swemoney's stats
- Review count205
- Helpfulness votes156
- First reviewMay 14, 2016
- Last reviewApril 21, 2024
- 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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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, PlayStation, Windows PCs, Mac, Nintendo Switch and mobile. Featuring the most versatile noise cancelling system ever in a gaming headset, with the ability to control noise-cancelling levels from anywhere. Experience ultimate audio immersion with powerful, hand-selected 50mm Nanoclear drivers for a vast soundstage; and the TruSpeak noise-cancelling boom mic or dual built-in microphones offer ultra-clear comms. Our softest memory foam ear cushions enhance noise isolation and provide all-day comfort, and the Stealth Pro is built to last with a durable steel-reinforced headband and frame.
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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Elvie Stride Plus is a hands-free, hospital-grade electric breast pump with 3-in-1 carry bag that is made for mamas on the move. Finally, hospital-grade performance (a whopping -300 mmHg*) that’s portable, liberating you from sockets and wires. That way, you’re free to express efficiently wherever you pumping please— and all with peace of mind knowing your breast milk is being kept cool. Our breast pump offers powerful—yet comfortable—pumping, putting you in control. Go ahead, mama, milk it for all its worth. *in a single cup set
Customer Rating
4
Functionally on par with more expensive original
on March 30, 2023
Posted by: swemoney
Our old original Elvie pump was starting to show it's age after almost 3 years so I wanted to see how the cheaper model worked now days. For the most part, it functions similarly to the old pump. Not really getting better or worse pumps out of this one, but the added bulk and inconvenience of the tubes and the extra noise from the pump makes it more underwhelming. But for half the price (if you're looking at the double of the original pump), it might make more sense for a lot of people.
Setup is fairly easy. You pair the pump with the app if you want to (it's not required, but it will give you some added convenience). Connecting everything is easy enough. This pump comes with a small and medium size. My wife is on the upper end of the medium size so she enjoyed the old pump which also came with a large size (so she could pump twice between washes by switching the size). It would be nice if this included a large size as well to help all fits but it's not a huge deal.
Functionally, as stated, we're getting very similar pumps as our old pump. A lot of people have talked about the power being greater on this pump but it hasn't been super noticeable or produced better results. There's some added noise with the external pump but you can usually mask that by putting it in your pocket. The tubes are pretty easily hidden as well so you can still use these pretty discretely but it just takes a little more work than the 2 wireless cups on the old school Elvie. If you do connect your pump to the Elvie app, you're able to set up some settings up front and the pump will just kind of do everything for you automatically, which is nice. But it's also nice to not need the app at all if you don't want to.
The carry case is pretty nice and also much more necessary since there are more detachable components. But primarily, my wife uses the carry case to also store some bottles to transfer to after pumps. The old Elvie had the ability to just detach the resevoir and cap it so you could store it as is. You are not able to seal these pumps up for storage so having a bottle to transfer into is required unless you're very confident you can keep them standing upright until you're somewhere you can transfer. Battery power seemed pretty comparable to our old Elvie as well.
Overall, this pump is fine. It still slips in under your bra and can be used discretely. There's extra power over the original Elvie pump but we didn't notice a huge difference in practice as far as results. Most things that the original Elvie offered that this doesn't is convenience. The ability to store right in the pump reservoir is one things my wife misses the most. The extra size that came with the original was also nice. If you think these things are worth double the price, then look at the original Elvie. I think most people can get away with this version just fine though.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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This multi-angle stand is made of durable aluminum and can support a variety of items in addition to a laptop including tablets, books, etc. Its foldable design allows for easy storage or transport, while the viewing angles and heights can be adjusted to fit your needs and optimize your viewing experience. This versatile stand gives you the ability to create a more efficient workspace, whether you need extra space or a standing desk setup. The integrated USB-C mini dock features a 4K HDMI output, two USB 5Gbps Type-A ports, as well as a USB-C port that supports 5Gbps data transfer rate and up to 100W pass-through, providing all the connectivity you need for enhanced productivity and to connect your peripherals.
