breaks when interference took hold. This was with the puck about a foot from my head so I don't think there's much else I could have done to improve it. Again, though, not a deal breaker for me but if you have a lot of 2.4Ghz interference at your place, you might have some minor issues as well.
I didn't put the microphone through it's paces since I have more than one expensive XLR microphones that I would definitely use before this. It has a passable sound and will probably work great if you just need coms for your buddies. I wouldn't stream with it at this point but if I was just starting out, I'd probably use it just fine. There's also a built in microphone for when you don't have the detachable one attached which I did not test. It's mentioned that it's made for taking a quick call via bluetooth and such so I wouldn't use it in game or anything. The other nice thing about the detachable mic if that there's a rubber cover for the socket! First time I've seen headphones not just leave a gaping hole in the side of a microphone when you never use the detachable mic.
Noise canceling was great for me. It does a good job of canceling out the ambient noise without canceling out everything. Pressing the big button on the side to activate and deactivate completely kills the air conditioner noise that's about 6 feet from my desk. It's night and day. But even with such a good cancellation on that, I can still hear if my child is crying upstairs so it doesn't block you from the world, it just gets rid of the ambient sounds really well.
Comfort is alright for me. I thought there was just a little bit too much pressure squeezing into my head but it wasn't really bad. It's very possible it's necessary for the noise canceling to keep a good seal on the cups. I never felt it was painful or anything just felt the pressure more than other headphones I've used. The cups are either perfectly sized or just a smidge too small. I don't really feel them touching my ears when I have them on my head and situated correctly but they do feel really close. I do like that the cups are angled in such a way that tilts the headband towards the front of your head. I felt like it distributed the weight pretty nice that way. At no point did I feel pain or real discomfort while using these.
Aside from the build quality being very good, one thing I didn't love was how a lot of the buttons felt. the 3 buttons under the right cup feel OK to press when I'm holding the headset but finding and pressing them while it's on my head wasn't the best experience. Definitely not a deal breaker there. One thing I really wish was different is the volume wheel. The entire side of the right cup is a old school iPhone style rotating wheel. I could get behind this if it felt good to move while wearing the headphones but it does not. It's rigid and not very smooth. I'll probably just leave volume control to my PC and suffer through it when using them on Xbox.
I almost forgot the things that surprised me the most when I opened the box. I saw the puck transceiver with a battery attached to it already so in this day and age and in this economy, I just expected that to be the battery that I was going to use. Then I opened up the side of the headset and saw ANOTHER BATTERY. This thing has 2 batteries so you can leave one to charge while you're playing and as soon as that one dies, you just swap in the charged one and keep going. You have pretty much all the convenience of playing with the charging cable attached to the headset but without the wire! I'll definitely use this when I'm not streaming and grow to love to freedom of my wireless life that I've been missing on streams.
All said, these are a decent set of headphones if you're looking for something versatile with a nice sound and you have the budget for this pair, it might be a good call. I'll probably be using these for my day to day, off-stream needs where I don't need to hear my voice from an external microphone without latency. I like them.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Your mess is no match for ECOVACS DEEBOT T9+. The advanced vacuum and mop system uses cutting-edge mapping and object detection to clean every inch of your home without disturbing kids, pets, or precious belongings. No matter which family member or furbaby creates the clutter, DEEBOT T9+ will clean it up quickly and quietly. It will even get the job done in the dark while you sleep and wake you with the scent of freshly-cleaned floors. Rest easy knowing that you’re getting a superior clean with DEEBOT T9+.
Customer Rating
4
Almost perfect robo mop/vac
on April 15, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
I've played around with a lot of vacuums (both robot and not) over the last 5 years or so. Most of our robots get used pretty infrequently either because we forget to run them or we just feel like we have to pick up and move so much stuff in order to effectively use them making it easier to just use a stick vacuum or something. This is the first robot vacuum I've literally used every day since we got it. It's been almost perfect for us. If you don't want to read the whole review, just know I recommend this vacuum.
Setup was easy. You need to download the app and then make an account like every other robot vacuum I've used. Just the nature of the beast now-a-days. Registration was pretty easy and it unlocked a bunch of points on my account I can use in the shop to buy accessories and replacement parts so that's pretty nice. I haven't gotten around to using it but they even have some achievements that give you points just for using the vacuum so many times. After registering and plugging the vacuum in, the vacuum talks to you and basically talks you through most of the steps you need to set everything up. It was super quick and easy. I was even able to share the vacuum with my wife so she can start the robot whenever she needs to.