Customer Rating
4
A nice little dock for my mac
on December 15, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I'm using this dock for my older MacBook Pro and so far it's working pretty well. The stand is built well and articulates into a lot of positions so I can move it where I need it pretty easily. I'm hoping that, since I've moved to using a desktop PC for most of my work and needs, using this dock with the same keyboard and mouse and monitor that I use for the rest of my work will help improve my productivity with my Mac work.
Setup is really simple. The actual "dock" part is a small box that fits into a couple grooves in the back of the stand. This makes is pretty to move around and adjust what's plugged in when setting things up without needing to move the entire stand around. There's labels on the unit that describe what plugs into where so it's hard to mess it up. Just plug the HDMI into your monitor and then connect the USB-C to your laptop via the included cable and you're all set up. There's an extra USB-C and two USB-A plugs for plugging in peripherals like a keyboard and mouse. I'm using a small USB switch so I can easily use the same mouse and keyboard I'm already using at my desktop with the MacBook Pro by just pressing a button but I also just plugged in an extra mouse and keyboard to start with and it worked great.
Usage.. Not much to write here. Just use your computer with a nice monitor now.
Overall, I've never seen a lot of value in docks in the past. If I wanted to use my computer at my desktop I'd just use my desktop. But with my MacBook being vital for some work I need to do, having the option to do that in a familiar workplace and setup is really useful. I'm a fan and I'm already seeing an increase in productivity.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Capture clear, beautiful audio whenever and wherever you shoot. Whether you're shooting interviews, outdoor street scenes, or just quick updates for social media, adding a high-quality audio track will bring your creative work to life. The ECM-G1 provides sophisticated audio-capture capabilities that are well matched to your moviemaking needs, plus convenient Multi Interface Shoe connectivity and a compact overall size.
Customer Rating
4
Excellent upgrade to your cameras built in mic..
on November 26, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
This microphone does one thing and it does it pretty well. When you compare this to your camera's built in microphone, it almost always handily bests it in terms of sound quality and clarity.
Setup works 2 ways and either of them are dead simple. It uses Sony's proprietary hot shoe so if you have a Sony camera with the MI hot shoe, you just plug this baby in there and you're off to the races. Everything is pretty automatic. But it also includes a super short 3.5mm cable you can connect to most other cameras with cold shoes or that aren't Sony but have a mic input. This is the route I took with my Sony ZV-1F since it only has a cold shoe.
Audio quality was noticeably better in all the tests that I did but I found that closer shots in a quieter room made less of a difference. You can still tell the difference in ambient room noise since the microphone is picking up a much more narrow wave in front of the microphone instead of picking up noise from all around the camera but the further away and in noisier environments, the more noticeable the difference was.
There's not much more to say. I'll definitely be using this microphone any time I'm using my camera since it always beats the built in microphone. Depending on your use case, the cost may be worth it since it is a little pricey. But it's a quality microphone so if it's in your budget, it may be worth it to you.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Sony ZV-1F Vlog camera for Content Creators and Vloggers, large 1-inch sensor with wide angle 20mm1 lens and packed with easy-to-use features, specifically designed for vloggers and online video creators.
Customer Rating
4
Really great entry level "real" camera..
on November 26, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
If you're using your phone's front camera for your vlogging shots or still using a cheap webcam for your streams, this is probably the best upgrade for your dollar out there. It has most of the "prosumer" features you're probably going to need at one of the most affordable price points for "real" cameras. You're giving up a few higher end features here like a hot shoe and interchangeable lenses but that's what keeps this affordable and you probably don't really NEED those things as much as they're just cool.
Setup is a piece of cake. It's a camera that's basically ready to go. Put a memory card in, install the battery and hit the power and you're ready to fiddle with all the settings and start taking pictures or recording video. There's a ton of settings if you're coming from a cheap digital camera or you're used to just your phone's camera. It was a little overwhelming from a non-photographer standpoint but I didn't mind playing around to get the best settings for what I was doing.
There's a lot of versatility for this camera as well. It's clear that it's made to be a selfie vlogging camera from the flip forward screen to the microphone windscreen (I had to look up what this fuzzy little thing was in the book but it's a great little addition). From selfie range, it's easy to get your frame right and the microphone doesn't sound really bad. You aren't going to get a ton of the low end from your voice but it does a decent job picking your up and sounding clear for just a flat spot on the camera picking up the sound.
Photos come out pretty good as well. Nothing to write home about if you already use your recently released phone's rear camera to be honest but they're good photos. If you want to carry a dedicated photo camera, this will get your some good pictures with settings your can't play around with on your phone so with some effort and experience you can probably get even better pictures but for me, the convenience of taking pictures with my phone can't be trumped. Especially with all the work that phones do in post processing now a days. I'll probably use this for photos and videos when I'm going to an event that I know I'm going to just be taking pictures non-stop, though.
Video quality looks really good as well. You can only get 30fps for your 4K shots if that's what you're taking but you can go up to 120fps with 1080p shots. Again, things are very comparable to my iPhone 13 Pro Max's rear camera but blow away the front camera. If you have the skills, I'm sure there are amazing tweaks and settings you can do to get things to look perfect for every scenario. But from a non-professional standpoint, I find the picture quality to be great with most of the default settings.
One thing that I think is overlooked for a camera like this is streaming on services like Twitch and YouTube. I replaced my $180 webcam with this camera (and bought a cheap quick-release thing to let me unmount it whenever I want to take it out of my setup) and the difference is night and day. The amount of control is fantastic when you're coming from not so cheap webcam. The most disappointing aspect of using this camera for streaming is that it's capped at 720p30 for streaming over USB-C. I'm not sure why this limitation needs to exist or if maybe they can bump that up to a solid 1080p60 with a firmware update in the future but it was sad to see when I tried it out. You CAN still use it with a micro-HDMI cable and an HDMI capture device, though. You'll get the full output that way. There's a setting to eliminate any of the UI elements on the HDMI output so you get a fully clear HDMI. The best part of using this as a webcam replacement is the flip forward screen that you can use to make sure you're in frame and everything looks good while you're streaming.
My list of negatives is pretty short and they do focus around using the camera as a high quality streaming camrea for Twitch. The 720p output over USB-C is disappointing and means you'll need an additional cable as well as an HDMI capture device if you're looking to get more than 720p to your stream. Another thing that could be better is having more (all?) controls on the screen without needing to use the control wheel on the back. This downside also exists when taking vlog videos because you're probably looking at the screen flipped towards you and not the back of the camera. With my stream setup, the camera is fairly close to the wall and accessing the back of the camera is not super easy to do. So it's impossible to tweak every setting while looking at the frame I need to look at without using my phone to connect to the camera. There is a "button" on the screen that toggles the ability to touch certain controls on the screen to modify them but the controls available are limited (for instance, there's no manual/auto focus control on the screen). Having another control on the screen that basically just opens up the full menu would be amazing here.
Speaking of controlling the camera with my phone, that's a thing you can do too! The setup is a little clunky and the performance could be better. I'm not 100% certain but I have to assume it's using 2.4Ghz wifi instead of 5Ghz so interference is an issue here but it might work fine for you. The most annoying part of the whole thing is how long it takes to control the camera from your phone. You need to launch the app, hit the "control camera" button and then connect and wait for it to connect to bluetooth and then disconnect you from your own wifi and connect directly to your camrea's wifi and then probably fail once and try again. So it's almost like a solid minute between deciding I need to tweak a setting and actually getting things going on my phone. When it's running on the phone, the video performance is pretty choppy but I've never used the phone to really look at the shot, I more care about being able to control some of the things I can't control from the screen without the control wheel. I understand having the phone connect directly to the camera since you'll probably be using this a lot when you're not on your home wifi, it's just a small annoyance and it pretty consistently fails with my iPhone on the first attempt but usually doesn't have an issue the second time. Overall, though, the phone connection is a saving grace to allowing me to control the phone when the back controls are not accessible and I can deal with the clunkiness for that ability.