Initial usage is just great. This isn't a dumb robot that just bumps into stuff until it thinks everything is clean. As soon as I hit go on the automatic settings, the bot had just about immediately mapped the room it started in. Instead of just wandering around to map our house, it cleaned it and just made a map as it went. We have one pretty high threshold that every other robot has had issues with. This one had issues the first try at it but it eventually got over it. You can basically just run this thing on auto if you want. It does a really good job without ever really needing to bump into stuff. It just avoids everything it can see. I did notice a couple places it was almost too aggressive with it's optical avoidance. Specifically where we have a baby gate up, it felt like it thought the gate was closer than it was and refused to get right up on it. Like most round robot vacuums, corners might need a quick sweep sometimes but edges seemed to get handled pretty well. The side circular sweepers kind of threw some larger crumbs around a little bit but they eventually got sucked up.
After your first auto run, you'll have a pretty decent map of your place. You can name the map and also name each room and adjust things like splitting and merging rooms if it didn't get things quite right. The tools for editing the map are pretty simple but they do the job. One thing I was interested in since I was able to name the map was if I could just bring the vacuum to another floor and let it go and get a new map. This worked except it wouldn't complete the map unless it could get back to it's charging base. I probably could have just moved the base as well but I was hopeful that I could just generate more maps and be able to pick up the vacuum and take it to any other floor and let it go it's work. Not to say I don't think you can do that. You just don't get a full map to play with so you're always doing those other floors on auto. It still saw everything and cleaned the whole floor. It was able to tell it wasn't cleaning the original map so it didn't mess anything up there either. It just found the old map again when I ran it in it's original spot.
Suction power and overall functionality is pretty great. Transitioning from hard wood to carpet works great and you can even hear it amp up the suction a little more when it goes onto carpet. Speaking of hearing. This thing is QUIET. I was really surprised by how quiet it ran even on higher suction settings. Emptying into the base is very loud like it is in any robot I've used that auto-empties. If you turn off the auto-empty feature, you could easily have this run overnight without really disturbing people who were sleeping. Just manually empty the vacuum before running it again when you remember.
I thought the air freshener thing was going to be a gimmicky thing but the scent that came with the vacuum is really nice and very subtle but you can definitely smell it while the vacuum does it's thing. It's very pleasant.
The mop does a pretty good job. Our floors were really dirty and really needed a wash. I ran the default settings and it did ok. But then I found that that was the "daily clean" preference. I turned on "deep clean" and let it do multiple passes which seemed to do a much better job and getting things mostly clean with only a couple of sock interventions by me. One of my key issues with the mop attachment is that it didn't come with any washable mop pads. It comes with a pack of 10 which I feel could go pretty quickly. My old mop/vac let me wash the pads so they just lasted forever. I haven't been able to find any T9+ accessories so I'm hopeful they'll eventually sell some washable mop pads since they're available on some of the other models.
This is a long review to say that I really like this robot. If it let me mop without as much intervention (like with clean/dirty water reservoirs in the base and reusable pads), it would be near perfect. I'm not sure how often this company updates their software but some of the issues I saw with aggressively avoiding things could probably be sorted out with software but they weren't a huge issue anyways. I will keep my eye on this brand going forward if I feel like updating some of our other robots.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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With no wires in the way, Bose SoundSport Wireless Sports Earbuds keep you moving with powerful audio. Perfect for exercise and running with a sweat and weather resistant design and StayHear+ tips designed for comfort and stability. The Tile app makes your headphones easy to find if they ever go missing.
Is it possible to remove that clip on the wire?
Clip is formed plastic around the wire, so not unless you break the clip. You can move it up and down the wire. I barely noticed it, myself.
9 years ago
by
swemoney
With no wires in the way, Bose SoundSport Wireless Sports Earbuds keep you moving with powerful audio. Perfect for exercise and running with a sweat and weather resistant design and StayHear+ tips designed for comfort and stability. The Tile app makes your headphones easy to find if they ever go missing.
Is this earphone compatible with Andriod phone?
I didn't test them out on an Android device, but they're bluetooth headphones. So if your Android device supports Bluetooth audio, they should work fine.
9 years ago
by
swemoney