Overall, this camera is going to be my stream camera for a long time to come. The quality is top notch and with a quick release foot, it's easy to pop out and in and take the camera with me when I want to film something else or take some pictures of the kids. At it's price point, you can't really get much better than this. Sacrificing a couple of the bells and whistles that you get with a much more expensive professional entry (along with much more expensive lenses) is nothing because you probably won't need of those things anyways for what this camera is made to do. Make content better than using the front facing camera on your phone. The quality will rival the back facing camera on your phone as well so it's nice to have a dedicated piece of hardware that you can just use for all of your filming needs. Get this camera is you're looking for an upgrade.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Soundcore Sleep A10 Earbuds are your perfect companion for a peaceful night's sleep. They’re designed around an exclusive 4-Point Noise Masking system to keep night-time disturbances under your radar. Enhanced passive noise canceling combines with an advanced active noise masking algorithm, and soothing sleep sounds to block out up to 35dB of unwanted noise and deliver the ideal sleep environment. Sleep A10 earbuds are tiny and lightweight so they stay comfortably in your ears, all night long. Slim profile and pressure-free fit means even heavy side-sleepers can rest the entire night without discomfort or fatigue.
Customer Rating
2
Overall clunky to use and not super effective
on November 11, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I have issues sleeping when there's a lot of noise around. My schedule is not very normal so I find myself trying to sleep at strange times when there's probably going to be other things happening in the house. My solution has just been a cheapish jar of ear plugs that lasts me quite a while. They work pretty good at blocking out most of the noise in the house and I only experience some slight discomfort at times but nothing major that removing and replacing them doesn't usually resolve. It's a low tech solution and I've been thinking of finding some way to play music or noise that won't disturb the wife when she's sleeping at the same time as me and I was excited to try these out. My experience was pretty lack-luster.
Setup was easy enough. Just pair them with your phone, download the app, firmware update and they were ready to go. The case came with about half a charge and both earbuds were fully charged.
Comfort is pretty good as well. They're easy to put in and I like how they go in. Align the little handles straight up and then twist them towards the back of your ear and they kind of "lock" in place. It's not full proof. Sometimes it takes a couple tries but for the most part they go in fine. They're also somewhat comfortable. I had a really slight discomfort like they were pushing against the side of my ear canal too much the first night I used them but that was really brief and didn't happen any of the other nights I used them. I'm a side-sleeper and I was able to sleep with these in my ears for my whole sleep and they really didn't feel bad. The only complaint is the seal and pressure they make in your ear gives you that floating in space sound whenever you breath or cough. You just hear any noise your head makes amplified in your ears. I wasn't a huge fan as the ear plugs I use don't give me this feel at all.
The app and overall usage of these are where things start to fall flat. I wouldn't even say the app is terrible. I've seen much worse for connected products before. But the overall flow is just not that great. You need to load a sound (which takes about a minute) onto the earbuds for your "sleep mode" sound. So it takes time if you feel like listening to a different sound in your ear non-stop during your sleep. I'm a fan of rain sounds and the rain and thunderstorm sounds were.. fine. They were nothing to write home about but they were ok. The issue is just listening to the same short clip over and over in my ear. And that's when they were working. More than a couple times, one bud would just disconnect and I'd either need to open the case again to reconnect it or take it out and put it back in. Sometimes even that wouldn't work and I'd have to place them back in the case to get them to work again.
There's also sleep tracking in the app which I was pretty excited about because I'm a fan of statistics and used to track my sleep all the time. I figured if I was going to wear these every night for sleep, that would be a perfect opportunity to start tracking again if they just did it for free. But, like the other functions, it just seems to work sporadically and inconsistently. I don't think it recorded a single full sleep. The first time, the right ear bud just stopped working when I got up to go to the bathroom and then sleep tracking decided that was enough. It just seemed very inconsistent and sort of tacked on. You can't even view your sleep tracking information without connecting the earbuds to the app again which proved immediately annoying and I have no idea how that got through any sort of quality control without someone mentioning it.
Just every bit of the app flow feels like no one actually used these for sleep and just made them comfortable enough to sleep with but only tested them as regular headphones. Luckily, you don't NEED to use the app. You lose some features like the "smart volume control" but I didn't really like that feature anyways. It's supposed to adjust the volume after it detects that you fell asleep to adapt to the noise level. I guess if it works while I'm asleep, there's a chance I never noticed it actually working but I feel like I can recall the sound in the headphones just completely changing at some point. If you don't use the app except to upload a new sound onto the headphones, then you can just double tap the left ear to switch between sleep and music modes and double tap the right ear to play/pause. Easy enough. Music more works just like a normal pair of bluetooth headphones which is probably what I'll use these for if I want to listen to a podcast as I fall asleep or something.
The biggest problem I have with these are just that they don't do a fantastic job of eliminating external noise for my needs. They don't have any sort of active noise canceling (which is baffling to me but I suppose there are probably challenges in fitting the ANC stuff in such a small earbud) so they only work with the seal to your ear and by producing sound to distract you from the noise around you. The seal is pretty good (floating in space feel in your head and all) but it just doesn't cut down on the noise around you. The sound the earbuds produce is a pretty nice distraction but without an effort to focus on it, I can still hear things like my wife snoring or the kids on the other side of the house during the day. They basically function as just a pair of headphones you can wear while you sleep but I don't think they should be marketed as a way to help you fall asleep faster or as "noise blocking".
Audio quality in the earbuds is fine. You're sleeping with them so I'm not trying to be blown away. Quite the opposite. So the audio quality is what I'd want out of a pair of these. Like I said, I'll probably continue to use these as a pair of headphones I can wear as I'm falling asleep sometimes when I don't have to worry about a lot of extra noise because they ARE comfortable to wear even as a side sleeper. But for any of my day time sleeps or when I have to block out snores or other noise around me, it's back to the ear plugs.
Bottom line, an inconsistent and clunky app experience with these make them hard to justify for their price. If you're just looking for a pair of headphones to wear while you sleep, these might work fine for you. I haven't done enough research on other pairs to know if these are worth the price just for that though. If you're looking for a real sleep aid, I would look elsewhere unless you're fine with just a simple short looping sound in your ear all night. Comfortable with a decent sound but that's where the features end. There's not much in the way of sleep features in my eyes here.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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Get a healthier, brighter smile with the Philips Sonicare 9000 Special Edition. This toothbrush features a pressure sensor, 4 brushing modes, 3 intensities and smart brush head mode pairing technology. The Philips Sonicare 9000 Special Edition will look beautiful in your bathroom, with elegant charging glass and premium finishings. Track your brushing within the Sonicare App to ensure you're reaching your oral health care goals.
Customer Rating
5
Still a great premium toothbrush
on November 9, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I haven't been able to go back since the day I started using an electric toothbrush. It was a Sonicare way back in the day too. My toothbrush before this one is very similar to this and is going to move into the second bathroom because it's still going strong after more than 5 years now. These are premium toothbrushes that last.
Setup is a breeze. The battery light was flashing when I first took it out of the box but it still got through a full brushing. Plug in the base and the glass holder just fits on top where you sit your toothbrush on top of to charge. The one thing I wish this toothbrush had that my older one does is the cup. The charger is still induction and I thought the cup was much more premium feeling than the small puck that you place your toothbrush in and stand it straight up. I decided to use my old cup to charge this toothbrush and use the new puck to charge my old toothbrush in the other bathroom. They both work the same so it's not a big deal but I did like the cup more than this new puck.
Usage is pretty easy. Put the toothbrush on top and press the start button. The instructions has a lot of information on each of the modes and what they're for and how long they last. They tell you which section of teeth you should stick to for each section of the session too. Highly recommended you review that part of the instruction book. We usually stick to a single mode that my wife and I both like but you'll want to try them all and maybe switch it up if you're aiming to tackle a trouble area for yourself. Lots of options.
If you're coming from a standard manual toothbrush, you'll probably be blown away by this toothbrush. I can't get my teeth to feel clean with a standard toothbrush anymore. I'll never go back. It's easy. The toothbrush guides you to keep things consistent and my teeth just feel so much more clean with these toothbrushes. Given that my old toothbrush is over 5 years old now, I wouldn't look at this as a high cost toothbrush. I'd look at it as a quality, premium toothbrush. You can get electric toothbrushes for a lot cheaper, sure, but I can't vouch for how long those last and how well they work.
Bottom line, when the only bad thing I can say about this product is it doesn't contain the same cup for charging as my old toothbrush had, it's a pretty great toothbrush. If you're coming from a manual toothbrush, take the plunge and invest in the premium product if you're able. If not, just invest in another electric toothbrush. I don't advocate manual brushing for anyone but small children at this point. This is a premium product that will last you a long time so spend the money if you're able on an item that will get used 3-5 times per day and still feel like new 5+ years later.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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The Shark ION Robot is designed with a Tri-Brush System, combining side brushes, channel brushes, and a multi-surface brushroll to handle debris on carpets and hardfloors Use the SharkClean app or voice control with Alexa or Google Assistant to start cleaning from anywhere
Customer Rating
3
Fairly bare-bones robot. Decent job cleaning.
on October 13, 2022
Posted by: swemoney
I've been a fan of Shark (and Ninja) products for a while now and got this extra robot for our smaller living room. I've already got a shark mop/vac and have really liked it but I didn't think I'd need all of the extra AI features. I'm not 100% convinced that I don't anymore. If this was my first robot vacuum, I'd probably think it was cool and be fine with it but after spending years with a vacuum that has so many more features (by the same brand), I think I was just shocked at how much of a step backwards this guy was.
Setup was fine depending on how you want to use it. If you don't want to connect it to your phone, just plug it in, let it charge and then press one of the buttons on top and let it do it's thing. It doesn't have any AI and doesn't make a map of your room or anything so it's all pretty basic. If you want to connect it to your phone and set up a schedule or anything, it should work fine. The setup process is simple enough. I had some issues that eventually got straightened out by their support after a bit of back and forth. After that was resolved everything worked fine.
The performance of this bot isn't terrible but since it's not a smart robot, it can miss spots and/or it takes much longer to do it's job than a robot that'll learn and create maps of your room. This bot just works by running into something, turning and driving until it runs into something else. Rinse and repeat. It's a brute force method that mostly works but I did notice a spot or two that the bot had missed. There were a few more spots up against walls that were missed as well. I'm pretty sure a smarter robot would have been able to get these spots (they weren't in corners) but since the bot doesn't do a great job of hugging edges (since it doesn't know where edges are), it just has to happen across these spots with one of it's many passes.
The time it takes to clean is also a lot more exaggerated since it doesn't have a map it can just trace over to make sure it got everything. The first room I did took over an hour to complete without being a super large or complicated room. The smaller room that the robot is living in takes a little less time but, again, I'm just used to my 2+ year old shark robot that uses a map to clean much more efficiently so it's probably more pronounced for me.
I don't think I'll be getting any more "dumb" robots that just brute force the job by bumping and turning. It does a fairly good job cleaning (my carpets were quite dirty when I did my tests) but you're relying on the bot to just happen to clean everything. I wish there was a map that could be pieced together by just tracing the path the robot took but for the time being, all that's available in the app is a timeline of when the bot was activated, paused, docked, etc. That being said, Shark has always been really good about updating their app and providing extra features to my old AI robot over time so maybe it's something they can add to this bot in the future if the hardware is there to track it's path.
If a more sophisticated robot with lasers and AI and mapping is out of your budget, this is a good starter bot. But if you're used to anything with a little more tech inside, this guy is going to get the job done.. usually.. and you'll probably be a little disappointed. This bot is a bit more affordable so it might work out perfect for you.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Enjoy a smooth gaming experience with this 27-inch ASUS Full HD monitor. The Shadow Boost feature increases clarity in dark scenes, and the ultrafast response times minimize blurring and streaking for seamless gameplay. This ASUS Full HD monitor has an ergonomic design that allows tilting, swiveling and pivoting as needed.
Is the monitor free sync or g-sync?
It's G-Sync. The actual model number (not sure why it's not in the product title) is VG279QR if you want to check all the specs on Asus.
3 years ago
by
swemoney
Bring your Astro dreams to life with the Hover-1 Astro Hoverboard. This exciting rideable is an all-out color experience. Available in three different finishes, the LED lights along the wheels, the board and the foot pads will shine bright during your entire ride. The vibrant RGB color scheme will bring your board to life. Bright, bold, and beautiful, Astro brings out our love for color with every mile you ride. Loaded with a massive 400W motor that lets you hit speeds of up to 7mph, you can cruise for up to 6 miles on a single charge. The purchaser and rider of this product are responsible for knowing and obeying all state and local regulations regarding the use of this product, including whether licensing is required and the rules concerning where it may be operated. It is highly encouraged that you read and follow the product instructions including all safety precautions and use protective gear.
Is there a Bluetooth speaker in the hoverboard?
You can connect to your phone's bluetooth to play music through the board. The speaker does not have a lot of bass to it so it just sound alright.
3 years, 5 months ago
by
swemoney
Bring your Astro dreams to life with the Hover-1 Astro Hoverboard. This exciting rideable is an all-out color experience. Available in three different finishes, the LED lights along the wheels, the board and the foot pads will shine bright during your entire ride. The vibrant RGB color scheme will bring your board to life. Bright, bold, and beautiful, Astro brings out our love for color with every mile you ride. Loaded with a massive 400W motor that lets you hit speeds of up to 7mph, you can cruise for up to 6 miles on a single charge. The purchaser and rider of this product are responsible for knowing and obeying all state and local regulations regarding the use of this product, including whether licensing is required and the rules concerning where it may be operated. It is highly encouraged that you read and follow the product instructions including all safety precautions and use protective gear.
Does this board have settings for beginners etc like other boards from this company?
It has Beginner, Intermediate and Expert settings which I assume are the same ones available from other Hover-1 boards while using the same app.
3 years, 5 months ago
by
swemoney
eufy Security Wired 2K Video Doorbell. 2K Resolution, 5-Day Continuous Video Recording (CVR) on Secure Local Storage, No Monthly Fees, Human Detection, 2-way Audio, and Free Wireless Chime included.
Can you use an existing traditional doorbell chime with this, or do you have to use the eufy door chime?
I haven't tried to use my existing chime. The instructions do say that the doorbell will probably function but might work sporadically unless you bridge your current chime to give extra power to the doorbell. This disables your current chime so, I would say, officially, you should use the eufy chime if you want your doorbell cam to work reliably..
3 years, 6 months ago
by
swemoney
Expand connectivity on your Apple MacBook Pro or Air with this gray HyperDrive DUO seven-in-two USB Type-C hub. Two USB Type-C ports support Power Delivery for charging mobile devices rapidly, while the HDMI output lets you connect a UHD display. This HyperDrive DUO seven-in-two USB Type-C hub has USB Type-A ports and microSD and SD card slots for fast data transfer.
will this work if my MacBook Pro has a Kuzy case on it. The case wraps around the side of the computer right where the hyperdrive will go. Im wondering if the case will prevent the hyper drive from fitting flush or snug to the computer.
It's possible this could fit fine. The included magnetic support grip leaves a bit of a gap if you don't use it so you might be able to use this without that magnetic support and have it fit just fine. Don't quote me on this, though, I just know there's definitely a gap if you don't include the black magnetic support.
3 years, 10 months ago
by
swemoney
Expand connectivity on your Apple MacBook Pro or Air with this gray HyperDrive DUO seven-in-two USB Type-C hub. Two USB Type-C ports support Power Delivery for charging mobile devices rapidly, while the HDMI output lets you connect a UHD display. This HyperDrive DUO seven-in-two USB Type-C hub has USB Type-A ports and microSD and SD card slots for fast data transfer.
Is this Hyperdrive compatible with a (mid) 2015 macbook pro?
I'm pretty sure the 2016 MacBook Pro was the first one to move to all USB-C. To use this device, you need a MacBook that has 2 USB-C ports on the left side. If your device doesn't have USB-C this won't work. If your device has a MagSafe charger, this wouldn't be supported. USB-C only.
3 years, 10 months ago
by
swemoney
Safeguard your home with this Arlo security camera system. Its 4K resolution provides maximum clarity so you don't miss a single detail, and a siren is integrated so you can fend off intruders either remotely or while at home. This Arlo security camera system is weather-resistant, so it's functional rain or shine.
Can you pair Arlo pro 2 cameras with this system as well? We have 2 arlo pro 2 cameras we would like to utilize on the new system if possible.
Yes. The Ultra camera doesn't pair with the old hub but the old cameras will pair with the new one. The upgrade process was quite simple.
5 years ago
by
swemoney
Always know what’s happening at your door with the SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro. Its crystal-clear 1080p HD video and 162° field of view give you a clear shot of your property 24/7. Two-way audio lets you hear and speak to unwanted guests (and welcomed ones too) - even when you're not home. Have the SimpliSafe App? The Video Doorbell Pro will send instant alerts whenever someone approaches. And with Smart Person Detection, it can tell the difference between people, vehicles and animals. That means you only get the alerts that matter. Plus, when backed by 24/7 professional monitoring, you’ll have experts who are ready to request emergency dispatch when you need it most. This camera is designed for all weather extremes—so you're still protected in rain and snow. (Compatible with the SimpliSafe Gen 3 security system. Requires Wi-Fi (2.4GHz) and existing wired doorbell setup with mechanical chime and a transformer with 8-24 VAC, 30VA max. Not compatible with digital chimes.)
Does this doorbell allow storage to the local network instead of a cloud server?
This doorbell does not currently allow local network storage. The app functionality is quite bare bones and you actually get zero recording capability unless you upgrade to their $5/mo plan for the camera.
5 years, 5 months ago
by
swemoney
Tune out the world and lose yourself in music with these Sony 1000X wireless noise-cancelling headphones. Equipped with SENSE ENGINE technology, these earbuds make it easy to adjust sound modes with a single touch, so you control what you hear. Compact and intuitive, these Sony 1000X wireless noise-cancelling headphones stay comfortable for hours.
How many charges does the case hold?
Two. The buds, alone, will work for ~3 hours. If you include the case, you get 9 hours. So the case will give the buds 2 full charges.
6 years, 6 months 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.
Are there any other means to charge these earphones than the advertised charging case?
The case that comes with these headphones is just for storage. I do leave my headphones inside the case while I'm charging them, but it's just a standard micro USB cable that plugs in to one of the earbuds to charge.
7 years, 10 months ago
by
swemoney